Messenger of Calamity

Chapter 102: Secret Treasury Conversation

"Red Snake, take a look at this—"

Yan Qing turned his head and found that Shang Xinlei was not investigating the Liuli Pedestal, but crouched in a corner taking a Healing Pill. She had already taken one on the way earlier, but the effect was limited. After all, real people didn’t have health bars like game characters. Healing Pills were useful, but not so immediate in their effect. She had to wait for the pill to gradually repair the internal injuries inflicted by the Foundation Messenger.

She had removed the Red Snake neck scarf configured for her by the Thieves' House, without taking off her mask. However, the mask completely conformed to her facial contours, outlining a delicate jawline.

Although he had seen her true face in the game before, perhaps the 1080P screen resolution wasn’t high enough, or perhaps there was simply no comparison to seeing her in person—Yan Qing found himself briefly stunned by this crazy and troublesome little Red Snake even through the mask. She looked like a female thief who had stepped out of a game cutscene, with skin fairer than snow and finely sculpted features. Even though her complexion was pallid and her eyes filled with fatigue, there was a fragile beauty about her that made one wonder if the Creator had favored her too much.

Still not as good-looking as the Jiang Ten I created, Yan Qing thought to himself, believing his aesthetic sense to be slightly superior to that of the Creator.

"Are you badly hurt?" Yan Qing asked. "You can’t even stand?"

Though it would be a bit wasteful, if Shang Xinlei was seriously injured and unable to take care of herself, he would still lend her the Bingzi Pepper Forest to unleash a big move.

"Just need... a little rest. Hermit Yu Li really hits hard." Shang Xinlei looked up at him and said casually, "Don’t mind me. By the time you finish looting, I’ll be almost recovered."

Yan Qing said nothing, simply looked down at her from above. After a few seconds, Shang Xinlei became uneasy under his gaze, raising her hand to block her face and turning her head aside. "Even if you know who I am, you don’t have to stare at me like that, do you?"

"Suit yourself," Yan Qing replied calmly. "If you want to keep it bottled up, keep it bottled up."

Shang Xinlei was taken aback, instinctively wanting to retort, but Yan Qing had already turned back to the Liuli Pedestal. Once he said he wouldn’t care, he truly wouldn’t—he didn’t even glance back once. It was her first time meeting someone like Yan Qing. Though they had only met in the Thieves' House and barely exchanged words in private, he always seemed able to keenly perceive her thoughts, as if they had known each other long ago—so long that even self-deception couldn't fool him.

The Secret Treasury returned to silence, with only the alert sounds from the turquoise slabs Yan Qing tapped and his increasingly agitated muttered curses. He picked a slab that seemed to take the longest to verify, but even that only lasted about two seconds. Reading the question and completing the human verification within two seconds was difficult, but not impossible. Yan Qing quickly grew adept at it, but no matter how fast he got, he still couldn’t keep up with the slab’s speed of changing questions.

After a dozen attempts, Yan Qing finally lost it after a near-successful failure. Clenching his fists in a crazed posture, a beastlike roar of impotent fury escaped him, filled with rage and curses.

He heard a light snicker from behind. Yan Qing turned around furiously, only to see Shang Xinlei staring down at the ground—but her slightly trembling shoulders completely gave her away—she was laughing.

How could he be the only one suffering from this society-revenge type human verification torture? Like a foreman catching a worker on break, Yan Qing walked over and urged, "Had enough rest? Hurry up and open the cabinet!"

"I’m tired—"

"I’ve never seen a rat fall into a rice jar and still say it’s tired."

Shang Xinlei fell silent, seemingly unable to fabricate a decent excuse.

Yan Qing could tell she had something on her mind. She said "don’t mind me," but it sounded more like "please, someone care about me." But Yan Qing was neither her father nor her brother, so he had no reason to comfort her. That behavior didn’t match his usual persona anyway. More importantly... he wasn’t good at comforting people. He wasn’t even good at arguing with people. Only behind a keyboard could he unleash a flood of eloquent sarcasm and defeat nine others at once.

After a moment of silence, just as Yan Qing was about to return to the human verification task, Shang Xinlei finally spoke, "I can’t take anything from here."

"Why? You dared to assassinate the emperor, but now you can’t take his stuff? Your moral code is really something."

"Precisely because I failed to assassinate the emperor, I’m not qualified to take anything." Shang Xinlei said slowly, "The emperor was nearly assassinated, Jiangjing fell into chaos overnight. Even if none of it was my father’s fault, the blame will ultimately fall on him. After all, the emperor has yet to take full control, and he is the Prime Minister governing Jiangnan."

Was it really not your father’s fault... Yan Qing gave her a glance but restrained his urge to comment.

"If I had succeeded in assassinating the emperor, my father could have continued governing Great Liang. These problems wouldn’t be problems. His prestige would be enough to suppress all demons and ghosts. The royal family would continue to rely on him, and the noble clans would rally under his banner. The Shang Family would continue to thrive. Before the next emperor assumed power, my eldest and third brothers would surely hold key military posts, and the Shang Family could have landed smoothly, handing authority back to the Shao Royal Clan."

"Qian Gongyu would also have been freed under the new emperor’s amnesty. She wouldn’t have learned of the Shang Family’s filth. With ample time to make arrangements, my father wouldn’t have had to drag her onto the war chariot. She’d probably have become my lifelong best friend—she’s silly and adorable, and I could easily have had her in my palm, raising her like a pet."

"But I failed."

Her tone didn’t change, but the emotion within plummeted drastically. Shang Xinlei hugged her knees tightly, burying her head in her chest, as if trying to hide herself from the world.

"After such a catastrophe, my father, as the Prime Minister, will be held accountable. The Shang Family will be implicated. Xiao Yu still won’t be able to leave Shuiyue Pavilion. I used to resent my father’s dictatorial ways, but now I find myself inferior even to him." she muttered, "Not only did I fail to help them find a better path, I ended up causing trouble for the family."

  "Before, I used to look down on those noble scions who squandered and indulged everywhere, but in the end, I’m nothing more than an arrogant and incompetent wastrel... perhaps even worse than them. No matter how many women they played with or how much money they spent, none of it caused as much trouble to their family as I did in a single night."

Yan Qing couldn’t help but nod—Shang Xinlei’s self-reflection made a lot of sense. As the saying goes, the real worry isn’t a second-generation rich kid who drinks and parties, but one who tries to start a business. Believing oneself to be more capable than one’s elders was the most dangerous illusion for a noble scion.

Of course, if Shang Xinlei had succeeded, this wouldn’t be the narrative. From what Yan Qing knew of her, she must have been confident that the emperor’s personal guards didn’t include a Foundation Messenger. After all, she frequently entered and exited the Imperial Palace, was a friend of the princess, and often roamed Jiangnan at night. The appearance of Hermit Yu Li was truly a black swan event she could never have foreseen.

Had Hermit Yu Li not shown up, even if the emperor had been fed up to the Second Job Change and had a Defensive Token, in a premeditated attack against an unprepared target, Shang Xinlei had at least a seventy percent chance of instantly breaking through his defense. What’s more likely, however, was that the emperor didn’t have a Defensive Token at all—after all, the Imperial Palace was the heart of Jiangnan City, and he had lived his whole life in a garden where no one could harm him. Why would he need to protect himself?

But that’s how the world worked—success or failure was all that mattered. This was also the difference between noble scions and common-born sons: no matter how hard the latter tried, they’d only ruin themselves, but if the former tried too hard, they might bet the entire family on the table.

"So I can’t take anything from the Secret Treasury. For every item missing from the Secret Treasury, it’s an extra burden on Father and the Shang Family." Shang Xinlei’s voice was calm yet heavy, like rain on an overcast day: "I know this is a meaningless atonement, a self-deceptive redemption. I was the one who brought you in to begin with."

At that, she gave a bitter laugh and mocked herself: "But I just can’t bring myself to keep adding trouble to the family. Of course, I won’t and have no right to limit your actions. Do as you please. Don’t worry about me."

In truth, Shang Xinlei began regretting her words the moment they left her mouth. There were things one simply shouldn’t say to others—revealing one’s weakness wouldn’t earn sympathy, but disdain.

Most people only want to admire the flower, not see the ugly roots beneath it.

Moreover, Yan Qing wasn’t an ordinary person—he was a teammate in the Thieves' House, and they would continue to collaborate in the future. Letting him understand and even grasp her personality was as dangerous as handing him her chains to control. Sharing her inner thoughts with him was as foolish as entrusting her life to him... and she had done both.

She wasn’t as calm and composed as she thought. Just because he had once saved her, just because he had said "I came for you," she had believed him unconditionally.