Chapter 40: The Apocalypse of the Parallel World of Reality and Illusion (3)
When we arrived in this past, it was already evening. We had no money on us and nowhere to go.
Before Juncheng could decide on his next course of action, we were stuck, unable to move forward.
In the end, I suggested we find a place to rest. Since there were still twenty-five days left, there was no need to rush into action. Moreover, Juncheng needed time to think, as this was a crucial turning point that would affect his and our future lives.
However, not having money was the primary problem. Just as I was thinking that we might have to resort to some extreme measures, Zihua grinned cheekily and said, “I’ll be his wife.”
It was truly seamless for her to say something like that. In fact, Zihua’s trendy fashion sense always made her look like she was full of vitality, giving people the mistaken impression that she was a very casual girl.
But in reality, both Juncheng and I knew she was just joking. Zihua was not the type to demean herself.
We watched her happily run up to a middle-aged uncle and then enthusiastically lead him into a hotel. Zihua’s words were so nonchalant, as if she were offering to be his wife for the night to earn some money.
Even Juncheng couldn’t help but express his disbelief. Although he knew it was impossible, seeing it happen made him question his own thoughts.
But, wasn’t that Zihua? Did she really need to sell herself for money?
She could manipulate all sorts of water, create floods and tsunamis, reverse time, and even replace the world itself. She was practically on par with a god, or even above.
Let alone the all-powerful Zihua, even the original Lanhua could have threatened people by holding their secrets over them. With a single command, countless people would have willingly handed over their wealth.
However, Zihua, who couldn’t use Destiny Power, was ultimately just an ordinary girl. Furthermore, in this past, she hadn’t set up any surveillance. How could a random, short, and fat uncle she found on the street have any secrets on her?
Juncheng must have been thinking the same thing as me. He abandoned his contemplation of the future and eagerly followed Zihua towards the hotel. Before they even reached the entrance, Zihua came out, with the short, fat uncle following behind her. Judging by his ecstatic expression, it was impossible not to have wild thoughts.
But the time was too short. It wasn’t even enough to walk to the counter, check in, get the key, and go to the room. Let alone what happens after taking off pants.
“You can leave now.”
“…”
“Zihua!”
Juncheng immediately stepped forward to greet her, while I took a moment to observe the short, fat middle-aged man who was being dismissed. His gaze was unfocused, as if he were sleepwalking. His expression seemed less like he had had a satisfying experience and more like a believer offering a gift to a goddess. He was clearly mesmerized by Zihua. What did she do to him?
“Hoo hoo hoo~ Don’t worry, even the most incompetent guy wouldn’t be able to do anything in such a short time, right?”
“What did you do? You didn’t use Destiny Power, did you?”
“No, I just sang a lullaby and gave him a little psychological suggestion following his thoughts. In his eyes now, I must have become an untouchable goddess, which is why he willingly offered me a tribute~”
“Isn’t that hypnosis!”
And the effect was immediate.
I remembered that Lanhua herself had the talent to read people’s minds through micro-expressions and micro-movements. She could tell what someone was thinking even from the slightest twitch of a facial muscle, which was terrifying.
But I never expected that the future Lanhua would further combine this talent with voice and actions, perfecting it into an instantly effective hypnosis. Even the top hypnosis masters would be ashamed in front of her.
Speaking of which, the Lanhua in the Spiritual World did indeed debut as a singer, producing songs so catchy they were labeled as “bewitching music” by many.
“Juncheng, you threatened me with such words, so how could I knowingly break my promise? Anyway, my dear, the startup capital is here. Aren’t you going to give me some reward?”
Zihua took out her wallet and flaunted a stack of bills before looking at Juncheng with hopeful expectation from a forty-five-degree angle, her face full of charm.
“Alright, alright, really…”
“Mmm~ This level is just to appease a loli. I want a more substantial reward!”
“I’m telling you, if you keep joking like this, you won’t even get a pat on the head.”
“So domineering… but I like that domineering side too~”
“Stop being a fangirl. Since you got the money, let’s go book a room quickly.”
“Ew~ Rushing like this will dampen the mood~ Hoo hoo, but I’m looking forward to it too!”
…
Juncheng looked at me speechlessly, and I looked at Juncheng the same way. I probably had the same expression as Juncheng, an expression that conveyed:
“This woman is crazy!”
This girl is a stalker, and she’s practically in heat right now. She’s completely shameless, posing seductively, spewing vulgarities, and preparing to act on all her lewd ideas. A fox is a carnivore, after all….
However, we still booked two rooms. Needless to say, I shared a room with Zihua, and Juncheng had his own room.
During the process, Zihua strongly protested and refused to hand over the money she had obtained, stating that one double room with a large bed would suffice. In the end, she was outvoted and her money was confiscated, with me temporarily taking custody of it.
Juncheng said he wanted to be alone to think. After sending him to his room, we returned to ours. As soon as she entered the room, Zihua jumped onto the bed in three steps and began to stretch languidly.
“Phew! Honestly, now that we’ve been reborn, shouldn’t we enjoy this brand-new body to the fullest? Even the hymen is brand new! Shouldn’t we experience pain and pleasure together!”
“Eh? Even that regenerated…”
“Hoo hoo, of course! Juncheng is actually leaving us two beautiful women alone to ponder philosophy. How unromantic! Why don’t you… love me…”
“Do you want me to give you a finger with my first blood?”
“If you don’t mind, I can use my tongue too.”
“That’s enough—the perverted little train has started and can’t be stopped.”
How badly does she want it, this person, and she wants to drag me along too. She’s truly insane.
“If Juncheng were to live with us, it would truly be ‘booking a room’ in the truest sense of the word….”
“Hey, we need to flirt a little in between saving the world, right? Don’t you watch Hollywood blockbusters? No matter how critical the situation, there’s always a romance subplot between the male and female leads.”
“That’s at most a kiss, not like what you’re thinking, wanting to add an action verb before ‘love’. Besides, if Juncheng became infatuated with both of us, he probably wouldn’t be able to get out of bed for the next twenty-five days. Then what new future would we create? We’d just be making babies.”
“I’ve wanted Juncheng’s child for a long time~ It’s a pity I can’t get pregnant~”
“Hm? Why?”
“Juncheng is a Master of Destiny, and I am a Witch of Calamity. We both carry immense Destiny Power. If we were to have a child, this Destiny Power would be inherited. That’s why the pregnancy rate is incredibly low, probably as low as getting ten SSRs in ten gacha pulls. But it’s convenient because we don’t need condoms or birth control.”
“I see… What if I actually got pregnant?”
“Heaven will not allow such a child to be born. I might be struck by lightning, or I might suffer some other curse, like turning into stone, or a crooked-necked tree, or my whole body might rot and turn into a skeleton monster. Anything is possible.”
So, Mom, she went through such a calamity to give birth to Juncheng and Keling. After dying, she was cursed and became a blood-drinking zombie, forced to live in the isolated City of the Living.
Grandpa An Tianxia, for what reason did he sacrifice his own daughter and unborn grandson just to summon Juncheng’s soul?
Even if Juncheng is a Master of Destiny, due to his past life karma, he encounters Witches of Calamity more easily than other Masters of Destiny. But in the end, he still suffered all sorts of disasters and died.
Or was this also part of Grandpa’s plan?
Was it to use Juncheng?
But the organization’s attitude doesn’t seem to be about controlling Juncheng. On the contrary, every time he was in danger, the organization tried its best to protect him. They even cleaned up his messes… They did so much.
I can’t figure it out… I really need to meet Grandpa.
Putting aside these complex, unexplainable circumstances, I casually brought up a topic to break the silence.
“But honestly, when I saw you say you were going to ‘sell yourself’ just now, I thought you were really going to sell your body.”
“Hoo hoo, how could I cheat on Juncheng? I could never cheat on Juncheng. It has to be Juncheng, otherwise, I just can’t. This notion was ingrained in my bones since Juncheng rejected me. Every drop of blood I create thinks of Jun… The blood I’m flowing now is Juncheng’s blood~”
Zihua excitedly hugged the quilt. Just the thought of having Juncheng’s blood flowing through her was enough to make her reach ecstasy. I don’t know what’s so enjoyable about that. — It feels like my body is heating up too… This must be a hallucination caused by the atmosphere!
“Good.”
I unbuttoned my collar and fanned myself with my hand, saying something to break the strange, ambiguous atmosphere.
“In a sense, you being so intimate with Juncheng right now is also like cheating on my future self.”
“From Juncheng’s perspective, it’s like he’s r-ed himself.”
“But since it’s all him anyway, it doesn’t seem to matter, does it?”
Unexpectedly, the expression on Zihua’s face vanished instantly, and she buried her face in the pillow, saying in a muffled voice,
“It no longer exists.”
“–Future Juncheng no longer exists.”
“This… if we change this past, then indeed it won’t appear again…”
“No, I mean in the era I come from, ‘Juncheng’ no longer exists.”
“Did Juncheng die again?!”
“No—but it’s no different than death. Because the ‘one’ that’s left in the end isn’t our Juncheng. He’s become something else.”
“What do you mean?”
We’ve touched on this topic before, but Zihua just glossed over it, showing no intention of explaining in detail.
But today, I am determined to get to the bottom of it.
However, Zihua just shook her head and said,
“I cannot say.”
“Why? Because you don’t want to tell me? Or because I don’t need to know? You have to give me a reason. Why can’t you tell us about the future that hasn’t happened? What exactly did you go through? To the point where you had to return to the past to change the future.”
But Zihua continued to shake her head.
I became even more agitated and was about to yell when Zihua said,
“It’s not that I ‘don’t want’ to tell you, it’s that I ‘cannot’ tell you.”
“Huh?” So Zihua couldn’t say it? Was she under a gag order?
“I’m sorry, Zi’ai, I cannot say it, nor can I write it down. I cannot let you know in any way… otherwise, things will only get worse.” At this moment, Zihua was incredibly serious, her expression solemn, and her entire being exuded an atmosphere of “trust me.” A silence ensued for a period.
Finally, I relented. Staring at each other so seriously felt foolish… Seeing her seriousness, I decided to trust her for once.
“Fine… Well, I’m hungry. Let’s call Juncheng to eat together.” I scratched my head and was the first to stand up from the chair and walk out of the room. Zihua also returned to her usual self, grinning and linking her arm with mine as we went to find Juncheng.
Juncheng’s room was right across from ours. As I knocked on the door, I said,
“Juncheng, how about pizza for dinner… Juncheng?” After knocking twice, the door actually opened. The door wasn’t locked at all, and the lights inside were off. I quickly entered the room and searched everywhere, even checking the bathroom tub and under the bed. I concluded that Juncheng wasn’t in the room. Something’s wrong… Where did he go… ! ! No matter where he’s gone, don’t forget to lock the door! What is he going to do?!
