196: Chapter 196 The Narrow Elevator

Qi Yun's "What did you say?" echoed in the elevator.

Baili Qing's pupils, hidden behind her hair, constricted as her fingertips trembled slightly.

It wasn't fear; it was an embarrassment so profound she wanted to destroy the world immediately.

How could she have accidentally let that slip?

Now she was trapped in the situation she feared most in her life: being noticed by a stranger and forced into a conversation.

"Are you thinking to yourself, 'This person is an eyesore, a slob, how did she get in here'... right?"

She repeated it, her voice becoming exceptionally low.

Qi Yun was silent for two seconds.

"No. Why would I think that?" Qi Yun said, his tone very natural.

"I just thought your outfit was a bit special, so I was a little curious."

Curious? He was just curious? Not mocking? Not disgusted?

Baili Qing's brain jammed.

She had prepared eighteen different plans for "if he says yes, strike immediately," but she hadn't prepared a contingency for "what to do if he denies it."

"You don't think... it's ugly?" Her voice was a bit dry.

"I can't see your face. But your silhouette is okay, just a bit thin. How long has it been since you've eaten?"

Qi Yun shrugged.

Silhouette is okay???

Baili Qing suddenly shrank back, almost embedding herself into the elevator wall.

He... he looked at her body?! And even commented on it?!

"Please don't look!" Her voice trembled; this time she was truly a bit panicked.

"Alright, alright, I won't look." Qi Yun turned his head compliantly to face the elevator door.

"Then can you stop trying to kill me? I haven't lived long enough yet."

Baili Qing: "...Mm."

A brief silence.

The elevator was about to arrive soon.

Just as Baili Qing thought this nightmare was about to end—

"Ding."

The elevator suddenly got stuck.

The lights flickered twice.

Qi Yun: "...?"

Baili Qing: "...?!"

A panicked voice from the front desk came through the elevator's intercom:

"W-we are very sorry! The elevator's Energy Stone system has run out of power. We will complete the replacement at full speed! Guests, please wait a moment!"

Qi Yun sighed.

Baili Qing, however, froze completely.

Elevator malfunction.

Trapped.

Enclosed space.

With a stranger.

Having to wait.

Every word was like a knife stabbing into her socially anxious heart.

"How long is a 'moment'?" Qi Yun asked the elevator.

"A-about ten minutes! It'll be very quick! Sorry, the Energy Stone is completely depleted, we won't be able to comm—"

It seemed the power had run out completely.

Ten minutes!!

Baili Qing felt it hard to breathe. Ten minutes, six hundred seconds—she had to stare blankly at this strange man in this cramped space for six hundred seconds?!

Qi Yun looked back at her and found her squatting in the corner, clutching her knees, burying her face tightly in the crook of her arms, curled into a ball like a hedgehog meeting a predator.

"...Are you okay?" Qi Yun asked.

"Please don't... don't talk to me..." a muffled voice came from under her arms, carrying a tremor.

"Fine."

Qi Yun also sat down against the wall, closing his eyes to rest.

He was actually a bit tired; that "exercise" with Xia Ran just now had taken quite a bit out of him, and now sleepiness was washing over him.

Only faint sounds and the two's overlapping breaths remained in the elevator.

Three minutes later.

Baili Qing peeked through the gap in her arms.

He seemed to have fallen asleep? His breathing was steady, and his head was slightly drooping.

He's asleep? During an elevator malfunction?

While with a stranger? Is he really that carefree?!

But strangely, she felt a slight sigh of relief.

It was good that he was asleep; if he was asleep, there was no need to socialize, no need for eye contact, and no need to think about what to say next.

She slowly raised her head, observing Qi Yun through the gaps in her hair.

He looks... okay.

She evaluated objectively.

Someone like him definitely wouldn't be interested in me.

But he just said my "silhouette is okay"...

Was he flirting with me?

No, then he asked how long it had been since I ate, as if he thought I was malnourished...

So what exactly did he mean?

Baili Qing's brain began to analyze uncontrollably again; it was an occupational hazard.

Analyzing the intent behind every word, every expression, and every micro-gesture of the target.

But after analyzing back and forth, she reached a terrifying conclusion:

This person seemed to... really just be speaking casually, with no malice and no ulterior motives.

This made her more panicked than "having malice."

Because if someone had malice, she knew how to handle it—just kill them.

But she had absolutely no idea how to deal with this kind of person who "has no malice and just interacts naturally."

In her life, there were only three categories: "Target," "Employer," and "Irrelevant Passerby." There was no category for "Ordinary person to interact with normally."

"Ugh..."

Qi Yun's head tilted to the side as he opened his eyes again; he really couldn't sleep in this place.

Baili Qing immediately buried her face back in her arms.

Seeing Baili Qing curled into a ball behind him, Qi Yun suddenly thought about trying to strike up a conversation.

Maybe he could fish out some information about the central area of the Land of Beginning in a bit.

He spoke in a deliberately casual tone:

"Say... this elevator won't fall down, will it?"

Baili Qing buried her face even deeper: "..."

"I heard that before falling, a person experiences three seconds of weightlessness. What can one do in three seconds?"

Baili Qing's inner thoughts: "Kill ten people. And tie a safety rope for myself. But I don't want to discuss this!"

"By the way, which room on the top floor do you live in? Maybe we're neighbors."

Baili Qing: "..."

She began to scratch the floor with her toes, trying to dig an escape tunnel in the soft carpet.

"My name is Qi Yun. And you?"

Silence.

Qi Yun didn't give up and continued talking to himself:

"Living in a hotel alone is pretty boring, isn't it? I usually like to have deep interactions with girls, what about you?"

"The view from the top floor should be good, but it's windy at night. Is your room the same as ours?"

"I wonder if this hotel has any specialty food. By the way, do you like sweets?"

Every sentence was the "forced small talk" type of socializing that socially anxious people fear most!

Baili Qing finally broke down, raising her head from the crook of her arms, her voice tinged with a sob:

"...C-can you... be quiet for ten minutes?"

Qi Yun: "Oh, sorry. I'm just a bit nervous; talking helps relieve anxiety."

Baili Qing's inner thoughts: "You're relieved! I'm about to suffocate!"

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her emotions.

Qi Yun watched her smooth sequence of actions, stunned for two seconds, then chuckled softly.

This is definitely a socially anxious person.

Suddenly, all the lights in the entire elevator went out.

"What's going on—" Qi Yun's voice stopped abruptly.

The next second, the elevator car jolted violently, as if shaken by a giant beast!

"Ah!"

Baili Qing let out a short cry of alarm.

In a moment of total darkness and loss of visual reference, the body's balance system fails completely.

And Qi Yun's recent chatter had distracted her—a top-tier assassin who was also socially anxious—causing her to lose control and fall to one side.