RoCD Chapter 68

The Bone Beauty

— May this life be as it is today, repeating without end.

The dilapidated temple was covered in cobwebs.

Everywhere were traces of dust and decay.

Gloomy clouds rolled across the sky, obscuring the sun. Although it was clearly noon, all one could feel was a bone-chilling cold. And it was at this moment that Youyou was frozen awake.

Her eyelashes, the color of raven feathers, trembled. Youyou shivered and muttered deliriously. What greeted her eyes was a shattered Buddha statue and, lying beneath it, a crimson figure.

‘Xi… Xixi?’

Forcing her limp body up from the ground, Youyou curiously wanted to go and see the person lying there, but for some unknown reason, she stopped in her tracks.

The feeling was unfamiliar to Youyou. She was shivering uncontrollably from the cold, yet she discovered that she, too, was wearing red clothes—the ancient style, at that.

Is this the mission world Xixi was talking about?

Youyou blinked her limpid eyes in wonder.

[Host, stop asking so many questions! Hurry and dig a pit to bury that dead woman! Quickly, Host, or it’ll be too late!]

It is said that to be buried is to be at peace. If Host buries her, she should show some consideration for the favor and spare this poor little Host, right? In the system space, Xixi the cat looked as if she had lost all will to live. After all, it had been a long time since the Host was first trapped in this place by this vengeful ghost. A time loop that reset every few days.

It was simply maddening.

‘Bu-bury her? Sh-she’s dead?’

Seeing a dead person the moment she transmigrated was too much for Youyou. She timidly approached the person in red, and when she saw the person’s face, she froze.

It was a woman—to be precise, a stunningly beautiful woman in a red wedding dress, her lips as red as blood, who looked as if she were merely in a deep sleep.

In an instant, many images flashed before her eyes. Youyou uncontrollably sank to her knees, nearly falling onto the woman’s body.

Xixi was speechless.

Looks like the Host was about to fall for the ghost’s tricks all over again.

As expected, what followed was rather hard to watch. Xixi watched, wide-eyed, as her Host, secretly controlled by the ghost who had coveted her for so long, was made to do many indescribable things—acts commonly known as the defilement of a female body[mfn](t/n: “Indescribable things… defilement of a female body (不可描述的三兩事，俗稱猥、褻、女、體 bùkě miáoshù de sān liǎng shì, súchēng wěi, xiè, nǚ, tǐ)” is a coy way of describing lewd acts. 不可描述 (indescribable) is a common euphemism for R-rated content. The deliberate, separated punctuation of 猥褻女體 (defile a female body) is a stylistic choice by the author, likely to be teasing or to bypass online censors.)[/mfn], and so on.

Dragged into this world for no reason, with no plot and no objective, Xixi’s eyelid twitched as she gnawed on her paw, having already resigned herself to despair.

Whatever. Each cycle in the time loop damaged both the ghost and the Host anyway.

Once the Host died a natural death, the ghost wouldn’t be able to trap her anymore.

After all, no matter how powerful a vengeful ghost was, how could she contend with the Main God?

The atmosphere in the dilapidated temple gradually grew eerie. The air became thick and viscous.

Suddenly, a gale raged outside, with flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder. Before long, a torrential downpour began, falling as if from an overturned bowl, the force of it utterly terrifying.

Youyou, controlled by the vengeful ghost, moved almost mechanically, leaning over the woman’s body as she bit down on the woman’s lips. Her pupils were unfocused, her expression blank. It was impossible to say how much time had passed, but then a few light laughs—so sharp they sent tingles down to the bone—startled Youyou awake.

“Tsk. Aren’t you a bit too eager, my lady wife[mfn](t/n: “My lady wife (娘子 niángzǐ)” is an archaic form of address for one’s wife in historical dramas and novels. Given the ancient setting, “my lady wife” captures the tone better than “wife.”)[/mfn]?”

A hand, icy cold yet remarkably fair and clean, caressed Youyou’s face. The woman in red had a gentle expression, and her eyes were even more brilliant than the stars in the night sky.

Youyou was completely stunned with fear. The moment she came to her senses, she immediately straightened up. But the icy touch and the moisture on the woman’s lips served as a visceral reminder of what she had just done.

‘Xi… Xixi?’

How did things turn out like this?

Her delicate face flushed crimson with astonishment and shyness. Xixi, wanting to cry but having no tears, blinked its feline eyes. In the end, it still didn’t tell the Host that the woman was a ghost: [It was Xixi’s mistake. Host, just try to get along with her.]

The first time they arrived in this world, it had told the Host that the woman was a ghost. As a result, the Host’s face had gone deathly pale, and she had tried to run away, but had failed to escape. In the end, the ghost teased her relentlessly until the Host completely broke down and cried her eyes out. The ghost got so annoyed by the crying that she had nearly strangled her to death.

When the time reset a few days later, it once again told the Host that the woman was a ghost, this time telling her to stay calm and not make a big fuss, lest she provoke her. As it turned out, the ghost retained her memories; she was the one causing the time reset.

Xixi felt that the ghost had probably fallen in love with its Host. Otherwise, how could its Host have possibly survived until now?

There had been countless time resets. Seeing its Host’s life force growing weaker and weaker, Xixi thought that these days were probably about to come to an end.

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Welcome to the new arc, everyone! We’re now back to our regular schedule of 2 chapters per week (every Wednesday), I hope you’ve enjoyed the mass release<3

Also, sidenote, you may see a lot of translator notes in this arc lol

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