[Vol. 1] Chapter 37 - Holding Back
Mingyuan kept going, ignoring how Xiaolan was barely keeping it together. "Your name can't be from some old late-stage Mahayana or Nascent Soul cultivator. I tested you. You could barely follow my movements."
Gulp. Xiaolan broke out in a cold sweat.
"I thought maybe you were just a wandering ghost from this place. But that's not it either. You didn't die from lighting those candles."
The scariest people were the ones who could piece things together. If Feng Yue made Xiaolan feel pure dread, then Mingyuan was a close second.
"You lied about your name too. Well, it's not really yours anyway. Unless that fake name actually is yours? Yong Chai?"
Close. Xiaolan let out a breath. Too close. If Mingyuan had just a little more information, she'd be dead. Not that it mattered anymore, she was already caught.
Xiaolan wasn't stupid. There was no use trying to lie. She had a strong feeling that if she dared to, she'd be minced piece by piece.
"Since when?"
"Hmph. When you tried to frame me as your lover?" Mingyuan scoffed.
"That fast? Since the very beginning?" Xiaolan was startled, but it wasn't unexpected. She just hadn't expected it to be this early.
"I'm saying it directly to you because I've already seen what you're capable of," Mingyuan said. "Your combat ability is low. Your intelligence isn't much."
She was sharp and observant. Based on her analysis alone, she could infer that the one who possessed Xiaolan likely had low combat maneuvering...especially seen with Lin Feiyu, Lin Eishou, and the spirit beasts alike.
"...Then all those questions just now?" Xiaolan pressed.
"It was to see what your purpose was." Mingyuan scoffed with a disdainful expression. "You underestimate my understanding with... her."
She paused, letting the words settle.
"You're not even trying."
Xiaolan couldn't help but think back to her past self, playing the game on her phone. There had always been notifications about how an NPC thought of you.
If she could see the notification like before, it would read: [Mingyuan thinks you're a useless Alpha.]
A vein bulged on her forehead. Through gritted teeth, she said, "You're not wrong, but you don't have to say it like that."
Mingyuan glanced at the unfamiliar yet familiar person in front of her, then stood up, patting her lap to shake off dust.
Disdain and disgust colored her expression whenever she looked at Xiaolan. "Well, there's no use keeping up appearances with you. Three days from now, make sure to attend the competition."
Xiaolan said, "Now hold on—"
"Shut up." Mingyuan's voice turned cold. "If you're going to take her place, then you'd better take that part too."
Okay. Okay. Think.
Back in her old life, the hardest decision she made was which instant noodles to buy. Now she was supposed to outsmart a cultivator who had probably been killing people since before she was born?
Yeah. No pressure.
But she wasn't completely helpless. She had something they didn't: she knew this world was a game. She knew the rules. And she knew Mingyuan hadn't killed her yet.
Xiaolan forced herself to breathe. To observe. Mingyuan hadn't killed her yet. That meant something. Either she needed Xiaolan alive, or killing her wasn't worth the trouble.
Which one?
"If you wanted me dead, I'd already be dead," Xiaolan said quietly, her voice wavering.
Mingyuan's eyes flickered. Just a fraction. But Xiaolan caught it.
So I'm right. She needs something from me.
"You're sharper than you look," Mingyuan muttered, almost annoyed. "At least your brain didn't fail you."
For a long moment, neither spoke. The fog pressed in around them, cold and damp.
Then Mingyuan exhaled sharply, her hand dropping from her sword hilt.
"Let's part ways here. Leave."
Xiaolan didn't move.
"Before I can't hold myself back."
Oh god. Oh god. Move, legs, move.
Xiaolan's blood ran cold. She nodded once, slow, careful, then turned and walked.
Once Mingyuan confirmed Xiaolan had truly left, she turned sharply back to the Lu family ruins. She stepped onto the familiar ground where she had found the strange written symbols.
She glanced at the words. They were clearly not recorded in any writing form from the central planes. Foreign.
She took something out of her storage ring—an expensive, translucent jade in the shape of a rectangular crystal. A memory stone, encrypted with formations to ensure the recording would be vivid.
The memory stone floated on her palm, whirring as it worked, capturing the written words into the crystal.
Then Mingyuan stepped onto the symbols, grinding them underfoot to erase every trace.
***
SHRIEEEKKK!
Taka slid under a giant praying mantis. Its insect body and limbs were lightning fast, but they still couldn't keep up with him.
Clank. The chains formed and wrapped all over the insect's body. With a heavy tug, Taka subdued it.
Yorou walked slowly from behind, offering a slow clap. "Done yet? I missed those two cuties."
Taka exhaled the air he had been holding in his lungs. "Focus, Yorou. I still haven't tamed the others, but we don't have much time..."
"You've been counting?" Yorou blinked, baffled by Taka's monstrosity.
"Those candles might melt fully now. I can feel it. Our smokescreen is about to be exposed..." Taka grunted, chaining down the shrieking and shifting giant praying mantis.
"Yorou! Hold it down!"
"Should I?" Yorou tilted her head, completely unhurried. A giant mantis thrashed just inches away, but she didn't even blink. "Maybe if you give me what I want..."
Taka's pressure spiked. He was pushing himself to the limit.
Yorou inhaled deeply, a slow smile spreading across her face. The Alpha pheromones rolling off Taka were intoxicating.
The chains groaned under the mantis's thrashing. Taka's arms trembled, veins bulging along his neck.
"Yorou!" he snapped. "Now!"
Yorou sighed, rolling her shoulders. "Fine, fine. You're no fun."
She stepped forward, unhurried, as the mantis's serrated limb swung inches from her face. She didn't flinch.
Her hand shot out, palm flat against the creature's carapace. Dark qi seeped from her fingers like ink in water, spreading across the insect's body in branching veins.
The mantis froze.
Its shrieking cut off. Its limbs locked. Even its antennae stopped twitching.
Yorou patted its head like a tamed dog. "See? Was that so hard?"
Taka stared at her, chest heaving. "You could have done that from the start."
"Probably." Yorou smiled, her eyes glinting. "But watching you struggle was entertaining."
The mantis stood perfectly still, its red eyes dim and vacant. Waiting.
Taka wiped sweat from his brow. "How long will it hold?"
"Long enough." Yorou turned away, already losing interest. "Probably."
Taka's jaw tightened. He hated working with her. But he hated being eaten alive more.
He raised his hand, channeling a wave of spiritual qi toward the subdued mantis. The energy wrapped around the creature, sinking into its core. The taming had begun.
"Let's move," he said. "We're running out of time."
Yorou followed, casting one last glance at the frozen mantis. Its eyes tracked her.
She smiled.
"Good boy."