The Second Fall - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Could An Yu Really Be Rong Yushu?

The game loaded so fast that Lan Cixing didn’t have time to react.

A pink haze immediately filled the phone screen. As the mist slowly dissipated, a woman with a slender waist and long legs appeared, reclining on a sofa.

The sofa was luxuriously designed with gilded armrests and cushions featuring ancient embroidery. In the real world, it would cost millions. After years of iteration, the game’s modeling was exceptional; the textures looked better than reality, achieving lighting effects that would require professional studio equipment in real life.

Despite the quality, Lan Cixing’s eyes instantly locked onto the woman lolling back, an arm draped over the rest, dominantly occupying the entire seat. Her head rested on her arm, her lashes slightly lowered, her gaze dreamy. The lighting was so atmospheric it bordered on a romantic pink hue.

An unnatural flush stained her cheeks. The arm she rested on was bright and fair, its reflection nearly outshining the gold of the sofa.

The game had an ancient setting. The woman was dressed in red as if attending a banquet, but upon closer inspection, the outfit featured subtle, provocative details: translucent silk at the waist, a chain of bells around her hips, and exposed thighs…

Lan Cixing nearly dropped her phone. The “Dual Cultivation” space was an invitation from An Yu. Naturally, this game character’s face had been customized by An Yu.

The woman on the screen—teasing but not quite touching, seductive but not quite grasping—bore the face of Rong Yushu! She even followed the original setting: blonde hair and green eyes.

How could Lan Cixing withstand Rong Yushu’s face being used to seduce her? If this were the real Rong Yushu, Lan Cixing would probably be on her knees in front of her by now.

Moreover, based on that quick glance, An Yu understood Rong Yushu perfectly; she had even included the two small matching beauty marks on her collarbone and shoulder. Those marks were so tiny that Lan Cixing assumed even the most dedicated fans wouldn’t necessarily know about them.

This model almost confirmed it: An Yu was someone close to Rong Yushu—either a friend, family member, or a member of her team.

Lan Cixing gritted her teeth, using all her strength to steady her trembling hands so she wouldn’t throw the phone. She managed to swipe the interface and exit the game. She was going to blacklist this “Dual Cultivation” feature!

Annoyed, Lan Cixing tapped back into the game. She thought that by forcing the app to close, the game would restart to the normal idle page. Then she could go into the settings to adjust it—or change her age if she couldn’t turn it off.

To her horror, clicking back in led her straight back to the “Dual Cultivation” space! An Yu was online, controlling the “Rong Yushu” avatar to swim over to Lan Cixing’s side.

A flower-blossom special effect appeared on the screen. An Yu’s gear must have cost nearly a hundred thousand yuan; the effects created by “money power” were gorgeous, dazzling Lan Cixing for a second.

In that second of dazed distraction, the in-game “Rong Yushu” moved. She hooked an arm around Lan Cixing’s character’s shoulder. Her nails were identical to the ones Rong Yushu wore in real life—the color of a snake slithering across the character’s back.

With a light flick, she untied the character’s… bodice.

Wait, when did she change her character’s outfit to a bodice?!

Lan Cixing’s phone actually flew out of her hand for a moment. This was a disaster. Her own in-game character was also modeled after Rong Yushu. Two Rong Yushus—one heavily made up and seductive, the other elegant but… completely bare. They appeared before Lan Cixing like two halves of a whole, both doing the same thing: Seducing.

Two peerless faces flew up and down with the movement of the phone. Lan Cixing sucked in a breath so sharply she bit her tongue. She gripped the phone and frantically tapped the top-left corner. This cursed game wouldn’t even let her exit directly; it demanded confirmation.

Lan Cixing grew furious reading the confirmation prompt:

“Dear Guest, you haven’t done anything yet. Are you sure you want to leave? Our potions and props are very fresh. Won’t you try them before you go? First use is free~”

The exit button was on the left, a tiny gray box. The “Stay” button was on the right, a massive red frame taking up half the pop-up. Lan Cixing managed to keep her hand steady enough to hit “Exit,” finally returning to the idle page where her character’s clothes were restored.

Lan Cixing exhaled and hurriedly logged off. As soon as she quit, a message from An Yu arrived.

“Master, why did you stop playing?”

“I waited so long for you to get online. Don’t you like Shushu’s face and body? Do you want me to change it for you?”

Lan Cixing angrily clicked into the chat only to see that An Yu had changed the profile picture she had previously used to copy Lan Cixing. This time, the profile picture was… a screenshot of the game from just now.

Lan Cixing would have preferred it if she were still copying her! Lan Cixing had only ever loved one person, and had only ever had ambiguous thoughts or practices with one person. She couldn’t handle “Rong Yushu” looking at her like that. She sent a flurry of emojis to calm herself down.

“The name. And the profile picture.” She didn’t realize how much that sounded like a command. It was no wonder An Yu called her “Master.” Their relationship was truly subtle.

“Alright, I thought Sister-baby liked it since you kept entering and leaving the room to look.” An Yu “regretfully” changed her profile picture. The new one was still a matching set with Lan Cixing’s—a cat and a dog. They were clearly a pair.

Lan Cixing looked at An Yu’s kitten icon and grudgingly accepted it. “I was looking for the exit button! I didn’t like it. AT. ALL!” Lan Cixing was speechless. She felt she needed to set more rules for An Yu.

But An Yu didn’t give her a chance. The next message was even harder to handle. “Is Sister-baby done massaging Shushu?”

Lan Cixing had been through too much today; she almost thought her cover was blown. She looked around for a second before shielding her phone. “How could I possibly be massaging Shushu? Keep dreaming.”

An Yu quoted Lan Cixing’s previous words and “nudged” (poked) her. Lan Cixing’s “poke” notification was special—she had changed it years ago and forgotten. “You poked Little Blue Sky, and she countered with an uppercut.”

“Wow, so violent.” An Yu paused for a moment before sending: “I love it. Master, do it more.” Then she poked Lan Cixing several more times.

It was Lan Cixing’s turn to send a question mark. A second later, the messages were retracted, including the pokes. Only the “So violent” remained.

“…I saw that.” Lan Cixing was suffering from information overload. Her brain was spinning. “It was meant for you to see, Master.” An Yu retracted that one instantly too.

She seemed to understand Lan Cixing’s personality perfectly, knowing she would be too overwhelmed to think straight. She pivoted to a new topic to make Lan Cixing abandon the weirdness of the previous one.

“If you weren’t massaging Shushu, what were you doing? Big sister wants to know. You check on me every day; I want to check on you too. Your online time is so short and fragmented.”

Then came a voice message. “Big sister is so… lone… ly.”

Lan Cixing had the sound on. Even though the volume was low, she scrambled to mute it and looked back at the door. She was still standing guard for Rong Yushu. Rong Yushu should be asleep by now. The room was well-insulated; she couldn’t have heard that, right?

Lan Cixing pressed her ear against the door to listen. She heard nothing. In a private residence like this, the soundproofing was top-tier. She certainly didn’t hear that voice—which sounded like Rong Yushu’s—coming from inside the room.

She pursed her lips, turned the volume up one notch, and held the phone to her ear. She played the voice message again. It wasn’t because she wanted to hear it. Really. It was just because… it sounded a bit like Rong Yushu.

Lan Cixing pondered. The voice wasn’t the same as Rong Yushu’s everyday speaking voice, but the intonation and pauses were subtly identical. It was a consistency that couldn’t be explained by analysis; it was pure intuition. It came from nearly ten years of knowing Rong Yushu.

Knowing about the beauty marks, the familiar voice… Could An Yu be Rong Yushu’s voice actress? Lan Cixing felt she had found the answer. She would test this theory when she had the chance.

“Then stay lonely.” Her reply was cold. “I’m a corporate slave. I’m busy all day and only have time after work.” Who else but a rich heiress would sit in front of a phone waiting for messages all day? Lan Cixing curled her lip. If she had money and time, she could reply instantly too. Right now, she had to work hard for her… one yuan per month job.

An Yu realized: “Oh, busy touching Shushu’s ‘tofu’ (flirting).” Lan Cixing winced at her phone. She felt like An Yu was some mysterious biological organism stalking her life. “I really wasn’t. I was massaging my boss.” She had to clarify. And the massage was the boss’s idea.

Rong Yushu was her boss. But An Yu had been convinced earlier that the boss was just a rich heiress and didn’t suspect it was the real Rong Yushu. Lan Cixing thought her explanation was foolproof.

An Yu, being improper as usual, sent a teasing reply: “So your boss is also a Shushu-double.”

“…” Lan Cixing had no comeback. Her boss was literally the real Rong Yushu! And so what if she liked massaging her?

Wait, no. Lan Cixing shook her head. She definitely did not like massaging Rong Yushu. Hadn’t Rong Yushu demanded it? And it was so shameful…

Still feeling warm, Lan Cixing decided to lean into her “Scum Omega” persona. “Exactly. You’re not the first double. A worker has to find fun on the job. Using her as a Shushu-double is her honor.”

She saw “Typing…” for two full minutes. Since she didn’t know who An Yu was, she couldn’t taste the complexity of that silence. Instead, she was happy she had finally made An Yu speechless.

Knowing that An Yu didn’t know who the boss was—and being the only stranger who knew about Lan Cixing’s employment—Lan Cixing turned to her for advice again. Once bitten, twice shy; this time, she didn’t hesitate. Her fingers flew across the screen.

“The thing is, I think I just made the boss angry.” She had been kicked out to stand guard… though it was her own fault. Lan Cixing sensed Rong Yushu’s mood was off.

“Your technique was bad?” An Yu’s message took a dirty turn. Lan Cixing didn’t catch the double meaning; she thought she meant the massage. “How could it be? I practiced on mannequins for a long time back home until they broke. Even though I haven’t done it in years, I remember the technique and the pressure. It shouldn’t be because it was uncomfortable, right?”

Lan Cixing’s ears turned red. In truth, she knew. Rong Yushu had felt something. But she wanted to convince herself it was just anger. She should hate Rong Yushu. And Rong Yushu should hate her. Otherwise, wouldn’t these last four years be a joke?

There was silence from An Yu for half a minute. Not even a “Typing…” appeared. Lan Cixing bit her lip, feeling like she had told someone an embarrassing secret and didn’t know what to do. Her breath hit rock bottom.

An Yu’s message finally arrived: “Maybe you could try going in. If she didn’t lock the door, it proves she wants you to enter.”

Lan Cixing’s heart stopped for a second, then accelerated. Thump, thump, thump. The pounding made her whole body ache. She felt hot from head to toe. The chill of standing for a long time was replaced by a surge of heat from a certain possibility.

A drop of sweat fell from her temple. “How did you know I’m living with her?” She had definitely never told An Yu that.

Could An Yu really be Rong Yushu?

An Yu replied cryptically: “Won’t you find out if you go in?”

Lan Cixing finally couldn’t take it anymore and gently knocked on the door. Not only was the door unlocked—she pushed it open directly.

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