30: Chapter 30 New Battle Reports and New "Enemies"

Inside the guest room, An Ran was like a hamster trapped in a cage, pacing back and forth between the bed and the desk; her step count could probably take the top spot on WeChat Sports.

The door to the master bedroom next door had been closed for a while now.

Every passing second sprinkled a handful of popping candy called "anxiety" over An Ran's heart, crackling and popping, leaving her feeling flustered and agitated.

Two little figures in her mind were fighting like crazy.

One little figure dressed in black roared with a ferocious expression, "An Ran, you idiot! That's the tower you've guarded for over a decade, and now you're just handing it over for someone to steal the base?"

"A man and a woman alone, dry wood and a raging fire—that Leng Qingxuan is wearing black stockings and lace, any man would be unable to resist! By the time she comes out, Huang Mao won't be whole anymore!"

The other little figure dressed in white sighed with a pained expression, "But... Leng Qingxuan is actually quite pitiful."

"In that kind of perversely oppressive family, even breathing is controlled. Only here with Huang Mao can she catch a breath."

"And what she said earlier... if it's true, she really does need this salvation more than I do."

"Salvation my ass! This is stealing a husband!" The black-clad figure kicked the white-clad figure away.

An Ran scratched her hair in frustration, turning her originally smooth high ponytail into a bird's nest.

She had to admit that for a split second, her "saintly" heart had indeed overflowed.

Hearing Leng Qingxuan say that from childhood to adulthood, even the color of the socks she wore was dictated by her mother, she had actually developed the absurd thought that "she deserves to win."

But now that she had calmed down and thought about it, she wanted to slap herself twice.

Sympathy is one thing, but love is exclusive!

"She's been inside for ten minutes already..." An Ran glanced at her phone, her knuckles turning white from gripping it. "Even taking a shower and scrubbing your back doesn't take this long. Now they must be... they must be..."

Once that terrifying thought surfaced, it could no longer be suppressed.

If Leng Qingxuan really went all out and consummated the relationship, what would that make her, An Ran?

A loser? Or the top-tier loser who helps keep watch at the door?

No, I have to go listen for any movement.

An Ran rushed to the door, her hand resting on the doorknob, but she retracted it as if she had been electrocuted.

What if... what if she actually heard something she shouldn't have? Wouldn't that make her look even more like a clown?

Just as An Ran was caught in the ultimate internal struggle between "eavesdropping" and "burying her head in the sand"—

"Knock, knock."

Two extremely light knocks on the door sounded like they were striking the top of her skull.

An Ran shuddered and pulled the door open as if she had teleported.

Standing outside the door was Leng Qingxuan.

This usually unattainable Iceberg Campus Belle now looked like a lobster that had just been fished out of a sauna.

Her exquisite, peerless face was so red it was practically dripping blood, and even her neck and collarbones were flushed with an alluring pink.

Her originally smooth long hair was somewhat messy, clinging to her cheeks, and her eyes were darting around, not daring to meet An Ran's gaze at all.

The strangest thing was her right hand.

She was still wearing that oversized black T-shirt that belonged to Huang Mao, but her right hand was held in a stiff, half-gripped position, hanging by her side.

It was as if that hand had just touched some radioactive material and was in a state of spasm that couldn't be reversed.

"You..." An Ran's heart was in her throat, her voice trembling, "You're back?"

According to their previous "alliance agreement," if Leng Qingxuan made any progress, she had to share the intelligence with An Ran immediately.

This was to prevent internal friction and also to ensure fair competition.

Leng Qingxuan didn't speak; she just nodded mechanically, then squeezed sideways into the room.

Her walking posture was a bit strange; her legs were weak, as if she were walking on cotton.

"How was it?" An Ran closed the door and grabbed Leng Qingxuan's arm, eagerly asking, "Did you succeed? What was Huang Mao's... what was his reaction? You two... how far did you go?"

A barrage of questions hit Leng Qingxuan like a machine gun.

Leng Qingxuan took a deep breath, trying to use deep breathing to calm her heart, which felt like it was about to jump out of her chest.

"The mission... is considered complete."

She spoke, her voice extremely hoarse and carrying a trace of lingering tremor, "According to the principle of equivalent exchange, I have recovered the tactile rights that belong to me."

"Speak like a normal person!" An Ran was so anxious she wanted to bite someone.

"I touched it." Leng Qingxuan swallowed, a trace of lingering shock and confusion flashing in her eyes, "And not just the abs."

An Ran widened her eyes: "Then where else?"

Leng Qingxuan didn't answer directly.

She slowly raised her right hand, which had been kept in that stiff position, and held it up in front of An Ran.

Then, under An Ran's puzzled gaze, she made a gesture.

First, she opened the space between her thumb and index finger to indicate an approximate length.

That length made An Ran's pupils contract slightly.

Immediately after, Leng Qingxuan's fingers curled, forming a cylindrical, loosely gripped shape.

The size of that circle...

An Ran subconsciously looked down at her own slender, fair forearm.

Then, she completely petrified.

Her mouth opened unconsciously, forming a perfect "O" shape, large enough to fit an egg inside.

The room fell into a deathly silence.

Only the wall clock made a "tick, tock" sound, and each sound felt like it was striking the fragile worldviews of the two girls.

"This... this is..." An Ran pointed at Leng Qingxuan's gesture, stammering, "This is the intelligence?"

Leng Qingxuan nodded with a grave expression, as if reporting classified data concerning the survival of humanity:

"This is the first-hand core parameter obtained through field reconnaissance. Although there might be some minor errors due to the short reconnaissance time, the magnitude is absolutely correct."

"Hiss—"

An Ran gasped, feeling a sharp pain in her gums.

She wasn't a kid; she had seen plenty, and although most were censored, she could roughly gauge the extent.

When this abstract concept was concretized into such an intuitive gesture, with her own forearm as a reference, the visual impact was simply nuclear-level.

"You're, you're lying, right?" An Ran's voice was trembling, "Huang Mao... he usually looks so gentle and refined, how could he possibly..."

"This is the disguise of a 'rational monster'." Leng Qingxuan finally regained a bit of her "theory master" ground.

Although her face was still as red as a monkey's butt, her tone had begun to lean towards that of an academic discussion.

"The more suppressed one is usually, the more terrifying the energy when it erupts. This is the law of conservation of energy."

Speaking of this, Leng Qingxuan seemed to recall the feeling from just a moment ago.

The terrifying tension like a dormant beast waking up, the scalding temperature like a volcanic eruption, and the feeling like touching a heart directly...

Her body trembled involuntarily, and her legs subconsciously pressed together.

"Then you..." An Ran swallowed with difficulty and asked that most crucial question, "Since it's already like this, you two... you wouldn't have already..."

"No."

Leng Qingxuan answered decisively, even with a hint of relief at having survived a disaster.

"Just as... just as the final plot was about to be triggered, I retreated."

"Retreated?" An Ran was stunned, "Why? Didn't you say you wanted to take the position of the main wife? Isn't this the best opportunity?"

"Because of survival instinct."

Leng Qingxuan looked at An Ran with a serious expression, her eyes revealing a sense of world-weariness as if she had seen through life and death.

"An Ran, you've played those Souls-like games, right? When you're holding a beginner's wooden sword and push open the door to the boss room,"

"only to find that the boss inside has a health bar so long it can't even fit on the screen, and the weapon it's holding is bigger than your entire body..."

"a normal player's first reaction is definitely not to rush up and throw their life away, but to try to see if they can escape immediately and fight another day."

"Fortunately, there was no fog gate that you can only enter but not leave blocking me."

After Leng Qingxuan finished speaking, she let out a long breath, as if she had truly experienced a life-or-death escape just now.

"My brain overloaded in that instant, my CPU burned out; my reason told me that if I continued, I might die in that room tonight."

"So I didn't even dare to say a single harsh word, I just opened the door and ran away."

This is what they call a "theory master."

Giving directions and showing off in books and games.

But when it came to actual combat, facing absolute power suppression, she instantly turned into a weakling, scrambling away from the battlefield.

"Anyway... I've already shared the intelligence with you."

Leng Qingxuan felt the heat on her face was about to explode again; she didn't dare to look at An Ran's shocked eyes anymore and turned to walk out.

"I'm not feeling right at all right now, I need to go back to my room to cool down... don't look for me tonight, I'm AFK."

After saying that, she rushed out of An Ran's room as if fleeing, dove into her own bedroom next door, and slammed the door shut with a "bang."

Leaving An Ran alone, standing blankly in the middle of the room.

The moonlight from outside the window spilled in, shining on her face, which was filled with complex emotions.

Shyness, shock, curiosity... and a trace of deep fear.

In her mind, it was as if there was a projector constantly looping that gesture Leng Qingxuan had just made.

That degree...

An Ran lowered her head, looked at her own hands again, and then followed her gaze downward, looking at her own body, which now seemed somewhat petite...

She subconsciously hugged her own shoulders and shivered.

She had originally thought that in this battle of love, the biggest enemy was Leng Qingxuan, this scheming campus belle.

Or some other rival competitors like young ladies or junior students who might appear in the future.

But now, An Ran suddenly realized that she might have gotten the point wrong.

Even if she really defeated all her romantic rivals and successfully took the top spot...

Huang Mao himself might just be the "final boss"!

And, facing a boss of that caliber...

"If it's that level..."

An Ran swallowed, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzzing.

"I'll, I'll break, won't I?"