Lin Jiu carried the gravely injured Wang Weizhi through the final level. After successfully navigating all the traps and hidden mechanisms, they finally arrived at the gale zone outside Huang Chuan’s thatched hut.
The hut was hidden behind the chaotic curtain of raging winds and sandstorms. Through the turbulence, a hunched figure could be seen standing in the front, gazing at them with a smile.
“Wang Weizhi, I know you don’t trust me.” Lin Jiu tilted her head, “My suggestion is this—let’s rely on our own abilities. One of us goes east, the other west and we stay out of each other’s way. How about it?”
The wind was fierce, breaking up her voice into fragments. Wang Weizhi lowered his gaze to the rapidly trickling sand and responded, “No need, I trust you. We’ll go together.”
Lin Jiu smirked lightly—’Ha! None of us trusted each other, so why bother pretending?’
Time was pressing, so she wasted no more words. Without hesitation, she spurred the sand whirlpool under her feet, charging towards Huang Chuan’s hut at top speed.
Wang Weizhi followed closely behind. Lin Jiu could feel his looming presence—like a fully drawn bow, ready to strike at any moment. Needless to say, she, too, was fully prepared. No longer holding back, she poured the last three hundred years’ worth of aura into the lotus, ready to unleash the strongest Lotus Shatter the moment her last contender made his move!
Chasing each other, the two sped toward the thatched hut as the sand whirlpool shrank rapidly beneath their feet. Even if nothing unexpected happened, they would only barely make it!
Tension was palpable in the air, so dense it felt nearly tangible. A cold shiver crept up Lin Jiu’s spine. She didn’t need to turn around to know that Wang Weizhi’s sharp eyes had likely narrowed into razor-thin slits, his gaze like a drawn blade, poised to strike at any moment.
Considering their camaraderie, he probably wouldn’t use the sharp side of his sword, only the hilt—she thought to herself.
Pursing her lips tightly, Lin Jiu maneuvered her sand whirlpool through layers of raging wind while staying on high alert.
Suddenly, two powerful gusts inexplicably converged ahead!
Lin Jiu barely had time to gasp in shock before she was violently lifted off her feet, flipping through the air like a tiny boat in a raging storm. In an instant, she was turned upside down seven or eight times, barely managing to keep from falling out of the sand whirlpool.
Cold sweat drenched her body. She had yet to steady her breath when she heard a bright, amused voice rushing through the turbulent winds.
“Lin Qiu, watch out!”
Purely out of instinct, Lin Jiu flung out the Lotus Shatter over her shoulder!
Kaboom—!!!
Without pausing or looking back, she drove the sand whirlpool forward, streaking toward the thatched hut.
Behind her, Wang Weizhi’s sword aura clashed against the cascading golden lotus petals, neutralizing their power one by one.
As he passed through the dazzling storm of petals, his luxurious robes were already torn in over a dozen places, and even his cheek bore a thin, bleeding cut. A few drops of blood seeped out, reaching his lips, which he licked away with his tongue.
He let out a hearty laugh. Then, spurring his sand whirlpool forward, he immediately closed in on the figure ahead.
Just as Lin Jiu’s feet were about to land on the stone steps outside the hut, the two violent gusts inexplicably surged back toward her.
‘What rotten luck!!!’ She wanted to curse out loud. ‘Of all the details the novel had omitted, why did these strange winds have to pick a fight with me?!’
Just as victory was within reach, she was abruptly swept away once more. This time, the wind was even fiercer, tearing her forcefully from her sand whirlpool.
At that moment, Wang Weizhi had already leaped ahead, landing steadily on the steps.
Lin Jiu was like a drowning person in a river—the more she struggled, the farther she drifted from shore.
The young man stood motionless, watching her intently.
Lin Jiu sighed inwardly. Though deeply disappointed, she refused to lose her composure in such a moment, so she deliberately called out to him, flashing a bright smile, “Congratulations!”
Wang Weizhi chuckled in response.
Just as Lin Jiu thought he would turn and step into the thatched hut, the youth suddenly spun around and leaped back into the storm!
“You—”
The next moment, his bloodstained hand suddenly grabbed her tightly!
His hair had come loose, dancing wildly in the chaotic winds. The crimson hairband trailing from his head extended over ten meters, one end coiling around the stone steps beneath the hut, the other tied around his ankle.
‘So his hairband is an artifact, too,’—this thought crossed Lin Jiu’s dazed mind.
“Hold on tight!” Wang Weizhi pursed his lips tightly, issuing a command: “Retract!”
Just as the last remnants of Lin Jiu’s sand whirlpool were completely depleted, she felt a blur before her eyes. The next instant, she found herself being pulled straight through dozens of meters of violent wind, landing firmly on the stone steps outside the thatched hut!
Her hand was still gripped by Wang Weizhi.
“You…” She was momentarily stunned, her emotions too complex to express. “Thanks. I didn’t expect you to actually come back for me.”
“Tch, didn’t you say two people could clear the level together?” Releasing her hand, Wang Weizhi gathered his long black hair and tied it back into a high ponytail. Then he tilted his head slightly, beckoning toward the thatched hut, “Let’s go.”
Lin Jiu took a breath, smiled at him, and then they stepped into the hut together.
The moment she saw Huang Chuan, Lin Jiu, despite having mentally prepared herself, couldn’t help but show a flicker of surprise on her face.
As for Wang Weizhi, his lips and eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
Huang Chuan looked similar to a woman—not the kind of feminine elegance resembling a beauty, but rather the sharp and sour visage of an old crone.
Yet at a glance, it was unmistakable that he was a man.
“…Greetings, Senior Huang Chuan.” Regaining his composure, Wang Weizhi politely made a bow.
The ancient being pursed his lips, clearly unfazed by their reactions. He crossed his arms and nodded toward the stone table in the room. “A game of chess. Winner takes all!”
Lin Jiu was slightly surprised as well. During the voice transmissions earlier, he had put on the airs of an aloof sage. But now, at first sight, his true nature as a mischievous old rascal was immediately exposed.
“Chess?” Wang Weizhi cast a questioning glance at Lin Jiu, who gave him a slight nod in response. According to the plot of the novel, it was during this match that Liu Qingyin won against him by a single move, securing Huang Chuan’s legacy.
The phrase ‘Wang Weizhi lost by a single move’ referred to an actual game of chess.
“No worries,” she told the youth. “I don’t know how to play chess, so I’ll just wing it and won’t even try to struggle. I know you’re an excellent player.”
The novel had greatly extolled Wang Weizhi’s chess skills, painting him as an unparalleled genius. Yet, in the end, he still lost to Liu Qingyin by a single move—another way to glorify the female lead.
Lin Jiu told him the truth—she had no knowledge of traditional chess and was barely a beginner at five-in-a-row 1. She had absolutely no chance of winning against a master like Wang Weizhi, but she didn’t care in the slightest. She wasn’t after Huang Chuan’s legacy to begin with. Her only goal from beginning to end was True Illusion Mirror.
“Heh.” Wang Weizhi’s lips curled into a sly grin. Now that they had reached this stage, he had visibly relaxed, his whole demeanor was nonchalant. “Nice try. I know you’re cunning, trying to trick me into underestimating you.”
Without further ado, the two sat down and began the game. After only a few moves, Wang Weizhi’s lips twitched uncontrollably.
“You really… have no clue what you’re doing, do you?” He looked at Lin Jiu’s perfectly straight line of stones, half amused.
Lin Jiu shrugged. “If this were five-in-a-row, you’d have already lost.”
Wang Weizhi let out a small chuckle and continued placing his pieces.
Before long, Lin Jiu’s black stones were almost entirely trapped. With only three or so pieces left in her bowl, Wang Weizhi glanced at the board. Seeing victory well within his grasp, he declared with full smugness, “Well, well, seems like your chess skills are truly lacking.”
Lin Jiu was nonchalant, “I’m not good at this game, that’s all. But believe it or not, if this were five-in-a-row, I’d make sure you didn’t have a single piece left on the board.”
With that, she put on an utterly defeated expression, lazily staring at the board.
Wang Weizhi chuckled. “I’ll make sure you don’t have a single piece left by the end of the game.”
Lin Jiu glanced at him lightly. “Oh? You mean it?”
Wang Weizhi took another look at the board, quickly calculating his next three to five moves. Certain of his victory, he clasped his fingers together and rested them on the board. “If you have even one piece left, I’ll consider it my loss.”
Lin Jiu blinked and turned to their host, who was watching with a sly smile. “Does his word count?”
“Of course!” Huang Chuan’s brows arched with amusement.
“Great!” Lin Jiu immediately perked up, cracking her knuckles before sitting up straight. She picked up a piece from the bowl and, rather than placing it in the heat of the battle, she deliberately set it down in an untouched corner of the board.
Wang Weizhi stared at the lone black stone, his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
“You can’t capture this one now!” Lin Jiu said, picking up another stone and hovering it over another empty spot. “And this one, you can’t capture either. I won’t just have one piece left—I can leave two!”
Wang Weizhi: “…!!!”
‘Wait a minute—what kind of move was that?! She’s twisting my words against me! That’s cheating! That’s—’
“Oho~” Huang Chuan hummed, looking regretfully at the last three pieces in Wang Weizhi’s hand. “You lost.”
“!!!” Wang Weizhi was already screaming inside: ‘Where’s my sword?! Where’s my sword?! I need to slay this cunning little vixen!!!’
Lin Jiu looked at him with a triumphant smile and was about to speak when a voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
“A wager must be honored. Now, you may make one request of the loser. I will use the last of my remaining power to forge that request into a curse, branding it into his soul. He will be unable to resist, and only after ninety-nine years will the curse naturally fade, setting him free.”
Lin Jiu’s eyes widened in shock as she slowly turned toward Huang Chuan.
He was smiling broadly, nodding at her.
A sudden chill crawled up her spine! She slowly turned her gaze to Wang Weizhi, who had undoubtedly heard the voice as well. His face had turned deathly pale, his lips drained of all color, and his eyes were filled with sheer despair. His entire body was nearly slumped over the board.
This scene, Lin Jiu realized, was exactly like the one in the novel! When Wang Weizhi lost the game to Liu Qingyin, he had looked just like this—half-dead, completely devastated. Back then, as a reader, she had assumed it was just wounded pride, that this arrogant youth simply couldn’t handle losing to a woman.
She never expected that there had been such a terrifying secret behind it!
“Any request… It will be branded onto his soul… He won’t be able to resist…”
Lin Jiu sucked in another sharp breath.
‘So that’s how it was. That’s how it was!’
‘With Liu Qingyin’s personality, she absolutely would’ve done something like this!’
The truth finally dawned on Lin Jiu. If everything went according to the plot, Liu Qingyin would be in her position now. She must have ordered Wang Weizhi to devote himself to her, to never leave her side in life or death—thus creating the perfect, unwaveringly devoted second male lead who would sacrifice everything for her!
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