Volume 3, Chapter 402 – I Was Just Asking Casually

“Heh heh…”

Lu Zhuxin was smiling, but the smile never reached her eyes.

“03, I have a few questions.”

[Host, please speak. 03 is listening.]

Lu Zhuxin propped up her chin and looked toward the direction Wei Ziqing had gone. “Wei Ziqing is not the heaven mandated male lead this world originally had. So will he still receive the protection of the Heavenly Dao, the same way Song Shixuan does?”

[Host, 03 cannot provide a definite answer to this question.]

“Heh…” Lu Zhuxin laughed coldly. “You don’t even know that much? Then what kind of system are you?”

[Host, this is not a flaw of 003’s. It is simply that there has never been a precedent for such a case before.]

“Aren’t systems supposed to exist independent of the world?” Lu Zhuxin pressed further. “Use your invincible rules and make an estimate.”

[Without precedent, no correct verification can be carried out. Even if a result were forced through calculation, it might differ greatly from the true conclusion.]

“ Tch …” Lu Zhuxin gave a soft click of her tongue. “Then I’ll ask a different question.”

“If I had someone else who also carried heaven mandated fortune go and hunt down Wei Ziqing right now, would they succeed?”

The system fell silent for a moment before continuing.

[Those who carry fortune have, throughout history, always stood on the side of righteousness. Even when misunderstandings arise between them, those misunderstandings are eventually resolved, and enemies become friends through conflict.]

[Situations of true mortal combat between them are exceedingly rare.]

[Therefore, 03 cannot give the Host an accurate answer to this question.]

[If the Host truly requires a more precise projection.]

[Please provide 03 with more detailed information.]

Hearing this, a chill flickered faintly in Lu Zhuxin’s eyes.

But that flicker of emotion lasted only an instant.

Then, she gave a light scoff.

“ Tsk tsk … I was just asking casually, and here you are taking it so seriously?”

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The system did not believe Lu Zhuxin’s words.

[Based on 03’s understanding of the Host, you would not ask such a question without reason.]

[Host, what exactly are you planning to do?]

The corner of Lu Zhuxin’s mouth twitched.

“Heh! So you really did see through me.”

“You truly are clever. Far cleverer than Ming Zhaoxi.”

[Is that meant as praise?]

“Hehe!” Lu Zhuxin laughed softly. “Since you’ve already seen through me, I won’t hide it from you anymore.”

“I’m thinking of having Bu Lianshuang go try to assassinate Wei Ziqing.”

[…]

[Host, are you being serious?]

Lu Zhuxin lifted her gaze. “I’m not joking.”

“In the original story, Bu Lianshuang and Wei Ziqing were the classic pair of bickering lovers who fall for each other through conflict.”

“After going through all manner of misunderstandings and trials together, they eventually came to care for one another.”

“But! That was the plot of the original story.”

“As things stand now, Bu Lianshuang has already given her heart to me. There’s no reason she’d fall in love with a human she despises above all others.”

“And besides, Bu Lianshuang isn’t like me, the villainess. She’s the heaven mandated woman, carrying fortune of her own. If she went to assassinate Wei Ziqing, she wouldn’t be targeted by the Heavenly Dao the way I would be.”

“Even if she can’t kill Wei Ziqing outright, she could still cause him a great deal of trouble.”

“Heh heh…”

Lu Zhuxin gave a light laugh and spread her hands.

“03, what do you think of this plan?”

[…]

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[However the Host chooses to pursue her strategy is the Host’s own freedom. The system will not comment.]

[The heaven mandated woman can indeed exert influence on the heaven mandated male lead, but this world still operates with the heaven mandated male lead at its core.]

[So the gains and losses of this course of action are for the Host to weigh for herself.]

“Oh?” Lu Zhuxin’s tone rose slightly. “You don’t want me sending Bu Lianshuang to assassinate Wei Ziqing?”

[Host, 03 has no authority to interfere with the Host’s strategy. This was merely a simple estimate given in response to the Host’s question.]

[For Bu Lianshuang to assassinate Wei Ziqing carries considerable risk, and this plan offers the Host no benefit either.]

“Hah! So you really don’t want me sending Bu Lianshuang to assassinate Wei Ziqing after all.”

Lu Zhuxin raised an eyebrow. “And you said you had no authority to interfere with me!”

“If this isn’t interfering, then what is!”

[…]

The system decided it no longer wished to speak.

[Everything the Host says is correct.]

[Whatever the Host says, that’s simply how it is.]

Having said this, it rationally chose to remain silent.

“Hmph!”

Lu Zhuxin lifted her chin like a rooster that had won a fight, letting out a very smug little huff.

After waiting a good while and still receiving no response from the system, Lu Zhuxin slowly let the smile fade from her face.

It seemed she had managed to bluff her way through, for now.

Lu Zhuxin thought to herself.

Sending Bu Lianshuang to assassinate Wei Ziqing really would be a pointless, terrible move.

Wei Ziqing had a golden finger backing him. At critical moments, he could let the person inside his ring take over and fight in his place, unleashing combat power on par with the Sixth Realm.

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Bu Lianshuang would never be a match for him.

More importantly, to avoid Bu Lianshuang and Wei Ziqing becoming entangled with each other again the way they had in the original story, Lu Zhuxin didn’t want the two of them having too much contact in the first place.

So just now, Lu Zhuxin had only been speaking to test the waters. She had never actually intended to go through with it.

“Still…” Lu Zhuxin murmured under her breath, so quietly only she herself could hear it. “Is it really so rare for those who carry heaven’s mandate to end up in a true fight to the death against one another?”

“Is that really how it works?”

Given that two heaven mandated male leads could even exist within the same world at once, Lu Zhuxin certainly wasn’t naive enough to believe that.

“Perhaps… there could be exceptions.”

…

The next day.

Today marked the third round of the Empress’s consort selection.

Huayue Court felt far more subdued today compared to the day before.

Chi Xiyan walked through the garden, and she could feel the strange looks that kept being cast her way from those around her.

It was because of what had happened yesterday, Chi Xiyan thought to herself.

Whether it was her identity as an alchemist or her Fourth Realm cultivation in the sword dao, either alone would be enough to inspire awe in these young men and women of her age.

Chi Xiyan paid it no mind.

The reason she had come here had, from the very start, been singular. Whatever these people thought of her had nothing whatsoever to do with her.

Chi Xiyan steadied her thoughts and walked all the way to a courtyard.

She stopped outside it, looking at the tightly shut door before her. Hesitation and conflict showed plainly in her eyes.

A moment later, the door before her creaked open.

Lu Zhuxin stepped out and looked toward Chi Xiyan.

“Sister, I’m ready.”

“And you?”

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Chi Xiyan froze for a moment, then let out a bitter smile.

“Perhaps… I should have left you at Lingxu Sword Sect from the very beginning.”

Hearing this, Lu Zhuxin’s brow lifted slightly.

“Does Sister mean to say that it would have been better for me to become a puppet of Lingxu Sword Sect than to go on this venture with you?”

“…” Hearing this, the bitterness on Chi Xiyan’s face deepened.

She looked deeply at Lu Zhuxin, as though trying to fully imprint the girl’s appearance into her memory.

She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. When she opened them again, all the confusion within had faded away completely.

“Little Xue’er, perhaps you’re right.”

“Things have already come to this. There’s no turning back for us now.”

“All we can do is give it everything we have.”

“It seems Sister has already made up her mind.” Lu Zhuxin stepped forward and naturally took hold of Chi Xiyan’s hand, gripping it tightly. “Whatever Sister decides to do, I will stay by your side through all of it.”

Chi Xiyan’s body stiffened.

A warm, soft touch pressed into her palm.

The girl’s slender, boneless hand felt, against her palm, like a red hot branding iron.

Chi Xiyan instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but Lu Zhuxin held it fast, refusing to let go.

“Because we’re sisters,” Lu Zhuxin said.

We… are sisters…

The girl’s light, airy voice echoed in Chi Xiyan’s ears like a returning sound.

“That’s right… we’re sisters…”

She repeated it once more.

And gave up on the thought of pulling her hand away.