Chapter Eighty-Four: Your Heart’s Desire

Lu Ciyuan couldn’t give a definite answer either; in any case, his progress was about the same.

Day by day, life went on like this. Xu Nuo was a young widow. As the saying goes, a widow’s door is never short of trouble—problems came knocking every few days. The neighbors, displeased with her, found all sorts of excuses to pick fights. Only after being taught a lesson a few times did they finally stop gossiping in front of her.

Xu Nuo complained to 007, “Didn’t you say I’d have good luck with people? Why hasn’t that shown up yet?”

007 recalled the host’s conduct and spat out a few words: [Because you deserve it.]

“Little Seven, you’re getting colder and more heartless by the day,” Xu Nuo pretended to wipe away tears. “Can we never go back to the closeness we once had?”

It seemed that after she’d exposed her system’s backdoor data manipulation, it had simply given up and grown increasingly indifferent.

007: [We were never that close.]

While Xu Nuo bantered with the system, Lu Ciyuan returned from hunting, carrying freshly picked wild greens and a large, succulent piece of meat. His arrival stirred envy among the neighbors.

He chopped wood, fetched water, and cooked with meticulous care. Xu Nuo couldn’t help but ask, “Lu, don’t you ever find this kind of life boring? Would you like to try something different?”

At her words, Lu Ciyuan’s actions paused for a moment before he resumed chopping bones as if nothing had happened.

“Wherever Miss Xu is, that’s where I’ll be,” Lu Ciyuan said after a moment. “Besides, I really like this way of life.”

Hearing this, Xu Nuo only shook her head without any response. She couldn’t tell if Lu Ciyuan truly meant it or if he was merely being polite.

Confronted with Lu Ciyuan, she felt powerless for once.

In truth, she had long realized a crucial issue: she couldn’t read Lu Ciyuan’s thoughts. Often, she couldn’t distinguish if he was genuine or pretending. He seemed like a program, set up without a core of his own, without a soul.

007 wondered, wasn’t Lu Ciyuan just preset data?

“It’s not quite the same,” Xu Nuo couldn’t pinpoint the difference, but she felt it in her heart. Whether it was Gu Xingze, Lin Qisheng, Sheng Ming from the previous worlds, or Lu Ciyuan in this one, none gave her the stiff, lifeless sense of being mere data.

She just simply couldn’t see through Lu Ciyuan.

Xu Nuo lowered her gaze. “Is the Lu Ciyuan before me really Lu Ciyuan?”

[Host, can you truly see through everyone?] 007 asked. [You didn’t see through Sheng Ming’s intentions in the last world.]

“That was an accident,” Xu Nuo replied. “I underestimated his feelings. Besides, I don’t need to read them completely—so long as my understanding is enough to accomplish the mission.”

007: [Host, you’re playing a romance game; you can’t use ordinary logic to speculate on their actions.]

Xu Nuo considered for a moment. “How about you try giving me a cheat? Lingering here isn’t getting us anywhere.”

007: [Host, get a grip. If the main system finds out, we’ll both be punished.]

“Miss Xu?” Lu Ciyuan had to call her several times before she snapped out of her daze.

Xu Nuo: “What is it?”

Lu Ciyuan: “Tonight there will be lanterns set afloat on the West River. Would you like to go see them?”

“Of course.” Xu Nuo agreed readily.

At sunset, starlight blanketed the river’s surface, shining together with the floating lanterns, bright and splendid. Lu Ciyuan brought over two lanterns.

“For you.”

Xu Nuo took one, intending to set it afloat by the riverbank, but Lu Ciyuan handed her paper and brush. “Do you have a wish?”

“There’s a legend that if you write your wish on paper and let the lantern drift to the westernmost bank, the Queen Mother of the West will see it and grant it.”

“I’ve never heard that one,” Xu Nuo said, but still wrote down her wish.

Lu Ciyuan also wrote out his wish, stroke by stroke. Xu Nuo glanced at his writing—it was clearly more elegant than hers—but before she could see what he’d written, he folded it up and placed it inside his lantern.

“Give me yours as well,” Lu Ciyuan said.

It had rained recently, and the riverbank was slippery. Most women sought out gentle slopes, gathering in clusters to set their lanterns, creating a blaze of light. But where Xu Nuo and Lu Ciyuan stood, the light was dim, shadows of trees swayed, and the hazy moonlight cloaked their figures. The yellow glow of the candles lit up the eyes beneath his mask.

Those eyes were beautiful—slightly upturned, like phoenix eyes—reflecting the stars in sky and water. He turned his gaze slightly and smiled at Xu Nuo.

Her heart skipped a beat.

It felt so familiar—strangely, intimately so—yet she couldn’t recall when she’d ever experienced it.

It was the eyes. Those eyes.

Xu Nuo stared at Lu Ciyuan as he bent down to launch both lanterns into the water, his fingertips stirring ripples.

“Miss Xu?” Lu Ciyuan smiled helplessly. “Daydreaming again?”

“Mm.” Xu Nuo gave a somewhat awkward smile. “It’s just that you look too good.”

“May I take off your mask?” she asked. “I’ve never seen your face.”

Her tone was casual, but inside she was deeply uneasy. The feeling was hard to put into words. She was inexplicably certain: she had to remove Lu Ciyuan’s mask.

“I look rather ugly,” Lu Ciyuan replied, “I’m afraid I’ll frighten you.”

“I won’t,” Xu Nuo shook her head. “I don’t judge by appearances.”

Lu Ciyuan only smiled, gazing at the floating lanterns on the river. “What wish did you write, Miss Xu?”

Xu Nuo answered honestly, “My wish? I hope to be happy every day.”

Lu Ciyuan: “Don’t you want to know what my wish is?”

“What is your wish?” Xu Nuo followed his gaze to the two lanterns drifting farther away, their soft glow vanishing among the reeds, like stars hidden in clouds.

Lu Ciyuan: “My wish is for yours to come true.”

Xu Nuo was taken aback. “Well… thank you?”

Lu Ciyuan chuckled softly, “Since there’s nothing else, why not follow your heart, Miss Xu?”

Xu Nuo mused, “What happy thing should I do?”

The night breeze swept away much of her restlessness. The anxiety in her heart disappeared, and Xu Nuo began to seriously consider what sights in the Rivers and Luo Jade Book were worth visiting.

“How about this, Lu,” Xu Nuo said, “tonight, keep me company looking at the stars. I haven’t decided where to go yet.”

“Alright.”

007 grumbled: [Host, don’t let yourself be distracted by trivial pleasures.]

Xu Nuo and Lu Ciyuan traveled far and wide—from the lanterns and starry sea on the river, to the icy fields in the far south; from closed villages to the highest peaks and the endless seas at the world’s edge. The four children grew into young ladies or girls, trailing behind them, calling out “Mother” and “Papa.”

“Little Seven, is this huge map also a bug you created?”

007: [I have no idea. The original story never said how big the Rivers and Luo Jade Book’s space was. Let me check the setting map…]

“Miss Xu.”

Xu Nuo’s attention was drawn by Lu Ciyuan’s voice.

He stood beneath the night sky and asked, “Are you happy?”

Xu Nuo nodded. “Yes, I’m happy.”

Lu Ciyuan smiled at her. “That’s good.”

Xu Nuo had grown used to looking into his eyes—only through them could she read his emotions. But at this moment, there was nothing in them but pure joy.

A vague unease welled up in her heart. “Lu?”

Suddenly, the sky shattered and a thousand stars fell. Lu Ciyuan’s figure gradually dissolved into stardust. Xu Nuo instinctively rushed toward him as the world twisted and spun like a kaleidoscope.

After what felt like an eternity, the Rivers and Luo Jade Book spoke, “Congratulations, you have passed the test.”

All colors and scenes faded away, and Xu Nuo was once again adrift in the book’s boundless sea of words.

The jade-like ancient book lay open, radiating a gentle glow. To her surprise, Xu Nuo found that she could understand every word, as if she had read them a thousand times.

“You are the fifth to pass the test,” the Rivers and Luo Jade Book said, its voice complex, clearly not expecting Xu Nuo to actually succeed.

Xu Nuo asked, “What about Lu Ciyuan?”

“He’s already left,” the book answered. “Now you both have the rights to the Jade Book.”

“However, the book can only have one master.”

Xu Nuo thought of something. “Didn’t Lu Ciyuan choose to become your master?”

“No.” For the first time, the book seemed truly perplexed—never had anyone passed the test and then refused to claim mastery.

And these two… were both more peculiar than the last.

“What was his test?” Xu Nuo asked.

A true oddball—having learned she would become the master, she was more concerned with someone else’s trial.

“His greatest challenge was you,” the book replied.

As soon as it spoke, Xu Nuo felt the world spin and lost consciousness. When she opened her eyes again, there were faces crowding her vision—one, two, three, four, five—too many to count.

“Holy—!” Xu Nuo leapt up in fright.

The people nearby were startled as well.

007 said dryly: [Host, you’re finally awake. If you’d slept any longer, they’d have turned you into a mummy.]

“What happened?” After sleeping so long, her head throbbed. Xu Nuo couldn’t help rubbing her temples. “How long was I asleep?”

“A month,” answered a very familiar white-bearded old man.

“You’ve just woken—don’t push yourself. Rest first.”

Piecing together information from the system and those around her, Xu Nuo finally understood what had happened. It had been thirty-one days since she’d come out of the Rivers and Luo Jade Book—that is, since the day she left the secret realm.

The Dongtian Sect had completely reversed its attitude toward her. Instead of wanting to kill her, they now coddled her more than their own daughters.

Xu Nuo: “Did they eat something funny?”

007 reminded her: [The Rivers and Luo Jade Book is in your possession.]

Xu Nuo: “So, they wanted to turn me into a dried corpse for the book?”

007: [Exactly. If your background weren’t strong enough, you’d already be a dried corpse.]

“Innocence is no protection when one holds a treasure,” Xu Nuo sighed, then suddenly remembered something. “Where’s Lu Ciyuan?”

She seized the white-bearded old man. “Where’s Lu Ciyuan?”

The deputy head was still basking in the joy of the little ancestor finally waking up, caught off guard by her grip—his beard nearly got yanked out in clumps. “Ah, my dear, let go first!”

Xu Nuo: “Where is Lu Ciyuan?”

The white-bearded deputy’s jaw hurt from her tugging. “Uh, he’s in the Disciplinary Hall.”

Xu Nuo realized this was bad. She threw back the covers and jumped out of bed, darting for the door like an arrow from a bow.

“Wait, what’s the rush? Wait for me!” the old man shouted, hurrying after her.

As she ran, 007 updated her on what had happened during her coma. Word had already reached the sect’s leaders that the Jade Book recognized her as its master, and it was her nominal ancestor who had brought her out of the secret realm. Her status now was worlds apart from before.

“What about Lu Ciyuan?” Xu Nuo pressed.

007 replied glumly: [I don’t know either. Without control, I can’t monitor his situation.] Now, it was just her sidekick, its perspective limited to wherever Xu Nuo was.

“Still no contact with headquarters?” Xu Nuo asked.

[None,] 007 replied. [I suspect we’ll have to finish this round before things reset. In other words, we need a reboot.]

“What if I just shut down the game now?”

007: [Once started, the game cannot be forcefully stopped—unless you want to become a vegetable.]

Xu Nuo joked, “So if you threatened me with this, I’d have no way to resist and would have to slave away for you?”

007 grumbled: [Are we that evil? Besides, with your temperament, what system would want to be bound to you?]

007 felt it was the real victim here—trapped into forced labor, with no rights or protection like the hosts got.

Soon, they reached the Disciplinary Hall.

Several disciples were whispering among themselves.

“What day is it that the Master himself has come out of seclusion?”

“It’s more than that—do you know that servant disciple with the surname Lu? The Master is going to interrogate him personally.”

“What did he do that was so serious?”

“I heard he stole an immortal artifact and trespassed in the secret realm…”

Xu Nuo quickly pieced together the logic. That day, when she took Lu Ciyuan and caused such a commotion, the sect couldn’t just ignore it. With the Jade Book and her powerful backer, they couldn’t touch her, so Lu Ciyuan had to bear all the responsibility.

“Lu!”

“Who are you? What are you doing barging into the Disciplinary Hall? Looking for trouble?”

“I’m here to see someone.” But Xu Nuo’s presence made it seem she was there to make trouble.

“Who?” They eyed her warily.

“Lu Ciyuan.”

The disciple replied coldly, “He’s not available to see anyone right now.”

007: [Host, calm down.]

Xu Nuo took a deep breath. She realized her emotions were unstable—she’d rushed here recklessly, something she wouldn’t have done before.

“What did he do to be sent here?” she asked.

“We’re not sure.”

“Where is he?”

“We really don’t know,” the disciple replied, helpless.

Suddenly, 007 exclaimed: [Target’s life is in danger!]

At that moment, the white-bearded old man hurried up behind her. “Miss Xu, don’t worry. Let’s talk this through…”