81: I am intimately acquainted with my sister.

"Blegh... I'm gonna puke, it's so gross!" Xiao Si gagged while clutching her throat, utterly revolted by the prayer she had imagined.

Shang Wan Ning's face darkened, her tone gloomy. "Want to puke? Gross? Am I really that revolting?"

Hit by Shang Wan Ning's triple interrogation, Xiao Si quickly hugged her weak, pitiful, and helpless self. "No! Host, you're overthinking it!"

"Heh, is that so? I really trust a woman's sixth sense!" Shang Wan Ning looked at the curled-up Xiao Si with a half-smile.

Xiao Si shrank her neck and stole a glance at Shang Wan Ning. Seeing the "threatening" look in her eyes, she immediately said tactfully, "How could I ever lie to my bestest, greatest Host!"

"Amateur flatterer!" Shang Wan Ning snorted, though a faint glint of cunning flashed in her eyes.

She turned around and picked up a mirror, checking her reflection from every angle.

Seeing this, Xiao Si breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she had finally managed to muddle through.

But Shang Wan Ning's next words nearly made Xiao Si perform a high jump in the system space.

"Xiao Si, tell me, am I beautiful?"

Xiao Si's lips twitched, and she forced herself to answer, "Beautiful, absolutely stunning! Host, you are simply a vision of bright eyes and pearly teeth, a feast for the eyes, with a divine and celestial countenance..."

[Tsk! You're not beautiful? You're practically blinding the system's data eyes.]

Shang Wan Ning nodded in satisfaction, a curve lifting the corners of her lips. She then asked, "Then how do you think I compare to the other women in this world?"

Cold sweat beaded on Xiao Si's forehead, her heart racing as she struggled to find an answer—the consequences of a wrong answer were unthinkable, but if she answered too well, she feared being mocked by the Host for being a sycophant.

Her small eyes darted around, and a spark of inspiration hit her. With a face full of sincerity, she said, "The Host is unique. How can a deity even be compared to the mortal women of this world!"

Shang Wan Ning was very pleased by these words. "Xiao Si, that mouth of yours is getting better and better at talking!"

[It seems a certain sister system has trained you well! You're not as prickly as before.]

Xiao Si felt secretly lucky. [Sigh! What a difficult, trashy woman to please.]

Suddenly, Shang Wan Ning changed the subject, her face showing curiosity.

"If there truly is a woman in this world more beautiful than I, then I must see exactly what kind of peerless elegance she possesses." Her tone was playful, her gaze landing on Xiao Si.

Xiao Si's heart tightened, fearing she might say something wrong and annoy the narcissistic Shang. She quickly racked her brain and answered cautiously, "The Host must be joking. The myriad worlds are vast and full of beauties, but none can compare to you."

"You have to trust the system's 'face-sculpting' technology."

Shang Wan Ning blinked, seemingly satisfied with Xiao Si's answer.

But in the next second, her expression became playful, and a hint of cunning appeared in her eyes.

Then, she teased, "Then how do you compare to that sister system you just hooked up with?" Her voice carried a hint of mockery.

"I saw with my own eyes what a certain system wrote: 'Skin like congealed fat, so delicate it could break at a touch, smooth as silk, supple as a reed! ...Cheeks like fresh lychees, nose like goose fat, gentle and silent, a sight to behold...'"

Shang Wan Ning deliberately mimicked Xiao Si's tone, reading out the sentences from the love letter she had written earlier.

Xiao Si immediately wore the expression of an old man on a subway looking at his phone, her face burning hot like a boiling kettle, steam practically rising from her.

"Tsk! The love letters Xiao Si writes are truly nauseating!" Shang Wan Ning made a timely gagging motion, disgusted by those words.

"KO!"

"Critical Hit +1008611!"

This strike was a fatal blow! Xiao Si was utterly defeated, squatting on the ground drawing circles, her eyes teary and her face full of resentment.

"Host, you actually used such a roundabout way to tease me. Waaaah X﹏X, there's no love left."

"Heh! Who told you to send your love letter to the wrong inbox and disgust me? This is what you call karma, understand?" Shang Wan Ning laughed triumphantly. Having finally caught Xiao Si's dark history, she was certainly going to make the most of it.

"Wasn't it just because I was too excited and sent it to the wrong inbox?" Xiao Si nervously pinched her fingertips, giving a wink! Her eyes were full of flattery and innocence.

"great host, have mercy, just forget about this, forget it!" Xiao Si looked at Shang Wan Ning pitifully, pleading.

"Not listening, not listening. I won't let you morally kidnap me." Shang Wan Ning shook her head with feigned indifference, then threatened, "Unless... unless you give me some spiritual compensation. Otherwise, hmph hmph! Your love letter..."

Xiao Si felt a chill down her spine and sighed inwardly, thinking that things had taken a turn for the worse!

She knew Shang the Skin Flayer's personality 100%; something bad was definitely about to happen!

Sure enough, Shang Wan Ning spoke leisurely, "I want a 30% discount on the 'Bridge of Helplessness'!" Her tone was firm and decisive.

"No way, that's too much. I can give you a 12% discount at most." Xiao Si frowned, trying hard to bargain.

"I want a 30% discount! No room for negotiation." Shang Wan Ning was resolute, refusing to back down.

"Then a 14% discount! I can't go any lower." Xiao Si tried to compromise.

"No! It must be a 30% discount." Shang Wan Ning still insisted... "17% discount, Xiao Si has made the greatest concession possible." Xiao Si gritted her teeth, finally deciding to give in a bit.

"Deal!" Shang Wan Ning's gaze had been fixed on Xiao Si's micro-expressions; her face was calm, but she was secretly gloating.

[If I don't fleece you bald, how can I justify being imprisoned by the Spirit-Restraining Ring?]

Xiao Si felt like crying but had no tears, thinking:

[It's over, it's all over. I've lost big this time! Two months of performance bonuses down the drain.]

[sister system, big sister will buy you a gift next month!]

...Ling Qi slowly woke up, her mind as if all memories had been drained away, a complete blank.

She looked around blankly; everywhere she saw was a mess. Scattered scraps of cloth lay about like flowers ravaged by a gale, withered and wretched!

All of this clearly indicated the "stormy and intense exercise" between her and the BOSS!!!

[Oh ho! The hunter has become the hunted!]

Ling Qi shifted her hips with difficulty, trying to get closer to the headboard. But as soon as her body moved, the muscles in her waist were pulled, and a surge of soreness washed over her.

She gasped, her body involuntarily lying back down.

But as she lay back, a wave of numbness and aching from her legs shot straight to her head.

"Sss..." Especially her neck; the swelling pain felt as if ten thousand ants were gnawing at it.

At this moment, Ling Qi felt as if she were in a fog, somewhat dazed. She reached out and touched her neck.

"Why is the Spirit-Restraining Ring tightly wrapped around my neck?"

"Wasn't it in my sea of consciousness?"