Chapter 189: Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Four: Right at Your Doorstep (4K)
Fang Shijun stared at the crack on the floor-to-ceiling window, lost in thought.
It was surprising how money could make people so uninhibited.
In an instant, the fatigue from yesterday vanished without a trace, replaced instead by a hint of joy.
The day was drawing to a close, the scorching sun casting down from the sky through the window. The air conditioning blew a gentle cool breeze, taming the sunlight.
Fang Shijun carefully got off the bed, not wanting to disturb the sleeping Lin Feng.
She opened her phone, intercepting 79 spam calls, wondering how many Meng Ziqi had made.
Fang Shijun casually swiped away the notification about “79 spam calls” and checked the time.
It was already 2 PM.
Her stomach began to growl.
Fang Shijun automatically opened the food delivery app.
Normally, at this time, she would wake up the male partner to order food for her. For example, Meng Ziqi could just place a call and order a meal that suited her taste.
If it wasn’t particularly delicious, she would criticize Meng Ziqi, and he would remember her critiques, noting her favorite flavors for next time.
However, Lin Feng wasn’t Meng Ziqi; she didn’t want to trouble him with such trivial matters.
Meng Ziqi also wasn’t Lin Feng; Fang Shijun had never woken up next to him.
After some thought, Fang Shijun ordered milk tea and steak.
…
…
“Pan-seared steak, red wine braised beef, sweet milk, sauerkraut, braised pork knuckle, Los Angeles grapes…”
Ji Ma stared at the black screen of her phone, the screen acting as a mirror that reflected Meng Ziqi’s pitiful and **-filled face.
Ji Ma muttered about delicacies, seeing shadows of fine food in the black glass.
Beside her, a steward pushed a cart full of boxed meals, calling out that the price had dropped from 40 yuan to 30 yuan.
Ji Ma didn’t buy any; on one hand, she looked down on this kind of food, which consisted mostly of rice with little meat. Even for breakfast, Ji Ma would eat a tomahawk steak.
On the other hand, it was too expensive and of low value.
As the steward’s call faded away, Ji Ma twisted open a bottle of overpriced mineral water and gulped it down, slightly alleviating her hunger.
But the hunger was not a true hunger.
After all, Ji Ma didn’t consume ordinary food; her true sustenance was derived from desire and the power of pain, which she currently had plenty of. Her hunger stemmed from a craving for fine cuisine, tied to her habits as a mortal.
As she recounted the 289th food item and recalled dreaming of a royal palace for the 274th time.
Ji Ma could no longer numb herself.
If only her phone had battery left; she could watch a five-star hotel flickering onscreen, enjoying fine dining in the fantasy of a decent life.
Unfortunately, with just 2% battery remaining, it could only power on long enough to glance at Fang Shijun’s phone number, which could be used as a medium to divine her real-time location.
However, simply writing down Fang Shijun’s number wouldn’t serve as a divination medium since she had no direct contact with her.
Next to her, someone placed their boxed meal on the high-speed rail’s built-in tray and was eating half a boiled egg, chewing with their mouth wide open, producing loud smacking sounds.
She truly wished she could just throw him off the train.
Ji Ma propped her chin on one hand, elbow resting on the windowsill, gazing out at the scenery.
Clearly, she possessed great power and could summon everyone on the train to serve her; she could lounge in a business seat surrounded by beautiful women….
“Smack, smack, smack…”
She could even shove stones into the mouth of the guy to her left, tossing him out of the train.
“Smack, smack…”
She really wanted to bury an axe in his mouth, chopping horizontally to turn his mouth into a clown’s grin, then pulling hard…
But such a ruckus would surely attract the attention of the Dragon Group.
Ji Ma’s gaze wandered to the clear blue sky outside, her golden eyes narrowed as if she could see countless strong figures arriving on flying swords.
She imagined herself wielding a “branch axe spear,” taking off, casting a few maze spells, with almost all Dragon Group members vanishing on the spot.
Only an old man with an ethereal presence raised his hands in prayer and said, “Amitabha!”
He then waved his dust whisk, stepped onto a flying sword, pulled out a Gatling gun from his sleeve, and yelled, “Demon! Where do you think you’re going? Take this Gatling!”
“Bang, bang, bang, bang.”
The Gatling gun sprayed shimmering bullets, enveloping Ji Ma, yet she remained almost unharmed as the bullets all skirted past her.
The two engaged in a fierce battle for three hundred rounds, causing the high-speed train to be affected by the aftershocks; its shell completely stripped away, and passengers were blown away by powerful winds, even the aisles disappeared.
“Smack… burp.”
The guy to Ji Ma’s left, satisfied, gave a loud burp, blissfully unaware he had escaped death.
Ji Ma was brought back to reality after a while, looking at the remaining 78% of her magic. She silently contemplated: be low-key in doing evil, be low-key in doing evil.
The high-speed train entered the station at full speed, not slowing down, as figures raced across the platform.
Yet Ji Ma’s dynamic vision easily exceeded that of mere mortals, enabling her to clearly see the crowd on the platform; without exception, almost everyone wore short sleeves and summer attire, coupled with the scorching sunlight pouring down from the sky.
Ji Ma realized it was already summer.
Summer… seemed to be my birthday.
Ji Ma pulled her ID card from her pocket and checked the date.
Her birthday was in early summer, two days ago, the day of the jump.
Only then did Ji Ma recall her specific birthday; since high school, no one had celebrated it for her. After that, she only celebrated the birthdays of others, including Fang Shijun’s.
What a pity; what is there to commemorate about that detestable birthday? How frustrating that no one held a knife to my throat; why did I go to lick?
No, wait!
Ji Ma suddenly remembered there was one person who consistently celebrated her birthday.
George.
Although Ji Ma couldn’t even recall her own birthday, he considered the day he met her to be her birthday.
George had celebrated her first, second birthdays, and now with her third approaching, he had come to deliver a blow to her back.
Now the last person who could have celebrated her birthday would no longer do so; she had cut that possibility off herself.
The high-speed train had exited the station, Ji Ma let out a soft sigh, falling into silence for a long while, her gaze fixed outside the window.
…
…
Sitting at the dining table, Fang Shijun sipped the milk tea she had ordered, feeling somewhat awkward.
A waiter sent by the butler’s department had already served their meal, quietly asking Lin Feng, “Mr. Lin, are you satisfied with the dishes?”
Lin Feng chewed on the beef and nodded.
Only then did the waiter push the cart away; the cracks in the floor-to-ceiling window were glaringly obvious in the sunlight, but the waiter seemed to see nothing.
Before the lavish dishes on the dining table, Fang Shijun pondered Lin Feng’s preferences as she inspected the takeout, all wrapped in plastic like rubbish.
At three o’clock in the afternoon, Lin Feng had just woken up when the phone at his bedside rang. The butler’s department called to ask, “Should we provide lunch according to your usual preferences?”
Lin Feng responded affirmatively, and a few minutes later, lunch was delivered to the door.
There was no need for Fang Shijun to order takeout herself.
While having lunch and talking with Lin Feng, Fang Shijun began to understand.
As a frequent guest at the hotel, Lin Feng had a fixed room reserved for him anytime he wanted to check in.
The butler’s department provided personalized service, already remembering Lin Feng’s favorite dishes, his daily routine, and so on.
After the initial awkwardness, Fang Shijun quickly regained her smile.
Awkward as it was, this also proved that being Lin Feng’s girlfriend was far preferable to being a certain emasculated man’s devoted follower.
Even if she was technically Lin Feng’s companion, even if she was technically Meng Ziqi’s fiancée.
She also felt fortunate that she decisively cut ties with Meng Ziqi. Otherwise, if she had delayed for a few more days, she wouldn’t have been able to reach such heights as Lin Feng, and Meng Ziqi had nearly dragged her down.
After finishing lunch, the takeout on the dining table remained unopened; Fang Shijun casually tossed it into the trash can.
…
…
When Ji Ma stepped out of the high-speed rail station, it was already evening.
She had no sense of time; looking at the sky, she saw the black night and confirmed it was now evening.
She still struggled to adapt to the hometown city; everywhere was lit up, seeming capable of illuminating the entire dark side of the earth. She could only ascertain the time by observing the sky.
Her gaze swept over the big clock hanging in the hall.
“It’s already eight-thirty in the evening.”
Just as she had said when buying the ticket, the entire journey took thirteen hours, covering nearly two thousand kilometers in a straight line. If she had taken a flight, Ji Ma had no idea how long it would take; she couldn’t fly at full speed the entire day.
Ji Ma held her “straight branch” and strode confidently out of the station, amidst the bustling crowd. In just a few days, she had encountered more people than she did in a whole month in the other world.
She was still a succubus experienced in several wars.
“There are too many people,” Ji Ma muttered as she grabbed someone and inquired about what to do if her phone was out of battery.
The person blurted, “Buy a power bank.”
Using the little battery she had left, Ji Ma opened her phone, spending a staggering sixty yuan at a kiosk to buy a power bank and charging cable. After plugging it into her phone and seeing the charging symbol, Ji Ma finally felt at ease.
Some memories also came rushing back; she understood that her phone needed battery, and a battery could store electrical power.
“Why aren’t phone batteries designed to be removable?” Ji Ma looked at the oversized white power bank, connected to her phone by a white cable, feeling it was an unnecessary hassle. “Wouldn’t it be better to just replace the battery directly?”
Was everyone an idiot?
Thinking of this, Ji Ma’s past recollections revived.
She remembered that phones used to be removable.
“What a regression.”
Ji Ma opened her contacts, clicked on the “Darling Postcard,” and prepared to dial. A feeling of incurable longing welled up in her chest, softening Ji Ma’s heart.
She referred to it as the “licking sensation.”
Give her a chance; she was a good girl, so traditional and conservative. There must have been some misunderstanding… countless thoughts flooded her mind.
Even a dark-hearted Ji Ma found herself compelled to relent a little.
If she called her, and if she obediently surrendered, Ji Ma would impose lighter punishment.
Ji Ma made a call, and as expected, it was busy.
She tightened her grip on her phone, sensing that tonight might turn quite bloody; a bloody corpse should be sufficient to catch the attention of the authorities.
And if she recklessly sought revenge herself, using her ID in various transit systems would likely leave traces. This also meant that Meng Ziqi, this identity of hers, would sooner or later be exposed.
What am I afraid of?
As long as I sever ties with Meng Ziqi, I’ll be fine.
Who would know that Meng Ziqi is this king? This secret absolutely must not be leaked to anyone.
With that thought, Ji Ma slowly typed a message with her thumb to Fang Shijun: “Darling, run! I’m sacrificing myself in a suicide ritual and attracting demons to control my body to hunt you down!”
This lie would undoubtedly confuse any pursuers if she were exposed someday.
More importantly, Ji Ma sensed that the licking sensation within her had diminished considerably.
Pleased, Ji Ma hit send, lifted her gaze, and asked the kiosk owner, “Boss, do you have newspapers related to Xianxia, superpowers, or extraordinary beings?”
“Huh? What did you say?”
Ji Ma repeated it, and the owner handed her a colorful magazine, asking, “Are you looking to buy this?”
Ji Ma read the title on the cover: “Douluo Continent? What does that mean?”
After the initial confusion, she realized the owner had no idea what she had referred to.
But holding onto the idea of not missing out, Ji Ma still bought a single volume of “Douluo Continent,” flipping through it as she walked, trying to find any trace of extraordinary power.
Although she knew nothing about the extraordinary power systems on Earth, it was clear to Ji Ma that the colorful drawings in the comic book were all fake and entirely fictional.
She reached a conclusion.
Either Earth has no extraordinary power at all.
Or they have special methods to hide their tracks.
The latter possibility seemed much more likely, but the question arose: why would Earth’s “extraordinary beings” want to hide themselves?
There could be many reasons, but Ji Ma believed it certainly couldn’t be because Earth’s extraordinary beings were mighty.
A strong being doesn’t need to hide; if they do, it indicates they’re not strong enough.
Ji Ma had researched various national constitutions online. While many terms were unfamiliar to her, she keenly noticed the emphasis on equality for everyone; not just in China, but in several major countries as well.
Regardless of the reality, since equality is openly emphasized, it indicated that mortals were the most powerful group in this world.
That said, if all laws were hypocritical, hypocrisy itself is a submission to the power of goodness. Only in places where evil forces cannot overpower goodness do the wicked have to don the mantle of virtue to disguise themselves.
At least that’s how Ji Ma perceived it; when she was with George, she had to hold back—not only did she have to refrain from doing evil, but sometimes she had to do good as well.
But in the demon realm, she didn’t need to mind anything at all, and no one would be foolish enough to be hypocritical. In the demon realm, being good only proves that you are afraid.
“At least the extraordinary beings on Earth aren’t strong enough to surpass mortals; otherwise, the term equality wouldn’t exist.”
Ji Ma spoke to herself, brimming with confidence, clutching her “straight branch,” her thumb tapping rapidly on the phone screen as she opened her contacts to divine Fang Shijun’s real-time address.
“…Wenhua Hotel?”
Ji Ma recalled yesterday when she had been tempted by the duplex private hot spring villa of Wenhua Hotel while looking for a place to stay.
But with a price of 2550 yuan per day, her interest quickly waned.
“Heh.” She sneered, entering the address into the Gaode navigation app.
The straight-line distance was actually 23.7 kilometers.
Hometown cities are such vast places; compared to the high elves’ Losanson, it feels like a fishing village.
The smartphone provided her with directions, telling her to take subway line 1, change at People’s Square to line 2, and then…
Ji Ma abruptly turned her phone screen off, scattering lies to mislead everyone’s attention. She took off into the air, one hand holding the phone, navigating the city with its guidance, heading straight for Fang Shijun’s address.
