Though the message on that note had deeply disturbed her, the fact that she survived this round of attacks was still something to be thankful for. As for dealing with the aftermath, a single phone call to Wang Tingsi would be enough. He could send someone to handle cleanup.
Right now, she was more concerned about her parents. The system had warned her earlier that something had happened to them. After calling Wang Tingsi, she checked her status and saw a new message:
"Passive effect of 'The Gloves Abandoned by the Ladykiller' has activated. Host has entered Lucky E state for one hour."
"During this period, everything you do will deviate significantly and result in misfortune. Please act with caution. It's best to stay alone. Otherwise, you might end up as the next Lancer. Good luck. ("Just be a spearman for once" — Your loving system.)"
Why did reading that make her want to flip a table? Damn it, how much did the system enjoy her misery? What had she ever done to deserve this?
She was speechless toward the system that acted even more playfully than she did. Although she often called out "System" when addressing Ayase, Ayase was more like the head steward of the system.
The system itself had both intelligence and a soul, but it was like a terminal hidden deep in the network—present yet unreachable. Ayase was the only bridge between her and it.
She'd been worried at first that the system's consciousness might be some creepy old man, but Ayase had reassured her that its designer had set it to have a female identity. That calmed her down.
Quietly walking back to her bedroom, she climbed into bed, curled up hugging her knees in the corner, chin resting on them, and looked out the window with a melancholic gaze.
"Ayase, how are they? Is it serious?" she asked softly.
Ayase sighed quietly in the consciousness space. She knew Chu Lian was referring to the parents of this body. Chu Lian still hadn't truly accepted this world, subconsciously rejecting everything outside of herself. It was a mental block that only time and emotional stimulus could erase. So she didn't press it.
"Their main target this time was you. Your parents were just pawns used to divert attention. Aside from being involved in a minor car accident and suffering a scare and a few light injuries, they only need a short hospital stay. Nothing serious."
After Ayase said this, she waited a long time, but Chu Lian didn't respond. Her intuition stirred. She had a feeling she understood what was going on.
Appearing silently before Chu Lian, Ayase hovered midair.
Gazing into Chu Lian's tear-filled eyes, she reached out and gently wiped away the tears at the corners. Pressing her cheek softly to Chu Lian's, she stroked her hair gently and whispered:
"Don't think too much. Even if everything in this world feels unfamiliar to you, at least I will always be here for you."
"Maybe I'm hiding a lot of secrets from you, but when the time is right, I promise I'll tell you everything."
She understood Chu Lian's emotions in that moment—nearly a year of pent-up feelings had finally erupted. Silent tears were her quiet form of release. Being able to cry was good. It meant healing.
Feeling the warmth of Ayase's cheek against hers, Chu Lian stared ahead in a daze for a while, then slowly closed her eyes. A peaceful smile tugged at her lips as she rubbed her face gently against Ayase's. This feeling of being cared for and loved—it was wonderful.
After a while, Ayase let go. Seeing her eyes closed, her breathing soft and even, her rosy lips gently pursed—she had fallen asleep.
Ayase sighed again, then waved her hand over Chu Lian, erasing the "Lucky E" status from her status bar.
Of course, that only removed its visible effect from Chu Lian. The actual curse of "Lucky E" hadn't vanished—it had just been extracted.
Ayase planned to pass it on to someone else soon.
"Wang Tingsi, don't blame me for being ruthless. You're the reason she got involved with the Otherside so much earlier than planned. This is just a small punishment..." Ayase had already decided to pass the misfortune beacon to Wang Tingsi. With his usual luck, he probably wouldn't suffer anything life-threatening, but giving him a rough time? Totally worth it.
Three minutes later, someone knocked on Chu Lian's front door. Ayase appeared in physical form, dressed in a long red dress, red high heels clicking softly as she walked to the door, her long hair flowing behind her.
She opened the door without even glancing at the stunned Wang Tingsi, then turned and headed back upstairs, stopping at the hallway near the living room. Leaning on the railing and gently swirling a glass of red wine, she said flatly, "Because Lian'er helped you before, she got dragged into the Otherside's conflicts. These people were sent by them to capture her."
"As for the details, I won't explain. Just deal with them. I know who you are in the Otherside and understand why they targeted you. But that's none of my business. Just make sure trash like this never hurts Lian'er again."
Wang Tingsi gestured to his team to take care of the unconscious intruders scattered throughout the house. Then he sat on the couch and frowned at Ayase's back.
"Who are you? I know everything about Lian'er's household—you're not in any of it. So why are you here? How do you know who I am or about the Otherside? And where is Lian'er now? Is she alright?" Her sudden appearance was too suspicious, and he had every reason to question her motives.
"You don't need to know who I am. You're not qualified yet. And your so-called secret identity and the Otherside? There are plenty of ways to know about them. No need to explain. As for why I'm here..."
"Because Lian'er is the most important person to me. No harm in telling you that. She's in her room, sleeping. Your men should be able to see her from the hallway outside her door. Lastly, Lian'er isn't someone you can casually refer to. Unless she or I permit it, you don't have that right."
Still facing away, Ayase finished her glass of wine. But in that moment, the pressure she had been suppressing all this time exploded outward.
Wang Tingsi, who had just stood up to press further, was instantly overwhelmed. An immense force bore down on him. His limbs refused to move. Strength drained from his body. His consciousness blurred, and even breathing became difficult. It wasn't just a matter of strength—this was the natural pressure of a higher being bearing down on a lower one.
Fortunately, Ayase had no intention of crushing him entirely. She just didn't want to talk anymore. Once she felt her point was made, she withdrew the oppressive aura.
Wang Tingsi now understood clearly—this woman was not someone he could afford to provoke. Though he still cared deeply for Chu Lian, when he saw a subordinate on the second floor nodding to him, indicating she was safe, he let go of the urge to question further.
What mattered most now was identifying who these intruders were and why they had targeted Chu Lian. If possible, he also needed to find out who this mysterious woman truly was.
Seeing his team had restrained the five attackers, Wang Tingsi gave Ayase one last deep look, then silently led the team out the door. Regardless of anything else, this incident was his fault. He had both a moral and practical obligation to protect Chu Lian going forward.
But what he didn't know was that when Ayase released that oppressive aura earlier, she had already transferred the misfortune beacon from Chu Lian onto him. In the next few dozen minutes, he would experience a string of bizarre and incredibly unlucky events—possibly the unluckiest stretch of his entire life.
Once the door closed, Ayase faded back into incorporeal form and let out a slow breath. "Finally gone. If he'd stayed any longer, I wouldn't have been able to hold this form. I nearly had to kill him. But if scaring him works, that's enough. Whew..."
"Lucky E... such a lovely trait. From now on, it'll be your constant companion whenever you have indecent thoughts about my dear Chu Lian..." Although "The Gloves Abandoned by the Ladykiller" only activated ten times, there would be more items in the future that triggered Lucky E. It would be more than enough to keep him in check. Ohohohoho...
What can we say? Whether it's a loli or a mature lady—cut her open, and she's black on the inside all the same.