After deceiving the villain, I was forced to love him.

To be honest, Baili Ce didn't really like eating fish that much.

Moreover, Wang Qingyan's fish-cooking skills are really mediocre; he just uses the same old methods over and over again. Plus, he lacks scallions, ginger, and garlic, making the fish taste increasingly unpalatable.

"How about it?"

You see, arrogant people never suffer from internal strife.

He even dared to ask us how we were doing.

She is, of course—

To be honest, it was "terribly bad."

Frustrated, I tried again, "Then try this one."

"Are you trying to poison me? If so, just say so, or I'll hang myself right now."

In a muffled voice, he said, "Then have a bowl of soup."

"Haha, this is what you call soup? I could go swimming in it."

"..." Wang Qingyan waited for a while, but there was no comfort or explanation, so he threw down his chopsticks and left.

But this was no challenge for him at all.

Just one afternoon later, he came again and asked her, "If I really had nothing left, would you leave me?"

With a playful grin, he replied, "Of course I will!"

There's no need to even think about this question.

Mr. Wang's face darkened.

"What are you thinking? I'm not with you willingly, so why would I share your joys and sorrows?"

She'd had enough of the bitterness of love; it was like shit, bitter and stinking.

Why would I want to suffer in life?

“You…” Wang Qingyan couldn’t help but want to reach out and grab her.

"Hey hey hey..." Baili Ce spun around and slipped away, his skirt spreading out like a peony.

Then he walked around to the other side of the table and said, "If you're really afraid of that day coming, you can just stay here."

“…” Wang Qingyan frowned. Although he didn’t quite understand what she meant, he knew it wasn’t something nice.

Bai Li Ce replied sarcastically yet earnestly, "Well, at least you still have a few islands here, so you can barely boast about dominating a region."

"But if we really leave here, Lincheng will have been ruined by you long ago. And all the prefectures and counties are under Lu Jian's control. Where else can you take me?"

Wang Qingyan believed he had given her an answer that would satisfy her: "I consider the world my home."

"Oh, then it's alright."

Um? ! ! !

“I really admire you,” Baili Ce suddenly began to praise him, and walked over to pat him on the shoulder.

The latter was completely bewildered, "What do you admire about me?"

"They actually described begging everywhere in such a refined and elegant way."

Completely ignoring Wang Qingyan, whose face was trembling with anger, Baili Ce intensified her efforts, "After all, with my pampered upbringing and pickiness, begging really wouldn't be enough to support me~"

He pulled her close, causing the wound on Wang Qingyan's hand to reopen. "Say it again."

Hearing the cold, clenched voice, Baili Ce pretended not to hear again, "Huh? What?"

"Let's go outside to digest our food? Sure, sure."

After saying that, she hugged his neck and made a move to kiss him...

This caused Wang Qingyan, who was in a fit of rage, to immediately calm down and let go.

Hey~

No relatives!

Then, taking advantage of his momentary daze, she jumped onto his back with a thud. "You're going to carry me? That's so embarrassing, but I can't refuse your kind offer, so I'll let you have it."

"..." For a moment, the person didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

However, given his own lack of ability, Baili Ce stopped provoking him from that day on.

Of course, everyday misheard words don't count.

She would also give him "thoughtful little gifts".

such as--

"Was this sandbag sewn especially for me?"

"It's called a purse, thank you."

Happy~

Feeling the sandbag's bulge, he asked, "What's inside?"

"Heartbreak Grass"

“…” Wang Qingyan had just taken a sniff of the sandbag.

Just as he was about to get angry, she held his hand and gazed at him affectionately. "This symbolizes our heart-wrenching love and our life as perfect and radiant as a flower."

"Flower?" Before the words were even finished, Wang Qingyan was pricked and bled.

I opened the sandbag and took a look.

A spiky ball with a flower bud was nestled among the Gelsemium elegans.

"Isn't it round?" Baili Ce looked at him with "affectionate eyes".

......

After a series of smooth little tricks, Wang Qingyan, who was so angry that he couldn't eat, but also didn't want to see her half-dead and lifeless anymore, finally locked her in the room and let Wuming show himself in advance.

"Are you still trying to provoke me?" Wang Qingyan thought she would behave herself by binding the ribbon tightly in her hands.

Bai Lize looked utterly bewildered... no, more like shocked, "What bewilderment?!"

Wasn't I flirting with you?

"..." Wang Qingyan felt an itch in his teeth.

"You don't like it? If you didn't like it, you should have said so earlier! Honestly, you have no sense of romance~"

After saying that, he rolled his eyes.

“You…” Wang Qingyan raised his hand in anger.

Bai Li Ce leaned his face closer and said, "Come on, it's best to use both hands and shoot symmetrically. I have OCD and I don't like things that are not neat and beautiful."

"Bang..." Another sound of smashing and breaking.

But Baili Ce no longer cared at all, because—

As the scent of moonlight and flowers faded into the distance, she turned her gaze to Wuming, then casually looked away, listening intently to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore...

After a long while, just as her eyelids were drooping, Wuming suddenly spoke, "What are you looking at?"

! !

Bai Li Ce was startled and immediately lost all sleepiness.

"What are you looking at?"

Hearing Wuming ask again clearly... Baili Ce couldn't help but turn his head. The look in Wuming's eyes was no different from before, still gray and gloomy, as if he had cataracts.

The slight tilt of his head was like that of a marionette.

Aside from having a stronger aura of deathly stillness than ordinary Gu Guards, there was nothing wrong with his entire body... wait!

Without the Ancestral Gu, she didn't immediately notice that, with Wang Qingyan gone, the deathly stillness around Wuming seemed to have... gained a bit more vitality?

Like tender shoots emerging from scorched earth after a wildfire, the consciousness of Wuming seems to be breaking through the soil.

"Have you... seen me before?" A familiar feeling welled up in his heart, and Baili Ce asked the same question again, repeating what he had asked in the secret room that day.

“…” Looking at her intently, Wuming unconsciously touched his chest, where he could indeed feel something different.

But he couldn't quite grasp what it was.

He had even forgotten why he had spoken to Baili Ce earlier.

Before long, a cool breeze blew, the storm subsided, and he returned to being the Gu King who only knew how to carry out orders.

His aura remained unchanged.

......

At the Burial Forest, Wang Qingyan, who wasn't actually that angry, rolled up his sleeve and looked at his arm.

I overacted just now, and my wound accidentally reopened.

Even the cracks on his face were almost not suppressed.

But if I don't play along with her act, why would she want to keep fighting with me?

Moreover, this price is worth it.

"You said that, right?"

Looking at the vast stretches of forest, Wang Qingyan smiled with a sinister gleam.