(A beautiful picture of Ning Rongrong)
Curled up under the covers, Xiao Jue opened one eye.
"Whoa! Then couldn't I just sleep in every day? After sleeping in a hundred times, wouldn't my Sloth Points be full?"
System: [This is a beginner's benefit!!! The host will still need to recover Sloth Points from now on!]
Xiao Jue: "All right, all right."
System: [It's already noon! Get up and go recover the fragments!]
[You really are worthy of being chosen by me, the Original Sin System...]
[But aren't you a bit too lazy?!]
Xiao Jue rolled over and muttered, "What's the rush? Your fragments aren't going to run away."
Much later, when the sun was already shining on his butt, Xiao Jue finally crawled out of bed at a leisurely pace and stretched.
"Ah-comfortable!"
He yawned, rubbed his eyes, and began wondering where to go to recover fragments today.
Xiao Jue finally went out, and after only a few steps, he spotted Oscar running laps around the village.
His face was black and blue, and he was panting as he ran, looking for all the world like an old dog whose master had made him run as punishment.
Ning Rongrong was following behind him.
Ning Rongrong deliberately slowed down, looking around as she sneakily prepared to slip away down a side path.
Xiao Jue strode over and said with a grin, "Well, who's this? Trying to slack off?"
Ning Rongrong jumped in fright. When she turned and saw Xiao Jue, she quickly put her index finger to her lips. "Shh!"
Xiao Jue smiled and said, "So it's my benefactor, young lady Rongrong."
Ning Rongrong whispered, "Keep your voice down!"
Her eyes darted about as her cleverness kicked in.
She happened to want to go shopping in Suotuo City. If she brought Xiao Jue along and bought him some clothes and things, wouldn't she get another rebate?!
Ning Rongrong leaned closer to Xiao Jue and lowered her voice. "I want to go shopping in Suotuo City. Want to come?"
Xiao Jue raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't that make me your accomplice?"
Ning Rongrong giggled. "Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know. As long as neither of us tells, no one else will know~"
Xiao Jue shook his head. "Silly girl."
Ning Rongrong: "What? Why are you calling me names?!"
Xiao Jue pointed into the distance. "That guy Flender has been watching you from over there the whole time!"
Ning Rongrong folded her arms. "Huh?"
She looked around. "Where?"
Xiao Jue said, "His Martial Soul is an owl, so his eyesight is pretty good. He's probably somewhere up high, with the whole village in his field of vision."
Ning Rongrong stamped her feet in anger. "How sneaky! What a devious old bastard! Sigh... and here I was thinking of going shopping."
Xiao Jue smiled. "But I can help you this once. After all, you bought me a house."
Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up. "How?"
Without another word, Xiao Jue took Ning Rongrong's hand and plunged straight into the straw field beside them.
Ning Rongrong's face turned bright red in an instant. "Wh-what are you doing?!"
Her face burned and her heart pounded. Once they were inside the straw field, they were completely hidden from view outside.
Just like in those little books she had read: being pulled into a straw field and then doing... doing that kind of thing!
Xiao Jue really was handsome... Her imagination began to run wild.
Seeing the lovestruck expression on her face, Xiao Jue couldn't resist tapping her on the head. "What are you thinking about?"
Ning Rongrong hurriedly sucked her drool back in and wiped the corner of her mouth. "Ah, n-nothing!"
Just then, a blue light flashed over Xiao Jue's body.
Xiao Jue activated his Martial Soul-Belphegor, the Sin of Sloth!
A faint image of Belphegor appeared behind him, showing him asleep against a large pillow,
his eyes closed and his face utterly at ease, as though it would have nothing to do with him even if the sky fell.
After unlocking this Martial Soul earlier today, Xiao Jue had discovered one of the Sloth Martial Soul's basic abilities-it could create projections!
Blue light shone out like that of a projector, and a lifelike 3D image of Ning Rongrong appeared out of thin air.
Even the folds in the image's skirt were clearly visible. It looked exactly like the real person.
Ning Rongrong's eyes widened. "!!! Is this your Martial Soul? That's amazing!"
Xiao Jue raised an eyebrow proudly. "That's right!"
Curious, Ning Rongrong stepped forward and reached out to touch the identical image of herself, but her hand passed straight through it, touching nothing.
Xiao Jue explained, "It's only a projection, though. You can definitely spot the flaws up close, and it doesn't give off any Soul Power fluctuations. But..."
He paused, a mischievous smile curling his lips. "It should still be enough to fool Flender watching from far away, right?"
Ning Rongrong jumped up excitedly. "Hooray! Xiao Jue, now we can go shopping!"
Xiao Jue reminded her, "If Flender finds out, don't blame me."
Ning Rongrong patted her chest, looking unconcerned. "I won't, I won't! Even if he finds out, what can Flender do to me?!"
Xiao Jue set the projection in motion. "Ning Rongrong" moved her short little legs and continued running along the village road. Her posture and movements were no different from the real person's.
Ning Rongrong took Xiao Jue in the opposite direction.
Though her little hand was a little cool, it was smooth and soft, and now it was holding Xiao Jue's hand as well.
Feeling the softness in his palm, Xiao Jue was delighted.
On a bustling commercial street in Suotuo City.
Ning Rongrong led Xiao Jue from shop to shop like a happy little bird.
She had come with a mission today-to spend money on Xiao Jue!
For the cashback, she didn't even browse the women's clothes, heading straight for the men's section.
What's more, she visited only the most expensive shops. Gold-patterned brocade, heavenly silkworm silk robes-she put them straight on Xiao Jue without even looking at the prices.
Xiao Jue tried on a moon-white robe with a jade belt around his waist and stood before the mirror.
His figure and bearing made him look just like a young nobleman who had stepped out of a painting.
The shop assistant's eyes went wide, and she hurried to praise him. "Young master, that outfit suits you perfectly. You look so handsome!"
Ning Rongrong stood beside Xiao Jue and looked him up and down before nodding in satisfaction. "Mm, you really do look handsome! We'll buy it!"
With a "ding," the system notification sounded.
Ning Rongrong's heart blossomed with joy. More cashback!
Just then, a noblewoman shopping for clothes nearby looked at the two of them and said with a smile, "What a well-matched young couple. They're truly a match made in heaven~"
When Ning Rongrong heard that, her face turned red in a flash. Like a startled rabbit, she grabbed Xiao Jue and ran outside.
"Wh-who's a couple with him?!"
The two resumed shopping, going from one store to the next, from East Street to West Street, and from South Street to North Street.
Xiao Jue carried a huge pile of bags, all filled with things Ning Rongrong had bought for him.
Clothes, shoes, accessories, and even a folding fan with gold trim.
Xiao Jue's legs ached from exhaustion, and he couldn't help exclaiming, "Rongrong, you've walked just as far shopping as you would have running laps!"
Without even looking back, Ning Rongrong continued browsing clothes as she replied, "Really? I don't think so!"
Xiao Jue: "..."
Once a girl started shopping, her back stopped aching, her legs stopped hurting, and she could walk twenty li in the blink of an eye.
Just then, Xiao Jue's system popped up with a "ding"-