Chapter 429: Chapter 427: You Just Ate Too Much
The sixth floor of the Platinum Tower suddenly fell silent. Le Yu stood by the desk, saying nothing, silently meeting Ming Shuiyun’s gaze. After calming down, Ming Shuiyun realized that what she had just said held too many implications, blushing to her ears and stammering, "I meant, it’s just that, we are Sword Master and sheath, if you die, I definitely won’t have a chance to win..."
Le Yu smiled kindly, making Ming Shuiyun even more embarrassed. However, he turned and walked to the front of the wall, gazing at a decorative painting hanging on it, depicting a woman’s beautiful silhouette against the sunset.
"Post-mortem response." Le Yu suddenly uttered a term.
"What?" Ming Shuiyun was stunned for a moment.
"Within a day after death, the human body’s organs and tissues still retain some functional activity for a short period and respond to external stimuli. The legendary ’corpse resurrection’ and ’corpse sitting up’ are manifestations of the post-mortem response."
"Muscle relaxation."
"After death, muscles and skin lose elasticity, making the corpse feel very soft to touch. At this time, the corpse’s pupils will be dilated, eyes slightly open, mouth agape, without any expression on the face. If no excretion occurred before, urinary and fecal incontinence might even occur."
Initially, Ming Shuiyun couldn’t help feeling a bit scared upon hearing the earlier details, sensing an eerie chill on the sixth floor, but suddenly she felt the urge to go to the bathroom upon hearing the last sentence.
"Rigor Mortis."
"Within three hours, the body’s muscles gradually stiffen, fixing the joints. Half a day later, the corpse’s entire body joints are rigid."
"Coldness."
"After someone dies, the body temperature drops to nearly the ambient temperature or even below it."
"Lividity."
"After death, blood stops flowing and naturally accumulates in the blood vessels under pressure at lower locations, creating colored scars on the skin, partly purplish-red."
"Cloudiness."
"A dead person’s eyeballs look like water mixed with lime, not as clear and beautiful as those of the living."
"Autolysis."
"After a long time of death, internal organs of the human body will dissolve like wax melting at high temperatures, turning viscera into a sticky, muddy mass, extremely disgusting."
"That’s why dead people wear burial clothes and have makeup done. Because dead people are ugly, disgusting, and terrifying. Without special treatment, a human corpse is hardly different from smelly pork."
Le Yu turned around and looked at Ming Shuiyun, "So, do you understand?"
"I, I don’t care what I would become after I die!" Ming Shuiyun shook her head repeatedly and seriously said, "If we can’t even handle what’s alive, what’s the point of caring about what happens after death?"
"Then what about your ambition?" Le Yu said, "That ambition of yours, which makes you willing to participate in the sword quest and even die under the Nirvana Blade, hidden deep in your heart?"
"If your ambition feels too far-fetched, you are currently ranked first in the quest for the sword, the emperor’s riches and honor are within your reach, don’t you want to revel in beauty’s embrace and rule the world with power?"
"If you don’t care about riches, then the ’Unsparing Kill’ which you have carefully cultivated has already shown promise, you’ve made many good friends, enjoying a fulfilling and happy campus life in the Imperial Academy... Don’t you want to witness ’Unsparing Kill’ becoming popular in Radiance, don’t you want to chat with your friends long into the night five, ten, twenty years from now, don’t you want to continue living a content and happy life?"
Le Yu pulled out a handgun, the muzzle aimed at Ming Shuiyun’s brow.
"If you died like this, would you be content?"
Ming Shuiyun stared at the dark muzzle, unable to utter a sound, her legs even slightly weak. Yet Le Yu quickly turned the muzzle away and said softly, "So, do you understand?"
"I, I just..."
"You just think saying ’die together’ sounds cool."
Le Yu reached out as if to pat Ming Shuiyun’s head, but in the end, still merely patted her shoulder, "You just ate too much."
That’s about it, no need to say more, Le Yu thought.
From the start, Le Yu never intended to have a good relationship with the Sword Master, it was enough for the Sword Master to have the intention to seize the Holy Sword, and Ming Shuiyun got his offer because she wouldn’t give up despite being hunted by Niruo in the dark night.
On the contrary, Le Yu did not want a Sword Master who was too sentimental.
To illustrate, Le Yu wanted someone like Emiya Kiritsugu instead of Emiya Shirou.
At first, Le Yu thought he found the card he wanted, but unexpectedly Ming Shuiyun turned out to be putting out the false pretenses, outwardly tough but inwardly soft, stubborn on the surface but actually fragile, almost the type of card Le Yu least wanted. But this card pool only had seven cards, everyone could draw only once, so Le Yu had no choice but to nurture slowly.
Alas, the differences in card pools across regions are too great. In a card pool like the ’Silver Blood Association’, Le Yu could draw ten times without much care, at least nine of them would be ruthless and selfish individuals, and remaining one would be the White Night Walker; but in Yanjing’s ’Radiant Celestial Maiden’ card pool, so far Le Yu hadn’t found a single high-tier card with ’warlord potential’, Ming Shuangli seemed mighty at first, but now it seems she’s a low-grade sheath trainer who cares about Niruo’s life and death.
Hearing sobs echoing faintly behind, Le Yu realized he had devastated Ming Shuiyun utterly this time. Next, she should get angry, remember she’s the Sword Master, and loudly reprimand Le Yu, turning away...
If there were a narration in the world, it would sound now: 「Qin Le Yin never knew that when he rejected Ming Shuiyun’s genuine goodwill, he also completely extinguished all of Ming Shuiyun’s kindness. As the Mechanical Ladder slowly descended, when the resilient girl walked out of the Platinum Tower, this world no longer had Ming Shuiyun, only the future iron-blooded empress, Shuiyun Palace!"
It was the perfect script, Le Yu gave himself a thumbs up for his screenwriting ability, seems writing more novels (carrying out more) indeed has benefits.
Bang!
Suddenly, a slam on the desk sounded behind!
Alright, it’s starting!
"Qin Le Yin!"
Le Yu turned and saluted, politely saying, "Yes, dear feeder, what’s your command?"
"You said I ate too much..."
"Perhaps my phrasing was inappropriate since your figure is quite well proportioned, and hasn’t changed due to a well-balanced diet. ’Eating too much...’ just describes being well fed and having nothing to do, too idle..."
"Exactly, I did eat too much!" Ming Shuiyun gritted her teeth.
That’s why I stupidly cared about your life or death!
Le Yu had already thought up the next line for her!
He stood upright, as Ming Shuiyun might slap him while voicing those words, to express her sentiments and emotional release. Le Yu quickly contemplated, which would better convey impact, grabbing her wrist or letting her slap? Grabbing her wrist would cause great mental distress to her; letting her slap would let her pent emotions flow unrestrained...
Before Le Yu could decide, he saw Ming Shuiyun’s fist coming!
How is it a punch!
Young people, you lack martial ethics!
Le Yu instinctively reached to block Ming Shuiyun’s fist, only to find her punch was soft and without any strength, not an angry punch but more like...
"But I’m so stuffed because you fed me."
Ming Shuiyun’s eyes were red, brimming with tears, weakly punching Le Yu’s palm.
"I know it’ll be ugly when I die."
"I know there’s nothing I can do after death."
"I know no one will remember me after I die."
"I know I certainly won’t be content when I die!"
With each sentence, she punched Le Yu’s palm, tears splashing.
"But what does it matter, those things never belonged to me!" Ming Shuiyun sniffed, her voice tinged with sobbing: "The first place points were won back by you, friends were found by you, the idea for Unsparing Kill was given by you, even the speech script for borrowing money was written by you!"
"Everything I have now, it’s all given by you."
"Yes, I know my plan is naive, saying ’die together’ is childish. But I came to find you braced with courage, I was also embarrassed saying such things! Qin Le Yin, you practically are an ungrateful scoundrel, can you think properly about what this means, can you..."
"...let me also do a bit for you..."
Ming Shuiyun slumped on the floor, stubbornly holding onto Le Yu’s wrist, head bowed gazing at the ground, shoulders silently shaking, large tears falling onto her dress. Le Yu calmly observed her, glancing to the upper right corner, upper left corner, lower left corner, lower right corner, finally his gaze returned to her.
He slowly raised his palm, hovered briefly in the air, gently placed it on Ming Shuiyun’s head.
"But you can only live once, unlike me who squander recklessly."