Chapter 130

So treasure chests could not only contain ghosts and items.

They could also contain Li Jianxi.

The comments were nothing but groundhog screams:

【If this isn't love, then what is!!!】

【That gust of wind that brought Lychee here must have been blown by the God of Matchmaking!】

【Prince Li Jianxi of the Land of Giants has found his Thumb Princess!】

【Li Jianxi, your new job is a bit outrageous. You stuffed yourself into a treasure chest—does that make you an item now???】

【He's an Easter Egg NPC who can drop items for players! Of course he counts as an item!】

【Li Zhi opened the strongest item in this maze!】

【Clutching my heart! Falling over from sweetness! Screaming while crawling! I'm so excited I'm wriggling on the floor like a worm!】

【This scene is so magical and adorable! I'm screenshotting it right now to make it my new wallpaper!】

...

Li Zhi looked back at the treasure chest, then at Li Jianxi, who looked like a giant standing before her. It was hard to imagine how he had managed to squeeze himself into that box.

"As for this new job you changed to..."

For a moment, she didn't know how to evaluate it.

"It's... pretty good."

After all, opening a Li Jianxi was basically the same as obtaining a cheat. The rest of the treasure-hunting adventure through the maze probably wouldn't run into any accidents.

Still, she was curious.

"Besides you, are there any other NPCs inside the maze's treasure chests?" she added, "I mean NPCs, not ghosts."

Li Jianxi honestly shook his head.

"Probably not."

Li Zhi tilted her head.

"Probably?"

Li Jianxi: "..."

How was he supposed to tell her that he had beaten up the Water Ghost that was originally supposed to go into the chest before stealing this position?

"Forget it."

Seeing how awkward he looked, Li Zhi waved her hand and didn't continue asking.

Sitting in someone else's palm was a rather bizarre experience.

She would probably only experience it once in her entire life.

She might as well enjoy it.

She crossed her legs, smiled, and directed him,

"Let's keep going. Continue looking for treasure chests."

Li Jianxi gently cupped his hand around her and carefully stood up.

"Okay."

Although he was already being very careful as he stood, Li Zhi still toppled over in his palm from the movement.

Li Jianxi felt a slight ticklish sensation in his palm and pressed his lips together, forcefully suppressing the urge to scratch it.

He held his cupped hand against his chest and walked steadily forward.

Li Zhi climbed back up and sat cross-legged again, resting both hands against the warm skin of his palm, feeling the warmth carried by the blood flowing through the human body.

It felt a little...

Strange.

But also quite comfortable.

Li Jianxi soon arrived at a crossroads and lowered his head to ask her,

"Which way should we go?"

Apparently, he didn't know where the exit was either.

Li Zhi casually pointed in one direction.

"Let's check over there first."

Li Jianxi nodded.

Although he wasn't walking quickly, sitting in his palm still gave Li Zhi the feeling of riding in a vehicle.

However, he walked very steadily, keeping his slightly cupped hand held before his chest.

As a result, Li Zhi sat very steadily too, without feeling the slightest bit carsick.

This position...

Was very close to his heart.

Li Zhi inevitably heard the sound of his heartbeat.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Strange.

She looked up at his tightly tensed jaw.

He wasn't even walking fast.

Why did his heartbeat seem a little quick?

And the temperature around her was also getting warmer and warmer.

Li Zhi lowered her head to look and discovered that his skin had turned pinkish red.

The temperature of his palm was rising.

She looked for a while before leaning in with some amazement.

Now that the lines on his palm had been magnified, countless even finer lines had appeared, crisscrossing through countless ridges and valleys before forming his one-of-a-kind palm print.

She couldn't help reaching out to touch the deepest line.

That should be the life line, right?

It was quite long.

It stretched all the way to his wrist.

The previously steady "vehicle" suddenly jolted.

Li Zhi's tiny body toppled over again.

When she climbed back up, she noticed that handsome jaw had become even more tense.

Oh.

So he was nervous.

Li Zhi found it a little amusing.

Resting her chin on one hand, she smiled and said,

"Don't be nervous. I'm just reading your palm."

Li Jianxi actually seemed to believe her.

He lowered his gaze and asked seriously,

"How is it?"

"Your palm?" Li Zhi thought for a moment.

"Hmm..."

"You'll live a long life."

Li Jianxi let out a laugh.

He was probably amused by what she had said.

After thinking about it, Li Zhi realized that was true.

For an NPC inside an instance, the meaning of lifespan had already disappeared.

Just like how he vanished before her eyes whenever the red lights came on.

No matter how independent his personality and consciousness became, he still couldn't escape the rules established by the system.

She silently sighed.

After sitting quietly in his palm for a while, a shadow suddenly fell over her.

Li Zhi caught a faint fragrance of flowers.

Then a white flower fell down.

She instinctively reached out and hugged the flower, which was about the same size as she was.

Looking up, she saw Li Jianxi watching her carefully.

Those clear eyes seemed to be asking whether she liked it.

Li Zhi paused, then inhaled sharply.

"What should we do? The staff said we're not allowed to damage the plants in here."

"We just picked a flower without permission."

Li Jianxi froze for a moment before quickly saying,

"I did it."

Not we.

I did it alone!

Li Zhi was almost dying of laughter at his resolute expression.

The gloomy feelings she had just experienced also disappeared.

Now that she had an extra flower, it was the perfect sofa.

Li Zhi leaned comfortably against it, feeling that she could now perfectly cosplay as a tiny fairy from a fairy tale.

"There's no path ahead anymore," Li Jianxi said. "But there's a treasure chest."

Li Zhi climbed to her feet.

"Open it and have a look."

Li Jianxi carried her over, moved the hand holding her a little farther away, and used his other hand to open the treasure chest.

He opened it so casually that he didn't seem the least bit worried about what might be inside.

The moment the lid opened, a cloud of red smoke billowed out.

Within the smoke appeared a grinning red figure.

The long black hair behind the Red-Clothed Female Ghost writhed wildly, but the ferocious smile on her face froze the instant she saw the person standing before her.

Wh... what's going on?!

Why is it him?!

She was still at a complete loss when a familiar cheerful voice suddenly came from the side, greeting her.

"What a coincidence. It's you again. Why did you change jobs again?"

The Red-Clothed Female Ghost: "???"

That voice!!!

She would recognize it even if it turned to ashes!!!

Wasn't this the female demon who had twisted her neck off on the roller coaster and then rammed her flying off the kart racing track?!

Dear heavens!

Why was she so unlucky?!

How could she run into this female demon no matter which job she changed to?!

After greeting her, Li Zhi turned to Li Jianxi and said,

"She keeps changing jobs just like you do. You two should have something in common to talk about."

Li Jianxi asked,

"Really?"

He looked over at her indifferently.

The Red-Clothed Female Ghost: "..."

Her hair stopped flying.

The red smoke stopped billowing.

A flattering smile appeared on her deathly pale face as she slowly retreated back into the treasure chest.

Then she stretched one hand upward.

Bang!

She closed the lid herself.

Outside the chest came the female demon's curious voice.

"She seems to be really afraid of you."

Another voice replied,

"I think she's afraid of you."

The Red-Clothed Female Ghost: "..."

Damn you both, stop arguing!

I'm scared of both of you!!!

...

This path was blocked, so Li Jianxi changed to another route.

Halfway there, Li Zhi suddenly felt something strange happening to her body and hurriedly shouted,

"Li Jianxi, put me down."

Darkness closed around her.

Li Jianxi had closed his hand.

He quickly crouched and placed his hand on the ground.

Only after setting it down steadily did he open his palm again.

Li Zhi jumped out of his hand.

The very next second, her body began expanding.

In the blink of an eye, she returned to her normal size.

Without blinking, Li Jianxi watched her perform what looked like a magic transformation right before his eyes.

Li Zhi rolled her neck and stretched her body.

"Finally back to normal. Looks like the buff lasts about ten minutes."

As she grew larger, the balloon also returned to its original size, carrying its long string high into the air.

Li Zhi looked up at it before suddenly remembering something.

She asked him,

"You gave me this balloon because of this stage, didn't you?"

Li Jianxi nodded.

Li Zhi looked at him with a smile.

"You already gave me an item that could help me. Why did you still come in yourself?"

Li Jianxi awkwardly looked away and pointed ahead.

"There's a treasure chest over there."

The live chat was instantly flooded by copycats:

【Therrrre's a treasure chesssst~~~】

【There's a treasure chest over there~~~】

【If I change the subject this awkwardly, surely she won't notice, right?】

【His ears are red! Aaaaaah!】

【Li Jianxi! Use your mouth! Say it! Tell her you love her! If you don't, she'll keep treating you like a research subject forever!】

【The Prince of the Land of Giants × Thumb Princess limited-time pairing has ended, and I haven't had enough yettt】

【It's okay. Maybe Lychee will run into another "Grow bigger! Grow bigger! Grow bigger!" item later, and we can keep shipping the Queen of the Land of Giants and her delicate little husband.】

【All of you are shipping the couple. I'm the only one feeling sorry for the Red-Clothed Female Ghost.】

...

Seeing that Li Zhi had stopped asking and was walking toward the treasure chest, Li Jianxi quietly let out a sigh of relief behind her.

He quickened his pace to catch up.

When they reached the treasure chest, he stretched out an arm to stop her from going forward.

"I'll open it."

Having managed to obtain such an overpowered cheat companion through sheer ability, Li Zhi was enjoying a rare moment of leisure and didn't fight him for it.

Li Jianxi opened the treasure chest.

This time, nothing strange jumped out.

A card lay quietly at the bottom of the chest.

Li Zhi smiled.

"Not bad luck. We got a clue."

Li Jianxi bent down, picked up the card, and handed it to her.

Li Zhi examined it.

The first clue they had obtained inside the maze was a picture.

The illustration showed a pair of sharp fangs.

"This is... a beast's fang?"

Li Jianxi nodded.

"Yes."

Li Zhi put the card away.

"It looks like it's a ghost related to a wild beast. Let's keep looking for treasure chests."

During the previous voting round, she had seen ghosts such as the Yellow Immortal, the Fox Immortal, the Tiger Ghost, and others listed on the Hundred Ghosts Wall. She would need more clues before she could narrow down the correct answer.