Entangled with a Gloomy Creep in an Explicit Novel - Chapter 21.1

Catching a glimpse of Zhao Fuzhou smiling out of the corner of her eye, Jin Yongyi shot him a speechless look.

Look at you, look at you, getting so incredibly thrilled just because she mentioned a name. Are you in love?

Zhao Fuzhou suddenly turned his gaze toward her, set down his wine cup, and propped up his chin, staring at her with single-minded focus.

Within a split second, goosebumps erupted all over Jin Yongyi’s body. It felt as though he had heard every single complaint she had been muttering about him in her heart.

She quickly turned her body aside and signaled to Mu Qingfeng with her eyes.

Go support the female lead quickly; the sooner you can distract the male lead’s attention, the better!

At that moment, Xie Fuyao suddenly spoke, “I also find it quite unbelievable to run into Brother Feng here.”

Mu Qingfeng flashed a smile at her.

Jin Yongyi’s jaw dropped in absolute shock. She slowly turned her eyes to look at Zhao Fuzhou, who still maintained his posture of staring at her, without even blinking upon hearing those words.

Your future wife is about to be snatched away by another man! No, wait, she has already been snatched away!

Xie Fuyao has actively shown that Mu Qingfeng is someone special to her, so how can you still sit there so calmly?

“Let me formally introduce everyone. This is Mu Qingfeng, my biological younger brother.”

Did you hear that? Male lead, did you hear that? Mu Qingfeng is actually the female lead’s brother?

Jin Yongyi was completely dumbfounded. Things flourished entirely outside her expectations.

Mu Qingfeng walked over and embraced Xie Fuyao, saying, “Sister, I have finally found you. I missed you so much.”

Zhao Fuzhou suddenly burst into laughter.

Jin Yongyi felt as though her face had been slapped hard. She weakly asked them, “You are biological siblings? But you do not share the same surname, and your appearances do not look alike at all.”

“My appearance takes after our mother a bit more, while my sister takes after our father,” Mu Qingfeng explained. “However, I always remembered that my sister has a small mole on the tip of her nose. No matter how long we have been separated, I can recognize her at a single glance.”

No wonder when they first met at the brothel, Mu Qingfeng had been so incredibly impatient to take Xie Fuyao out of her position as a courtesan.

It turned out he had recognized her at first sight as the family member he had been searching for all this time.

“My original surname was Mu. The Mu family was wiped out by demons, and after Brother Feng and I fought with all our might to escape, we unfortunately became separated. Later, I met the master of the tower, and she bestowed a new surname upon me, granting me a new life.” After saying this, Xie Fuyao spared a glance at Jin Yongyi.

After digesting all the information, Jin Yongyi sat down and took a sip of water.

This was for the best. The siblings had reunited, Mu Qingfeng had fulfilled his wish, and there was no longer any possibility of him stealing the male lead’s wife. In the future, he could safely act as the male lead’s sidekick.

Everything was harmonious and perfect.

“This is also largely thanks to Yongyi,” Mu Qingfeng suddenly mentioned her. “You promised to help me look for my sister. If it were not for you helping to draw away the attention of the demons, my sister would not have had the time to break away and meet with me.”

Jin Yongyi shifted her gaze guiltily.

Had she done that? She did not even know herself.

“Haha, it is a small matter, a minor thing not even worth mentioning.”

Jin Yongyi tremblingly picked up her water cup and took another sip.

Mu Qingfeng wanted to say something more.

The sound of shattering porcelain echoed from the neighboring table. Everyone turned their heads to look, only to see that the wine jug which was supposed to be on Zhao Fuzhou’s table was now lying on the ground in pieces, with alcohol splashing everywhere.

With an expressionless face, he leaned over to pick up the shards. By the time everyone remembered to stop him, a fragment had already sliced open his finger.

“Brother Zhao, do not touch it anymore! Let the errand boy handle the cleaning here,” Mu Qingfeng stood up abruptly and shouted. “I will go call a doctor. Sister, help Brother Zhao stop the bleeding first!”

After saying that, he rushed out of the door in a hurry.

With Zhao Fuzhou’s back turned to Jin Yongyi, she could only see the shards on the ground stained with a tiny bit of blood. She wondered to herself that since it was just a cut on the hand, by the time the doctor traveled all this way, the wound would probably have healed on its own.

While thinking this, Jin Yongyi heard the sound of rapid liquid dripping. Right at that moment, Zhao Fuzhou turned around. He clutched his hand as massive amounts of fresh blood seeped heavily through his fingers, flowing down his arm and directly soaking his pure white robe.

The blood fell continuously like a light drizzle, crashing onto the shattered porcelain fragments. In no time, it mixed with the alcohol on the floor, pooling into a patch of blood.

Zhao Fuzhou kept his head half-lowered. The excessive blood loss caused his already fair skin to look even more unnaturally pale.

How could Jin Yongyi not be terrified by this scene?

With absolutely no time to react, she rushed to Zhao Fuzhou’s side just in time to support his swaying body.

“How, how could you be so careless?” Jin Yongyi asked in a trembling voice. “Did you cut an artery? No, wait, the artery is not located there either, so why is it bleeding so much?!”

“It hurts,” Zhao Fuzhou leaned his weight forward blindly, resting himself against the crook of her neck.

Xie Fuyao had been staring at him from the exact moment the wine jug hit the ground. Watching him go from having a mere cut on his fingertip to bleeding profusely as if he had been stabbed a thousand times, the process was both bizarre and smooth. She surprisingly could not discern what this man had done during the interval.

Why did he do this?

Xie Fuyao could only think of one explanation.

She looked at Jin Yongyi, who was almost choked by the smell of blood but was still gently coaxing him, and from her angle, she could clearly see that Zhao Fuzhou was smiling.

“Well, why don’t you sit down first? I am worried that if you keep standing, you might pass out later, and I will not be able to catch you,” Jin Yongyi offered a well-intentioned suggestion.

Zhao Fuzhou remained silent for a moment, making no move to answer her. Xie Fuyao suddenly walked over, and without a word, tore open the sleeve of his injured hand. Applying immense force, she bound the cloth strip tightly around his arm, and the blood finally stopped flowing.

A look completely devoid of warmth finally landed on his face, its undisguised sharpness cutting right through his smile.

“Since we are all people of the martial world, I shall call you Brother Zhao as well,” Xie Fuyao said in a cold voice. “The blood has stopped. Brother Zhao should have enough strength to walk to the medical clinic, right?”

Zhao Fuzhou did not speak, quietly watching her.

The atmosphere between the two was highly subtle, and Jin Yongyi could actually detect a hint of tension in the air.

Why was there tension? Sparks of love? Could it be that through such an accidental physical contact, they had caught each other’s eye?

As expected of the male and female leads.

Jin Yongyi believed that at this moment, she should tactfully find a small corner to hide herself away and avoid disturbing them. However, looking at Zhao Fuzhou’s pale lips, she felt unable to bear it. Crucially, he had really lost a lot of blood! In the modern world, he would have gone into shock and been sent to the hospital, so asking him to walk to see a doctor was truly a bit harsh.

She pulled out a silver banknote and waved it between the two of them, saying, “I say, let us not make things hard on ourselves. Taking a carriage is much more comfortable and faster than walking.”

Xie Fuyao gave her a helpless look.

Jin Yongyi quickly shut her mouth and ducked aside. Zhao Fuzhou still did not speak, grabbing her wrist and leading her outside.

Ultimately, the three of them still took a carriage to the medical clinic. However, a small incident occurred along the way. By the time they arrived at the clinic, Mu Qingfeng had just rushed back to the restaurant with the best consulting doctor available. Failing to find them, he had no choice but to return. The doctor was advanced in years, and traveling back and forth twice while carrying a heavy medical box left him gasping for breath, looking as though he might pass away on the spot.

Once the wound was treated, no one had the appetite to continue the meal. They returned to the inn, and Xie Fuyao also opened a room right next door to Mu Qingfeng.

As the four of them walked up the stairs, Jin Yongyi took a step ahead into the third-floor corridor, turning back to greet them, “Then we are agreed to explore the night market together tonight. I will come look for you later!”

Xie Fuyao replied, “Alright.”

Mu Qingfeng nodded enthusigments, supporting the plan with all his heart.

Just as Jin Yongyi finished waving goodbye and was about to walk inside, Zhao Fuzhou suddenly gripped her wrist.

“Yiyi,” he called her pet name intimately, saying with a bright smile, “Where is that bottle of scar-removing ointment I gave you this morning? It seems I need to apply it together with you.”

Jin Yongyi was speechless.

What a stingy man, how could he think about taking back a gift he had already given away!

Mu Qingfeng, who was originally walking upstream, paused his steps.

Jin Yongyi glanced toward him and said guiltily, “Why don’t you go to the medical clinic to get another one formulated?”

Zhao Fuzhou’s smile faded slightly, “That ointment is only sold in the Night Realm.”

Everyone’s gaze was fixed upon her. Jin Yongyi closed her eyes, curling her toes in absolute embarrassment. She should never have given the item Zhao Fuzhou gifted her to Mu Qingfeng. She blamed herself for not considering the consequences at the time, thinking that since she had no use for it, she might as well give it to someone in need.

Who could have anticipated the current predicament? She could neither tell the truth nor lie to him.

Seemingly seeing her dilemma, Zhao Fuzhou released her hand, saying, “No matter, we can simply buy another one once we return to the Night Realm.”

Jin Yongyi rushed back to her room as if fleeing for her life.

She changed her clothes and lay on the bed, still feeling incredibly embarrassed about the situation earlier. Wrapping herself tightly in the quilt, she drifted off to sleep in a daze.

By the time she woke up, the remaining twilight had just faded away.

A spread of food sat on the table, still lukewarm, indicating that someone had likely delivered it not long ago. Jin Yongyi ate a few bites carelessly, wanting to save room in her stomach to buy snacks when they explored the night market later.

Since there was still some time before the Dingyuan City night market truly became lively, Jin Yongyi rolled back onto the bed out of boredom. Wanting to pass the time, she pulled out all the rewards the system had issued.

Compared to her last inventory check, there was one more plot setting shard and a book, which should be the rewards from her previous two missions.

She found nothing unusual about the shard, but the book caught her attention.

Jin Yongyi saw six words printed on the cover: Gloomy Men, Do Not Love Me.

She flipped it open, only to find that every single page inside was completely blank.

To bind so many pages without a single word printed on them was a pure waste of paper!

Looking at these rewards, Jin Yongyi grew increasingly irritated. What kind of garbage items were these? Not a single one was useful. Before she left, she would pack them up and throw them all to Mu Qingfeng.

At that moment, the system suddenly appeared, catching the brunt of her anger.

[Host, there is only one last mission left. Will you miss me in the future?]

Jin Yongyi snapped, “Miss you? Go as far away as possible.”

[Alright, I will still miss you regardless, since you are the first host I have ever bound with.]

Jin Yongyi tutted, “So you are an intern. Fine, then I will stop scolding you.”

Moved to tears, the system sobbed and said, [I knew it, you are indeed reluctant to part with me, even if it is just for the sake of these valuable rewards.]

Jin Yongyi questioned, “Value?”

Did it have some sort of misunderstanding regarding the word “valuable”?

She still ended up venting, “Are you an artificial idiot? What use do I have for these revealing outfits, these broken glass shards, and this stack of blank paper?!”

The system argued back with uncharacteristic stubbornness, [Host, you are entirely mistaken. Every item produced by the system is excellent. I guarantee they are absolutely things you will have a use for!]

Jin Yongyi rolled her eyes.

If I believe you, I am a fool.

[However, it does not matter if the host dislikes them. You have already accumulated one hundred percent fortune points, so you can choose your own reward for the final mission.]

Jin Yongyi raised an eyebrow, surprised that it truly functioned like a Pinduoduo system, “Can I ask for anything?”

Originally, she had planned to ask the system to help Mu Qingfeng find his sister, but now she found herself in a dilemma.

After thinking for a long time, Jin Yongyi said, “If it is something I can take away with me, I want a night-luminescent pearl. A pearl that is incredibly bright and will never grow dim.”

The system replied, [Of course you can take it away! For the sake of your dream reward, please complete the final mission seriously!]

After laying the groundwork for so long, it finally got to the main point.

[Please ensure the male lead consumes the aphrodisiac medication before midnight.]

Jin Yongyi froze for a moment, wondering if something was wrong with her ears, “What did you say?”

The system repeated the command in clear, precise words.

Jin Yongyi directly cursed its ancestors, “Do you dare to have even less of a lower limit?!”

She had wondered why the system suddenly sounded so human today, and it turned out this wicked idea was waiting for her.

Jin Yongyi clapped her hands sharply, her mind instantly connecting the dots.

No wonder! Xie Fuyao had checked into this inn today, which was why the system jumped out so impatiently to make her drug Zhao Fuzhou. It turned out her role as a sidekick was meant to be this underhanded! Seeing that she was furious to the point of exploding, the system pleaded with her gently, [Host, this is the final mission. Once you finish this task and find a successor, you can return home with your reward within three days.]

“Are you threatening me?” Jin Yongyi laughed out of pure anger.

[I would not dare…]

Taking several deep breaths, Jin Yongyi forced herself to calm down and asked, “Is it true that I only need to make Zhao Fuzhou consume the aphrodisiac medication?”

She repeated the condition with extreme severity, “As long as he consumes it, it does not matter what happens afterward, correct?”

The system hesitated for a moment, not daring to provoke her further, and replied, [Yes.]

“Fine, I will do it.” Jin Yongyi gathered an immense amount of courage to agree, but instantly regretted it right afterward, vexed to the point of wanting to smother herself to death inside her pillow.

[A friendly reminder, the reward from the first mission is an aphrodisiac oil. The effect is exceptionally good, so if the host does not want to go out and buy medication, you can use it. Produced by the system, you deserve to have it.]

“Get lost!” Jin Yongyi grabbed the pillow and hurled it into the air.

After a fierce internal struggle, by the time Jin Yongyi climbed out of bed with a low mood, the night had fully descended. The sound of laughter from people enjoying the streets kept drifting in through the window, causing her to storm over and slam it shut.

Tonight’s market exploration plan was officially ruined.

She had not yet figured out how to drug Zhao Fuzhou. The only two certainties were that she could not use the medication provided by the system, and she absolutely could not allow Xie Fuyao to come to any harm!

Pacing back and forth in the room, Jin Yongyi suddenly remembered something and dove onto the bed to rummage around frantically.

She finally located that revealing outfit, which possessed a weight close to zero, amidst the bedding. Reaching her hand into the pocket, she indeed found the exact item she needed.

She had not expected that this packet of aphrodisiac would actually come in handy.

Jin Yongyi suddenly felt quite grateful to the brothel madam; otherwise, she truly could not imagine how socially embarrassing it would be to go out and purchase this sort of medication.

The next step was to figure out how to keep Xie Fuyao away from the inn for the entire night.

This matter proved rather difficult. The woman had just paid to open a room, and turning around to tell her not to stay there would look like pure provocation.

With her mind feeling as though it were stuffed with cotton, Jin Yongyi could not think of any excuse whatsoever. The room felt incredibly stifling, and not wanting to open the window to hear the joyful sounds outside, she stood up to step outside for some fresh air.

Just as the door opened, Mu Qingfeng appeared in front of her with his hand raised, looking as though he had been about to knock.

“Ah, I noticed you had not come out yet,” he said awkwardly, placing his hand behind the back of his head. “Were you asleep?”

At this point, half an hour had already passed since their agreed-upon time. He could not have been waiting outside her room this entire time, could he?

Jin Yongyi pursed her lips and said, “I am sorry, I might not be able to go out and play with you all anymore.”

“Why? Are you feeling unwell? Do you need me to find a doctor to take a look?” Mu Qingfeng’s brows furrowed instantly with worry.

Looking at his face, an unfortunate plan flourished in Jin Yongyi’s mind.

She was not overly familiar with Xie Fuyao, but Mu Qingfeng was different. If she wanted to draw Xie Fuyao away, she would likely have to find a breakthrough via him.

She stammered, “I, I cannot find my belongings.”

“What item is it? I can help you look for it together.”

“It is, it is my earring.” Whenever Jin Yongyi felt guilty, her ears would itch terribly. She instinctively touched her ear, using the momentum to spin her lie, “Those were the earrings my mother left for me, and I rarely wear them. I am worried that because I had too much luggage when leaving the Night Realm, I might have left them behind there.”

Mu Qingfeng remembered that she indeed had a pair of earrings on when they first met, though he had never seen her wear them again afterward.

“I will go look for them for you right now!”

Jin Yongyi was stunned. She had not expected that before she could even finish manufacturing her excuses, he would prove so incredibly proactive.

“But I am not certain if they are in the Night Realm. Are you truly going to go?”

Mu Qingfeng replied, “Since it is an item your mother left for you, it must be very important to you. Do not worry, it can definitely be found! I am leaving for the Night Realm right now, and by riding at full speed, I will certainly make it back before five o’clock tomorrow evening.”

He instinctively reached out his hand, wanting to pat her shoulder to comfort her. However, when his gaze caught sight of her wearing only a thin layer of inner clothing, his hand froze in midair. His heartbeat accelerated for a moment, and he curled his fingertips back as he withdrew his hand.

Meanwhile, Jin Yongyi immediately grabbed his hand, so moved that her words became incoherent, “I knew it, I knew you would definitely help me!”