"On the honor of the Qinghe Cui family, I swear I won't utter a word of what I just heard!"
Sitting on the sofa in the living room, Cui Jinqi made a trembling vow with a face that was about to cry, feeling bitterly distressed inside.
Originally, she had no interest in Cheng Jinyang. However, before Wang Wanrou moved in with him, she had privately chatted with Cui Jinqi, mentioning that Xing Yunzhi's cohabitation with him might stem from an "unspeakable" secret.
At first, she didn't think much of it, but as Wang Wanrou investigated, she ended up moving in, which sparked Cui Jinqi's curiosity and doubt.
Now, it seemed her relentless efforts to uncover the secret of Cheng Jinyang's house could be blamed on Miss Wang... But now that she was at someone's mercy, she certainly couldn't say that.
Cui Jinqi could only swear repeatedly, assuring that she would absolutely, definitely not reveal anything. However, the more she vouched for her credibility, the more Cheng Jinyang saw through her unease.
Was there any credibility in a compulsive liar?
While Cui Jinqi was trembling with fear, Li Qingwan remained stoic and calm, showing no signs of panic.
She was seriously contemplating the possibility of killing to silence them.
The combat skills of the Longxi Li family were among the top even within the noble families. Not to mention that Gravity Manipulation wasn't skilled in close combat, and Mind Steel Seal was weak. If she made a move here, she could likely kill both on the spot.
However, the situation was similar to the predicament Chu Qingqing faced: while killing to silence might be satisfying momentarily, the subsequent need to flee would be disastrous.
She wasn't a core member of the Longxi Li family, with her bloodline potential being only fifth grade at best. If she killed the daughter of the Taiyuan Wang family here, her family certainly wouldn't protect her at the cost of clashing head-on with the Wang family.
So, killing wasn't an option.
But if she didn't kill, the initiative would be handed over to the other party.
After much consideration, she could only close her eyes and wait for Miss Wang to state her terms.
Cui Jinqi stammered, Li Qingwan remained silent, and Wang Wanrou coldly watched the two, saying nothing, creating an oppressive atmosphere that weighed heavily on the two girls.
Suddenly, Miss Wang frowned slightly, showing a somewhat dissatisfied expression.
"I was wrong!" Cui Jinqi rushed over, hugging Wang Wanrou's legs and tearfully pleaded, "Wanrou, my dear Wanrou, you must believe in my character! I absolutely won't say a word!"
However, Wang Wanrou continued to frown at her, making her feel chills down her spine and a growing sense of dread.
Cheng Jinyang sighed, unsure how Wang Wanrou would deal with the two girls. But given her intelligence, there was no need for him to intervene.
What no one knew was that Miss Wang wasn't thinking about how to deal with the two.
Her gaze remained on their faces—their mental interfaces were emitting psychological signals, filled with fear, dread, vigilance, anxiety, and various emotions.
Yet, there was no connection with Cheng Jinyang.
Or rather, under normal circumstances, no connection should be made. The truly abnormal case was Xing Yunzhi, Chu Qingqing, and herself.
Under the Mind Seal interface, Wang Wanrou could introspect and discover a hidden connection within her psyche linked to Cheng Jinyang. This connection acted like a network cable, forming the basis for her client and Cheng Jinyang's server to connect.
However, the method to establish this connection was still unknown. Based on logical reasoning and summarizing from the three existing samples, she could hypothesize:
1. The person must be a young female, with not too large an age difference.
2. The person must possess a special bloodline.
3. The person must have an unusual personality.
4. The person must have interacted with Cheng Jinyang.
Her friend Cui Jinqi should meet these four criteria. If she could establish a connection between her and Cheng Jinyang, monitoring the mental interface might reveal the conditions needed to form this connection.
The earlier statements were made intentionally for the eavesdroppers to provoke Cui Jinqi's emotions, to see if a connection could be formed during a surge of emotions.
It didn't work.
So, the conditions must be more than these four.
Indeed, it wasn't that simple. Time to try another condition.
"Step on him." Wang Wanrou suddenly pointed at Cheng Jinyang and said to Cui Jinqi.
Cheng Jinyang: ???
"Sorry, Cheng family brother." Cui Jinqi apologized and then quickly took off her slippers, cautiously stepping on his foot.
Still no change? Wang Wanrou patiently observed the mental interface.
Reflecting on the experiences of Xing Yunzhi, Chu Qingqing, and herself, each had done something to displease Cheng Jinyang before entering the dream.
Xing Yuanzhi sought to annul the engagement, Chu Qingqing had shot someone, and as for herself... surely it was her unparalleled beauty that made him envious, unfortunately.
So Wang Wanrou further hypothesized: perhaps the key to establishing the connection wasn't on the girls but on Cheng Jinyang. Provoking his dislike or resentment, possibly including the uniquely male 'the more annoying the woman, the more I want to possess and abuse her' vile desire, might activate his inner perverted server and generate the corresponding lowly connection signal.
Unfortunately, the experiment still showed no response. Hmm, maybe this hypothesis was wrong...
Wait, huh?
Wang Wanrou looked at Cheng Jinyang with a strange expression and asked:
"Do you enjoy being stepped on by Cui Jinqi?"
Cheng Jinyang: ...
"Go." Miss Wang ordered Cui Jinqi again, "Step on him harder this time, make it hurt."
"Don't go too far!" Cheng Jinyang stood up angrily, shouting.
It wasn't that he feared being stepped on; after all, the Cui family's little girl's foot was soft and didn't hurt. But a man's dignity could not be sullied!
Alright, this time he was genuinely angry. Wang Wanrou observed his expression, confirming this.
She monitored the mental interface again: sure enough, the signal shape had changed slightly, but its strength wasn't enough, and it was unclear if it related to the dream connection.
Cui Jinqi was also conflicted.
If she had to choose between offending Cheng family brother and offending Miss Wang, she'd definitely choose the former.
After all, she knew Wang Wanrou's character well; once hated, life would be miserable.
In comparison, Cheng Jinyang was easier to handle. If worse came to worst, she could act cute, play dumb, or plead for forgiveness. After all, stepping on someone wouldn't take away a piece of flesh, right?
So she said pitifully:
"Cheng family brother, you see, I have no choice..."
"Wang Wanrou, I don't know what game you're playing," Cheng Jinyang said sternly, "If you want to fight, come at me yourself. Is it fun to coerce and order others?"
Fight? The observing Li Qingwan's expression changed slightly.