Chapter 15: Awkward System Encounters

I returned to the mission world with my shiny new voice upgrade installed.

I’d gone back to the System Realm while Seraphine was in closed-door cultivation, and now that I was back, my routine had settled into a comfortable pattern. Days were spent monitoring the side hall, nights curled up among the roof tiles counting stars. Time had no meaning for me—I didn’t experience boredom or restlessness.

Waiting wasn’t a habit. It was just existence.

Another dramatically painted sunrise arrived, and I drifted to my usual perch atop the guardian beast statue on the side hall’s ridge, my form shimmering with golden light as I surveyed the distance.

A woman in Luanyang Palace disciple robes made her way up the mountain path, her figure nearly swallowed by the lush greenery.

[Work Log

Today Xue Mengtao wasn’t late. Fire Rock Dragon can eat breakfast on schedule.

Note: After several days of observation, discovered that Fire Rock Dragon has massive appetite. High maintenance.]

As I finished logging, I noticed someone else had entered the side hall. Not Xue Mengtao.

I descended, floating beside the woman in pink robes.

Hello there.

“Come here,” Siyi called to the Fire Rock Dragon with a smile.

The massive head that had been resting on the windowsill immediately emerged, coiling up in front of Siyi and watching her cautiously. It recognized this woman who seemed to have a good relationship with its master, but its attitude toward Siyi lacked the intimacy it showed Seraphine.

Siyi wasn’t in a hurry, waiting until Xue Mengtao entered the courtyard.

“Lady Siyi,” Xue Mengtao quickly bowed, thinking Siyi was waiting for her. Her heart jumped with anxiety—had she done something wrong these past few days?

Her face went slightly pale.

Siyi glanced at Xue Mengtao before returning her attention to the Fire Rock Dragon.

“I’ve been busy with various matters lately and forgot to introduce myself properly that day. I’m the Inner Peak Affairs Elder of Luanyang Palace. All matters, large and small, within the palace pass through my oversight. I’ll be visiting Phoenix Roost Peak frequently to meet with the Palace Lord. Since you’re the Palace Lord’s contracted spirit beast, we’ll be seeing each other often. Let’s get along well.”

With that, Siyi withdrew a Fire Lingzhi from her storage ring.

The Fire Rock Dragon’s eyes immediately lit up. Based on the brightness of its pupils and the angle its head tilted, I determined this was an excellent gift.

“Roar.”

The dragon let out a sound, twisted its head, and dove back into the hall. Moments later, it crawled back out with its tail wrapped around numerous spiritual stones, piling them at Siyi’s feet.

Siyi laughed heartily. Seeing that the Fire Rock Dragon didn’t mind, she patted its head with a smile. “Your monthly allowance comes from my approval anyway. Keep it for yourself.”

She waved her hand, using palm wind to sweep both the spiritual stones and Fire Lingzhi back into the hall.

The Fire Rock Dragon charged back into the main hall without looking back.

Host, your spirit beast seems somewhat… lacking in dignity.

“This dragon may be old in years, but its mind is simple. It appears quite easy to deceive,” Siyi remarked.

Xue Mengtao kept her head down, saying uneasily, “Yes, but I would never deceive Lord Error!”

After speaking, her pupils contracted sharply. She jerked her head up and said, “The spiritual stones Lord Error gave me that day—I didn’t trick them out of it! The lord gave them to me willingly…”

Remembering the day when both the Palace Lord and Siyi were present, she thought Siyi had discovered the Fire Rock Dragon’s gift of spiritual stones and was pointing this out to her. At the thought, cold sweat beaded on Xue Mengtao’s forehead, her face went white, and her lips trembled slightly as she tried to explain further.

Siyi raised her hand to interrupt the explanation, smiling warmly. “I heard from the Beast Hall’s steward that while you don’t like interacting with people much, you’re thoughtful and handle tasks properly. That’s all I need to know. Whether the Fire Rock Dragon rewards or punishes you is between you two.”

“I’m busy managing Luanyang Palace affairs—I don’t have time to worry about such trivial matters.”

Xue Mengtao let out a breath of relief, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

For some reason, despite Lady Siyi’s beautiful appearance and gentle, soft-spoken manner, Xue Mengtao was terrified of her.

Siyi noticed this too, raising an eyebrow slightly before continuing in an offhand tone: “But I do have business with you today. The compensation Luanyang Palace sent to the Lianshan Sect was robbed by White Water Sect—this was reported by Elder Li of the Lianshan Sect. I had the bandits’ corpses delivered to White Water Sect, and today their sect master personally came to apologize. I’ve already sent word to the Palace Lord. Once you finish here, come to the main hall on the peak.”

“Yes,” Xue Mengtao replied quickly.

Siyi sent word to my host? My host is going out today?

The virtual panel floating in front of me disappeared with a whoosh. This silver orb shot straight toward the main hall like a bullet, my light-formed body passing directly through walls before stopping mid-air.

The room was empty. No sign of Seraphine.

“Host?” I called out.

Even high-level systems have their difficulties. With a hundred-meter range, I still had to search manually.

I floated left and right, then drifted toward the bedroom area.

The moment I passed through the wall, I heard the sound of water.

Wisps of steam rose and swirled through the room like mist. White jade steps were beaded with water droplets, nearly obscured by the hot vapors. Only the gold and crimson curtains remained visible, layered upon layered, still rich and vibrant even when saturated with moisture, creating a sensual contrast against the white haze.

I stopped between the curtains, peering into the misty depths, and began to speak over the sound of water: “Ho—”

“Who?!”

Before I could finish calling my host’s name, the water sounds stopped abruptly. An angry voice and a water sword shot toward me, its blade energy sharp enough to shatter curtains and sweep away pearl strands, crashing into the wall with a bang.

Gleaming white jade beads scattered across the floor with tinkling sounds.

Gold and crimson curtain fragments drifted down like snow, some passing right through my head and body, just like the sword energy that had struck me.

One person and one system stared at each other across the long jade pool steps.

The person glaring at me had waterfall-black hair, dripping wet and clinging to her snow-white body. The light outer robe hastily wrapped around her had become transparent from the water, unintentionally revealing what it was meant to conceal.

“—st,” I stubbornly finished the last syllable, then used my expensive new voice to call out properly: “Host.”

“Good morning. It’s me, Golden Finger System Echo,” I announced.

The unfamiliar voice reached Seraphine’s ears like frost over snow—cold yet gentle, like a vast white landscape touched with gold by the rising eastern sun.

Seraphine froze.

But before she could connect this clear, crisp voice with the shimmering silver system before her, that cold voice spoke again—and what it said was thoroughly irritating.

“I apologize,” I told Seraphine. “I don’t have the ability to knock.”

A wisp of lingering steam drifted over, and I floated back and forth through it to demonstrate that I was, indeed, telling the truth.

Of course, I knew she already knew this.

Seraphine didn’t want to know!

Her chest rose and fell heavily, and as if she could feel my gaze, her exquisite face flushed red. Furious, she grabbed clothes from a rack and put them on, then walked toward me step by step, barefoot and seething with embarrassment.

For some inexplicable reason, my light orb felt like it wanted to crackle with static.

I remained motionless, watching Seraphine approach.

Even disheveled, with wet hair over her shoulders and glimpses of pale legs visible through her outer robe as she walked, she moved with the bearing of someone who looked down upon the world.

Very crackling indeed.

Just as she was about to reach me, I suddenly said: “Host, you can rest assured—this is my first time seeing a human body.”

The first one I’d seen was hers. Rather than being reassured, this made Seraphine even more upset. Her face darkened as she stopped in front of me.

I floated up to her moisture-dampened face to explain further.

“What I mean is, even though I saw it, I’m a system and you’re human. Systems have no interest in human bodies.”

I drifted downward, stopping at chest level, staring with my dark-circled eyes to prove my point: “See? No interest whatsoever.”

“……”

The air suddenly fell silent, with only steam churning about like invisible flames burning around us both.

Seraphine remained silent, then raised her hand.

She slapped a ball of golden fire right onto my face.

“You’d better never get a physical body,” she said in a low voice, grinding her teeth. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop myself…”.”