14: Chapter 14 Battle in the Rainy Night (Part 1)

(The system light screen suddenly popped up, with blood-red text flashing wildly.)

[Charm value 15 caused identity overflow... Adapting to the best role...]

As the white light of teleportation dissipated, Mia suddenly pressed her temples—a flood of fabricated memories surged in:

Flashback 1: Ten-year-old Zhang Chulan squatted by a puddle after the rain, and she used her skirt hem to wipe his snot.

Flashback 2: At the high school graduation party, a drunken Zhang Chulan buried his face in her shoulder and cried.

Flashback 3: A video call three days ago, she waved from the window of a Gothic church, dressed in a nun's habit.

"Sister Mia?" On the train, Chu Lan's worried face suddenly leaned closer from the opposite seat. "You look terrible." Chu Lan's gaze wandered, occasionally glancing at Mia's neckline, then pretending to look at the scenery outside the window.

Her hand uncontrollably lifted, and she ruffled his curly hair as if she had done it a thousand times: "It's nothing... Sister just zoned out." The moment she spoke, a real cramp seized her stomach.

"Sister Mia..." The young man, his ears red, handed her a bottle of mineral water. "Did you really learn exorcism after coming back from the Vatican this time?"

"This cross is so unique, can I take a look? Hehe~" When Chu Lan's perverted hand touched Mia's cross, the system prompted [Detected unactivated Qi Body Source Flow (sealed)].

Mia was a little surprised, then helplessly slapped his hand away.

"Sister Mia? You told me you're a Cleric from Europe now, and 'foreign monks are better at chanting scriptures,'" he chuckled, his fingers restlessly tugging at the hem of his T-shirt. "When will this damn 'Childhood Cultivation' finally break?! Can't it be broken early? Is there any way over there? I'm almost 19, and I haven't even held a girl's hand, is this scientific?!"

Chu Lan, gesticulating wildly as he recounted his tragic experiences, accidentally knocked over the mineral water bottle in Mia's hand. The clear water soaked her dress, giving it a milky white, watery sheen. Chu Lan abruptly stood up, wanting to help wipe it, but his knee hit the table, making him wince in pain yet still trying to act cool: "Hiss—it's fine, it's fine! My leg just went numb!"

The phone rang, and Chu Lan put it to his ear. "Eh? My grandpa's tomb was robbed by grave robbers? These bastards don't even spare the dead?!" But the next second he chickened out, shrinking his neck and muttering: "Wait, let's go when it's light... It's dark, what if there are ghosts... Okay, Uncle Song, I'm already on the car. And someone claims to be my sister? Is there news about my bastard dad? Ah, no? Then never mind. I only have one good sister, named Mia. Alright, Uncle Song, tell her to go back where she came from."

(Oh dear, has Paradise Lost almost turned him into the protagonist's childhood sweetheart?)

Mia gazed helplessly out the window. Because of the Paradise Lost System, the security personnel and equipment at the checkpoint ignored the [Bloodstained Cleric's Flail] on her back.

Fortunately, it was just the neighbor's elder sister, not a girlfriend she'd been with for a few months. What a relief.

She saw her reflection in the car window glass: the profane pure white nuns outfit had been materialized by the system into a reasonable white jumpsuit adorned with red patterns, the [Hypocrite's Corset] became a very fashionable corset decoration, the [Forbidden Leg Ring - Left] was logically buckled onto her flesh-colored stockings, and the [twin cross pendant] at her neckline sometimes swayed, sometimes sank into her skin near her collarbone, making Chu Lan blush and occasionally steal glances. Then he would pretend nothing happened, turn his head to look out the window, and hum a song.

"Eh? Sister Mia. You never tell me what's in that long backpack you carry? Ever since you came back from the local Cleric church last time, you've been mysteriously carrying that thing." Chu Lan complained. "Are you really not going to let me see it?"

"It really is as the Black-Robed Merchant said, dressing like this is just inviting trouble." Mia touched Chu Lan's head again, then tightened the [Bloodstained Cleric's Flail] on her back and murmured softly.

"No peeking!" The restraint of the cross-body bag made the profane pure white nuns outfit appear even more form-fitting, which directly caused Chu Lan, sitting opposite her, to have a nosebleed.

Mia was always concerned about the degree of memory filling. "Most likely, Chu Lan was also filled with memories of me. I wonder if the script I got is the 'infatuated older sister' or the 'doting younger brother's protector.' I'll just take it one step at a time." She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, pretending to nap. Chu Lan, on the other hand, seemed like a little boy tacitly allowed to sneak candy, seriously watching the lightly sleeping Mia and letting out silly chuckles.

Other Adventurers weren't so lucky—

Ye Wang was forced to become Chu Lan's "childhood friend" and had to 'accidentally' run into Chu Lan when transferring from the train station to the bus station, teasing Mia about whether she was his new girlfriend from the city. Finally, he had to exclaim in awe that Uncle Mi's little Mia had grown up so beautiful, and to add him on 'Green Bubble'! (The last sentence might have been his true feelings...) It was so out of character he couldn't bear to watch. He was clearly a two-meter tall burly man, yet he had to pinch his voice to shout, "Chu Lan, wait for me~"

Loran was even worse. Her 7 charm points made her Chu Lan's elementary school teacher. She had to teach during the day and grade homework at night. At this moment, she was gritting her teeth and making a note for the Paradise Lost System: "Burning incense... thank the Paradise Lost System's ancestors for eight generations~"

Because she was worried about the life and death of her mission target, Chu Lan (caring for her neighbor's younger brother), Mia logically followed Chu Lan to the security office and met Uncle Song (the hat-wearing uncle who took good care of Chu Lan). Mia greeted Uncle Song quietly, making the uncle blush, and he kept asking if Chu Lan had bullied her on the way back. He offered to beat Chu Lan for her, saying it wouldn't be illegal.

Mia, with a line of black on her forehead, didn't know if Uncle Song was encouraging Chu Lan or encouraging Chu Lan. Uncle Song sternly told Chu Lan that he suddenly had a sister, and Uncle Song even specifically called Sichuan to investigate but found no problems, which made the matter a bit strange.

Chu Lan looked disdainful, complained a few words about his father, and said he was going to offer incense to Zhang Xilin.

Upon hearing this, Mia quickly stepped on her thin high heels and took two quick steps to grab Chu Lan's arm, pressing herself against his arm. Because of the filled memories of her past interactions with Chu Lan, Mia didn't feel anything was wrong and asked with a concerned look, "Can't we go tomorrow morning? It's so late."

Chu Lan's face flushed, and after a moment of hesitation, he stubbornly said, "It's better to go offer incense as soon as possible, the body has already been stolen. Go early and come back early for school. Sister Mia, you don't have to go, just wait for me here with Uncle Song." "No! I'll go with you." Mia sighed helplessly, thinking, "This 'life and death together' attitude is truly sickening."

"Eh, wait, I'll drive you there. It's the middle of the night, and I can patrol around. If those thieves come back, I can catch them red-handed." With that, Uncle Song applied for a firearm and drove them to the edge of the woods.

[Passive Skill: Adoration activated, converting Uncle Song's attitude towards Adventurers to 'Caring']

There was a luxury car parked on the road by the woods. Mia glanced at it before following Chu Lan out of the car and into the trees, thinking, "The plot has already deviated. Uncle Song came with us to the edge of the woods, so maybe things will be different later."

The woods were bone-chillingly cold, as early spring nights often are. Mia tried to connect to the team channel, "Chu Lan and I are almost at the graveyard in the woods. Please find various reasons to leave your current locations and come here to support and stand by as soon as possible." "Received!" "Okay." "Immediately!" "Mm..."

Under the moonlight, a grave site was turned upside down. A long-haired woman in white clothes and black pants held a shovel, humming a Sichuan folk song as she dug in the distance. Several crows were gnawing on the carcasses of their kin. A strange and bizarre atmosphere enveloped this desolate land.

Mia and Chu Lan stealthily approached. From a distance, she took off her shoes and tiptoed behind Chu Lan. Chu Lan glanced back at Mia, who wasn't wearing shoes, her flesh-colored stockings on her 'manga legs' shimmering with silver light under the moonlight. He swallowed.

Then he turned back and fiercely took a photo of Sister Baoer, who was shoveling dirt, intending to call the police. "Holy crap, glowing beauty robbing a grave? This topic is hot enough for a trending search!" At this moment, Mia fiercely pinched Chu Lan's arm, not caring that she was barefoot, and pulled him to run. This was because she had observed Sister Baoer's profile attributes on the Paradise Lost System's UI interface. Her pupils instantly dilated!

[Feng Baobao]

[Aliases: A-Wu, Baobao, Sister Baoer, Bao Guniang, Feng Xiaomai, Zhang Baobao, Xu Baobao]

[Age: Over 60 years old]

[HP: ????/???? (Looks like she didn't eat enough last night)]

[MP: ???]

[Current dungeon difficulty is too low, suppressing this character's attributes]

[Temporary Strength: ???]

[Intelligence: ??] (Life Support System broadcast: Extremely clever, understand it yourself. This attribute does not need to be suppressed)

[Temporary Agility: ???]

[Temporary Endurance: ???]

[Martial Arts Skills: Six Storage Immortal Thief, Great Expansive Insight, Dual Cultivation Red Hand (Self-healing), Suspected Qi Body Source Flow (Old Farmer's Art)]

[Weapons: Kitchen Knife (Blue Quality * Excellent) Iron Shovel (White Quality) (Digging, digging, digging in Zhang Chulan's grandpa's grave)]

[Attitude: Tentative, Mild Malice]

[Evaluation: Because there is no particularly high hostility, she may not necessarily kill you (not that she definitely won't kill you). But will you pin your hopes on the dungeon BOSS's mercy? If you can run, then run.]

When Mia forcibly dragged him to escape, he suddenly struggled to stop: "Wait! What if there's a living person in that pit?!" However, upon glimpsing Feng Baobao's icy gaze, he immediately cowered like a quail: "Uh... I didn't say anything!" Mia, however, curled the corner of her mouth, "His nature is kind, just a bit perverted and cheap." Chu Lan's image in her heart rose slightly.

Mia, barefoot, pulled Chu Lan quickly through the forest, because she knew that according to the original story, when Chu Lan came alone, Feng Baobao would knock him out with a shovel and throw him into the burial pit to scare him.

While she was thinking, Feng Baobao had already leaped into the air, and the shovel instantly chopped down. Chu Lan suddenly knelt on the spot, making Feng Baobao freeze for a moment.

"Sister, Uncle Song said I have an older sister named Zhang Baobao, Sister Baoer, I'm your biological younger brother, please be merciful. If you're short on money, I have 500 in my Green Bubble, I'll transfer it to you first, please spare my life." Mia assumed a fighting stance, wanting to help block it, but Chu Lan secretly pushed her back forcefully, subtly waving his hand to tell her to run.

Mia gave a helpless bitter smile, "He really is a nemesis..."

...The shovel rose, the person fell. Chu Lan clutched the back of his head, twitching on the muddy ground—Feng Baobao's shovel strike was very precise, just enough to stun an Outcast with physical qualities superior to ordinary people, but not to seriously injure him.

At this moment, what Mia most wanted to hear was the phrase she heard most often when playing games with her best friend: "(Enemy) reinforcements will arrive on the battlefield in thirty seconds!!" Her team channel was silent. She guessed her teammates must have encountered some situation. She turned her head and gave Chu Lan a gentle look, then muttered to herself, "Don't be afraid, I'll protect you!" (Life Support System: I'm happy! Go, fight! Win and get chicken legs, lose and get a small sandalwood box.)