Forced to Act out a Strange Script with a Rival - Chapter 121

“The price is… that you must live happily.”

“You… Li Ting? What are you doing?!” Si Xiaoxiao finally reacted, her voice laced with astonishment and a flicker of panic she hadn’t even noticed herself.

Li Ting’s movements stiffened, but she didn’t look back. Her shoulders trembled slightly, and her voice was so low it was almost inaudible, yet it carried a desperate sense of finality:

“Didn’t you say… as long as I ‘liked’ you… it would be enough?”

“Then—then why are you taking off your clothes? To show me the style of the outfit?” Si Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened, and she spoke in a frantic rush, her voice nearly cracking under the strain of her questioning: “Do I like it or not?!”

Facing Si Xiaoxiao’s obvious avoidance, Li Ting felt only humiliation. Her picturesque eyes lowered, her body shivering, as she bluntly exposed the nature of the transaction: “Isn’t this what you meant? I use my body in exchange for your intervention.”

Si Xiaoxiao was scared out of her wits. This girl was a minor; she wasn’t some kind of pervert!!

A rush of blood surged to her head. She scrambled to explain, her words tumbling out like beans from a jar, terrified that a second’s delay would cause an irreversible misunderstanding: “No! I wanted you to like me, but I didn’t mean that! I meant the willing kind! No, not like this! Oh, for heaven’s sake!”

The more she spoke, the messier it became. Her cheeks flushed uncontrollably, and even the tips of her ears burned. Willing kind?! What on earth was she saying!

Li Ting’s movements halted again at this incoherent explanation. She let out a sneer, a sound filled with self-mockery and disbelief. Thinking Si Xiaoxiao was still feigning innocence, she responded with a calm, reckless abandon: “I am willing. Using my body to avenge my Master—it’s not a losing trade.”

“!!!” Si Xiaoxiao jumped even higher. Her focus had shifted entirely; a strange, intense jealousy mixed with anger and a sense of sacrilege made her scream at the top of her lungs: “I! DO NOT! ALLOW IT!!”

What was going on! How could this be considered “willing”?! She still has no internal power! So she doesn’t like me at all!! This “willingness” she’s talking about is all wrong! It makes me look like some kind of tyrant!!

Besides! Li Ting! How dare you! How dare you offer to give yourself up for another woman!! Give up what?!

Absolutely not allowed!!

A nearly boorish, fiercely possessive thought roared from the depths of her heart, uncontrolled! Even she was startled by the sudden intensity of her own emotions.

Seeing Si Xiaoxiao’s extreme reaction—the jumping, the screaming, the vivid array of expressions ranging from fury to… grievance?—Li Ting was genuinely puzzled. The sense of humiliation was replaced by a massive wave of confusion.

Why does it feel like… Si Xiaoxiao looks more enraged and agitated than I do, and I’m the one being “offended”?

Could it be… I really misunderstood?

Once that thought surfaced, it wound around her heart like a vine.

She clutched her loosened collar, making no further move. Instead, she lifted her eyes—misty with tears and bewilderment—to confirm once more, her voice carrying a trace of caution she didn’t realize she had: “Then… are you willing to kill for me?”

Si Xiaoxiao lectured her with righteous indignation: “Acknowledge your own grudges! Avenge them yourself! You’re so young—don’t spend your days thinking about ‘offering yourself,’ do you hear me?”

“But… I can’t kill them…” Li Ting sank into a deep sense of powerlessness. Even her most respected Master was no match for them and had fallen into their trap. How could she possibly defeat them?

Now, the only one potentially capable was Si Xiaoxiao, who could defeat her Master…

“You had the courage to come and assassinate me, so why don’t you have the courage to kill those people?!” Si Xiaoxiao snapped, trying to correct the young girl’s skewed mindset.

“I… I…” Li Ting fell silent. Back then, she had come to assassinate Si Xiaoxiao with a death wish. Her heart had been filled only with the resolve to avenge her Master and an indifference toward her own fate; she had never truly expected to succeed.

She had simply thought to use her life to repay her Master’s mountain-like kindness, seeking peace of mind.

But now, having learned from Su Linglong that her Master might not have fallen by choice, the embers of hope for revenge had been reignited. Moreover, she knew that if it were that Master, she would never want Li Ting to degrade herself like this… Therefore, she didn’t want to die anymore. She wanted to live, to see her enemies brought to justice with her own eyes!

Yet, because of this, she felt her own insignificance and weakness even more acutely.

The gap between her immense desire and reality forced her to cast aside all pride and dignity. She spoke with utter humility, her voice as light as a sigh: “I know my power is limited. So, I sincerely implore you to help me. I will do anything you ask, even if it means giving up my body—I only ask that you strike that one blow with your sword.”

Seeing Li Ting reduced to such humility, Si Xiaoxiao felt a pang of pity. She sighed inwardly and, with a pained expression, began to fabricate a wild story: “It’s a rule in the Si family—we can only risk our lives for one person in a lifetime, and that is our lover. My sword is the ‘Sword of Love’; I can’t just help people willy-nilly.”

Li Ting obviously didn’t buy it. She questioned: “Then what about the people you killed before?”

Si Xiaoxiao replied with total nonsense: “Oh, my current lover is myself. I strike for myself. Is there a problem?!”

This display of forced logic and bizarre reasoning left Li Ting speechless for a moment. Looking at Si Xiaoxiao’s willful “I am the law” attitude, she suddenly felt it was somewhat…

…Amusing?

The heavy despair in her heart seemed to be lightened, if only slightly, by this absurd conversation.

“Forget it.” Li Ting let out a self-deprecating laugh, one filled with heavy exhaustion and a flicker of relief. She slumped onto the couch, exhaling a long breath. “Once the one-month deadline is up, I’ll do it myself.”

Si Xiaoxiao scratched her head. Ultimately, she still wanted those favorability points, so she spoke up: “Don’t be in such a hurry! Of course I have my own plan. I’ll help you get your revenge!”

“Really?” Li Ting snapped her head up. Her eyes, which had grown dim, were like a frozen pond suddenly struck by a spark—instantly igniting with a brilliant light. She could hardly believe her ears. With a cautious, incredulous joy, she asked tentatively, “Can I… truly believe you?”

Si Xiaoxiao patted her chest, guaranteeing: “You bet!”

“Then… what is the price?” As the dawn of hope broke again, Li Ting felt her heart fill with a massive, aching, yet warm emotion. She suppressed her swirling thoughts and asked softly.

Seeing her cautious expression, Si Xiaoxiao’s heart softened. With a smile as bright as a flower and eyes clear and firm, she said word for word:

“The price is… that you must live happily!”

You must live happily.

Those six words were like warm sunlight, unexpectedly shining into the lake of Li Ting’s heart, which had been frozen for so long.

There was no scheme, no transaction, and none of the conditions she had imagined.

It was just such a simple, yet so… heavy and precious wish. It was also a blessing.

Li Ting’s eyes flickered violently. Various dark and obscure emotions fermented and collided wildly in her heart. She felt something in her chest breaking through the soil with a searing heat, nearly scorching her soul.

She looked at Si Xiaoxiao’s face, so close at hand, with its warm smile. In those eyes, there was only a vast expanse of honest sincerity and… a light that brought peace of mind.

For once, the repressed childishness belonging to a teenage girl quietly surfaced within her.

She pursed her lips slightly, and then, with a solemnity bordering on the sacred, she reached out her slender, slightly cool pinky finger toward Si Xiaoxiao.

“Let’s… pinky swear!” Her voice was light but carried an unquestionable earnestness. Deep in her eyes, there was a glimmer of dependence and anticipation she hadn’t even noticed herself.

Si Xiaoxiao, of course, responded without hesitation, looking up with a crisp: “Okay!”

She also extended her own pinky and, with unwavering determination, hooked it around Li Ting’s cool fingertip.

The moment their fingers touched, a strange, scalding current seemed to surge through Li Ting’s entire body along the hooked joints!

That temperature was far more intense than the previous humiliation and despair; it was so hot it made her heart tremble, and her fingertips couldn’t help but curl slightly.

An indescribable mix of sourness and warmth rushed to her nose. She could barely stop herself from curling her lips into a genuine, relieved smile.

However, the long-cultivated guardedness and composure forced her to pull her smile back just as it was about to bloom. Only her slightly trembling fingertips and her suddenly brightened eyes betrayed the turmoil within.

She turned her head slightly, trying to hide the fluctuation of her emotions. Her face clouded with worry as she brought the conversation back to reality, though her voice was much softer than before: “But… that man is, after all, a Prince. Behind him is the entire Imperial Court… Even if we deal with the experts by his side, the Court’s side…”

Si Xiaoxiao let out a disdainful “Tch,” her entire being radiating a wild aura of one who feared nothing in heaven or earth. She withdrew her hooked finger and casually patted Li Ting on the shoulder, her tone arrogant.

“What’s a Prince! He’s not the Emperor!” She tilted her chin up, her gaze haughty. “Even if he were the Emperor, isn’t his mother still above him? Isn’t the Empress Dowager a woman? Don’t worry!”

She leaned closer to Li Ting, laughing with a bold confidence that seemed capable of dispelling all the gloom in the world: “There are always women standing on our side!”

“There are always…?”

Li Ting repeated the words somewhat blankly. She raised her eyes, staring dazed at Si Xiaoxiao so close to her. Under the candlelight, the silhouette of Si Xiaoxiao’s face seemed plated with a warm golden edge, and those glowing eyes burned with an unyielding flame and firm conviction.

She felt that the Si Xiaoxiao speaking at this moment was shrouded in a halo, incredibly dazzling and… incredibly reassuring.

Suddenly, Si Xiaoxiao asked in a raspy voice: “By the way, Xiao Li, do you feel like this room is getting hotter and hotter?”

Hot?

Li Ting frowned. She didn’t feel that way at all. So, she looked up at Si Xiaoxiao, only to see her cheeks suddenly flushing red, her eyes gradually becoming glazed and watery.

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