Chapter 69

Because Elaine wasn't there to buy things for herself.

Because Elaine directly led him to the floors selling men's clothing!

"Luckily, we've been active in the Northern Hemisphere recently, so it's time to buy you some new clothes. Anyway, try on this V-neck sweater and this tweed coat first…"

She entered the fashion store, looking around, and picked out two items to hold up against Qi Xing.

Qi Xing was truly shocked this time: "Why are you buying them for me?!"

"Because your usual fashion sense is terrible."

Elaine's face showed a rather cold expression,

"The last time I bought you clothes was half a year ago. I should have bought more then. Look at what you usually wear? A tight vest with a military coat or a cloak, and in battle, you always like to tear your military coat to reveal your vest. Is this a normal preference and aesthetic?"

Tsk. What's wrong with a military coat, tight vest, and cloak? Such a strong fashion sense!

"And your hair. If I don't pay attention for a moment, you'll use your Lightning Saber to shave it into a buzz cut. It's fine for people who suit a buzz cut, but for those who don't, it just looks strange."

Are you my mom?!

In fact, until recently, Elaine would occasionally help Qi Xing trim his sideburns and the back of his hair. After all, she spent almost sixteen hours a day with Qi Xing.

There was nothing for it, Qi Xing could only obediently try on clothes one by one. Even the store clerk was secretly laughing.

Elaine watched from the side and suddenly couldn't help but feel… somewhat incredible.

In order to help Qi Xing form CPs with other heroines and make him popular with righteous girls, she had seriously helped Qi Xing manage his image in the past.

But now, Qi Xing wanted to marry her instead. This instantly gave Elaine an absurd feeling that everything she had done so far was meaningless.

Because if she had known they would end up marrying, she wouldn't have needed to put so much effort into picking clothes for Qi Xing. Anyway, no matter what Qi Xing wore, even if he just wore jeans and ran around shirtless all day… Elaine probably wouldn't care, right?

"But even if it's me, I'd still get a headache if you dressed like an elementary school student all day."

After saying that, she buried herself again in picking out clothes for Qi Xing.

Although Qi Xing fully understood what she meant by her words, just how tolerant was Elaine of him? She was too undemanding, wasn't she?

As if seeing through Qi Xing's thoughts, she instead grabbed Qi Xing's arm halfway and unreservedly dragged him around. Her mind was genuinely only focused on helping Qi Xing dress properly.

Before long, after wandering around aimlessly and shopping for half a day… the question of [where to go next] returned to Qi Xing.

Fortunately, Qi Xing was prepared this time. The sky was already starting to darken.

"Next, we'll go,"

He spoke, seriously and earnestly,

"to a love hotel!"

070: The Love Hotel Stands Tall on the Earth

To a love hotel? To get a room?

Tsk, these are very profound things. Qi Xing, is your head broken? Could it be that you're getting carried away and dizzy with success?

—Some people might wonder, isn't it just an engaged couple going to a love hotel to get a room? Is there a need to be so serious?

Hmph, if you think that, you're greatly underestimating this yellow mire world created by Samael.

First, Qi Xing had complained before that in this world, which was like a '拔作' (erotic game), daily entertainment was already too inclined towards lewdness.

The variety of brothels was so rich that it was almost comparable to a certain '風俗娘異世界' (fantasy world of pleasure workers). Bookstores openly displayed ██ novels and comics. This was a world where too many people sought physical and carnal pleasure, aimlessly indulging in joy.

In such a world, the vicinity of love hotels was naturally filled with pleasure businesses, teeming with men and women soliciting customers, and even streetwalkers without shops.

There were even more unfortunate ones, '神待少年少女' (runaway youths seeking shelter and food from strangers) who would ██ for just a night's lodging and a meal.

Because the competition in the pleasure industry in this world was extremely fierce.

Why? Does that even need asking? Just think about it—in a world where you might pick up '肉██' (flesh ██) even in a public restroom, a world where it's easy to pick up '堕落██' (fallen ██), if your ██ business doesn't have some unique skills, how can it compare to the ubiquitous ██ devices, and why would anyone pay?

In this environment, where tattooed ██ and dark-skinned ███ are not exactly ubiquitous but certainly easy to find, ordinary pleasure businesses would simply be crushed by free malicious competition!

Therefore, to enhance commercial competitiveness, many ██ operators even cooperate with the medical industry for physical modifications… and the prices at these establishments are generally not high. Otherwise, it would be difficult for anyone to do business.

In summary, ██ resources are actually quite easy to obtain in this world, as long as you have money, power, or skill, or simply a very large ██.

From this, everyone can probably imagine the frenzied scenes around and inside love hotels in this world, right?

And this is just a minor problem.

The second problem is Qi Xing's own speculation:

In this absurd world of ██ horror, if Qi Xing and a beautiful girl like Elaine were to walk into a love hotel, it would essentially be no different from actively entering a haunted house in a supernatural horror film, almost like an old general on stage, covered in flags.

Because a love hotel is a place where everyone goes to ██, either you ██, or you are ██ by others.

In this universe of ██ and being ██, walking into such a place is like rushing straight into Kayako's lair in a horror movie, terrifying!

—And this Truth is only noticed by Qi Xing, the transmigrator, a dark Truth! How terrifying!

So, the old Qi Xing would definitely have avoided these pleasure districts and love hotels, he certainly wouldn't have gone in.

However, recently, after Sasa's teasing and Elaine's encouragement, Qi Xing's mindset had begun to change.

He had decided to face his inner fears!

So how could he still hesitate and fear in front of a mere love hotel?

Even if he had to directly hack and slash Kayako in a horror movie, he wouldn't be afraid. By the same logic, Qi Xing was going to charge into the dark heart of this absurd world, jump into the abyss to slay evil!

Some things are only said in private, but Qi Xing actually had some curiosity about the love hotels and the somewhat crazy pleasure industry in this world… just curiosity, and having curiosity is very normal.

Anyway, he never dared to find women before, didn't want to solicit prostitutes, and certainly couldn't go to a love hotel alone to see what the place looked like, so it was just a mental curiosity.

The pleasure industry in this world is even different from a normal [Tree of Life] world. After all, in a normal world, how could so many people be so addicted to ██ that they willingly become prostitutes, or even offer free ██, in such numbers that they squeeze the pleasure market? If he said something like that in Qi Xing's hometown, people would just think he was desperately horny.

Now there was finally a legitimate opportunity for Qi Xing to openly take Elaine into a love hotel and see what it was like inside.

Perhaps he could even beat up some evil and save some desperate, suffering people. How could he miss this opportunity?

"A love hotel?"

Unfortunately, Elaine looked quite speechless when she heard Qi Xing's words.

"Have you never once thought about going to a love hotel?"

Qi Xing retorted.

To say Elaine had never thought about it was, of course, impossible. She wasn't the type to lie to Qi Xing, so she was momentarily speechless.

"Uh… but we're not married yet…"

Taking your date to a love hotel to 'push them down' on the first date, no matter how you look at it, makes you a quick-moving scumbag, right?

"Don't worry. I won't harm a single hair on your head. This is an adventure, just treat it as a challenge. I'll hold your hand the whole time."

Qi Xing said very seriously and earnestly.

Unfortunately, Elaine couldn't quite understand his transmigrator's way of thinking, stepping outside the framework.

Fortunately, on the other hand, Elaine's charm lay in this: even if she didn't understand what Qi Xing was thinking, as long as what Qi Xing wanted to do wasn't too outrageous, she would usually accept his ideas. If Qi Xing insisted, she would basically have no choice but to agree, however reluctantly.

"Alright. Let's go then."

Because she had realized a Truth long ago. Even between husband and wife, it's impossible to fully understand what the other is thinking. Since that's the case, when the other person insists on doing something strange, as long as it doesn't violate her bottom line, she would just choose to trust.

Night had not yet fully fallen, but the streets of Aomori City were already lit up with neon lights, and colorful rays reflected distorted images on the damp road.

Under Qi Xing's persistent urging, the half-unwilling but also half-curious Elaine was finally pulled by him to a corner of the city.

This was one of Aomori City's pleasure districts. The air was filled with a faint scent of perfume. Shops lined the narrow alleyways, pink, purple, and blue lightboxes flashed competitively, and the fonts on the signs were either alluring or bizarre, all boldly stating the services offered.

Women in short skirts and high heels leaned in groups by the doorways, smiling coquettishly and casting ambiguous glances at passersby. These were the lower-end, cheaper ██ women, some of whom were practically free. Most of them had some unique features, some strange [selling points].

For example, piercings, or dark-skinned tattoos, or breasts impossibly large.

Occasionally, men in suits would quickly enter one of these shops, avoiding the gazes of others, with murmurs of promotion following them.

There were low-end, strange ones, and conversely, there were also obviously more upscale establishments. Those clubs with ambiguous lighting—purple neon, European-style arches, and women dressed in gorgeous kimonos, cheongsams, or nightclub dresses, appearing faintly in the night. Occasionally, bodyguards in black suits stood at the entrances of certain venues, their sharp gazes scanning passersby.

In this world where it's particularly easy to find '肉█器' (flesh ██ devices) and where '█资源' (██ resources) are not that scarce—these [high-end] places and [expensive] women are, after all, still different.

Their demeanor is different, so their added value is different, which is why people are willing to pay to enter.

To say Qi Xing had never been curious about such places all these years would, of course, be impossible.

Within this subdued urban glow, a uniquely styled building stood quietly at the street corner, featuring modern French design. Its exterior walls were clad in light beige stone, complemented by large floor-to-ceiling windows, appearing both elegant and mysterious in the night, like a hidden palace.

This was a high-end local love hotel named [Secret Heart] that Qi Xing had specifically chosen after searching on Google. Before even entering the main door, just seeing the automatic doors slowly open from afar, Qi Xing and Elaine could vaguely glimpse the understated luxury of the interior decoration—crystal chandeliers cast soft, warm light, and the marble floor reflected the wall lamps. The front desk staff, dressed in smart black uniforms, exuded trained elegance in their speech and mannerisms, much like high-end private clubs. This stood in stark contrast to the surrounding brightly lit pleasure shops.

Just feeling this atmosphere, Elaine's face actually started to turn red again.

Qi Xing, meanwhile, carefully observed the surrounding scene and the passersby.

The exterior walls of the high-end hotel shimmered under soft strip lighting, and luxury cars occasionally pulled up at the entrance, dropping off elegantly dressed guests. From several lavishly decorated clubs and pleasure establishments, faint laughter and ambiguous music drifted out intermittently.

Indeed, he quickly noticed that even those who could afford to enter ordinary pleasure shops (since ordinary shops weren't that expensive) would often show expressions of envy and longing when passing by this area. This was true not only for men but also for many women.

Elaine, however, was a bit timid: "Are we really going in?"

Qi Xing laughed softly and coaxed her inside.

Whatever strange things might happen inside the love hotel, Qi Xing was prepared to deal with them.

—That said, Qi Xing had not anticipated that an unexpected situation would arise even before they entered the love hotel.

Across the street, a young commuter in an ordinary jacket was walking by. His steps gradually slowed, and his gaze shifted back and forth between these luxurious establishments and the common streetscape not far away.

When he saw an exceptionally elegant woman in a refined dress talking to a middle-aged white-collar man at the hotel entrance, and when he saw her giving the middle-aged manager a look of feigned reluctance, a surge of jealousy welled up inside him.

The light reflected on his face, vaguely revealing the unconcealed envy and a hint of resentment in his eyes.

"Hmph… being rich is really something."

He muttered in a low voice, his tone betraying an undeniable bitterness and jealousy,

"I wish I were that rich too! Then I could just go play with women whenever I damn well pleased!"

That said, it was originally just an ordinary complaint.

But just then, as soon as his words fell, the passerby heard a clear, cold voice in his ear: "Then go and seize it, seize both money and beautiful women."

Huh? What's going on?

Cold sweat immediately broke out on the passerby's forehead. Was he too tired from work recently, hallucinating?

"Let me fulfill your innermost desires."

No sooner said than done, in an instant, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, making his chest heave violently, as if something was brewing, churning, burning some deep-seated emotion within him!

A strange black mist suddenly erupted from his chest!

The mist swirled and twisted, as if extracted from desire, fiercely rushing towards the building that symbolized wealth and pleasure. The hotel walls immediately began to undulate and swell, as if some dormant creature had been awakened.

"I!"

Glass windows shattered, transforming into jealous eyes, the marble steps at the entrance bulged like a spine, and the entire building let out a muffled roar, its massive body trembling as it rose from the ground!

"I!"

It turned its head to look around, fixing its gaze on the stunned guests dressed in luxurious clothes and wearing expensive watches, and greedy ghostly lights burned in its hollow window-eyes.

"I want!"

The next second, the colossal monster extended a giant hand, tangled with concrete and rebar, and violently swung it down towards the wealthy guests around!

What the hell?! The love hotel stood up and started killing people!?

Fortunately, at the critical moment, a figure had already broken through the air and arrived.

Qi Xing's speed was always astonishing.

The ground beneath his feet was already shattered; he almost swept past in a storm-like airflow, punching towards the hotel monster that had risen from the ground! The glow of furious lightning illuminated the night sky, like a judgment cleaving down from the heavens!

Boom!!

Lightning exploded, and his fist smashed heavily into the monster's torso! Mere reinforced concrete caved in like foam under this punch.

"I want!"

The entire monster building let out a muffled roar, shaken back by the power of the lightning!

Its massive body stirred up a fierce wind; the shockwave rattled the surrounding streetlights violently, and storefront windows shattered all over the ground!

The guests who had nearly been crushed by the monster were still reeling, collapsing to the ground, their faces pale, their eyes filled with disbelief and terror.