Forced to Act out a Strange Script with a Rival - Chapter 5

“Feeding progress reached 100%. Intimacy task complete. Returning to the real world.”

The icy electronic voice exploded in Si Xiaoxiao’s head without warning, making her eardrums buzz.

Unexpectedly, the system really allowed her to return to the real world after completing just one task.

It just… ended like that?

Si Xiaoxiao suddenly opened her heavy eyelids, her heart pounding wildly in her chest, almost shattering her ribs.

Instinctively, and with a trace of panic she hadn’t realized herself, she turned her head to look for Li Ting’s figure, wanting to know if everything that just happened was merely a delusion brought on by anger from her toxic netizen rival?

Li Ting was facing her in profile, the corner of her mouth slowly curving into an arc that could be called gentle.

Her red lips parted slightly, speaking a few words silently.

Si Xiaoxiao stared intently at her lips, trying to make out the words—

Immediately, a blinding white light swallowed her vision, and the “clack—” of gears came from a distance.

It was as if her soul had been forcibly dragged out of her body and shoved back in, and something had reset.

The dizziness receded like a tide, and the familiar mixed scent of foundation, hairspray, and perfume drilled into her nasal cavity.

Assistant Xiao Zhu’s face, etched with worry, suddenly filled her vision. The background was the common setting of a dressing room.

In the mirror, that annoying figure was sitting calmly and elegantly in front of the vanity mirror, as if the person who had just been panting with labored breaths, whose tail she had held in her teeth in that illusory space, was merely a crude projection.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Was everything just now a dream?

Si Xiaoxiao unconsciously dug her fingernails into the soft flesh of her palm; the sharp pain was undeniably real.

Did a “system” really exist?

And that system, instead of sending her to other worlds to do missions, just made her play some succubus game with her nemesis?

If those memories were real, then was this world completely off the rails??

A sense of absurdity mixed with an intense feeling of social death (embarrassment), which almost drowned her, made Si Xiaoxiao’s ears instantly burn, a flush spreading down to her neck. She bit her lip, still wanting to confirm: “Xiao Zhu, just now—”

The assistant quickly embraced Si Xiaoxiao, her face showing “disaster is imminent” panic. In a lowered voice: “Sis, calm down! Don’t do anything rash!”

“Rash??”

Si Xiaoxiao frowned, suddenly recalling the verbal spat she had with Li Ting before the system binding.

However, she had absolutely no mind for those trivial matters right now.

Her mind was completely occupied by that illusory space! That damned, shameful task!

Xiao Zhu, very timidly, leaned close to Si Xiaoxiao’s ear and whispered: “Sis, we’re both weak and slender; we can’t beat the people over there, so you must calm down.”

So timid! Si Xiaoxiao was speechless at her cowardly assistant. Why wasn’t this girl like her? A real woman fights back!

“Sis, what’s wrong? Is there something you want to ask me?” Assistant Xiao Zhu naturally understood her boss and saw that Si Xiaoxiao seemed to want to ask something.

“Did you…” Did you also hear the system’s voice and get bound by it… Damn it! Si Xiaoxiao found it impossible to ask that question.

Si Xiaoxiao despairingly closed her eyes, feeling a rush of heat rush to the top of her head.

Aaaah, so much social death! How could she be submissive to her nemesis!

What if the assistant asked what she did after being bound by the system? She’d totally fall apart.

After pondering for a moment, Si Xiaoxiao decided to try a different approach. She still leaned into her assistant’s ear and whispered: “Xiao Zhu, did you see a white light?”

“White light?” Xiao Zhu looked completely bewildered, with the same level of astonishment as Si Xiaoxiao.

Si Xiaoxiao refused to give up and asked again: “Then did you enter some strange space?”

“Huh? What’s that?” There was visible, unadulterated cluelessness in Xiao Zhu’s eyes.

It seemed she couldn’t get any answers. Si Xiaoxiao felt greatly annoyed.

Subconsciously, she looked up at her nemesis. Her nemesis’s face was very calm, showing no shock, no panic, nothing at all.

Li Ting’s appearance wasn’t the kind that was stunning at first glance, but her bone structure was fluid, her features clean, classifying her as an “enduring, narrative beauty.”

Her eyes often held a faint sense of weariness and aloofness. Though she wore a gentle smile, she seemed uninterested in the clamor of the world.

This made it even harder for Si Xiaoxiao to confirm whether everything that just happened was a fabrication of her own mind or if she had really been pulled into a strange space with her nemesis.

Damn it! Why is she so calm!!

Thinking of everything in that strange space, Si Xiaoxiao was filled with helpless rage, shame, and annoyance.

If it was just a strange, inexplicable fantasy of her own, then it would be a bit… too weird!

She actually fantasized about playing this strange game with that terrifying woman?!!

Aaaah?? Was she crazy?! Absolutely impossible.

Si Xiaoxiao bit her lip; between her lips and teeth, there seemed to be a lingering trace of that incredibly missed flavor, which finally made her resolve: “Li Ting, let’s have a peaceful, private talk.”

She deliberately emphasized the words “peaceful” and “private.”

Li Ting looked up and gazed at Si Xiaoxiao. Uncharacteristically, she didn’t ignore her words and chose to dismiss her own assistant: “Alright, Xiao Li, you can step out first.”

Si Xiaoxiao spoke similarly: “Xiao Zhu, you too.”

Xiao Li was very obedient, didn’t ask anything extra, and quickly walked straight out.

In contrast, Xiao Zhu, the assistant of the person who initiated the talk, appeared hesitant and reluctant to leave.

She still had some concerns for her own artist.

Si Xiaoxiao looked difficult to mess with, but she was actually very innocent and, sometimes, easily bullied.

Being a bit simple-minded makes her easy to bully, you see.

Having been by Si Xiaoxiao’s side for a long time, Xiao Zhu had a certain residual hostility toward Li Ting.

How could a thoughtless simpleton like Si Xiaoxiao outplay a scheming bad woman like Li Ting!

“You can go out,” Si Xiaoxiao repeated.

Xiao Zhu’s gaze lingered for a moment, then she nodded: “Don’t worry, I’ll guard the door!”

Who knows what she was imagining.

Before leaving, Xiao Zhu thoughtfully closed the door.

Once she was sure they were completely private, Si Xiaoxiao spoke with complicated feelings: “You saw the white light too, right?”

“Yes,” Li Ting nodded, answering decisively.

Si Xiaoxiao then asked: “What should we do?”

“It’s not something human power can resist; we can only be at its mercy.” Although Li Ting was speaking discouraging words, her face was as calm as ever.

This made Si Xiaoxiao’s feelings even more complex.

After all, she was the one being submissive, not Li Ting. Li Ting wasn’t in a hurry. Who knew if there would be a next time, and what that next task would be.

“However, we need to cooperate.” Li Ting slightly raised her lips, showing a shallow smile: “Think about it, how about we set aside our personal grudges?”

She extended her hand towards her, appearing very friendly.

Set aside personal grudges? Who could have imagined they would end up like this.

When they were filming back then, their relationship was very close. Even on scorching hot days, they would squeeze onto one sofa, like two intimate, small animals huddled together for warmth.

As the older sister, Li Ting always took care of her, indulged her in everything, and spoiled her.

As long as Si Xiaoxiao was among the options, she was always Li Ting’s first choice.

That period was the most precious treasure.

But… setting aside the grudges was impossible.

“Traitor.”

Si Xiaoxiao raised her hand and brusquely knocked away the hand Li Ting had extended to her.

Tongque Wujian (The Bronze Sparrow Cage/Interval) is a Three Kingdoms-themed work directed by the famous director Yan Yun.

This is an ensemble drama, with the story set in a 21st-century modern city.

A mysterious “Heroic Spirit Revival” phenomenon swept across the globe.

Young people gained the power to control the Heroic Spirits of the Three Kingdoms. Dormant grievances struck, and chaos ensued. They were forced into a destined battle across a millennium of reincarnation.

Everyone carried an unprecedented mission.

However, the story’s main perspective avoided the most popular Three Kingdoms Heroic Spirits and focused on the Cao Wei faction.

Furthermore, as a Three Kingdoms-themed work, which should have been a men’s battlefield, the creators chose the rare setup of dual female protagonists.

The overall plot even gave the spotlight to female characters, making it a grand, epic narrative of heroine-ism.

The two female leads are named Cao Xueliao and Xun Ye. They were practically written for Si Xiaoxiao and Li Ting, and in terms of personality, both actresses were essentially playing themselves.

Cao Xueliao’s Heroic Spirit power is Wen Yang, the late Three Kingdoms “God of Killing,” while Xun Ye summons Jiang Ji, the “Poison Strategist” of Cao Wei.

The portrayal of their relationship, evolving from initial mutual distrust and bickering to tacit cooperation and shared life-and-death stakes, is very interesting.

They and their companions eventually become key figures in confronting the resurrected forces of Shu Han and Eastern Wu.

“The berserk spear, the silent chess piece—in this chaotic cycle, I burn with you!”

They are the sword and shield banished by history, yet they became each other’s sole salvation.

“When I go berserk, you are the iron chain that ties me down, so I will not fear.”

“We are not the Heroic Spirits of the history books, but the wildfire that burns through the pages.”

“The wise use heaven and earth as a chessboard, and even the dust is her pawn.”

These lines also created many classic scenes in the drama.

Certain “Bronze Sparrow Scholars” sharply commented on the relationship between the two female leads: “They embrace in the crevices of history, engraving each other’s names on the tombstone of reincarnation.”

Thanks to the efforts of a top-tier team, the overall quality of the drama is excellent, and the fight choreography is a masterpiece.

It is worth mentioning that while the cinematography is intense, the daily interactions between the two girls are filmed with delicate ease. The other supporting characters that appear are also very distinctive.

It truly possesses the historical, epic gravitas of “one sings, then the other takes the stage.”

The massive twist later in the story, as well as the depiction of the core theme—”History is a blood-stained chessboard, and reincarnation is the unextinguished ember”—is spot on.

The dialogue between the two girls in their daily interactions alleviates the oppressive feeling of the grand narrative.

The alternating narrative of “school life” and “dark supernatural combat,” with all the foreshadowing resolved and layer upon layer of callbacks.

Although it has a dual-female-lead setup, because the main actors were young, it focuses more on depicting their bond rather than romance.

The feeling between them is more akin to soulmates and confidantes, a bond far deeper than love.

The summer that Tongque Wujian was a hit belonged not just to Li Ting and Si Xiaoxiao, but became an unfading symbol of memory etched into the hearts of a whole group of people.

How could one ever forget that.

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