A sudden gush of liquid sludge flowed out of the room and as if the suitcase that Yang Ling was holding on immediately sensed the incoming danger. To protect its owner, the suitcase instantly activated and it inflated outwards, slowing enveloping the Tiger Princess as she was too surprised by the turn of events that she stood there motionlessly.
All she could do was to hold the sides of the suitcase while the plastic sheets wrapped around her and injecting air with a kind of reverse osmosis technique. Thus the sheets slowly got rounder, and automatically sealing the edges, turning it into a plastic air bubble ball that shielded her before any bit of Jin’s sludge touched her beautiful dress beneath her long coat. In the meantime, the System had already erected barriers to stop the sludge from dirtying the rest of the second floor.
“What is this?!” This was the first time Yang Ling saw the black slimy liquid. On the other hand, all of Jin’s colleagues had grown accustomed to it. Yun kept quiet and pushed the air bubble ball. It was compressible to a certain extent allowing Yun to move the ball into the room as the System had already created bigger vents to drain the sludge away.
From the looks of it, Jin had no immediate plans to stop with the production of dark sludge. And because he was drunk, the sludge was even more watery than usual. Yun grumbled in her mind that she’d prefer collecting those crystals sludges rather than this current version. Yun prayed that introducing a new stimulus like Yang Ling could hopefully wake him up.
However, the System did not share Yun’s point of view. It was delighted that the quality of sludge had increased once more and the viscous state made it even easier to manipulate compared to the previous iteration. It did not interfere with Yun’s attempt to wake Jin up because based on the current sludge generation, it was impossible.
“Where is all this dirty water coming from?” Yang Ling complained as she was shocked to see that Jin’s room was practically empty and he was in the middle of it all, strapped tight on the floor unable to move.
“Our dear Panda Boss man is producing it. This is basically a by-product of his particular cultivation.” Yun said as she continued to push the ball into the room and placed her at the corner where she could watch Jin continuously produce the sludge from his body. It was not crystal clear, but it was obvious enough.
“By-product?! I mean I heard of people releasing by-products to remove the waste in their body but isn’t this a bit too much for a by-product?!” Yang Ling asked and noticed that Jin was sleeping extremely soundly.
“Usually it’s not as bad, but I’ve also never seen him come home so dead drunk like after yesterday’s bout of drinking.” Yun chuckled as she waddled into the middle and kicked him at the side. The reverberation of her kick showed Yang Ling that this ‘love tap’ had a lot of power in it, yet the watery sludge seemed to absorb it, protecting Jin’s sleep.
Looking at the situation, it was clear that there was nothing Yang Ling could do to wake him up, so she resigned to her fate. “You could have just told me he was dead drunk!”
“Did you forget that I told you he ‘really is in no shape for any discussion’? Besides if I’ve told you, he was dead drunk, would you have believed me? You followed me all the way here because you needed to see it for yourself. I bet you thought he was just avoiding you like the others…” Yun replied.
“I… You are right.” Yang Ling sighed in defeat. Yun had hit the nail on the head. Even up until they were right before his room, she entertained the thought that this was some kind of ruse to get rid of her. Only after seeing Jin’s state for herself did she acknowledge that there really was nothing she could do to wake him up.
“So, showing you his drunken state was the best option. I can leave you two alone, but he showed no reactions when any of us tried to talk with him.” Yun offered her. Yang Ling tried her luck, but unsurprisingly to no avail. Yun then grabbed a plastic handle of the air bubble ball and started pulling her out of the room.
The System eventually shut Jin’s door from the inside and the vents slowly drained out the remaining sludge in the second floor corridor. With another press of a button, showerheads appeared, and strong blasts of water sprayed the two of them, cleaning them as much as possible. After which, a gust of warm air blew the corridor drying the area almost immediately like magic. (All Yang Ling had to do was to stay in the bubble ball until the contamination suit were
That was when Yun removed her decontamination suit and assisted Yang Ling out of the plastic air bubble ball. “Breakfast is ready!” Lynn shouted from below and beckoned Yang Ling to join them.
“You knew that this would happen?” Yang Ling queried as she sat at the dining table and took a whiff of the magnificent food made out of high-quality fresh produce.
“More or less.” Lynn smiled without saying more. “Enjoy your meal. Don’t worry, we will forward the message that the Tiger Princess was looking for Boss man.”
“Urgh, you don’t understand. I’ve promised my father I’d bring him no matter what. He will kill me if I come back empty handed.” Yang Ling shuddered for a moment when Lynn proposed to help. “Lynn, how about at least you come. I bet my family clan would not mind if I at least show up with some of Jin’s people. I think that would entice him to come to my place.”
“You just do not want the misunderstanding of your family that you might like Jin?” Lynn questioned as she knew that this Tiger Princess could possibly be a hidden factor for her chase to get Jin for herself.
“What? No! Though I admit I ‘ve been smitten once or twice by Jin… but that is because I did not expect someone to be so magnanimous! I’m used to people either fearing me or trying to exploit my position. He’s been the only one who really did not seem to care and treated me like a normal person and not just ‘the crippled Tiger Princess’ ” Yang Ling retorted. “I only want to reach some mutual understanding about work with him. I feel he deserves that much at least.”
“But your father does not seem to have that intention. And you are rejecting it outright.” Yun argued back, and Yang Ling’s ears suddenly turned red as she nearly choked on her food.
“I mean… I do not mind trying him – I erm mean I do not mind having a closer friendship with him!” Yang Ling rebutted quickly. “There are a lot of things that we can do -erm as in a working relationship capacity.” She flustered once more, and the words were not coming out right.
Lynn chuckled at Yang Ling’s dishonest honesty and sometimes wondered if Jin knew that the way he helped people might actually have an effect on them. “Although I believe now that we are in this terrace house instance, I am not surprised that the System tried to influence her.” Lynn thought to herself as she vowed once again to up her game this year.
But for now, having enemies closer than friends was one way to learn what Jin could potentially like.
