Scummy Alpha CEO Keeps Courting Death [Transmigration into a Book] - Chapter 103

“Sibyl!” Rong Qianqin woke up with a start, her hand clutching the cotton duvet. The dampness on the inside of her elbow made her instinctively look, and the soaked patch brought her mind back online. The scenes from the dream were still revolving in her mind.

“Is it real?” She reached out and touched her chest; the moist sensation was identical to the dream. Had she entered a dream and met Sibyl and the others?

Rong Qianqin sat up and checked various parts of her body. She raised her arm and sniffed it; it still retained the intertwined scents of two different fragrances, unlike commercially available perfumes—fresh, natural, and invigorating.

“One month.” Rong Qianqin muttered as she sat down at the vanity table, using a pen to circle a date a month from now.

“It’s floating?”

The necklace Lu Xibie had given Chu Liruo, which she wore around her neck, suddenly floated up and pointed eastward: “What is over there?”

“It’s the same direction as the mutated creature skeletons in the Bone Oil River are worshipping,” Lu Xibie replied, her gaze piercing through the chaotic energy flow of the light barrier.

The energy flow was much more stable than before, a result of a large amount of energy being absorbed.

“Is this a guide?” Chu Liruo continued to ask: “You still haven’t told me what is inside this necklace? I always feel like there is endless vitality within it.”

“It is an unpolluted sea domain,” Lu Xibie answered. She reached out and picked up the necklace given to her by the Sea Soul Rabbit of Eros: “The creatures inside are all unmutated.”

“So you gave your Absolute Defense to me?” Chu Liruo realized, looking at Lu Xibie, unable to conceal her anger: “You want me to use your Absolute Defense to protect them, but what about you?”

“I…” Lu Xibie took a step back.

“You go die? The world collapses, and everything vanishes unknowingly.” Chu Liruo raised an eyebrow, her expression displeased. She was tired of Lu Xibie being on the brink of death in front of her, making her heart panic, even though Lu Xibie was standing fine in front of her now: “Lu Xibie, can you stop being so self-righteous? Why do you choose death again and again just because you know the ending of this book? Have you asked me, have you asked the people living here what they think? By what right do you single-handedly decide our life and death?”

“I…” Lu Xibie was at a loss, her eyes darting away: “The original ending of this book was that Tan Ruijing became the guardian of humanity’s last stronghold. Humans even offered talented skill users for her enjoyment to seek her protection, but she had already mutated and lost her mind, spreading devastation and destruction everywhere. Humanity was heading towards annihilation.”

“But what about now?” Chu Liruo countered.

“Now.” Lu Xibie paused.

Chu Liruo had reached SSS-level, capable of contending with Dan Ruijing. The human camp had not yet fallen, and while the degree of mutation was intensifying, it was not completely disastrous.

“No matter what we face, we can change it.” Chu Liruo stared into Lu Xibie’s light brown pupils: “Lu Xibie, do you have the concept of two people in your mind? Do you always make your own judgments, execute them yourself, and pronounce the outcome of an event? Or have you simply never considered other possibilities?”

Lu Xibie remained silent.

“Yes, endings are harder than new beginnings. To you, I am just a character in a book; the world in this book is just an episode in your life because you are utterly disillusioned with reality. But this is the world I rely on to live—”

“You know I…” Chu Liruo choked up, recalling the past life—imprisonment in the Lu residence, violence, mockery, drowning—her nightmare life.

She thought things would be much better this life. She could enter Zhigu Military Academy, slowly master multiple innate skills, and the “Lu Xibie” who once plunged her into darkness had been replaced by someone else. She gave her freedom, went to school with her, and even gave her the evolution potion.

She was very gentle to her, and Chu Liruo thought she could live a life completely different from the previous one, never giving up hope.

But only now did she feel an invisible slap across her face.

She had tried her best to live, yet the person beside her could easily destroy all her efforts.

Lu Xibie reached out to wipe away the tear sliding down Chu Liruo’s cheek but hesitated when she felt the rejection in her eyes: “I’m sorry…”

“Sorry?” Chu Liruo wiped away her tears: “You should apologize to me—arbitrary, dictatorial, and self-willed. Have you ever respected my existence? Do you remember that I am your wife? You repeatedly make decisions for me. It was like that when you went to Zhigu Military Academy with Dan Ruijing, and it is like this now. What are you doing? Are you a thousand-year-old turtle who wants to retreat into a thick shell and fake death whenever you sense a slight deviation?”

Chu Liruo patted Lu Xibie’s cheek lightly, her eyes cold: “Is that right, Lu Xibie?”

Lu Xibie: “I thought—”

Chu Liruo: “You thought? Since when does your thought represent others? Did you tell me when you encountered such a thing?”

“The system restricted me from telling you that this is a book,” Lu Xibie pursed her lips, her hands crossed and shaking.

“You did talk about an ‘if’ with me,” Chu Liruo scoffed: “I really thought you would change this world with me, yet you are still the same when making decisions. You have never put me on an equal footing. As an outsider who intruded into this book, you inherently possess authority, just like when I browse a book in a library, three-dimensional versus two-dimensional. This is a natural hierarchy of high-dimension over low-dimension. You play a role in the book, constantly withdrawing. To you, this is just a book, and that includes me.”

“I am a character in the book. If the world in the book is destroyed, I will be destroyed along with it. The moments we spent together cannot breed affection in you. You never approached me from beginning to end.” Chu Liruo stumbled backward, her eyes crimson.

The back of her neck felt like it was being pulled by a rope, making her head numb.

“No, I, I have long considered myself a person living here…” Lu Xibie stepped forward, reaching out to comfort her.

Chu Liruo slapped Lu Xibie’s hand away. She bent down, placing her hands on the bottom of the protective barrier.

Energy flowed continuously into her body, but she still felt a chill lingering in her heart, waiting to drill in.

“Really? Have you truly lived here? Have you asked me face-to-face? You make people guess and then second-guess them. You never express your emotions directly. Isn’t it tiring to live like that? Do you know what a lover is? It’s solving problems together when they arise, not making arbitrary decisions without consultation.”

Lu Xibie: “I…”

“You are not qualified.” Chu Liruo stated directly: “As a lover, you are not qualified.”

The sharpness of that gaze left Lu Xibie nowhere to escape. Her limbs felt weak, as if she was about to transform into a vine again, twisting and turning, wanting to slip into a crack in the ground, wishing she could slump into a puddle and be burned to ashes.

“But I hope you will be qualified in the future.” Chu Liruo lightly hooked Lu Xibie’s nose as she, too, squatted down: “Don’t give up on yourself so easily again.”

“Perhaps from your perspective, you were considering me and everyone else, but these thoughts must eventually clash with reality. Communicate directly; otherwise, things will only develop in a bad direction, deviating from your original intention.” Chu Liruo moved her hand away; she did not want to criticize any further.

Lu Xibie grasped Chu Liruo’s hand and gently rubbed it against her forehead: “I will.”

“I will,” she closed her eyes, pressing Chu Liruo’s palm to the center of her chest.

The feeling of having her back, now that she thought she had lost her, checked her spreading panic.

“I will discuss things with you,” Lu Xibie promised: “I’ll tell you about everything.”

“You don’t have to; just discuss major matters, and make decisions on small things yourself.” Chu Liruo held the floating necklace: “The call from the east is getting stronger. Let’s go and see.”

Pale blue wings unfolded behind the elemental spirit little rabbit. Chu Liruo wrapped her arms around Lu Xibie’s waist and flew toward the direction the necklace was pointing.

“That’s—Lu Xibie and Chu Liruo!”

“Lu Xibie is not dead!”

“Where are they going?”

Kou Yilan and the others waiting outside the light barrier exclaimed when they saw Chu Liruo and Lu Xibie.

Kou Yilan: “Follow them.”

She opened her comm and initiated communication with Chu Liruo.

“It’s Teacher Kou.”

Chu Liruo answered the comm: “Yes, Lu Xibie is fine.”

“We feel a kind of guidance, so we’re going to take a look first…” Chu Liruo briefly explained the situation and continued flying.

“Zhigu Military Academy’s protective shield core is under repair, expected to return to normal in 5 hours.”

“Tan Ruijing is using Mingling United City as her base to expand outwards. In just a few hours, she has defeated 8 major army groups. Outside the city, corpses are strewn across thousands of miles, with skeletons everywhere.”

Lu Xibie looked at the latest news on Chu Liruo’s comm, her eyebrows unconsciously furrowing.

Multiple holographic images were opened for a few seconds and then immediately closed because she couldn’t bear to watch.

“Mutated creatures outside Mingling United City are suspected of having a surging degree of mutation. Some mutated creatures have already grown human limbs… It is reported that this ability originally only occurred in mutated eucalyptus trees… Further research results are awaiting a written report from the Federal Central Research Institute.”

“The mutation factor in the seawater of Ruiwan Sea Domain has increased, now 4.1 times the original amount. Experts say that the existing seawater filtration and circulation system is expected to collapse within five years.”

“Tan Ruijing’s expansion speed is too fast.” Lu Xibie looked at the united city occupied by Dan Ruijing in the holographic image on the comm. Gray markers were lighting up one by one, slowly, but each one lighting up meant the fall of a human city-state: “Should we go back first?”

She opened her hands; her palms were empty, holding nothing.

She used to be able to give Chu Liruo protection within her capabilities, but now she seemed to lack any other ability.

“We have arrived.” Chu Liruo held Lu Xibie’s hand, and her palm was instantly filled: “We’ll head back immediately after this. Can you feel it?”

“There is something very important here,” Lu Xibie finished her sentence.

The two plunged into the Ruiwan Sea Domain, which everyone called the Land of Death. The black seawater made them feel as if they were in a bottomless abyss.

There was no light or clarity. The deeper they submerged, the harder it was to pinpoint the direction of the guide.

“Are you afraid?” Lu Xibie covered Chu Liruo’s eyes. Her pale face told Lu Xibie that she was not doing well; the trauma of drowning in her previous life still lingered in her heart.

Lu Xibie hugged her, gently stroking her back, soothing her discomfort in the silence: “Just pretend you are sleeping at night.”

“You have come.”

They couldn’t tell how many meters they had descended. Just as they were about to drift into sleep, an old voice sounded in the ears of Lu Xibie and Chu Liruo.

“Yes.” Lu Xibie responded, her eyes vigilantly scanning the surroundings. Chu Liruo pulled away the hand covering her eyes and looked around.

In the pitch-black, ink-like deep sea, not a single creature was visible, and they didn’t know if the creatures living there were naturally concealed by the darkness.

“Where are you?” Lu Xibie asked aloud.

“Come—”

The protective barrier suddenly surged forward uncontrollably. Lu Xibie gripped Chu Liruo’s hand tightly to steady their bodies.

The sudden movement stopped abruptly. In the complete darkness, a pair of golden-yellow eyes slowly opened, the pupils so large they surpassed a human’s stature.

Support Scummy Alpha CEO Keeps Courting Death [Transmigration into a Book]