Gu Li followed the muscular man out of the Mission Hall, onto the main street, and then into a brightly lit pyramid.
The inside of the pyramid had a band playing music, and broadcasted screens with live fights.
Slots, cards, dice, roulette wheels, every game that could be bet on was present.
“No, I can pay, I can pay! I’m the Junior Brother of Rising Inferno Palace’s Hung Yung!” A desperate man screamed at the top of his lungs as he was dragged away by two casino employees.
Gu Li watched on as the man was tossed into a clear glass arena like yesterday’s garbage.
One of the screens began broadcasting the event. In big bright captions, the text read: Rising Inferno Palace Disciple. Realm Two. VS Dark Lion-Moose. Realm Two. Wager is set: 20/70!
“Gamble on your own time cousin. Fairy Quolo awaits.” The muscular man sneered at Gu Li.
Gu Li snorted in derision. And followed along.
The Gu Clan was a subordinate force of the Quolo Clan, so it wasn’t that surprising to see a relative working for Quolo Jing. Looking at this cousin of his, Gu Li took him for a fool. He was probably the hopelessly in love type that would love Quolo Jing even though she was lesbian.
His was the type of cliché that had him sacrifice his life for her, and express his love to her in his dying moments. Only for her to look down and say “I never loved you, in fact, I didsdained you. Goodbye, my loyal dog.”
Gu Li shook his head. What a poor, naïve bastard.
Marching through a couple luxuriously decorated side halls, the pair of men eventually reached their destination. Before them stood a mighty door. It was at least ten feet tall, and was coated in rubies and gold.
The brawny man knocked on the door. “Gu Tan reporting. I have delivered Gu Li as requested.”
“Gu Li? Come in here.” Quolo Jing’s melodious voice pierced through the door.
Gu Tan led the way in. As he entered, he tossed a spirit stone into a corner of the room.
Gu Li paused for a moment, then hurriedly copied Gu Tan’s action. In the corner of the room, a sentient bag of money greedily took Gu Li’s offering.
Gu Li felt an intangible strain on his spirit. Like that, he had donated a small fraction of his luck to Quolo Jing. As a subordinate, and someone weaker, Gu Li was in no position to complain.
Walking inside the office, Gu Li saw many more trinkets that showed off Quolo Jing’s wealth and prestige.
To the right side was a cabinet with a glass display. Inside were bottles of pills with labels attached. Some labels indicated that the medicine was worth more than 10,000 spirit stones per pill.
On the left side of the room, an aquatic tank housed a pair of adolescent Flood Dragons.
Behind Quolo Jing, there were dozens of screens. They depicted video of the main lobby, side halls, and cage fights.
Resting on the ceiling was a detailed painting of Miss Tsang looking down.
The last, and perhaps most concerning of all her possessions was an innocuous looking golden cat statue sitting on her desk. It had the number 8 proudly stamped on its belly symbolizing good luck, and held a jade fish in its mouth. However, its goofy appearance did nothing to assure Gu Li. He had memories of this cat statue vaporizing one of his cousins who had failed Quolo Jing into dust.
“That will be all Gu Tan.” Quolo Jing said dismissively.
“Yes, Fairy Quolo.” Gu Tan bowed, and smiled at Quolo Jing. He then eyed Gu Li with an intense glare, and closed the door behind him.
The din background noise of the casino disappeared with the closure of the door. Gu Li was now alone with an “antagonist.”
Looking at Quolo Jing, one phrase came to mind: Named Character.
Her uniquely styled hair was turquoise, and her eyes cerulean blue. She was shorter than the average woman, yet stacked like a Big Mac. The cherry on top was her “cutesy” K-Pop sounding voice.
Quolo Jing had the potential to be the wet dream fantasy of many a weeb. To Gu Li, she was a nightmare boss.
The woman in question began to tap her turquoise painted nails on her desk. Her other hand covered up her lips as she stared inquisitively at Gu Li.
“Talk to me Gu Li. What is this I hear about Li Ping falling down a cliff, only to discover a treasure cavern? The same Li Ping I ordered you to “save” from an accident?” Quolo Jing spoke warmly, and with an inviting tone of voice. Her small adorable face was all smiles.
Gu Li however shivered. He had memories of this short woman.
She once fed a mother her own child because of a split nail during a manicure. Another time, she wanted to see how long a man could stay erect looking at her. When he couldn’t stand at full mast for more than an hour, she decapitated his member, claimed he had no further need of it. This was but a taste of what she did for fun while she was “bored.”
Quolo Jing used her appearance, and status to get what she wanted, whenever she wanted. As a 26 year old Realm Three practitioner, she was a true blue genius. One that the Quolo Clan supported in all her endeavors. She was truly a “Young Mistress” in every way.
In short, Gu Li did not want to fuck with her.
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“Mhm.” Gu Li cleared his throat. “We lured over a pack of wolves, and had them push Li Ping into Dark Desire Gorge. Where we presume him to be dead. However, as a faithfully loyal subordinate of the Quolo family, I didn’t want to take any chances. In the unlikely event that he survived, I spread the rumors so that greedy adventurers will take him out without us even having to lift a finger.”
“So what you’re saying is that you’ve given my Tsa-tsa false hope, and that I can catch her on the rebound when she learns of her precious Li Ping’s demise?” Quolo Jing had stars in her eyes as she mentioned Miss Tsang’s name.
Gu Li blanked; this was why he hated dealing with this girl. She never stuck to the script! A typical Young Master would go “Hmph. Not bad. Listen up, I’ll only tell you this once. Here’s my next step in my evil plan…” But with Quolo Jing, Gu Li was never 100% certain on what to expect from her.
Quolo Jing raised one well groomed eyebrow at Gu Li’s brief delay.
“Er, uh, yes?” Gu Li quickly agreed with Quolo Jing.
“Hmph! Impudent! How dare you hurt my Tsa-tsa’s feelings!” Quolo Jing threw a hairpin straight through Gu Li’s kneecap.
Gu Li’s eyes widened in pain. He did everything in his power to remain standing, and cover his wound with his robe. He had seen what happened to the last guy who spilt blood on Quolo Jing’s floor. No thank you!
The golden cat statue’s eyes glowed red, as if it was looking for the slightest drop of blood to hit Quolo Jing’s carpet. Gu Li was certain that it wouldn’t hesitate to zap him if he dirtied the floor.
“Of course, it was my oversight.” Gu Li lightly bowed.
“Very well, you may leave.” Quolo Jing waved dismissively.
“Thank you for your benevolence, Fairy Quolo.” Gu Li bowed once more, then exited the room.
Gu Li barely withhold a snarl from forming on his face as he left. One of these days, he’d have his revenge. Either by his own hand, or perhaps through a borrowed knife.
Gu Li darkly smiled to himself. Thoughts of schadenfreude swirled in his head.
He moved to leave the hallway, only to be stopped by Gu Tan.
Gu Tan stood guard beside the door with his arms crossed. He turned to Gu Li, and raised his eyebrows. “I’ll let you know if Fairy Quolo has a need of you in the future. Family has to stick together after all.”
Gu Tan’s smile full of pearly whites, and handsome face made him seem like a kind, and approachable fellow.
“Of course, Gu Tan, I’ll keep you in mind.” Gu Li replied with fake sincerity, then walked away.
As soon as Gu Li turned the corner, he began to rummage through his robes. Finding a bottle, his shaking hands fumbled the lid twice before he uncapped it, and popped a pill.
“Tss, ah.” Gu Li gripped the wall in pain as the flesh and bone of his knee regrew, warped and fused together.
Lifting up his bloodied robe, Gu Li saw that his wound was still somewhat fresh. Gu Li grimaced. The needle that struck him left some of Quolo Jing’s Third Realm Ki in his wound.
Gu Li estimated it would take possibly a week to a month to expel the foreign Ki from his knee.
Fortunately, he was part of a middle ranked clan, and had an “important” father. He could take some Grade Three pills from the clan medicine house.
This casual encounter only drove home to Gu Li how important power was in a Xianxia world.
When he returned home, he was going to grind like there was no tomorrow.
----------------------------------------
After limping for a short while, Gu Li left the main street, and walked four blocks over.
Only palaces, and estates lined this street. It was like one of those gated communities for the rich. Not quite ultra-rich, that was for the mansions built directly on the main street. But still, the homes over here were for the well to do.
As soon as he entered the Gu estate, a human shaped bathtub ran at him.
“Brother Li! Brother Li!” Standing a whole head taller than him, a tan woman thick in all places excitedly ran at him.
Gu Li was slightly taller then most men he came across, in comparison, that made Gu Ying tall.
“Y-yo, Little Ying.” Gu Li raised a hand in greeting.
“Oh no, Brother Li is injured! Quick, I’ll take you to the medicinal hall!”
“That’s okay, I’ll take my-SELF!” Gu Li didn’t have a chance to change Gu Ying’s mind, and was taken away in a princess carry.
She held onto him so tightly, Gu Li’s face was smooshed against her breasts.
Taking a desperate breath of air so he wouldn’t suffocate, Gu Li was surprised. Was that a hint of vanilla?
Gu Ying plopped Gu Yi onto a chair, and started to rummage through some bottles. “Are you hurt anywhere else? Were you poisoned? Who did this?”
“You know Gu Ying, you smell pretty good.” Gu Li thoughtlessly complimented.
A bottle crashed open onto the floor, spilling pills everywhere.
Gu Li looked at the ground, befuddled by the turn of events.
When he saw Gu Ying’s face, it all made sense to him. He was a dense idiot back in his teen years, but as an adult, it became rather obvious to him when girls were interested in him.
Given his knowledge on tropes and such, he already supposed that Gu Ying would become a 10/10 sexy babe if she lost weight.
But it would take a lot of work to slim her down. It’d be a situation like those guys that hooked up with chubby girls on purpose, then took them to the gym and got them on a diet.
If he was honest with himself, Gu Li didn’t really want to put in the work. But based on cliches, if anyone was loyal in a Xianxia world, it was a fat person. God knew why, but fat people in Xianxia’s always stuck through till the end. Even through torture! That, and they always seemed to be ungodly skilled merchants that could sell anything.
Eh, what the hell, he’d give her a shot. Those gym guys played the long game, and so could Gu Li.
“Ahem, I have Realm Three Ki stuck in my wound. Little Ying, could you get me a cream or salve if we have it?”
“Cream or salve, got it!” Gu Ying hurriedly turned away from Gu Li, and began frantically pulling on drawers.
“Got it!” Gu Ying proudly held out a container full of balm, and handed it to Gu Li.
“Could you apply it for me Little Ying? You may think less of me, but I don’t want to look at my wound if I don’t have to.” Gu Li handed the balm back to Gu Ying. At the same time, he lifted his robe, and exposed his well-toned legs.
“I’ll do it for Brother Li!” Gu Ying’s cheeks flushed, and she eagerly unscrewed the lid. She was in such a hurry, she tossed the lid to the side, and began lathering the medicine on Gu Li in copious amounts.
The cold sensation, and Gu Ying’s chubby, yet exceedingly soft hands made Gu Li’s spine tingle.
Gu Ying was a woman on a mission. She spent the next half hour slowly and methodically applying the balm onto Gu Li’s knee.
After a period of long, harmonious silence, in which Gu Ying felt up his toned body searching for other wounds, Gu Li started up a conversation towards one of his objectives.
“So, are you still training in Reader’s Paradise I?” Gu Li enquired.
“Yes! I’ve made great strides since you left, and have advanced to Realm 1.4!” Gu Ying replied.
Gu Li raised his eyebrows in surprise. Most humans were born at 1.0. He was 24 years old, and was at 1.5. This was considered average, or even slightly below average for someone his age. However, Gu Ying was 18, and she basically already caught up to him. This wasn’t at the level of a genius by any means, but certainly this qualified as above average!
“Hm. Then explain to me the basic principles of the cultivation manual.” Gu Li crossed his arms.
“Sure! The Readers Paradise focuses on seeking out the real, and the unreal. By parsing through the dream world, and bringing illusion to reality, we increase our understanding of the dao. When we immerse ourselves in the pleasure of the unknown, be they horrors, or unfounded pleasures, we gain new experiences, and absorb spiritual energy…did I do good Brother Li?”
[Readers Paradise I (18%) --> (20%)]
Gu Li was stunned. Did…did he really just increase his knowledge base by 2% from a casual lecture by his cousin? That was a total of 20CP! Aka, 200 spirit stones! Wasn’t it part of his big brain plan to have him teach her?
‘No, I can’t lose out now. I’m going all out on this plan!’
“Ahahah…you did fantastic!” Gu Li awkwardly laughed.
[CP: 720 --> 0]
[Readers Paradise I (20%) --> (92%)]
“However, this is the real Readers Paradise.” Gu Li placed his hand on top of Gu Ying’s head, and pulled her into a dream.