Did I Succeed in Redeeming the Villain Today? - Chapter 79

Chapter 79: A Human’s Mouth Is Softer Than A Kitten’s Paw…

Within inches, Mu Qiuyu’s voice was crystal clear.

Looking at the approaching Su Qinghang, Lu Ning naturally understood what Mu Qiuyu meant. Understanding was one thing; acting was another. Whether out of nervousness or some other reason, as Lu Ning leaned in to hug Mu Qiuyu, her heart pounded so hard it felt as if it might drop right out of her chest.

She only had this one heart, fresh and sincere, laid out before Mu Qiuyu—what was she supposed to do? A strange, indescribable emotion washed over Lu Ning. She looked at Mu Qiuyu’s profile, her eyes cast down, and felt the girl’s gentle breath against her neck, causing her to forget her anxiety.

“Speaking of which, Xiao Feng married quite late, at forty…”

“You remember wrong. I just turned forty this year. My daughter is already six.”

At that moment, Su Qinghang and his companion walked past. Both seemed to have a silent agreement to ignore the pair of young “lovers” being intimate in the corridor.

“Look at my memory. I always feel like you and Wenwen just got married this year. Since you two never had a big wedding, it’s hard for people to remember.”

“If we had a wedding, how could every year feel like we’ve just been married?”

“Haha, that mouth of yours! No wonder Old Gao likes you. They say there’s a seven-year itch, but for you, it’s seven years without an itch. It seems the old sayings aren’t always right.”

“You flatter me. You and your wife are the ones people truly envy.”

“Ah, we’re an old couple now. We don’t have the vitality of you young people.”

Their banter was warm and lively. In the past, Mu Qiuyu never thought Su Qinghang was such a smooth talker. In front of her, he was always a man of few words—lukewarm, distant, and even disgusted by her own coldness. She wondered how much of the love he expressed for his current daughter was merely a performance for outsiders. After all, in the eyes of some in Wucheng, the “Su Qinghang” who died protecting his beloved wife loved his daughter very much.

At that thought, Mu Qiuyu’s eyes flashed with mockery. The overhead lights hit Su Qinghang’s face. His features, which were originally not very refined, seemed to have been deliberately polished; he looked spirited and successful—completely different from before.

Mu Qiuyu peered through the gap of her embrace with Lu Ning to watch the passing man. She could recognize him by his back alone, yet he failed to recognize her as she hugged Lu Ning. She realized more profoundly that this man was even more cold-blooded and ruthless than she had imagined.

Therefore, the “family member” in the system task could not be him. The system shouldn’t be that insane. And if the task was defined as “finding” someone, Mu Jingqin, who lived under the same roof, was also unlikely.

Mu Qiuyu’s gaze shifted back from Su Qinghang’s silhouette and settled into Lu Ning’s embrace. Yes, she was starting to trust the system. Following the clues provided, she silently recalled what the “other her” had said during the system punishment.

She had indeed forgotten something. There was someone else—someone she had forgotten—whom she once regarded as family.

“Mu Qiuyu, are you listening?” Lu Ning’s voice came from her ear.

Mu Qiuyu, lost in thought, shook her head at Lu Ning. Her dark eyes were a bit dazed. “What did you say?”

“I said he’s gone,” Lu Ning said, pulling back slightly to create some distance.

Mu Qiuyu glanced toward the restroom. The vestibule was empty; the people inside wouldn’t be out for a while. “Let’s go back then,” she said calmly, though she didn’t let go of Lu Ning’s hand.

They walked for a while in that position, and Lu Ning couldn’t help but glance at their joined hands repeatedly. Once she adapted to the intimacy and her heart steadied, she regained her usual liveliness. “Mu Qiuyu, I have a somewhat unethical revenge plan. Do you want to hear it?”

“Speak,” Mu Qiuyu said, curious about just how “unethical” it was.

“I don’t think we can modify the plot directly, but we can make Su Qinghang pay for his mistakes, right?” Lu Ning explained her sudden inspiration. “The system manual says that a system has the right to enter human dreams to provide ‘guidance.'”

A mischievous smile spread across Lu Ning’s face. “But the manual doesn’t specify if the guidance has to be positive or negative. I can find the kittens Su Qinghang killed and guide their souls into his dreams. Revenge for revenge, grievance for grievance!”

Lu Ning puffed out her chest, filled with a sense of justice. Mu Qiuyu considered this. It was the first time she’d heard that the system could enter dreams. Beyond that information, the plan was solid. “Agreed.”

“Against a sinister person, we don’t need to be entirely fair and square.”

“Exactly!” Lu Ning nodded. Then her expression turned apologetic. “It’s just that the mass of a human soul is too great; I can’t guide them.”

“It’s okay,” Mu Qiuyu understood. Beyond the plan, she felt Lu Ning had done enough by remembering her mother. She wouldn’t let Lu Ning carry too much for her. Even though in the past she viewed her as a “tool,” things were different now.

“I will handle that part,” Mu Qiuyu said, lightly rubbing Lu Ning’s palm.

Perhaps “Lu Ling” was no longer just a tool to change her fate in Mu Qiuyu’s heart.

The cicadas buzzed through the summer as the Youth Games reached their midpoint. Although the Shooting Club had no more events, they had performed exceptionally well. The Principal personally requested their presence at the closing ceremony’s commendation assembly.

The Principal wanted Mu Qiuyu to be the flag bearer, but she had no interest in it. She recommended Pei Yinyue and used “health issues” as an excuse to go home early.

The car sent to pick her up was dispatched by Mu Jingqin. Su Qinghang’s current daughter was participating in the Junior Games, and Mu Jingqin worried he might see Mu Qiuyu and hatch some malicious plan. He had tried it before, and Mu Jingqin had barely managed to stop him.

“Scum.” At the thought of Su Qinghang’s dirty deeds, Mu Jingqin’s teeth itched with hatred. She poured all the water in her glass onto the flowers her housekeeper had just bought. The blooming bellflowers were doused, looking pitiful.

“I’m back, Aunt.”

To a familiar piano tune, Mu Qiuyu pushed open the door. A kitten—disguised by one of Lu Ning’s threads—approached with a wagging tail. It rubbed against Mu Qiuyu’s feet as she changed her shoes, its blue eyes flashing.

“I’m back too, Host!” Lu Ning sat obediently by her side.

Mu Qiuyu looked at the black furball and naturally reached down to pet her head. Compared to the soft but prickly texture of a hedgehog, a kitten’s furry head was much better to pet. After petting her for a while, she let go and stood up. “I’m going to talk to Aunt about returning to the old estate. Play by yourself for a bit.”

“Meow~” The kitten was dissatisfied with the hand leaving her head and swept her tail dejectedly. But Mu Qiuyu had serious business with Mu Jingqin, and Lu Ning couldn’t let her selfish desires get in the way. She readjusted to her cat body and turned toward her dried fish snack.

“Dried fish~ dried fish~” Lu Ning sang in her mind. Just as she was about to grab her buffet, a pair of hands scooped her up from the floor.

Mu Qiuyu, who had walked away, had turned back. She looked at the cat and decided to take her along. “I changed my mind,” Mu Qiuyu told the kitten in her arms.

Seeing the dried fish recede further and further away, Lu Ning looked back with a tragic expression. My dried fish…

“I want you to accompany me.”

Mu Qiuyu’s unvarnished need silenced Lu Ning’s inner mourning. Mu Qiuyu had never made such a request before, and it touched Lu Ning’s heart. She felt that Mu Qiuyu was finally willing to express her needs rather than constantly suppressing them. And in choosing to take this step, she chose Lu Ning.

Perhaps the sunset was too bright, but the kitten’s dilated pupils sparkled. The cat, who a second ago was in despair over her snack, immediately wrapped her tail around her owner’s arm. “Meow~ (At your service! I will always protect the Host unconditionally~)”

“Smooth talker,” Mu Qiuyu chuckled softly. She held her chin high, appearing unimpressed by the cat’s flattery. But only Lu Ning knew that she loved having her loyalty reaffirmed over and over. They were the same kind of people—they both needed someone to repeat certainties until they stuck. Mu Qiuyu needed loyalty; Lu Ning needed to be needed.

In the living room, Mu Jingqin sat on the sofa reviewing financial reports. Mu Qiuyu sat down with Lu Ning. “Aunt, I want to go back to the old estate tomorrow.”

Mu Jingqin’s hand stopped. She looked at Mu Qiuyu. “What for?”

“Father left some things at the old house. I need to find them,” Mu Qiuyu answered. The word “Father” felt awkward on her tongue.

Mu Jingqin frowned. “You still can’t let him go?”

Mu Qiuyu nodded. “I can’t. Only when he pays for what he did will I be able to let go.”

Mu Jingqin’s expression darkened. “I told you, this is adult business. Don’t interfere.”

“Aunt, Mother was your sister; you can go to any lengths to clear her name. She was my mother—why can’t I be involved?” Mu Qiuyu asked back, her voice sincere. Her eyes, bathed in the sunset, looked like a burning abyss. She laid out her sincerity as a child on the negotiation table.

This wasn’t how she used to negotiate; she never used to show her heart. She had changed. Lu Ning might not see it clearly, but Mu Jingqin did. Had I been looking at this child through the lens of my bias against Su Qinghang? At this moment, the child didn’t seem as dark and gloomy as when they first met.

Mu Jingqin was wavering. “I know he has climbed up to a powerful person,” Mu Qiuyu continued. “His father-in-law is a high official. Aunt, your power alone is too thin. I don’t distrust you, I just don’t want you to fight alone. I want to do something for Mother.”

Mu Qiuyu’s voice choked up when she mentioned her mother. Her stubborness was as clear as the tears she held back. Lu Ning felt her emotion and rubbed her head against Mu Qiuyu’s hand. This gave Mu Qiuyu the strength to continue.

“My love for Mother might not compare to yours—I didn’t even notice what was happening. So, Aunt, please give me a chance. I want to make it up to her.”

Though they lived together, this was the first time they had a conversation like this. Mu Jingqin looked at the child. In the lamplight, she looked so small, as if she could be broken by the wind. Yet she sat firmly, expressing her thoughts with every word hitting home.

Mu Jingqin had initially refused because she thought a child couldn’t help, and she feared Mu Qiuyu might take after Su Qinghang—becoming ungrateful and choosing power over her mother’s memory. But she was wrong. Mu Qiuyu had investigated everything without being told a word.

Mu Jingqin and Lu Ning shared one question: why did she say “I just don’t want you to fight alone this time“? What did “this time” mean?

Lu Ning frowned. Mu Jingqin couldn’t guess her thoughts either. Ultimately, she sighed. She realized she had to accept that her niece was far more intelligent than she imagined. “Fine. What exactly is at the old house?”

The next day, the weather was beautiful. Mu Jingqin took Mu Qiuyu back to the Mu estate. The red brick house stood as a testament to the luxury of the previous generation. It was Mu Qiuyu’s old home, but despite being cleaned regularly, it felt desolate.

But Mu Qiuyu wasn’t there for nostalgia. Lu Ning’s marked location was flashing red. She led Mu Jingqin to the back garden, where overgrown weeds spilled over. At Mu Qiuyu’s signal, the bodyguards began digging with shovels.

The cicadas screamed. When a body rots to a certain point, the smell disappears. Kitten corpses were unearthed like small hills.

“Scum. How could a human do this?!” Mu Jingqin was in disbelief, nearly shattering the glass in her hand.

“Meow…” Lu Ning lay on Mu Qiuyu’s lap. Even though she knew what was being dug up, seeing the broken bodies caused her to tense up instinctively.

The moment the remains of two kittens huddled together were unearthed, Mu Qiuyu reached out and covered Lu Ning’s eyes. She gently stroked Lu Ning’s tense body, treating her like something fragile, just as Mu Jingqin had done for her before.

“Don’t look,” Mu Qiuyu whispered in her mind.

The gesture soothed Lu Ning’s nerves. She curled up in Mu Qiuyu’s arms, watching the system collect the kittens’ souls. She gritted her teeth. “From now on, he will never have a good dream again.”

“Ah—stay away from me!! Stay away!!”

That night, in a villa in the capital, a man’s shrill scream rang out. Su Qinghang scrambled out of his nightmare, crawling on the floor. He ignored his wife’s attempts to comfort him, shivering naked in a corner.

“Heh.” In the pure white world, Lu Ning watched the man’s terrified expression on a screen. “I thought he was brave.” She wagged her tail happily on Wutong’s lap.

“People who do these things are usually like this,” Wutong said, pouring Lu Ning a cup of warm milk tea. “They are bold enough to do it to others, but can’t handle it when it happens to them.”

“Aaaah, get away! Get out! Don’t come closer!” “Honey, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me!”

In the next room, Su Qinghang’s current wife was jolted awake. She looked at her husband kneeling on the floor, feeling the room grow cold. Su Qinghang looked as if he had seen something horrifying. But there was nothing there—except two newborn kittens.

The kittens didn’t understand. They had simply replicated what the human had done to them in his dream. “Why was he so happy when he did it back then?” one asked.

“Yeah. He used my intestines to play cat’s cradle and was so happy. Why did he get scared to death when we used his intestines to roll a ball?”

“Exactly. Didn’t he love pulling out nails?”

The two kittens hopped out of the screen and walked toward Lu Ning. Their innocent confusion made Su Qinghang’s behavior even more hateful. Lu Ning stroked their heads. “Because he isn’t a good person. Good people aren’t afraid of their own actions.”

“The Great Cat Immortal is right. Only bad people are like this.”

“He’s a bad person. I see so many kitten souls on him! Everyone is eating his soul. I want to go too!”

“I want to take Little Black.”

The two kittens beckoned to a small black cat hiding behind Wutong. Little Black was the timidest of them all; she had been hiding since Lu Ning said they could play in Su Qinghang’s dreams. Lu Ning didn’t force her. “If you don’t want to go, do you want to eat some starch sausage with me? It’s delicious.” She pushed a snack toward her.

“Thank you.” Little Black ate ravenously.

“Don’t rush, there’s plenty,” Lu Ning said.

“You’re a good person,” Little Black said, looking up.

“I’m the Great Cat Immortal, a good cat,” Lu Ning corrected.

Little Black tilted her head. “But you’re a human, aren’t you? When you’re with her, you’re human.”

Lu Ning froze. She looked at Wutong, then back at the cat. “Are you… the kitten Mu Qiuyu picked up?”

Little Black nodded, a faint smile on her face. “You remember me.”

But if Mu Qiuyu picked up a kitten, why would it be related to me? Lu Ning felt she had found a clue to her missing memories. “Then you…”

“Little Black! Are you coming or not?” The other two kittens were ready for another round in the dream. Little Black, now energized, ran after them. “Coming!”

The night was long—long enough for kittens to raid a dream multiple times. It was also long enough for another to navigate a storm toward a different person’s dream.

Moonlight fell through the curtains onto Mu Qiuyu’s face as she leaned back in her chair. Cold sweat matted her hair. A Plot Card floated in the air, covered in small text. Mu Qiuyu knew she couldn’t change worldline characters, but she could affect those associated with Su Qinghang. She had been testing the card; if it made her feel ill, she erased it and rewrote until she found a workable list. She couldn’t let Lu Ning know, or she’d be angry.

Since when did I start being afraid of Lu Ling? How interesting… Mu Qiuyu thought. Suddenly, a small black cat appeared in her mind. It had a scar on its ear. This isn’t Lu Ling. This is the kitten I almost took home.

“You have a kitten now,” Little Black said, wagging her tail. “I didn’t expect it to be her.”

Mu Qiuyu was surprised by the tone—it sounded as if they were old acquaintances. “Do you not remember?” the cat asked. “You must cherish her. She is a very good person. Hurry, or someone will snatch her away!”

Before Mu Qiuyu could ask more, Little Black disappeared. Mu Qiuyu snapped her eyes open to see a fluffy-tailed cat jumping onto the windowsill.

“Host! I’m back! You won’t believe…” Lu Ning stopped mid-sentence when she saw the Plot Card. Mu Qiuyu was pale, making it obvious what she’d been doing behind Lu Ning’s back. Lu Ning was angry and worried; she wanted to tell Mu Qiuyu that she didn’t need to try so hard because Mu Jingqin would win in the original plot. But she couldn’t spoil it.

Her throat felt like it was being cut by blades. A metallic taste filled her cat mouth. She jumped onto Mu Qiuyu’s lap and rasped: “Mu Qiuyu, I’m angry.”

Mu Qiuyu smiled tiredly. She really wasn’t good at keeping secrets. “Sorry. But I can’t just do nothing.” She stroked Lu Ning’s back.

“But you can’t ignore your own health! You’re a minor! Staying up late can cause sudden death, and testing the system like this is suicidal…” Lu Ning nagged like an old mother while kneading Mu Qiuyu’s lap.

Under the “cat massage,” Mu Qiuyu’s drowsiness returned. She recalled Little Black’s words and leaned toward the babbling Lu Ning.

“If you must do it, do it when I’m—mph…”

Lu Ning’s words were cut off. A human’s mouth was softer than a kitten’s paw, and it easily touched the cat’s heart.

“Still angry?” Mu Qiuyu kissed her lightly, her eyes warm and focused.

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