MORIC - Chapter 111
Chapter 111: Who's Playing the Pitiful, Tear-Stained Beauty?
Chi Yueshan returned, fuming.
Li Rong told her that no one from the Xi family had returned yet. Chi Yueshan didn't say anything. She looked travel-worn; the sleet outside had soaked her outer robe, and her hair was wet.
She looked a bit disheveled.
Li Rong said, "You should go take a bath first. I'll let you know as soon as Miss Xi returns."
After saying this, she felt she had spoken out of turn.
How could she possibly know before Chi Yueshan? The two of them were lovers. Xi Zhoumeng had always seemed cold and detached over the years, and Chi Yueshan was the only one she truly cared for. It wasn't Li Rong's place to be the one to inform her.
But Chi Yueshan wasn't so fixated on waiting for news from Xi Zhoumeng anymore.
She took a few books out of her bag and asked Li Rong, "I heard Xi Zhoumeng mention before that the family has a private library. May I go see it?"
Her bangs were soaked, sticking to her forehead in strands, but the smile she revealed was brilliant, so warm that even Li Rong couldn't help but smile back.
The middle-aged butler nodded. "Please follow me."
Chi Yueshan didn't say much; she was flipping through a book even as she walked.
The Xi family estate was vast, dotted with ancient castles, and even the cemetery was built not far away.
However, because it was so artistic, Chi Yueshan had once seen a special feature on it in a magazine about sculpture and architecture.
How could someone be so flashy even in death?
At the time, Chi Yueshan's relationship with Xi Zhoumeng hadn't progressed to this stage, so it was just a passing thought.
She wondered if Xi Zhoumeng's grave would have a statue of herself. She'd probably even supervise the construction, thinking that no matter how beautiful the statue was, it couldn't compare to her.
Such a narcissistic woman.
But now, things were different, and Chi Yueshan couldn't bear to think about such a topic.
Too many people had passed through her life. Her elders had left without a second thought, and she had had very few companions.
Xi Zhoumeng wasn't her everything, but she was what Chi Yueshan considered the rest of her life.
The Xi family's book collection was exceptionally rich, the accumulation of a thousand years of family history.
Coincidentally, Xi Li had renovated it a few years ago, finally freeing it from the shackles of needing candles for light.
The effect of turning on the lights was like candles lighting up one after another. The books were as vast as an ocean, and the digitalization was also very well done.
Li Rong asked Chi Yueshan, "Do you need my help?"
Chi Yueshan said, "I want to find materials about the Capital Star, information on planetary formation…"
She flipped through the summary she had made on her way back. "And materials on ancient scripts, like this."
Most of the Xi family's butlers were hereditary. Li Rong was an exception; she was a survivor Xi Mingguang had rescued from the battlefield of the last Zerg Tide.
Xi Zhoumeng had casually mentioned before that Li Rong's arrival coincided with the time Xi Mingguang met her previous Omega.
The planet where Li Rong spent her childhood had been overrun by the Zerg. She was a person without a homeland.
Chi Yueshan saw that she didn't react for a long time, and by the light from above, she noticed Li Rong's reddened eyes. She asked cautiously, "What's wrong?"
Li Rong said, "I'm sorry."
Her composure was excellent. She adjusted her state and said, "No need to search. I recognize this script."
The script, which even the powerful networking function of her light-brain couldn't find, had been giving Chi Yueshan a huge headache.
She had originally planned to ask Xi Zhoumeng if she had any other leads, but she never expected to find someone here who recognized it.
"How do you…"
Chi Yueshan was a little flustered. She hated seeing people cry more than anything.
Fortunately, her partner wasn't much of a crier.
It would be terrifying if a nasty person cried. She couldn't even imagine Xi Zhoumeng wailing her eyes out.
That woman would probably maintain her "I'm the most beautiful" look even if the sky were falling.
Li Rong said, "I was rescued by the former Omega master. That year, she had also just met Commander Xi."
Chi Yueshan said, "Oh," and thought it was best not to ask any more questions.
Li Rong asked, "Is there anything you need me to translate?"
Chi Yueshan handed the copied text to Li Rong.
Li Rong's face showed a hint of nostalgia. Her fingers traced the complex structure of the script as she spoke, word by word—
"I have found the secret of the Zerg."
"Their queen is hidden in…"
Li Rong paused, then added the second half in astonishment, "...a human's skin."
Chi Yueshan was stunned as well.
Her gaze fell on the untranslated latter half of the sentence, and she had a bad feeling.
Li Rong gasped and asked Chi Yueshan in shock, "Who... gave this to you?"
Chi Yueshan thought of Zhou Fengqin's eyes before she died, and the warmth of her calloused palm.
And her unfinished words—
"In the end, none of this has anything to do with me. I can't change fate, but as long as you, Yueshan, can grow up safely, that's all that matters."
"Those things…"
At first, Chi Yueshan thought "those things" referred to the mecha shop.
Later, she thought it was the skills her master had passed down to her.
Or her master's past.
But only now did she suddenly understand what her master was referring to.
It was the unfamiliar script in this tattered notebook.
She didn't know how Zhou Fengqin knew this, what had happened to her, or why she had voluntarily stayed in the Lower World.
Was she trying to find the Zerg's stronghold?
Was it out of unwillingness to just barely survive, afflicted by Zerg radiation?
Chi Yueshan abruptly hugged the notebook, pursed her lips, and said, "My master told me."
Zhou Fengqin did have regrets. When she died, her eyes held both relief and reluctance.
In that moment, all the fragments of her childhood came flooding back. Chi Yueshan remembered the smiling look in her master's eyes when she pushed her to go out and have fun.
She said that a girl her age should be having fun.
Chi Yueshan had retorted puffing her cheeks, "What about you?"
Zhou Fengqin laughed as if she had become much younger. Her broken, ruined body leaned against the cold doorframe of the mecha shop, and the creaking fan overhead blew her hair all over her face.
She casually brushed it aside, as if with a touch of her youthful abandon.
"Your master, me, I also danced with someone I liked back in the day."
Back then, Chi Yueshan couldn't believe it, because the woman looked like a big slob, her hair like withered grass.
Zerg radiation was eroding her kidneys and skin. Chi Yueshan couldn't even imagine what she was like in her youth.
She just felt that her master looked a bit rough.
"Then what about that person?"
Chi Yueshan refused to go to the dance hall. She tilted her head, her new tattoo still itching. In Zhou Fengqin's eyes, she was a pool of fervent youth.
"They got married."
She waved her hand, not wanting to talk about it, and urged Chi Yueshan, "Get lost, I already bought you a ticket, and there are no refunds."
Chi Yueshan exclaimed with a "wah" and grumbled, "You're wasting money again. I don't even know how to dance."
Zhou Fengqin said, "If you don't know how, can't you find someone to teach you? Our Yueshan has such a great figure, no one would dislike you."
At the time, Chi Yueshan thought this old hag must be blind, and also had a blind confidence in her.
How could anyone like me.
Now, someone likes me.
But Master is gone.
She wondered if Zhou Fengqin were still alive and knew that Chi Yueshan didn't end up with the Wen Xinghuo she was always talking about, but instead was dating a pampered wifey who didn't seem very Alpha-like from any angle, would she say Chi Yueshan was blind.
No, that's not right. Knowing Master...
She would probably approve.
After all, Zhou Fengqin was even more of a gold-digger than Chi Yueshan and couldn't get enough of those trashy CEO novels on StarNet.
Li Rong tactfully asked, "Does Miss Xi need to be told about this?"
Chi Yueshan hummed in acknowledgment. "I'll tell her later. Butler Li, could you help me find a few more books?"
"Related to the mecha pilot certification."
Li Rong said, "Of course."
It was already past midnight when the palace banquet ended. The Queen had only been present for about an hour in total, half of which was spent watching the performance.
Xi Zhoumeng's seat happened to have a view of the Queen's profile.
The veiled Queen had a noble and pure aura, seemingly similar to that of all previous queens.
She announced that she would reveal her chosen successor next month and had already selected her own final resting place.
Birth, aging, sickness, and death were still difficult problems to overcome.
No one could live forever.
But the Queen seemed to have always been frank and open, showing no attachment to the throne. She merely glanced briefly at Sheng Xinggui and Sheng Yangkui.
Many people speculated that the successor would be Sheng Xinggui.
Even Sheng Xinggui herself was terrified. Xi Zhoumeng could see her hands trembling slightly.
She thought: What poor composure.
Sheng Yangkui, sitting next to her, was not as timid and shrinking as usual. She just watched the woman calmly.
As the Queen turned, Sheng Yangkui gestured for Xi Zhoumeng to look at the hem of the Queen's gown.
Xi Zhoumeng followed her gaze and saw that it was an area of shadow, a dim corner formed by the large relief sculpture on the ceiling and the commemorative pillar to the right.
The performance was underway, so not even a glimmer of light reached it.
Xi Zhoumeng felt a wave of goosebumps. She stepped on Wen Xinghuo's foot.
The heels of her high heels were made by Chi Yueshan, shaped like a human spine. They were very painful to be stepped on with. Wen Xinghuo let out a muffled grunt and couldn't help but look up.
The next second, she quickly bit her lip to keep from making an impolite sound.
Ugh, this is really nauseating.
The two of them had chosen their seats well. The people around them were all focused on the stage, where an Omega was dancing with extreme beauty.
The music and stage lighting complemented each other perfectly, and everyone had to marvel at the elegance of this premier troupe.
Only Wen Xinghuo and Xi Zhoumeng were about to throw up.
Xi Zhoumeng picked up her handkerchief, using the scent on it to mask her urge to curse.
Sheng Yangkui couldn't possibly see from that angle, right? How did she manage to be so precise?
The next second, she realized.
Under that corner of the gown was clearly the Queen's body.
The conditions for holding a palace banquet were impeccable; it was impossible for such a disgusting creature to appear.
Xi Zhoumeng found it hard not to imagine that the Queen's clothes were full of those things.
Is that still a person?
She looked at Wen Xinghuo, wanting to ask what she had found out that day.
But Wen Xinghuo was too embarrassed to look at Xi Zhoumeng.
Somehow, Xi Zhoumeng understood.
Well, well, she was busy with other things.
Forget it. Chi Yueshan was so alluring that day, it's understandable.
But you're the damn protagonist who was supposed to cut down the Queen, what is this now?
Sure enough, a full belly leads to lustful thoughts. Women slow down the speed of your sword-drawing.
Xi Zhoumeng cursed Wen Xinghuo inwardly, but also knew that nothing else could be done today.
But her gaze couldn't help but drift to that spot, getting grossed out over and over again.
When the banquet finally ended, she scurried off to vomit.
Wen Xinghuo's face was also deathly pale.
She had seen the form of that Zerg clearly and even felt that those things were alive.
In the dispersing crowd, Sheng Yangkui and Sheng Xinggui were escorted away, surrounded by servants.
Sheng Yangkui resisted the urge to look at Wen Xinghuo. She bit her lip, thinking: Did she find me that disgusting back then, too?
Sheng Xinggui didn't notice Sheng Yangkui's expression. She herself was distraught. After reaching their chambers, she grabbed Sheng Yangkui's hand and said softly, "Sister."
The other had only said one word, but Sheng Yangkui already had a premonition of what Sheng Xinggui was about to say.
But Sheng Yangkui just lifted her eyes silently, with the same submissiveness she had shown after every instance of bullying over the years as she grew up.
Because she couldn't fight back.
At this moment, however, Sheng Xinggui's helplessness brought her a subtle sense of pleasure.
Sheng Xinggui paced neurotically back and forth in the empty bedchamber, the hem of her dress dragging along, its movement dazzling Sheng Yangkui's eyes.
"Do... do you want to be queen?"
Sheng Yangkui shook her head.
Sheng Xinggui said, "I don't want to either, but the Queen looked at me just now… I really don't want to… I love Shu Miu, I want to marry him."
Her knight was also a noble. Sheng Yangkui felt their relationship was much better than Sheng Qiuyu's.
They were childhood sweethearts, deeply in love, but they had also bullied Sheng Yangkui together when they were young.
Sheng Yangkui thought she had forgotten, but at this moment, the memories surged back, filled with accumulated hatred.
She said faintly, "Then you can have him mark…"
"Shut up!"
Sheng Xinggui covered her face, tears streaming down uncontrollably. "You think I haven't thought of that? He's not willing!"
"Sometimes I envy Qiuyu. She had no choice. I'd rather die than be queen."
Sheng Yangkui said, "Isn't being queen good? Everyone has to listen to you."
Sheng Xinggui suddenly grabbed Sheng Yangkui's shoulders, looking down at her. "If you think it's so good, why don't you do it? Who among us doesn't know that being queen is painful?"
Of course, Sheng Yangkui knew. She had seen the Queen's shriveled skin and body, though she wasn't even thirty.
Everyone in the royal family thought it was a curse.
Sheng Yangkui asked, "Then what does Sister want to do?"
She already knew the outcome and had never expected any kindness from her own sister.
Not when they were children, and not now that they were grown.
She was always the control group, always a little less in everything.
Perhaps the Queen had chosen her precisely because she saw her hatred and desire.
Sheng Xinggui crouched down, her skirt spreading out like a blooming flower.
Sheng Yangkui said, "You could learn from Second Sister. Being exiled to the Lower World isn't such a big deal."
"Look, aren't the people from the Lower World at our academy living just fine?"
Compared to power, it seemed most people chose to live.
Sheng Yangkui lowered her eyes, thinking that they at least had a choice. After all, they all had knights.
My knight and I will kill that thing completely.
Sheng Xinggui asked, "Then what about you?"
Sheng Yangkui asked, "Then I'll find an Alpha to mark me?"
Sheng Xinggui said, "No."
Sheng Yangkui smiled. "Haven't you already thought it through, Sister?"
Time and time again, you push me into the abyss.
Xi Zhoumeng almost threw up the entire way back.
If he didn't know she was an Alpha, Xi Li might have worried she was pregnant.
There were only the two of them in the car. Xi Li asked, "What's wrong with you? You can't be pregnant with Xiao Yueshan's child, can you?"
Xi Zhoumeng didn't have the energy to retort.
She activated her light-brain and looked at the pile of messages from Chi Yueshan.
Her mood improved considerably.
She decided to take a picture of her current tear-stained, pitiful appearance.
- Wifey, I'm pregnant [Image]
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