Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Why would the System be pissed off? Maybe because Jiang Pengji didn’t follow its script. It would be weird if it felt delighted, after all.
She couldn’t help laugh in her mind and she prepared to be more cautious and guarded towards the System. Jiang Pengji abruptly started talking and it was obvious that she was implying something.
“My coach used to tell me that when you come into an unavoidable confrontation with your enemy, the moment his malice aforethought appears, is also the moment he exposes his flaws to you. Malice aforethought is a type of subjective emotion. It will subconsciously expose the main motivation behind all the disguises.”
The System finally couldn’t hold its anger anymore.
It questioned with a furious tone, “What do you mean?”
“What I mean is, make sure you are not letting me see your “tells” when you attempt to trick me again,” she responded without showing respect.
System stayed quiet. It was like it had a constipation issue; it could barely spill a word out for a while.
As a matter of fact, before Jiang Pengji condemned it, it had no clue where it had exposed its real purpose.
There was nothing wrong with that offhand triggered task. It convinced Jiang Pengji to operate the mission as usual. The reward of pretty boobs for completing the mission was, as usual, the thing she complained about the most. The System would for sure have sacrificed a large amount of punishment if she had not accomplished her mission.
Jiang Pengji would have won a great fortune if she had said no to the mission. However, she went off its script!
Until then, the System hadn’t realized what part it was wrong about. It was calculating and scheming, but it happened to forget how cunning and smart Jiang Pengji was.
Just reading through the offhand triggered task description made her suspicious.
“Cheng Cheng, a friend of Meng Zhan from Meng County, Cang Prefecture is in the middle of an unknown crisis. Please save his life in half an hour.” It didn’t seem fishy just from the mission description, but there was a hidden trap behind it if she read it cautiously.
Who was Cheng Cheng? The description from the System said he was a friend of Meng Zhan from Meng County, Cang Prefecture.
The title of it seemed fine, but it was the point that made Jiang Pengji suspicious of it.
Whoever was a friend of Meng Zhan had to be a member of gentry clan and it was very likely that he had a government position.
Therefore, in a normal scenario, the accurate description should have been, “A person from a gentry clan or a government officer from a place.” But the System had added that he was “a friend of Meng Zhan from Meng County.” What was the relationship between Cheng Cheng and Meng Zhan that Cheng Cheng needed to put Meng Zhan’s name ahead of his?
Thinking about the hatred between Jiang Pengji and Meng Zhan, it was hard to believe that she didn’t just walk away right after she read the mission description.
There was a “sixth-level electric shock” punishment if the mission turned out to be a failure, but her strength fusion would increase more than ten points. It would do her a world of good but no harm to turn down the mission––and refusing to take the mission fit her style.
The second reasonable doubt was that the mission was published after the appearance of the bloody clothes.
From Jiang Pengji’s personality, it was a big chance for her to immediately come to their rescue. She never feared trouble, but receiving the message from the System right at that time seemed like the mission was meant to push her towards a rescue. However, it was also likely that she could have lost the interest to do so with the push.
There were too many doubts for her to not find it fishy.
The System wanted to ignite itself after it understood how it had showed its tells. How could it keep playing the game with Jiang Pengji?
It felt a stomachache and headache coming on. There was an urgent need for it to take a quiet break. After a bit of a rest, the System started to ease Jiang Pengji with some lame words, but it didn’t work.
“As your partner, there is no reason for me to do any harm to you. Me setting you up is absolutely nonsense as well.”
Jiang Pengji grinned at it and asked, “Don’t you feel slightly guilty when you are saying this?”
The System tried to explain, but it was cut off by Jiang Pengji. It had to swallow its words back.
“…Nevermind, I never expected you to devote yourself to me, anyway. I don’t care about why you are doing this; it has nothing to do with me either. But I do hope you understand one thing: I, Jiang Pengji, am not some pushover that you can give orders to at your whim. I’m also not anyone’s gun. I will not take someone’s life for anybody––even you, System!” She sneered at it. She wasn’t going to cover up her rebellion.
She had already ruined things with the System. It wouldn’t make an difference to do it one more time.
The System sent her some ellipsis dots. In the half a year of spending time with Jiang Pengji, it had a basic knowledge of her: The more excuses it made, the more resentment and caution she would exude.
What was going to change if she resented it more?
The Host and the System was simply a relationship that resembled the parasite and its host. Unless the parasite decided to leave, the host wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
She accomplished the mission anyway; The System had achieved half of its goal. The System could only suck it up and comfort itself with that.
It took a lesson this time and it would be extra careful next time. No one was perfect. That Jiang Pengji got away this time didn’t mean she would never make mistakes.
A person could be a thief all his life but that wouldn’t guarantee that he would never be stolen from.
Jiang Pengji believed that being dumb would be a physical disability that no medicine could cure. The System was someone with the physical disability.
It failed this time, but it still expected to be successful next time…
It was a clear lose for the System in the confrontation because it basically kept its mouth shut. Jiang Pengji was now able to get to know Cheng Cheng and dig up his background.
He was targeted by the System… The System wanted him dead by Jiang Pengji’s hands.
In the meantime, Cheng Cheng had his wounds dealt with by his wife’s assistance. His wounds stopped bleeding and she wrapped them with clean cotton gauze.
He walked forward in front of Jiang Pengji with his wife supporting him. He bowed deeply to Jiang Pengji. “My name is Cheng Cheng from Langye the Cheng’s. Thank you for saving me and my wife from this danger.”
His face was fairly pale, but it was hard to keep his elegance––especially until he had addressed his wounds.
Jiang Pengji bowed back to him. After she learned his background, she couldn’t help but ask, “Langye the Cheng’s?”
People with that had Cheng as a last name in Langye normally had some blood bond with the Cheng gentry clan. Judging by the material of their clothes and their dressing style, it wasn’t hard to tell that they were from wealthy families.
“That’s right,” Cheng Cheng said.
Jiang Pengji asked, “If you are from a big clan, why didn’t you have any security during your journey? That is how you became the target of those ferocious bandits. You nearly got yourselves killed.”
Cheng Cheng had a puzzled look. He was also totally clueless about how he had become the target of these people.
“If it is not appropriate for me to ask, then I will quit asking.”
Cheng Cheng quickly replied, “That has nothing to do with it. It is simply that I have no idea how I became the target. I claim to be a nice person and I treat people kindly in my daily life. I don’t have many good friends, but I rarely have conflicts with others. I really don’t know how I got myself into such trouble. I know the current world is in a state of unrest and turbulence. I did equip enough guards for me and my wife’s safety, especially considering this time I took my wife with me. But they all lost their lives because of those atrocious bandits.”
If it wasn’t for Jiang Pengji coming to their rescue, they would have been long gone.
He wasn’t afraid of death, but he would prefer to know why he was going to die.
Jiang Pengji said to him, “Villains happen to be the ones holding grudges the most. No matter how nice you have been dealing with them, they will remember their resentment with you without one second of negligence.”
