Since all these rules and superstitions are outdated, what's wrong with me indulging in some me

Lu Changsheng's guilty conscience and feigned ease vanished completely. He fell silent, his gaze no longer darting away, but meeting Qingzhi's bloodshot eyes with a deep intensity. A mountain breeze blew by, ruffling the stray hairs on his forehead and dispelling the last vestige of his pretense.

"What nonsense are you talking about..." Lu Changsheng's gaze softened. "You've already entered the game, how could I not go and check on you?"

Aokiji swayed, as if struck by this blunt admission. Her lips moved, as if she wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

"You will die... Lu Changsheng, have you forgotten what your master said—"

"Master has agreed."

Lu Changsheng interrupted Qingzhi and took out a black memorial tablet from his pocket. The tablet gleamed softly in the twilight.

He looked at Aokiji's wide-open eyes, still brimming with tears, and found it somewhat amusing.

"I have cast the divination blocks three times, and they have all been positive. My master is willing to come down the mountain with me."

Qingzhi stood there blankly, looking at Lu Changsheng's smiling face and then at the memorial tablet in his arms. Tears finally rolled down her cheeks and fell in large drops onto the bluestone slab.

She stopped screaming and questioning, and simply lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly, like a helpless little animal drenched in rain.

Lu Changsheng felt a pang of sorrow in his heart. He knelt down to meet Qingzhi's gaze and softened his voice, "Qingzhi, I know you're afraid. But that's my fate. Since I can't escape it, I have to face it... isn't that right?"

He reached out and gently wiped away the tears on her face, his fingertips icy cold: "I promise you, I will do everything in my power to live well."

"Besides," he changed his tone, adding a hint of playful ease, "your senior brother here is so capable, proficient in everything from divination and talisman drawing to feng shui, and with our master's protection, how could I possibly give up so easily? Look, didn't I come out of the first book unscathed?"

Aokiji raised his tear-filled face, sobbing, and said in a muffled voice, "That was because you were lucky... Next time..."

"I will be more careful and better prepared next time."

Lu Changsheng assured him.

Aokiji sniffed and wiped his face haphazardly with his sleeve. Although his eyes were still red, the tense atmosphere had dissipated considerably, replaced by a more complex emotion.

She glanced at the memorial tablet on Lu Changsheng's chest, then at his serious face, and finally gave a heavy "humph" before turning her face away.

"That sounds nice... Anyway, I can't stop you." Her voice was muffled. "I'm going into a dungeon the day after tomorrow, you'll come with me."

Lu Changsheng was taken aback. He knew that Aokiji had been selected for the dungeon a year ago, but he didn't expect that Aokiji would be entering the dungeon again the day after tomorrow.

"Me, go with you? How...how can I go into the dungeon with you?"

Lu Changsheng scratched his head, somewhat confused.

"You can exchange 'carry cards' in the system shop. As long as the other party agrees, I can use the carry card to take you into the dungeon."

"Huh?"

Lu Changsheng was even more confused. He had checked the system shop, but there was no such "bring someone along" card!

"Are you stupid!"

Aokiji was easily appeased by Lu Changsheng's few words, reverting to his usual arrogant temperament. "Only high-level players who have cleared the dungeon many times can unlock this. Of course, I wouldn't dare let a newbie like you bring people into the dungeon!"

"So that's how it is..."

Lu Changsheng suddenly realized that his understanding of the system was still insufficient.

"How many points are allocated to that 'bring someone along' card?"

He asked again.

"Not much, just 10 points."

With a "I'm rich" expression, Aokiji raised his chin, but then realized he still had to look up at Lu Changsheng, so he raised his chin even higher in displeasure.

"It's a B-rank dungeon, not your newbie dungeon. If you drag me down in this dungeon, I won't let you off the hook."

She waved her little fist at Lu Changsheng.

"Understood, my little darling—"

Lu Changsheng poked the tuft of hair on Qingzhi's head when she wasn't looking.

Aokiji felt that someone had poked her ahoge (cowlick), but she had no evidence, nor did she need any. She was about to bite the person on the spot, but Lu Changsheng grabbed her by the throat.

"Say goodbye to Grandpa Li quickly, we'll come see him again in a couple of days!"

"Eh, eh!"

Grandpa Li appeared behind the two of them at some point, watching them playfully bicker with a smile.

"Goodbye, Grandpa Li!"

Aokiji instantly forgot what he was about to do and waved his little hand to say goodbye to Grandpa Li.

Behind him, Grandpa Li stood at the mountain gate until he watched the two figures, one big and one small, disappear into the winding mountain path, swallowed by the night and the shadows of the trees. After a long while, he let out a very soft sigh that was carried away by the wind.

-

Three days later.

At Lu Changsheng's house, the little girl Qingzhi crossed her legs and crunched on the potato chips in her mouth.

Lu Changsheng was somewhat helpless. In just three days, the little girl had almost finished off all the snacks that Cheng Caijun had brought.

This resulted in Cheng Caijun coming home exhausted every night, unable to find anything to eat.

He fought back fiercely, but after being soundly beaten by Aokiji, he became incredibly obedient and even spent money to order another box of potato chips online to offer to Aokiji.

Lu Changsheng was also having a headache caused by Qingzhi, that little devil. Before he entered the dungeon, this girl would avoid him every day, but now that he had become a game player, she had started to completely cling to him.

"Why--"

Lu Changsheng sighed, and the system's voice sounded precisely on cue—

[Player Name: Lu Changsheng]

[Copy Title: The Therapy of Silence]

[Instance Type: Faction]

Difficulty: B

Main Quest: Successfully help Ms. Zhang.

[10 seconds left countdown.]

Lu Changsheng and Aokiji exchanged a glance. The next second, Aokiji dumped the rest of the potato chips into his mouth and chewed them even more happily.

Lu Changsheng found it amusing. The ten-second countdown ended, and the familiar tearing sensation came. Lu Changsheng felt dizzy and everything went black.

[Countdown complete, global live stream begins, teleportation initiated]

At the same time, a large number of people quickly flooded into the live stream, and the number of viewers exceeded 100 million in just a few seconds.

Here it comes! I told you you could find good stuff if you stayed up late at night, right?

[Lu Shen has entered the dungeon again? It's only been a few days? Less than three? What a workaholic of the new era!]

[Holy crap, what's that little redhead doing here?]

[How dare you speak to our King Aokiji like that! Watch out, or our King will beat you to a pulp!]

Strangely, no one refuted this comment.

[You can tell if someone's got guts the moment they make a move!]

This is terrifying...

The moment Lu Changsheng opened his eyes, a blood-stained dagger was already pressed against his throat.

You're late.

A woman in a sharp suit stood in front of him, her eyebrows raised, wearing makeup, and expressionless.

"You know, I hate it when people are late."

"Therefore... anyone who is late will die!"