Chapter 6: Formation and upgrade
"Did you play the piano at the mall?"
Ji RongXue's hand that was resting on the smooth glass banister stiffened and her index finger subconsciously started to tap on the surface. Despite the momentary shock, her face remained calm and without any flaw in her expression.
She feigned ignorance and asked: "Why would you ask that?"
Ji RuanYu observed her quietly then took out his phone and showed the video that had already become quite popular in the Internet to her while saying, "Nothing. Just saw that my little sister has become quite popular in the weibo because of her performance at the mall so I wanted to congratulate you."
Ji RongXue was a bit puzzled when she saw him take his phone out without a word when her calm eyes slightly trembled in shock after seeing her figure in the video and listening to his words that seemed to be probing and ridiculing her for trying to hide her guilty conscience in vain.
As she watched herself playing the piano in the video, her head suddenly throbbed in a sharp pain for a split second but before she could make sense of it, it was gone without a trace like an illusion. She was also occupied by her own thoughts to care about that momentary illusion so it was quickly put aside.
The video wasn't that long, only about 3 and a half minutes. After it ended, Ji RuanYu silently took his phone back and raised a brow at her as if saying "do you plead guilty now?".
Ji RongXue speechlessly pursed her lips. This kid, why does his face make me want to smack him?
She suppressed her urge to lift her itching hand and opened her mouth nonchalantly: "Oh, you were talking about this? Well yeah, I only played a little because I was bored standing around at the mall. Didn't think it'd get blown up like this in the Internet."
Ji RuanYu looked at her 'devil may care' attitude and the suspicion in his eyes was replaced with doubt and puzzlement. Apart from the initial shock, there was no other particular reaction on her face and still looked very normal, carefree even.
He frowned:"Why don't I remember you being this good at playing the piano? I thought you weren't interested in it? Why do I remember you complaining about how learning music at school was a pain and stuff?"
Ji RongXue searched in her memories and really found some fragments of memory of the original owner grumbling about the music teacher and the difficulty in learning music. The school had various extracurricular activities including music and it was also the subject where the original Ji RongXue sucked at the most.
There was an incident where the original was called out to perform a piece by the music teacher and was severely ridiculed for her 'ear-piercing' performance in front of the whole class. Because of the initial trauma, she never touched an instrument again. Whenever it was time for music class, she'd either laze around without a care or bunk it to play around with her minions.
So it was really a huge surprise to those who knew her to see her suddenly play the piano so magnificently.
Who would ever believe that a person who was always at the bottom of the whole class at musical skills had suddenly become a musical prodigy??
People would only scoff at them if they were to mention this for being delusional.
"You don't remember it because I never played it in front of you before. And I just don't like to take the music class of that annoying person who thinks herself to be something hot but has no such skills to back her up. Didn't she embarrass me in front of the whole class at the start? Since then, I'd been learning music secretly to slap her in the face when my skills have surpassed hers. And now, I'd already surpassed her by many levels so there's no need for me to hide it anymore. When the last semester starts, I'll slap her face till it's swollen like a pig head and show her that I am not someone that anyone could just step upon."
She snorted proudly with her hands on her hips as if she was fully contented with her plans for the face-slapping.
Ji RuanYu blankly listened to her ranting and it was his turn to become speechless when he saw her immensely proud expression that seemed to scream "this princess is the best, bow down before me!".
Really, how could he have thought that she'd changed? She was still the same little arrogant kitty who'd never swallow down any grievances and pay back two-folds.
It's also good like this. His little sister wasn't someone anyone could bully. Only he, himself was allowed to bully her. He'd also been quite displeased with that music teacher for daring to embarrass his sister but they were in different classes and the matter was quickly settled as it wasn't truly a big issue. So they couldn't really do anything about it and the teacher also later apologised after finding out her identity.
But he never thought that Ji RongXue would take that grudge seriously and even worked behind everyone's back to repay this grudge later in the future.
He always knew that his sister was an arrogant, prideful and vengeful person who'd never let anyone make her suffer any grievances without repaying it another fold, with only her family and Mo JinChen as an exception. But he hadn't thought that she'd be so serious about it to the point of going so far as to learn music just to face-slap someone for something that happened many years ago.
Her persistence in pursuing Mo JinChen for so many years and her stubbornness to never admit defeat was truly something worthy of admiration.
Ji RongXue didn't know whatever was going on inside his head and only saw his speechless blank face that seemed to show his inability to understand her words completely. She also knew how ridiculous her explanation sounded and how many holes were ridden in them but there was no other way to describe her sudden change but to make up such an excuse.
Anyway, the original owner was indeed someone who was very stubborn and persistent when it came to something that she was truly interested in so this should be enough to make her brother believe in her excuse.
Sure enough, Ji RuanYu was only left speechless by her explanation but he quickly accepted it as the 'truth' since he knew his sister's personality very well. If she was determined to do something then even 10 bulls wouldn't be enough to stop her from doing it. She was that stubborn.
He sighed helplessly and rubbed her small head: "Really, you. Even if you wanted to get back on the teacher, you didn't have to keep it a secret from everyone or at least you could've told me, I would've done anything to help you vent your anger. Why are you so stubborn and foolish? Are you a boar?"
Although he sounded like he was reprimanding her, from his low voice and his doting eyes, one could tell that he wasn't really angry at her and was even spoiling her rotten.
Ji RongXue resisted from avoiding his hand and stiffly let him rub her head while listening to his clear doting voice. She felt a little complicated inside.
In her previous life, she was the only child in her family and didn't have any siblings. She was loved and cherished by her parents but because of her independent and calm nature, the adults around her also unconsciously treated her like their equal so she never really experienced being doted on and spoiled like a child.
It was her first time being spoiled and treated like a mischievous child by someone in her whole life. Although she was an adult who had already seen whatever the world could show spiritually, she felt that being treated like this wasn't that bad.
Looking at it objectively, the original was really lucky to be born into such a family that sincerely loved and protected her like their most precious treasure. But she didn't realise it until her death, resulted from her obsession.
It was truly a pity. A beautiful life was lost just because of a thing called 'love'. It was truly the most addictive and dangerous thing in the whole world and yet people still yearned to have this so called 'love' that might turn into a poison at any moment.
"Alright, you go to your room and take a hot bath. Don't let yourself catch a cold."
Ji RuanYu's low voice shook her out of her thoughts and she obediently nodded her head in reply then went back to her room with a relaxed mind. Her mood was even better than before if one observed the slightly raised corners of her lips and her carefree steps when walking.
After taking a long, relaxing hot bath, Ji RongXue felt all the tension and exhaustion in her body from shopping around for too long melting away.
She hummed a cheerful tune as she got out of the bathroom with a bathrobe tied around her body and her hands were holding a soft white towel, drying her wet hair.
After drying her hair and changing into comfortable clothes, she was just about to pick up her phone to continue familiarising herself with it when a pain, that was very similar to the one she'd felt when receiving the memories of the original owner, but slightly more intense and sharper, assaulted her head.
Her sight was blurred from the sudden pain and she stumbled on her feet which threw her upon the bed. Fortunately, the bedding was very soft and absorbed the impact from her fall which saved her from getting hurt.
But Ji RongXue was in no mood to care about that. Her head was throbbing intensely as if it was about to blow up and her body temperature was quickly rising, making her feel feverish and muddled. She couldn't think clearly and her head was a mess but she felt very familiar with this sensation.
Actually, she was too familiar with this pain that made her whole body become vulnerable for a period of time and made her feel like her head was about to explode. She'd experienced this countless times and it was also the cause of her death in her previous life. She could never forget about this sensation even after her death.
This is...the formation of my ability core? But when I first checked it last night before going to sleep, I didn't feel any reaction from it. What caused it to suddenly go through an upgrade right after the formation?
Although she really wanted to know, her mind was already too muddled for her to follow a clear line of thought.
She buried herself into the bedsheet while writhing and curling up to endure the pain without letting out a sound. Her fair countenance changed from frighteningly pale to feverish red as her whole body started to sweat profusely, and strands of her hair clung to her temples. Her eyes were tightly shut and her furrowed forehead glistened with sweat.
She tried to keep herself awake while enduring the pain by biting her tongue. It was a habit that never went away to keep herself awake throughout the process so that she could still be aware of her surroundings and avoid any danger while upgrading her core. Even though the pain was too intense and her body was very weak, she still had to be vigilant for anything or anyone who might take advantage of her vulnerable state to attack her.
It was also because of this that she died in the sudden attack from a zombie horde when she was out of the base and was about to go through core upgrade in the middle of the fight.
But then she remembered that she was no longer in that world fraught with danger everywhere and that she was finally truly safe. She no longer had to always be on guard and desperately try to endure the pain. She now had a family who'd protect her and look after her. She could finally let herself relax completely.
Her eyes weakly opened into a slit and stared at the door with a hint of worry and guilt in her unfocused dull eyes.
'Ah...I can't think clearly. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to rest a bit? Though I feel bad thinking about how worried they would be...'
She closed her eyes again, no strength left in her body. Her mind was already a blurry mess.
She could no longer keep herself awake and directly fainted.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
YueYe
YueYe Mini-theatre:
Ji RuanYu: Only I can bully my sister!
Ji RuanMing: You dare to bully little RongRong while I'm away?! Come here! Let this big brother teach you a lesson!
Ji RuanYu: Eh?? B-brother, when did you get here? Ow! Stop stop! Don't beat me anymore! Mommy! QAQ
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone