Destiny branched out before into six unrelated, straight lines, and my ti was running out. I had to choose one path to face its challenges and bear its hardships.
A: Choose Dong Chengling and Qiao Muyi's room, trigger a CG and a special challenge, estimated difficulty: Purgatory.
B: Choose Ren Xingi and Gu Yueyan's room, trigger a CG and a standard challenge, estimated difficulty: Veteran.
C: Choose Lin Xianyu and Little Jiu's room, trigger a CG, no challenge, estimated difficulty: Easy.
D: Sleep on the couch in the living room, and you can still play with your phone, estimated difficulty: Breezy.
E: Go out and find a comic café, try the internet cafe at Flourishing Sakura, estimated difficulty: Unknown, may trigger an unknown event.
F: Sleep in the bathroom, show firm attitude, do not trigger any events, estimated difficulty: None.
"I choose—"
"Apart from these three rooms, you have no other choices." Qiao Muyi quickly shut down Ren Suo's alternatives.
Ren Suo sulkily closed his mouth.
In all fairness, sharing a room with his girlfriend was certainly an exciting dream for Ren Suo, but that was based on the assumption that he was only sleeping with one girlfriend.
Sleeping with two girlfriends would probably be even more miserable than sleeping alone; Ren Suo could almost predict that he'd be playing the ga of 'statues' all night long—if he dared to touch, the other girlfriend would surely get upset. Only by doing nothing could he ensure not triggering any bad endings.
Besides, it's not like Ren Suo could turn into a statue just because he said he would. For instance, if he slept with Qiao Muyi and Dong Chengling, and Qiao Muyi wore just a thin nightgown and lay beside him, even a re touch with her fingertips or a tickle with her hair would be enough to shake Ren Suo's resolve.
So, could Ren Suo turn his back on Qiao Muyi and face Dong Chengling?
No.
That night, after Ren Suo passed through the Door of Truth and teleported to Qiao Muyi, just as he was ready to deepen their relationship, Dong Chengling suddenly teleported him to her ho. Ren Suo actually stayed at the Dong Chengling family house for half an hour before going back to his own ho.
In that half hour, Ren Suo actually did nothing, as Dong Chengling wanted to hold his hand while sleeping, so Ren Suo sat by the bed watching Dong Chengling sleep.
And so, Ren Suo watched to his heart's content.
Actually, Dong Chengling fell asleep in one minute, but it took Ren Suo twenty-nine minutes to snap out of his daze. He went ho for a cold shower and struggled for another half hour in bed before he could sleep.
As for why Ren Suo was able to hold back that night, without losing control and acting like a beast, it was naturally because Little Jiu and Black Cat were sleeping in the next room... and Qiao Muyi kept bombarding him with texts, making Ren Suo feel resentful, embarrassed, and overwheld.
In any case, Ren Suo couldn't withstand Dong Chengling either.
So, would it be better to sleep with his little sister and Yueyan? Maybe a little better, at least Ren Suo had much more leeway, but given his sister's bubbly personality, and Yueyan's stubbornness to never admit defeat, it's very likely that tonight they would tornt Ren Suo so much that he would be in pain but have nowhere to vent it—Dong Chengling and Qiao Muyi were just next door, after all.
Upon closer thought, Ren Suo realized their accommodation arrangents subtly followed a pattern: evenly matched forces.
Qiao Muyi versus Dong Chengling, Gu Yueyan versus Ren Xingi, Lin Xianyu versus Little Jiu.
If it were solely up to Qiao Muyi's wishes, she'd probably not choose Dong Chengling but soone else—aside from Dong Chengling, nobody could stop her from doing whatever she wanted. Whatever she and Ren Suo did, the other person could only clench their handkerchief and watch helplessly, possibly even being driven out to sleep on the couch.
Apart from Qiao Muyi, for Gu Yueyan and Ren Xingi too, they probably wouldn't want to sleep with Dong Chengling—sleeping together with a student-teacher relationship just seems too awkward.
As for Lin Xianyu and Little Jiu... they probably just think it's fun.
In this evenly matched bed-sharing situation, Ren Suo got very little pleasure, and it wasn't as joyful as staying on the sofa in the living room to continue conquering "Cataclysm of Tomorrow".
Seeing Ren Suo with a troubled look of silence, Qiao Muyi raised her eyebrows and asked, "Don't you want to choose, or do you not know how to choose?"
"I don't know how to choose," Ren Suo honestly said. "How about I think it over in the living room for one night and give you an answer tomorrow night?"
"No way, we have to get up early tomorrow to go to Ueno Onshi Park to see the cherry blossoms; these two days happen to be when the blossoms are at their best, so you need a good night's sleep to have enough energy for tomorrow's outing," Qiao Muyi said seriously.
Ren Xingi also put her hands on her hips and said, "Bro, you're not allowed to stay up tonight; sleep with !"
Sisters, I'm a Fourth-Stage Cultivator. According to the internal network's survey, even if I don't sleep for ten nights in a row, at most my hormones will be imbalanced and my endocrine system will fail, but I'd still be able to stay alert...
But of course, Ren Suo wouldn't argue with them about this. And was there an expectation in his heart? Of course, there was. So Ren Suo quickly passed the buck, "Ah, but I really don't know how to choose, so why don't you all make the decision for ?"
Qiao Muyi and Ren Xingi exchanged glances. Gu Yueyan watched surreptitiously with the Black Cat, who looked pitiful, in her arms. Only Dong Chengling seed indifferent as she sat on the sofa quietly reading a book, while Lin Xianyu petted Little Jiu's head and watched from the side.
For a mont, the living room was quiet. Ren Suo felt a surge of happiness and said, "Since we can't make a decision, I might as well just make do with the sofa for tonight..."
Giving the decision-making power back to them was indeed the right choice; after all, there was no rationale to be argued in such matters, and it was easy to start a quarrel, which would seem a bit unseemly. They were all intelligent, so neither his younger sister nor Young Master Mu took any rash actions.
"Let's play a ga," Ren Xingi suddenly suggested. "There's still so ti before bed, so let's use a ga to decide where my brother will sleep tonight."
Qiao Muyi pointed to the automatic mahjong table in the living room, "Perfect, we can play mahjong. The three rooms represent three hands, and Xiao Suo, you count as one hand. Whichever of us wins, that's the room you'll stay in; if you win, then sleep on the sofa if you want."
"Three~hands~?" Lin Xianyu exclaid in surprise as she was rubbing Little Jiu's cheeks, and Little Jiu was pinching her face, "Little Jiu and I don't need to play, right?"
"No!" Little Jiu imdiately said, "I also want to sleep with Big Brother!"
"Then it's settled," Ren Xingi quickly decided on this event. "Each room sends one person to play mahjong. This is Flourishing Sakura, so we'll play by Japanese mahjong rules. Each person starts with 25,000 points, we play the East Wind Round, and in the end, whoever has the most points wins."
"Cheng Ling," Qiao Muyi called out.
"You go," Dong Chengling said casually. "I can't play, so don't lose."
"Xianyu, Sister Xianyu, go, go!" Little Jiu hugged Lin Xianyu, cajoling her, while Lin Xianyu appeared reluctant, "I don't know how to play either, and I'm not interested..."
"No matter if you win or not, Little Jiu is willing to sleep with you tonight!" Little Jiu said determinedly, displaying a 'selling her soul' expression.
"Actually, I do know a little bit about Japanese mahjong," Lin Xianyu got up.
Ren Xingi looked at Gu Yueyan, and before she could speak, Qiao Muyi quickly said, "Only Yueyan can play for you; Xingi, you can't play."
"Why?"
"You have the ability to cheat," Qiao Muyi stated matter-of-factly. "Your Ti Spell allows you to travel through another dinsion, letting you see our cards and then return to your place without us ever noticing."
Indeed, she could; in the 'Ti Roaming' state, Ren Xingi was too fast and nimble, even capable of phasing through objects, which made for a large window of opportunity for cheating.
Ren Xingi still wanted to argue, but Gu Yueyan put down the Black Cat, ca over and said a few words to her. Ren Xingi gave up the argunt, letting Gu Yueyan represent her.
However, Ren Xingi suddenly rembered sothing and said, "My brother also has many strange abilities; he could cheat without us ever knowing!"
Qiao Muyi nodded, "Makes sense."
「A minute later」
Ren Suo was sitting at the mahjong table. Luna's blue hair cascaded beside his ears, and every move she made caused Ren Suo to feel a tickle in his ears.
"Luna, you must hold on to Xiao Suo tightly and don't let him cheat," Qiao Muyi said indifferently.
Standing behind Ren Suo, Luna nodded vigorously, "I'll hold on to Suosuo tightly!"
After so many days, Qiao Muyi's psychological endurance had greatly increased. Even if Ren Suo was embraced by another woman right in front of her, Qiao Muyi could actually remain calm and collected, and the others were more or less the sa.
But compared to their previous emotional transparency, Ren Suo found the current calm deanor of all his girlfriends even more daunting…
Qiao Muyi glanced at Gu Yueyan and Lin Xianyu and suddenly said, "But it's no fun to just play like this. Let's add so stakes, otherwise, it would be aningless if soone intentionally gives up."
"What stakes?" Ren Xingi asked.
Qiao Muyi answered, "Counting my outerwear and underwear, I'm wearing five articles of clothing. Yueyan, Xianyu, you guys are wearing about the sa, right?"
Gu Yueyan and Lin Xianyu nodded. Then Qiao Muyi narrowed her eyes and proposed, "Perfect, each of us has 25,000 points... How about this: for every 5,000 points we lose, we take off one article of clothing?"
The four of them were stunned, and even Gu Yueyan and Dong Chengling, who were watching, couldn't help but look over.
Dong Chengling frowned and said, "Xiao Qiao, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
"Ah, Cheng Ling, you're right, it is inappropriate," Qiao Muyi's lips curled up. "After all, we are representing others in this ga, so then... for every 5,000 points lost, both the player and their bed partner should remove an article of clothing too? Little Jiu, you don't have to; Xianyu will be enough."
Feeling underrated, Little Jiu went off to sulk and play with her phone on the side.
Nearly everyone's breathing beca hurried. Ren Suo stuttered, "But... I'm only wearing three pieces."
"Then you can lose one piece for every 10,000 points," Qiao Muyi said casually. "Anyway, whoever is left with no points at the end will strip naked in public."
Strip naked in public!
Everyone instantly tensed up.
In fact, stripping naked in front of Ren Suo wasn't particularly hard to accept, and being seen naked by other won in a bathhouse was also fine. However, to be forced to strip naked in front of Ren Suo and other won because of a loss in a ga...
This sense of humiliation was sothing even Ren Suo couldn't accept!
Lin Xianyu spoke out right away, "Then I'm not playing!"
"You can opt out, and I'll consider you AFK, but if your hand loses, you'll still need to take off your clothes," Qiao Muyi said.
"I won't take them off!"
"If soone doesn't follow the ga rules, Cheng Ling and I will take compulsory asures," Qiao Muyi said ominously.
Dong Chengling's tone grew firr, "Xiao Qiao!"
"Don't forget what the real purpose of our trip is," Qiao Muyi was utterly unfazed, in turn persuading Dong Chengling. "It's about ti to add so spice to the stagnant water. Or have you all already given up and are willing to accept such an outco?"
Everyone was slightly shocked and then fell silent.
There were many purposes for this trip. The original reason, of course, was that Ren Suo had promised Qiao Muyi to go on vacation. The others wouldn't accept it, so after so back and forth, they surprisingly followed Ren Suo's suggestion—to buy more tickets and visit more places.
Then they wanted to take the opportunity to test whether Ren Suo would still be affected by his status as a "Fairy Palace Receptionist" after he left ho.
Ren Suo hadn't left ho last month, and as a result, his temperant changed drastically because of this part-ti job. Fortunately, Ren Suo changed back, or else they wouldn't have known what to do.
It's just that they can't defeat the Fairy Palace; otherwise, Qiao Muyi would have taken Dong Chengling there to wreck the place long ago.
But circumstances forced their hand, so they could only try to figure things out through Ren Suo and do their best to help him avoid potential dangers. Moreover, they didn't need to ask to know that Ren Suo was completely unaware of each impending crisis—if Ren Suo could foresee danger, he would have taken them to the Tactical Bureau to hide away long ago.
The other goal, naturally, was to continue their "Jealousy Operation."
However, as the days passed, everyone slowly realized that their psychological bottom line was being pushed lower daily, and they were getting less angry about Ren Suo's interactions with other won.
Even the most stubborn and rigid Gu Yueyan would turn a blind eye—as long as Qiao Muyi didn't cause trouble on her turn.
It was only when Qiao Muyi brought it up now that they snapped out of it as if waking from a dream: if things continued like this, there truly would be no winners!
Of course, from another perspective, there would also be no losers.
Using sha and anger as a breeding ground for jealousy, huh?
True to Qiao Muyi's character, she had co up with such a deviously cunning idea.
Ren Xingi's expression changed before she finally said gravely, "I accept these ga rules."
Gu Yueyan was slightly taken aback, but then she also said, "I accept."
Dong Chengling looked at them for a while before looking at Ren Suo and slowly nodded, "I accept as well."
Lin Xianyu shook her head repeatedly, "I don't want to! What benefit is there for in playing this mahjong? I might end up stripped bare, no way!"
"Indeed..." Qiao Muyi nodded slightly and looked towards Ren Xingi.
Having gradually caught up with Qiao Muyi's pace recently, Ren Xingi imdiately understood and said, "I'll add another stake: for every point above 25,000 points at the ti of settlent, that exact amount will be won in cash, from . If Xianyu, you end up with 35,000 points, then you win 10,000! But if you lose, then we'll follow Sister Qiao's rule."
Upon hearing this, Lin Xianyu's expression turned indignant, "Do you think you can buy a female college student from Superhuman Academy, a First-Turn Cultivator with a promising future, with money?"
"What about this... Set the settlent lower limit at 20,000 points. As long as you don't discard a winning tile for soone else and don't win any hands yourself, you can still net a profit of 5,000. How about that?"
"I'm not here for the money, I just want to play a bit of mahjong with friends," Lin Xianyu patted the mahjong table. "Hurry up, let's get started."
However, Lin Xianyu suddenly looked at Qiao Muyi with suspicion, "Wait a second, Sister Qiao, you're not going to cheat, are you?"
"Why would you think that?" Qiao Muyi raised her eyebrows slightly.
"You voluntarily suggested playing mahjong and adding the stripping stake. But mahjong relies a lot on luck, unless one can cheat or is really skilled," Lin Xianyu said. "Are you actually good at playing mahjong?"
"I guarantee on my character that I have only played three gas of mahjong to understand the basics, and it's been a long ti since I've played with anyone," Qiao Muyi said with a smile.
"Then why would you suggest adding that kind of stake?" Lin Xianyu was genuinely puzzled. "If you lose, you'll also end up naked."
Upon hearing Lin Xianyu's question, Qiao Muyi couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. She crossed her legs, her hands clasped before her chest, the corners of her mouth curled up, and her foxy eyes curved with a confident arc—
"So what?"
At that mont, whether it was Ren Suo, Dong Chengling, Gu Yueyan, Ren Xingi, Lin Xianyu, or even Luna, they all had to admit—
This woman was very cool.
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