Forced to Act out a Strange Script with a Rival - Chapter 23

Appearing in her mind once again was…

Si Xiaoxiao’s breathing was rapid and erratic, her eyes bloodshot, as if flames were scorching within them.

She raised the back of her hand and scrubbed her lips with a near-ferocious force. The rough fabric scraped across her tender lips, causing a stinging pain and leaving the skin a bizarre, humiliated, and bruised crimson, like a crushed flower petal.

Those bright eyes, always brimming with sunshine and exuberance, were now like dust-covered jewels, clearly reflecting the shame and indignation of being violated, and a thread of vulnerability, deep beneath the moisture, that she hadn’t even noticed herself.

Like a cornered, bristling beast, though terrified and helpless to the extreme, she still desperately clung to the warden’s pretense.

She even subconsciously raised the soft whip in her hand, the symbol of punishment. The tip of the whip trembled slightly in the air but was slow to fall. The cold touch of the whip stung her palm. She was not the sadistic, perverted warden after all; she was Si Xiaoxiao. In her eyes, one could find a weakness and accusation that did not belong to the warden, like a silent questioning.

Finally, all the pretense and defiance collapsed under the impact of the surging, uncontrollable emotion.

Even knowing it would “break the character,” even knowing it was untimely, she had to ask for an explanation!

Si Xiaoxiao’s red-rimmed eyes locked onto Li Ting, her voice trembling slightly from excitement and suppressed tears, yet carrying a solemnity bordering on a desperate, last-ditch effort: “Why did you kiss me?”

This accusation abruptly struck Li Ting. The seriousness in Si Xiaoxiao’s eyes, that almost pious obstinacy in seeking an answer, made Li Ting’s heart suddenly clench. For a moment, it was difficult to discern the true meaning behind it.

“I did it for the mission.”

Li Ting’s tone carried hesitation—a hesitation that did not belong to the role of a prisoner.

Her character had broken as well.

Facing this question, she didn’t know how to answer, nor did she know if her current reply was from her heart or merely to escape a certain outcome.

The sense of effortless control she originally possessed suddenly became… shaky the moment she was questioned.

A strange, scorching emotion unexpectedly surged from a forgotten corner of her heart, instantly sweeping over her calm and self-possessed nerves.

The whole world seemed to tilt and distort.

A harsh, piercing, hair-raising alarm sounded wildly in both their minds without warning, and an ominous crimson light even flashed across their retinas.

Li Ting looked at Si Xiaoxiao’s lips, so close she could almost touch them, and at the moist eyes that reflected her own image.

The mission had failed—

The world spun, and the system’s mechanical voice in her mind became sharp; this world began to fall apart.

[Due to the character collapse of both main actors, the objective for this world has failed!! Returning to the real world now. Both hosts must accept punishment!!! The (instance/scenario) must be re-attempted three days later.]

The cold, mechanical voice, like a final judgment hammer, struck down with unyielding cruelty!

The sky was oppressively weighed down by dark clouds. Large raindrops hammered densely onto the small lifeboat, making a rattling sound and beating against the confined space.

This scene instantly pulled Li Ting from the taboo-filled interrogation room back to reality.

They had encountered the high tide and survived a life-and-death struggle. In the cramped lifeboat, they finally called a truce, relying on each other, their relationship no longer as strained as before.

The heavy weight on her shoulder reminded Li Ting of her proximity to the person beside her.

However, in an instant, that warmth vanished.

Li Ting abruptly turned her head, only to see Si Xiaoxiao moving away with astonishing speed, as if scalded by a branding iron, hard-pulling a distance of nearly half a person’s width within the narrow boat cabin.

She was completely curled up, her shoulders tightly braced, exuding a chilly aloofness. Rain had soaked her hair, plastering it to her pale cheeks. Her expression was displeased, and her eyes, which were always full of laughter and bright as the blazing sun, were now sealed by a layer of frost.

In those eyes churned naked anger, the humiliation of being violated, and a profound disappointment and disgust, as if she had been stabbed by the person she trusted most.

It was exactly the same as that moment.

“Si Xiaoxiao, I…”

Li Ting opened her mouth, intending to discuss the system mission and related matters with her, but the words all jammed in her throat when her gaze met the curious glances from the rescue team members.

But Si Xiaoxiao’s expression was as if she had suffered a monumental insult. She sneered coldly, then turned her gaze away with hatred.

She stared intently at the distant, surging waves, as if looking at Li Ting for one moment longer was a torment.

The relationship they had painstakingly mended had returned to square one—no, rather than square one, it had completely plummeted to freezing point.

The entire journey was silent, as if an invisible wall of ice had been erected between them. The cold, damp air was suffocatingly heavy.

From the dock to the hotel, they each occupied a corner of the car, clearly separated, reluctant even to exchange glances.

The rescue team members and staff were amazed; it was rare to see celebrities tear up their relationship so openly, especially since they would inevitably cross paths in the industry and might need each other’s help someday.

Perhaps out of a desire to compensate for the incident, the production crew booked the best hotel’s luxury suites for the two actresses.

The accompanying director offered the hotel room key card with a face full of smiles and flattery.

But due to limited rooms, everyone went their separate ways, leaving only Si Xiaoxiao and Li Ting.

The cold metal doors of the elevator slowly closed. In the confined space, only the two of them and the constantly jumping floor numbers remained.

The stifling silence stretched on. Seeing that their respective floors were about to arrive, Li Ting took a deep breath, breaking the awkward stillness. Her voice sounded somewhat abrupt in the enclosed space:

“Si Xiaoxiao, I’ll come over to see you later.”

The system was bound to make a comeback later, so she had to talk to Si Xiaoxiao.

Si Xiaoxiao’s reaction was unexpectedly calm.

She didn’t turn around, simply stared at the changing numbers, and answered faintly: “Fine.”

Her voice had no inflection, no anger, not even a ripple; it was hollow, like a programmed machine.

This extreme calmness and detachment made Li Ting feel more anxious than any fierce accusation.

The Si Xiaoxiao before her seemed to have lost her soul in Li Ting’s presence, thus losing her vibrancy.

“Just now, I apologize, I…” Li Ting carefully chose her words. She contemplated the reason for Si Xiaoxiao’s sudden calmness, her intuition telling her that this was not a good sign.

Some girls might indeed feel repulsed by being kissed unexpectedly by someone of the same sex.

And they had had conflicts before.

“Your mission was to kiss me?” Si Xiaoxiao raised her eyes, scrutinizing her through the blurred reflection in the elevator.

Li Ting nodded. She thought that, as an actress, making sacrifices for a script and filming a kiss scene was quite normal, wasn’t it?

It was only because she was the object that the other party showed such disgust.

An extremely light, utterly mocking and knowing chuckle escaped Si Xiaoxiao’s lips: “So that’s it.”

The last glimmer of light in her eyes was extinguished, leaving only bottomless disappointment and exhaustion, thick enough to be suffocating.

“Just like that time again.”

Her voice was very soft, so soft that Li Ting had some difficulty hearing it clearly.

Just as Li Ting wanted to confirm what she was saying.

The next second.

All emotion drained from Si Xiaoxiao’s face like a receding tide, instantly switching to the impeccable, bright, and charming actress she was in front of the camera.

She put on a business smile that could be called utterly glamorous, the curve of her lips flawless, yet her eyes were a cold, desolate wilderness.

“Alright then.” Her tone was a little falsely cheerful: “Since Teacher Li has an ‘important mission’ to discuss late at night, then… see you tonight.”

The elevator door opened with a ding, having reached Si Xiaoxiao’s floor.

She stepped out without hesitation, her high heels making no sound on the thick carpet of the hallway.

Then, the elevator door slowly closed, as if separating two worlds.

After returning to her room, Li Ting felt a bit ill from the rain, so she decided to take a bath in the tub in the bathroom.

Warm water enveloped her tired body. The steaming vapor misted the bathroom mirror and blurred the boundary of reality. Li Ting sank deep into the large bathtub, trying to let the comfortable temperature drive away the coldness of the seawater and the exhaustion that had seeped into her bones.

The slight stuffiness and headache caused by the cold seemed to ease under the comfort of the hot water.

She closed her eyes, letting the ripples gently sway her body. Her taut nerves finally showed a sign of relaxing, and the injuries brought by the reefs to her knees and arms seemed insignificant.

However, this brief moment of tranquility was heartbreakingly fragile.

The moment she closed her eyes, the floodgates of her senses burst open.

That soft touch she had once felt came surging back like a tide.

And then, various images of Si Xiaoxiao began to pop up in her mind.

It was the Si Xiaoxiao who fell down covered in dirt in the mascot costume, who was spoiled and vibrant when demanding a change of clothes.

It was the Si Xiaoxiao who was tightly held in her arms during the high tide, soaked and trembling, her eyes full of panic and dependence.

It was the Si Xiaoxiao who stubbornly held on and acted awkwardly on the reef.

It was the Si Xiaoxiao from a time much, much earlier, who followed her, her eyes sparkling, saying, “Sister, pass the sickness on to me,” the one who was naive to the point of seeming foolish.

And finally, it was the Si Xiaoxiao frozen just before the elevator door closed, the one who wore a perfect smile but whose eyes were a frozen, desolate wilderness…

She was disliked again.

Li Ting suddenly opened her eyes, her breathing somewhat ragged.

She shook her head, splashing water everywhere, trying to shake off those memories, but this futile action seemed to open another layer of Pandora’s Box.

Appearing in her mind once again was the extremely close, red and slightly swollen lips that had been scrubbed raw.

It was the uniquely fragrant, unbelievably soft touch, and the surge of electric current that instantly spread through her limbs during the brief intertwining of their lips.

“Ugh!” Li Ting let out a muffled groan of pain, her hands tightly gripping the edge of the bathtub, her knuckles turning white from the force.

An indescribable panic seized her mind. She felt as if she were standing on the edge of a cliff, with a bottomless abyss below her feet.

Just then—

[Buzz… Commencing punishment for Host Li Ting now!]

The cold, mechanical voice pierced her brain like an ice pick without warning!

Li Ting was startled!

[Punishment Content: Spiritual Symbiosis.]

Binding Target: Si Xiaoxiao.

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