Chai Xiaomi hadn't enjoyed such a good night's sleep in a long time.
In her own world, she often stayed up until the early hours of the morning, resulting in a worrying lack of sleep. Since transiting into this world, she had been living in a constant state of trepidation, plagued by nightmares.
Last night, however, was an anomaly. She had a beautiful dream.
In the dream, she was thriving in this novel’s world, surrounded by friends, family, and a lover—though the role of the lover was somewhat unrealistic.
In her dreamscape, that lover pampered her in every possible way, attending to her every need to the point where she barely had to lift a finger to eat or dress. Chai Xiaomi acted like a haughty queen before him, ordering him about at will.
Even when she kicked him away, those slender hands with black-painted nails would reverently cradle her tender white foot. The youth’s eyes were rimmed with red, his gaze filled with desperate longing. "Sister, don't ignore me. Tell me what I did wrong, and I'll change everything..."
As he spoke, the youth lowered his head to kiss her foot. His cunning tongue brushed against her porcelain skin, his heterochromatic eyes shimmering with profound affection.
The silver bells on her ankle jingled as they collided with the silver ornaments on the youth's body. He continued his trail of kisses from her foot upward.
The bed curtains were lifted by a breeze and then slowly fell, concealing a small world of tangled breaths in the corner.
Everything around them seemed to sink into the misty spray of a waterfall, becoming blurred and indistinct.
All that could be heard was the constant, rhythmic tinkling of bells coming from behind the curtains...
Chai Xiaomi rubbed her bleary eyes and sat dazed on the bed for a good while before slowly climbing down.
She must have taken the wrong medicine to have such an absurd dream.
Wu Li licking a cannon-fodder female supporting character's feet?
That was beyond ridiculous. Even the author of the book wouldn't believe it.
They say dreams are the opposite of reality, and the gentle, submissive youth in the dream was a far cry from the real person. They weren't the same at all.
The name Wu Li had nothing to do with gentleness; he was sinister and wicked.
She scanned the room; Wu Li was already gone.
According to the plot, today was the day guests from various tribes attending the wedding would present gifts to Qi Lao, the leader of the Yuebai Tribe.
Three days later, on the wedding day, the male lead would appear to snatch the bride, while Wu Li would go to steal the Phantom Color Stone.
His method for taking the stone was simple and brutal: he would kill Qi Lao directly and create a puppet to take his place.
Witchcraft and voodoo were mysterious and eerie; no one noticed that Qi Lao had long been swapped out and turned into a walking corpse.
Thus, when the female lead, Song Yueyao, obtained the Phantom Color Stone, she merely thought the villain had stolen it. Without the stone as leverage to bargain with Liangya State, the Yuebai Tribe naturally lost the conditions required to marry Song Yueyao.
As a result, Song Yueyao developed a favorable impression of Wu Li. However, this liking was limited to friendship, though it gave Wu Li the opportunity to approach her privately.
Therefore, she had to find the Phantom Color Stone as soon as possible before the wedding. Chai Xiaomi thought about this as she walked toward the wooden rack.
Looking up at the empty rack, she froze for a few seconds.
She had hung them here last night, right?
Unsure of herself, she circled the room before opening the window in bewilderment. The sight before her left her completely stunned.
On the highest branch of the tallest tree beside the building, her clothes were fluttering in the sunlight.
Most conspicuous of all was that pair of panties.
Hanging from the highest twig, they looked like a pink-and-white triangular flag.
Chai Xiaomi’s face turned white, then red, and then white again.
The sun was high in the sky, and the doors of the surrounding guest rooms were opening one after another. The corridor was becoming crowded with people passing by.
"Strange. Doesn't the Yuebai Tribe usually hang red strings for blessings? Why is there a small scrap of cloth hanging there? And those two round pieces below it with two straps—are those for blessings too?"
"It is indeed rare. Never seen anything like it. Should we fly over and see what scriptures are embroidered on them?"
The conversation drifting in from outside made Chai Xiaomi feel like she was about to crumble.
How was this any different from a public execution?
Just as she was about to rush out to stop them, a sharp bird cry suddenly pierced the sky.
A falcon spread its wide wings and circled down, accurately snatching the thin pieces of cloth from the branch before soaring back into the clouds.
The two men outside shook their heads in regret. "No luck today. Forget it, the hour for the gift presentation is approaching. We should get moving."
"The Yuebai Tribe is becoming more prosperous by the day. With its vast lands and resources, it's practically the leader of the Miao territories. Look, even those reclusive Raw Miao have brought gifts. Especially the Witchcraft Tribe—ever since the Saintess passed away eighteen years ago, their most powerful voodoo arts have almost been lost."
"Shh, keep your voice down. Don't provoke those people... they're incredibly wicked."
Just after the two men left, a figure appeared by the window.
Holding the now-dry clothes, he handed them in through the window from the corridor.
"They're all dry. Put them on." Wu Li curled his lips into a smile of excellent upbringing, his face wearing a leisurely "no need to thank me" expression.
With a dark expression, Chai Xiaomi stared at the little rabbit-patterned pink-and-white panties hanging from Wu Li’s long, slender index finger.
He seemed to find it amusing, twirling them around his finger twice.
Feeling a metaphorical heart attack coming on, she snatched all the clothes from his arm with lightning speed and slammed the window shut with a heavy thud.
Wu Li looked at the closed window and paused for a moment, a sudden, inexplicable irritability surging in his heart.
He had been "gentlemanly" enough just now, kindly drying and collecting her clothes and even delivering them to her.
So what if he saw her two "steamed buns"? At most, he’d just buy her two actual white buns to pay her back!
"Heh." His expression grew tense, and a cold sneer escaped his lips.
What an ungrateful woman!
If it weren't for the fact that his Scorpion Love-Galling was still residing in her body, she would have died a hundred times over by now.
Fine. He would keep her alive to be buried with him later.
The two men who had been talking earlier realized they had lost something and doubled back.
As they passed this section of guest rooms, they saw a tall figure standing quietly in the corridor.
Coming closer, they saw the bright, youthful face of a teenager. His features were as pure as sprouts emerging after the spring snow, seemingly untainted by the world. His gaze was fixed on the ground as if he were lost in thought.
Although this row consisted of rooms for the Witchcraft Tribe, the two men lowered their guard slightly upon seeing the handsome youth.
One of them stepped forward and asked, "Little brother, have you seen a jade pendant? I passed through here just now and might have dropped it."
Wu Li looked up, his bright, heterochromatic eyes harboring a suppressed, vicious emotion.
It was clearly a bright and youthful face, yet it hid a cold, cruel undercurrent. That previous hint of purity vanished without a trace, replaced by a chilling, sinister aura.
The two men felt they had misjudged him and stepped back repeatedly in fear. "It’s probably not here. We’ll look elsewhere."
They had always avoided provoking people from the Witchcraft Tribe. They had only dared to ask because the youth looked young and innocent.
Who knew that a single look from him would make their skin crawl?
Meeting his gaze felt like being sucked into a void, as if an invisible hand were clutching their throats, making it difficult even to breathe.
"Why look elsewhere?" Wu Li’s lips curled into a smirk as he raised his hand, slowly and deliberately playing with the jade pendant. "Isn't it right here?"
The men turned back at the sound of his voice, only to see the youth smiling in a way that made their hair stand on end.
That smile seemed to be nothing more than a thin layer of disguise. Once peeled back, there was nothing underneath but blatant, murderous intent.
The man who had lost the jade pendant stepped forward, bracing himself. Keeping a safe distance, he reached out with a trembling hand. This... this is a precious family heirloom. Thank you, young brother, for finding it for me.
Wu Li began to hand the pendant over, but then abruptly pulled it back. Oh, that reminds me. I believe I overheard the two of you mentioning that the great arts of sorcery are dying out. Would you like a personal taste?
Before the words had even fully left his lips, the youth’s knuckles whitened as he tightened his grip on the jade.
The two men instantly felt as though their bodies were being bound by an invisible, terrifying force. As his palm squeezed the jade tighter, their faces turned a sickly shade of blue. They couldn't make a sound; it felt as if their internal organs were being crushed into a pulp.
Just then, the crisp chime of a bell drifted from behind the door.
Wu Li’s grip suddenly slackened. His eyes narrowed as he caught a glimpse of a skirt fluttering through the gap in the doorway.
Why is she still wearing that social butterfly outfit?
Seeing that the door was about to be pushed open, he carelessly tossed the jade at the two men.
Get lost.
As if granted a divine reprieve, the pair scrambled to pick up the pendant, their faces pale with terror, and fled faster than rabbits.
