Chapter 44: Harassment
Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in Su Xiao's hand, and he aimed a slash at Liuli's throat. He recognized her—this was the silver-haired girl who had escaped from him earlier.
The long blade passed through Liuli's neck, but she showed no panic. Instead, she laughed. She was neither a physical entity nor a spiritual body, but a clone formed from special energy.
"Long time no see, you sword guy."
Liuli was the same girl whose lower body Su Xiao had shattered with the Spider Empress, the one who seemed to fight while 'riding a mantis shrimp.'
"Surprised?"
Liuli placed her hands on her hips and glanced around the room.
"Your living conditions aren't great, huh. Anyway, this young lady was nearly beaten to death by you before. Now, it's payback time."
Su Xiao ignored Liuli's words. He coated Dragon-Slashing Flash with Cyan Steel Shadow Energy and swung at her again.
It had no effect. Liuli's current state seemed to be some kind of illusory clone. The energy composing her had an illusory nature—she couldn't attack Su Xiao, and he couldn't hit her either.
Most importantly, Su Xiao sensed no threat at all. This basically meant Liuli's offensive power was virtually zero.
"Don't waste your effort. I have no offensive capability. As a trade-off for being harmless, you can't disperse me by any means. Even if you could, it wouldn't matter. This kind of clone costs almost nothing to make—cheaper than a piece of candy."
Liuli grinned, looking utterly mischievous.
"Are you here to negotiate or declare war?"
Su Xiao couldn't quite figure out Liuli's purpose for sending a clone here.
"Not exactly. Oh, and let me reiterate—my name is Liuli. Remember that name. It'll be your 'nightmare' for the next few days."
"Nightmare?"
Su Xiao didn't take Liuli's threat seriously. Since she couldn't attack him, what nightmare could she possibly bring?
What Su Xiao didn't know was that Xi had previously told Liuli to do what she did best—and this was exactly that. This was her specialty.
Liuli's ability was called Illusory Mirror Body. It had no offensive power but could penetrate most objects, passing through walls or burrowing into the ground with ease.
It was originally a common reconnaissance ability, but in the hands of the wildly imaginative Miss Liuli, this ordinary skill became anything but ordinary.
Though she couldn't attack enemies, her combat style revealed her nature—a cheeky, cute girl.
Liuli couldn't harm enemies directly, but she could harass them. She'd sing while they slept, pretend to vomit while they ate, silently stare while they used the bathroom—in short, she'd do whatever made them most uncomfortable.
With this 'deranged' ability, Liuli had once tormented a third-rank contractor in a large world (an open-world setting), driving him to the brink of madness. In utter desperation, that contractor signed a mutual non-aggression treaty with Liuli.
"La la la, my little flower~"
Liuli started singing in the room. Su Xiao stared at her, feeling only one thing—annoyance. She'd been singing for over an hour, and what made it worse was that she stuck to one song and couldn't carry a tune.
"You seem annoyed. It's only been an hour. Don't worry—this world's mission will last over twenty days. With a cute girl like me by your side for those twenty-plus days, you won't feel 'lonely.'"
Liuli floated in midair, covering her mouth with a charming smile. But Su Xiao didn't find it charming at all.
Forget twenty days—after just over an hour of her singing beside him, he already felt terrible.
"You're called Liuli, right?"
"Mm, already remembered my name? That's a good start. But... I won't chat with you."
Liuli resumed singing, still about little flowers and little grass. If Su Xiao wasn't mistaken, this was probably a nursery rhyme.
Under the endless loop of nursery rhyme brainwashing, Su Xiao couldn't even calm his mind, let alone rest.
Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the bed, trying his best to ignore the noise beside him, using meditation to quiet his mind.
The noise gradually faded. Three hours later, Liuli's throat was dry, but Su Xiao remained seated cross-legged, his expression calm.
"Is this guy made of wood?"
Liuli cleared her throat. Honestly, singing continuously while deliberately going off-key was hard work.
Su Xiao's eyes suddenly opened. Seeing this, Liuli felt a surge of joy.
"You sing well."
Su Xiao stood up and walked out of the room. Bubu Wang had arrived near the fortress, and more importantly, Bubu Wang had brought back the World Core!
"Sing... well?"
Liuli froze in midair, seemingly questioning her existence.
"A tough opponent. But this young lady has more than just singing."
Su Xiao walked ahead, Liuli floating behind. Since Liuli was a harmless illusory clone, the soldiers in the fortress paid her no attention.
Su Xiao exited the fortress through an inner passage. From a distance, he saw Bubu Wang running toward him quickly. After a few days apart, Bubu Wang looked noticeably thinner, probably from roughing it outside.
As the distance closed, Su Xiao noticed Bubu Wang was holding something in its mouth—a pure white object, likely some kind of creature.
"After a few days away, you've learned to hunt game."
Su Xiao assumed Bubu Wang had caught something like a rabbit.
Soon, Bubu Wang reached Su Xiao. Seeing him after a few days, Bubu Wang was unusually excited.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang tossed the cat in its mouth to Su Xiao. Su Xiao looked down—it was a pet cat resembling a Ragdoll. The cat was foaming at the mouth, its belly twitching.
Liuli, floating in midair, saw the cat and her pupils contracted sharply. In an instant, her expression returned to normal, a mischievous smile on her face.
"It seems... you know this cat?"
Su Xiao caught Liuli's momentary lapse.
"It's just someone's pet. I didn't expect you to bring her here."
Inside, Liuli was praying—praying that the beautiful cat named Bessie wouldn't wake up. Her mind raced, trying to think of a way to save Bessie.
The beautiful cat Bessie wasn't just a pet. Her owner was named Xi. Strangely, Liuli's relationship with Bessie was even closer than Xi's.
In Liuli's heart, Bessie was never just a pet cat—she was a friend she could trust with her life. Despite Liuli's carefree personality, she had very few friends, and Bessie was one of them.
Bubu Wang handed the World Core it had been carrying to Su Xiao. After receiving the World Core, Su Xiao got no prompts. The World Core was about the size of a pinky nail, with the sole property of being unstoreable in spatial items.
Su Xiao pocketed the World Core and turned his gaze to the cat on the ground.
"Bubu, kill it."
At Su Xiao's command, Bubu Wang trotted over happily. It had disliked this cat for a long time. The only reason it brought it back was to let Su Xiao judge if the cat had any value.
Liuli's heartbeat quickened. In that moment, she knew she had lost. At the same time, she felt relieved she had come—otherwise, Bessie would have died. That wasn't a result she wanted to see.
"Wait. Name your terms."
Liuli floated in front of Bessie, trying to block Bubu Wang, but as an illusory clone, she couldn't stop anything.