My Arch-Nemesis is the R-Rated Male Lead - Chapter 10

Lu Rong was so stunned that she stared up at him for several seconds.

Zhou Li was the first to step back, and her body lurched forward from momentum.

“You!” Lu Rong felt herself about to fall.

Just as she thought she would embarrassingly crash to the ground, her chest was yanked tight again.

He’s pulling my collar again! This dress really does choke my chest!!

Zhou Li glanced at the hand gripping her collar. His gaze reflexively dropped, caught a glimpse of the pale skin drawn taut beneath it, and instantly pulled back—hand included.

The pressure on her chest loosened, sending her stumbling forward a few steps until she collided with him.

Zhou Li’s chest throbbed faintly from the impact; Lu Rong, however, let out a breath of relief, lifted her head, and glared at him, cheeks flushed with anger. “Why did you tie me up?!”

His gaze fell on her bound wrists, as if trying to match them with the image from his dream.

At that moment, the dragon ladder opened again, and two women walked out.

His eyes instinctively moved to the hair ribbon on one of the women’s heads.

It was actually the same as Lu Rong’s.

Perhaps his gaze was too direct, for the two young women noticed someone looking and turned their eyes toward him. Once they looked, neither could tear their gaze away from Zhou Li’s face.

A look of astonishment flashed in both their eyes until they noticed Lu Rong, who was practically glued to his side.

They seemed to come to some understanding, nudging each other playfully as they walked away, whispering, “Those two are both so beautiful.”

“But it looks like they’re arguing. Are they lovers?”

Lu Rong: “???” Lovers?

Was her “I want to kill you” glare not obvious enough? Or was the tension between them not thick enough?

Zhou Li paid no attention to the two women who had passed by. Instead, he asked, “Why does that person also have this hair ribbon?”

“You can buy this thing if you want it,” Lu Rong said, struggling to remove the ribbon wound around her wrist. “There are plenty on the street.”

Zhou Li’s eyes darkened slightly. He had known it wouldn’t be that simple.

It seemed these clues were insufficient to determine who that person was.

But he was certain the woman in his dream was undeniably connected to Lu Rong.

Zhou Li gazed at her, inwardly perplexed. If it truly was her in the dream, why would they be so intimate? She had always clearly disliked him.

“What are you staring at? Untie me first!” Lu Rong found him utterly irritating, fierce like a little dog about to bite.

Zhou Li’s gaze dropped to her wrists, folded together. On her fair skin, distinct red marks had indeed been left by the binding.

With a flick of his fingertip, the peach-pink hairband fell into his broad palm. Lu Rong’s hands were freed, and in her anger, she first gave his shin a kick. “Don’t you know you can’t just take a girl’s hairband?”

As she spoke, driven by a strong desire for revenge, she reached out and yanked the hairband right off his head. Chuckling triumphantly, she darted away at lightning speed.

Who cared where he slept?!

Zhou Li’s scalp stung slightly from the pull, but he paid it no mind. He simply looked at the hairband in his palm. So, why didn’t she take back her own? What was the use of taking his?

With a calm expression, he tucked the hairband into his sleeve, she would undoubtedly come to retrieve it. Then he went downstairs to inquire about his own room.

Lu Rong entered Qiu Ling’s room, sat down, and immediately declared, “Zhou Li is utterly despicable! He stole my hairband.”

“So you stole his, too?” Qiu Ling glanced at the blue-and-white hairband clutched in her hand.

“Of course! I’ll ‘treat others as they have treated you’!” As she spoke, Lu Rong threw his hairband directly onto the floor and stomped on it viciously a couple of times to vent her anger.

Qiu Ling, who was drinking tea, nearly spat it out. “So, he stomped on you a few times just now?”

Lu Rong: “……He tied my hands up just now! No way, I have to find a chance to tie him back.”

“Pffttt…” Qiu Ling did spit out that mouthful of tea after all. She looked at Lu Rong with intense gossipy interest. “Are you two playing some kind of… kinky game?”

“‘Killing him’ kind of kink,” Lu Rong said through gritted teeth. “If you ask again, it’ll be the ‘killing you’ kind.”

Qiu Ling, knowing when to stop, changed the subject curiously. “But why would Venerable Jian suddenly appear in a place like this?”

Ever since joining the Xuan Yang Sect, Zhou Li had almost never left, because he spent most of his time cultivating, practicing swordsmanship, and breaking through cultivation realms. He lived an ascetic, desire-free life. One could even say he was a recluse. In any case, Lu Rong had never seen anyone else by his side.

“I don’t know,” Lu Rong said, also somewhat puzzled. “Logically speaking, isn’t he the type who ‘never steps out the main gate nor crosses the inner threshold’?”

“Perhaps he came to find you?” Qiu Ling arched an eyebrow.

Lu Rong grew slightly nervous. “Could it be my father sent him to keep an eye on me?” With Zhou Li’s level of cultivation, keeping watch over her would be effortless.

She instinctively glanced around but didn’t sense any eerie gazes.

Qiu Ling: “Would Venerable Jian be that idle? Ask the Sect Leader.”

Hearing this, Lu Rong thought it made sense. She took out her jade token to contact her father.

“Dad, why is Zhou Li in Luo City, too?” Lu Rong asked curiously.

Lu Wen: “You’ve met him?”

“Yeah, we met at the Mo family’s restaurant.” Noticing her old father’s look of relief, she asked further, “Why are you so nervous?”

“Your senior brother doesn’t have a jade token. I couldn’t contact him at all and was worried he wouldn’t find Luo City.” Lu Wen had only casually mentioned the issue of evil spirits causing trouble in Luo City during a routine meeting with the elders. Then, Zhou Li, appearing out of nowhere, said he would handle it.

Having said that, he left immediately, and Lu Wen didn’t even have time to explain the specifics.

“Activate the jade inscription on your senior brother’s token and add my inscription. I need to speak with him.” Lu Wen said this quickly, then finally asked with concern, “Are you at the Mo family’s restaurant right now?”

“Mm-hmm. That Mo family head, Mo Jianlan, said you know his father.”

“We are old acquaintances, but don’t trouble them. The Mo family has some troubles. You just enjoy yourself and don’t get involved,” Lu Wen admonished her uneasily.

“I know.” Thinking of A’jiao’s and Mo Jianlan’s behavior, Lu Rong also estimated that something was off.

“And don’t provoke your senio—” Before Lu Wen could finish his sentence, Lu Rong already knew what he was going to say and directly cut the connection.

“So Venerable Jian is here to deal with the demons in Luo City.”

As long as he wasn’t here to spy on her, Lu Rong wasn’t particularly interested in his purpose. “Probably.”

Although Zhou Li seldom descended the mountain, whenever the Xuan Yang Sect encountered troublesome demons or evil spirits, he would go and deal with them. He always favored quick, decisive battles. Most matters were resolved in less than half an hour. It seemed as if any delay would hinder his speed in breaking through realms.

She rubbed the chin that had knocked against his collarbone earlier, thinking about how Zhou Li had asked about his own lodging.

Could it be that this time, subduing a demon would require an overnight stay? Could the evil spirit in Luo City be a formidable one?

Qiu Ling looked at her expectantly. “Then, can you go ask Venerable Jian if we can tag along with him later?”

Lu Rong smiled. “Refused.”

Now, thinking back to her own humiliating appearance after being bound, she wished she could bite him a few times.

“I absolutely refuse to be with him,” Lu Rong stated with unwavering resolve. “We can stay with Senior Brother Lin…”

Lu Rong trailed off here, suddenly stuck. “How many rooms did we book at the time?”

“Three,” Qiu Ling said, then realized a problem: there were four of them.

At the time, Lu Rong had been in a hurry and hadn’t expected Zhou Li to stay overnight.

Qiu Ling looked at Lu Rong and hastily declared, “I’m not sleeping with you!” Lu Rong hogs the blankets when she sleeps. Every time Qiu Ling shared with her, she’d wake up freezing in the middle of the night.

“Then you sleep with Senior Brother Lin?” Lu Rong suggested in a low voice. Then, Lu Rong was thrown out of the room by Qiu Ling.

“Go fend for yourself, or go ask Venerable Jian to book another room,” Qiu Ling said heartlessly, shutting the door.

Leaving behind only the pitiful Lu Rong with her still-flushed chin.

Lu Rong, of course, was well aware of how atrocious her sleeping habits were, to the degree of kicking people out of bed in the middle of the night, then curling up with the stolen quilt and sleeping like the dead. No wonder Qiu Ling refused to share with her.

Just as she was wondering what to do, she saw Zhou Li emerge from a room door.

[Why is it him again! It’s true, enemies are destined to meet.]

Zhou Li hadn’t noticed Lu Rong originally, but this sentence abruptly popped into his head. Instinctively, he looked around and spotted the person standing pitifully in front of a tightly shut door.

[What are you looking at? Look again and next time I’ll strip you naked and stare right back just as hard!]

Zhou Li’s lips pressed into a tight line. He directly withdrew his gaze, walked past her, and entered the dragon ladder, acting so aloof. It was as if he didn’t know Lu Rong at all.

Lu Rong snorted, grumbling internally, Jerk. He can’t even see that he bumped my chin.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zhou Li saw her reddened chin. He pressed the button and went directly down.

“A cold, heartless man.” Muttering to herself, she walked to the dragon ladder, waiting for the next trip. Just then, the door opened, and Zhou Li was standing inside.

Had he gone down or not?

“Come in.” Zhou Li had gone down, but after thinking about the expression she had just given him, he came back up.

Lu Rong looked at him in astonishment. “What for?”

“To buy medicine.” Zhou Li stood to the side, making a bit of room in the cramped space.

Thinking of the task her father had given her, Lu Rong entered anyway. The confined space was filled entirely with Zhou Li’s distinct aura.

Lu Rong shifted a bit to the side, then still took the initiative to ask, “Why are you here?”

“On business,” Zhou Li replied simply.

Lu Rong made an “oh” sound, her eyes moving to the jade token at his waist. “Does your jade token have a jade inscription?”

“???” Zhou Li looked at her, perplexed.

Lu Rong hurriedly explained, “My father said he needs to speak with you! He told me to ask!”

Under his gaze, she inexplicably felt her face grow warm. “I don’t even want to add your jade inscription!”

“Oh.” Zhou Li withdrew his gaze, took the jade token from his waist, and tossed it directly to her.

A cool piece of jade abruptly landed in her hand. Her round eyes widened slightly as she stared at him in bewilderment. “Why are you giving this to me?”

“It has no inscription.” Zhou Li never used the jade token to communicate with anyone. Naturally, no one communicated with him either.

Lu Rong pursed her lips. For a moment, she felt that although Zhou Li was cold, he was actually quite easy to talk to.

“Then I’ll reluctantly help you set it up.” As she spoke, Lu Rong looked down at his token. It was a cool, ink-black color, just like him, and extremely similar to the shade of his pupils.

Everyone’s jade token started as plain white jade in color, later changing according to its owner’s cultivation and personality. Lu Rong’s personal token was a very pretty ginger-yellow.

Qiu Ling had said perhaps it was because she was too yellow* that even her token turned yellow.

(*TL’s note: The term for “yellow mind” in Chinese slang relates to adult or obscene content)

Lu Rong had no rebuttal for this and could only complain silently in her heart.

[His token is so black. Just looking at it tells you his heart is black!]

Zhou Li glanced sideways at her, his peripheral vision sweeping over the yellow token hanging at her waist. Then, is her heart yellow?

No, her mind is the yellowest.

A hint of helplessness surfaced in Zhou Li’s eyes.

“Don’t rush!” Noticing him looking at her, Lu Rong thought he was hurrying her.

She hurriedly lowered her head to activate the jade inscription for him. The process was actually quite fast.

The final step required recording a facial image and a voice sample; only then could virtual voice and image communication occur.

“Hold the token up to your own face and say something.” Lu Rong handed the token back to him. By this time, they had already reached the first floor.

Zhou Li took back his token, held it up to his face, and said, “Lu Rong.”

“What?” Lu Rong looked up at him, then saw Zhou Li hand the token back to her. “It’s done.”

Lu Rong: “???” So when he called my name just now, it was to record his voice sample.

He—he’s insane!

Lu Rong inexplicably felt her face grow warm again. She reached out, took it, and added her father’s inscription for him. “Done. This is my father’s inscription.”

Lu Rong pointed to a circle within the virtual mirror interface that appeared on the token. Inside the circle was probably a drawing by Lu Rong, depicting Lu Wen leaning against each other.

Zhou Li glanced at the name listed above it. “‘The Xuan Yang Sect’s Great Patriarch’?”

“Right, I set it for my dad.” The jade inscription allowed for name changes, and she was always altering Lu Wen’s.

“And me?” Zhou Li pointed to his own name, a string of symbols, and the blank circle.

[You are a cold and heartless robot.]

Zhou Li: “???”

“I don’t know.” Lu Rong also grew haughty, walking straight out of the dragon ladder while wondering where to buy medicine.

The system’s voice was the first thing to pop into her head.

[System repair is 99.51% complete. Continuing to answer questions will accelerate system repair.]

[What does the male lead’s chest birthmark look like?]

Again?

Lu Rong was already feeling that life was meaningless. That last X-ray ability was utterly useless. She had no desire to answer such a boring question.

[This time, the cheat ability is being able to see the male lead’s inner thoughts as bullet comments.]

Lu Rong’s eyes lit up.

———————-

TL’s note: 5 chapter for your happy holiday!