My System, My Wife Feng Aotian [Transmigration] - Chapter 24.2

In contrast to 03’s curiosity, Feng Jue was blunt and cold. “Let go!” she snapped. “Or do you want me to make you?”

Startled by the warning, the girl instantly released her grip and sobbed, “I just wanted to say a few words! Why are you so rude?” She burst into tears again.

Startled by the sudden commotion, 03 quickly flew to Feng Jue’s other shoulder and said, “Host, this girl is very pretty. Beautiful people often have significant stories in books.”

Feng Jue immediately understood what 03 was implying. The word “harem” popped into her mind unbidden. Her lips pursed involuntarily as she glanced down disdainfully at the drab, seemingly immature girl. She couldn’t help but question Xue Bufan’s character once more.

Her momentary hesitation was enough. The girl on the ground, sobbing miserably, cautiously lifted her head and whimpered, “Um… can I talk to you?”

“Fellow Daoist, I didn’t mean to come here! It’s just… my family is very rich. Could you please take me with you? I’m only sixteen! I don’t want to die!”

“If you can just get me out of here alive, my family will give you anything you want! Spirit Stones, Artifacts, Elixirs!” The girl suddenly threw herself forward, clinging to Feng Jue’s leg and wailing, “Please, please save me!”

“Let go!” Feng Jue snapped.

At that moment, as if seeing the gates of mission success open before it, 03 swooped in front of Feng Jue with a whoosh and raised its message panel:

[Save her!]

[For your own happiness!]

Has this little thing gone mad?!

Feng Jue’s expression darkened. A System floated back and forth in front of her, while the girl of unknown origin clung to her leg, crying beneath her feet. She couldn’t decide which was more infuriating.

A quarter of an hour later, Feng Jue returned to the Jade Chamber, her face still dark. She turned and slammed the door shut, leaving a bubbling System trapped outside.

Outside.

“You’re not allowed in!” she snapped.

03 happily spun in circles, indicating its understanding: Alright, guarding the night, got it!

The girl who had followed all the way wiped her tears, smearing her hands with mud. “You clearly promised me!” she whined, hurt. “Why are you shutting me out here? I’m a dignified—”

She paused, stomped her foot, and continued resentfully, “It’s crawling with snakes, insects, and rodents out here! What if a Spirit Beast with higher cultivation passes by and devours me? Here, I’ll give you Spirit Stones. Just let me in.”

Who cares where you sleep?!

Feng Jue’s irritated voice rang out from inside the house. “If you’re so terrified of snakes, insects, and rodents, you might as well quit cultivating immortality and reincarnate somewhere safer!”

“You!” The girl gasped, her anger boiling over. “No one’s ever talked to me like that! If you’ve got the guts, tell me your name!”

Feng Jue pushed open the window and sized her up. “If you’re asking for my name,” she drawled, “why don’t you introduce yourself first?”

The girl stared at her, frowning as if deep in thought. After a long moment, she swallowed hard, raised her muddy face, and declared loudly, “I am Qiu Shuangshuang, daughter of the Host of the Autumn Water Pavilion on the Nanyang Continent!”

Ding!

A lightbulb suddenly lit up above 03’s head. It hurried to the window, but before it could even get close to Feng Jue, the window slammed shut with a thud.

Oh, well.

03 settled on the windowsill and called out in a clear voice, “Host, see? The list I compiled for you is useful! Look, she’s here!”

Feng Jue ignored it, her voice cold and detached. “Feng Jue, Palace Mistress of Lanyang Palace.”

Hearing Feng Jue’s name and affiliation, Qiu Shuangshuang flinched, her earlier boldness deflating. She sniffled as she wiped her tears on a relatively clean patch of ground. 03 drifted over to observe this girl, who was likely to become connected to the protagonist. It heard Qiu Shuangshuang mutter to herself, “I heard the Palace Mistress of Lanyang Palace is arrogant and unruly, and terribly picky. She told me not to look down on ‘snakes, insects, and rodents,’ but she lives in this Jade Chamber! If our places were switched today, I’d see if she’d look down on me!”

You’re absolutely right.

After giving Qiu Shuangshuang an affirming look, 03 floated through the Jade Chamber wall, trailing musical notes behind it, and landed on the table under Feng Jue’s stern gaze.

“Host.” 03’s cool voice carried a hint of amusement. It raised a matchstick and pointed at Qiu Shuangshuang outside. “She doesn’t seem particularly clever, but she’s not entirely foolish. What do you think?”

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting?” Feng Jue snapped, placing the teacup lid over 03 to block it from sight. “Out of sight, out of mind.”

Trapped under the lid, 03 raised its matchstick-like body, and two small whiskers sprouted from the teacup. “But why not?” it whined.

“I’ve already told you, this is out of the question,” Feng Jue said, striving to keep her voice calm.

Undeterred, 03 persisted, “Cultivators live for centuries. In a few years, she’ll be old enough.”

Feng Jue remained composed. “She might not even live that long.”

03 fell silent, its whiskers retracting into the teacup.

Feng Jue crossed her arms, standing with her eyebrows raised as she stared at the teacup.

After a moment, a silver-white ball suddenly flew out from under the table.

“Host, humans have both love at first sight and love that grows over time. I won’t give up,” 03 declared.

Feng Jue picked up the teacup she had used to cover 03 and set it aside. She then retrieved a new teacup from her Storage Ring, along with a palm-sized teapot. She filled both cups with steaming tea.

The aroma of the tea filled the room as the steam curled upward.

Sipping her tea leisurely, Feng Jue said, “Do as you please. You’ll live as long as you want anyway.”

03 drifted over to the teacup that was meant for them, pulled out a half-eaten popsicle from their backpack, and clinked it against Feng Jue’s teacup.

Cheers.

After drinking the tea, Feng Jue’s anger subsided. She lowered the gauzy curtain and bathed behind the screen. 03, ordered to stay outside, listened to the sound of the water and chatted with her. Through the faintly translucent curtain, they could see bloodstained clothes draped over the screen. They knew that once Feng Jue finished bathing, these clothes would be burned along with the memories they held.

It wouldn’t live to the time it wanted to live.

03 held the small popsicle, eating it while thinking, the popsicle crunching in his mouth.

It’s almost real, Feng Jue thought absently, splashing water on her hair. “When you returned to your world before, did you only buy the sound and nothing else?” she asked casually, noticing the bite mark on 03’s popsicle.

Wasn’t it supposed to be the most advanced System? Can’t even afford a snack?

03 answered honestly, “I didn’t buy anything else. I’m not used to spending Points.”

Even though it had only happened once, the memory was still fresh.

Feng Jue was puzzled. “But you really liked it, didn’t you?”

“I was just shocked,” 03 said. “It was like discovering I could also have human emotions, but I don’t actually need to have them.”

“Why? Isn’t it a waste not to get what you like when you clearly have the power to obtain it?” Feng Jue disagreed with 03’s perspective. “Apart from your appearance, you’re already just like a human. It’s time to start learning how to be one.”

03: ?

The Jade Chamber was protected by a Barrier that allowed those inside to hear sounds outside, but prevented those outside from hearing anything inside. Ling Shi, who had been hiding somewhere eating a Beast Core, had returned.

Something had frightened Qiu Shuangshuang into wailing loudly, her cries echoing clearly through the house.

Feng Jue chuckled and said to 03, “You always wear such peculiar expressions. If you were human, you’d be as vivacious and spirited as that young lady.”

Hearing Qiu Shuangshuang’s sobs, 03 emphatically drew a line: “I’m not human. I’m not vivacious. And I’m certainly not a young lady.”

And I definitely wouldn’t cry.

The cool, detached voice reached Feng Jue’s ears, eliciting a derisive laugh. Emerging from behind the gauzy curtains in her new robes, Feng Jue was wreathed in steam. A ball of fire fell from her fingertips, incinerating the dirty clothes on the screen without leaving a single ash.

Beneath her curled lashes, her usual mocking arrogance reappeared as she pushed open the window and gazed out.

Outside, Ling Shi sat curled up, curiously observing the girl hiding nearby. Qiu Shuangshuang’s face, now scrubbed clean of the mud that had once covered it, revealed a delicate and lovely visage. At her tender age, she already possessed such grace; in a few more years, she would undoubtedly become even more dazzling. No wonder her reputation as a beauty had already spread to the Eastern Continent.

Feng Jue’s eyes remained impassive as she gazed at Qiu Shuangshuang’s face. Even the Palace Mistress of Lanyang Palace, who was notoriously particular about her food, clothing, and even the appearance and attire of her attendants, regarded this young beauty with the same indifference as she would roadside weeds.

Her words were directed at 03.

“I don’t care if you act human or not. But if you ever cultivate a human form, well, aside from other matters, the young mistress of Lanyang Palace wouldn’t mind letting you… experience certain things.”

Feng Jue chuckled lazily, drawing Qiu Shuangshuang’s attention. The girl looked at her tearfully, as if sensing mockery, then stomped her foot and turned away to wipe her tears.

“See?” Feng Jue pointed at Qiu Shuangshuang to 03. “If you ever want to cry, just let it out. No need to turn away and wipe your tears secretly.”

03 floated over, hovering opposite her. She raised a matchstick, mirroring the X gesture made by the 03 inside the bubble.

First.

“I don’t act human.”

Second.

“I won’t cry.”

Finally.

“Why would I cry if I act human?” 03 asked, genuinely puzzled. The 03 in the bubble furrowed its dark, line-like eyebrows.

Feng Jue replied with a smile, “Who knows? Maybe I’ll bully you until you do.”

After a moment of silence, 03 opened its inventory and glanced at the long string of points it had accumulated. Then it opened the shop and looked at the items and their corresponding point costs. The thought bubble above 03 showed a thoughtful expression. After closing the inventory and shop, 03 turned to Feng Jue. Putting aside the question of who was bullying whom, it thought of something else.

“You’re mistaken,” 03 said. “Every race has its own sense of beauty. Humans naturally find other humans more appealing, but I’m a System. Why must I become human? Why don’t you become a System instead?”

“If you were a System, you’d be a fiery, glowing mass.” 03 held up a matchstick and drew an elegant, rolling circle in the air.

Feng Jue raised an eyebrow. “Humans are the supreme beings among all spirits. Which spirit in this world, upon gaining consciousness, doesn’t aspire to a human form?”

03 thought that Systems were pretty supreme too. Just then, Feng Jue asked another question: “Ling Shan, you said every race has its own sense of beauty. Let me ask you this: from a System’s perspective, how does this Palace Mistress look?”

Staring at its host’s face, 03 paused. Under Feng Jue’s meaningful gaze, it calmly replied, “You’re very beautiful. Say what you want to say. As long as you’re happy.”

“Besides, you’re very beautiful.”

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