After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Entangled by a Crazy and Beautiful Villain - Chapter 31.2

Looking at the sky, Song Linlin said, “The sun will get weaker later; it will cool down then.”

They had wasted a lot of time just getting here because Song Linlin wasn’t very familiar with the path. Coupled with the time she had spent trying to fish in the river earlier, Song Linlin estimated the sun should be gradually setting.

Wait a minute, the sun is setting!

They hadn’t caught many fish yet. Why did time pass so quickly? Going back would also take a long time, mainly because the winding mountain roads were not easy to travel.

Song Linlin’s gaze turned to Chi Qianning, eyes filled with anticipation: “Uh… can you take us straight back? Walking back is too tiring.”

“Yes.”

If it were directly to the Mission Hall, Chi Qianning’s strength wasn’t fully recovered, and she couldn’t be sure if there were any powerful figures inside, making her worry about exposure. However, returning directly to Song Linlin’s secluded residence was not a problem.

That place was usually deserted, so there was nothing to worry about. This was an advantage of being weak: it didn’t attract attention.

Song Linlin nodded, immediately feeling much more relaxed. “That’s good!”

Night travel on the mountain roads was difficult. Since they didn’t have to walk back, they weren’t in a hurry to get back before dark to turn in the fish. The Mission Hall always had people on duty at night, so going late was fine.

It was rare to come all the way out here. Leaving immediately after catching the fish felt like a waste.

In the time that followed, Chi Qianning would casually toss out a fish every once in a while. Song Linlin knew she couldn’t possibly learn Chi Qianning’s skill of accurately spearing a fish with a thin branch, so she could only honestly stand in the river and attempt to catch them by hand.

This time, she was much more serious than her previous attempt at relying on luck. She focused her mind to sense everything approaching her. Occasionally, she could truly feel fish moving toward her.

But when she reached out to grab them, either she struck them, but the fish was too slippery to hold; or she managed to grip one, but the fish slipped away as she tried to lift it up.

Chi Qianning had long since collected a full bamboo basket of fish. At this moment, she was sitting on the bank with her lower legs soaking in the water, bored, watching Song Linlin battle the Silver Flying Fish in the middle of the river.

The sun had begun to sink, casting an orange-yellow light that stained half the sky. Song Linlin, who was bent over in the river, suddenly raised her arm, holding a small, silver fish in her hand. She cried out to Chi Qianning in surprise, “Look! I caught one!”

“Mhm, amazing.” Chi Qianning looked at her and complimented her in an unenthusiastic tone.

Song Linlin moved toward the bank and placed her newly caught fish beside the bamboo basket. Now, there were two fish on the grass. This was her entire harvest for the afternoon of hard work.

Originally, Song Linlin was filled with pride for catching another fish, but looking at the full bamboo basket of Silver Flying Fish next to her, which Chi Qianning had caught casually the entire time, her own meager haul—caught through painstaking effort—was far surpassed.

Although she felt a little discouraged, Song Linlin quickly adjusted her mindset. Catching two was still quite good!

Bringing Chi Qianning along to work was definitely the right choice. Her efficiency was too high; she was basically a one-stab-one-catch, like a magic trick. Song Linlin wouldn’t even know a fish was hiding there, but the other girl could find it effortlessly.

Looking at the full basket of fish, they were definitely going to earn a lot this trip. Song Linlin’s eyes were full of admiration for Chi Qianning. “You’re so amazing!”

Chi Qianning didn’t react much. Too many people had said that to her; she was long since tired of hearing it.

Song Linlin walked onto the bank and checked the time. It must be late now, and it would be dark soon. Fortunately, she didn’t have to travel the night roads. Looking at the two fish she had painstakingly caught all afternoon; it seemed a little wasteful to turn all of them in. Why not roast these two?

She had just missed the sect’s dinner time. Now that she had so many fish—which she usually couldn’t bear to buy at the mess hall—she had never tasted them before. Song Linlin turned to Chi Qianning:

“I’ll roast fish for you! We caught so many; it’s perfectly reasonable to eat two.”

Chi Qianning thought for a moment and, surprisingly, didn’t refuse. “Okay.”

Then, Song Linlin enthusiastically began to prepare the tools needed for roasting fish. Firewood was easily solved; it was everywhere nearby. The only problem was that she hadn’t thought this far ahead when she left and hadn’t brought any seasoning.

But the taste shouldn’t be too bad, right?

Song Linlin had never cooked before, so everything felt fresh to her. Moreover, Chi Qianning had rarely agreed to eat something, which gave her more motivation to do a good job.

Although she hadn’t personally cooked before, she had watched countless short videos about food. She hadn’t eaten the pork, but she had at least seen the pig run. She processed the fish’s surface and internal organs purely from memory and instinct.

Chi Qianning silently watched her busy herself, but somehow, it all looked rather unreliable. It took Song Linlin a long time just to clean the fish.

She couldn’t help but ask Song Linlin, who was squatting on the bank cleaning the fish, “Song Linlin, have you cooked before?”

“No.”

Song Linlin was still holding the dagger, focusing on cleaning the fish’s insides.

Chi Qianning fell silent. Of course, she didn’t cook, either. She rarely ate human food, so it was impossible for her to have knowledge in this area.

When Song Linlin had volunteered to roast fish for her, she had assumed Song Linlin had experience. She hadn’t expected this girl didn’t know how to cook at all.

Sensing the other person’s distrust, Song Linlin raised her head, looking full of confidence. She had, after all, scrolled through countless gourmet videos.

She said to Chi Qianning, “Don’t worry. Even though I’ve never cooked before, I’m very familiar with the process. It definitely won’t be bad!”

Seeing her so confident, Chi Qianning could only trust her for now, watching Song Linlin humming a little tune in a good mood while preparing the roasted fish.

The sky gradually darkened. On the grass by the river, Song Linlin sat cross-legged, with a pile of firewood burning with orange-red flames in front of her. She intently monitored the fish, making sure it didn’t burn.

The flame roasted the fish, and a faint aroma of fish meat began to emerge. In terms of appearance alone, it looked quite good. Song Linlin flipped it often, ensuring no parts were charred.

The tender fish meat was roasted until it slightly curled and turned a golden color. The scales had been scraped off cleanly, and the skin looked crispy. Song Linlin was certainly drooling, but she still handed the first roasted fish to Chi Qianning.

“Here you go.”

Chi Qianning hesitated for two seconds before taking the roasted fish. She examined it carefully. It looked cooked, and there were no burnt spots. She just didn’t know what it tasted like.

“Try it? I think it should taste pretty good!” Song Linlin said, full of confidence.

Under Song Linlin’s expectant gaze, Chi Qianning brought the roasted fish closer, took a small bite near the belly, and slowly chewed.

“Is it tasty?” Song Linlin wasn’t in a hurry to roast the other fish, eager to get a review of her first attempt at cooking.

Chi Qianning only chewed twice, then frowned, turned her head, and spat out the piece of fish meat. She evaluated it very bluntly: “Not tasty.”

“Huh? How can that be?”

Song Linlin couldn’t believe it. Everything looked fine, so how could it not be tasty? Was her first attempt at cooking going to be a complete failure?!

“Let me try.”

Song Linlin also leaned in and took a large bite, not caring that it was the spot the other girl had just bitten. She savored it carefully. Since there was no seasoning, there was no taste other than the pure flavor of fish meat.

However, the fish itself had fresh, tender meat and no muddy taste. Song Linlin wasn’t that picky and felt the roasted fish wasn’t inedible; the taste was just a bit ordinary.

“I think it’s alright,” Song Linlin scratched her head. She had genuinely thought she had made something so awful that the other girl had spit it out.

Song Linlin looked at Chi Qianning. With such a beautiful face, even if she was a picky eater, Song Linlin couldn’t bring herself to blame her. She could only say, “Well, okay, if you’re not eating it, give it to me.”

However, she didn’t plan to give up. The other fish was already cleaned. She couldn’t eat two herself. It seemed she would have to try a different method.

After thinking for a few seconds, there was no seasoning available, and Song Linlin’s skills were limited. After much deliberation, she finally suggested hesitantly, “Uh… what if I make you sashimi?”

This required no skill; it was just slicing the fish. Song Linlin felt she could manage that.

Chi Qianning nodded. She had a much higher tolerance for raw meat than cooked.

Then, Song Linlin pulled out her dagger again. The sharp blade easily sliced off a piece of fish meat, although Song Linlin’s knife skills were poor, so the slices weren’t thin.

Since they had no plates or chopsticks, Song Linlin could only try feeding Chi Qianning by hand. She held up a slice of fish meat and offered it to her, “Want to try?”

If she still thought it wasn’t tasty, then so be it. Song Linlin would just have to roast the other fish and eat both herself.

Chi Qianning looked at the hand offered to her, hesitated for two seconds, then lowered her head and bit the fish meat held out to her. It wasn’t delicious, but this time, she was able to swallow it.

Seeing that Chi Qianning didn’t spit out the fish meat she was feeding her this time, Song Linlin was motivated to continue slicing fish and feeding her. She felt a great sense of accomplishment in this.

By the time they finished the two fish, the moon was already high in the sky. Song Linlin fetched water to put out the fire, and the two only returned to the residence afterwards.

Song Linlin still needed to go to the Mission Hall to handle the fish. It was a full basket and very heavy, and she felt like she was covered in the smell of fish after carrying it all the way.

It was very late by the time she got back.

“You haven’t gone to sleep yet?”

Song Linlin walked into the room. The fish had completely filled the bamboo basket, and it was heavy to carry. She had been carrying it for so long that she felt completely covered in the smell of fish.

She walked to the wardrobe to take out a clean set of clothes. She sniffed herself and felt like she never wanted to eat fish again for the next few days.

Song Linlin said to Chi Qianning, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, “I’m going to take a bath in the other room. I smell like fish right now.”

“Mhm.”

Chi Qianning had no objection. She had already changed into a different outfit; her previous clothes had been soaked while fishing in the river.

Leaving the room, Song Linlin drew a bucket of water. Having been soaking in cold water all afternoon, she just wanted to quickly go back to sleep and couldn’t be bothered with heating the water. She used the cold water in the bucket to scrub herself all over.

Returning to the room, even though she had washed thoroughly, Song Linlin still felt like the smell lingered. She climbed into bed and leaned in close to Chi Qianning. “Smell me, do I still smell like fish?”

Chi Qianning naturally leaned closer to her as well, wrapped an arm around Song Linlin, took a sniff, and then shook her head. “No, you smell fragrant.”

Song Linlin didn’t resist being hugged by the other girl; she was used to hugging her to sleep these days. She adjusted herself into a comfortable position and looked closely at the other’s face. She then realized that the clothes Chi Qianning had changed into were the dress she had previously lent to Song Linlin.

A discovery like this was hard not to overthink, especially for someone who was far from a decent person like Song Linlin.

She couldn’t help but embrace the other’s body tighter. Her body, having just taken a cold bath, felt comfortable against Chi Qianning’s cool skin.

After what happened that afternoon, Song Linlin had become a bit more uninhibited. She buried her head in the other’s neck and rubbed against it. Unfortunately, she still couldn’t smell anything.

“How come you don’t smell like anything?” Song Linlin mumbled quietly.

Chi Qianning let her hold her and asked, “What kind of scent do you think I should have?”

She relied on scent to distinguish different people and was sensitive to various smells. Naturally, she could make herself entirely odorless, which allowed others to not find a trace of her.

Song Linlin thought for a moment but couldn’t come up with a specific answer. She said, “Hmm… I don’t know, but you look like the type that should smell very fragrant.”

Chi Qianning chuckled lightly upon hearing this. In truth, she was usually only covered in the smell of blood. She was not a good entity; if she didn’t actively control it, her body would naturally emit a sinister, evil aura.

Of course, for someone with a pure Yin constitution like Song Linlin, this aura would be very attractive and would indeed smell very fragrant.

In a sense, they were truly well-matched.

Chi Qianning released a little of her aura. Song Linlin truly felt intoxicated by the scent. The smell was very faint, ephemeral, yet it captured all of Song Linlin’s attention. Her body and mind sank into it, feeling as though there could not be a person in the world who smelled so wonderful.

“You smell so good…”

Song Linlin clung to Chi Qianning, unwilling to let go. Feeling the other’s breath, she couldn’t resist leaning in and kissing the neck in front of her.

Feeling the kiss on her skin, Chi Qianning reached out and stroked the back of her head, whispering into her ear, “This is my scent. How does it compare to what you imagined?”

“It smells intoxicating…” Song Linlin truly couldn’t describe it.

Song Linlin couldn’t help but nibble lightly on Chi Qianning’s neck. However, mindful that Chi Qianning seemed displeased with being bitten the last few times, Song Linlin only held on gently before reluctantly letting go.

Chi Qianning didn’t mind that she had secretly bitten her again; it was merely a fleeting tickle for her. She took a breath and, pressing close to Song Linlin’s ear, asked, “Shall we double cultivate tonight?”