In the nightmare.
"Ahahahaha! Ahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahahaha!"
Amidst the bizarre, deranged laughter, Miss Qingqing wielded a giant steel blade, dismembering the immobilized creatures stuck in the trap into fragments of blood and flesh.
Cheng Jinyang: ...
She was a gentle, soft girl before we fell asleep, but now she's turned into a bloodthirsty demon!
"Not enough! Not enough, not enough, not enough! More blood! More!" Miss Qingqing continued to laugh hysterically as she swung the giant blade, hacking and slashing furiously at the already pulverized chunks of flesh stuck in the trap, resembling a butcher making minced meat.
"Stop it!" Cheng Jinyang finally couldn't hold back and shouted, "If you keep going, it'll turn into mush! And then the ghosts will spawn!"
Without Yang Wangshu's electromagnetic detection, there was no way to kill the optically invisible ghosts, so after completing three rounds of demon levels, they had to retreat to the safe house to wait for the ghosts to despawn.
Miss Qingqing turned her head, her bloodshot eyes filled with hesitation, greed, and cruelty. For a moment, Cheng Jinyang instinctively assumed a fighting stance, only to see the madness in her eyes gradually fade, followed by a weary nod.
...I almost thought she was going to attack me.
Back in the safe house, Chu Qingqing's expression had returned to normal.
Cheng Jinyang couldn't help but ask her about what had just happened.
"Just now?" Chu Qingqing seemed a bit nervous, "Just now, it was mainly because the pressure had been building up for too long, and I couldn't hold it back for a moment. But don't think too badly of me, I can still stay rational. How could I possibly attack you?"
"Speaking of which, does this method really work?" Cheng Jinyang questioned, "I feel like you're sprinting uncontrollably towards becoming a psycho."
"Nonsense!" Miss Qingqing retorted, annoyed, "Of course it works! I haven't entered the nightmare in a long time, and the psychological pressure was about to explode. Sometimes, just seeing a passerby with their back to me gives me a hunting impulse to stab them."
"After releasing the pressure this time, don't I look much better? Isn't my whole demeanor more normal?"
"Sorry, my impression of you is still stuck on the image of you crazily pounding meat paste." Cheng Jinyang sighed, "Isn't there any other way to treat your condition?"
"No way." Chu Qingqing shrugged, "The doctor said it's mainly an organic brain disorder, which can't be directly cured through normal psychological intervention."
"I see." Cheng Jinyang thought, why does this sound familiar...oh, I have the same condition. No wonder.
Thinking this, he looked at Miss Qingqing with a newfound sense of shared affliction.
"Speaking of which..." While waiting for the ghost to refresh and disappear, Chu Qingqing, feeling bored, sat down on the sofa beside him and smiled, "For boys, a girl with violent tendencies is actually a turn-off, right?"
Cheng Jinyang instinctively replied:
"If it hits the kink, even if you're covered in fur, someone will like you; if it doesn't, even if you have big breasts and long legs, someone will be indifferent."
"So, what's your kink?" Miss Qingqing seized the opportunity to ask.
"Of course it's..." Cheng Jinyang abruptly stopped, warily saying, "Why are you asking?"
"Gossip!" Chu Qingqing replied matter-of-factly, "Isn't it normal for girls to be interested in other people's privacy?"
"I'm at a loss for words." Cheng Jinyang had no good way to respond with, "You're talking nonsense, girls should actually be this or that," so after a brief silence, he said:
"As for me, it's simple. First, she has to like me."
"So if someone doesn't like you, you'd rather give up than put effort into chasing her?" Miss Qingqing looked disappointed.
"Of course, because I'm a devoted person." Cheng Jinyang said righteously, "Once I like someone, I won't change my feelings. So I have to make sure she likes me too, or I'd just become a loyal simp."
Chu Qingqing was silent for a long time and then said:
"Sometimes I can't tell if you're naturally like this or if you've been influenced after being with Wanrou for so long."
"Are you talking about wisdom?" Cheng Jinyang laughed heartily.
"No, it's your thick skin!" Chu Qingqing finally couldn't stand it and lunged to pinch his cheek.
Cheng Jinyang instinctively tried to dodge, but he was a bit slow and got completely tackled by Miss Qingqing.
....
The next morning.
When Cheng Jinyang slowly woke up, he saw that Chu Qingqing had already changed her clothes and was ready to go out with her bag in hand.
"By the way," she suddenly remembered something, pulled out a stack of cash from her bag, and tossed it onto the bed. "I heard that most of your family's assets are trapped in the Pukou District? I don't have much money, but take this and use it."
"Why cash and not an electronic transfer?" Cheng Jinyang sat up, yawning widely.
"Dummy, electronic transfers leave records that can trace the recipient, okay? My family is watching closely now. I can't be associated with a fifth-grade family's descendant," Miss Qingqing said with a cold smile.
"So, what about last night?"
"That was a secret rendezvous!" she declared righteously, walking over to give Cheng Jinyang a hug. "No more talking, I have to go now. Check out by yourself later."
The beauty had left, leaving only a faint fragrance in the air. Cheng Jinyang gathered himself and couldn't help but recall the wild night.
Miss Qingqing really was a handful; after a night with her, he felt like his body was falling apart.
Of course, it was just mental exhaustion.
He picked up his phone again and saw a message from Miss Wang, sent ten minutes after he had hung up last night.
"If you have time, come to the Taiyuan Wang family's estate to see me."
Cheng Jinyang: ???
Under normal circumstances, he would have gone straight away. But the Emperor had mentioned yesterday that Grand Secretary Wang Maohong would likely try to test him soon.
So, was this really Miss Wang's own idea, or was she conveying a message from her father?
So Cheng Jinyang replied:
"Are you asking me out on a date, or to meet your parents?"
After a moment, she quickly responded:
"Neither, just to check if there's something wrong with your brain."
"Alright, I'm on my way," Cheng Jinyang immediately replied.
To be honest, he wasn't particularly nervous about the Grand Secretary seeking him out, but if it was Miss Wang's father, that made him a bit anxious.
After all, he had shared a bed with the man's daughter for so long. If, as Qingqing suggested, they had some evidence and planned to trick him into coming over to castrate him...
Stop, stop, stop! Don't scare yourself!