MM Racing Chapter 75 The kites are not asleep, nor are the sparrows.
Chapter 75 The kites are not asleep, nor are the sparrows.
As night deepened, the artificial skylight on the Luofu Immortal Boat dimmed, simulating a tranquil starry night.
On the edge of Changletian, in the small courtyard of Qingque's family, she had already fallen into a deep sleep, her breathing even.
However, a being that doesn't need sleep is idly "watching" her.
The next instant, Qingyuan's figure appeared silently beside Qingque's bed, like ripples on water.
She crouched down, gazing with interest at the face that resembled her own, yet slept completely unguarded. Then, she reached out and gently poked the other person's cheek with her finger.
"Hey, wake up."
Qingque frowned in her dream, mumbled something indistinctly, and turned over.
"Get up and play with me." Qingyuan's voice carried a mischievous laugh as she leaned closer.
A sense of disorientation washed over Qingque as her sleep was abruptly interrupted, and she groggily opened her eyes.
When she finally saw the magnified, familiar yet unfamiliar face beside her pillow in the dim light from the window, she was so startled she almost jumped out of bed. "You...! How did you get in?!"
She huddled in the corner of the bed, clutching the blanket, wide awake and filled with terror.
"You just walked in. I can swipe your card anytime." Qingyuan answered matter-of-factly, as if discussing the weather. "You're sleeping so soundly, but I can't sleep. How boring."
Qingque took a deep breath and tried to reason with her: "Miss Qingyuan, it is late at night! Disturbing someone's sleep is not the act of a gentleman!"
If you have nothing else to do, why don't you go meditate and gaze at the stars, so I can continue to sleep peacefully?
She deliberately softened her tone, making it pleading.
"No." Qingyuan shook her head, then her eyes lit up, and she made a suggestion that made Qingque's scalp tingle even more, "Otherwise..."
"I'll sleep with you? I promise it'll be quiet!" she said sincerely, even moving forward slightly.
"Absolutely not!" Qingque's voice rose, she gripped the corner of the blanket tightly, her face full of resistance and "This is outrageous."
Seeing Qingque's alarmed expression, Qingyuan blinked, seemingly somewhat disappointed.
But he still showed no intention of leaving, only gazing at her expectantly with those eyes that were unusually clear even in the dark.
Blue Sparrow's brain was racing under the pressure of drowsiness, fright, and the need to get rid of this person quickly.
He couldn't beat them, he couldn't drive them away with words, and he couldn't reason with them... His gaze fell on the Imperial Jade Tablet Box in the corner, and a thought flashed through his mind.
"We..." she cleared her throat, trying to make her voice sound more appealing, "...how about we go play cards?"
"Playing cards?" Qingyuan's eyes lit up instantly, as if she had heard something extremely interesting. "Is it that Imperial Jade you mentioned during the day? Great!"
Anything is fine as long as I can get out of this bed and out of this room.
Qingque immediately got up, put on her coat, and pulled Qingyuan out of the house.
Although Changletian is quiet, there are always lights on in some places.
She knew her way around and slipped into a small card room that was still open. Inside, the room was filled with smoke, and a few card players who had stayed up all night were sitting around.
Soon, they gathered four people – in addition to the two of them, there was an old craftsman who had just finished his night shift and a young cloud rider taking a break.
The game begins.
Qingque felt a little more at ease, thinking that she could find a normal way to communicate at the card table, and perhaps even let this "future self" experience some ordinary fun.
However, her plan soon failed.
After just a few rounds, Qingque painfully realized that Qingyuan was neither a hidden master nor a novice with a little knowledge.
She can't even remember the most basic rules!
Or rather, her understanding of the "Jade Token" seemed to have some strange deviation from the rules commonly used in reality.
She would even hesitate and ask, "Can this card be used as another type of card?"
When it's her turn to play, she can think for a long time about the good cards in her hand, and then play a "safe card" that makes everyone's eyelids jump, completely disregarding her own hand.
What made Qingque even more exasperated was that Qingyuan seemed to completely lack the concepts of "defense" and "observation," often feeding cards to her partner while looking completely innocent.
When Qingque played cards with Qingyuan, he felt like he wasn't playing cards, but rather engaging in a highly difficult exercise of "avoiding pits" and "filling pits".
She not only had to calculate her own cards, but also had to be distracted to guess what "surprise" Qingyuan would play next, while enduring the occasional glances from the two of them that were a mixture of reproach and sympathy.
What a rip-off! No, I mean, what a rip-off of my teammates!
This isn't playing cards! This is practically cleaning up the mess left by some inexplicable scumbag!
Qingque felt even more exhausted than when she had worked overtime for three consecutive days to organize astrological files.
Finally, after a quick defeat due to Qingyuan's incomprehensible actions, the young Yunqi couldn't help but rub his temples, and the old craftsman also sighed and shook his head.
The atmosphere in the card game became somewhat awkward.
Qingque acted decisively, stood up, apologized a few times, paid a small "tea loss fee," and quickly pulled Qingyuan, who was still enjoying herself and seemed to find it quite interesting, away from the card room.
Walking into the deserted streets and alleys, the night breeze made Qingque feel alive again.
She turned around and looked at Qingyuan, who still looked relaxed, as if she had just had a novel experience. Finally, she couldn't hold back any longer and poured out all the complaints she had been holding back all night:
"My God... Miss Qingyuan, how did you do that?"
Her voice was filled with disbelief, "It's one thing to remember the rules wrong, but your way of playing cards... it's as if you've never even encountered this set of rules before!"
Is there any "Bluebird" in the world who can't play the Imperial Jade Card?!
This was even more mind-blowing than the idea that the other person was her future self.
In Luofu, one can imagine that Qingque would not play two hands of jade tiles, no matter what the possibility is.
This is almost an instinct ingrained in Qingque's character.
Qingyuan was taken aback by the question, then touched her chin and looked thoughtful: "Hmm... the rules."
When I watched you play, it seemed a little different from the card games I "knew" about.
She spoke vaguely, her eyes somewhat unfocused, "In the rules I'm familiar with, 'Red Center' doesn't seem to be used like that, and also..."
Qingque was dumbfounded. What was all this about? Which jade tile was called "Red Center"?
So... you don't even recognize all the cards?!
This thought struck Qingque like lightning, instantly clearing her mind.
She looked at Qingyuan's face, which was full of innocence and thirst for knowledge, and then thought about the "Red Center" rules that the other party had mentioned, which were completely inconsistent with her own.
An even more alarming speculation emerged—could it be that the divination of Fu Taibu and the general was true?
This person actually took the "Chaos Doctor's" cognitive drugs to fight against the erosion of nothingness, and as a result, even the card-playing instinct etched into Qingque's bones became distorted and disordered?
Is the drug really that potent?! That's something that's ingrained in my persona!
Qingque shivered violently and shook her head, trying to shake off the unsettling association.
Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. If I keep thinking about it, I'm afraid I'll develop an even deeper fear of the "future".
Now all she wants is to go back to her warm bed and drown out all the bizarre encounters and incomprehensible mysteries with sleep.
Even if Fu Taibu really lies in her bed tomorrow urging her to go to work (although the probability of that is even lower than Qing Yuan playing cards), she still wants to get some sleep first!
With a "what the heck" attitude, Qingque practically dragged Qingyuan home, who was still full of enthusiasm and seemed to have just finished an interesting social practice session.
Exhausted, she pointed towards the guest room, then plunged into the bedroom, intending to close the door behind her.
"Wait." A hand braced against the door, and Qingyuan peeked in, a pure smile on her face that was hard to refuse. "You promised to sleep together?"
Qingque: "..."
Looking at the expectant expression on the other person's face, which was exactly like her own, and then thinking about the chaos and exhaustion of the night, she suddenly felt that she didn't even have the energy to argue.
Oh well, oh well, anyway, this face will just look the same after a while. It's better than being scared awake in the middle of the night again.
"Whatever, do as you please..." She opened the door listlessly, collapsed onto the bed in despair, rolled herself up in the blanket, and turned her back to the outside, expressing with her actions, "I'm going to sleep, don't bother me."
The rustling sound of clothes being undressed filled the air, and the other side of the bed dipped slightly. Qingque kept her eyes tightly shut, trying hard to ignore the fact that there was someone behind her, desperately giving herself a mental pep talk:
Just think of it as having an extra large, life-sized body pillow, a heater, and...
The next second, a soft, warm body pressed against her, its arms naturally encircling her waist, loosely holding her and the blanket together. Its chin even rubbed against the top of her head, letting out a satisfied sigh.
Qingque was as stiff as a coffin lid.
"What are you doing?!" She struggled violently like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, trying to break free from the overly intimate embrace. "Let go! Why are you hugging me like an octopus?! Are we that close?!"
Qingyuan, standing behind him, seemed puzzled. She loosened her grip slightly, but not completely. Her voice, muffled and confused, came through the blanket: "Aren't you uncomfortable? It's very warm like this. And..."
She paused, her voice almost overflowing with pure affection, "Holding you feels so good."
Qingque was going crazy. She didn't understand, she simply couldn't comprehend this kind of closeness that had no boundaries whatsoever!
Even if... even if this guy really is some kind of "future self", that's still no reason for me to hug and cuddle him!
Imagine someone who looks exactly like you, looking at you with such tender, almost ethereal eyes in the dead of night, as if you were a priceless treasure, and then using both hands and feet to hug you like a pillow...
Believe me, anyone with a sound mind would be horrified and have their hair stand on end!
That night, Qingque's eyes, staring at the bed curtains, never closed again.
The even breathing behind her and the warmth emanating from her body through the fabric felt like a silent torture, constantly reminding her of the enormous, living, and incomprehensible "mystery" lying beside her.
Even as the artificial light outside the window began to turn white, she remained in her initial stiff posture, her mind torn between extreme drowsiness and high tension, resulting in complete insomnia.
The next day, the chief priest.
With dark circles under her eyes, Qingque staggered to Fu Xuan and, in a near-collapse tone, incoherently recounted the entire ordeal of last night's "card game horror" and "bedtime nightmare."
"...So, Master Diviner," she finally grabbed Fu Xuan's sleeve, her eyes pleading, "even if cognitive drugs affect memory and logic, something as basic as 'playing cards'—it shouldn't be completely forgotten, right? She...she can't even recognize all the cards! And she was talking about 'Red Dragon'!"
After listening, Fu Xuan pondered for a moment and did not comment on the absurd experience of "sharing a room". Instead, he calmly analyzed: "Generally speaking, the role of cognitive drugs is to distort or cover up the understanding and memory of reality."
However, the impact on 'instincts' that are deeply imprinted in behavioral patterns and muscle memory is relatively limited.
Especially for popular forms of entertainment like Qiongyu Pai, whose basic rules and conditioned reflexes have long been integrated into daily life.
She looked at Qingque and pointed out, "Think carefully about her movements of touching, looking at, and arranging the cards. Is there even a trace of clumsiness or awkwardness in her movements as a novice?"
Is the hesitation when playing a card due to a lack of understanding of the rules, or is it more like... being confused by the differences in the rules?
Qingque was stunned and thought back carefully.
Indeed, Qingyuan's fingers holding the cards looked quite natural, her card-laying speed was not slow, and even the casual flick of her fingers when drawing a card carried an indescribable sense of skill.
Her "inability" is more like the sense of incongruity and disorientation that a master of a complex game of chess would feel when suddenly asked to play according to a simplified and different set of rules, rather than a complete blank slate.
"It seems... like it's not my first time at a card table."
Qingque murmured...
On the other side, on the other side, beside the martial arts training ground of the Shence Mansion.
Yanqing sheathed his sword, his forehead still bearing traces of lingering sharpness and a thin layer of sweat.
He glanced at Jing Yuan, who was leisurely sipping tea not far away, hesitated for a moment, and then walked over.
"General," Yanqing said, his eyes gleaming with eagerness, "I've heard that the young lady Qingyuan, who was personally 'invited' back by the Marshal, possesses unfathomable strength."
He considered his words carefully, since the word "capture" was somewhat disrespectful. "If I were to spar with her... what do you think my chances of winning would be?"
Jing Yuan paused slightly in his cup-holding hand, raised his eyes to look at his proud and arrogant disciple, a hint of amusement and deeper meaning flashing in his golden eyes.
He didn't answer directly, but instead took a slow sip of tea before saying in a gentle voice:
"Yanqing, your sword is swift and your heart is sincere. Given time, you will surely become a pillar of the immortal ship."
He put down his teacup, his tone calm yet carrying an undeniable weight, "But some beings have a source of power that cannot be measured by ordinary 'sparring'."
The marshal's personal intervention has its reasons.
His gaze drifted into the distance, as if piercing through the walls of the mansion, and he saw that unrestrained figure: "Debating with her is not something you should be thinking about right now."
If you're truly interested, you should think more about how to make your sword faster, more stable, and more accurate. Wait until you feel confident enough to cut through that invisible 'barrier' surrounding her before asking me this question.
Upon hearing this, Yanqing's grip on his sword tightened subconsciously, and the burning light in his eyes subsided slightly. However, he still had a small question.
"So why did you make me play chess with Miss Qingyuan? Is there really any point in this...?"