The King of Black Fog

On the way back.

"Wang Donghua's skill is too tragic to go back to," Li Qianxia said, three parts sympathy, seven parts schadenfreude.

"Maybe he could hand knead the internet," Li Changzhou quipped, two parts sympathy, eight parts schadenfreude.

"More like a spider web," Miss Yang said emotionlessly.

"Spider web..." Li Qianxia immediately burst into laughter from the back seat, holding her stomach in pain, flashed her abs in a way that could make women shout "big sis," "hug," "First off, I don't like girls, but can I sleep with you for a night, big sis?"

At the red light, Li Changzhou slowly pressed the brakes and glanced at Yang Qinglan in the passenger seat.

Yang Qinglan looked back at him puzzled—What are you looking at?

Li Changzhou raised an eyebrow; there wasn't a specific meaning, just mingling various senses around the central idea of "looking at my wife."

Yang Qinglan pursed her petal-like lips and turned to look out the window.

—I don't believe in fate.

It was "Constricted Spotted Mushroom Style·Illusion Hearing"; with enough intelligence, one could weave the content of auditory hallucinations.

What did not believing in fate mean? Rejecting their destined relationship?

Li Changzhou watched the red light ahead and pondered the meaning of this sentence.

Li Qianxia's laughter was clearly right behind him, yet it seemed as though separated by layers of glass.

—Regarding us, I hope we discuss it at our own pace.

He slowly nodded; he shared the same thought.

He took the fortune teller's words merely as a reference: if they worked in his favor, they were prophecies; if not, they were feudal superstitions, nonsense.

He was obviously very happy about having a destined relationship with Yang Qinglan, but he wished for their future to be created by the two of them together.

However, Yang Qinglan saying she didn't believe in fate, an equivalent to rejection, caused a slight discomfort in his heart.

Li Changzhou remained silent, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, as the red light showed no sign of changing.

—I don't like you that much.

Li Changzhou stared ahead, the red light flashing continuously like an emergency room in a hospital.

—Now, seeing you and Qian Xia, I think you have a good relationship, and it makes me happy, but I'm worried that after being together with you, I'll feel that you're too close to each other, that I'll start conflicts, affecting your sibling bond and even the relationship between the three of us.

—I really like Qian Xia and wouldn't want to upset her over this.

—I don't like you enough to be reckless, or rather, I can't accept an imperfect version of myself.

—I'm not confident about myself, I'm someone with strong control issues, who gets jealous easily, and can be oddly temperamental to the point of stubbornness.

—One day, you might not have done anything, but just me suddenly recalling how you joke around with Mu Rong at first sight, and I could become cold-faced for days, and moreover, I wouldn't tell you why, quite inexplicably.

"Who is Mu Rong?" Li Changzhou asked.

The red light vanished, and the green light shone; Li Changzhou pressed the gas pedal lightly, the rented car by the roadside wasn't great, but it moved forward steadily and unstoppable.

"Mu Rong of Gusu!" Li Qianxia immediately responded, still chuckling with the remnants of the 'spider web' joke, "I super love her portrayal of 'Chun Emperor'; she looks amazing in all disguises, and her singing made me give up on pop music for a while!"

Li Changzhou wasn't listening at all; he turned to Yang Qinglan and said, "In the future, if there's something you can't say, just use this method to tell me."

"Huh?!" Li Qianxia popped her head between the two, eyeballing them suspiciously.

"Are you two hiding something from me?" she asked, articulating every word.

Yang Qinglan threw her a glance.

"Ow!" Li Qianxia jerked back into her seat as if pulled by gravity.

Back on Yanhe Road, they returned the rented car by the roadside, entered the yard, and slipped back into the "Honey Pot World."

The three prepared to break through their limits.

"I'll go first!" Li Qianxia said eagerly.

"Mm," Yang Qinglan nodded.

Li Qianxia sat cross-legged on the grass, closing her eyes.

Whoosh!

A ball of blue flames emanated from between her eyebrows, enveloping her like a cocoon.

According to the "Master Huang's Value Game Observations," the purer the blue flame and the longer it burned, the higher the person's status.

Li Qianxia's flames were nearly without impurity, a vast blue. When the wind blew, the flames shimmered like a blossoming blue onion.

Half an hour later, like sheep returning to the pen, the flames re-entered her eyebrows.

Li Qianxia opened her eyes, clenched her fist, and gauged the feeling: "Doesn't seem like I've gotten stronger."

"Your skills have changed," Li Changzhou said, looking at the 'Twins' instinct in his identity card.

Li Qianxia hurriedly pulled out her own identity card and studied it with the others.

[Nickname: "Mosquito"]

[Name: Li Qianxia]

[Origin: Genially Talented]

[Value: 3 (236/400)] (Twins)

[Instinct: Physical Enhancement] (Source: Li Changzhou)

[Instinct: Twins] (Value completely shared, instinct effects halved, backpack completely shared, value coins completely shared, Bond Summon) (No one likes big brother more than you) (Source: Li Qianxia)

[Skills: "Wolf Howl" (C-class), "Double Stab" (D-class), "Thunder Roar" (C-class), "Basket Pattern Moth Style·Transformation" (C-class), "Flat-headed Mud Bee·Powerful Neurotoxin" (B-class), "Super Speed" (B-class)]

[Intelligence: 6] (Clever)

[Charm: 8] (Unprecedented)

[Strength: 4] (Each upgrade increases by 8)

[Equipment: None]

[Inventory slot: "Mosquito Style Blood-sucking Gun," "Horned Robe," "Ground Finch's Beak" (Materials gathered in the game) (Li Changzhou: "Heavy Machine Gun," "Snow Mountain Water Bottle," "Tiger Armor" (Materials gathered in the game))]

[Money: 30 coins (Li Changzhou: 0 coins)]

Many things had changed.

Strength, Constitution, Agility, Perception not being there goes without saying, but there were more subtle changes in skills and items.