102: Chapter 102 E-sports Addict Girl

The autumn rain in Jiangnan fell endlessly.

Raindrops pelted against the newly installed soundproof glass on the second floor of the Funeral Shop, making a dull, rustling sound.

This transparent barrier completely shut out the damp chill of the outside world, while the flickering orange-red flames in the fireplace baked the room into a warm, lazy comfort.

The renovated second-floor living room was spacious.

The floor was covered with a thick, gray wool carpet, making every step completely silent.

An entire wall was occupied by a massive eighty-five-inch LCD screen.

Below the screen sat a brand-new PS5 console, gleaming with a metallic luster.

The air was filled with a faint fragrance of pine soot ink, mixed with the dominant aroma of spicy beef jerky and the sweet, fizzy scent of bubbling cola.

Near the backyard courtyard, wisps of mild, moist Yin energy welled up along the Yin Gathering Array, perfectly dispelling the dry heat brought by the fireplace.

Ayugu sat cross-legged in the middle of the carpet, completely throwing any sense of poise out the window.

The Miaojiang girl held her phone tightly with both hands, her thumbs rubbing frantically across the screen as her nails tapped against it with a rapid "clack-clack-clack."

The silver collar around her neck jingled intensely as she violently swayed back and forth.

"Screw you! Jungler, are you picking mushrooms in the jungle?! The enemy is pushing all the way in!"

Ayugu stared at her phone screen and yelled at the top of her lungs, unleashing a full barrage of curses in pure Great Xia language mixed with a few Miaojiang local dialects.

"Did this guy playing Baili Shouyue get his head caught in a door?"

"Do you not have a basic attack? Or is your second skill aiming at your great-grandmother's grave?! I, the grand Holy Maiden of the Miaojiang Gu Clan, who can command poisonous insects across three streets, can't carry four brainless, single-celled organisms today!"

A red light flashed on the screen, and the base crystal shattered with a bang under the enemy's siege.

The massive word "DEFEAT" stung Ayugu's eyes.

Furious, she threw her phone onto the soft carpet, her right hand darting like lightning toward the cloth pouch at her waist.

"I'm so mad! I want to crawl through the network cable and turn all four of these trash players' phones into gu nests!"

The bathroom door was pushed open.

Lin Ye walked out, holding a cup of warm goji berry tea.

He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of loose gray sweatpants on his lower body.

His lean, solid muscles gleamed with a healthy luster under the glow of the fireplace.

"First thing in the morning, your voice is louder than the electric drills of the renovation crew downstairs."

Lin Ye walked over to the single sofa, sat down, blew on the foam in his cup, and took a sip of hot tea.

"If you can't carry, then don't. You're playing support, yet you insist on going head-to-head with the enemy jungler. If you don't die, who will?"

"Besides, there's an ironclad rule in ranked matches: as long as a teammate insta-locks Baili Shouyue, theoretically, you will lose nine and a half out of ten games. The remaining half-game is because the enemy disconnected."

Ayugu glared with her narrow eyes and snapped back defiantly, "Big Boss Lin, if you're so good, you do it! If I don't rank up today, I'll go on a hunger strike!"

Lin Ye rolled his eyes, too lazy to pay any attention to this severely internet-addicted girl's grand declarations.

"Crunch, crunch."

A strange chewing sound came from beneath the TV cabinet.

Lin Ye turned his head to look.

The little girl, Frost Star, was squatting on the carpet with her bare, pale little feet.

She held a white PS5 controller with both hands.

Her delicate, porcelain-doll-like face was scrunched up, and she opened her small mouth, revealing two sharp little canine teeth as she bit down hard on the silicone analog stick of the controller.

Under her sharp teeth, the sturdy polymer analog stick groaned under the strain.

Lin Ye's eyelids twitched violently. He lunged forward and unceremoniously slapped his large palm onto the little girl's silver-and-blue-haired head.

"Let go! Spit it out right now!"

Lin Ye pinched her cheeks and forcibly pulled the saliva-covered controller out of her mouth.

On the controller's left analog stick, four deep teeth marks were clearly left behind.

"This controller costs over five hundred yuan! Are you chewing on it like a teething toy? If it breaks, I'm deducting it directly from your snack budget next month!"

Lin Ye wiped off the moisture and scolded her gently.

Frost Star pouted aggrievedly, her deep blue heterochromatic eye welling up with tears.

"This has no flavor at all. Chewing it is like eating a rubber tire."

The little girl complained righteously, taking the opportunity to wrap her arms around Lin Ye's thigh, rubbing her pink little nose against his pants in an attempt to act cute and get away with it.

Lin Ye was utterly helpless against this coquettish, yandere loli, so he could only throw the controller back onto the coffee table.

On the other side of the large living room.

Leng Yue sat quietly in the large leather sofa.

She wore a plain white, form-fitting long dress with subtle, hidden patterns embroidered around the collar.

Her ankle-length, silver-white hair cascaded freely over the back of the sofa and onto the carpet.

A faint, dark-golden luster flowed through the tips of her hair, testifying to her terrifyingly profound cultivation.

She was holding another black game controller in her hands.

Those slender, jade-like hands, which had once torn a Blood Corpse King apart and unleashed the Red Lotus Karmic Fire with a flick of her fingers, were now holding this button-filled product of modern technology.

She furrowed her delicate brows, her deep red eyes staring intently at the flickering game standby screen on the large display, her gaze filled with immense confusion and bewilderment.

"Husband, is this object called a controller?"

Leng Yue's voice was as clear and cold as spring water, carrying a hint of the gentle, melodious Wu dialect.

She extended her index finger, gently stroking the D-pad of the controller.

"Why are there tiny people imprisoned inside the screen connected to this square iron box? They run, jump, and fight in there. Could it be that some kind of Sumeru Mustard Seed spatial array is carved inside this box, trapping the souls of living humans?"

Hearing this archaic and poetic analysis, Lin Ye couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Holding his teacup, he walked over to Leng Yue's side and sat down on the wide armrest of the sofa.

As he drew near, the unique, cold fragrance of Manjusaka emanating from Leng Yue instantly enveloped him.

The refreshing scent was highly pleasant, overpowering the smell of snacks in the room.

Lin Ye pointed at the eighty-five-inch screen.

"My wife, this is called a video game."

"It's the most popular form of entertainment for modern mortals to pass the time. There are no living souls in that screen; it's all code and data models written by programmers."

Lin Ye solemnly began his trickery.

"You have stabilized your origin now, but the zombie meridians in your body have been dormant for thousands of years. Usually, your movements are broad and powerful, relying entirely on instinctive, violent strength, but the micro-reaction speed of your divine sense is not yet sharp enough."

"Playing this more often can stimulate your brain's neural synaptic activity at high frequencies. It has an immeasurable effect on improving hand-eye coordination and will definitely facilitate your smooth transition to the true Drought Demon realm."

Leng Yue raised her head, her breathtakingly beautiful red eyes quietly gazing at Lin Ye.

"Is Husband speaking the truth? Can a mere pastime have such a cultivation effect?"

"When have I, Lin, ever lied to you?"

Lin Ye patted his chest, telling the lie without his heart skipping a beat or his face turning red.

"Come, today your Husband will personally teach you. We won't play those violent, hack-and-slash games. We'll play a classic masterpiece that tests the tacit understanding between two people. This game is called 'It Takes Two'."

Hearing the words "two people," Frost Star immediately dropped the watermelon rind in her hand, stepped onto the carpet with her bare feet, and squeezed her way right next to Lin Ye's leg.

The little girl stood on her tiptoes, stretching her neck to look at the screen.

"Frost Star wants to play too! I want to choose that clay figure in red! I want to control it to fight monsters!"

In front of his retina, the translucent light screen rippled with a layer of pink, enchanting ripples.

The system's extremely annoying mechanical voice sounded crisply in his mind.

"Ding! "My Lord, Please Behave Yourself" System notification: Detected that the host is teaching his zombie wife modern entertainment activities. Boring explanations cannot improve teaching efficiency."

"Please finalize a training plan within three minutes to push the fun of the game and the intimacy of Husband-and-wife cultivation to the peak!"