The most frightening thing in this world is when you have something precious, everyone thinks you have it, but you have no idea what it is, where it is, if you really possess it, or if others just mistakenly believe you do.
Zhao Xiaokui is currently in this state.
The authority of the world… What on earth is that?
From the name, she can guess its general purpose. But she finds it hard to imagine exactly what it is.
When the evil god materialized, there was still a wisp of smoke. What could the authority of the world be?
The ability to control the world?
Zhao Xiaokui couldn’t help but look down at her own hands, feeling a bit uncontrollable, as if she wanted to say, “Let there be light,” and see if the sky would suddenly brighten. Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but knock on her head, dispelling this chuunibyou fantasy.
Bai Jingru noticed her movement and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Zhao Xiaokui, embarrassed to admit she was in a chuunibyou phase, could only yawn and put on a momentary act, saying, “I’m a bit sleepy, want to go to bed.”
Nie Fu exclaimed, “Xiaokui, it’s so early to sleep. What time is it now? It’s not even eight o’clock yet.”
Zhao Xiaokui rubbed her eyes. Without makeup, she faced the day with just a layer of sunscreen on her face, so she wasn’t afraid of smudging her eye makeup with this gesture. She said, “I usually go to bed early. I start feeling sleepy around ten. I slept in the car yesterday, so I have some energy now.”
Ren Hua commented, “Xiaokui’s routine is very healthy. It’s rare to see such a schedule among young people. I should learn from Xiaokui. The older brothers and sisters should also learn a bit and take better care of your younger sister’s health.”
“The daily schedule is really important,” Gu Tianming expressed his feelings, “But as actors, we often have tight shooting schedules. Sometimes directors require night scenes, and there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s considered lucky if we can sleep before midnight. When I was younger, I thought it was no big deal. But in the past couple of years, I feel a bit overwhelmed.”
The group chatted on related topics until they had enough footage, then began to tidy up the items on the table.
When it came to work, the artists were quite enthusiastic, with no one acting high-handed due to their fame. However, Gu Tianming always seemed a bit reserved when facing Zhao Xiaokui. Zhao Xiaokui noticed but didn’t mind since Gu Tianming couldn’t possibly know what happened to her. The interrogation results regarding Tao Zijin also indicated that, apart from Rong Zhen sensing that Tao Zijin was the woman he liked, Gu Tianming only thought he had a change of heart. After all, when Tao Zijin was in the bodies of Zhao Xiaokui and Tao Yingying, she had different personas – one was an artistic young woman, the other a rebellious girl. It was challenging for normal people to connect these two images. Although Gu Tianming felt her familiarity, their interactions were ambiguous, and he didn’t have the closeness to detect the secrets inside her, unlike Rong Zhen.
As a pretext for girls not being able to handle dish soap harming their hands, Zhao Xiaokui and Bai Jingru were pushed out of the kitchen by several big guys.
During dishwashing, Wen Yuanjia finally found an opportunity to get close to Gu Tianming, squeezing next to him at the sink and initiating physical contact.
However, Gu Tianming didn’t like washing dishes crowded together. He took a large basin, filled it with water, added dish soap, and said, “Let’s each wash our own, so it’ll be faster.”
Wen Yuanjia was stunned, his expression frozen for a moment. After a pause, he said, “Sure… sure, I’ll wash it. Brother, you can relax.”
Gu Tianming was about to reach into the soapy water, but unexpectedly, Wen Yuanjia chose to wash the first dish. So, Gu Tianming walked over, and they switched positions.
Zhao Xiaokui sat in the living room, sipping milk while watching Wen Yuanjia playfully touch Gu Tianming with the bubbles in his hands. In her mind, she rolled her eyes—truly a plot straight out of a romance novel.
The next moment, she could already envision the upcoming narrative. It would undoubtedly describe Gu Tianming’s touch on Wen Yuanjia’s hand, the places brushed by his fingertips feeling like an electric current passing through, creating a tingling sensation…
Someone unaware might think Wen Yuanjia was a humanoid walking battery leaking electricity.
Indeed, when Gu Tianming was touched by Wen Yuanjia’s hand, he never expected him to reach out when taking the plate.
However, in almost an instant, his expression changed, and he pulled his hand back, looking extremely displeased.
Ready to make a joke with Gu Tianming, Wen Yuanjia looked puzzled, not understanding why Gu Tianming suddenly seemed so repulsed. He asked, “What’s wrong?”
Suppressing his disgust, Gu Tianming said, “There’s a strand of noodles on your hand.”
The sticky sensation made him feel nauseous, and if it weren’t for the possible presence of cameras, he might have vomited on the spot, disregarding his image.
Zhao Xiaokui, sipping her milk, secretly enjoyed the scene. She couldn’t confront enemies in real life, but she could manipulate water-based energy. In the presence of water, as long as the manipulated water didn’t leave the water source, it was nearly impossible to sense the fluctuations of supernatural abilities—Nightwalker’s detection devices had proven this.
Wen Yuanjia didn’t touch that strand of noodles because Zhao Xiaokui kept his hand at a distance. Meanwhile, Gu Tianming touched it directly, forgetting the sensation of being electrified. Now, when he saw Wen Yuanjia’s hand, the first thing that came to his mind was that soft, sticky feeling.
Eating leftover food from the sink while washing dishes was manageable when doing it oneself, but when reaching down to scoop things out of the drain after washing, the feeling, the taste… A person who had never done it could never imagine the psychological barriers that made it so exhilarating.
Wen Yuanjia asked in his mind, “Did I succeed?”
“He succeeded in thinking you’re effeminate, but just now, he added another point of disgust.” The voice sounded helpless.
Wen Yuanjia bit his lip, his snow-white teeth sinking into his rosy lips. Normally, Gu Tianming seemed somewhat effeminate, like a big man behaving like a girl. But today, for some reason, Wen Yuanjia found this action cute. However, soon, he felt that sticky sensation on his hand again.
Gu Tianming turned on the tap, feeling mentally exhausted, and resumed washing his hands.
Zhao Xiaokui, manipulating the supernatural energy, was almost unable to contain her laughter. Nightwalkers’ investigation records had mentioned Gu Tianming being somewhat germophobic. But today, he had performed exceptionally well, doing all the dirty and tough work without a single complaint. She thought the investigation was flawed, but it turned out that the actor could endure quite a bit.
Unexpectedly, a small detail now completely exposed his germophobia.
With the boys in the house tidying up the kitchen, Ren Hua turned to Zhao Xiaokui, who was sitting at the doorway and said, “Alright, quickly go back to your room and take a shower. Everyone worked hard today; let’s all go to bed early.”
Zhao Xiaokui stood at the staircase, bidding farewell to those inside while watching her father and brothers clean up. She waved and said, “I’m going back to my room. Good night, Dad. Good night, Big Brother, Second Brother, and Fourth Brother. Sweet dreams.”
Nie Fu said, “Sweet dreams.”
Gu Tianming added, “Don’t kick the blankets.”
As Wen Yuanjia wished them a good night with curses in his heart, he secretly hoped the stairs she was standing on would collapse, preferably causing her to fall and die.
Zhao Xiaokui, without leaving any traces, glanced at the water not far from Wen Yuanjia, which she had sprinkled when he was watering the plants. She thought, changing someone’s state a little, how could it be considered relevant, right?
Yawning, she turned and went upstairs. The moment she pushed open the bedroom door, she heard a loud noise from downstairs.
“Hiss…”
Wen Yuanjia sat on the ground in pain. He felt like his tailbone had broken.
“How are you feeling? Are you okay?” Nie Fu and Gu Tianming hurriedly reached out to help him but were stopped by Ren Hua. He said, “Wait, don’t move him first. Let him rest for a while and see if he has any bone injuries. If it’s not okay, we’ll have to borrow a car from the production team and take him to the hospital.”
Now, they couldn’t afford to go to the hospital. Wen Yuanjia endured the pain and forced a smile, “I’m fine. No bones are broken. I can feel it. The pain has eased now.”
In reality, it was quite the opposite. He was currently in pain as if someone was pulling a saw on his sciatic nerve.
The two brothers carefully helped him up, and Ren Hua looked at the puddle of water on the ground, asking, “Why is there a puddle of water here?”
Gu Tianming, being an actor with a good memory, quickly recalled the scene of Wen Yuanjia watering the plants and glanced at him. With a hint of sympathy, he said, “It seems like Xiao Jia spilled the water himself.”
Even the usually serious Nie Fu couldn’t help but laugh at this point. He said, “Is this considered self-inflicted misfortune?”
Wen Yuanjia wore a mournful expression, “I’m already in such a miserable state, and Big Brother, you’re still mocking me. Truly my dear elder brother!”
The soundproofing on this floor was average, and Bai Jingru could also hear the commotion downstairs. After getting a reassuring reply, she closed the door and looked at Zhao Xiaokui, smiling, “Did you do this?”
Zhao Xiaokui looked innocent, “How could I do such a thing? It was the Fourth Brother who watered the plants and spilled the water. It has nothing to do with me.”
Bai Jingru smiled and said, “Exactly, that’s it. He spilled the water himself, and you have nothing to do with it.”
To disassociate oneself from something, one must genuinely believe that they have no connection to the matter.
The two exchanged a glance and burst into laughter.
Zhao Xiaokui went to take a shower. As the warm water sprayed over her, she reached out to catch the falling droplets, pondering the matter of the world authority mentioned by the evil god inside Wen Yuanjia’s body.
She had encountered three evil gods so far.
The first one was a weakling who, after breaking through the domain, was controlled by Nightwalkers using disruptors and brought back to the Bright Prison. The second evil god was the system in the mind of Tao Zijin. The third one was the second voice inside Wen Yuanjia’s body.
Excluding the third evil god, the first two, at first glance, seemed to have no deliberate targeting towards her. However, upon closer inspection, anomalies could be found.
The first evil god resided in the unfinished building, hidden within the domain for who knows how many years. It had remained undetected by the Nightwalkers, whose monitoring and sensing systems covered the entire city. Even with such comprehensive surveillance, how did it manage to escape attention for so long and suddenly decide to unleash the domain against her that day?
The evil god within Tao Zijin’s body sternly demanded that she use the Stealing Fortune Card, eventually leading to a situation where Tao Zijin’s safety was compromised. From a different perspective, could it be inferred that this evil god believed there was something about her that must be obtained, even if it meant sacrificing Tao Zijin as the host?
World authority…
This sounded like a certain level of privilege, akin to a game master in a video game.
But, at least, a GM could adjust parameters to modify the game settings, while she couldn’t even locate where the backstage of the world was.
Most crucially, did the world even have a backstage?
