Did the Top-Ranked Girl Get Exposed Today? [HoloVerse] - Chapter 27

[Guild Chat – Returning Home Guild]: Player [Xiaoxiao Yue] has successfully joined the guild! Current guild members: 200/200 (full).

[Vice Guild Leader] Danhuang Liuxinbao: Welcome, welcome! @Xiaoxiao Yue.

[Right Protector] Xian Yun: Welcome, welcome! @Xiaoxiao Yue.

[Left Protector] Wang Mo: Welcome, welcome! @Xiaoxiao Yue.

[Guild Member] Yumi Chang: Welcome, welcome! @Xiaoxiao Yue.

[Guild Member] Xiaoxiao Yue: Thank you, everyone.

[Guild Member] Jueshi Mei: Welcome, welcome! @Xiaoxiao Yue.

[Guild Member] Fei Zhang: Welcome, welcome! @Xiaoxiao Yue.

Feng Xiaoxiao’s message was quickly buried as the Returning Home guild members fully immersed themselves in their enthusiastic welcomes.

She found it amusing and closed the chat channel to focus on watching Tian Ci dash through the rain. But before she could run far, she was intercepted by people sent by her mother and “politely” escorted back to the estate.

So she ended up following Tian Ci, ready to spectate and enjoy the drama.

However, she hadn’t gone far before two other people caught her attention.

“Can you please stop following me?”

Yumi Chang spoke in a gentle, helpless tone.

She walked ahead of Si Nian on the bustling streets of Shengjing City. Behind her, the woman sat in a palanquin carried by six NPCs, adorned with elegant red tassels and fragrant sachets hanging from its four corners.

Two maids flanked the procession, scattering flower petals along the way.

Yumi Chang, dressed in the plain attire of someone who had just left the beginner village, looked increasingly shabby and even somewhat pitiful next to Si Nian’s luxurious robes.

Walking ahead of the woman, she resembled a servant leading the way for a young lady, drawing curious stares from players on the street.

Si Nian herself paid no mind to the curious, probing, or bewildered glances.

She lounged lazily on the soft cushions of the palanquin, patted the empty space beside her, and smiled wordlessly at Yumi Chang with crescent-shaped eyes.

Si Nian’s intention was clear: either Yumi Chang could let her follow ostentatiously like this, or she could join her in the palanquin and they could parade together just as conspicuously.

Yumi Chang wanted neither.

She quickened her pace, and the NPCs carrying the palanquin matched her speed, maintaining a constant, neither-too-close-nor-too-far distance between them.

Frustrated, Yumi Chang glanced back and met the woman’s smiling gaze again.

Yumi Chang was genuinely at a loss. “Miss, it hasn’t been long since we dissolved our bond and I sold my account. No one else knows I’m the one who reincarnated as Wu Shixian…”

“If you keep following me so blatantly, with all these players on the street taking pictures and posting them, are you trying to cement your reputation as a fickle and flirtatious person?”

Si Nian disdainfully toyed with an object in her hand. “Do I look like I care what others say? But speaking of dissolving our bond…”

She sat up straight and smiled at Yumi Chang, who suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and a sense of foreboding.

“I haven’t settled the score with you yet.”

Yumi Chang offered an ingratiating smile. “Didn’t we agree not long ago? I wouldn’t hold your misleading photos against you, and you wouldn’t hold my impulsive account change against me…”

Under Si Nian’s dangerous gaze, her voice grew softer and her confidence waned.

“My misleading photos?”

Si Nian’s eyes turned perilous as she stepped down from the palanquin and approached Yumi Chang. The latter, intimidated by her presence, retreated step by step until her back hit a cold wall, nowhere to run, nowhere to retreat.

Yumi Chang didn’t dare look at her face, lowering her head and speaking softly, “Actually, it’s not exactly catfishing, but there is a difference between your real-life face and your in-game face…”

“If you like long hair, I can start growing it out now, but-”

Si Nian lifted her lowered head, leaning close to Yumi Chang’s lips, her words muffled: “You have to stay with me, stay with me until my hair grows long…”

Just as their lips were about to touch, a transparent barrier appeared, keeping them a few centimeters apart, accompanied by a system warning sound.

[System Alert] Red card warning! “World” game prohibits any form of explicit content! Players must consciously maintain distance from each other and avoid exceeding the safe proximity limit!

Yumi Chang: “………”

She had even closed her eyes, and then the system pulled this stunt?

Si Nian’s expression was even darker than hers.

This was the downside of the game, hugging or holding hands was the system’s maximum tolerance. Anything further was out of the question.

Lost in thought, she glanced down at the woman slumped in her arms. Maybe they could schedule another meetup outside the game.

But for now, she had something more urgent to attend to.

“What?! You want us to form a bond again?”

Yumi Chang touched her ear, unable to believe it.

“You don’t want to?” Si Nian couldn’t help but frown, her lotus-like beautiful eyes and crimson lips now resembling a delicate flower shedding tears, her stunning face tinged with sorrow.

Her tone was dejected: “I knew it. Even though you said you weren’t angry with me, deep down, you still resent me…”

Her voice trembled slightly, tears nearly welling up in the corners of her eyes.

Yumi Chang just watched her calmly. “If you have the guts, actually cry those tears.”

Seeing that her tactic wasn’t working, Si Nian instantly switched expressions, fiercely pinning Yumi Chang against the wall: “Enough nonsense. I’m giving you two choices: either obediently form a bond with me, or I’ll obediently form a bond with you!”

Yumi Chang fell silent.

“What’s the difference between those two options?”

The other person merely raised an eyebrow lightly: “The difference between who’s on top and who’s on the bottom.”

Yumi Chang fell even deeper into silence.

“Miss, this isn’t an uninhabited area.”

“What do you think?” Si Nian asked with great interest, already planning their future: “How about you take Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and I’ll take Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays? We can rest on Sundays…”

Yumi Chang blushed furiously, her earlobes turning crimson, the heat on her face almost enough to boil water and poach an egg.

She reached out and covered Si Nian’s chattering lips: “Miss! This isn’t an uninhabited area!”

“Wha’ are you talkin’ ’bout?”

Si Nian showed no fear, pulling Yumi Chang’s hands away and holding them firmly: “If you want to always be the bottom, that’s fine too.”

“Don’t make it sound like you’re doing me a huge favor!”

Yumi Chang was exasperated, covering her face in frustration: “Actually, I’m more of a Platonic type…”

“I get it,” Si Nian nodded. “The kind of Platonic where you don’t have kids, right?”

“That’s being childfree by choice. I told you to read more books, you illiterate.”

“How do you know I don’t usually read books?”

“Then tell me, what books do you usually read?”

“The 36 Stratagems of Love,” Si Nian said seriously. “I’ve learned a lot from that book.”

“Anything else?”

“The Thousand Tricks of a Beauty, How to Keep a Woman’s Heart, The Coquette’s Best Fate, and…”

“And what else?”

Feng Xiaoxiao had just noted down half of what was said when Si Nian fell silent. Anxious, she poked her head out from behind Frostmoon Fox’s nine tails, eager to seek guidance from the master in this field, Si Nian. “What else?”

Si Nian wore a faint, ambiguous smile.

Yumi Chang stared wide-eyed, unwilling to accept her fate.

Clutching at her last shred of hope, she asked, “When did you get here?”

“I’ve been here all along,” Feng Xiaoxiao shrugged. “You two just took my best viewing spot.”

Her tone was accusatory, so Si Nian softened her voice to placate her. “Little sister, since you’ve been watching for so long, why not let it slide that we took your spot?”

Feng Xiaoxiao nodded. “You really are impressive. Just hearing you speak to me makes me happy, and my heart feels sweet.”

Si Nian smiled even more brightly, her tone modest. “It’s all knowledge I’ve learned from books.”

Holding paper and a brush, Feng Xiaoxiao’s curiosity was piqued, and she was eager to learn. “Please teach me!”

Si Nian cleared her throat. “Come closer, and I’ll explain it to you slowly…”

The two of them went back and forth, asking and answering questions, completely forgetting about Yumi Chang.

For a moment, Yumi Chang didn’t know whether to feel relieved or blush at the thought of Feng Xiaoxiao overhearing her interaction with Si Nian.

With nothing else to do, she simply climbed up onto the roof beam to observe the progress of her special quest.

Just as Feng Xiaoxiao had said, it was an excellent vantage point, hard to spot by the patrolling NPCs in the estate and offering an unobstructed view of everything happening in Tian Ci Courtyard.

Tian Ci, drenched and weeping pitifully, was throwing a fit, insisting on going to find Hua Yue. Her exasperated mother slapped her on the head, and Tian Ci, already dizzy, now saw stars.

If it weren’t for knowing that Tian Ci usually enjoyed hunting and horseback riding, Yumi Chang suspected her mother’s slap alone could have knocked her out.

A mother’s love is as solid as a mountain!

Yumi Chang clicked her tongue in amazement.

After the slap, Tian Ci quieted down, sitting silently with a feverish flush on her cheeks.

She seemed delirious from the fever, and no matter who approached, she would only say, “I want Hua Yue.”

Hearing that Tian Ci had fallen ill, Lin Lang hurried over and sat quietly beside her, lowering her gaze to ask, “Are you still lucid?”

“I want Hua Yue.”

“What a foolish question I’m asking,” Lin Lang shook her head. “You must be completely feverish.”

“I want Hua Yue.”

“I’ll come see you again when you’re better.”

“I want Hua Yue.”

…

Lin Lang reached out and gently touched Tian Ci’s face, feeling the scalding heat. “Do you want Hua Yue?”

Feeling the cool touch on her face, Tian Ci instinctively grabbed the hand that brought her such comfort, nuzzling against it as she gazed blurrily at the person before her.

“They say people are vulnerable when they’re sick, easily revealing their deepest thoughts.”

Lin Lang slowly withdrew her hand from Tian Ci’s grasp. “If you want Hua Yue, then Lin Lang will leave.”

Tian Ci was bewildered; her muddled mind struggled to comprehend the situation. She instinctively grabbed the hand that refused to touch her again, pressing her face against it, savoring the cool comfort with a satisfied sigh.

Slowly, Lin Lang’s hand, chilled from rushing through the rain, warmed from Tian Ci’s feverish heat. She crouched down to meet Tian Ci’s gaze, studying her expression.

“Tell me,” she coaxed gently, “Hua Yue or Lin Lang?”

“Do you like Hua Yue or Lin Lang?”