Chapter 661: Lin Sanjiu
Lin Sanjiu slowly closed her eyes, reveling in the fascination of being enveloped by darkness brought forth by her closed eyelids.
Cold seawater poured over her, soaking her skin. Her breathing was shallow, almost silent. Bobbing up and down along with the gentle waves, she slowly peeled open her eyelids, giving way to sunlight that shone into her eyes. Suddenly, she felt a tinge of coldness creep down her spine, and at the same time, Mrs. Manas shouted in her mind, "Run!"
Her body reacted faster than her brain. However, unfortunately, she was not on land right now.
Before she could swim far, a shadow loomed over her. The waves crashed loudly behind, and when she turned her head around, she saw Maxin gaining fast on her.
"No, it wasn't me…"
Her voice choked off as Puppeteer wrapped his hand around her neck. Like how he did to Ji Shanqing, he lifted her from the sea.
A gush of fragrance tinged with the saltiness of the sea wafted from the pale-skinned man gripping her neck. Underneath his wet jet-black hair was a pair of blood-hued eyes, giving him the vibe of a vampire on a hunger hunt. When he opened his mouth, the voice that rolled out was ever-soothing. "What did you say?"
"I'm not…" It was hard to talk when your windpipe was being squeezed. Lin Sanjiu's face turned blue from the lack of oxygen, and tears began to roll down her cheeks, falling on Puppeteer's palm, "It wasn't me…"
The grand prize...
She wanted to scream, but the deathly grip around her neck did not permit such an action. She felt that her brain was going to explode. She could not control her tears from flowing out, and her head was fixed in one position by the palm below her chin. Staring into the foggy sky, she continued to speak with difficulty, "It—it was one of the leechers. I could not stop her in time."
Puppeteer gave no comment.
Apparently, he was considering whether he should trust her words or not. The strong, chilly fragrance tainted the air around them as he continued to stare her down.
"I, I…"
Lin Sanjiu raised her arm. The oxygen supply to her brain had been cut off for so long that she now began to see stars. As she gasped for air, she pried her fingers open, and a pen appeared on her palm. The pen then rolled off her hand and fell into the sea with a plop.
"Look. This—This is my—ability."
The highest god could recreate her appearance, but there was no way he could fabricate her Evolving Ability. A layer of cold sweat crawled over her forehead. Mrs. Manas did not say a word as nerves had overwhelmed her. After waiting in silence for what seemed like ages, the fingers around her neck began to loosen up.
Although Puppeteer was not going to kill her, she did not feel any better. The moment Puppeteer slackened his fingers, she fell into the sea. She curled herself into a ball, swaying along with the waves like a dead log, unable to stand up.
"Useless," scolded Puppeteer coldly before walking away.
When Maxin arrived next to Lin Sanjiu, he inspected her meticulously. A series of emotions, subtle and conflicting, flowed across his face. He wanted to say something but ultimately forwent his attempt. He turned away from her, went up to Puppeteer, and asked in a whisper, "Which one of them unwrapped her?"
There was only a handful of Lin Sanjiu standing next to Ji Shanqing, and all of them were stumped when the grand prize was unwrapped. They did not make any response even though Puppeteer was walking towards them. Lin Sanjiu rubbed her face, her skin burning and itching, but she had no idea whether the source was from the sea or her tears. She choked up and repressed her tears, wheeling around to face the highest god eye to eye. Setting her teeth, she swam with all her worth towards him, "I'm going to make you pay with your life for unwrapping my grand prize!"
The highest god clicked his tongue twice, his eyes bright with excitement. As he hopped around the sea teasing Lin Sanjiu, his honey-glazed body glowed radiantly under the sun.
"You? Going to make me pay with my life for killing him?" questioned the highest god with a wide grin on his face. His smile was so sweet, it warmed the coldest day. It even lessened his detestable side by a large margin. "You are such a poor swimmer. I believe my legs will go numb by the time you reach here."
Lin Sanjiu wobbled up and down in the sea. Her entire body quivered with rage as a pang of despair intertwined like vines inside her, squeezing her heart. She knew every word the highest god said was the truth and that she could not do anything about him, but she had to do something. Whenever the grand prize's face swam into her brain, her whole body started to ache.
She knew it was not the right time to cry and lament over losing her grand prize, but the sadness was so overwhelming that she could not help herself and buried her face in her palm, breaking into tears.
Lin Sanjiu's cry hammered on Maxin's heart like a big mallet. His voice turned grim, and his face took on a ghastly expression. He dived into the sea where Ji Shanqing had vanished, but he could not find anything. Like bubbles, Ji Shanqing had disappeared into thin air, without any traces left.
"Who is the one that unwrapped her… and why…" mumbled Maxin under his breath.
'My grand prize is gone. Is it still important to find out who is to blame?'
The thought surfaced in Lin Sanjiu's brain while she bawled out her eyes. There was a part of her that believed that the grand prize might have just been swept away by the current or had somehow survived and returned to the Starry Carnival Amusement Park in Red Nautilus. He was so pretty, intelligent, and cautious. How was there any possibility that he would die?
They had traveled across several worlds together. She knew exactly how much the grand prize yearned to live like a normal person instead of as a grand prize of the Starry Carnival Amusement Park. He was so lively, timid, and clever. Even at this moment, she could still somewhat hear him calling her "sis" from behind.
"No matter what the reward inside the grand prize is," began Lin Sanjiu through a scratchy voice that startled even herself, "I did not receive it. Obviously, the one who unwrapped him took it. We can search starting from here, perhaps…"
Puppeteer sneered coldly without turning his head.
Right now, he was standing next to several Lin Sanjius. He looked at them, mixing a steely gaze with a sarcastic smile. None of the Lin Sanjius dared to make a move, and whenever they made eye contact with him, they would feel a chill down their spine as their hearts were seized by an immense killing intent emanated from Puppeteer.
Since Lin Sanjiu had proved herself to be the real Lin Sanjiu, then regardless of who was the culprit that unwrapped the grand prize, there was no need to keep these leechers alive anymore.
When she felt that the sea around her had turned darker, Lin Sanjiu stopped her tears and jerked her head up.
The highest god was standing in front of her. He crouched down to meet her at eye level. He looked like a child who had just returned from a visit to the zoo, excitement written all over his face. As soon as their gazes clashed, the young deity threw himself onto the sea. He sat with his legs wide apart.
"Do you feel sad?" asked the highest god gleefully.
With a pair of swollen, red-rimmed eyes, Lin Sanjiu nodded.
"Really? On a scale of one to ten, how much would you rate your sadness?"
Lin Sanjiu did not want to reply to the question. Her eyes stared fixated at the highest god.
"Ah, interesting," the highest god's eyes glowed as he blabbered on, "I think this is a very interesting scene right now. As you know—"
He did not get the chance to finish his sentence. Perhaps he was very confident in his own ability and did not see Lin Sanjiu as a threat. However, he was wrong; a vengeful person was the most dangerous. Before the highest god could finish his words, Lin Sanjiu stretched her left hand forward and clawed at his arm. At the same time, as the highest god watched on saucer-eyed, her right hand went for his ankle.
As long as she could place both her hands on his body, then she could activate [Mosaic Censorship] and blow his torso into a mess of meat pulp. Lin Sanjiu even began imagining the bloody scene when his blood and brain matter drenched her wet. When that happened, she would not mind sticking out her tongue and licking the meat pulp off the corner of her lips.
Concurrently, there was a slosh of water coming from behind her. Puppeteer had made his move, but Lin Sanjiu did not turn her head around. She would not care even if he massacred all the leechers. After all, at the end of the day, Puppeteer was one of the people who wanted to lay his hand on the grand prize. Right now, he was just merely venting his resentment for being unable to unwrap the grand prize.
There was no doubt that she was very fast, but truth be told, Lin Sanjiu did not expect that she would actually succeed in catching the highest god.
"Oh?" The highest god lowered his head and inspecting his left arm and right ankle. "What are you going to do now?"
Lin Sanjiu was stunned as well, but it was swift. She soon regained her senses, gritted her teeth and activated [Mosaic Censorship].
The highest god looked at her mirthfully.
Dumbfounded, Lin Sanjiu slowly raised her head and looked at the perfectly sculpted face once more.
Her teeth began chattering, and she did not know why. She dared not to think anything now and activated her ability once more
Sighing, the highest god grabbed her wrist.
There was no way she could fight against the power of a god. Before Lin Sanjiu could utter a syllable, she was flung away. And the next thing she knew, the tide had changed again. Pinching her arm, the highest god lifted her out of the water.
"Look." The highest god rested his chin on top of her head. The tone and words that rolled off his tongue were as tender and affectionate as when a perfect boyfriend talked to his girlfriend. "Look what they are doing now."
Lin Sanjiu blinked her eyes hard then could not help but quiver.
In the distance, Puppeteer was staring down a Lin Sanjiu. The Lin Sanjiu was shaking her head profusely as she cried, "I did not unwrap the grand prize." Then, just as she had done earlier on, that Lin Sanjiu opened her palm. But this time, it was a pair of shoes instead of a pen that appeared on that Lin Sanjiu's palm. With tears in her eyes, she looked at Puppeteer and willed the shoes away with a fluid motion of her hand.
"She… Do the leecher have my ability as well?"
"Your ability? Oh my… when you opened your palm, I just had to make something appear out of thin air on your palm. As simple as that," said the highest god as he rubbed her ear using his cheek. Lin Sanjiu was stumped. She stood frozen stiff in his embrace as if she did not understand anything he said. "My poor little girl, it seems like daddy's ability is so great that you're confused… By the way, do you want to hear what I wanted to say earlier on?"
Without waiting for Lin Sanjiu to say anything, he continued, "If it weren't for you interrupting me with your petty little trick, I was going to say, as you know, you have zero connection to the grand prize."
The words seemed to have slid into Puppeteer's ears as well.
Turning his head, he looked at Lin Sanjiu for a few seconds before shifting his gaze towards the highest god. There was anger and woolliness crowded all over his face. He seemed to have lost himself in his own thoughts, not knowing what to do.
"No… this isn't right…" Lin Sanjiu's thoughts were a mess. Nevertheless, after a short bout of rumination, she soon saw the light of what the highest god was trying to do. "You are trying to make me question myself. There is one thing you might not know, which is that there is Mrs. Manas inside my psyche…"
"He has analyzed all my information, so when he was making you guys, he selected the data containing Mrs. Manas and put her into your brain. It is not hard to understand."
A cool female voice interrupted, making the "Lin Sanjiu" in the highest god's embrace jump. The voice sounded a little strange, but she knew that whenever she heard her own voice coming from another direction, it was always like that.
One of the Lin Sanjius lowered her head and let out a long sigh. She rubbed her face with her palm before raising her head and offering Puppeteer a wide grin.
"I'm the one who unwrapped the grand prize. I did not think it would be that easy." The strange and familiar woman seemed rather flustered, but there was no pain in her pair of amber eyes. "I think it is much better for him to be reborn somewhere else rather than falling into your hand. You don't mind, right?"