Level Max Villainous Second Female Lead, Just Wants to Slack Off CHAPTER 72

Chapter 72: The Seventy-Second Day of Slacking

On the way, Da Hei didn’t say a single word, resuming his usual silence.

He didn’t press Wen Ying about how the box was connected to the strange happenings in Ping’an Town, nor did he even ask why they were returning to the stronghold.

It was like… a silent trust.

Wen Ying hesitated several times, but just as they were nearing the stronghold gate, she couldn’t hold back any longer and stopped.

“You’re not going to ask me why we’re going back to the stronghold?” she asked, turning to face him.

Da Hei stopped as well and simply shook his head.

“You trust me?” Wen Ying paused, then asked again.

Da Hei nodded without the slightest hesitation.

“Why?” Wen Ying hadn’t expected him to answer so decisively.

If the roles were reversed, she knew she could never give a swift “I trust Da Hei” in response. Because even if you were lying, there would still be a flicker of hesitation.

Da Hei thought for a moment, and it seemed he was thinking very seriously.

After a long while, he finally answered in a low voice, “Because it’s you.”

The deep voice gave his otherwise youthful tone a certain magnetic quality.

In that instant, it felt as if the softest part of Wen Ying’s heart had been gently touched.

Because it’s you…

If there was any kind of trust that was most moving, it was unconditional trust.

The kind that says, even if the whole world is against you, I will always be on your side.

In fifty-two lifetimes, the thing Wen Ying had seen the most was suspicion.

Endless, boring doubts and tedious frame-ups had left her almost numb.

Even when she successfully turned the tables, it was never about trust.

Seeing Wen Ying’s prolonged silence, Da Hei answered again, “Because it’s you, so I trust you.”

Ugh… why does that suddenly sound like circular nonsense?

“Thank you,” Wen Ying smiled.

They had only met a handful of times. How could he trust her so much?

But even if it was a lie, it was a pleasant one to hear.

“When we get inside the stronghold, I might need you to do something,” Wen Ying said softly to Da Hei. “Lin Ruge, do you know him?”

Wen Ying didn’t know how long Da Hei had stayed in the stronghold last time, or if he knew anyone there.

Hearing the name, Da Hei paused slightly.

But in the end, he nodded. “…Mm.”

Naturally, Wen Ying and Da Hei couldn’t just swagger in through the main gate.

They parted ways just before reaching it.

Wen Ying teleported to the door of Hua Pi’s parents’ room.

She could sense that they were inside.

Hua Pi… hua pi …

After discovering the strangeness of Ping’an Town, Wen Ying finally understood why the name Hua Pi sounded so familiar.

It wasn’t hua pi as in “Painted Skin,” but hua pi as in “Transformed Skin.”

Wen Ying took the broken mirror from her sleeve.

The one she and Xiao Hei had dug up from the garden-turned-landfill in the Seeking Immortals Sect.

The reason Rong Hua had lost her beauty filter before was, of course, because the filter had broken.

That’s right. When she was choked by the chili peppers and fell, she had accidentally crushed her divine artifact, the Bone-Transforming Mirror, with her own behind.

The shattered Bone-Transforming Mirror became a pile of junk. Rong Hua, looking at her broken beauty filter, grew angrier and angrier until she finally, in a fit of pique, threw it into the sect’s famous landfill.

Transformed Skin, Transformed Bone.

That was the complete set. White bones transformed into a beautiful skin.

A beautiful facade.

Wen Ying concealed the broken mirror in her long sleeve and shoved the door open.

The couple was sitting in the main seats, chatting idly.

“Miss Wen, you…”

Before Lin Ruge’s father could finish, Wen Ying moved like lightning, pinching a talisman between two fingers and pointing it forward.

A barrier instantly formed within the room.

The expression on Lin Ruge’s father’s face changed dramatically.

With lightning speed, he tapped Hua Pi between the eyebrows, and she immediately fell into a deep sleep in his arms.

Seeing this, Wen Ying couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle.

After gently laying Hua Pi down, Lin Ruge’s father rose and walked towards Wen Ying.

“Miss Wen, you are indeed no simple character,” he said with a self-deprecating smile. “I should have known when you were able to recognize Pi’er’s mother’s belongings and fulfill her wishes time and again.”

Wen Ying felt that Lin Ruge’s father was probably overthinking it.

Even if she were a simple character, she could have still accomplished those things…

As long as she had lived in the modern world.

An uncharacteristically frank look appeared on the boyish face of Lin Ruge’s father. “You must be… Pi’er’s mother.”

Huh???

That was a conclusion Wen Ying had definitely not expected.

In this world, she had already been mistaken for a master, a grandma, and a young lord.

Now, she had added mother to the list.

Wen Ying, who had never even had a boyfriend, was now, by herself, on the verge of creating a three-generation family.

All she could say was, at least it was better than grandma. At least it was a generation younger.

“…You’re mistaken. I’ve never been married,” Wen Ying said, her tone laced with a hint of helplessness.

“I am now a turtle in a jar. There’s no need for you to hide things from me, Senior.” Lin Ruge’s father gave another smile. A smile on a boy’s face looked rather cute.

Good heavens. She had just walked in the door, and in a matter of moments, Wen Ying had been promoted a generation and become a “Senior.”

Fortunately, the couple looked very young. Being called “auntie” by a couple of teenagers… was, reluctantly, acceptable.

At least it was better than being called auntie by someone in their twenties.

“Senior, I know everything,” Lin Ruge’s father continued. “Pi’er told me that you’ve never married because you’re waiting for someone.”

Wen Ying: !!

She didn’t know that!

So, she had been single all these years because she was waiting for someone?!

Who was she waiting for? The God of Singleness?

“Uh… who am I waiting for?” Wen Ying asked curiously.

Lin Ruge’s father: “…”

“Haha, Senior, you’re just as Pi’er described. You love to joke.” He gave a dry laugh.

Did she?

Wen Ying thought her question was perfectly serious.

“Although now is a very inconvenient time, I probably… won’t have another chance.” Lin Ruge’s father suddenly said something completely out of the blue. He then clasped his hands together and bowed deeply and respectfully. “Greetings, Mother-in-law. I am Pi’er’s husband. My name is A’kui. It was Pi’er who gave me the name.”

Wen Ying: “…”

In just a few short minutes, she had been upgraded from Miss Wen to Senior, and finally to Mother-in-law.

This was a super-sized upgrade.

Was she going to be promoted to grandmother next…

“What? You… you’re my grandmother?” A familiar voice came from outside the door.

Miss, Mother, Mother-in-law, Grandmother.

In the span of a few minutes, Wen Ying had successfully experienced a woman’s entire life.

She didn’t even need to turn around to know it was Lin Ruge at the door.

Looking over, she saw Da Hei standing a short distance behind him, in the same posture, with the same silence as always.

It was Wen Ying who had asked Da Hei to release Lin Ruge from his manipulation.

As she had expected, even with the manipulation lifted, Lin Ruge could not forget the kindness his adoptive parents had shown him.

If she had severed Lin Ruge’s puppet strings earlier, it would have surely thrown the situation into chaos.

But now, it didn’t matter. She had Da Hei release him because there might be more important things for Lin Ruge to do next.

Wen Ying nodded at Da Hei, mouthing the words “Thank you.”

The next moment, she slapped a palm on the ground, and the world outside the house was plunged into endless darkness.

This way, they wouldn’t be disturbed.

“Senior is as powerful as Pi’er said,” A’kui said, unfazed by the sudden change, seemingly having accepted it all. “I am no match for you.”

Since he had said that, Wen Ying didn’t need to waste any more words.

She asked directly, “Are you a puppet-thread demon?”

“Yes,” A’kui nodded.

“You’ve been manipulating everyone in Ping’an Town—including everyone in this stronghold—making them live according to your script. What is your purpose?” Wen Ying continued to ask.

The entire town was like a perfect stage.

And everyone in it was A’kui’s marionette, dutifully “performing” their daily lives according to his will.

That day at the river lantern festival, the reason the vendors were all uncharacteristically selling stinky tofu and snail noodles was because Hua Pi’s illness had made A’kui lose his focus, causing a slight error in the puppet show.

The one who originally sold fried meatballs was now selling stinky tofu; the one who sold plain noodles was now selling snail noodles…

But this time, A’kui didn’t answer.

After a long silence, he simply said, “Senior, I admit, I did all of it. I also know that what I have done is terribly wrong. I am willing to atone with my death. Now that you’ve returned, Senior, Pi’er will have you to look after her, and I can rest assured.”

“The people in Ping’an Town are all cultivators, aren’t they?” Wen Ying didn’t press him, but suddenly changed the subject. “And everyone in the stronghold are the original residents of the town.”

“…Correct.” A’kui could only answer. “As expected of you, Senior. You saw through even that.”

“You’ve been using your puppet strings not just to control them, but to absorb their spiritual energy, haven’t you?” Wen Ying asked again.

“…Yes.” A’kui smiled bitterly. “It seems my attempts to hide it were ultimately futile in front of you, Senior.”

“Then you can answer me now. What was the purpose of all this?” Wen Ying raised an eyebrow.

“It was… it was for Pi’er.” A’kui looked at Hua Pi, who was leaning against the soft couch. “Senior should have seen that Pi’er didn’t recognize you… that’s because she is gravely injured. A cultivator promised me that as long as I continuously gathered the true energy of these cultivators and offered the spiritual power to him, he would provide me with the medicine to keep Pi’er alive…”

“Every time a new batch of cultivators comes in, I release a previous batch at the same time,” A’kui continued. “I know this may sound like an excuse… but I truly never intended to endanger their lives…”

This was the reason for “Old Master Shen’s” “death by illness.”

Wen Ying knew A’kui wasn’t just making excuses.

A’kui didn’t let the residents of the stronghold go down the mountain because he was afraid that those without cultivation would disrupt his plans in the town.

Once an ordinary person strayed into the place where he was absorbing true energy, they would be sucked dry into a withered husk.

But no matter what, even if it was just absorbing true energy, it was still theft, still robbery.

Not to mention the imprisonment.

It was like raising chickens and ducks in a pen, exploiting the eggs they lay.

“In short, it is all my fault!” A’kui clenched his fists. “Now that you have returned, Senior, I’m sure you have a way to treat Pi’er. Once I am dead, everything in the town will return to normal. Let my life atone for all these wrongs!”

With that, he channeled his energy into his palm and struck it fiercely towards his own chest!

Wen Ying didn’t stop him. There was no need to.

A’kui watched in shock as his own hand passed through his chest and struck the wall behind him, cracking it.

“A dead man can’t die,” Wen Ying said, looking at A’kui’s astonished face. “At most, you can just clip through the map.”

Author’s Note:

The Ping’an Town story is almost over!

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