Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 208 The Deep Eyes of Time and Space
Haojin KTV in Muxu City.

Inside the top-tier VIP box, a huge projection screen in front of them was playing a tender and romantic music video, with the lyrics subtitles glowing with a faint blue light.

Ye Yinghuo requested a song by A-mei (Chang Hui-mei) called "Bloody Love Story" and sang it with Di Nanyin.

Ye Yinghuo's voice was terribly off-key, making it unbearable to listen to. In contrast, Di Nanyin's harmonies were ethereal and graceful, and her singing was comparable to that of a professional singer.

After a few glasses of "Bloody Mary," Ye Yinghuo's cheeks flushed.

She suddenly moved closer to Bernadette, her voice tinged with alcohol, and said, "Bernadette, I'm telling you... what are you really thinking?"

"What?" Bernadette took a sip of "Blue Hawaii". "I've already sung ten songs. You guys can sing the rest."

"Don't play dumb!" Ye Yinghuo poked her shoulder. "You've been with Blood Lord for so many years, and you're still just a deputy leader without any title or status. Has he never mentioned marrying you? Do you think I don't know that there have always been rumors that all the women around him are his mistresses? Don't you want to come clean sooner?"

Women about to get married often hope that their best friends can also find love and happiness like they have. They naturally feel that love and marriage are the same thing, with no difference between them.

Bernadette's fingers unconsciously caressed the ruby ​​necklace as she smiled bitterly, "He already told me he wouldn't get married."

"Why?" Ye Yinghuo's eyes widened. "With your strength and status, you're more than qualified to be the wife of the Bloodstained Leader! And if you register your marriage through the Reincarnation System, both of your strengths will advance even further! Are you really willing to follow him without any official status?"

Di Nanyin sighed and walked over, saying, "Yes, all the other women around him are only after his 'Bloody Regiment Commander' title, but you're different. You genuinely love him..."

Bernadette was silent for a moment, then suddenly tilted her head back and downed a whole glass of wine, saying, "For us reincarnators, romance is too much of a luxury. This way... it's fine too."

Ye Yinghuo persisted, her purple nails digging into the leather sofa: "I really don't understand what you see in him! This man is a womanizer, cold-blooded, and never seems to be without women... and yet, you insist on placing your heart on this playboy!"

Di Nanyin hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "I also heard that when he was in the Insect Cave, he had a chance to become the vice commander, but he was demoted by Lady Pustuca because of sexual harassment. It just didn't sound good when it got out, so they just said that he made a mistake and offended Lady Pustuca. Then Sima Jin reported him for using forbidden techniques..."

“That’s a frame-up!” Bernadette suddenly looked up, a fierce glint in her eyes. “I believe him!”

“A man’s words are deceitful.” Di Nanyin shook her head and said, “I told you before, if you feel sorry for a man, you’ll be unlucky for life, but you just wouldn’t listen.”

Ye Yinghuo immediately said, "Hey, Nanyin, no, that's not accurate. My dad is different. He's a good man who's faithful to his wife."

It took Di Nanyin a long time to stop herself from laughing.

Only a naive and innocent young lady like Ye Yinghuo would believe that Ye Xiu was such a good man. As someone whose soul imprint was planted by Ye Xiu, she was practically a slave, and therefore knew many of his secrets. He probably had more women around him than the Blood Lord, with his youngest mistress being a 19-year-old female college student. In fact, if Di Nanyin hadn't been so close to Ye Yinghuo—a classic case of "a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its burrow"—she herself might have been taken into Ye Xiu's harem. For Di Nanyin, who had her soul imprinted, this was something she simply couldn't resist.

At this moment, the music in the private room continued, but the atmosphere had frozen.

After a long while, Bernadette took a deep breath and forced a smile, "Forget it, let's not talk about that... Tonight is Firefly's bachelorette party, we should be happy."

Seeing that she didn't want to talk more, Ye Yinghuo tactfully changed the subject. She took out a velvet box and said, "Look! The engagement ring Li Yuanxiu gave me!"

Inside the box was a ring inlaid with black diamonds, which had a strong resistance to the contamination of rules.

"Although it's a strategic marriage, I really like Li Yuanxiu!" Ye Yinghuo's eyes lit up. Although she was only about twenty years old, she was already like a girl who had fallen in love. "He and your bloodthirsty Zhou Chen are both rare geniuses among the reincarnators!"

Di Nanyin nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, even Minister Long praised Li Yuanxiu's Golden Silkworm Gu, saying that he is the most promising candidate to kill Lady Pustules in the future."

At this moment, the music automatically switched to the next song—Eason Chan's "Red Rose".

Ye Yinghuo pulled the two of them to their feet, raising her glass high: "Come on! Tonight, we won't leave until we're drunk!"

Bernadette forced a smile and swayed gently to the rhythm.

The lyrics on the screen seemed to mock her situation—

"What you can't have always stirs your heart, and those who are favored are always fearless..."

"Oh dear," Ye Yinghuo said hurriedly, "Who chose this song? It's so unlucky, cut it right away!"

She stared at the swirling liquid in her glass, and in a daze, she saw the unfathomable eyes of the Blood Lord.

To say she didn't care about status at all wouldn't be realistic. But in this cruel world, she had long since realized that love was nothing but a mirage, a fleeting illusion; achieving real professional advancement was what mattered most. Only by advancing could she gain a higher position in the Blood Lord's heart. As for the many women around him… sigh, that's perfectly normal. The idea that emperors and princes in female-oriented novels are all about pure, lifelong love is just a fantasy for their pampered wives. Which capable man doesn't have multiple wives and concubines? Once she advances to LV4, no one can replace her position in the Bloodthirsty Team!

Ye Yinghuo poured herself another glass of "Bloody Mary," and after drinking it, she sang a few more songs.

Sigh… Bernadette shook her head, wondering if Firefly was getting a little too excited. Ultimately, it's a strategic marriage, but why does she seem so genuinely interested in romance? Isn't that a bit too naive?

Di Nanyin could easily see what Bernadette was thinking, and could only shake her head with a wry smile.

Both of them remembered that Ye Yinghuo had told them more than once, and they clearly remembered the scene when the two families arranged the marriage and they met for the first time.

At first, Ye Yinghuo was very dissatisfied with her father's arrangements for her life's major event, but upon first meeting Li Yuanxiu, this genius sorcerer and reincarnator, she, according to her, immediately fell in love at first sight. Of course, Di Nanyin and Benedetta both understood a truth: all love at first sight is essentially lust at first sight.

Ye Yinghuo recalled, "That day, Li Yuanxiu was standing in the courtyard wearing a black trench coat. When my father introduced us, the moment he turned to look at me..."

Bernadette still remembers that Ye Yinghuo cupped her cheeks and her voice softened unconsciously, "His eyes really lit up, like a luminous pearl was suddenly polished!"

There's no cure for being love-struck...

Di Nanyin took a sip of her cocktail, her eyelashes lowered to conceal the complex expression in her eyes. Of course she remembered that day—but Li Yuanxiu's gaze was hardly the look of love at first sight.
“But he’s really awkward usually… or rather, too arrogant!” Ye Yinghuo suddenly slammed her hand on the table in a huff. “Once, I fell and got injured in the training field, and the first thing he said when he came over was, ‘You’re supposed to be LV3, how come you can’t even master the basic movement techniques?’” She imitated Li Yuanxiu’s cold tone, but her eyes were shining with a sweet light.

Just then, the song switched to "The Truth Is True," and Bernadette suddenly stood up and grabbed Ye Yinghuo's hand, saying, "Let's sing this song together! Consider it an early blessing for your long and happy marriage."

At three in the morning, the neon sign of the KTV blurred with light in the rain.

The three women staggered to the door. Ye Yinghuo suddenly turned around and hugged the two women, saying, "Nanyin, this time you'll be my bridesmaid, Xiao Dai. When I throw the bridal bouquet, remember to catch it..."

So drunk, and then I checked my Reincarnator Watch and my SAN value dropped by a full 5%! That's incredible... How bad must my alcohol tolerance be? If everyone were like this, nobody would dare buy alcohol anymore.

Di Nanyin supported her limp body, and Benadida also came up to lend a hand.

In any case, given the current situation, none of the three of them can drive.

"Let's go back." Di Nanyin forced a smile, took out her phone, and tapped the Didi Chuxing app.

When the car arrived, Benedetta said she could go back by herself, as she was the one with the best alcohol tolerance.

Di Nanyin agreed and pulled Ye Yinghuo into the car.

After getting on the bus, Ye Yinghuo in the back seat was still humming an off-key love song, while Di Nanyin hugged her to her chest and patted her back.

Di Nanyin, whose soul imprint was planted by Ye Xiu, has only one purpose in life: to protect Ye Yinghuo. As long as Ye Xiu is not by Ye Yinghuo's side, she must protect her 24 hours a day. She has no life of her own and no will of her own.

However, Ye Yinghuo truly regarded Di Nanyin as her best friend.

“Firefly,” Di Nanyin brushed aside Ye Yinghuo’s slightly disheveled hair, “I wish you a happy marriage.”

……

wedding day.

Outside the Rose Blue Hotel, a red carpet stretching for hundreds of meters ran from the revolving door all the way to the street corner. The platinum five-star hotel before them was transformed into a fairyland. After all, both parties involved in the wedding were of extremely high status, and this marriage symbolized the union of the Rock Group and the Membrane Pollution Monitoring Department, ensuring future financial support for the official reincarnators.

A large "concentric knot" floats in the center of the hotel lobby. This is not just for decoration; it can not only resist memetic pollution, but is also a priceless psionic artifact.

The carpet on the ground has a hidden secret: with each step, a double lotus pattern will bloom—this is a "lotus step" formation specially made by Xiao Tianze at Ye Xiu's request. On the one hand, it has a good meaning, and on the other hand, if anyone dares to attack, the formation will be quickly triggered.

At the main entrance of the hotel, eight greeters, all reincarnated individuals, stood on either side, each wearing a special badge on their chest—a unique identification badge made specifically for today's wedding banquet, each inlaid with a miniature protective array.

Their method of checking invitations was extremely luxurious: the gold-embossed envelopes handed over by guests would be placed in a bronze cauldron filled with ambergris incense, and only genuine invitations marked with the scent of the newlyweds would have the words "a match made in heaven" appear in vermilion ink.

After passing the inspection, Jiang Jin and the others boarded the elevator.

The main wedding venue is located in the rooftop starry sky hall.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Jiang Jin was stunned by the sight before him—beneath his feet was a complete Tai Chi Bagua platform, and the eyes of a Yin-Yang fish mural on the ground were inlaid with two fragments of resentment crystals! The crystal chandeliers hanging from the dome faintly showed flowing runes; and in the center of each dining table was a golden coral bonsai, all of which were magical artifacts that could both ward off evil and add to the festivities.

"This is quite a spectacle!" Xu Yinqiu gasped. "They're really rolling in money."

The waiters were all dressed in bulletproof tailcoats, and at their waists were either walkie-talkies or memetic contamination detectors, standard issue for employees in the monitoring department.

"This is too exaggerated." Jiang Jin had just muttered when he suddenly saw Li Ruoxi rushing over in ten-centimeter high heels. After all, many government officials had come to such a wedding, so how could Old Master Li's family not be there?

Li Ruoxi didn't care about Liu Yan behind Jiang Jin at this moment. She ran up and grabbed Jiang Jin, her nails almost poking his chin: "Jiang Jin! Explain yourself! I was worried that your family would be quarantined due to memetic contamination. How did you suddenly become the director of the Jinlin Branch and my superior?"

"Well, it's a long story..."

"Then let's make a long story short!"

Jiang Jin smiled wryly. "You know I'm your boss now, right? But that makes sense, considering how powerful his backing is."

Of course, it's impossible to tell the truth; she wouldn't believe me anyway.

Jiang Jin said solemnly, "During my time in the patrol team, I handled several meme contamination incidents and was promoted ahead of schedule."

"Bullshit!" Li Ruoxi didn't believe a word of it. "Do you think I don't know? Minister Long personally recommended you to the government! And then the transfer order came right away. Jiang Jin, what kind of relationship do we have? You even kept it from me? Don't you have any sense of loyalty?"

Liu Yan walked up and said, "Yes, Ruoxi, that's really how it is... You may not believe him, but you'll believe me, right?"

Li Ruoxi looked at Liu Yan, about to ask further, when her father came over and said that many important government officials were present and that she should go to greet them.

"Jiang Jin, you'd better explain yourself to me later!"

After Li Ruoxi left, Yu Tianlun asked Jiang Jin, completely bewildered, "Who...who is this?"

"My colleague... is a bit of a bold and outspoken person."

"She just said 'old lady,' right?" Xu Yinqiu asked in surprise, "She's a woman?"

Jiang Jin: "..."

Before Jiang Jin could answer, music suddenly filled the banquet hall. Flower girls and boys began to enter, and the guests began to take their seats according to their official ranks.

The groom, Li Yuanxiu, who was in charge of greeting the guests, was wearing a well-fitting groom's suit, but his brows and eyes still held a frosty expression.

At the same time, Jiang Jin noticed Ye Xiu. He was wearing a seemingly ordinary dark blue Zhongshan suit, but Yu Tianlun could tell that it was sewn with the spider silk of Jorogumo that he had brought back from the Hundred Ghosts Parade dungeon.

Officials and reincarnators kept coming up to congratulate Ye Xiu, but they all kept a subtle distance. Strangely, however, no one shook hands with Ye Xiu.

"That must be the [Turtle of Achilles], right?" Jiang Jin's dark eyes could see the faint spatial distortion around Ye Xiu.

“Yes, it’s an incredibly powerful rule-based skill,” Yu Tianlun exclaimed in admiration. “With this skill, no matter how close you are to him, no one’s body or possessions can touch him in the slightest. Even if you drive a car and floor the gas pedal and crash into him, you won’t hit his body. Only objects that he is willing to touch can be touched, but as for a person’s body, even if he is willing, he cannot touch it at all.”

Xu Yinqiu added, "He figured out this skill on his own, and it doesn't consume SAN points. So, unless he's spending time with his family in private, he always keeps this skill active, even when he's eating or sleeping."

"This skill works on...ghosts too, right?"

"Yes. This skill is effective in both the material and polluted layers."

Looking at Ye Xiu in front of him, Jiang Jin couldn't help but admire him in his heart: A true man should be like this!
Just then, a voice suddenly came: "Who are you?"

Jiang Jin looked over and saw a tall man in a suit.

“Commander Tang,” Yu Tianlun immediately stepped forward and said, “we were invited by Commander Ye…”

"Who are you?"

"Yu Tianlun, leader of the Nirvana team."

"Oh! It's you guys..." The man surnamed Tang in front of him revealed a disdainful expression: "I've heard quite a bit about your deeds these past few days. Alright, since you're here, find a place to sit. I don't have time to entertain you."

At that moment, he suddenly remembered something and said, "Hey, which one is Jiang Jin?"

"Yes, that's me." Jiang Jin vaguely sensed that the man surnamed Tang in front of him seemed somewhat unfriendly.

"Oh, it's you..." The man surnamed Tang walked up and said, "You alone wiped out everyone in the Old Core?"

He looked left and right, then said, "I think... could it be that you're colluding with the old core, working together from the inside?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Tianlun immediately became furious.

"Commander Tang, please don't speak carelessly!"

Yu Tianlun knew that the man in front of him was arrogant and conceited. His full name was Tang Zhengzhe, Ye Xiu's only disciple, the leader of the first division of the Yongmeng team, the Mingdie team, and a Soul Refiner LV3.

"My master has been praising you to me these past few days, but I'm not convinced. Who can master such powerful rule-based skills at LV1?" Tang Zhengzhe said coldly. "Mr. Jiang, since you're so powerful, why don't you show me what you're capable of and let me see if you're just all talk! Don't worry, everyone entering the venue during the wedding is allowed to use their professional skills."

Jiang Jin said coldly, "I was invited to the wedding, why should I prove myself in front of you?"

"Haha, I knew you were nothing special! Fine, since you're here for a wedding, sit quietly and enjoy the meal. If you have any ill intentions, don't blame me for being impolite!"

This time, Liu Yan couldn't stand it anymore and slapped Jiang Jin hard on the back: "Why don't you show us your [Space-Time Deep Eyes]!"

In truth, Jiang Jin had no interest in such a low-level provocation, but since Liu Yan had spoken up and Yu Tianlun seemed to tacitly agree, Jiang Jin said, "Alright!"

Anyway, the purpose of coming here is to help guard against the old core, and since I haven't used this professional skill before, it wouldn't hurt to use it once as an experiment.

Jiang Jin's spacetime-deep gaze swept over the wedding banquet hall, and then... he activated it!
But the next moment, Jiang Jin saw something incredulous...

Half an hour later, in the center of the wedding venue, Ye Xiu was found lying on the ground, covered in blood! Ye Yinghuo, dressed in a wedding gown, was holding him, crying desperately! And Li Yuanxiu, the groom, was holding a dagger in his hand, which was dripping blood continuously!

(End of this chapter)