Chapter 209: Embarrassed Beyond Belief

Seeing Di Zian and Luo Zifeng arrive, Ah Bao tugged at Di Zian’s clothing. “Seventh Brother, carry me.”

[I want to stand higher and see further.]

[Ah, my legs are too short. All I see is legs.]

Di Zian, amused, lifted Ah Bao onto his shoulders, letting her ride on his neck so she could see better.

Ah Bao grinned widely, finally spotting the swarm of butterflies.

[Tsk, I see the little heroine smiling. She must be very pleased with herself now, playing the great beauty role!]

[I’ll show you how to go from being a great beauty to a nuisance. Hehe.]

Ah Bao’s big eyes sparkled with delight, her lashes fluttering. Her chubby face was filled with joy and ease.

She let out a casual whistle, which was lost amidst the bustling crowd.

“Zian, do you hear that buzzing?” Luo Zifeng asked, noticing the noise.

Di Zian also heard it. “It sounds like… a swarm of bees on the right side?”

The crowd, who had been stretching their necks to see the celestial phenomenon around Di Hongluan, were stunned.

On the right were bees, and on the left, butterflies.

A clash of heroes and a victory for the brave!

Di Hongluan’s smile froze as she looked at the crowd, both sides now dark with bees and butterflies.

The bees and butterflies locked eyes in the air for a full three seconds. The bee queen led her swarm directly towards Di Hongluan.

Di Hongluan’s smile faltered, and she stumbled backward!

“No, don’t, don’t come any closer, ahhhh!” Di Hongluan’s eyes widened in terror as she was surrounded by bees.

“What kind of phenomenon is this? Why does the princess attract bees instead of butterflies?”

“My goodness, it’s painful just to watch.”

“Look! The butterflies are flying past Di Hongluan and towards us—no, towards…”

Ah Bao, perched on Di Zian’s shoulders, was surrounded by butterflies. They gently landed on her, careful not to upset her.

Instantly, a delicate, grassy fragrance enveloped Ah Bao.

“It’s the little princess! I recognize her. The little princess attracts butterflies!”

“It seems the little princess and Di Hongluan were born on the same day. Could it be that the phenomenon was misassigned? How come the little princess attracts butterflies while Di Hongluan attracts bees?”

“The little princess is the true lucky star. Go and get some good luck from her!”

“Little princess, look at me and grant me some luck, please!”

“Don’t be so loud. The little princess is only one year old. Don’t scare her.”

Seeing the situation go awry, Luo Zifeng quickly signaled to Di Zian, and the two started to run with Ah Bao.

But wherever they went, the butterflies followed.

Ah Bao had never played with butterflies before, especially not while riding on Di Zian’s neck. As her brother ran, the breeze from his movement felt incredibly refreshing on her face.

—

On this side, Di Hongluan was surrounded by bees, and her originally pink outfit had turned completely black.

The surrounding people, fearing the bees might come near them, kept their distance from Di Hongluan.

“What kind of heavenly child is this, attracting bees?” someone muttered in frustration.

“Early in the morning at the temple square, there were red envelopes and butterflies. All this fuss just to make people call her a goddess? What a joke.”

“I almost fell for it earlier, thinking she was really a goddess. But I bet she smeared herself with honey, which is why the bees came.”

“Didn’t you see? The butterflies avoided her; even butterflies are turning their noses up at her.”

“At such a young age, learning to deceive like this.”

“Don’t ever claim to be a lucky star again; it’s so humiliating.”

A group of people cursed as they fled, afraid of being stung by the bees.

In the temple square, the crowd had vanished.

The Han Princess sat on the ground, crying loudly like a shrew, but she dared not approach Di Hongluan. The bees seemed to have an uncanny sense, targeting Di Hongluan specifically.

The maidservants brought torches and finally drove the bees away.

Di Hongluan’s face was swollen to the size of a pig’s head, her features squished together, making it hard for her to speak.

Tears streamed down Di Hongluan’s face, and the pain from the bee stings felt like salt being rubbed into her wounds.

Her head was throbbing with pain. She sat down with a groan, “Wuwuwu… It’s so cold… Cold, help me…”

She couldn’t even pronounce “mother” clearly.

[Beep beep beep—]

A mechanical alarm rang in her head.

Di Hongluan’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted. When she woke up, her consciousness was in her own sea of consciousness.

Looking at the system interface, the task for the “Great Beauty” had turned entirely black with dark mist.

“Wasn’t the ‘Great Beauty’ task completed successfully? Why am I in this state today?”

[System alert: Task failure. Task failure. Task failure…]

The system repeatedly echoed those four words, piercing Di Hongluan’s mind with pain, nearly driving her mad. She clenched her fists tightly. “What’s going on? Useless system, come out and explain!”

[Host, after system verification, if the task shows golden light, it means the ‘Great Beauty’ task is successful.]

Di Hongluan was on the verge of exploding, but the system’s voice sounded unusually cheerful.

She wondered if the system had gone mad!

Indeed, the host and the system’s sadness did not align.

“But now it’s all showing black mist! Don’t you see the black mist?”

[Host, don’t be angry. The system sees it. The system’s eyes are not blind.]

Di Hongluan: “…”

Can this system be removed?

[Host, full black mist means the ‘Great Nuisance’ physique.]

“What did you say?”

Great! Nuisance!!!

The system repeated, [Host, your intelligence seems to be dropping recently. White mist means the ‘Great Beauty’ physique, and black mist means the ‘Great Nuisance’ physique. It’s that simple.]

Di Hongluan was used to arguing with the system and had never been particularly angry before. However, now she was infuriated and found the system increasingly irritating. She snapped, “I crafted the ‘Great Beauty’ physique. Why did you give me this ‘Great Nuisance’ nonsense?”

A single word difference made all the difference.

[It wasn’t the system that messed up; it was you who did it.] The system sounded a bit wronged. It had been scolded by the host frequently lately, and it wondered how things would go on.

“Great Beauty! Great Beauty! I want the Great Beauty! Who needs the Great Nuisance? I’m not sick!”

Di Hongluan was livid, her anger boiling over. “I remember, a few days ago, the task bar was half golden and half black. I asked you what that was, and you said you didn’t know. Now it’s all black mist, and suddenly you know? Where were you when it changed?”

At that time, although the task was successful, its nature had changed.

[At that time, I was as clueless as the host; my brain was malfunctioning.]

Di Hongluan was speechless.

[Host, I had warned you that the ‘Great Beauty’ task is a very special task. Do you know why the word ‘special’ was added?]