Chapter 74: Come and Snatch the Bride (17)
Although their time in this world was running out, Xie Liaoyi continued to work, and Jiang Zhiyan was busy with graduation. Their lives weren’t much different from before. If there was any difference, it was that Xie Liaoyi became more proactive, out of guilt…
“Everyone has been so good to me, I feel bad suddenly disappearing, so I want to do more for them,” Xie Liaoyi said, hugging Jiang Zhiyan and showering her with kisses. “I’ve wronged you.”
“It’s fine, as long as you’re happy, I’m okay with anything,” Jiang Zhiyan said, leaning against Xie Liaoyi and looking at her with deep affection.
Xie Liaoyi knew Jiang Zhiyan was being a bit dramatic, but she fell for it.
Jiang Zhiyan couldn’t estimate the exact time of their departure. She kept an eye on Rong Ciqiu’s situation every day; the latter’s growth was even faster than in the book.
Seeing the progress bar at 99%, Xie Liaoyi requested three days of leave. She had been working overtime for a long time, so her request was quickly approved, clearly the hospital was also afraid she would work herself sick.
Jiang Zhiyan had been looking for travel destinations recently, or as the System put it, a good place to “go.”
“How many points can we get for completing the female lead’s career storyline?” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
“Five hundred,” the System paused, then continued: “You also control a plot point, so we can probably get six hundred in this world.”
“Mm, not bad,” Jiang Zhiyan nodded, very satisfied.
The System was a bit speechless: “The maximum reward for this world is over ten thousand, and you’re getting six hundred.”
“You were too busy playing games and caused me to miss several plot points,” Jiang Zhiyan said angrily.
“Oh… right.” The System paused. “Mm, six hundred is very good, mm, Host, we’re amazing.”
“How much did you spend on the game?” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
“Not much, ahem,” the System tried to gloss over the question.
Jiang Zhiyan decided not to ask further, judging from the System’s tone, it must have spent quite a bit. She logged into the game and saw that the System was actually ranked first… Rong Ciqiu had been increasingly busy with work recently and hadn’t logged in, so the System had let itself go.
“There’s an event in Cultivation Online recently, and the officials invited me,” the System said proudly.
“You want to go?”
“A little, but I can’t,” the System sighed.
“I’ll ask Xie Liaoyi if she wants to go, we also received an invitation,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
System: ?
“Why were you invited?” The System couldn’t understand.
“Because we’re big spenders, and the game vlog I edited has tens of millions of views, it’s normal to be invited,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
Seeing Jiang Zhiyan’s calm demeanor, the System felt like it was too inexperienced, being excited for so long just because of an invitation.
Jiang Zhiyan looked at the time: “She’s almost off work, let’s go pick her up.”
“There are still two hours left.”
“There’s always traffic near the hospital, and it’s even worse during rush hour, of course, we have to go early.”
She put down the tablet, checked her appearance in the mirror, made sure she looked presentable, and left with her keys.
Thinking about Xie Liaoyi having three days off made Jiang Zhiyan excited, and Xie Liaoyi was also excited, leaving the hospital with a smile on her face.
“All four surgeries today were successful,” Xie Liaoyi said with a smile. “Thinking about starting my vacation tomorrow makes me even happier.”
“Spending the vacation with me, aren’t you even happier?” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
“Super happy,” Xie Liaoyi kissed Jiang Zhiyan’s cheek.
“Where do you want to go?”
“I’m fine with anywhere.” Xie Liaoyi paused. “Do you want to go to the Cultivation Online event?”
“You want to go too?” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
“Hm? Too?”
“Yeah, the System, taking advantage of Rong Ciqiu not playing recently, reached the top of the arena rankings, so it got invited,” Jiang Zhiyan said. “It really wants to go, it’s truly obsessed with the game.”
“Then let’s go,” Xie Liaoyi smiled.
“If you don’t want to go, I’ll just let it hack into the cameras,” Jiang Zhiyan paused. “It can’t go on stage anyway, what’s the difference between going and not going?”
“Of course there’s a difference!” The System said loudly.
Jiang Zhiyan ignored it.
“I’ll buy the plane tickets, there’s a flight tonight, around ten,” Xie Liaoyi said. “I’ve asked Rong family’s assistant to arrange the accommodation.”
“Aren’t you tired?” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
“I don’t want to wake up early, and sleeping in first class is very comfortable, at least more comfortable than the on-call room at our hospital.”
“Then we have to hurry home and pack, I’ve almost finished packing this afternoon, you can check if anything is missing later.”
“I’ll order takeout first, what do you want to eat?” Xie Liaoyi asked.
Although the two tried their best to hurry, they still barely made it to the plane.
As soon as they boarded, Xie Liaoyi leaned her head against the seat and fell asleep, stopping Jiang Zhiyan from saying anything. She slept all the way until they landed, and remained half-asleep in the car. After entering the hotel, she changed into her pajamas and went straight to bed.
Jiang Zhiyan: …
“Such an impressive skill,” the System commented.
Jiang Zhiyan had originally wanted to pack, but seeing Xie Liaoyi sleeping soundly, she also lay down. Xie Liaoyi’s biological clock was very precise, she opened her eyes at seven in the morning, looked at Jiang Zhiyan, saw that she was still asleep, and softened her breathing.
“Morning,” Jiang Zhiyan also opened her eyes.
“Did I wake you up?”
“No, I woke up on my own.” She rubbed her eyes and pulled Xie Liaoyi into her arms. “The event starts at 8:30 am, do you want to go? Or should we just go to the evening gala at 6:30 pm?”
“What did the System say?”
“Why should we listen to it?” Jiang Zhiyan muttered.
“Then what do you want to do?” Xie Liaoyi asked.
The System, which was about to express its opinion, shut up.
“As long as I’m with you, anything is fine,” Jiang Zhiyan nuzzled Xie Liaoyi’s head.
“Then why can’t you listen to me! I’m just a lifeless AI!” The System said with grievance. “I want to go.”
“Go, go, go.” Jiang Zhiyan kissed Xie Liaoyi’s forehead.
The two arrived at the event venue at 8:30 sharp. They were guests, so they could use the fast lane. There were quite a few activities, and they strolled around leisurely, buying a bunch of game merchandise.
She and Xie Liaoyi were also well-known figures in the game, many people at the scene recognized them, some came over for pictures, and some asked for autographs.
“You two even have matching autographs? Truly the highest level of showing off affection,” the girl who asked for their autographs said, looking at the names in her notebook with surprise.
Jiang Zhiyan smiled: “It’s just a simple design.”
“It’s a perfect match, wishing you happiness, make more videos, I love watching them,” the girl said happily, leaving with her phone, excitedly sharing this with others.
Xie Liaoyi looked at Jiang Zhiyan helplessly: “It feels like something elementary school students would do.”
“Elementary school students wouldn’t be able to design such artistic autographs,” Jiang Zhiyan snorted softly.
Xie Liaoyi pinched Jiang Zhiyan’s cheek: “Childish.”
“Since meeting you, I’ve learned that cunning and childlike innocence can coexist in one person,” the System commented.
“Get lost.” Jiang Zhiyan muted the System.
Halfway through the venue, Jiang Zhiyan and Xie Liaoyi saw Rong Ciqiu. She was also there with her friends, they were cosplaying game characters, a whole group of them, looking very lively.
The two sides met and exchanged glances. Rong Ciqiu looked a little embarrassed, but quickly regained her composure, having spent a few months in the workplace, her skin had thickened considerably.
“Didn’t you say you were here for business?” Jiang Zhiyan couldn’t help but ask.
“I am here for business, and to relax at the same time,” Rong Ciqiu said, then continued smoothly, “We also have a collaboration with them in the next phase, so we came to see the event, mm… it helps us better understand their style and approach.”
“Oh,” Jiang Zhiyan nodded. “Then take your time, sister, relax, you’ve been working too hard recently.”
Then she quickly pulled Xie Liaoyi away.
“Why are we leaving so quickly?” Xie Liaoyi was a little confused.
“She’s gone crazy from work, and she keeps trying to get me to work too.” Jiang Zhiyan looked back. “What a pity, we won’t be coming back after this trip…”
The evening gala was also very interesting. Jiang Zhiyan enjoyed the singing and dancing. When her name was called during the award ceremony, she realized she had actually won an award, something like “Outstanding Short Video Creator.” She accepted the award and only then realized that the organizers had already informed her, but she hadn’t paid attention, because she hadn’t planned on coming initially.
Her acceptance speech was simple, sounding like a heartfelt expression of love.
“It’s not really a creation, just a record of our daily life, so I’m a little surprised to receive this creator award. But I’m also very happy, this proves that my wife and I are as sweet as a novel.” Jiang Zhiyan raised the trophy and shook it. “We’ll continue to be sweet.”
“Host, you two are faking your deaths in a few days, this…” The System hoped there weren’t any CP fans of the two in this world, otherwise, it would be too cruel, but judging from the cheers below, there would definitely be people heartbroken.
“But we will continue to be sweet.”
The camera panned to Xie Liaoyi, whose face was noticeably red.
Jiang Zhiyan blew Xie Liaoyi a kiss from afar, and Xie Liaoyi covered her face.
That night, Rong Ciqiu’s career progress bar moved a bit more, reaching 99.3%.
“She was actually here for business?” Jiang Zhiyan thought she had skipped work. “Let’s leave tomorrow, I always feel like something unexpected will happen with the female lead around.”
“Where are we going? How are we faking our deaths?” Xie Liaoyi hadn’t done this before, she was part of the Female Lead System, and every time she would stay until the end and automatically log out, she hadn’t tried this method before.
“The kind where they can’t find the bodies,” Jiang Zhiyan said. Xie Liaoyi probably wouldn’t leave a body behind.
“Sounds a bit tragic,” Xie Liaoyi looked at Jiang Zhiyan.
“It won’t hurt, the System will handle it… How about wingsuit flying? Don’t you like swooping down from high places?” Jiang Zhiyan paused. “Forget it, if we go missing, they’ll probably waste a lot of manpower and resources looking for us, so let’s just go out to sea.”
Lying in bed, looking at each other, Xie Liaoyi reached out, placed her hand on Jiang Zhiyan’s face, and nuzzled it: “I’ll listen to you.”
As expected, not long after Jiang Zhiyan and Xie Liaoyi left the next day, they received a call from Rong Ciqiu, asking if they wanted to join her for an event. She was surprised that they had already left, she didn’t expect them to visit so many places with only three days of vacation.
Jiang Zhiyan and Xie Liaoyi went to the island, practically glued to each other twenty-four hours a day.
“That’s scary, the event she mentioned wouldn’t be a business deal, right?” Jiang Zhiyan looked at Rong Ciqiu’s career progress bar. She figured that once she closed this deal, it would reach 100%. She found the corresponding plot point in the book and raised an eyebrow. No wonder her progress was so fast, because this deal originally belonged to the male lead, she had also completed part of the male lead’s career storyline, of course it would be fast.
In the evening, Jiang Zhiyan and Xie Liaoyi went out to sea, without anyone else, the System was in charge of driving the yacht.
Xie Liaoyi and Jiang Zhiyan leaned against the railing, watching the sunset. The scenery here was beautiful, the sunlight covering the sea in front of them, like a painting.
“When we retire, we’ll watch the sunset together every day,” Jiang Zhiyan said. “Watch the sunset in different time and space, different locations.”
“Retirement, that’s so far away,” Xie Liaoyi sighed.
Jiang Zhiyan blinked sheepishly: “It’s fine, we have a long lifespan, just slack off while doing missions, every world is a vacation.”
“Then when will we retire?” Xie Liaoyi asked.
Jiang Zhiyan paused: “I don’t know, but we’ll definitely retire, as long as we have hope.”
She jumped onto the railing, looked down, cupped Xie Liaoyi’s face, kissed her, then leaned back and fell into the sea, the splashing water droplets falling on Xie Liaoyi. The sea, warmed by the sun all day, was warm on the surface. She looked up at Xie Liaoyi.
“That splash, zero points,” Xie Liaoyi said.
“Then you do it,” Jiang Zhiyan shouted upwards.
Xie Liaoyi also jumped down. Jiang Zhiyan caught her and pulled her into her arms: “Full marks.”
“If anyone saw us, they’d think we’re crazy.”
Jiang Zhiyan wrapped her arms around Xie Liaoyi’s waist: “In other people’s eyes, I’ve always been crazy, I’ve never been normal.”
She looked at Xie Liaoyi, found her lips, and the two embraced in the sea.
They floated on the surface, the yacht following not far behind.
The System felt like a nanny, not only having to drive the boat, but also take pictures.
“It’s a good thing we changed into our swimsuits,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
“The sunset is so beautiful,” Xie Liaoyi said with emotion. “I’m actually sleepy.”
Jiang Zhiyan swam to Xie Liaoyi’s side: “Then let’s go back?”
“No, let’s just float like this, it would be nice if we could float to the sun.”
“Then there would indeed be no bodies,” Jiang Zhiyan nodded.
Xie Liaoyi glared at Jiang Zhiyan: “Such a good atmosphere…”
The hospital discovered their disappearance when Xie Liaoyi didn’t show up for work, and they couldn’t contact her either. This was very unusual for Xie Liaoyi; she had never done this in all her years of working.
The Rong family, knowing something was wrong, immediately sent people out to search. They found the malfunctioning yacht, but not the people.
Jiang Zhiyan was already lying in the System space, looking at the soul fragment in a special container: “Her soul is truly sparkling.”
She kissed the container and held it in her arms.
“Actually, Host, it’s fine if you stay in that world a little longer.”
“But the other Xie Liaoyis are still waiting for me,” Jiang Zhiyan said, looking down. “How can I indulge in temporary pleasure? The deeper you fall, the harder it is to extricate yourself.”
“So you understand this principle too.” The System didn’t know how to comfort Jiang Zhiyan. “Host, we got more points than we expected this time, a whole two hundred and fifty more, a total of eight hundred and fifty!”
“That’s good news,” Jiang Zhiyan pulled the blanket. “Next.”
“Host, continuous transmigration puts too much strain on the soul, why don’t you rest for a while?”
“No,” Jiang Zhiyan closed her eyes. “I’m fine, let’s continue.”
The System looked at Jiang Zhiyan and sighed: “What if you’re exhausted when your wife is finally whole again?”
However, Jiang Zhiyan never listened to advice, and the System directly connected her to the next world.
“Host, be prepared, I took a look, the scene where you land might be a bit… explosive…”
Jiang Zhiyan: ?
Jiang Zhiyan opened her eyes, saw the scene in front of her, and widened her eyes slightly, then quickly dodged a man who was trying to get close to her.
“Where is this?” Jiang Zhiyan looked down, confirmed that her clothes were still properly on, and breathed a sigh of relief. She had seen more explosive scenes, as long as she wasn’t directly involved, she could handle it.
She looked around and climbed in through the window. The people causing trouble inside didn’t notice this small movement, and the person who had been trying to get close to her switched targets, clearly very drunk.
“An entertainment venue, Host, just a reminder, the male and female leads are getting married today,” the System reminded her. “The ceremony will begin in an hour.”
Jiang Zhiyan: ???
“Send me the location, and the plot details on the way,” Jiang Zhiyan’s expression became more serious.
“Roger that.”
Jiang Zhiyan looked for a teleportation array. She originally wanted to fly on her sword, but after calculating the distance to the wedding venue, she knew she wouldn’t make it in an hour.
The general plot of this world was transmitted to Jiang Zhiyan’s mind.
This was a cultivation world. The female lead, Song Jin’yue, was deeply in love with the male lead, and the two were engaged, but the male lead chose to cultivate the Path of Emotionlessness. Song Jin’yue didn’t mind, and under her insistence, the male lead went through with the marriage.
The male lead was a disciple of the Myriad Swords Sect, and the female lead, Song Jin’yue, was the eldest daughter of the Song family. This engagement was arranged because Song Jin’yue’s father saved the male and female leads’ parents. At the time, it was considered a good match, but now the Song family had declined, and many people said Song Jin’yue wanted to cling to the male lead because she was worried about her future in the cultivation world.
After the Dao Companion ceremony, the female lead chased after the male lead every day, and the male lead kept his distance, not treating her like a stranger, but not much better either.
It seemed like a typical “chase your wife crematorium” story from the beginning.
And it was indeed a “chase your wife crematorium” story, and a very dramatic one. The female lead lost her memory while saving the male lead, their Dao Companion contract was broken by accident, the male lead couldn’t stand seeing the female lead forget him, but he was unwilling to admit his feelings, and something went wrong during his cultivation, causing him to fall into demonic cultivation.
Jiang Zhiyan was the male lead’s younger sister, half-sister, and had a secret crush on him since childhood, but never confessed. After Song Jin’yue appeared, she felt that the female lead was hindering the male lead’s cultivation and saw her as a thorn in her side. Today was their wedding day, she couldn’t accept it, so she didn’t attend and went out to have fun, trying to forget the male lead in another way.
Mm, this method was learned from her sisters in the Joyful Union Sect.
“Do I actually have friends in this world?” Jiang Zhiyan was a little surprised, looking at her seemingly good relationship with them.
“Yes, very good friends, not bad friends,” the System said.
Jiang Zhiyan was slightly surprised: “That’s rare…”
“Host, it’s actually useless even if you rush over there,” the System said.
“I have to try,” Jiang Zhiyan’s mood wasn’t very good. “If only it had been a day earlier.”
“What are you going to do?” The System was curious.
“Snatch the bride.”
System: ???
“The wedding is being held at the Myriad Swords Sect, you’re currently at Golden Core, there are eight Spirit Severing elders there, and a Tribulation Transcendence elder in seclusion, who can you beat?” The System advised Jiang Zhiyan to calm down. “Actually, it’s just a fake wedding, Xie Liaoyi’s mind isn’t clear right now, once she’s lucid, she’ll definitely break off the Dao Companion contract, if you go now, what if you die?”
“That’s not acceptable,” Jiang Zhiyan said expressionlessly. “How can I watch her marry someone else? Don’t even think about it, there must be a way…”
Jiang Zhiyan thought of something, left the teleportation array, and went to another one.
“Host, what are you doing?” The System looked at Jiang Zhiyan’s eyes, having a very bad premonition. Was the host going crazy again?
“There’s more than one way to interrupt a wedding…” Jiang Zhiyan flipped through her script. “We just need to get the eight elders to leave, create a time difference.”
System: ???
“Host, you wouldn’t be thinking of…” The System looked at the plot point Jiang Zhiyan was checking, its voice trembling. “Host, this is just the beginning, what if you die? Isn’t there a safer way?”
“I won’t die, I believe in myself.” Jiang Zhiyan rummaged through her prop pouch, took out a communication jade, and sent a message to her cheap older brother.
[Brother, save me!]
Although it was a cry for help, she didn’t give her location.
She was already standing on another teleportation array. This one wasn’t used much. She closed her eyes and mentally calculated the time, she only had one hour, and she had to go to three places.
“Host, you’re truly crazy,” the System sighed. “Host, I suggest you hurry up, Wei Jingqian is looking for you.”
“Has he left?” Jiang Zhiyan frowned, she didn’t know who set up this teleportation array, it was very unstable, her head was spinning.
“He wants to, but you didn’t give your location… If the male lead runs away from the wedding, the female lead will definitely be the subject of gossip,” the System sighed.
“It’s fine, Song Jin’yue will also run away,” Jiang Zhiyan said with her eyes closed. “If she doesn’t, I’ll drag her away.”
After leaving the teleportation array, Jiang Zhiyan went straight to the Lost Lands of the Demonic Sword.
With the Demonic Sword’s aura emanating, people from the Demon Realm would definitely come, they couldn’t possibly not investigate. She had originally wanted to take a look at the formation sealing the Demon Lord, but her cultivation was too low, she wasn’t even qualified to approach it.
“If it’s just the Demonic Sword, it might be difficult to lure all eight of them out.”
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