The male lead was a serial killer, and after the female lead realized this, she matched wits with him. In this movie, the distinction between male and female leads was basically just that they were important characters.
When Muning realized it was a suspense thriller, she made a horrified face. But soon, she was drawn in by the female lead's character and couldn't help worrying about her. When the female lead killed the murderer instead, Muning finally relaxed.
At the very end, the female lead set off on her journey home.
The movie ended, and Muning still seemed to want more as she watched the credits. Xiangyi began to feel that something was off. She'd meant to use a horror movie to frighten Muning, but instead, she'd roused her fighting spirit.
Noticing Xiangyi's complicated expression, Muning asked in a concerned tone, "Xiangyi, are you scared?"
Xiangyi didn't know how to describe the feeling of things backfiring. She just felt that Muning wasn't as easy to fool as she'd thought.
It was already almost midnight, so the two of them planned to return to Xiangyi's little room.
In truth, Xiangyi wasn't very willing to go. She hadn't expected things to take such a turn and hadn't prepared a third movie. Besides, they hadn't tidied up at all today, and tomorrow they'd have to get up early and pretend to sort through a bunch of things.
And now, the mood hadn't even turned romantic yet, which left Xiangyi even more conflicted as she tried to figure out how to set the romantic plot in motion.
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Let's go, little universe!
With Muning starting to feel sleepy, the two of them could only head for Xiangyi's little room.
As soon as they stepped inside, Xiangyi caught the scent of books. The room was simply furnished with a bed, a desk, and countless stacks of books. A calendar nearby was marked with notes about when she had to go help out.
Clearly, Xiangyi had no authority in the Qin family, and not even any spending money. The stacks of books around her had obviously been bought with money she'd earned from doing odd jobs. Every book was wrapped in a cover, with notes and numbers written on it. Some had been read countless times and were covered in all sorts of markings.
Muning wasn't the only one interested in the room. As the current Xiangyi, she was also very curious about the previous Xiangyi's personality.
Lonely, cold, rational.
As she flipped through the books, she found Xiangyi's handwritten notes and even a photo that seemed out of place.
The person in the photo was Xia Shang. It looked to be quite old, and Xia Shang seemed no older than a teenager. Xiangyi found it hard to believe. The previous Xiangyi had clearly harbored some feelings for Xia Shang, but the current Xiangyi couldn't tell what kind.
Maybe admiration, respect, or perhaps a spiritual anchor.
Seeing Xiangyi staring at the photo, Muning leaned closer and sighed. "Honestly, you liked her this much back in your first year of high school, and you still like her this much now."
Xiangyi smiled to cover it up, then noticed that Muning seemed a little unhappy. She sat nearby and looked around the room again.
"It's about the same as when I came here before, except there are more books now. If I ever buy a villa, I'll build you a huge library." As if she'd realized the subject she'd brought up was a little awkward, Muning hurried to round off the conversation.
Xiangyi went along with it and started chatting with Muning, and the mood grew warm again.
Muning's sleepiness gradually caught up with her, so she went around to the simple bathroom nearby to change. A few minutes later, she came out of the cramped bathroom. Her pajamas were just ordinary old clothes, but her stunning looks gave them a boost, making her seem all the more playful and cute.
Xiangyi had wanted to change in front of Muning, but Muning had sent her to the bathroom instead. She seemed instinctively uncomfortable with being watched while changing.
Xiangyi felt a little frustrated. She'd wanted to show Muning her best side, but she hadn't expected Muning to go against the usual playbook and choose to show her most ordinary side instead. Xiangyi hesitated, but in the end, she still didn't change into ordinary clothes.
For one thing, Xiangyi didn't own many clothes and certainly wouldn't use her new clothes as pajamas. And these pajamas were ones she'd bought with Shuxuan, so they could serve as a conversation starter.
Given the tension between Muning and Shuxuan, Muning would still get riled up.
After confirming this, Xiangyi changed into her pajamas and came out of the simple bathroom. Muning was already lying down, but when she heard the noise from the bathroom, she sat up again and looked at Xiangyi's outfit, her expression shifting subtly.
"Did your Sister Shuxuan buy those?"
She seemed a little unhappy about how close Xiangyi and Shuxuan had gotten lately. Xiangyi murmured an assent and carefully climbed onto the bed. It wasn't big, and after sleeping in Shuxuan's bed, it felt even more cramped.
There was no air conditioning in the storage room, only a small electric fan. Xiangyi's body temperature naturally stayed at a comfortable level, so the air from the fan was actually blowing toward Muning.
"What's wrong? Is my darling Muning unhappy?" Seeing Muning glare at her with her lovely eyes, Xiangyi copied her style and asked.
"No. Someone's being nice to you. How could I be unhappy?" Muning avoided Xiangyi's gaze, but her tone and expression were both rather peculiar.
Having one jealous Shaoyao was already a hassle. If Muning got jealous too, Xiangyi didn't think she could handle it.
"Really?"
"..."
Muning didn't answer. She just lay back down, though she left plenty of space for Xiangyi, as if afraid she might push her off the bed.
"All right, actually, I bought these clothes myself." Xiangyi had no choice but to tell a kind lie. Only then did Muning turn to look at her, her features beginning to relax.
"But you have to remember not to waste money like that. Remember when we worked part-time together in our second year of high school? It was so hard, and then we broke a single plate and lost all our pay." Muning seemed moved by the memory and continued recounting things she'd done with Xiangyi.
Xiangyi was a host without any memories. She tried to steer the emotional pace of the conversation, but Muning was the one leading it. Xiangyi soon realized she hadn't learned to control people's hearts as well as she'd imagined. This wasn't a game, and the twists and turns she faced were beyond anything she could have imagined.
And because she rarely got to chat properly with Xiangyi, Muning told her lots of things from the past. Xiangyi, who had no memories, could only respond with the occasional "mm-hmm" or "yeah." The more Muning talked, the more talkative she became that night.
Xiangyi even felt that Muning must have always been this talkative. She just hadn't spent enough time with her before to realize it.
Xiangyi listened patiently, unable to get a word in. Muning was so worked up, as if she thought this might be their last conversation.
As that thought crossed her mind, Xiangyi looked at Muning. Muning wasn't looking at her, but she was still describing those stories. The lights had dimmed, too, making it impossible to read her emotions or reactions.
"Muning, hold on a second." Xiangyi realized something was wrong and wanted Muning to turn her face toward her.
Muning fell silent, but she didn't turn around. The way her shoulders trembled made it clear her emotions were surging.
Xiangyi had no choice but to use a little force. Muning began to struggle, as if she didn't want to face Xiangyi. But there wasn't enough room for her to struggle much. Xiangyi saw that Muning's eyes were already red and caught sight of her sorrow.
"You..." Xiangyi had just started to ask why she was crying when tears began to fall from Muning's eyes. They were completely beyond her control, and soon she couldn't stop them.
"Xiangyi, I can't bear to leave you." Muning's sobs grew louder as she clung to Xiangyi and cried harder and harder.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Xiangyi already knew the answer. Muning had probably remembered that she was about to leave for Heaven City, and couldn't help crying.
She'd originally wanted to keep it from Xiangyi. She didn't want her to know that the main reason they were leaving was because they feared the Qin family.
Driven away from the place where they'd grown up by the Qin family's pressure, she didn't want Xiangyi to blame herself. She'd meant to wait until she found a good excuse before telling her, but she couldn't hold back and ended up crying as she told Xiangyi she was moving to Heaven City.
"I don't want to leave at all. I want to go to school with you and take the college entrance exam together... We promised we'd go to the same university, but now I'm breaking that promise." Muning poured out her frustration, along with her apologies to Xiangyi.
Xiangyi could only pat Muning's back. She didn't know how to comfort someone who was crying, so she kept telling her it was all right.
But Muning only cried harder, as if Xiangyi were some kind of tearjerker. She didn't stop until she'd been at it for a long time. Fortunately, they weren't at Muning's home or Shuxuan's. This villa was huge and had great soundproofing, so it could completely muffle Muning's sobs.
A little while later, Muning finally calmed down. Xiangyi felt that yet another one of her plans had been ruined. Her expression turned helpless; she no longer knew what to say about Muning's knack for derailing things.
She'd prepared one script after another, and now none of them were any use.
"Xiangyi, aren't you angry?"
"Of course I'm angry. It's just... I'm angry at myself for being useless, for not even being able to protect my best friend." Xiangyi had no choice but to continue her heartfelt act. She glanced at the time and saw that they'd somehow kept talking until two in the morning.
There'd been no progress at all on the kiss. Instead, she'd heard a lot about Muning's unease and fear. Xiangyi had taken it all in and felt even more sympathy for her.
"Xiangyi, will you forget me?" At last, Muning looked at Xiangyi, full of hope.
Looking at those pure, hopeful eyes, Xiangyi instinctively looked away, not knowing how to respond. After that crying fit, her own heart was in a complete mess. In the end, she could only part her lips and give a vague answer.
"I don't know. The future is a long way off." Xiangyi looked dejected. She was suddenly glad Shaoyao and Hua Nu weren't there to see how awkward she was.
"..."
Muning fell silent again, lips pressed together as if she were thinking about something. Her eyes were just as sad, like those of a wounded animal. Even a lie could have briefly soothed that sadness.
Xiangyi thought of all kinds of sweet words. If she made some promise and cheered Muning up again, they could keep going.
Time ticked by, and the two of them fell silent again. Xiangyi struggled, planning to suggest a kiss, but she felt that doing that to a child would be too cruel.
Now, all she could do was repeat the same thoughts to herself, numbing her guilty conscience and reminding herself that the person before her was only a tool. She wasn't real; she was just a character in Xiangyi's story.
And as someone who'd transmigrated into this world, Xiangyi couldn't possibly develop feelings for a tool.
"Xiangyi, what if we went out and did something together? Maybe then we wouldn't forget each other." But in the end, Muning was the first to suggest it. Xiangyi was even more surprised and opened her mouth.
Right now, Muning gave Xiangyi the impression that she was winning herself over. But her eyes were still so clear that Xiangyi wondered if she was just overthinking things again.
"But psychology says people don't remember happy things, because there are too many happy things."
"Then... should we go have a good cry together?"
"How could we? I can't think of anything that would make me cry like that."
Xiangyi refused. She couldn't imagine the two of them hugging each other and crying. Though she felt guilty, Xiangyi was still very rational.
"Then what else could we do, something we'd remember for the rest of our lives?" Muning furrowed her brow, but couldn't think of anything else.
Xiangyi knew her chance had come. If she coaxed Muning just a little, Muning would offer her a second kiss. And if Xiangyi could hold out for three minutes, she'd get a top-tier Flower Person.
It was a very generous reward. Xiangyi licked her dry lips and looked at Muning.
Muning seemed to notice the gesture. She instinctively pressed her lips together, then finally worked up the courage to say, "What do you think about what happened at the inn that time?"
She hadn't expected Muning to be the one to say it in the end. Xiangyi stared at her, trying to tell whether she was joking. But Muning's expression was serious, and her face was red.
"No, I don't mean anything else. I just feel like that day made a deep impression on me. Even though we... did it to awaken me..."
Muning couldn't get the rest of the words out. For some reason, ever since they met again that day, the scene at the hotel had kept replaying in her mind. She'd tried hard not to think about it, but in the end, she just couldn't.
Xiangyi only looked at her without saying a word, and Muning began to feel that she might have accidentally ruined their friendship.
She hurriedly tried to explain, only for Xiangyi to suddenly lean closer. Then she took off her glasses, revealing a face of extraordinary beauty.
"You..."
Muning hadn't paid much attention to that beauty at the time. Now that she saw it, she wore an incredulous expression. She could hardly believe someone could look so different after taking off their glasses.
Muning still looked astonished, and Xiangyi knew she had to act.
"Close your eyes."
The voice sounded like a demon's whisper, filled with an irresistible temptation. Muning couldn't help closing her eyes, her body stiff.
It was as if they'd gone back to that day, and yet somehow it was different.
Before, it had happened because they'd triggered a plot event. Now, Muning wanted to make a memory with Xiangyi.
"This time I'm going to count down. It'll take three minutes." Xiangyi told Muning what she was about to do and warned her that this time would be much longer.
Muning was so surprised she nearly opened her eyes, but the fragrance had already reached her, and then their lips touched. She'd thought she'd resist while fully conscious, but the feeling was still just as wonderful.
Xiangyi held her without reservation. In that moment, it was as if only the two of them remained in the world.
System: Top-tier Flower Person activation in progress. System: Countdown: 2 minutes 30 seconds... System: Countdown: 1 minute...
It was a long three minutes, and hard to put into words. It wasn't just their lips pressed together; their interaction prolonged the time they spent touching.
The adjustment: since the ideal kiss for humans lasts three minutes, the time needed to create a top-tier Flower Person has been changed to three minutes.
The more favorites and monthly tickets, the faster the updates~
A new Flower Person has arrived!!!
Muning clumsily accepted it, and Xiangyi clumsily gave it. She didn't know what Muning was thinking, but Xiangyi only wanted to finish quickly and extract the top-tier Flower Person. She held Muning tightly in place until she heard the words "three minutes."
System: Flower seed activated successfully. Flower Person obtained: Oleander.
At that moment, time froze. Space turned dark and empty, and a gorgeous flower stretched up from the ground.
Then it bloomed, and a tiny Flower Person slowly emerged from its petals. She wore ancient-style clothes and armor resembling a general's, with a long sword in her hand. Though she was only palm-sized, the aura she gave off was already impressive. She was capable and forceful, with exquisite features and a serious, earnest expression.
This was another Flower Person who hadn't been in the script. Xiangyi searched her knowledge of flower symbolism and remembered that oleander meant beware of danger.
Before you continue