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Ten minutes ago, next door to the Curio Trash Cans Shop.
In a room clearly belonging to a young woman, a pile of scattered documents on the desk formed a small mound over a meter high.
The base of the paper mountain suddenly shifted, followed by a rustling sound.
A girl with a ponytail emerged from within.
"Urgh..."
Qingque, her hair a bird's nest, knelt on the floor, yawned, and before her eyes were fully open, her upper body slumped, causing her to collapse onto the ground.
She wriggled to the bedside, picked up her Jade Abacus, rubbed her eyes, and finally woke up.
"Another morning already."
She looked back at the documents strewn across the floor, her little face full of misery.
She had stayed up late working last night, finally finishing the task, only to be so exhausted that she fell asleep right on the floor.
And as if by cruel fate, she had knocked over all the documents.
Now it would take ages to sort and organize them again.
"Ahhhhh, Reignbow Arbiter above, just take me now!"
Rumble!
Right after shouting, Qingque saw sword qi suddenly filling the sky outside the window, a storm of sword qi the likes of which she had never seen in her life gathering in the sky above the rooftops.
Instantly, Qingque felt sweat seeping from every pore on her body.
No way, is the Reignbow Arbiter answering my prayer?
But why now of all times!
Her smile instantly turned as if she were crying: "I, I was just joking. I actually love working the most! Your Excellency Reignbow Arbiter, you don't need to go to such trouble."
Then the sword qi crashed down. Just as she closed her eyes waiting for death, she realized all the sword qi had landed next door.
"Phew~~ scaring myself. So, someone just opened a Curio."
Qingque patted her small chest, calming herself down.
"Really, why did it have to happen right now... Huh?"
Thinking of trash cans, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
Why not go open a trash can herself? Maybe she could get something like a fully automatic office robot?
Yes, that's the plan!
"Brother Sylvester! It's been two days since this little record-keeper has seen you; I've missed you terribly!"
She slipped into the bathroom, tidied up and washed, then headed out to do her official duty.
...
In the Curio Trash Cans Shop.
Soft, warm jade and fragrance were right before his eyes. Sylvester's hormones began acting on their own, his heartbeat growing stronger and more forceful.
He swallowed dryly, a voice in his mind seeming to tempt him to blow a gentle breath into Lingsha's ear canal, to see her flustered expression.
Fortunately, reason hadn't completely abandoned him. He wrestled fiercely with this idea in his mind, each side restraining the other.
Hmm... Tsk.
In a situation like this, doing that would make him seem like a beast.
But doing nothing would make him seem worse than a beast.
Being human is hard; the temptations and prejudices of this world are truly everywhere.
If, just if.
Occasionally yielding to wild instincts, it probably wouldn't matter much, right?
How did that saying go again? Lose your humanity, lose a lot; lose your animal nature, lose everything.
It's not about going completely feral, just as long as you can control it...
"Binding sequence initiated." The computer played a completely emotionless female electronic voice, pulling Sylvester's attention back.
"Phew~"
Facing the screen, Sylvester let out a sigh, feeling a bit helpless inwardly.
Well, no need to agonize over it now.
This electronic voice is more effective than a mantra for calming the mind.
Then that retro-styled machine projected a beam of light again, striking Lingsha's chest before quickly spreading across her entire body, enveloping her completely without deviating a single millimeter.
"Eek!"
Lingsha let out a small cry of surprise. The sudden scanning light startled her. She protectively held her long-handled censer in front of herself and instinctively wanted to dodge.
Sylvester, half-leaning in his chair, watched the progress bar appearing on the holographic screen and said, "Don't be nervous, it's just data entry. Just stand still; it'll finish on its own."
Realizing her overreaction, Lingsha felt somewhat embarrassed. She smiled shyly. "This lady has lost composure."
Sylvester smiled without speaking, waiting for the binding to complete.
But what he didn't expect was that an even more blood-pulsing scene than before suddenly appeared on the screen, entering the view of both of them simultaneously.
The minimalist interface suddenly projected a vague 3D model of a small human figure, its arms held out horizontally. From the fingertips of its limbs and the top of its head, lines quickly drew inward, forming a clear image.
At first, there was no issue. Crimson bare feet and hands traced upwards along jade-like legs and arms, the lines becoming crystal clear, white, and smooth.
But when the drawing reached the forearms, Sylvester suddenly sensed something was off.
Where were the sleeves of Lingsha's top? And the thigh garters were missing too; this was a tradition, they shouldn't be omitted, right?
And thinking about it carefully, it seemed the shoes weren't there either.
He turned his head to confirm Lingsha's actual attire.
He hadn't misremembered. But by the time he looked back, the drawing had already reached the tops of her thighs, with four dragon scale-shaped marks clearly visible.
Oh no!
Sylvester suddenly realized. His heart, which had just calmed down, instantly launched into overdrive, racing straight towards tachycardia.
Dammit.
Could it be that this scan, for the sake of accuracy, discarded certain 'superfluous' interferences and obtained the 'most accurate, most fundamental data'?
But even if you obtained it, why display it?!
In the blink of an eye, the drawing progress had reached the torso, only one step away from converging at the peaks!
What to do? Should he look or not?
The question suppressed earlier returned with tenfold intensity, placed squarely before Sylvester's eyes again.
To look or not to look!
Beast or worse than a beast.
Only 0.5 seconds to decide!
Now, choose!
Decide, my foot!
Sylvester roared inwardly.
If heaven itself is stuffing it into your mouth, why be hypocritical about it?!
Not looking, regret it for a lifetime (definitely); looking, conscience might condemn you for a lifetime (debatable)!
Neither option seemed great, so of course, choose the one with the greater potential gain!
Sylvester gritted his teeth, casting his conscience aside.
Then, a vista of snow-capped mountains finally entered his view.
Peaks gathered like congregations, waves surged like rage, the road through the valley lay between mountains and rivers.
The mountains, turning seas and overturning rivers, rolling down gigantic waves; a startled look back, they scrape the sky by mere inches.
"Whoa~"
So, this is art?
No wonder superior human sculptures always aim to showcase the beauty of muscular form; this must be the reason.
In a moment of awed admiration, Sylvester understood everything.
Then a sharp, piercing shriek drilled through his brain.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
A sonic wave at a frequency almost at the edge of human hearing shot straight through from Sylvester's left ear to his right.
A slightly warm sensation brushed past his hair—the result of Lingsha throwing her censer away in a panic.
"Don't look!"
In her fluster, Lingsha tightly wrapped her arms around Sylvester's head.
Her face was now bright red, her usual elegance and composure gone. Looking at the machine that was still relentlessly drawing, she felt both angry and anxious.
She considered kicking the darn thing to pieces, but couldn't bear to ruin the high-grade Curio she had just obtained with such difficulty.
But leaving it alone... if she let go of Sylvester now, wouldn't she just suffer another huge loss?
A mere lifeless machine right in front of her had actually backed her, a living person, into a corner, leaving her unable to advance or retreat.
"Have those Doctors of Chaos drunk too much water and damaged their brains?! Who writes programs like this?!"
Lingsha was frozen in place, not daring to make any rash moves.
Her cheeks puffed out with anger on both sides, tears nearly welling in the corners of her eyes.
The three little figures in her mind were already in complete chaos.
The Lingsha with a small flower on her head ran around anxiously: "What to do, what to do?!"
The Lingsha with smoke sprouting from her head said in despair: "Might as well hug him tighter and strangle Sylvester! End it all once and for all."
The Lingsha wearing gold-rimmed glasses said: "Don't suggest bad ideas! If you can't beat him and end up getting captured by him instead, you'll be in for a real show!"
Calm down, calm down...
Years of experience internally telling herself 'don't get angry' began to take effect. She kept admonishing herself that in such a critical moment, she must not lose her wits.
Meanwhile, Sylvester had already thought of a solution for her. From within the cradle of Lingsha's arms, his voice came out muffled: "Uh, Lingsha. Generally speaking, after the computer finishes reading the progress bar, it will show the 'next' option. I can operate it for you."
Coincidentally, with a prompt sound, the progress bar on the screen reached one hundred percent. Just as he said, a 'Next' button appeared right in the center of the screen.
"Ahem, this lady can manage herself."
Although Sylvester's voice sounded upright, gentlemanly, and devoid of desire, how could she possibly believe that?
On the contrary, for safety's sake, she hugged his head even tighter against her chest.
It's not like she was some legendary computer illiterate; she knew how to click a mouse.
Sylvester, feeling the peaks and waves, wasn't nearly as tense as she was; he was completely relaxed.
He said: "But you don't dare let go with either hand, right?"
"This lady... has her own methods."
Lingsha stubbornly refused to let go.
If only she hadn't thrown the censer away earlier.
She looked left and right but couldn't find any long, slender object.
"Sigh, no other way."
She kicked off one of her high heels, extended her slender, jade-like leg, arched her foot, and strained to reach the mouse.
A little more, just a little more... why is this counter so big?!
After straining her leg until it trembled slightly, she finally managed to touch the mouse.
Clicking the button, the program advanced to the next step, and the scanned model disappeared along with it.
"Phew~"
She let out a sigh of relief, her straightened jade leg resting on the table.
Huh? Why didn't I just summon a smoke beast to help?
She looked at Sylvester in her arms with annoyance, her gaze carrying a hint of her being wronged as she looked at him.
It's all because of this darn Curio of yours, making me lose face so badly!
Just as she was about to release Sylvester and tidy up the scene, a young girl pushed open the shop door.
The intimate scene between the two was witnessed on the spot.
"Sylvester, I came to— Huh?!"
Seeing the scene inside the room, Qingque was utterly stunned, her two ponytails almost standing on end.
She saw Sylvester sitting perfectly fine in his chair.
While the newly appointed Cauldon Master, Lady Lingsha, was on top of Sylvester, hugging his head, with one foot shoeless and extended onto the tabletop.
Wh-what kind of roleplay is this?
Have I discovered something utterly improper? But it's still daytime!
Lingsha's brain instantly short-circuited. For all her cleverness and exquisite jade-like quality, she truly had never encountered a scene like this!
"I, I- came at the wrong time."
Qingque turned to run.
Just kidding, she couldn't afford to offend either of the people here.
Master Diviner, please come back quickly! Your little sparrow is about to be silenced!
"No, you came at just the right time!"