Chapter 138: Never Leave, Never Forsake

"Little husband, what have you been busy with today?" Qin Xuanxi seemed to be taking the initiative to find topics for conversation.

Song Ye replied indifferently, "I've been busy with matters concerning Song Yan all day. She is heading to the Xuanqing Palace with Zhang Zixuan today to attend lectures. If she manages to stay there to cultivate, I imagine we won't see much of her at home in the future."

"If Song Yan isn't around, won't you have more free time?" Qin Xuanxi asked.

Song Ye shook his head. "I plan to take advantage of her absence to renovate the house and the courtyard. Besides, the yamen has recruited several new bailiffs recently, and as their squad leader, I need to spend more time training them."

"So, I’ll be quite busy for a while. I probably won't have much time to come and visit you."

"B-but if you don't have time to see me, my fierce aunt will surely be furious! Given her temper, she might just tear the entire prefectural yamen apart," Qin Xuanxi said, her eyes widening.

Song Ye felt a hint of a threat in her words. If he didn't visit this human-shaped surveillance camera often, she would have Bai Ruoling run to Princess Hansi to report him. While it was unlikely the princess would actually dismantle the Yancheng prefectural yamen, it would take only a word from her to cost a lowly squad leader his job. Once unemployed, he would be reduced to a full-time househusband, leaving him with no excuse to avoid visiting her.

The situation was clear: although he and Qin Xuanxi were not yet officially married, the bloodless battle for "domestic dominance" had already begun. Song Ye felt that if he let this demoness get the upper hand now, he would never regain his standing as the head of the household. He had to strike back.

With that, Song Ye reached out toward Qin Xuanxi's face.

"Little husband... what are you doing?" Qin Xuanxi’s eyes widened slightly. Since her consciousness could not control the limbs of this human-skin puppet, she was unable to stop his next move.

Song Ye pressed his right thumb against the tip of her nose and pushed upward with force, turning it into a pig's snout.

"Little wife, you actually look quite cute with a pig's nose!" Song Ye couldn't help but chuckle.

Qin Xuanxi’s eyes went round. Although this was merely a human-skin puppet, the face was modeled after her true appearance. Now, seeing her face distorted into such an unsightly state, she couldn't help but imagine how she would look with a pig's nose in reality. Furthermore, this boy was laughing so joyfully. As the supreme female demon sovereign of the Xuanying Continent, when had she ever suffered such humiliation?

"You... you are insolent!" Qin Xuanxi blurted out. "Take your hand away this instant!"

"Little wife, why have you become so fierce all of a sudden?" Song Ye feigned surprise.

"I... I'm not being fierce, little husband. Just take your hand off my face, please!"

"Wait a moment, little wife. Some of your nose hairs seem a bit long. Should I trim them for you? And I might as well shave your leg hair while I'm at it."

Hearing this, Qin Xuanxi was so terrified that she immediately "went offline," instantly withdrawing her consciousness from the puppet.

Back in the Sect Master's Hall on Mount Xuyu, Qin Xuanxi sat with a flustered expression. She had never felt this panicked in her entire life, as if she had committed some shameful act. She had always believed she no longer cared about her physical appearance—that no matter how ugly she became or how bloated her frame grew, her heart would remain as calm as still water. Yet, just because Song Ye had poked her nose, she had inexplicably spiraled into a panic, terrified that he might see her in such an unsightly state. She had never been like this before.

Fortunately, she had withdrawn her consciousness in time. With Bai Ruoling watching over the puppet, surely Song Ye wouldn't do anything too excessive.

Meanwhile, at the Prince of Xiang’s estate, Song Ye noticed the human-skin puppet had fallen into a deathly stillness, realizing he had frightened Qin Xuanxi’s consciousness away. He hadn't expected this demoness to be so afraid of having her nose poked—or perhaps, she was truly worried he might actually shave her leg hair. Regardless, he had successfully gained the upper hand. He had won the first round.

Just then, the game system’s voice echoed in his mind.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the achievement title: [Never Abandon]!"

[Never Abandon]: Automatically granted when the player is judged by the game system to possess the noble quality of never abandoning their beloved.

Title Attributes:
+500 Health.
+100 Spirit.

The game system was truly sharp-eyed. Song Ye felt he was worthy of this title. After all, he had spent five years looking after a "vegetative" fiancée without any affairs with other women; such devotion was witnessed by heaven and earth. Fortunately, his efforts hadn't been in vain. He imagined this title was quite difficult to obtain; even if other players existed in this world, they would likely struggle to earn it.

Once obtained, the title's attributes were automatically applied.

[Level]: 132
[Health]: 5313 + 800
[Spirit]: 150 + 150
[Titles]: Death-Defying, Never Abandon.

A new entry, [Never Abandon], appeared under his list of titles.

...

Li Kingdom, Peach Blossom Village.

When Song Yao and Pei Wangshu opened their eyes, they found themselves in a quiet, secluded village. The few villagers passing by were dressed in simple linen clothing, and their own attire had also changed into humble linen garments.

They quickly realized this was the starting village of the Xuanying Continent. They had been spawned into the same one. There were only thirty-two players in this login session, but they weren't necessarily all in the same village. After wandering around, Song Yao and Pei Wangshu discovered five other players. This meant at least seven players had spawned in this village.

It was easy to distinguish players from NPCs; when they focused their gaze on a player, their level would appear in their minds, though their specific attributes remained hidden. Since everyone had just arrived, they were all on the same starting line at level one.

Song Yao opened the player map and saw that the village was named "Peach Blossom Village," and the nearest town was "Yancheng."