Did I Succeed in Redeeming the Villain Today? - Chapter 69

Chapter 69: “I Only Know I Must Guard My Host Well…”

The air inside the shooting range flowed slowly; not a single breeze could be seen outside the window. The clouds obstructing the sun were pushed away, and the blinding light brushed across the glass above the venue, landing on Mu Qiuyu’s profile—on the spot where the little orb had kissed her.

The girl who had just plucked up the courage to go forward and ask for Mu Qiuyu’s contact information suddenly slammed on her metaphorical brakes. In that sudden flare of sunlight, she thought she saw a faint smile grace the space between Mu Qiuyu’s brows.

What would a person who is already beautiful when cold look like when she smiles?

The girl felt she would likely never forget this moment for the rest of her life. She didn’t know what Mu Qiuyu was thinking; perhaps she was just seeing her score, as those eyes that looked a bit dazed a second ago instantly brightened.

Mu Qiuyu didn’t have much expression, but her eyes were smiling. Even with a blank face, one could feel her tenderness.

Was it just because she had shot a superb score? Of course not.

Mu Qiuyu pinched Lu Ning—the whole orb that had kissed its way over—and casually stuffed her into her pocket. She suddenly felt the shooting range was stuffy and unventilated. Putting down her gun, she didn’t bother greeting the judges and headed straight for the exit.

The little orb wasn’t a fixed sphere; Lu Ning extended two antennae, pawing at Mu Qiuyu’s pocket to peek half a head out. She noticed that Mu Qiuyu walked quickly past the girl who had just mentioned wanting her contact info. The expression on the girl’s face was one of hesitation, but in the end, she only gripped her phone and didn’t chase after her.

Watching the girl leave in disappointment, Lu Ning looked up at Mu Qiuyu with an indefinable feeling: “Host, it seemed like someone wanted to talk to you.”

“So?” Mu Qiuyu asked back calmly, seemingly not caring at all.

Lu Ning felt mentioning it was indeed a bit pointless, so she shrank back into the pocket and shook her head: “Nothing.”

After that topic died out, Mu Qiuyu looked down at the little orb clinging lazily to her pocket: “It looks like you’ve already thought of how to explain yourself.”

“What?” Lu Ning looked up, still acting out of the loop.

But then, Lu Ning remembered the fact that she had disappeared from Mu Qiuyu’s side for a day and a half.

“The time flow in the Inner World seems to have some issues,” Lu Ning spoke the truth, feeling there was no need to hide it from Mu Qiuyu. “Before, when I stayed in the Inner World for a day, only one night passed outside. But this time, it was the opposite.”

“So unstable,” Mu Qiuyu remarked with an unreadable tone, her thoughts unknown.

“Yeah,” Lu Ning nodded troubledly.

She didn’t expect Mu Qiuyu was just waiting for her to nod: “Then go there less in the future.”

Saying this, Mu Qiuyu put her hand into her pocket and rubbed the little orb without mercy: “Once you go, I can’t contact you. If something happens out here, by the time you come back, I might already be dead.”

Mu Qiuyu’s fingers were long and agile, passing through Lu Ning’s body and teasing apart the glowing aura on her bit by bit. Lu Ning felt a wave of dizziness; by the time she regained her senses, her entire aura had been rubbed into a mess.

Lu Ning knew this was Mu Qiuyu’s punishment and revenge for her disappearance, so she only dared to weakly extend an antenna from between the fingers to protest: “Host, even an orb has ‘orb rights.'”

“You are mine,” Mu Qiuyu said dismissively, tapping Lu Ning’s antenna with her fingertip.

Humans don’t know it, but their fingers have a unique temperature. Mu Qiuyu’s hand rubbed the antenna neither too hard nor too light, causing Lu Ning’s sensitive electronic components to shiver, sending her steadily working heart into a tailspin.

Lu Ning hurriedly retracted her antenna, like a timid snail. Do snails do this too when touched? Lu Ning had no chance to ask a snail, but she had a chance to ask Mu Qiuyu: “Does the Host feel unwell anywhere?”

Lu Ning remembered fainting after touching Mu Qiuyu’s memory and worried if Mu Qiuyu had any reaction to it.

Hearing this, Mu Qiuyu’s thoughts darkened slightly: “On the first morning you left, I felt pain in my ankles.”

In Lu Ning’s hypothesis, she thought Mu Qiuyu’s sensations would be purely mental. She never expected Wutong’s physical pain would mirror onto Mu Qiuyu. Then…

“Just now when the shooting started, my forehead felt something too.”

Just as Lu Ning’s thoughts froze because of an unspeakable act, Mu Qiuyu’s calm description struck her eardrums. This immediately magnified and spread Lu Ning’s guilt. The orb froze in Mu Qiuyu’s sight with nowhere to hide, and she saw Mu Qiuyu narrow her eyes: “It felt just like when you pressed yourself against my forehead just now.”

Indeed, because she had kissed Wutong’s forehead in exchange for a secret. Lu Ning was dying of guilt. Mu Qiuyu pressed on: “So what were you doing in my Inner World for a day and a half?”

As her voice fell, Lu Ning was subjected to more squeezing and rubbing. She knew she couldn’t mention Wutong, so she instinctively thought of using whether Mu Qiuyu had an impression of that painful memory as a shield.

But then, a delayed surge of clarity struck her hard. Lu Ning suddenly realized that the attack launched by the Inner World against her proved that at least Mu Qiuyu’s subconscious had an impression of that memory. She was like a terrified cat with fur standing on end, doing her best to guard her shameful past from being discovered.

Lu Ning shifted her gaze to look at Mu Qiuyu, who was playing with her. The sun fell across the eaves of the shooting range, making Mu Qiuyu look gentle, her mood seemingly decent. Lu Ning didn’t think that painful memory was something worth digging up if it made Mu Qiuyu angry. She wanted Mu Qiuyu to be happy.

If Mu Qiuyu really went through something like that in the past, then she would just help her smooth it over. There was no need to make a scene or insist on getting to the bottom of it, forcing her to reopen her own scars.

The wind blowing across the empty grounds sounded like a woman’s familiar, shrill crying; they rang unseasonably in Lu Ning’s ears, causing her heart to ache instinctively. This person’s heart was always soft, especially toward Mu Qiuyu. Both of them.

“Watching flowers, taking photos of flowers, picking flowers,” Lu Ning answered concisely.

“There really are flowers?” Mu Qiuyu arched an eyebrow, a hint of a sneer in her eyes. In the past, she thought Lu Ning was bluffing. Or rather, she didn’t believe anything could bloom inside her.

“Of course,” Lu Ning said loudly, quickly flipping through her album and projecting the sea of Corn Poppies from her body. The orb wasn’t just an orb; in Mu Qiuyu’s hand, she became a 3D projector.

A fan-shaped blue light unfolded, and the red that met the sky was like the sunset clouds connecting the horizon, burning through the entire world. It was just a momentary image, but it seemed to contain countless emotions, packed to the brim.

Looking at the scenery before her, Mu Qiuyu’s initially mocking gaze froze and lingered for a long time. So this was her Inner World. She had thought it would be rotten inside.

The girl stared at the flower stalks swaying in the wind, not coming back to her senses for a long while until she remembered something and turned to Lu Ning: “Lu Ling, do you know the flower language of the Corn Poppy?”

Lu Ning immediately searched the data: “The flower language isn’t very certain; different colors have different meanings: consolation, regret, forgetting, obedience, and dreams.”

The system’s data was comprehensive, and Lu Ning’s introduction was professional. However, in this long list of meanings, she intentionally skipped the most well-known phrase.

“Parting by death.”

Mu Qiuyu looked at the orb in her hand and calmly finished the sentence for her. The girl’s calm eyes were like the water at the bottom of the Dead Sea—pitch black and devoid of emotion.

Lu Ning felt as if her body had been pierced by the stem of the Corn Poppy Mu Qiuyu was holding. She thought, this really isn’t a good phrase. She only wanted her to have dreams.

The month after the supplementary shooting match, the Youth Games announced the participating schools. Besides the Shooting Club, Guanghua had over a dozen clubs participating—Track and Field, Swimming, Table Tennis—but since their schedules differed, they wouldn’t have much interaction; it was just that the school took it very seriously.

After the Cen Qin incident, their old rival, No. 1 Middle School, had taken a big hit. Guanghua’s leadership wanted to press their advantage and surpass No. 1 Middle School in all competitions this year. This atmosphere spread to the Shooting Club, and everyone was eager when competing for the roster.

Mu Qiuyu couldn’t quite understand their exuberant collective honor, but since her scores were too outstanding, her qualification was already set in stone. Thus, Lu Ning going to the Youth Games with Mu Qiuyu was also set in stone.

The chirping of cicadas passed through the lush roadside trees, growing from weak to strong, piercing through the entire summer. Days without special events felt like copy-paste; final exams were no surprise, and Mu Qiuyu ranked first in the entire grade again.

The continuous influx of points gave Lu Ning the capital to splurge. To avoid raising suspicion among classmates even as summer vacation arrived, Lu Ning specifically left her “cat form” at school and exchanged for a brand-new form for herself.

Bright sunlight shone through the bus glass, making the travel bag on the seat feel warm. Everyone was chatting happily; no one noticed that Mu Qiuyu had deliberately left a section of the zipper open.

Before long, a tiny black nose poked out from the gap. Animals usually rely on their sense of smell to judge their surroundings; the smell of direct sunlight was warm and cozy, naturally bringing a sense of relaxation. Then, a ball of white-and-brown spines arched out of the bag.

The bean-sized eyes were so black you couldn’t see any emotion, but the pink paws clutching the edge of the bag made it look obedient and harmless.

“Host, the sun is so nice today.” Lu Ning’s nose twitched, looking exactly like a little hedgehog.

“You animals like it,” Mu Qiuyu replied. In other words, she didn’t. This made sense; if she liked it, she wouldn’t have sat in the aisle seat away from the window, leaving the sunny side for her bag and the Lu Ning inside.

Lu Ning didn’t dwell on it. She climbed out of the bag and expertly nudged Mu Qiuyu’s hand: “Host~”

She was even worse as a hedgehog than as a cat, taking advantage of her small size to let Mu Qiuyu carry her. And yet, Mu Qiuyu was willing. After being nudged twice by Lu Ning’s nose, she opened her palm and scratched Lu Ning’s paws: “Climb up yourself.”

“Oh.” Lu Ning obeyed, moving her short limbs to lie in Mu Qiuyu’s palm. She had fully adapted to her identity as a hedgehog on her first day. A human palm was a great place—not too big, not too small, and the temperature was just right for a hedgehog’s belly. It was a natural cradle.

“I wonder how the cat is doing at school, if anyone is petting it.” Lu Ning basked comfortably in the sun, melting into a puddle of a hedgehog in Mu Qiuyu’s palm, her words slightly slurred.

“Can’t you see it?” Mu Qiuyu looked at the greedy little hedgehog in her palm and poked her belly.

“Mmh…” Lu Ning hummed after being poked and explained, “I learned some new skills recently and set that thread to auto-task. I delegated it.”

Mu Qiuyu smiled: “You’ve learned to be smart.”

“Of course.” Lu Ning accepted the praise. The hedgehog’s naturally smiling mouth curved up further as she shared proudly, “I set her to a two-point routine: school in the morning, and back home to find Mu Jingqin at night.”

Hearing the last part, Mu Qiuyu’s gaze darkened: “Why?”

“Caring for the ’empty-nest elderly’ starts with us,” Lu Ning joked, then turned serious. “No, it’s because I think Mu Jingqin will miss the Host. With the cat there, maybe she won’t feel the separation so strongly.”

Mu Qiuyu was dismissive: “She’s happy for the peace and quiet while I’m gone.”

“That’s not true,” Lu Ning shook her head and told her seriously. “She worries about you. I heard noise downstairs last night and saw her stuffing things into your travel bag. I almost couldn’t squeeze in today.”

Lu Ning patted the bulging bag with a small paw and tilted her head: “Doesn’t the Host feel your bag is heavier than yesterday?”

Mu Qiuyu’s gaze froze. She had indeed felt that way this morning, but she thought her perception of weight was off. It was actually…

“She was stuffing things while saying, ‘So troublesome, so troublesome, having kids at home is so annoying.'”

Before Mu Qiuyu could fully believe her, she heard Lu Ning mimicking Mu Jingqin’s voice perfectly. “‘Honestly, this Secretary Wu is getting worse at her job… Ugh, I’m exhausted, I’m going to get more wrinkles.'”

Lu Ning laughed: “It’s my first time seeing such a classic ‘sharp tongue but soft heart.'”

The hedgehog’s eyes were like black holes, and the light pink face was soft and sweet when she smiled, like a bun decorated with black beans. Mu Qiuyu didn’t know if it was because of the hedgehog or the words she relayed, but her cold heart suddenly softened.

Still not wanting to talk about Mu Jingqin, she poked Lu Ning’s face: “Didn’t sleep well last night?”

“A little.” Lu Ning leaned against her finger, acting cute.

Last night before leaving, looking at the list of learning tasks Mu Qiuyu had completed, Lu Ning suddenly felt her points weren’t so satisfying anymore. Mu Qiuyu was a planned person; her side quests were progressing steadily. But why was the Main Quest still stuck?

And Lu Ning still hadn’t figured out the logic behind the system giving Mu Qiuyu such tasks.

“Host, the time limit to integrate into a club is three months,” Lu Ning looked up, holding the task interface for Mu Qiuyu to see. “We are now minus 28 days past the deadline!”

Lu Ning smiled, the sunlight falling on her harmless face with a sense of calm madness. She had been uneasy since last night, feeling the system punishment would act up again. When hedgehogs are tense, they raise their quills; the dull prickling against Mu Qiuyu’s finger didn’t even qualify as pain.

“Don’t be afraid.” Mu Qiuyu reached out and stroked the hedgehog’s head. She didn’t know when she had started caring for another’s emotions, but seeing Lu Ning worry for her, she wanted to say something to reassure her: “The ‘little black room’ punishment isn’t scary at all. You performed well last time.”

Lu Ning didn’t know if the darkness she passed through in the Inner World was the full extent of the punishment, but the feeling of being in total darkness wasn’t good; historically, such methods were used in prisons to punish inmates. She didn’t want the system to treat Mu Qiuyu like that.

The little hedgehog nuzzled her palm and said firmly: “The system has already punished you. I’m going to appeal and use the last time to offset this one!”

Mu Qiuyu thought of the “Unlimited Card” the Main System gave her last time and scratched the greedy hedgehog: “Lu Ling, do you know what ‘one matter, one conclusion’ means?”

“I only know I must guard my Host well,” Lu Ning said stubbornly.

Mu Qiuyu looked at her and wanted to say, “Why bother?” She didn’t care if she was punished; she never took the tasks to heart anyway. It was impossible for the system to discipline her through punishment. But before she could speak, she could already imagine how Lu Ning would answer.

Thinking of her determination, Mu Qiuyu pursed her lips and held back the cold words she usually used on herself. She might not have noticed yet, but Lu Ning was different from the people she had chosen to keep around in the past.

She needed her.

The Youth Games wouldn’t start for another week; usually, participating schools would arrive about a week early to adapt to the venue and environment. This time, the games were hosted in the city next to Wu City, which led the country in sports economy development. Although the stadium was in the suburbs, the accommodation and catering were complete; participants were assigned two-room suites. The building was by a mountain and water, very cool for summer.

Hiding in Mu Qiuyu’s pocket, Lu Ning’s eyes widened. She had smelled wild fruit as soon as they got off the bus, and the words “wild berries” were a massive lure for a little hedgehog.

“Host, I want to pick wild fruit to eat.” Lu Ning aimed at a wild jujube tree at the foot of the mountain and pawed at Mu Qiuyu’s sleeve.

“Do you know where I’m staying?” Mu Qiuyu asked calmly.

“I do!” Lu Ning nodded repeatedly. “Host is in Building A, Unit 1, Room 1202, sharing with Pei Yinyue, but she isn’t arriving until this afternoon.”

Seeing her answer so fluently, Mu Qiuyu smiled and lifted her out of the pocket: “Go on, be safe.”

“Thanks, Host! Little Hedgehog loves you the most!” Lu Ning was overjoyed and landed safely with Mu Qiuyu’s help.

Thus, she missed the way Mu Qiuyu’s gaze faltered slightly after hearing that “love.” The girl who got off the bus first stood there for a long time, watching the hedgehog disappear into the grass before she finally pulled her suitcase away.

Even after a thousand sighs, Lu Ning still had to say the suburbs were better than the city center. The jujube tree was past its blooming phase and full of fruit, the red overpowering the green leaves—it looked incredibly tempting. Lu Ning didn’t know if hedgehogs could climb trees, but this hedgehog climbed up slowly. Her quills were too useful; by walking to the end of a branch, she could snag plenty of fruit.

Wild jujubes that hadn’t been selectively bred were sour and astringent—humans wouldn’t like them. But for a little hedgehog, they were perfect. Lu Ning gathered a back full of fruit and sat on a branch eating her fill. Being a small animal was great; she could eat her fill without spending points. She wanted to be Mu Qiuyu’s pet forever.

“It would be great if Mu Qiuyu liked this fruit too.” Lu Ning chewed on a jujube and climbed down slowly. She decided to pick some sweet-smelling ones to bring back for her. This place had so many; surely there were some that suited Mu Qiuyu’s taste.

The little hedgehog planned beautifully, storing the fruit from her back into the system space and scavenging for more. Soon she found not just wild jujube trees, but wild mulberries. A paradise of wild berries! Lu Ning’s eyes lit up. She gathered a lot more until her low-capacity system space flashed red.

“I’ll have to bring Mu Qiuyu here to pick some next time,” she planned greedily, reluctantly leaving her sacred ground.

As she trudged out of the wild field with her load, she saw a familiar figure in the distance. Mist swirled, and sunlight pierced the hazy picture, tracing the girl’s thin and tall silhouette. Her light skirt was like a white wave, curling up and falling softly.

Lu Ning recognized that figure as Mu Qiuyu’s at a glance. She rushed over with her fresh fruit to show off: “Host! Look, look! There are so many good things here! I can eat my fill without spending points!”

Facing the hedgehog’s enthusiasm, the girl bent down and scooped her up. Her palm was soft and warm, making Lu Ning afraid to let her dirty feet touch it.

In this mood, Lu Ning suddenly heard the girl repeat the name she had just called her: “Host?”

The hand holding the fruit froze. The sunlight reflected the person’s face in her eyes, yet she suddenly felt like a stranger.

Mu Qiuyu narrowed her eyes slowly, looking at the little hedgehog in her palm holding up fruit for “her,” and smiled with a gentle yet disdainful look: “So, this is how A-Ning interacts with her.”

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