Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 190 The main mission begins

Although he had unrealistic ideas, Han Zhou knew very well that there was no perfect solution.

Mo Yixia and Gu Zheng, one focuses on intelligence and the other on martial arts. The former can easily see through his thoughts, and the latter can easily take his life. If he really tries to have his cake and eat it too, he will definitely not escape the fate of being killed by a woodcutter's knife.

Even a fool would know that having everything is definitely not an option.

But if he really had to give up one of them, he would find it difficult to make a choice. As for whether this should be called indecisiveness or being too greedy, he himself was not quite sure.

When he was on the verge of death, he used to suppress his feelings. Now that he has just escaped the threat of terminal illness, he has started to have thoughts of having two relationships at the same time. Is this what is called "when you are well-fed and warm, you think of lust"?

Han Zhou, oh Han Zhou, you've really fallen too far...

With a jumble of thoughts swirling in his mind, Han Zhou wrapped himself tighter in the blanket, and drowsiness gradually crept over him. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep again.

When he opened his eyes again, he knew he hadn't slept for even half an hour this time, because the alarm he had set hadn't gone off.

There was still no movement outside, and he didn't know when the guide would organize the expedition to the summit. The electric blanket seemed to be broken, and there was no warmth in the bed. He was woken up by the cold.

The lights in the room were turned on, and the glaring light made him feel a little uncomfortable. He squinted and got up to look around. He then noticed that the door was open, and snowflakes were scattered around the door. A constant stream of cold air was rushing into the room with the snow and wind. No wonder it was so cold.

"Why is the door open...?"

Han Zhou subconsciously looked at Mo Yixia's bed. There was only the blanket that had been lifted, and Mo Yixia was nowhere to be seen. The shoes that were placed by the bed were also gone. He picked up the coat that was hanging on the head of the bed and put it on, guessing that the girl must have gone to the toilet.

He turned on his phone to check the time, then got out of bed and walked outside to check the bathroom. As he turned his head, he saw a blurry black figure squatting not far away, with its back to him. The figure looked somewhat familiar.

"Yisha?"

He asked tentatively, then turned on his phone's flashlight and moved closer.

"Ah."

Mo Yixia, who was squatting on the ground, did not turn around, but simply responded with a faint sound.

"What are you doing here all by yourself? Aren't you afraid of catching a cold dressed like that?"

Han Zhou quickly walked up behind Mo Yixia and found that she was digging a hole in the ground with a small shovel.

It's easy to see that she's been digging for a while now. The pit is seven or eight meters deep and two meters square, more than enough to bury an adult, and could easily fit five or six people.

Mo Yixia didn't turn around. She brushed the mud and snowflakes off her body, stood up, and said in a cold tone, "Try lying in there."

"Who? Me?"

"Is there anyone else here besides you?" Mo Yixia's voice was devoid of any warmth.

"Are you serious..."

Just as Han Zhou was about to speak, he suddenly felt a tremendous force coming from behind him, as if he had been kicked hard, and his body leaned forward uncontrollably.

He tried to struggle, but at that moment, Mo Yixia suddenly turned to the side, grabbed his collar, and pulled him forward hard, throwing him heavily into the snow pit in a manner similar to an over-the-shoulder throw.

After doing all this, she clapped her hands in disgust, as if she had just touched something dirty.

Han Zhou was thrown around so hard he felt like his bones were about to break and he lost all feeling in his body. He lay in the pit and looked up to see another figure besides Mo Yixia by the edge of the snow pit. It was undoubtedly the guy who had just kicked him.

He was familiar with this person; it was Gu Zheng, who should never have been here!
At this moment, Gu Zheng's expression was gloomy. She was wearing the pink rabbit pajamas that Mo Yixia had just worn in the room, and her two rabbit ears on her head were standing up in anger.

Mo Yixia had changed into a nurse's uniform with a very short skirt at some point, her face expressionless, and the small snow shovel in her hand gleamed with a chilling light.

The two stood side by side, looking down at him with cold eyes, like judges convicting garbage, and began filling the pit with soil without saying a word.

"..."

The moment Han Zhou saw the guzheng wearing rabbit pajamas, he realized he was dreaming, and his expression gradually became strange.

...I had this dream right after I started thinking about having two relationships at the same time. It's hard to say whether it's a warning from heaven.

Even though he knew it was a dream, he couldn't force himself to wake up. He could only watch helplessly as the two people filled his body with soil until only his head was sticking out in a few seconds.

Unable to move, unable to breathe.

As his weight grew heavier, Han Zhou suddenly felt incredibly guilty. He took a deep breath and loudly admitted his mistake, trying to gain forgiveness.

"Guzheng, Yixia, I was wrong! I..."

He ate a mouthful of dirt as soon as he opened his mouth.

The two girls ignored his pleas and continued to silently fill the soil, and Han Zhou soon felt everything go black.

No, I just wanted to look a little longer...

……

Main quest now available.

[Activation Requirements: 1. Have contact with at least 3 unlockable characters; 2. Have completed at least 2 side quests; 3. Have achieved partial completion progress for more than one unlockable character; 4. Be fully aware of the risks of the mission and be mentally prepared; 5. Have the determination and courage to face the risks of the mission.]

[Mission Objective: Unlock as many characters as possible through the romance guide and establish a legitimate, pure love relationship with them. During the process, do not use coercion, trading, violence, or any other abnormal means other than pure love (except for status bar-related items)].

[Mission Time Limit: Before your heart stops beating]

[Mission Rewards: Mission rewards will be updated in real time as the mission progresses. You will receive a large amount of rewards for each unlockable character you complete. When you have completed multiple unlockable characters, you will receive a selectable reward for each additional unlockable character you complete.]

[Additional Note: If a strategy quest related to a non-unlockable character is triggered, the quest reward will be calculated once the quest is completed and will not be counted towards the main quest progress.]

[Note: Main quests involve certain risks. Once a romantic relationship is established, the associated status stats are irreversible and cannot be modified in any way. Please choose carefully.]

main mission?

How many guides can be used to unlock characters?

You call this pure love?!

Han Zhou wondered if he was still half asleep, and with a hint of sarcasm in his mind, he opened his eyes with a slightly dazed look.

Just like in his dream, the first thing that caught his eye was the glaring incandescent light. The room was simply furnished, and he immediately looked toward the door—thankfully, the door was closed.

"You seem to have had a bad dream."

A cool, smiling voice rang in his ears, and a burning heat and a faint fragrance touched his nose at the same time. Han Zhou turned his head and saw Mo Yixia, wearing pink bunny pajamas, half-squatting by the bed, her elbows on the edge of the bed, her hands supporting her chin, looking at him with a half-smile.

It was a smile that was unusually restrained, so restrained that it was hard to tell if she was really smiling. But the moment Han Zhou saw her, he felt as if the light in the room had become brighter, and his previously anxious heart gradually calmed down.

The real Mo Yixia is so cute; the Mo Yixia in my dream is just too terrifying...

"Judging from your lingering fear, you didn't dream that I buried you in the snow-capped mountains, did you?"

The next second, Mo Yixia effortlessly activated her mind-reading ability.

Han Zhou kept a straight face and didn't say anything, but suddenly felt that the light in the room didn't seem so bright.

He lowered his head and realized why his body felt so heavy: a thick quilt had been placed on top of him, making his chest feel tight.

Without even thinking, it must have been Mo Yixia who just covered him up. He was too lazy to ask why, but it certainly wasn't because she was worried he'd be cold at night...

He looked at the status bar; it wasn't a dream. The main quest had really appeared, and it was quite prominent.

...I had a dream that actually triggered the main quest. Could this be some kind of hint?

Hmm... Side quests involve interacting with unlockable characters, while the main quest involves completing the relationship with all of them. Thinking about it carefully, it's not entirely abrupt, but it's still a bit absurd.

Why do you have to link your perfectly good status bar to romance?

The main quest was of a very high standard, and even the quest description was much more detailed than the previous quests. This was the first time Han Zhou had seen the phrase "a lot of rewards" in a quest description, so the quest rewards were probably quite generous. The so-called optional rewards were also unheard of. However, as tempting as they were, he didn't have the guts to complete the quest.

Although he knew he was dreaming, the horrific scene of being buried alive by Gu Zheng and Mo Yixia still terrified him, making him fear that such a scene might actually happen in reality.

He was almost certain that this was one of the risks mentioned in the main quest hints.

This thing is really forcing me to date; now they're not even pretending anymore...

Han Zhou sighed inwardly.

But then again, although the dream was scary, Guzheng looking so cute in her bunny pajamas, and Mo Yixia in her nurse's uniform...

"Your eyes are quite lewd right now. If it were before, I would have found you disgusting."

Amidst his racing thoughts, he heard Mo Yixia's soft voice.

He snapped out of his daze and subconsciously asked, "And now?"

Mo Yixia didn't answer, but looked at him with disdain: "It seems you don't deny the fact that your eyes are lewd."

Han Zhou knew very well that what the other party despised was not his lewd gaze, but his "lustful desires without the courage to act on them".

"My gaze is perfectly clear and normal."

He spoke with righteous indignation, only then noticing that Mo Yixia had somehow raised her phone and turned on the front-facing camera, seemingly preparing to take a selfie. Judging from the angle, he, lying in bed, would obviously be captured in the photo. His lips twitched, and he immediately threw back the covers, got up, grabbed the two bunny ears on her pajamas, and asked irritably, "What are you doing now?"

"I was taking a perfectly normal group photo."

Mo Yixia looked like she had surrendered and was too lazy to struggle. She slowly hid her phone behind her back and said calmly, "With this photo, it's like I have something on you. If you ever dare to cheat on me with someone else, I'll send the photo to that girl."

Han Zhou paused for two seconds, then reminded him, "But generally speaking, what you're doing is more like a common tactic used by a third party..."

Mo Yixia ignored her and said with a regretful expression, "It's a pity we were all dressed, otherwise this photo would have been even more threatening."

Han Zhou had no choice but to sigh and say, "Stop talking nonsense. Don't think I didn't see it. You were just pretending and didn't actually take a picture."

As he spoke, he let go of her hand, and the rabbit ears drooped down.

Mo Yixia did not deny it: "As I just said, these kinds of photos are not very threatening and have little value in being taken."

"I thought you had a change of heart."

"It has nothing to do with conscience; I'm just respecting your personal wishes."

Han Zhou nodded with satisfaction: "That can be considered one of your strengths."

Mo Yixia nodded in agreement: "So I took the picture while you were asleep and unaware of anything."

As soon as she finished speaking, the rabbit ears on her hat were grabbed again.

"Does the absence of consciousness mean the absence of personal will?"

……

With the time for the hike approaching, the two got up and started getting dressed.

When Mo Yixia changed into her pajamas, she made no attempt to avoid Han Zhou's attention, but the latter consciously turned his back and checked the contents of his backpack.

He knew that this guy wasn't truly shameless; he was simply certain that he wouldn't peek back. He wondered if the guy would blush if he were ever seen naked...

He thought maliciously.

Hiking in the early morning is much more dangerous than hiking during the day. A headlamp is essential, and trekking poles should also be brought. You don't need to bring too much food and water, since you'll be turning back soon. But just in case, he decided to bring everything from his bag, since the backpack wasn't heavy anyway.

Behind me was the rustling sound of someone changing clothes. Someone was deliberately making a lot of noise while dressing, which was excessively childish.

Mo Yixia put on the quick-drying shirt and fleece jacket in turn, concealing her slender figure. While tidying her long hair, she said, "Please bring me the down jacket from my bag."

The temperature is very low now, so wearing a windproof jacket is no longer appropriate. Fortunately, the two of them had prepared down jackets in advance.

Without turning his head, Han Zhou precisely tossed the brand-new down jacket onto her bed.

Mo Yixia picked up the snow-white down jacket, as if she had suddenly thought of something, and asked, "By the way, do you really want to see me in a nurse's uniform?"

Han Zhou felt a chill run down his spine, thinking to himself, "Could this guy even be able to see into my dreams?" He quickly calmed down and said irritably, "You're overthinking it. What's so interesting about a nurse's uniform?"

Mo Yixia watched his retreating figure, seemingly surprised, and said thoughtfully, "So that's how it is. You really did have that kind of dream? No wonder you looked at me so lewdly just now..."

"I said it wasn't true."

"But I don't quite understand, if you had this kind of dream, why did you look terrified when you woke up? Could it be that you were exploited..."

Han Zhou's face darkened: "Can't you listen to people properly?"

This guy's nonsense is getting more and more outrageous.

There's no need to make excuses.

Mo Yixia became even more certain and said to herself, "I just saw your phone wallpaper, and there's a girl in a nurse's uniform on it, so I have reason to suspect that this is your preference."

"That's anime scenery wallpaper. The nurse girl is just an embellishment. There are also bunny girls on the wallpaper. Why don't you say that bunny girls are also my favorite?" Han Zhou was quite stubborn.

Mo Yixia looked down at the rabbit pajamas on the bed, and then, recalling how this guy had grabbed the pajamas' ears more than once, said calmly, "Isn't that right?"

The air became quiet.

After a brief silence, Han Zhou tried to change the subject: "Why did you see my phone wallpaper? Snooping on other people's phones is not something to be encouraged."

"Your phone alarm just went off, I turned it off for you."

Han Zhou raised an eyebrow slightly: "But my phone is at the very back of the bed..."

"I took it by lying on top of you," Mo Yixia said calmly.

No wonder it was so heavy...

"Ok?"

Han Zhou was startled, thinking he had spoken his true feelings aloud. The next second, he realized his mistake and asked in bewilderment, "I don't think I said anything, did I?"

"Your eyes tell me you were just thinking something very rude."

Han Zhou was silent for two seconds: "I've been facing away from you the whole time, so how did you see my eyes?"

"You don't need to see it; two people who are in love with each other can be perfectly in sync."

Mo Yixia said in a nonchalant tone as she bent down to put on her shoes, "I'm going to the restroom. Could you help me put my pajamas in my bag?"

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No need. Before you confess your feelings to me, it's too embarrassing for an innocent high school girl like me to go to the bathroom together."

"..."

……

The night in the snow-capped mountains is much quieter than in the city. Perhaps it is because of the altitude of more than 4,000 meters that the sky looks closer than usual, and for this reason, it appears particularly dark and gloomy.

There was only the howling wind outside the door.

"Have you thought about it?"

The bathroom light was always on. Chen Xiang, who had just woken up, was still a little sleepy. He shook himself, turned on the tap and washed his hands. The bone-chilling cold immediately dispelled his sleepiness. He shivered and put a cigarette in his mouth.

"I guarantee that doing this will make your relationship advance by leaps and bounds, but it's not without risk. If it's exposed, not only will your relationship with Xiaoyu be ruined, but my relationship with Xiaoyu will probably also plummet to a freezing point. Qianqian might even blame me."

Although he couldn't stand Liao Xinyu's sycophantic behavior, Chen Xiang still wanted to help him out of friendship. However, to avoid being implicated later, he needed to clarify the stakes beforehand.

"I see."

Liao Xinyu took a deep breath and said in a flat tone, "Don't worry, if anything goes wrong, I won't tell anyone. I did it all by myself."

Wow, he's really quite devoted.

Chen Xiang shrugged, exhaling a smoke ring, and said, "The so-called suspension bridge effect, simply put, means that two people are more likely to develop feelings for each other in a dangerous environment. So what we need to do is very simple—that is, to artificially create a dangerous environment for you two to get along."

“I previously proposed two plans. The first was to put some sleeping pills in Xiaoyu’s water bottle so that she wouldn’t be able to join us for the hike, and you could stay with her then… You’ve already rejected that plan, so I won’t go on about it. Even if we were to put sleeping pills in now, it would be too late. So we’re going to implement the second plan.”

Liao Xinyu listened silently. Due to extreme nervousness and a touch of inexplicable excitement, he unconsciously began to pull the zipper of his coat up and down, making a constant "whoosh" sound.

"The second plan is a bit riskier, but the greater the risk, the better the result. What we need to do is create some minor dangers during the climb, and ideally, get you separated from the group and on your own. I've already thought of the specific plan, but you may need to be prepared to get injured."

"..."

After listening to Chen Xiang's proposal, Liao Xinyu remained silent for a long time, his feelings more complex than ever before. He was worried and expectant, guilty and unwilling, and also had a glimmer of hope for the future.

Overall, although the plan was somewhat dangerous, it was highly feasible. He agreed without much hesitation, and the two began to discuss the specific details.

Plans are one thing, but it would be troublesome if we actually got into danger.

"That's about it. Let me make this clear beforehand: whether this succeeds or not, don't tell anyone that this has anything to do with me."

Once the plan was almost finalized, Chen Xiang extinguished his cigarette butt and threw it into the trash can. He rubbed his hands, which were stiff from the cold, and looked at Liao Xinyu, who was breathing heavily with tension, with a serious expression.

He can't afford to have his public image collapse.

"I know." Liao Xinyu breathed a sigh of relief and nodded vigorously. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me, you've covered for me before."

Chen Xiang smiled and said, "Let's go back. Qianqian and the others should be awake by now."

He opened the bathroom door, offering his advice as he walked out, "To be honest, if you had listened to me earlier and asked Xiaoyu out for drinks more often, we wouldn't have had to go through all this. Sometimes, pursuing a girl doesn't necessarily mean you have to win her heart; feelings can be cultivated afterward..."

Before he could finish speaking, his expression suddenly froze.

A girl wearing a mask was standing outside the toilet.

(End of this chapter)