## Chapter 5.5: Lanhua’s Bargain
“A night of extreme indulgence…
This night truly exhausted all my physical strength, converting it into spiritual energy.
A refreshing breeze passed through my heart, nourishing my body.
The conclusion is, I have truly severed ties with the world.
I’m really going to be undiscoverable, I’ve tried it many, many times. Whether it’s Juncheng or anyone else, they completely won’t notice me. No one will notice me no matter what I do. I don’t even know what Juncheng looks like in others’ eyes when I do this or that to him, but in short…
It feels so good…
The only downside is that Juncheng won’t move. He feels like a blow-up doll, or like a sex toy. That necrophiliac Young Miss might particularly enjoy it, but I prefer being held.
But no matter what, I still profited.
For me, this is simply the best state to be in.
A 360-degree, seamlessly close-contact tracking!
Isn’t it simply wonderful?
Even in a temporary corner, I felt like it didn’t matter if I didn’t regain my sense of presence. After all, living a life where I can do whatever I want is pretty good.
I no longer need to rack my brain to track Juncheng’s whereabouts. Just staying by Juncheng’s side like this is enough. When Juncheng is alone, I can take the time for myself once in a while, without even needing to clean up. It’s so convenient.
What’s more, maybe Juncheng has forgotten about me like everyone else… If that’s the case, my meaning of existence…
No! Lanhua!
How can you have such negative thoughts? For now, just stay by Juncheng’s side. Maybe one day he’ll notice…
Emotionally, that’s how I feel, but I’m also starting to see some strange things.
Those dark, coal-like things. I can feel spiritual power from them. These things are actually people.
But I don’t know why they became this way.
Well, it has nothing to do with me.
Ah, Juncheng is leaving. Wait up, I haven’t finished getting dressed yet.
I hastily put on my outer clothes. My underwear is still wet, so I’ll skip wearing it for now. No one can see it anyway.
Following Juncheng, I arrived at the long-unseen school. Entering the classroom, no one could see me. My seat was even empty.
Also, Li Nai’s seat is empty.
That’s right, Li Nai in this world is no longer a zombie. She won’t become that innocent, cute, and easily manipulated zombie Class Monitor anymore.
On the way earlier, Yu Hui mentioned that Juncheng in this world likes Li Nai. Should it be Big Sister Li Nai? Having lived a normal life for five years, she should be in her twenties now.
However, unlike my empty seat, Li Nai’s seat seems to be occupied. I wonder if Juncheng has noticed…
There’s a new ‘person’ in this class. Who could it be?
Can the butterfly effect from five years ago affect such minute details?
There’s something fishy here.
But, it doesn’t matter!
After school, Juncheng met that omnipotent Head Maid at the school gate. I suddenly felt curious if she could see me, so I tried various pranks, but they were all cleverly dodged.
She can actually see me, right? No, but her gaze never lingered on me. It felt like she didn’t notice me…
This person is truly inscrutable. Shirley seems to be taking Juncheng somewhere. After taking out a bicycle, the two of them disappeared. That bicycle even had a spatial transfer function. Of course, I think it was just the maid’s prank.
Ugh, I can’t follow this… I don’t know where they went.
Where should I spend my time now? How about teasing that Young Miss?
It’s just that the maid isn’t here, so she can’t protect her Young Miss anymore~ Ho ho ho ho~
“Then… excuse me…
“Hm?
“Mi!”
A voice sounded from behind. I originally thought it was directed at someone else, but there was no one in front of me, meaning this voice was calling me. Huh? Someone can actually see me?
Well, there are all sorts of things in this world. With so many Anomalies, there are bound to be some strange individuals with peculiar abilities.
It’s just a coincidence that I ran into one. Or perhaps, this isn’t a coincidence? Huh.
Turning around, I saw a man wearing large-rimmed glasses, hunched over, with his hands and feet tucked in, looking timid and shy.
“Are… are you a ghost?”
It’s like they’re seeing me for the ‘first’ time.
But…
Too fake.
Disgusting. He’s trying to trick me. It’s really nauseating to witness such poor acting.
I rolled my eyes and said with a pout,
“Please stop pretending, okay? It’s so gross, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing—well, that would be cooler. You, on the other hand, are more like an alien in human skin.”
“Oh dear, Miss, your temper is truly not something to be admired. Are you greeting me in a derogatory way? I don’t have any special hobbies like that.”
“A man with ill intentions, I won’t be polite.”
The man stopped pretending and didn’t seem embarrassed about being exposed on the spot. He straightened up pretending to be a gentleman and extended his hand to me, saying,
“Excuse me, I just thought that a more submissive posture would allow me to better interact with women of your personality.”
Naturally, I didn’t accept his handshake, just looked at him with more contempt and said,
“Ho ho ho ho, you dare to say that. You don’t understand me at all, yet you’ve already categorized me? What an arrogant man… Have you already categorized women?”
“Hehe, it’s not as exaggerated as you say. I just think you might have some commonalities with some women I’ve interacted with.”
As expected, he’s the type of man who labels women. The notion of women = clothes is already fully exposed.
There’s no love in you, tsk tsk tsk.
Instead, I feel a bit pity for you, a man who will be alone until death.
The man took off the silly-looking glasses, but he didn’t become much more handsome. At least I could see his face clearly.
Although his hairstyle was different, I recognized this face.
“You… Qin Jiu?”
“Yes, I am Qin Jiu, but some things are different…”
Wait, I saw Qin Jiu in the classroom earlier. This ‘one’ shouldn’t be the same person.
It doesn’t look like a split personality, more like… twins? No, the similarity is too high, and I can’t think with common sense.
Oh~ I get it. It’s a situation similar to Zi’ai.
“Which one of you is from a parallel world? Well, it doesn’t matter.”
“…You know a lot.”
“Ho ho ho, I just know a little more than you think.” C9.CL
“Then, please call me Qiye. I have abandoned the name Qin Jiu.”
“Whatever. I’m not going to call you by any name. Also, why can you see me?”
“I’m just seeing a ‘Non-existent’ that still ‘retains its form’ for the first time.”
He mentioned an unfamiliar term. If it were Juncheng, he would definitely ask a silly question, but I’m not that stupid. This is a chance to gather information, but I can’t reveal my ignorance.
So I looked at him with a contemptuous expression that said, ‘What’s the big deal? You haven’t seen much.’ and retorted,
“Hoh, what is it? Is this very rare?”
“Heh… Do you think the soul comes first, or the body?”
He didn’t answer directly. It seems he wants to play mind games with me… Ho ho ho ho, interesting. I’ll play along then.
“What’s the big deal? It’s a chicken-and-egg situation, does it make a difference?”
“Of course, there’s a difference. In the public’s perception, they probably think ‘the soul resides in the body’. But in reality, it’s the opposite: ‘the soul came first, so the body exists’.”
This isn’t entirely incomprehensible. Juncheng is precisely like this. Juncheng reincarnated nine lives all the same. Why?
Because the soul is the same.
If I had to say it, D is actually the outflow of soul information.
“These Non-existents haven’t lost anything, they have just been excluded by the world. Then, in a ‘disconnected’ world, the soul gradually decays, and the body can no longer maintain its original form. The spirit also becomes turbid, becoming something more boring than a vegetative state.”
“If you just want to show off your knowledge, please go somewhere else. I’m busy.”
Giving not an ounce of face is the right way to go. He’s deliberately acting cool, and I’ll make him lose face.
However, this Qiye is more thick-skinned than I expected. He continued to act nonchalantly, saying,
“So, I’m very curious. What kind of soul can maintain a normal spirit and body…”
I clenched the hem of my skirt, narrowed my eyes, and said with a wicked grin.
“Oh my, my soul is pure and flawless~ Want to see inside? Too bad, I won’t show you, ho ho ho ho~”
“You are indeed very interesting, and even with a different name, you still know who I am. I am even more interested in your identity.”
“I can tell you who I am. My name is Lanhua, and I’m an information broker. What you don’t know, what you want to know, I probably know everything, ho ho ho ho~”
Qiye seemed interested in my words and raised an eyebrow.
“Oh? An information broker? Then, coincidentally, I have some information I want to know. Can you tell me?”
“Well, that depends on what you want to know and what you can give me, ho ho ho ho.”
“What I want to know is where the ‘Shards of the World’ are.” Gong Xiaochen
I put away my smile and gave Qiye a meaningful look.
This person knows a bit too much.
Shards of the World?
I naturally don’t know what that is, but I can probably guess ‘how’ it came to be.
I’ll just use that to trick him.
“This information isn’t cheap, you know?”
“Do you really know?”
He’s hooked.
“Ho ho ho ho, of course. I even know why there are shards of the wor— How about it? I can give it to you as extra information for free? Buy one, get one free. If you miss this, there won’t be another chance~ Ho ho ho ho~”
“…There’s a reason for being erased by the world.”
“Oh my, after all, I am a dangerous woman~”
“Okay, I’ll buy this information.”
“Then, what is the price?”
I estimate that only this guy can see me now. I need to squeeze him for everything I can.
Moreover, this person is a necessary channel for me to contact the outside world.
“This information isn’t cheap, you know. Can you restore me to my original state?”
“That’s not possible—but I can see you, and I can ‘let others see you’.”
This is it!
Only Juncheng too… let him be able to see me… Ho ho ho ho~
Hold back, Lanhua, you need to raise the stakes here.
“Just see me?”
“Of course, you can also touch me. Try it if you don’t believe me.”
“No. Even for a test, I would find it disgusting.”
“What a pity. You’re the first woman to reject me so thoroughly.”
“What a shame. You’re not my type~”
“Alright then, what do you say?”
“Ho ho ho ho, it doesn’t feel like enough… Let’s leave it at that for now. I’ll first give you the extra information… But you have to act as my phone call once.”
“Deal!”
