Chapter 229 A sense of ritual is still very necessary, the skill of malicious perception.

The next day, Jiang Jing slowly woke up surrounded by warmth and softness.

He blinked his eyes to adjust to the light, then looked down beside his pillow.

On the left was Li Ruonan, still fast asleep, though her slightly furrowed brows and tired expression silently spoke of the madness and exertion of the previous night.

On the right was Li Xue, curled up in his arms like a little kitten.

She was sleeping soundly, a satisfied and sweet smile hanging on the corner of her lips as if she were having a wonderful dream, occasionally rubbing against Jiang Jing's chest unconsciously.

He recalled how Li Ruonan had been sweet and yielding yet uncontrollably shy the previous night, forming a stark contrast to her usual image as a free-spirited little wildcat.

And Li Xue, the best friend whom she had previously needed to protect, was much bolder and more proactive in such matters than Li Ruonan, even mischievously guiding the shy Ruonan; this contrast also made Jiang Jing feel particularly amused.

"Truly... each has her own charms." A smug smile curled the corners of Jiang Jing's mouth.

He got out of bed lightly, stood by the bedside to stretch his body, and felt refreshed and incredibly energetic.

Just then, his thoughts stirred, and he mentally called up the system to check Li Ruonan's favorability.

[ Li Ruonan favorability + 1 ] (Current 92)

[ Lucky draw count + 1 ]

"Awesome!" Hard work really does pay off; another lucky draw chance—how wonderful!

For Jiang Jing, the king of bad luck, every lucky draw opportunity was precious.

The sense of ritual must be maxed out!

"Incense burning and bathing! Let's go!" Jiang Jing thought to himself as he tiptoed into the bedroom's luxurious bathroom.

The warm water washed over his body, rinsing away certain indescribable scents.

After showering, he wrapped himself in a bath towel and sneaked over to the wardrobe, pulling out his lucky draw artifact from an inconspicuous corner at the very bottom—a plastic bag containing two boxes of mosquito coils.

One box was the classic Superb brand electric mosquito repellent mat, and the other was the time-honored Lanju brand coil mosquito repellent.

Holding these two boxes of mosquito coils, Jiang Jing fell into deep thought, his face showing a rare expression of indecision.

"Which one should I use? The Lanju one seemed to have some effect last time; should I continue with it this time... my decision paralysis is acting up again..."

He rubbed his chin, his gaze darting back and forth between the two boxes of mosquito coils, as if making a major decision.

Suddenly, he slapped his thigh!

"Stupid! Why do I have to choose? An adult, of course, wants everything! Double the metaphysics, double the happiness! Give me that luck!!"

He realized the truth, a "I really am a genius" expression appearing on his face.

Thus, Jiang Jing began his ritual to increase his luck.

He first plugged in the Superb electric mosquito repellent mat, then found an ashtray (unable to find an incense burner) and lit a coil of Lanju mosquito repellent...

He thought to himself: "System, use the lucky draw count!"

In his mind, that huge lucky draw wheel covered in mysterious runes appeared again and began to spin rapidly.

[ Ding! Lucky draw successful! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the skill: Malice Perception (Passive)! ]

[ Malice Perception (Passive) ]: When someone within a 500-meter radius of the host harbors clear malice or murderous intent toward the host, or is plotting a conspiracy against the host, the host will perceive it accordingly and be able to determine the source of the malice.

"Holy crap!!!"

Seeing this skill description, Jiang Jing was so excited he wanted to roar at the sky three times.

It was simply a divine skill!

Although the system could check favorability, that only applied to attractive females who met the criteria.

Regarding potential dangers, especially malice from males, the system provided no warnings.

The tense atmosphere at the Research Institute previously had made him realize that as the things he produced became more and more astonishing, he would inevitably be targeted by certain forces in the future.

Now with this [ Malice Perception ] skill, it was equivalent to having a built-in, 24/7, all-around human radar.

Anyone who wanted to harm him would be detected in advance once they came within a certain range.

This safety was simply a qualitative leap.

"Hahahaha, heaven helps me! It was worth being so ritualistic; double mosquito coils are truly awesome!" Jiang Jing looked at the two mosquito coils still working hard and felt they were so cute at this moment.

He couldn't help but chuckle.

Just then, perhaps because the mixed scent of the mosquito coils was indeed a bit choking, or perhaps because Jiang Jing's silly laughter was a bit too loud, Li Ruonan and Li Xue woke up in the bedroom, rubbing their eyes groggily.

"Hmm... what's that smell?" Li Xue sniffed, asking with sleepy eyes.

Li Ruonan also furrowed her brows, propping up her somewhat sore body and looking toward the bathroom.

Then, they saw an extremely bizarre scene—

Jiang Jing, wrapped only in a bath towel, was sitting cross-legged on the carpet at the bathroom door, with a glowing electric mosquito repellent on one side and an ashtray on the other, inside which a mosquito coil was emitting blue smoke.

And Jiang Jing himself was facing those two mosquito coils, emitting an extremely "lecherous" silly chuckle...

The two women were instantly stunned, looking at each other.

Li Ruonan couldn't help but speak up, her voice still husky from just waking up: "Brother Jing... are... are you okay?"

"Why are you lighting mosquito coils early in the morning? How could there be mosquitoes in this manor? And lighting two at once, have you gone crazy?"

Jiang Jing finally snapped out of the joy of obtaining the divine skill, and seeing the confused look the two women gave him as if he were an idiot, his old face couldn't help but flush.

He quickly coughed twice, stood up, kicked the ashtray to the side nonchalantly, and said solemnly: "Ahem... well, since you're awake, hurry up and wash up, let's get ready to eat breakfast. The weather today... hmm, is really nice!"

This way of changing the subject was shockingly clumsy.

Both women rolled their eyes at him simultaneously.

Li Ruonan felt as if her whole body was falling apart, especially with a certain place still aching faintly.

She glared at Jiang Jing with annoyance, her voice filled with resentment: "Were you a beast last night? You didn't know how to cherish the fairer sex at all... I feel like I can't even walk now..."

Upon hearing this, Li Xue immediately transformed into a protective best friend maniac, also putting her hands on her hips to denounce Jiang Jing: "Exactly! Brother Jing, you're too bad. Look at how you've worn out Sister Ruonan; you have to take responsibility!"

Watching the two women singing in harmony, Jiang Jing, with a face as thick as a city wall, was not ashamed at all; instead, he showed an "I'm amazing" smug expression.

He waved his hand and said very "generously": "Responsibility, I must take responsibility. Then I'll give you a few days off to rest well. How about that? Am I, your boss, considerate?"

Li Ruonan was so angry at his shameless appearance that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at him: "Rest your head! How can I see people looking like this?"

"Then take two weeks off!" Jiang Jing followed the flow, caught the pillow, and laughed as he pulled the two women back into bed, "How about... we study how to recover faster again?"

"Get lost!"

"Pervert!"

For a moment, sounds of coquettish scolding and laughter rang out in the bedroom again.

And those two meritorious mosquito coils were still silently emitting their "luck," hiding their achievements and fame.