Chapter 120 - The Harem Rescue Project

The eerie wind swept through the passage, toppling the stacked paper money beside the joyous candles. Outside the Temple of the Matchmaker, paper lanterns swayed chaotically. The rusty lock on the door clanged against the wooden panels, emitting a piercing creak. The mountain fog rolled into the temple like waves, sending paper money flying and scattering down like petals of pear blossoms in the night, falling gently upon those standing there. Chen Shangqing observed the paper coins lying in his palm. A plume of smoke arose, and the swirling paper money all turned to ashes. Even the paper effigies ignited and quickly became a pile of charred embers. He rose to his feet, looking at the clouds in the mountain mist, and using two fingers, channeled a hint of true energy to test the soul-summoning banner. With a frown on his brow, he said, "My second brother’s spirit gives no response. He has not reached this place." Chen Shangqing tossed the magical tool at Liang Jingxuan's feet, questioning, "Senior, you praised this talisman to the heavens, yet it failed to locate my second brother’s soul. It is not as miraculous as you claimed." "How can this be?" Liang Jingxuan's expression faltered. He bent to pick up the soul-summoning banner, inspecting it for any damage. "My instruments do not fail. There must be some mistake!" Chen Shangqing had been killed by Liang Jingxuan in the past. Seeing these two stand harmoniously together felt unsettlingly incongruous. Since Liang Jingxuan was so confident that Chen Shangqing couldn't recognize him, he must have used some magical device to disguise himself. Lin Qianshuang suddenly had an idea. "Lanle?" Her shoulder was lightly tapped. "Elder sister, I’m right beside you." Lin Qianshuang smiled subtly, shaking the dust off her skirt, and said, "Senior brother Liang is so busy. Should we not lend him a hand?" Xiao Lanle understood the implication behind Lin Qianshuang's words, a playful glimmer appearing in her eyes as an enigmatic smile spread across her lips. "Elder sister, who knew you had a mischievous side." As Xiao Lanle tugged at her cheek, Lin Qianshuang glared at the empty air beside her, demanding, "What are you doing?" "I find you quite adorable, elder sister," Xiao Lanle remarked. For some reason, Lin Qianshuang felt her cheeks burning as Xiao Lanle suddenly planted a kiss on her cheek. "Though, I like it," Xiao Lanle whispered before the warmth beside her dissipated. Lin Qianshuang stood momentarily still, her gaze softening as a slight smile crept onto her face. The magical instrument was manipulated repeatedly. Liang Jingxuan tugged and twisted the soul-summoning banner. There was no flaw with the talisman itself; could it be that the soul refused to come? Just as he was pondering this, preparing to stand up from the ground and walk toward Chen Shangqing with the banner in hand, a glimmer of sword light, infused with a murderous aura, shot towards his back. A surge of violet lightning appeared to protect him, and the wave also affected the hidden space where Xiao Lanle was concealed by the fog, bringing her form into view. "Sister Xiao?" Chen Shangqing briefly hesitated at the sight of Xiao Lanle and then shifted his focus to the violet lightning on the figure dressed in black, recognizing the individual. Holding a sword to the black-clad figure's throat, he demanded with murder in his eyes, "Liang Jingxuan, it's you! Why disguise yourself like this?" Liang Jingxuan froze, not expecting to be unveiled so quickly. Seeing Xiao Lanle holding a water bead (Jiaozhu), he realized what had happened and, with a pale face, accused Lin Qianshuang, "Elder Sister, Xiao Lanle has been by your side the whole time? You two colluded against me?" Lin Qianshuang feigned innocence, "Who tricked you? Sister Xiao was merely beside me. You simply couldn't see her. Besides, you never asked." Liang Jingxuan thought about his heartfelt confessions that were unintentionally overheard by the one who had taken his former lover—every word, without fault. Lin Qianshuang's lack of fear was clearly due to Xiao Lanle's presence. The soul-summoning banner's failure was attributed to the fog concealing the Jiaozhu. In an instant, Liang Jingxuan felt utterly humiliated, seeing Xiao Lanle holding Lin Qianshuang's hand with warmth in her eyes. Anger surged from his feet to his forehead, as he jabbed his finger towards Xiao Lanle and reproached: "Xiao Lanle, repeatedly you thwart my plans, your dozen blades nearly took my life! Yet I treated you well, even the headmaster you served was well cared for! I can't say perfectly, but I gave you my sincerity when we were together. What did I do to wrong you? So I courted a few more mistresses and killed a few bothersome passersby. The headmaster deserved what he got! He earned his doom!" "Only a fool like you was so easily deceived by me before, now tangled in someone else's deception." Upon hearing the words 'headmaster,' a darkness clouded Xiao Lanle's gaze, her unsheathed sword exuding murderous intent. Lin Qianshuang reached from her sleeve to hold Xiao Lanle's sword, signaling with her eyes not to act. Liang Jingxuan redirected his ire from Xiao Lanle to Lin Qianshuang, resentfully declaring, "Elder Sister, I, Liang Jingxuan, genuinely treated you well, yet you chose betrayal, siding against me. Tell me, what value does this woman beside you even have?" Ignoring Liang Jingxuan, Lin Qianshuang turned to Chen Shangqing, "Junior Brother Chen, Liang Jingxuan stands before you—how can you not act?" Chen Shangqing coldly replied, "The hatred between Chen and Liang runs deep, no need for your prompting!" As the male protagonist and antagonist prepared to clash, Lin Qianshuang intended to leave with Xiao Lanle. Yet, before she took a step, she was suddenly drawn into the soul-summoning banner. Liang Jingxuan, holding the soul-summoning banner, struck Chen Shangqing back, declaring, "I'll take my leave now; you're not worth my time." With a snap of his fingers, a rift tore open in midair, revealing a swirling black vortex. The space around it became still, as Liang Jingxuan prepared to step into the portal adorned with ancient patterns. Suddenly, a sword hilt struck the back of his head, causing him to fall to the ground unexpectedly. Looking as though he'd seen a ghost, Liang Jingxuan watched as Xiao Lanle came forward to seize the soul-summoning banner from his grasp. He glanced over at Chen Shangqing and let out a relieved sigh. The magical spells hadn't failed; Chen Shangqing, like the other natives of this world, would become immobilized, encased in crystallized time, whenever spells not belonging to this realm were cast. Then why could Xiao Lanle still move? Liang Jingxuan, puzzled, watched Xiao Lanle approach. Could it be that beyond possessing the water bead, she harbored other secrets unknown to him? A restless voice resonated from within the portal, "Young one, the seal has loosened. Hurry and assist me!" The roaring of Taotie surged from the portal with a tremor that shook Liang Jingxuan’s very soul. The hour for soul separation had arrived. Remaining here longer would mean certain death from soul dissipation. Clutching the soul-summoning banner with reluctance and a moment of grim determination, Liang Jingxuan decided that if he couldn't have it, then no one would. Violet flames licked from his palm, slowly consuming the spirit flag, now blazing brightly in his hand. As Liang Jingxuan stepped into the portal, he cast a glance at the burning banner descending like a fireball. A flicker of sorrow crossed his face. "Elder Sister, you are the love of my life. It's unfortunate you chose wrongly, but I'll still remember you—your kindness, the moments we've shared, they'll all be remembered." With such melodramatic narration, even the villain’s posture took on that classic, brooding look towards the sky, blending handsomeness with sad resignation. This scene transformed into the cover for a serialized web novel section on a certain website, as commentaries exploded across the page. [What is this nonsense? The cherished elder sister is alive and gets with the female lead? Disgusting! Author, are you eating garbage?] [I thought this was a feel-good novel! The male lead is so pitiful, couldn't even win over a single girl, and now he’s cuckolded repeatedly? Is this a villain’s transformation? And where's the unparalleled protagonist promised in the synopsis? This is the most pathetic male lead in a harem novel!] [Incredible, 600,000 words down to 400,000? Author’s cater to women now? Since that regulation overhaul, locking, and rewriting, the changes have been eye-blinding! Is this reverse harem, just for the girls? *shrugs* *confused face emoji*] [The extra 200,000-word subplot for a character who was supposed to be dead—a decorative character—now she seems more like the lead. Lin might be pretty, but she’s such a treacherous white lotus! How can the male lead be so blind?] [Hehe, well, I find it enjoyable as a Yuri story anyway…] [You there, Yuri lover! Brother, you're defecting!] ... In an office at the upper echelons of the Ancient Chaos Media Corporation. An employee was watching the barrage of comments on the website, picking up the phone. "Hello, President, should these comments be censored or restructured?" "No need. Report the content to me in real-time, and locate this chosen one's information," came a voice from the phone, possessing a mesmerizing allure that caused the employee to swallow nervously. He quickly took a swig from a water bottle and watched the progress bar on his computer before typing away at the keyboard. He spoke awkwardly, "The real-world information search is complete. The document has been sent. The chosen one can’t leave before the story concludes. This is the most fitting and final chosen individual we've identified." The voice calmly instructed, "Keep monitoring the final chosen one. With seventy-five percent of the soul-collection task complete, there is a seventy-five percent chance she is the person we’re looking for." "Understood." The employee, fearing a pay cut for any misstep, was relieved the boss seemed in good spirits. In his nervousness, his donkey ears briefly popped up; he quickly tucked them back under his hair and continued monitoring the screen. Meanwhile, the system notification reached another space through his earpiece. [Host, please vacate the soul-summoning banner within ten seconds. Ten, nine, eight...] Struggling, Lin Qianshuang jabbed at the barrier of the soul-summoning banner with a sword forged from demonic energy, listening to the countdown echo. She barely managed to escape at the very last second. As she fell through the air, someone caught her securely where she was about to land. "Elder Sister, I'm so relieved you're alright." Xiao Lanle, who then sheathed her sword nearby, leaned back against Lin Qianshuang, embracing her with a mixture of relief, her gaze hinting at deeper thoughts. ——"Little sister, you managed to escape my power, yet can't discern the truth of the headmaster’s death? I only inflicted minor harm, never killed him. Who was nearest him then? Surely you must know." Liang Jingxuan’s words lingered as memories in Xiao Lanle's mind as he departed through the portal. Though she did not believe him, doubts lingered, for the circumstances of the headmaster's death were indeed suspicious, and it was true that Lin Qianshuang had been with him before his final moments.