The Cold and Aloof Palace Master's Daily Demon-Slaying Life

Chapter 108 Pearl Weeps

Play rock-paper-scissors with the spirit of the artifact?

You Li almost burst out laughing, but she restrained herself well, simply nodding slightly, her voice carrying a barely perceptible, almost gentle "indulgence": "Alright. Since you insist, then—let's play rock-paper-scissors."

Seeing that the other party had accepted the challenge, Xiao Bai immediately became excited, rubbing her hands together and her little face regaining its radiance: "Then it's a deal! No cheating! I'll count to three, and we'll all go at once!"

"Okay." You Li nodded.

"one two three!"

Little White suddenly stretched out his little hand—a tight fist (a stone).

In the mirror, almost at the same moment, Youli stretched out her palm with her five fingers spread apart (cloth).

"I won," Youli announced calmly.

Xiao Bai was taken aback, then pouted, "Hmph! Just lucky! Again! One, two, three!"

Xiaobai drew two fingers apart (scissors).

Youli threw a fist (a stone).

"Rock and paper. Two to zero. Game over." Youli's tone was completely flat, as if she were reciting a predetermined result.

"No, no!" Xiaobai panicked, her face turning red. "That doesn't count! I—I wasn't ready!"

"Let's start over! This time it's best of five!" She started to cheat, a "privilege" she often had when playing games with her sisters.

You Li shrugged indifferently: "Whatever."

Thus, a new round of "competition" began.

No doubt about it.

After five rounds, the score was Youli 5: Xiaobai 0.

Youli never repeated the order of her punches, and every time she accurately "guessed" what Xiaobai would throw.

This can no longer be called a game; it is a one-sided, cold-blooded "massacre."

"No, no! This time it's best of seven!" Xiaobai's voice was already trembling with tears, but her stubbornness and unwillingness prevented her from admitting defeat.

"it is good."

After seven innings, the score was 7-0.

"Best of 15 games!"

"Can."

After fifteen innings, the score was 15-0. You Li hadn't even changed her posture much, still maintaining that calm and almost indifferent expression.

Xiao Bai's eyes began to redden, and the tip of her nose felt sore.

She couldn't understand why she had lost so badly in such a simple game. She had won quite a lot when playing with the other girls!

"Three—thirty-one games! Sixteen wins out of thirty-one games!" Xiaobai practically shouted. This was the last thing she could think of to delay admitting defeat.

Thirty-one games! Surely we can win a few, right?

Looking at her small, desperate face, which was trying so hard to keep up but couldn't hide her panic and despair, You Li's crimson eyes seemed to flash with an extremely faint ripple.

She remained silent for a moment, and after the next round began, her fingers, which were placed at her side, twitched almost imperceptibly.

"one two three!"

Xiaobai chose scissors, and Youli chose paper.

"Scissors, paper! Yes! I won!" Little White was stunned for a moment, then burst into a huge cheer, almost jumping up and down, as if he had won the whole world!

She won!

She finally won a round against the Mirror Spirit!

Looks like I was just unlucky!

She still has a chance to win!

"Keep going! Keep going!" Xiao Bai's morale soared.

However, in the following rounds, You Li once again gained absolute control.

However, at some seemingly random moment, Youli will "just happen" to lose a game, reigniting a spark of hope in Xiaobai's dying embers.

And so, with Youli's exquisite and completely controlled "letting the game go," this absurd 31-round rock-paper-scissors match finally came to an end.

Final score: Youli, 21 games; Xiaobai, 10 games.

When Youli used a piece of cloth to wrap Xiaobai's trembling, outstretched "stone" for the last time, the room fell into a deathly silence.

Little White stared blankly at its little hand that had produced the "stone," its five fingers slightly curled and trembling uncontrollably.

She slowly raised her head and looked at the silver-haired, red-eyed girl in the mirror, who was still elegant and composed, with not a single strand of hair out of place.

The tears she had been holding back finally broke free of her restraints and quickly gathered, like pearls from a broken string, rolling down her fair and delicate cheeks and dripping onto her clothes and the ground.

Tears blurred her vision, and the image of You Li in the mirror became hazy and distorted.

"Waaaaah—" At first, it was just a soft, suppressed sob, but soon, the immense sense of defeat, grievance, and the collapse of his belief in his "invincible rock-paper-scissors" completely shattered the psychological defenses of this simple little dragon.

"Waaaaaahh ...

She suddenly sat down on the cold floor in front of the mirror, like a child whose favorite toy had been taken away and who found that she was powerless to get it back, and burst into loud sobs.

The cries were loud and clear, filled with helplessness, sadness, and confusion, as if the child wanted to cry out all the "bullying" they had suffered that day.

"Why—why—waaaaaaah—when I play with the other older girls—I always win—waaaaaah—why do I always lose when I play with you—waaaaaaah—"

She cried so hard she could barely breathe, her little shoulders heaving, her face streaked with tears and snot. The dragon tail that had been swaying proudly now drooped listlessly on the ground, covered in dust.

In the mirror, Youli quietly watched Xiaobai crying her heart out outside. The last faint ripple in her crimson eyes disappeared, replaced by an almost mechanical indifference.

She spoke softly, her voice coming through the sobs, clear, cold, and carrying a calmness that revealed a cruel truth: "That's just because they're afraid of you, they give in to you, and they're playing with you."

"And me,"

"I'm not afraid of you, but I won't give way to you either."

This statement was like the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Little White's crying stopped abruptly for a moment, then erupted into an even more earth-shattering wail.

No! That's not how it works!

I won because of my superior skills, not because the older sisters let me win! It wasn't because the older sisters were afraid of her! This mirror spirit is talking nonsense! She's slandering her relationship with the older sisters!

But deep inside, a faint voice told her that what You Li said—might be true. It was only because her sisters doted on her that they always pretended to lose to her, just to see her happy.

This realization stung and embarrassed her more than losing countless rounds of rock-paper-scissors.

She cried even louder, as if she wanted to vent all her grievances, anger, shame, and confusion through her sobs.

Just then—

"What's all this commotion about?"

A clear, melodious voice, yet carrying an undeniable air of authority, came from the doorway of the room.

The crying and the silence within the mirror were broken at the same time.

Zuo Qingqiu, dressed in an elegant blue robe, was already standing at the door.

She was clearly drawn here by Xiaobai's wailing. A hint of doubt appeared on her beautiful face. Her brows furrowed slightly as she glanced at Xiaobai, who was sitting on the ground crying her eyes out, before her gaze fell on the Yuan Guang Dong Xuan Mirror, whose brilliance had not yet faded.

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