Ye Jinyi ate from the hot pot while chatting with the purple-haired girl, still trying to make sense of everything.
“So do you or do you not know what this world actually is? Just say ‘yes’ if you do, ‘no’ if you don’t. Is that so hard?”
Ye Jinyi was getting annoyed.
This girl had nothing useful to say when it mattered, yet blabbered on endlessly about nonsense.
“Sigh.”
The purple-haired girl let out a long breath.
“I actually wanted to tell you earlier. You’re the one who didn’t let me, remember?”
“Me?”
Ye Jinyi blinked.
Wasn’t she just telling her not to go on weird philosophical tangents?
When did she say not to explain what this garbage world was?
“Yeah, you kept shutting me down, so I figured I might as well say nothing at all.”
As she spoke, the purple-haired girl casually rolled two dice onto the table.
They landed showing a 2 and a 5.
“Just pretend I don’t speak human.”
After that, she scooped the dice back up.
“Uh…”
Ye Jinyi was momentarily speechless.
She thought for a bit, then decided to compromise.
“Fine, say whatever you want. I won’t interrupt, okay?”
“Great. Then, Your Highness, where would you like me to begin?”
With that permission granted, the purple-haired girl immediately tossed out a teasing jab, just to see Ye Jinyi’s reaction.
Hearing that bizarre title, Ye Jinyi was flooded with shame.
“What do you mean, ‘Your Highness’?! You’re teasing me again!”
Her hands were itching to tear this girl apart.
“Pfft.”
The purple-haired girl covered her mouth with one hand and chuckled to herself. Gotta admit, this dumb loli was really fun. Or rather—teasing her sense of shame was really fun.
“Okay, okay, I won’t tease you anymore. I promise.”
“You’ve said that how many times already?!”
Ye Jinyi had had enough!
How was anyone supposed to talk to someone like this?!
“Ahem.”
The purple-haired girl gave a strategic cough and tried to appear serious.
“I’ll be straight with you. This world—or rather, the Nameless Nation—is a projection of your inner self.”
She pointed her index finger directly at Ye Jinyi’s heart.
“A projection of my inner self? When did I ever think up weird thread stuff like this?”
Ye Jinyi tugged at the strings on her body in protest.
The purple-haired girl sat up straighter, leaned back against the sofa, crossed her arms, and put on an exaggeratedly thoughtful pose.
She pressed a hand to her forehead and only spoke again after a long pause.
“If I told you outright, you might not understand. Let’s start with something simple—do you want people to hurt you?”
“Of course not!”
Ye Jinyi didn’t even hesitate. Who would ever want someone to stab them?
“Then tell me: what’s the most efficient, stable, and safest way to ensure no one ever hurts you?”
Ye Jinyi shook her head, looking totally lost.
“Umm… I don’t know?”
“It’s to establish absolute control. Ban others from thinking—because the moment people start thinking, there’s always a risk they could hurt you.”
“That’s such a cruel thing to say…”
“That’s just something you don’t want to admit,” the purple-haired girl said, pointing again at Ye Jinyi’s heart.
“Deep down, you’re terrified of betrayal.”
“That’s why this world you’ve created doesn’t allow a single flaw. You want to eliminate every trace of evil thought—so the only way is to cut off the very possibility of thought itself. Only then can your heart feel safe.”
“I…”
Ye Jinyi didn’t know how to refute that.
The girl was right.
She did long for a sense of safety—something to protect her, a place of her own, somewhere without a landlord constantly breathing down her neck.
She just never imagined that her desire for safety could become something so terrifying.
“Um… what should I call you? You’re not human, are you?”
Ye Jinyi suddenly realized she had no idea what the girl in front of her was even called.
The purple-haired girl thought for a moment.
“A name is just a code. Since this is the Shenzhou cultural region, I’ll use my name from Shenzhou.”
“Just call me Luo.”
“As for whether I’m human… that depends on how you define it. If ‘civilized’ equals ‘human,’ then yes, I’m human. But if you think being human means evolving from apes and building cities, then neither you nor I would qualify.”
“Alright… so you’re not human—wait, why am I not human either?!”
Ye Jinyi protested.
Just because you gave up being human, why are you dragging me out of the species too?
“Sigh,” Luo sighed.
“Didn’t I just say? Whether or not you’re human depends entirely on what you believe. If you think you are, then you are. The problem is, by your own standard—you’re not~”
Ye Jinyi could only give up at that point.
“I don’t get this deep philosophical stuff. Let’s keep it simple. Like, you said the threads on everyone else are to stop them from thinking. Then what about the ones on me?”
As she spoke, Ye Jinyi tugged again at the threads on her body.
Luo answered, “That’s simple. Didn’t you say you didn’t want to be separated from that girl?”
“Well, now she’s locked inside your mirror, isn’t she?”
As she spoke, Luo glanced toward the nonexistent mirror behind Ye Jinyi.
“She saw me!”
Inside the mirror, Huimengyi shrank back into the corner in a panic—but no matter where she moved, there was no way to get far enough from the glass.
Luo withdrew her gaze and smiled at Ye Jinyi.
“You locked her in the mirror, and she controls you with threads. That’s your perfect physical form of never being apart—neither of you can escape the other’s grasp~”
“This is your complete rejection of betrayal. You’d rather strip others—and even yourself—of freedom than allow betrayal to happen.”
“That’s…”
Ye Jinyi was at a loss for words.
What kind of twisted logic was this?
Luo continued, “As for that palace over Yunhai Lake, that’s actually your ultimate ideal of protection—a sanctuary.”
“And I can also tell you: when you first unleashed your power, those ice vines that spread from under your feet reached absolute zero in the truest physical sense.”
As she said this, Luo pulled out a shattered electronic thermometer from her pocket.
“So… when do you plan on compensating me for this thing? Hmph~”
“So you were just trying to scam me for money?!”
Only then did Ye Jinyi realize—that whole monologue had just been this weirdo’s setup to blame her for breaking the thermometer!
She tried to get away from this lunatic, but just as she was about to stand up, Luo suddenly reached out with her right hand and patted her on the head, lightly flicking the big ahoge on top of her head twice.
“Sorry, sorry~ I just can’t help but mess with you a little, you silly loli~”
Ye Jinyi puffed up in anger and snapped back, “I’m not silly!”
“Alright, alright, you’re not silly—you’re a super smart little loli!”
Luo quickly tried to appease the girl, clearly enjoying herself.
This feeling of messing with someone—after losing the power to manipulate through money, it seemed like this dumb loli was the only source of fun left in the entire world.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.