"Hey, girl, what have you been doing up there for so long?" Hearing the sound coming from the stairs, Yukari Yakumo paused with her teacup in hand, lifted her head, and looked at Chu Lian, who was coming down while holding Li Xiu'er's hand. She narrowed her eyes and asked.
"Ah, so Yukari-nee is here. Thank you so much for yesterday." Chu Lian wisely chose to avoid answering that question. Otherwise, she knew she'd probably be embarrassed to death in a moment.
Even though she hadn't clearly sensed anyone watching, Chu Lian knew very well that for people at the level of Yukari Yakumo and Li Mingxue, they didn't need to actively investigate to know what others were doing. Information from their surroundings would naturally flow to them.
Even though Yukari Yakumo's strength had been automatically sealed to the peak of the Heaven rank due to the energy restrictions of the real world, she was still the type who was hardly affected by such limitations.
So Chu Lian knew that if she got entangled with her on this topic, she would only end up speechless. After all, something like that was far too embarrassing to say out loud.
"As expected of little sister Chu Lian~" Yukari Yakumo slowly took a sip of tea before continuing. She deliberately emphasized the name "Chu Lian," clearly telling her, "Girl, I already know your real name. Don't even think about fooling me anymore."
Chu Lian had never planned to keep deceiving her with a fake name forever. It was just that back in Overlord, she had been worried about being watched by Judgement, so she hadn't dared to reveal her real name.
Now that Yukari Yakumo had come to the real world, there was no way to deceive her. Even if she didn't say it herself, others would unintentionally reveal it. In that case, it was better to admit it openly rather than fabricate more lies to cover it up.
"So then, girl, about you deceiving my feelings—how exactly do you plan to compensate me?" After taking another sip of black tea, she set the cup down on the table, crossed her legs, and looked at Chu Lian, who had sat down on the large sofa beside her, with an amused expression.
"If Yukari-nee has any request, please just say it. As long as I can do it, I will definitely do it." Chu Lian knew that Yukari Yakumo's talk of compensation was no joke. As a boundary-manipulating great youkai who had lived for so long, her dignity was not something to be trampled lightly.
No matter how many reasons she had, she couldn't hide from it. This was karma she had created herself, and she had to bear the consequences.
Anna, who had been trying to "eat" the energy for a second time, finally snapped back to her senses when Chu Lian sat beside her and spoke. She opened her eyes, threw herself into Chu Lian's arms, rubbed against her, then looked up and said obediently, "Mommy, Anna got revenge for you."
"You really are reckless." Chu Lian, whose conversation with Yukari Yakumo had been interrupted, could only flick the girl's forehead.
"It's nothing, just a small injury." The girl shook her head stubbornly. As she rubbed against Chu Lian's chest, she felt a subtle sense of comfort. That discovery surprised her—had Mommy finally started developing? Would she not be able to press against such a flat chest in the future...
"Why do I feel like you're thinking something very rude right now?" Chu Lian's hand, which had been stroking her head, paused as she said with a smiling expression.
"Oh my, little Anna is probably finding your chest too small. After all, not everyone can have a figure like mine at seventeen." Yukari Yakumo wasn't bothered by the interruption. After glancing at Li Xiu'er for a moment, she chimed in upon hearing Chu Lian's words.
"If you say that... we won't be able to communicate anymore." Chu Lian's expression immediately turned into a pitiful look, as if she wanted to cry but couldn't. Why did it feel like everyone could look down on her figure now?
"Oh? Is that so?" Yukari Yakumo's eyes narrowed instantly, and even Li Xiu'er could clearly sense the danger within them—let alone Chu Lian.
Realizing she had angered this lady, Chu Lian immediately dropped the act. She pushed Anna out of her arms and made her sit on the sofa, then looked at Yukari Yakumo and said, "Alright... go ahead. What compensation do you want?"
All Chu Lian could hope was that the request wouldn't be too excessive. Otherwise, if it took too long or was impossible to complete, that would be truly troublesome.
"It's nothing too difficult. For you, it should be easy, right?" Yukari Yakumo finally withdrew her dangerous aura. One leg swayed gently as her violet eyes looked at Chu Lian's face with a playful expression.
That look made Chu Lian's scalp tingle. She knew she couldn't escape this, but there was nothing she could do. Given her current status, she simply wasn't qualified to speak to Yukari Yakumo as an equal.
Even though she had several powerful allies around her, this matter was fundamentally her own fault. Yukari Yakumo had already saved her life twice—if she still refused, it would be completely unreasonable.
"Well then, it's very simple..." Yukari Yakumo began, as if she had thought of something extremely amusing, becoming momentarily absorbed in it herself.
After quite a while, she came back to her senses and looked at Chu Lian. "Girl, you're a Spacetime Traveling Merchant, aren't you?"
"Yes... what I didn't expect was that Yukari-nee is also a Spacetime Traveling Merchant. What a coincidence—fate truly works in mysterious ways." Chu Lian immediately tried to get closer to her upon hearing this.
Unfortunately, Yukari Yakumo had lived far too long to be swayed by such attempts. She ignored it and continued, "Then you should have quite a lot of things, right?"
"Yes..." Chu Lian felt a bad premonition. Why was she asking this? Did she want something from her? That shouldn't be the case. Given Yukari Yakumo's strength, she should have far more resources than Chu Lian herself.
"Last time, didn't you try to sell me quite a lot of doujin books? Including... ones about me. As far as Gensokyo is concerned, no one else seems to know about this yet." Yukari Yakumo spoke casually, but Chu Lian froze completely upon hearing it.
This was a naked threat. She was clearly telling her that if she displeased her, those doujin books would become leverage against her.
Chu Lian could already imagine it—if Yukari Yakumo revealed that she had been selling doujins about them, she would instantly become public enemy number one in Gensokyo.
She wasn't naive enough to believe she would never go to Gensokyo in the future. Who knew what kind of missions might appear? If she offended Yukari Yakumo now, she would be doomed later.
What kind of place was Gensokyo? It could be considered one of the most dangerous locations in the dimensional universe. Great youkai walked the land in droves, Heaven-rank experts were as common as dogs, and as for Earth-rank—just toss a brick and you could hit countless monsters. It was a gathering ground for terrifying beings.
Offending a powerhouse from such a place meant Chu Lian could already declare her own doom—utter, irreversible doom.
"So... what is your request?" Chu Lian did her best to calm herself from her fear of the future. Right now, nothing was more important than making sure Yukari Yakumo didn't reveal that matter.
She regretted it deeply now. Of all things she could sell, why did she have to sell doujins of Gensokyo's girls? Wasn't that basically courting death on the head of the King of Hell?
She had thought no one had noticed. But not long after she put them out, she had been caught by the biggest boss of Gensokyo. What kind of cursed luck was this?
And now the other party was using it to threaten her. It was obvious she wouldn't let her off easily. If she refused... she would definitely die, right?
"It's very simple. You just need to take your own doujin books and sell them in the Origin Land. And you're not allowed to choose your customers. Whoever comes to buy, you sell to them. Understood?" Yukari Yakumo twirled a strand of her golden hair with a finger, her tone lazy—yet it struck Chu Lian like a fatal blow.
"My... own doujins?" She immediately thought of the hidden class in her system—Doujin Queen. She could already sense that if she did this, that hidden class would automatically be unlocked for her in the future. At that point, she'd probably have people stopping her on the street with H-doujins asking for her autograph.
But if she didn't agree? If she didn't agree, she would definitely die. If she agreed, she could at least think of a way to get out of it later. Refusing meant certain death.
"That's right—your own doujins. And they must be H-doujins. Got it?" Yukari Yakumo's voice was soft, but carried an unquestionable authority.
"...Understood." Chu Lian had no choice. Since Yukari Yakumo demanded it, she had to comply. After all, she had brought this upon herself.
"Oh, right. That's only the first condition. As for the second... I'll tell you when I think of it. But if you manage to make me happy, I might loosen the requirements a bit so you won't end up too miserable."
"Many thanks to Yukari-nee for your great kindness and boundless mercy. This humble girl is deeply grateful." Chu Lian held back her urge to cry. There was no point arguing with this old monster—she would only be the one to suffer in the end.
"That's more like it. That's my obedient and adorable little sister Chu Lian." A faint trace of delight flashed through Yukari Yakumo's eyes as she watched Chu Lian submit. This girl was indeed quite likable.
"Mm-hmm..." Chu Lian could only agree, not daring to refute. Wanting to end this nightmare of being toyed with as soon as possible, she quickly changed the topic. Pulling Li Xiu'er along, she introduced her to Yukari Yakumo. "Yukari-nee, she's the one I rescued last night. Her name is Li Xiu'er—you can just call her Xiu'er."
"Xiu'er, is it? A good name. Now I see why that fellow was so fixated on her. So it's this kind of talent... quite rare indeed. Unfortunately, it doesn't align with my path. Otherwise, I might have taken her as a disciple." Yukari Yakumo looked at Li Xiu'er with clear interest.
"Xiu'er's talent and physique are a Spiritual Illusion Body—an extremely rare gift. And I'm confident she'll become the most accomplished one in history." Chu Lian squeezed Li Xiu'er's hand gently, giving her a subtle cue.
"I believe that as well." Yukari Yakumo didn't refute her. In her eyes, this girl's talent was indeed astonishing. Although Chu Lian was even more exceptional, she was an anomaly—someone who couldn't be measured by normal standards.
"Phew, it's ready. Everyone, come eat." As Chu Lian and Yukari Yakumo continued chatting, time passed until noon. Anna had already fallen asleep in Chu Lian's arms when Li Mingxue's voice calling them to eat came from the other room.
At that, the girls scattered elsewhere all came running down on their own...