CH 14

Xiu Jin stared at the second choice, wondering if there was something wrong with his eyes. Could it be that this trashy system had a virus? He’d rather it be the latter. 

[Please make a choice. If no selection is made within ten seconds, the second option will automatically be chosen for the sake of Bian Bian’s safety.]

Knowing that the shitty system would actually do it, Xiu Jin could only quickly choose: [Let nature run its course].

Although it was a game, he couldn’t just casually decide another person’s fate. Nothing had happened yet, so why kill Zhu Yuan? Without Zhu Yuan, who would take care of his precious daughter?

“You won’t behave unless you get scolded every once in a while, huh?” Xiu Jin said gloomily. “You’re using Bian Bian as an excuse to get me to kill someone. If you have the ability, don’t let the zombies come to scare my daughter!”

System: [No ability.]

Xiu Jin: “…”

“I just knew Your Highness would be here. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Your Highness. I’ve missed you quite a lot.” At that moment, a sweet voice sounded, and a beautiful, charming woman walked in. Upon seeing Xiu Jin, her hips swayed even more seductively.

Because of this person’s sudden appearance, Xiu Jin had no choice but to exit the game. He watched expressionlessly as the coquettish woman sauntered over. 

“Your Highness, my heart is beating quickly because you are looking at me like that.” the woman said shyly after meeting Xiu Jin’s gaze.

“How did you come in?” asked Xiu Jin. 

The woman pouted her red lips, lifted her long legs, and said warmly: “Everyone else just walked in like this.”

Xiu Jin made an “oh” sound. Maintaining the composure of a royal gentleman, he smiled slightly and pointed at the exit. He said: “Then you can use a different method, and gracefully get out.”

The bright smile on the woman’s face froze.

Her name was Chu Xinran. She was the niece of the current empress’ maternal family and was considered nobility. The current empress was not Xiu Jin’s birth mother. Although the empire practiced monogamy, the emperor married another woman, thinking to produce the future heir. The concubine had no status or title, and they were not allowed to exceed the empress. 

The emperor and the empress were childhood friends, and the empress had a frail body since young. After giving birth to the first and third prince, her health has been continuously declining. There was no way for her to recover, even with the use of technology. Afterward, the empress became pregnant with the seventh prince. Although the risk was high, she insisted on giving birth to the seventh prince and died not long after.

The other wife naturally became the current empress.

The emperor felt sorry for the seventh prince who’d lost his mother just after birth and was inevitably biased towards him. It was to the extent that the emperor let him do as he wished, even when he went into business. The emperor just wanted him to be happy. Therefore, as Xiu Jin grew up, other than being occasionally bullied by the third prince, the other princes, including the three born from the current empress, took good care of him. —The sixth prince had died shortly after birth.

The current empress treated Xiu Jin well, but Xiu Jin still disliked his nominal ‘stepmother.’ In addition to the innate rejection towards his stepmother, there was also— 

The current empress felt that Xiu Jin was not young anymore and that he should have a girlfriend. Thus, she introduced her niece Chu Xinran to Xiu Jin. She even swayed the emperor through pillow talk. After the emperor met Chu Xinran, he felt that the girl was not bad and was pretty compatible with Xiao Jin. He thought that they could give it a try. Since the emperor had spoken, Xiu Jin had no choice but to put aside some time to meet Chu Xinran. He did not like Chu Xinran, but she was enthusiastic about him. Though Xiu Jin rejected her, she remained undaunted and declared that if she persevered, she would be able to move His Highness’ heart.

Xiu Jin: “…”

He wanted to curse at this dumbass, but his position as a prince meant that he had to maintain his image. He couldn’t use such crude language. If he couldn’t see her, then he wouldn’t be annoyed. Thus, Xiu Jin hid from Chu Xinran but to no avail, Chu Xinran knew the address of his company and would purposely go there. Knowing that he would dislike it, she did not go in but waited outside instead. 

Xiu Jin was furious. He didn’t go to the empress, but the fifth prince instead. The fifth prince had been engaged to a noblewoman not too long ago. Xiu Jin purposely brought the fifth prince to flashy events and even let beautiful women play around with him. He then made sure that other people led the noblewoman over so she could see it with her own eyes. It was shameless behavior for someone that’s engaged to be out, fooling and playing around, even if he was a prince. There was a large dispute, and the queen was reprimanded by the emperor. Afterward, Chu Xinran never bothered Xiu Jin again. He never would have thought that he would run into Chu Xinran today.

Since there was no one around, Xiu Jin was too lazy to keep up a nice facade. It was already good enough that he hadn’t kicked her out directly. 

Chu Xinran’s expression recovered quickly and she looked at Xiu Jin with teary eyes: “You Highness, I didn’t have any other intentions. Since I haven’t seen you in a long time, I thought we’d be destined to meet here. That’s why I tried my luck and came in.”

She didn’t look like she had any intentions of leaving anytime soon. She calculated that because Xiu Jin was a prince, he definitely wouldn’t throw her out. 

Xiu Jin suddenly asked: “You like this place?”

Chu Xinran was overjoyed and nodded her head. Just as she was about to say a few words of praise, Xiu Jin stood up and walked out with his long legs: “Then stay here. I won’t bother you anymore.”

He ordered the attendants outside: “Go in and accompany Ms. Chu. Accompany her until she’s satisfied. Don’t let her leave until she is thoroughly satisfied. 

“Ms. Chu, I hope you have a good time.”

Chu Xinran rushed to follow but was stopped by the attendants that had received Xiu Jin’s orders. 

“Your Highness, I heard you wanted a set of NR virtual devices?” She called out to Xiu Jin’s back. 

Xiu Jin’s footsteps stopped. 

The NR virtual device was the same set of equipment that was taken back by Xiu Yan and returned to Nong Jiusi.

Nong Jiusi had taken back the devices. There was no way for Xiu Jin to complete a transaction with a nine-clawed azure dragon. No one around Xiu Jin had the device, so he had no choice but to rely on the people under him to keep an eye out. If they found a second NR virtual device, they must buy it. How did Chu Xinran know that he was looking for NR virtual devices? Where did this idiot hear this news?

His hesitation gave Chu Xinran an opportunity and she immediately grasped it. She observed Xiu Jin’s demeanor unobtrusively and knew that she had bet correctly. She said sweetly: “Your Highness, I know who has the NR.”    

“Who?”

Chu Xinran twisted her body closer to Xiu Jin. To be honest, Xiu Jin’s face, which looked smaller than her own doll-like face, was not her type. However, Xiu Jin was the empire’s most pampered prince and he was wealthy… With that kind of identity, her heart couldn’t help but flutter. 

“Your Highness, if I help you purchase a NR set, how will you thank me?”

“I’ll treat you to a meal.” Xiu Jin smiled elegantly. 

“Just a meal?” pouted Chu Xinran. “Nothing else?”

Xiu Jin looked towards her with a smile: “What do you want?”

“Well… I haven’t thought about it yet. I’ll tell you when I’ve thought of something. Deal?”

Xiu Jin ignored the goosebumps forming on his hand and his violent urges towards this woman. Just smile and don’t speak. Fortunately, Chu Xinran also knew when to stop before going too far. She said frankly: “Does Your Highness know about the Three Gold Market? The NR you want is there. I just happened to learn about a black market boss who knows where the NR is. If Your Highness has time in the afternoon, I can bring you there?”

Xiu Jin thought, You better not be lying. Otherwise— 

It’ll be time to let you know why the flowers were so red.

Xiu Jin had heard of the Three Gold Market, but he had never been. He was a little curious about the place, so it was a good opportunity to go check it out. He met and talked with the boss that Chu Xinran knew. Unfortunately, the boss selling NR was not there today and had left no means of contact. He was forced to return without any success. He could only come back next time. Considering that Chu Xinran did not lie to him, Xiu Jin endured his temper and accompanied her out for dinner.

After finally sending Chu Xinran off, Xiu Jin got in a car and headed home. He opened the game en route to a pitch-black screen. The system indicated that Bian Bian was sleeping soundly. He checked the time. No wonder his precious daughter was asleep. It was quite late. Darling. Daddy sacrificed his beauty for you.

Remembering that he hadn’t bought today’s share of apples, Xiu Jin entered the market to buy them. He placed the apples on the bedside table and prepared to exit the game. Suddenly, he paused and tapped to reenter the market. If he remembered correctly, the system menu had a total of six columns: [Food] [Weapons] [Techniques] [Clothing] [Medicine] [Household Items]. Now, the system menu only had five. When he looked again, the [Weapons] column was gone.

“What’s going on?”

There was no pop-up prompt from the system explaining why. It was probably a system bug. Xiu Jin did not think too deeply about it. Today had been a busy day, and his mind, in particular, had suffered. He felt a little drained and went to sleep early when he returned home.

In order to let Uncle Zhu Yuan’s wounds heal faster, Bian Bian took out several wind crystals from her box and gave them to him. Zhu Yuan hesitated a bit before accepting. —The first order of business was to heal and recover to full strength. That way, they’d be more equipped to fight the corpse beast.

Zhu Yuan went out to investigate the corpse beast’s tracks while Bian Bian stayed at home. She stared blankly at the large apple on the bedside table, brought it to the living room, and placed it side by side with the other large apple on the table. The two large apples were exactly the same, down to the surface color. It was as if they were carved from a mold.

“Hui Hui, don’t you think this is weird?” Glancing at the two identical large apples, Bian Bian lowered her head and carefully tugged on the little bear’s arm that had been sewed with a red thread.

The appearance of the corpse beast caused Bian Bian to forget about telling Zhu Yuan that there was an invisible bad guy in the house. Though there was the appearance of another large apple, Bian Bian was not very scared because Zhu Yuan was there. However, Bian Bian was beginning to feel that she may have thought wrong. If there was an invisible bad guy, why did Zhu Yuan not know despite being so amazing?

Originally Bian Bian wanted to tell Zhu Yuan about this matter today, but Zhu Yuan was busy with preparations of tracking down the corpse beast. She felt that she ought to be mature and not bother him so she did not mention it to Zhu Yuan.

“Could it be that they are not a bad guy?” Bian Bian wondered in a soft voice. “Before, grandpa used a lot of crystal and only got a small, shriveled apple. This apple is very big, so it must be very precious and worth a lot of money.”

“If it was a bad guy, even if they wanted to eat me after fattening me up, why would they give me such a precious apple?”

“But, if they aren’t a bad guy, then why are they being kind and giving me such a big apple?”

When Bian Bian had been at Lu Yu’s side, she had witnessed some uncles get into a fight because of food. There had also been people who were aggressive towards her because of food.

One time Lu Yu saved a family of three. The middle-aged couple’s son was so hungry that he was nothing more than skin and bones with a yellow complexion and an emancipated body. Bian Bian just so happened to be holding a package of snacks that Lu Yu had given her— Wan Wan Mantou Cookies. Bian Bian felt that the Gege was quite pitiful and decided to voluntarily give her cookies to him. Thus, she walked closer to the little boy. But, before she had the chance to give it, she was pushed away by the little boy. 

The little boy scrambled to shove the item he was holding into his bag. He glared at her and viciously said: “I don’t have any food. Even if I did, I won’t give it to you. Go away!”

Bian Bian felt a little hurt, but still plucked up the courage to take the Wan Wan mantou cookies from her pocket: “Brother, here.”

Afterward, grandpa had told Bian Bian: “A lot of food was forcefully taken by the powerful uncles in the base. The food that can still be found is very limited. Many people take their food very seriously, afraid that it’ll be snatched by others.”

Bian Bian did not really understand. She buried her little head in her grandfather’s arms and sullenly said: “But I still don’t like that Xiao Gege.”

She disliked the way he treated her.

Lu Yu patted his granddaughter’s soft hair. He knew what his granddaughter was upset about. She still didn’t understand human nature.

“That Xiao Gege thought you were going to steal his food and to him, food is more important than his life. That’s why he was aggressive towards you, which is understandable…. However, grandpa doesn’t like him either. Grandpa only likes Bian Bian. In the future when we meet these kinds of people, we’ll keep our distance and not help them.”

Bian Bian began to feel happier because of grandpa’s “only like Bian Bian.” But after a while, she said: “We should still help. Grandpa taught Bian Bian to help when we can.”

Lu Yu smiled.

She then covered her small pocket: “Bian Bian won’t give snacks to other people again.”

Yet, despite what she said, if she encountered the same situation next time and had snacks in her pocket, she would still generously take them out to give. 

……

Bian Bian, who was bewildered by the two large apples, was tempted by their sweet fragrance. The image of a bad guy disappeared from her little head. She reached out with a small hand and picked one up to wash in the bathroom.

“Grandpa and I will eat one. The other one will be given to Uncle Zhu Yuan.” The little girl did not forget to include the little bear. “And Hui Hui.”

This time, she did not use a knife to divide up the apple but used a spoon to dig instead. Since the apple was so big, she even scooped the skin to bring to her grandpa!

Meanwhile, a hideous monster slowly climbed its way up to the top floor. If you shrink it down by a thousand, you would be able to see that it was a black and red colored ant. But as it was now, it was a corpse beast that had been infected with a virus that caused the mutation. The black and red colored ant was nearly five meters in length. It nimbly climbed up to the roof where it was blocked by a thick layer of metal at the rooftop entrance. The beast confirmed that the pressure was indeed emanating from within there.

The corpse beast’s eyes shone fiercely with a blood-red color, but it had an instinctive wisdom that belonged to a high-level corpse beast. The menacing presence behind the metal wall could not get out. It seemed to have confirmed this point. A moment later it moved, silently crawling down towards the third-floor balcony.

Bian Bian sat on a chair, slowly scooping away at the apple. Next to her was a small bowl. She would eat a bite, then scoop a piece into the bowl. That was for her grandpa.

A shadow gradually slithered across the window. Blood red eyes stared at the back of the tiny figure who was earnestly digging away.

Huh?

Bian Bian felt like the light around her suddenly grew dimmer. She shoved a spoonful of newly scooped apple into her mouth and turned around to look. 

A sinister-looking head was trying to push its way through the open window. However, no matter how desperately it struggled to get in, it could not. It was as if something was pressing back against its head and made for quite the bizarre scene.    

“Hui Hui, this must be the monster that wants to eat me and Uncle Zhu Yuan.” Bian Bian jumped off the chair while holding the little bear and held up the spoon as a weapon. She chewed subconsciously on the apple in her mouth. “What is it doing?”

There was a clanging noise, and she could only stare as a gun dropped out of thin air in front of her very eyes. She glanced at the monster that was still trying to force its way in and thought for a bit. Bian Bian put the spoon down and bent to pick the gun off the ground.

Ugh, she couldn’t pick it up.