Shou vaguely remembered that masked witch from a long time ago. At that time, he had just shed his cultivation road and was incredibly weak. Thus, when he had met her, he ended up not different from Li Yinyi.
"What happened after that," Shou muttered, "I remembered that she planned on killing me again, and when she saw it didn't work, she planned to capture me. I escaped though and found shelter in a nearby village. When I returned stronger, I had tried interacting with her, but she didn't listen. In the end, we killed each other." He reminisced about the memory of his. "Too bad, her cultivation technique was very interesting."
Li Yinyi still felt the rush of exhilaration, as she eagerly jumped around. She seemed to not mind having died just now; there was a bright smile on her face.
"This is incredible," she shouted loudly.
She had just been reduced to ashes—no, the ashes were gone too, but her body remained intact!
It was the most amazing experience she ever had. Although she didn't look like it, she too was a cultivator. She wasn't a bad one either, her family always showered her with praise. Still, most young cultivators had a small fear of death, of course, she was no exception. It always sounded scary to her, not knowing what happens when she died. However, now she did!
Even though it was only an illusory space, this experience was already priceless, the 15 crystals couldn't even compare!
Moreover, she would also be able to explore a new world while doing so, going on many adventures without the fear of death. For example, the thing that the witch had thrown out, was unlike anything she had ever seen.
One of her most vivid memories (besides her fathers story about the ancient realm), was when she saw the City Lord perform a series of punches as a demonstration. His fist glowed golden, and flew faster than an arrow while cutting through air. Every fist managed to break a sword. The scene had thoroughly bedazzled her, and she wished to be someone like him when she grew up.
But in comparison to the witch in front of her... She really didn't know how to compare these two. How could a punch measure up with that disintegrating magic? It was way too overbearing!
The witch who had stood silent for a while began to move. She lifted her hand, this time revealing two fingers, and consequentially, two little flames appeared. Seeing that Li Yinyi broke out in cold sweat, and she almost lost her strength to even stand straight.
"Wait, let us talk this out—"
The witch did not let her talk it out, and the two little flames crashed into Li Yinyi, this time not even leaving a piece of cloth. What had been a room was only a hole now. Even the field farther away had turned into ashes. Seeing that, the witch seemed to frown, but she simply walked away.
"Yes, exactly how I remembered," Shou commented, "when I revived another time, I tried running away, but the flames turned into small needles accurately piercing my skull, and then she wanted to capture me. Really, what a scary woman."
On the small screen, he saw Li Yinyi's body slowly rebuilding. The witch was prepared this time, and already loaded her hands full of the flickering flames. She was prepared to wipe her out of existence. Shou saw it too, and in her mind, he urged Li Yinyi to escape.
However, the next scene stunned him.
Li Yinyi, as she revived, was immediately greeted by the sight of five burning flames. She sulked with a gloomy face, and without letting the witch throw her load, she jumped at her.
"Ah, you idiot," Shou screamed, "you don't stand a chance!"
Li Yinyi didn't want to fight though. Instead, she jumped into the witch's arms and hugged her tightly.
"Ah, at least let me speak! You can tell me your problems!"
Shou's mouth stood agape, seeing that unexpected development. Even Si was surprised, seeing her reckless behavior. But that was what they both had hoped for, a change of fate.
The typical cold voice rang out from the machine for Si, Shou and even Li Yinyi to hear, "A new development has started."
The witch froze upon that unexpected move of hers. However, before Li Yinyi could say another word, she broke out in flames and died without leaving a trace.
This time, Shou kept his eyes glued to the screen. He was interested in seeing where this would go, but he was in for some disappointment soon after.
"Three deaths reached, premature cancellation of simulation."
The screen then turned off.
"Huh, what's going on," he asked.
The mechanical voice explained. "If the customer dies three times or has stayed for more than 5 hours, the simulation will be canceled. Reentry costs 5 crystals."
"The hell is this bullcrap?"
The system did not answer. Also, he did not have time to complain, as the Li Yinyi lying on the counter drowsily got up. She looked around and saw she had returned to the familiar scenery of a store. The storm had slowly subsided, though a few last rain drops still drizzled down.
Her eyes immediately fell on Shou. "That was so cool," she shouted excitedly.
"Did you enjoy your experience," he asked, though he could already guess her answer.
The girl nodded vehemently. "It was like living in a fantasy world. There was some incredible magic, completing surpassing our cultivation. It reminded me of those outlandish fairy tales I used to listen to." She stretched her hand out and shouted, "pow, pow," pretending to be the witch.
'Actually, the thing you saw was cultivation too,' Shou wanted to say, but he didn't find the right time to bring it up. "As long as you had fun."
Li Yinyi moved closer to Shou. "Hey, can I enter again?"
Before Shou could answer, the systems voice rang out, "Each customer could only enter once a day."
"..." Shou pursed his lips. 'Why do you have to be like this? I thought we wanted to earn money?' He sighed in resignation. "I'm sorry, but if you want to enter again, come back tomorrow."
She promptly deflated upon hearing that.
Seeing that pure-hearted girl hang her head low, Shou felt great pity for her. "Since you are my first customer, I will give you a discount tomo—"
"Discounts are not available at Hosts level," the system corrected him solemnly.
"Si!"
"It's the default setting, I can't do anything about it!" She paused. "Also, I kind of agree."
"Che, forget it. I decide whether I take the money or not," Shou muttered. He may not be able to resend that girl into the illusory world, but the money was entirely in his hands.
"Non-compliance will result in death with no means of resurrection."
Hearing that familiar sentence, Shou simply laughed. "Come on. Do it. I'd like to see—"
Before he was able to finish the sentence, he was blasted apart, turning into tiny shreds, and dyeing the counter pink.
Li Yinyi, who had been watching Shou the whole time, screamed hysterically and fell to the ground. Was it not for her determination, and her thinking there may be enemies nearby, she might have fainted on the spot. For a long time, she could only remain dazed and shudder.
What the hell, they were just talking a moment ago—how did he suddenly die? This plot was too illogical! And so thoroughly too, whoever did that was way too sinister!
Also... why did that scene felt so familiar to her?