"..."
The clock began to chime twelve, signaling midnight.
Gao Neng pulled off the large mouse head. From inside it, he drew out a steel plate dented with several fist marks. His face was covered in sweat, and a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
So damn intense!
Using a weapon of mass destruction like a childhood trauma to scare someone, only to get punched seven times in a row for it. Can you believe that?
'Good thing I came prepared!'
Gao Neng let out a heavy breath, tossed the mouse costume aside, and untied the transparent fishing line wrapped around his fingers.
Controlling the rats with fishing line, cutting the room's power, and adding in some rotten things collected from the sewers—this was the core of his plan.
Of course, the atmosphere was also very important.
To that end, Gao Neng had gone to great lengths, holding his breath for an hour in the foulest sewer in the Forgotten Land just to record a segment of authentic "music."
But even so, Shen Ning'Er's fierce resistance was almost too much for him to handle. She'd actually beaten all the rats to death. If he hadn't desperately clung to her at the last moment, getting knocked down and getting back up again and again, he probably wouldn't have been able to pull this off tonight.
Glancing at the time, Gao Neng didn't dare delay any longer. He quickly pulled out the prepared candles and chicken blood. He arranged the candles in a circle around Shen Ning'Er and lit them, then smeared the chicken blood on her face and neck as required.
With everything ready, Gao Neng glanced at Shen Ning'Er, who was now painted up like a "demoness." He nodded in satisfaction, then began to perform the "Shaman Dance."
"Mee-ba mee-ba... Ga-wu ga-wu..." Following the instructions from the book, Gao Neng chanted under his breath, but his legs trembled as if they'd been hollowed out from exhaustion.
After dancing for a full minute and a half, he gradually came to a stop. He was excited, but also starting to anticipate the arrival of his reward.
'What was the final requirement again?'
'Right!'
'Shout the slogan.'
"An age of surging passion! A youth of spilled blood!"
Gao Neng shouted it in a low voice. At the same time, he deliberately struck a pose, one finger pointing to the sky, the other to the ground, his head tilted up at a forty-five-degree angle.
The clock went TICK... TOCK...
"..."
Gao Neng waited for a short while, but noticed nothing had changed. No expected flash of light, no surge of power, not even a notification sound.
'What's going on? Where's the promised reward? Is there no trust left in this world?!'
"Notification: Sacrifice incomplete. Slogan was not loud enough. Please remember the requirement: Shout the slogan LOUDLY. If not completed within twenty seconds, the mission will be a failure!"
'For fuck's sake, it's the middle of the night! How loud do you want me to shout?' Gao Neng was furious. As a man, he had to curse, and then... back down.
He took a sharp breath.
He adjusted his pose again and shouted.
"An age of surging passion! A youth of spilled blood!"
This time, his voice was nearly twice as loud, and the effect was quite noticeable. The moment he shouted the slogan, he smelled a rich fragrance.
'Smells so good!'
'Is this the thrill of leveling up?'
But as Gao Neng thought this, he felt his head inexplicably grow dizzy, as if he'd drunk some bootleg alcohol. He could barely even stand straight.
BEEP!
A soft sound rang out.
Gao Neng's heart leaped with joy. 'The reward is here!'
'But why can't I see it?'
Just as he was wondering, the voice in his mind sounded again.
"Notification: Sacrifice incomplete. Slogan was not loud enough. Please remember the requirement: Shout the slogan LOUDLY. If not completed within ten seconds, the mission will be a failure!"
"???"
'Not complete?'
'Then what was that fragrance just now, and that "BEEP" sound?'
Before Gao Neng could figure it out, he saw the closed door get pushed open. Light from outside streamed in, outlining two figures.
"Ah Si, guard the door!"
"You got it, Brother Tang! Have all the fun you want!"
After the brief exchange, one of the figures walked in.
Gao Neng looked at him.
The man looked back at Gao Neng.
Their eyes met. SPARKS. All sparks.
Gao Neng was genuinely startled. He never would have imagined that Tang Weiwei would walk in right now, with Ah Si in tow.
Tang Weiwei was just as shocked.
'Why the hell is there another guy in Shen Ning'Er's room?!'
'Did I seriously walk into the wrong room again?!'
Tang Weiwei was about to say, 'Goddammit, wrong room,' but he quickly realized something was off. The person in front of him looked a little familiar.
'So handsome!'
A person like that shone like a firefly, even in the dark.
"Gao Neng?!" Tang Weiwei was utterly baffled. Then, he saw Shen Ning'Er sleeping by Gao Neng's feet in the candlelight. For a moment, his jaw nearly dropped in shock. "That looks like... a made-up Shen Ning'Er?! Wait, let me get this straight... Are you two... having a candlelight dinner? No, that's not right. Gao Neng, why are you here?!"
'He recognized me?' Gao Neng's heart sank. 'He could recognize me in such dim light? And he even recognized Shen Ning'Er with all that makeup on?'
Most importantly, his head was spinning. So much so that he was about to lose his balance.
Seeing Gao Neng remain silent, Tang Weiwei's eyes darted around, and he immediately understood. 'He must have inhaled my Enchanting Fragrance and is out of his mind, right?'
"Gao Neng, you have some nerve! Daring to barge into Shen Ning'Er's room! What did you do to her? Why does her face look like that?"
"..." Gao Neng didn't speak.
"Excellent, Gao Neng. No matter what you did, you're going to be my scapegoat today. After I wash Shen Ning'Er clean and have my fun, everything that happened here will be your doing. And I... will be the hero who saved Shen Ning'Er! Hahaha..."
"..." Gao Neng still didn't speak.
Most people would have chosen to run in this situation, but he wasn't most people. He didn't run. Not only did he not run, but he took a deep breath of the fragrance lingering in the air. Then, he let loose and, with all his might, roared the ritual's slogan.
"AN AGE OF SURGING PASSION! A YOUTH OF SPILLED BLOOD!!!"
That roar was earth-shattering, like a crack of thunder. The slogan echoed throughout the sky above the entire Golden Grand Hotel.
Tang Weiwei, on the other hand, was stunned by Gao Neng's unusual action. 'Has this kid been scared stupid? What is he howling about in the middle of the night?'
'What "age of surging passion"? What bullshit "youth"?'
'Wait!'
'This kid's voice... it's a little loud, isn't it?!'
Tang Weiwei's face, already swollen like a pig's head, instantly turned pale. He was a man with "work experience." He knew very well what usually happened within a dozen or so seconds of a "loud noise."
"Shit! Ah Si, quick, help me hold him down! Don't let him get away!" At this critical moment, Tang Weiwei immediately demonstrated his high-IQ composure in a crisis.
He knew that people in the hallway were probably already on their way over. His plan was ruined. Under these circumstances, there was no longer any possibility of having his way with Shen Ning'Er. His only choice was to stand on the side of justice and condemn evil. At the very least, he could still earn the title of Flower Guardian.
"You got it, Brother Tang!" Ah Si lunged forward in a single bound.
Gao Neng was completely drained.
After taking seven punches from Shen Ning'Er, inhaling so much of the fragrance, and letting out that final roar, he simply couldn't stand any longer. His body went limp, and he collapsed on top of Shen Ning'Er.
'So fragrant... so soft!'
"Huh? Looks like Gao Neng's done for. I don't even need to do anything?" Ah Si's fist froze in mid-air, a look of pleasant surprise on his face. 'Who said I couldn't beat Gao Neng just because my grades are bad?'
"Excellent. Just let him stay in that position. Hahaha... With the Enchanting Fragrance in the air, not even an Immortal could withstand it! Gao Neng, you're dead meat this time!" Seeing this, Tang Weiwei also let out a sigh of relief.
'Why isn't it complete yet? Am I being played?' Gao Neng didn't even have the strength to stand up now. His only hope was to rely on this damned "strongest ability."
And just then, the familiar voice finally sounded in his mind once more.
"Ding! Host has successfully passed the ability trial and completed the mission 'Sacrifice Shen Ning'Er'!"