Restricted Fantasy I Chapter 166: The Snake and I

"Hey, Old An, help

take the trash downstairs."

"I will throw it out after lunch."

"Go right now!"

Luoqiao District, An Le's ho.

An Le's vacant gaze slowly refocused as the sound of conversation between her parents pulled her back to reality. She blinked, looking at her father who was still lying on the sofa nearby.

Then, she stood up and said,

"...I will go throw it out, Dad."

"Hey, just sit down and rest. I will go right now."

An Le shook her head, picking up the trash bag, and said softly,

"I will go get so fresh air while I am at it. It is fine."

"Ah, alright. Co back quickly, it looks like it is going to rain outside."

"Mhm."

An Bang lay back down on the sofa, and An Le withdrew her gaze.

After changing her shoes, she turned and stepped into the old, worn-out stairwell.

"Buzz..."

On the ceiling, the flickering light with a loose connection cast a shifting glow, creating writhing shadows around An Le's silhouette on the wall.

"Ding!"

The phone screen in her hand suddenly lit up. Casting her eyes downward, she saw it was a ssage from Spencer.

An Le stared at Spencer's inquiry, a faint glimr of light still flickering in her eyes.

Her fingers trembled as she raised them, as if wanting to send a reply.

But a second later, the image of Spencer and Yan Huan kissing in public surfaced in her mind, lingering like an inescapable nightmare.

That scene had left scars in her mind. Overwheld by an excruciating pang of sorrow, she hastily turned off the phone screen.

"Hiss..."

The sound of a snake flicking its tongue echoed by her ear.

Little Finger poked its head out. Looking at her turned-off phone, it let out a mocking chuckle,

"I warned you long ago. Spencer harbors ulterior motives, and you suspected it yourself, but unfortunately, you just refused to believe it..."

"You saw her as a precious friend and did not want her to leave, so you preferred to deceive yourself.

"And in the end, how did she repay you?"

Listening to the demon-like whispers in her ear, An Le's expression involuntarily twitched.

She painfully clutched her head, instinctively retorting,

"Maybe... Spencer was just... too impulsive at the ti. She did not actually an to..."

"Heh..."

Little Finger said no more. It rely flicked its tongue and silently faded from view.

At that mont, An Le happened to step out of the stairwell, catching the scent of the impending rain in the air outside.

A fierce gust of wind blew against her slightly frail body, yet she seed completely oblivious to it. She simply walked over to the dumpsters and tossed the trash inside.

"..."

In the instant the trash fell into the bin, it felt as though she had also thrown away so of the negative emotions accumulating in her heart.

She let out a breath, and her complexion ward slightly.

But the very next second, from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a familiar blonde girl looking at her from a short distance away.

"..."

An Le's body stiffened slightly. Then, gritting her teeth, she pretended not to see her and turned to walk away.

"An Le!"

Spencer's voice called out from behind, trying to make her stay, but it failed to halt An Le's steps. Instead, it made her walk even faster.

Seeing this, Spencer paused for a brief mont, hesitating for a second before hurriedly chasing after her.

"Tap-tap-tap."

A flurry of quick footsteps followed. When it ca to physical stamina, how could An Le possibly be a match for the athletic Spencer?

Before An Le could even take a few steps back towards her building, Spencer caught up to her side, speaking rapidly as she walked,

"An Le, you... I sent you ssages but you did not reply to ..."

"..."

"And Senior Jiang Yun told

that you are quitting the club. You..."

"..."

An Le did not respond to either sentence, rely continuing to walk forward.

Seeing this, Spencer bit her lip. Finally unable to hold back, she reached out and grabbed An Le's arm,

"An Le, just wait a minute. If you have sothing to say, can't you just say it directly? Do you have to... have to be like this? I..."

"..."

When Spencer reached out and grabbed her, An Le's expression finally shifted slightly.

She bit her lower lip. That faint, fading spark in her eyes ultimately burst into a trace of warmth, causing her to stop in her tracks.

After a mont of hesitation, she slowly turned her head and looked at Spencer beside her.

Seeing An Le finally stop, Spencer rejoiced and quickly stepped in front of her to prevent her from running away again.

At this mont, An Le had just changed out of her hospital gown. She was wearing a loose, snow-white dress that accentuated her incredibly proud figure.

However, her head ornant, which she usually kept impeccably neat no matter what, looked sowhat disheveled.

Beneath the stray strands of ssy black hair, her deep dark eyes—frad by dark circles—held only a final, lingering glimr of light.

That faint glimr compelled An Le to act, prompting her to raise her eyes and look at Spencer.

After a second of silence, An Le asked,

"Classmate Spencer, what do you need from ?"

Hearing the subtle tone of rejection in her voice, Spencer's heart sank.

She bit her lip, rubbing the back of her head as she hesitated,

"Because you suddenly stopped replying to my ssages, and then you said you were going to quit the club, so I was really worried about you..."

"Worried... There is no need to worry. I am fine."

An Le lowered her eyes slightly and said softly,

"Classmate Spencer, you won the Club War, right? Now you can stay at the academy. There is no longer any need for

to remain in the Doujinshi Society..."

Hearing An Le say this, Spencer bit down on her lip even harder.

After waiting for a second or two, unable to endure it any longer, she suddenly reached out and grabbed An Le's wrist.

"!!"

An Le's pupils contracted slightly. Instinctively drawn by the force of Spencer's pull, she could not help but look up at her.

What t her gaze was Spencer's slightly furrowed brow and her earnest, sky-blue eyes,

"But aren't we friends? Why would you say sothing like that?!

"You make it sound as if I only viewed you all as tools to win the Club War! You... you know perfectly well that is not what I think!"

Friends.

That word echoed in her ears, causing the faint light in An Le's eyes to brighten slightly.

Her previously indifferent and depressed deanor was finally roused, and her passive expression slowly regained a bit of life.

"I... I know..."

"Right, you clearly know that, so..."

"So, why did you do that to Xiao Huan yesterday, Classmate Spencer?"

"I..."

Sure enough, it was because of that incident.

As soon as it was brought up, Spencer's expression stiffened.

Perhaps she did feel a guilty conscience, knowing that what she did was wrong, but it was absolutely not her intention to actively hide it or let An Le down.

After all, given how much of an idiot she could be, she never thought that far ahead.

"Yesterday... Zuo Chuan Da Zai and Nino, they were provoked by a few words from that Hua guy from the Track and Field Club, and then..."

Spencer pursed her lips. Squeezing An Le's hand, she used her chaotic brain to brew up the right words,

"At that ti, I really did not know what to do. Yan Huan was the only one who stepped in to help ..."

An Le looked at Spencer and nodded,

"Xiao Huan is the kind of person who would do that, so... that is fine."

"And then, well, he joined the Doujinshi Society, won the race against that Owen guy, and... and he even cheered

on while I was running."

"...Xiao Huan has always been excellent. Even if it was for the Doujinshi Society, he would naturally go all out."

"So... so..."

"So, Classmate Spencer, why... why did you take the initiative to kiss Xiao Huan?"

Being asked the critical question, Spencer swallowed a mouthful of saliva, completely stunned.

It was not that she did not want to answer; it was just that, perhaps, even she could only vaguely sense the answer in her heart, unable to articulate it into words.

Yeah, at that ti...

Why did she kiss Yan Huan?

Back then, when she was surrounded by her family's doctors and about to be taken away...

Why, when she caught a glimpse of his lonely back view leaving through the gaps between the crowd, did she suddenly feel a tightness in her chest?

Why did she suddenly feel the urge to rush toward him right then?

Why could she not help but cry the mont she saw his face?

Why did she feel so comfortable when hugging and kissing him, wanting to stay close to him forever?

One why after another was excavated from the depths of her heart by An Le's simple question, flooding her mind.

In her mind, the scenes and sensations from that mont resurfaced, causing Spencer to subconsciously lick her lips, as if savoring the mory.

Seeing this, An Le's eyes contracted sharply.

In disbelief, she reached out and grabbed Spencer's clothes, suddenly looking up and stepping closer to the much taller girl.

Then, with her eyes wide open, An Le demanded,

"Classmate Spencer, you promised to help ... Even if that agreent does not count anymore, that is fine, but you... you also know that I like Xiao Huan, right?"

"I... I know."

"Yeah, you know it, Classmate Spencer. After all, you saw Xiao Huan's photo back then and did not even think he was good-looking. And you hated him too. You argued with him all the ti, right?"

A look of desperate hope appeared on An Le's face as she clutched Spencer's clothes tightly, firing off question after question.

But she did not know that, in Spencer's mind, Yan Huan was no longer the hypocritical peacock he once seed.

Instead, what appeared was the handso young man who had stood in front of her, shedding his clothes to protect her.

Then ca the mories of arguing with him, giving him Golden Bomb Pig cookies, sitting together on the rooftop terrace to watch the fireworks and the pig parade, and talking about the past with him.

Back then, even after learning about her foolish nature and her past of being bullied, he did not choose to bully her, but instead chose to stand firmly in front of her.

Therefore...

No matter how An Le questioned her, Spencer could not force herself to give an answer that would appease An Le at the cost of lying to her own heart.

Thus, she could only purse her lips, turning her head and gaze slightly away.

"Classmate Spencer, tell . You kissing Xiao Huan was just a matter of Ying Country etiquette, wasn't it?"

"..."

"You absolutely did not do that to Xiao Huan out of any other emotions. You only did it because you were impulsive, because you were grateful, right?"

"..."

"You do not have any feelings for Xiao Huan at all. You have no affection for him, you do not like him, right? Say it! Tell ..."

When the words "affection" and "like" spilled from An Le's mouth, Spencer's chaotic mind suddenly froze.

It was as if a divine pillar had shattered the confusion, revealing a perfectly clear, serene truth beneath.

Her eyes contracted slightly before she suddenly turned back to look at An Le, whose wide eyes were flickering with a final glimr of desperate hope.

Listening to An Le's slightly hoarse voice, which still carried pleas and desperate wishes for her to speak the desired answer,

"You... say it, Spencer. You..."

Spencer suddenly felt that if she just played along and said what An Le wanted to hear—even if she truly had developed feelings for Yan Huan—An Le would not care.

If she just lied to An Le now, maybe she could continue being her friend, and An Le wouldn't quit the club.

But...

If she did that, could they really still be considered friends?

Acting one way to her face and another behind her back.

If she did that, how would she be any different from the hypocritical people she despised so much?

"..."

Hesitating, Spencer's expression twisted in struggle for a brief second.

Then, she slowly shifted her gaze away, trying her hardest not to look at An Le's pleading eyes, and finally said,

"I am sorry, An Le... Deceiving a friend... I-I cannot do it."

"..."

Upon hearing Spencer's words—which seed to answer nothing yet simultaneously answered everything—the final spark of light surviving in An Le's wide eyes shattered completely.

She stared blankly at Spencer, who was avoiding her gaze. Her hands, which had been tightly gripping the other girl's clothes, trembled as they slowly let go,

"Friends... Heh... Friends."

"It is exactly because we are friends that..."

Spencer wanted to salvage the situation and hurriedly looked at An Le.

But what t her eyes was an An Le with vacant eyes and a blank, terrifying expression,

"Stop joking around, Classmate Spencer. In truth, from the very beginning, you never treated

as a friend, did you?"

A terrifying pressure slowly seeped out from her shattered heart, unexpectedly causing Spencer to feel an unprecedented chill down her spine.

But she did not cower. Looking at the extrely pained An Le, she retorted pale-faced,

"I didn't..."

"Yeah, I... How could I ever expect you to help ? In your eyes, promising

was nothing more than a joke. I was the only fool taking the Doujinshi Society's affairs to heart..."

Letting go of Spencer, An Le blankly shook her head. "I have nothing. My family isn't wealthy, and I am not excellent enough myself... I was the one who presumptuously got my hopes up, so feeling presumptuously disappointed is also... completely normal, right?"

"Rumble!"

In the sky, the dark clouds had finally gathered to an irreversible extre.

Amidst the roaring thunder and flashing lightning, raindrops fell like tears that could no longer be held back, dropping down to soothe the suffering.

Those tears struck An Le's ssy hair, snapping her out of her daze.

Her vacant eyes lowered, concealing her incredibly bleak expression.

She said no more, rely turning her head in silence and walking back towards her ho.

"An Le!"

Seeing this, Spencer's heart ached slightly.

She pursed her lips, wanting to reach out and hold her back.

"Buzz-buzz-buzz!!"

"Crack!!"

But in the very next second, an extrely terrifying sensation surged into her mind.

Her outstretched right hand instantly went numb. An indescribable surge of Pleasure shot from that hand, instantly piercing through the Resistance that had previously repelled everything.

Half of Spencer's body was instantly overwheld by that Pleasure, causing her to go numb and uncomfortably drop to one knee.

"..."

Spencer had no idea what was happening. She agonizingly clutched her right hand and looked up at An Le's back view, which was swaying in the wind and rain.

The strong winds whipped her black hair into a frenzy, but she never looked back. She rely said,

"We... are no longer friends, Spencer."

"An Le!"

After saying that, An Le did not pause for another second, walking further and further away in Spencer's line of sight.

No matter how much Spencer wanted to stand up and stop her, the overwhelming surge of Pleasure seed to have pierced not just her Resistance, but her very senses, rendering her temporarily immobilized.

Thus, she could only watch helplessly as An Le left her behind.

...

...

"Splash..."

The torrential rain poured down, drenching the lonely An Le as she walked aimlessly down the street.

She did not head ho. Instead, she wandered aimlessly, like a leaf that had lost its direction in the vast ocean.

"Splash..."

It wasn't until her body was completely soaked and her hair had grown heavy with rainwater, plastering over her originally pretty face.

Her recently recovered, frail body finally felt exhausted. She casually found a deserted alleyway and slumped against the wall, sitting down.

Hugging her knees, she stared blankly ahead, completely lost in thought.

"Hiss..."

At that mont, a white snake flicked its tongue and slowly slithered toward An Le, swimming upstream against the rivulets of rainwater.

A heavy sigh, a sound of lant,

"Clinging to fantasies and harboring hope in others—this is the outco. Did you really think that if you treated others well with all your heart, they would definitely repay you?"

The white snake slithered up An Le's body, looking up at her, and sighed helplessly,

"What an absolute fool."

"..."

An Le stared blankly ahead. Finally, a trace of confusion surfaced on her dull expression.

This ti, she actually forgot to speak to Little Finger in her mind and spoke aloud directly, as if muttering to herself,

"I do not understand... Why did Spencer treat

like this... I clearly... saw her as a friend...

"Is it just because I have nothing? Because I am too much of a coward?

"I do not want to hurt anyone. I just want everyone to be happy and joyful. Why does everyone have to hurt ?"

Just then, a few young n walking past the alley with umbrellas suddenly heard a soft, delicate sobbing sound cutting through the noise of the rain.

One of the guys paused slightly, then patted his companion's shoulder in front of him, pointing into the alley.

The rest took a quick glance and suddenly spotted the lonely girl in the white dress sitting on the ground.

"..."

Seeing the completely drenched girl, the leader could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.

"Splash..."

Footsteps shattered the curtain of rain, intruding into the cramped alleyway.

One of the n shot a look to his companion, signaling him to block the other end to prevent their prey from escaping.

But An Le did not notice a thing. She continued to painfully clutch her head, murmuring,

"I just... wanted everyone to be happy... But why... why do I feel so miserable... why..."

Little Finger glanced at the n surrounding them and could not help but let out a sigh.

It looked at An Le and said,

"Did you think that by being kind and friendly to others, they would respond in kind?

"At school, because you are amicable and sweet, people ruthlessly make you the butt of their jokes. At work, because you are honest and naive, they dump all their tasks on you as if it were your duty. In relationships, because you constantly concede, they treat you as if you are invisible and leave you to be the pathetic loser...

"This is a screwed-up world where good people are the ones who get guns pointed at their heads, yet you are still hoping to trade your friendliness for the boons of others...

"An Le, listen to

closely. The only things that matter are the things you can control yourself. Everything else that anyone promises you is absolute bullshit!"

Listening to Little Finger's ethereal, low voice, An Le shook her head and clutched her head, constantly retorting,

"You... stop bewitching , I..."