Forced to Act out a Strange Script with a Rival - Chapter 11

“Where is this?”

After the blinding white light disappeared, Si Xiaoxiao slowly opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings.

The painted glass of the cathedral dome had long faded. Moonlight leaked through the cracked eye socket of the weathered statue of the Virgin Mary, like a pale judgment.

The shrine was covered in mold, and twelve marble statues of angels held broken candelabra. Roses dropped softly from the decayed window frames.

Between the collapsed shrine and the corroded stained-glass windows, she saw her current reflection in a shard of mirror amidst the ruins on the ground.

Her pure white holy robe was reflected with flowing gold edges by the candlelight. The holy robe, made of twelve layers of jiaoxiao (mermaid silk) gauze, looked like a cascade of snow from afar, but up close, one could glimpse dark gold thorn patterns woven into every crease.

The waist seal was a star-and-moon dial carved from a single piece of ruby, and the crown of thorns, crafted from pure silver, was also set with a dazzling ruby.

The flowing, silver moonlight poured down, and the ruined walls kissed the gold patterns on her robe’s hem, yet failed to defile an ounce of her awe-inspiring holy radiance. It was as if all the festering miracles were there to offer tribute to this inviolable, solitary light.

This outfit…

It probably costs more than the heroine’s gold-brocade robe in “Phoenixes Long for Each Other”…

Her fingertips brushed the dark pattern on the cuff, and Si Xiaoxiao’s cat-like pupils constricted slightly. She could even imagine the costume designer’s heartbroken expression.

This kind of jiaoxiao gauze, woven using ancient reeling techniques, cost five figures a day to rent at the film studio! Even A-list celebrities would feel the pinch!

And without connections, you couldn’t even rent it!

It’s too extravagant!

As a well-known beautiful vase in the entertainment industry, Si Xiaoxiao had a well-known little hobby.

She loved to collect the costumes of the roles she played. Often, for Si Xiaoxiao, the costume designer was a more crucial factor in assessing a drama than the quality of the script.

As soon as filming wrapped, regardless of whether the role was big or small, she would proactively approach the costume designer, spending a large sum of money to collect her favorite one or two sets of makeup and styling from the role.

She loved using the camera to record her most beautiful moments. Her anti-fans could criticize everything about Si Xiaoxiao, but they could never fault her appearance.

Actually, the system’s succubus outfit in the last world was quite nice, too—just a little embarrassing. If she could collect that as well, it would be great.

Perhaps it was because Si Xiaoxiao had been thinking about the System that the strange electronic voice suddenly sounded in her mind.

[The script role enabled this time is: The Saintess and the Blasphemer]

[The Divine Court is in decline, and the Eight Desolate Lands have been entirely swallowed by heretical paths. Yet, the Divine Gaze is upon you; the prophecy of the Holy Scripture has already inscribed your name—as evidenced by the Silver Crown of Oath, you shall wield the Hammer of Divine Punishment to cast down judgment. Though the star-light dims, the Throne of Thorns shall forever burn, cleansing the sin of blasphemy. Though the firmament is split, an unextinguished Holy Flame shall exist, consuming the darkness to testify to the Divine Radiance.]

???

Si Xiaoxiao frowned, her round cat eyes widening abruptly. The System actually designed a story background this time?

Huh? I’m playing the Saintess?? Are you kidding me?!

It was a well-known fact that Si Xiaoxiao was a vibrant, beautiful vase type.

Due to image restrictions, most of the roles given to her were characters with a “red rose” attribute.

However, she had previously challenged the role of a bright and virtuous senior disciple in a certain cultivation sect.

Yet, as soon as the drama aired, she was ridiculed, with people commenting that with a senior disciple like her, the sect must be the ‘Joyful Union Sect.’

Si Xiaoxiao had never taken on such roles again since then.

Saintess and Blasphemer?

But if she was the Saintess, then who was the Blasphemer?

Is it still Li Ting?

Si Xiaoxiao recalled the memory before she lost consciousness; it was still her and Li Ting.

It seemed the trigger for the transmigration was that they had been arguing.

Could it be a coincidence?

Or perhaps…

The straightforward Si Xiaoxiao wasn’t like Li Ting, whose mind was full of twists and turns. For things she didn’t understand, she chose to ask directly.

“System, are you there? Do I only transmigrate and enter your script whenever Li Ting and I argue?”

Si Xiaoxiao wasn’t stupid; she just usually thought less and, coupled with her impulsive personality, made her appear somewhat foolish.

But in fact, some of her instincts were as sharp as a small animal’s.

“That is one way to understand it. You should now focus on the task at hand.”

“Task? Am I supposed to play the Saintess this time? What does a Saintess do? Pray??” Si Xiaoxiao asked again.

Before the System could speak again, the dilapidated church doors were pushed open, and a figure in a black robe slowly walked in.

Si Xiaoxiao subconsciously gripped the cuff of her holy robe, watching the person warily.

The moonlight stretched the shadow of the black-robed person long, like a hidden spider, creeping and winding its way up the hem of her gold-patterned robe.

As a delicate girl, naturally, she would instinctively feel afraid when a figure who looked like a villain abruptly appeared in such a ruined place.

The black-robed person had their hood pulled very low, exposing only a pale lower jaw and bright red lips.

She wasn’t wearing shoes; her fair feet trod on the debris-strewn floor, an dark silver chain wrapped around her slender ankle, with a shattered cross dangling from the end of the chain, making a faint, fragmented sound as she walked.

“The Blasphemer has appeared.” Just then, the System’s voice suddenly rang out: “Please initiate the Holy Flame Judgment.”

“What is the Holy Flame? I haven’t heard of this! At least give me a lighter!!”

Si Xiaoxiao frantically called out to the System in her mind.

The riddle-speaking System started playing mute at this moment.

The black-robed person stopped ten paces away from her. Apparently seeing Si Xiaoxiao’s current panic, she chuckled softly and lifted her hand to push back her hood.

Silver hair cascaded like moonlight, and Li Ting’s cool, clear face emerged from the shadows, but the corner of her eye was stained with an unnatural, dark red pattern, like a dried bloodstain. A black iron collar clasped her neck, with the other end of the chain wrapped around her wrist. The person was like a fierce beast ready to pounce.

She looked so aggressive, yet her lips curled politely into a smile as she said, “Hello, Saintess.”

“It’s you again!” Si Xiaoxiao stepped back a half step. She stared at the collar around Li Ting’s neck and suddenly realized—it’s Li Ting’s turn to be the dog this time?

The System is so fair!

Evidently, she still harbored resentment over having to be the dog for her arch-nemesis.

“My esteemed Saintess, I presume you are not unfamiliar with me.”

Li Ting tugged at the choker around her neck, her movements unhurried and very elegant.

“What are you here for?” Si Xiaoxiao watched Li Ting with utmost vigilance.

“A Blasphemer, naturally, is here to blaspheme.” Li Ting smiled slightly, announcing her purpose with great arrogance.

“Hmph, in that case, allow me to judge your sin!” Si Xiaoxiao smiled smugly, grabbing the rusty candelabrum next to the shrine. Her fingertips suddenly exerted force, making the rusty candelabrum spin beautifully in her palm before she flipped her wrist and pointed it at Li Ting: “Behold, the Holy Flame Judgment!?”

As her words fell, the small flame on the candelabrum seemed to be injected with fuel. The moment the flame burst from the wick, the air produced a shivering sound like tearing silk.

Initially, the dark amber flame curled into a sphere, rolling in the void like liquid metal, and then seven layers of flame petals burst from its core.

Si Xiaoxiao herself hadn’t expected such a large flame to appear just from a casual remark.

She had never witnessed such a spectacle either, and instinctively, her hand trembled. The flame immediately deviated from its course, and the candelabrum fell to the ground.

“Why didn’t you dodge at all? Do you want to die that badly?” Si Xiaoxiao suddenly looked up and questioned her.

As someone who was almost burned, Li Ting wasn’t scared at all. Instead, she retorted, “It seems the Saintess is not in good health, your hands are shaking so much.”

Si Xiaoxiao frowned fiercely, extremely dissatisfied with Li Ting’s current composure. She rolled her eyes and snapped, “Get lost.”

“What is the task the System gave you?”

“It seems to be… Holy Flame Judgment?”

Li Ting’s black eyes were like an abyss, harboring a kind of madness: “Does the System want you to kill me?”

“It shouldn’t go as far as killing…” Si Xiaoxiao mumbled, frantically calling the System in her mind.

From the Saintess’s perspective, facing a Blasphemer, it truly should be a case of killing them quickly.

But she wasn’t a Saintess, and Li Ting wasn’t a Blasphemer.

“Do you remember the first world? The System wanted to collect our intimacy level. Why is it releasing a task like this now?” Li Ting prompted Si Xiaoxiao to think.

Indeed, and the System’s trigger mechanism was very strange; as long as they argued, they would be locked in a small, dark room to have some “intimacy.” In other words, if she didn’t want to be locked in the small, dark room, she had to get along harmoniously with Li Ting.

The System indicated that the keywords for this world were Blasphemy, Mutual Antagonism, and Crematorium (a trope for an emotionally painful redemption arc).

Perhaps, the so-called Holy Flame Judgment was also a kind of kink?

“Do you want to know what my task is?” Li Ting was still smiling, but looked very dangerous. Her pale hand reached into her black robe, and a sharp dagger was grasped in her palm.

Si Xiaoxiao suddenly felt her scalp tingle under Li Ting’s gaze.

The Saintess and the Blasphemer belong to two different factions. If her task was to judge the Blasphemer with fire…

“You want to kill me too?” Si Xiaoxiao’s animal-like intuition made her blurt out the question.

Li Ting just gave a half-smile, neither confirming nor denying, the dagger in her hand glinting in the moonlight.

It was widely known that people die when burned, and people would probably also die if stabbed in the heart with a dagger! Even if it wasn’t real death, it would hurt a lot!

Si Xiaoxiao immediately got goosebumps: “Hey, Li Ting, don’t do anything stupid! People die when they’re killed!”

“If I were to kill you, what choice would you make?” Li Ting asked a question, ignoring her.

Si Xiaoxiao’s brain spun rapidly. If the System truly forced them into a situation of mutual killing, then…

“Stop testing me, Li Ting.”

She didn’t make any overly saintly statement about killing or not killing, but simply saw through Li Ting’s essence.

Although Si Xiaoxiao usually appeared to be an impulsive fool, she was just lazy and didn’t like to overthink everything. In certain aspects, her intuition was quite formidable.

A person who truly wants to kill you wouldn’t ask so many questions.

The seemingly dangerous Li Ting shook her head, a gentle and helpless smile appearing on her face. The chilling, bone-piercing coldness instantly softened: “You trust me so much.”

“Who said I trust you! I trust the System!” Si Xiaoxiao countered haughtily.

She absolutely didn’t want to admit that the moment she saw her arch-nemesis appear, her heart settled down.

“If next time it’s not me with you, you might…”

Si Xiaoxiao proudly cut her off: “If it’s not you, I’ll be happier!”

“Alright then.” Li Ting slid the dagger back into her waistband and said, “Since you’ve decided to abandon your mission, let’s talk about mine.”

“I never said I gave up!” Si Xiaoxiao remained stubborn, but she was genuinely curious about Li Ting’s task: “What is your task?”

“A Blasphemer, naturally, is to blaspheme,” Li Ting began, “And you are the spokesperson of the Divine, which means, the System commands me to desecrate you.”

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