Itching to Death

When Mrs. Lu saw that her eldest son was talking back to her too, she slammed the tile in her hand onto the table.

"All I did was ask him to arrange a job for Taozi. The company is so big, any position would do. Is that so difficult for him?"

"It's been five years. What benefits did those adoptive parents of his give him that he still can't forget them?"

"The Lu family gave him unimaginable wealth and luxury."

"Heng, just give me a straight answer. Can you arrange for Taozi to join the company or not?"

The air froze.

Xia Zhi was closest to Lu Heng. From her angle, she could see the expression of a man pushed to the limits of his patience, his bloodshot eyes, and the slight twitch at their corners.

She barely dared to breathe, her heart in her throat, terrified that Lu Heng would suddenly leap up and hit Mrs. Lu.

After roughly a dozen seconds of stalemate, Lu Heng played the tile in his hand.

"Nine of bamboo."

There was a faint tremor in his voice that most people would not have noticed.

"Mom, it's just a personnel arrangement. Have Taozi come see me at the company another day."

Seeing him agree, Mrs. Lu's expression softened. "That's more like it. We're all family. We ought to help and support each other. It's time to let go of those old grudges."

Lu Heng looked up with a slight smile. "You're right, Mom."

Xia Zhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like nothing serious had happened.

Only Lu Kuo frowned slightly, casting an uneasy glance at Lu Heng.

Lu Heng's expression had already returned to normal. Only the corners of his eyes were still faintly red. His adoptive parents were a thorn embedded in his heart, one that could not be touched, because touching it hurt.

What benefits had his adoptive parents given him?

Zhao Xiaohui had actually called everything his adoptive parents had done for him "benefits"?

Heh.

It wasn't the first time he'd suffered this kind of humiliation anyway.

Xia Zhi was just about to draw a tile when a mechanical female voice suddenly sounded in her mind. [Ding! Target's corruption +10. Current corruption: 80.]

*???*

The main villain had become more corrupted again?

Xia Zhi whipped her head around to look at Lu Heng. He looked perfectly fine. How could...

Could Mrs. Lu have actually hurt him deeply, and he was just good at hiding it?

She was doomed. Doomed.

Mrs. Lu had caused the trouble, yet she had to clean up the mess. How could she be this unlucky?

Xia Zhi trembled. She had no idea how the system would punish her this time. Scary, scary, scary, scary...

[Host 438, receive your punishment. Host 438, receive your punishment!]

Xia Zhi: [...]

That code number that sounded like "damned bitch" was just... unbearable.

[Kid, can't we change it? It doesn't have to be 666 or 888. Anything will do, even 444. Please change it. I'm begging you.]

Little Sponge: [Host, it really can't be changed.]

[Each number corresponds to an owner.]

Xia Zhi: [...]

[Am I the very last host in your system, then? Your system won't produce any new systems? Who are you trying to fool, a child?]

[I'm not stupid. My IQ is 200!]

Little Sponge: [Host, don't try to fool me. I looked it up. Einstein, the smartest human you have, only had an IQ of 165. Yours is probably around 20.]

Xia Zhi: [...]

[Yours is 20.]

Even an idiot's IQ was higher than 20, wasn't it? Who was he looking down on?

This lousy system was really asking for a beating.

Little Sponge: [Host, shouldn't you be more concerned about what kind of punishment you're going to receive?]

Right.

The punishment!

Xia Zhi hurriedly asked, [What kind of punishment am I going to receive?]

Before Little Sponge could answer, Xia Zhi felt as though tiny insects were crawling all over her back. It itched terribly.

Could it be...

Little Sponge: [Host, it's itching.]

[For one hour.]

Xia Zhi asked cautiously, [It shouldn't be too hard to bear, right?]

Little Sponge answered honestly, [I've never tried it, so I don't know.]

Xia Zhi: [You never know anything I ask. What good are you?]

Little Sponge replied good-naturedly, [I can chat with you to pass the time when you're bored, and offer you some counseling so you don't do anything drastic. After all, I'm counting on you to complete missions so I can earn experience points.]

Xia Zhi: [...Goodbye.]

After two rounds, Xia Zhi felt increasingly uneasy. She had been able to bear it at first, so why was it getting worse now?

Her restless squirming drew glances from everyone around her.

Lu Heng stood up. "Mom, Lu Kuo, Xia Zhi must be tired. I'll take her back to rest."

Having achieved her goal for the evening, Mrs. Lu had a smile in her eyes, and her manner was particularly gentle.

"Go ahead. Your room is cleaned every day. Everything is clean."

Lu Heng nodded. "Thank you."

Hearing that they were leaving, Xia Zhi quickly stood up and politely said goodbye to Mrs. Lu and Lu Kuo, then jogged after Lu Heng.

As they passed the corridor and rockery, Xia Zhi thought the route looked a little familiar.

Then Lu Heng pushed open the door.

Xia Zhi followed him inside.

Huh?

Wasn't this where she'd relieved herself earlier?

So the main villain hadn't been deliberately messing with her back then. He had intended to bring her to his own courtyard. After all, using the bathroom in someone else's courtyard was a little impolite.

Once she understood that, Xia Zhi resented Lu Heng less.

Lu Heng asked, "What's wrong with you?"

His gaze fell on Xia Zhi, who kept twisting around and scratching herself.

Xia Zhi found it a little embarrassing to say. "I don't know why, but I suddenly feel a little itchy. You don't need to worry about me. It should go away soon."

Lu Heng gave a cold scoff. "Who's worried about you?"

"Go take a shower. It might help."

Xia Zhi's eyes lit up. That made sense. "I'll go shower, then."

She plunged into the bathroom. As the cool water washed over her, Xia Zhi let out a comfortable sigh. It really did ease the itching.

She decided to shower for an hour, just long enough for the punishment to end.

Perfect.

She really was a clever girl.

But Xia Zhi had clearly been too optimistic. Once she adjusted to the water temperature, the itching swept over her entire body again.

Xia Zhi had no choice but to keep turning down the temperature. Within a few minutes, it was at its lowest setting, but even though she was shivering with cold, it still could not suppress the itching.

With no other option, Xia Zhi could only get dressed and come out. But as she was about to dress, she realized she had not brought any pajamas in.

Well...

There should be pajamas provided in the room, but she barely knew that damned pervert. She really felt too embarrassed to trouble him to fetch them for her.

At her wits' end, Xia Zhi could only give herself a quick toweling off and put the dress she had taken off back on.

She was dressed entirely in red today. Her dress was a conservative, long style that covered her down to her ankles, completely different from the miniskirts the body's original owner liked to wear.

That was also why the old madam had thought she seemed like a different person at first sight.

Xia Zhi walked out, scratching haphazardly at her face and body.

So itchy, so itchy, so itchy.

She was itching to death.

When Lu Heng walked in holding a back scratcher, what greeted him was a "female monkey" scratching frantically and jumping up and down, without a shred of dignity.

He watched silently for a while. Slowly, a hint of amusement appeared in his usually emotionless dark eyes.