I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 401: Chapter 216: Prisoner? Prisoner

After the three shared a hearty laugh, they had no time to savor the joy of seeing daylight again.

Almost simultaneously, the expressions of Zheng Xiu, Feng Bei, and the Monk all changed.

Blood trickled from the Monk’s eyes, nostrils, and ears. He clutched his head in agony, as if it were being torn apart.

While Zheng Xiu and Feng Bei weren’t bleeding from every orifice like the Monk, a violent headache still left them in unbearable pain, their eardrums throbbing.

Zheng Xiu seized the chance to pull Feng Bei into an embrace.

Tears streamed down Feng Bei’s face.

A grand dream, vanished in the blink of an eye.

The century they had spent in the World in the Painting may have seemed illusory, but for the three of them, they had truly accumulated more than a hundred years of "memories."

A century of memories flooded their minds in an instant, a torrent of fragments threatening to tear their skulls apart. It was a pain that words could not describe unless one had experienced it firsthand.

An unknown amount of time passed.

When Feng Bei came to, she found herself nestled in Zheng Xiu’s arms.

Zheng Xiu was smiling down at her. His current form was still that of Zheng Shan. But they had been husband and wife for ten years in the World in the Painting. No matter how Zheng Xiu’s face or body changed, Feng Bei could recognize him from his eyes alone.

In the painting, the people were illusory, but the feelings were real.

The figures were illusory, but the tears were real.

The time was illusory, but the marriage was real.

In such a mix of truth and illusion, who could tell the difference?

The two embraced silently in the snow, savoring the quiet and peaceful moment as if struggling to transition from the illusory to the real.

"Big Bro, Sis... uh, I mean, Miss Feng, are you two all right?"

After some time, the Monk, squatting nearby, scratched his head and asked awkwardly.

Zheng Xiu looked into Feng Bei’s eyes. "We..."

Feng Bei raised a finger to his lips, silencing him as she slowly shook her head.

Feng Bei was the first to pull away from his embrace. She stood, her expression reverting to its usual cold aloofness. Brushing the snow from her clothes, she stood to the side and said softly, "We should go."

Feng Bei’s abrupt change in attitude made Zheng Xiu’s chest tighten. He took a deep breath and nodded without a word.

"HISS... HISS..."

The aftermath of the avalanche was a scene of utter devastation. Just then, a faint hiss drew the trio’s attention. Following the sound, they discovered that the giant Big White Snake was still alive. Its snow-white scales blended almost perfectly with the snowdrifts, making it look like a small hill from a distance. With their minds in turmoil, they might have missed it completely if not for the sound.

The Monk and Feng Bei both turned to look at Zheng Xiu. When faced with a problem, they now subconsciously looked to him to make the decision, treating him as their pillar of support.

The century inside the painted scroll had left its mark on all three of them, but it was hard to immediately grasp the full extent of its influence.

Inside the painting, Feng Bei and Zheng Xiu had been a married couple. Zheng Xiu had once mistaken Feng Bei for Xie Luohe, and Feng Bei had willingly played the part. The Monk had been Xie Luohe’s brother, and Fan Yao had ultimately become their sworn enemy.

The sheer complexity of these layered relationships was enough to make one’s head spin just thinking about it.

Zheng Xiu stepped forward to investigate. Snow cascaded away to reveal two jet-black eyes, which stared up at him pitifully, full of pleading.

"HISS... HISS... HISS..."

The white snake was on the brink of death. A long gash had been sliced open on its belly, and blood was still pouring out.

Standing behind Zheng Xiu, Feng Bei looked at the vivid intelligence in the white snake’s eyes with some surprise. "This snake... it’s achieved sentience."

More and more smaller snakes began to emerge from all sides.

They coiled around the Big White Snake, their pointed heads raised, hissing at Zheng Xiu. CHH-CHH-CHH. The air crackled with hostility.

Zheng Xiu smiled, approached the Big White Snake, and reached his hand out toward its head.

"HISS!"

Instantly, all the smaller white snakes coiled their bodies like springs, poised for an all-out assault.

"HISSS!"

The Big White Snake let out a sharp hiss, and the smaller snakes’ aggression subsided.

The Monk was stunned. "It seems to be afraid of us."

"Who was it that cut it earlier?" Zheng Xiu asked.

The Monk and Feng Bei both looked pointedly at Zheng Xiu. "You."

"Oh, I almost forgot. No wonder, then." Zheng Xiu grinned, giving the Big White Snake a friendly smile as he stroked the scales on its snout. "You still dare try to eat me again?"

"Hiss... hiss..."

"You won’t?"

"Hiss hiss!"

"We’ll bury the hatchet?"

"Hiss!"

"Deal!"

The man and the snake seemed to be conversing, a scene that made the Monk’s jaw drop. "Big Bro, you can actually understand snake-speak?"

"I can’t understand the words, but I get the gist. Maybe it’s from playing with Mao’er so much. Their expressions are all pretty much the same."

As Zheng Xiu spoke of Mao’er, the normally aloof Feng Bei closed her eyes, her long lashes trembling slightly.

In front of Feng Bei and the Monk, Zheng Xiu held out his hand. A cluster of gruesome, blood-red eyes suddenly sprouted from his palm. The eyes squeezed outward, forming a small chain as the grating sound of crushing bone and flesh filled the air. A slender "pen shaft" extended from the end of the eyeball chain, its tip bizarrely formed from his own five curled fingers. The sight was utterly grotesque.

Seeing this, a flicker of nervousness finally crossed Feng Bei’s face. "Are you all right?"

She was worried.

Zheng Xiu smiled and shook his head. He gripped the newly formed paintbrush, bit the tip of his finger until a drop of blood welled up, and began to draw in the empty air, creating a needle and thread out of nothing.

"This might take a while. You two should stand back and wait."

Since Zheng Xiu had said so, Feng Bei and the Monk, though confused, obediently moved to a safe distance and watched him work.

"Show me your belly," Zheng Xiu said to the Big White Snake. The creature actually seemed to understand, shifting to reveal the wound hidden in the snow. Zheng Xiu had sliced its belly open with a blade, leaving a clean cut that was now simple enough to treat. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he finished stitching the wound on the snake’s belly. He retracted the "paintbrush," touched the spot between his eyebrows, and began to work the slot machine.

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