The Vicious Beauty Faked His Death Three Times [Transmigration] - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Awkwardness

Shen Miaomiao was a persistent person. Despite Lin Qinghan’s multiple perfunctory answers, she refused to give up her questioning, sticking to him almost the entire day even squeezing into the same carriage with him.

When she asked the question for the seventy-eighth time, Lin Qinghan rubbed his temples and interrupted her: “You still haven’t told me, Miss, how you happened to appear so coincidentally.”

Seeing him interrupt, Shen Miaomiao let out a cold snort and said reluctantly: “I am a Divination Cultivator; naturally, I calculated it.”

Hearing this, Lin Qinghan raised an eyebrow in surprise.

The original text indeed stated that Shen Miaomiao was a Divination Cultivator, but not to the extent of being so divinely prescient as to appear exactly at the right moment.

“You calculated the precise timing, Miss?” Lin Qinghan asked.

“Of course!” Shen Miaomiao replied immediately, but seeing his skeptical expression, she tilted her head to avoid his gaze. When she spoke again, her voice was weaker. “Although there was a slight deviation, it was nothing major.”

“A deviation?” Lin Qinghan pressed.

Seeing this, Shen Miaomiao simply threw caution to the wind and said: “Fine, actually I calculated many times and only found that you were facing a disaster. As for the specific details, I used a magical artifact.”

Lin Qinghan nodded, appearing convinced by her explanation.

This action thoroughly annoyed Shen Miaomiao. The previously chirpy girl now ignored him in a huff, which finally gave Lin Qinghan some peace to study the newly upgraded system.

Because he had completed a major plot point, the system had automatically upgraded itself.

System Restarted. The new panel includes features such as Maps and Character Biographies. Since the current world cannot fully follow the established trajectory, a Plot Point Prompt function has been added for the host. This function provides automatic prompts; the host can choose whether to enable it.

A Plot Point Prompt function?

Lin Qinghan didn’t rush to choose; he planned to check the panel first.

Upon clicking, he indeed found the Map and Character Biography functions.

However, the map’s display range was limited, showing only a radius of a hundred miles; anything beyond that was a white void.

It’s still somewhat useful.

As for the Character Biographies, they were even more redundant, only showing characters he had come into contact with, and their information was identical to the outline. The only useful part was likely the automatic recording of conflict points between him and the characters.

Lin Qinghan raised an eyebrow as he looked at the plot points recorded on the existing characters.

It seems like a decent memo pad.

Lin Qinghan didn’t dwell on those two functions. His gaze landed on the “Prompts” page. Upon opening it, he saw several sections:

“Protagonist Trust Value,” “Character Favorability,” “World Completeness,” and “Hidden Thread Progress.”

“System, what is ‘Hidden Thread Progress’?” Lin Qinghan asked, looking at the 1% progress on that item.

Every world has a complex web of relationships and mysteries behind it. This progress bar will be updated in real-time based on the host’s discovery and resolution of these mysteries.

Lin Qinghan: “Is completing the hidden thread a mandatory task?”

No. The host only needs to complete the Main and Side quests for each Character Card.

Lin Qinghan breathed a sigh of relief.

He roughly understood the meaning of the hidden thread. Every story has a potential, hidden narrative to be excavated the “backside” of the main plot consisting of hidden information.

But he also knew that hidden threads in “Dragon Aotian” power-up novels were never simple; they were often dangerous undercurrents.

Since it wasn’t mandatory, he didn’t need to wade into those muddy waters.

Lin Qinghan looked at the button on the prompt page and clicked it.

Do you want to enable the Automatic Prompt function?

Two options popped up. Lin Qinghan realized this was the function the system had mentioned earlier.

After enabling Automatic Prompts, the system will automatically extract content for the host when a plot point is encountered.

It seemed like a good feature; at least he wouldn’t have to scroll through the long, complex data to summarize it himself.

Automatic Prompt function enabled.

Just as Lin Qinghan finished familiarizing himself with the new system, the carriage stopped.

Shen Miaomiao, who had been sulking for the entire journey, gave him a glare and got off the carriage without looking back.

Lin Qinghan shook his head helplessly and followed.

The carriage had stopped in front of an inn. A waiter was greeting people at the door. It was cold at night, and the waiter’s breath dissipated into the wind.

“A-Yan!”

Shen Miaomiao rushed toward Ye Chaoyan, who had just stepped down, throwing herself into her arms to complain: “A-Yan, I still like you better! Lin Qinghan completely ignored me!”

As she spoke, Shen Miaomiao looked back at Lin Qinghan with dissatisfaction.

Lin Qinghan arched an eyebrow, showing no intention of arguing. Seeing his “justified” look, Shen Miaomiao grew even angrier.

“What did you say to make him ignore you?” Ye Chaoyan asked helplessly, stroking her head.

Shen Miaomiao was about to speak when she saw the person getting off the carriage. Instantly, she shut her mouth and buried her face in Ye Chaoyan’s arms.

Seeing her reaction, Lin Qinghan also looked at Ling Yanhe, who had just stepped down.

The youth was dressed in ink-colored clothes, standing before the carriage with a cold expression, looking somewhat out of place with his surroundings.

His gaze swept across the area, passing quickly over Lin Qinghan without staying for a second.

Ah, it seems my Young Master has returned to the “Ice King” route, Lin Qinghan thought, stopping his gaze as well.

For the sake of the Trust Value, he decided to cooperate.

However, Shen Miaomiao peeking out to observe the strange atmosphere between them. After a moment’s thought, a look of realization dawned on her face.

The four didn’t linger outside and were soon ushered into the inn by the waiter.

“Four guests, are you here for a meal or to stay the night?”

“Stay,” Ye Chaoyan said.

“Understood! How many rooms would you like?” The waiter rubbed his hands.

Ye Chaoyan frowned, slightly hesitant. She and Miaomiao always shared a room, but she didn’t know what the other two intended.

“Two rooms.” “Four rooms.”

Shen Miaomiao and Lin Qinghan spoke at the same time.

“What do you need four rooms for? Our travel expenses might not be enough for this whole trip,” Shen Miaomiao looked at Lin Qinghan in confusion.

Lin Qinghan raised an eyebrow and pulled a gold nugget from his robe, placing it in the waiter’s hand.

Shen Miaomiao stared wide-eyed: “Where did you get that money?”

“Kids shouldn’t ask so many questions.” Lin Qinghan tapped her forehead to dodge the question.

In reality, he had snatched this nugget from Tianhai Pavilion. There were many good things in Qi Bocang’s room, and he took some as compensation for himself.

“Two rooms.”

The gold nugget was taken from the waiter’s hand and replaced with pieces of broken silver.

“Understood! I’ll arrange it for the four of you right away!”

The waiter, fearing the two rooms would become one, hurriedly left with the silver to arrange things.

Lin Qinghan looked back at Ling Yanhe, who had suddenly intervened, and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

So, he’s not doing the “Ice King” route anymore?

“You really aren’t as good at calculating as your Young Master,” Shen Miaomiao retorted.

“Let’s go, Miaomiao.” Ye Chaoyan looked at Shen Miaomiao’s provocative behavior with helplessness, taking her hand to lead her away.

“Make up with your Young Master quickly! No more sulking!”

Before being pulled away, Shen Miaomiao ran to Lin Qinghan and dropped that piece of “earnest” advice before following Ye Chaoyan.

Lin Qinghan didn’t even have time to ask before he was left alone with Ling Yanhe, whose thoughts were unreadable.

“Do you plan to sleep down here?” Ling Yanhe asked from the stairs.

Just as Lin Qinghan looked up to say something, Ling Yanhe turned and left, following the waiter’s guidance to find the room.

Even if Lin Qinghan was socially dense, he could feel the change in Ling Yanhe. The other party seemed to be intentionally avoiding him.

At this thought, Lin Qinghan frowned slightly.

This wasn’t a good signal. He needed the Trust Value to reach 50 before the Huangshan Ridge plot ended.

“Guests, your room is here. Meals will be delivered later. If you have any other needs, just call for us,” the waiter said flatteringly.

“Mm.” Ling Yanhe tossed a few copper coins into his palm.

“Generous guest!” The waiter beamed instantly and hurried away.

Ling Yanhe pushed the door open and stepped inside without looking at Lin Qinghan, as if there were no one behind him.

Lin Qinghan’s heart sank. It seemed Ling Yanhe likely had some grievance against him. He needed to find the source of that grievance as soon as possible.

“Why aren’t you coming in?” Ling Yanhe asked, frowning at the person standing at the door.

Lin Qinghan entered and closed the door behind him.

The candles weren’t lit, and the room was currently shrouded in darkness.

“Young Master, you haven’t given me back the gold nugget,” Lin Qinghan spoke first.

“Mm.” Ling Yanhe was in no hurry to light the candles, sitting down at the table instead.

“You don’t intend to give it back?” Lin Qinghan snapped his fingers, and the room instantly brightened.

Ling Yanhe slapped the nugget onto the table: “Where did you get this?”

“Snatched it from Qi Bocang. I have many more; do you want them, Young Master?” Lin Qinghan said candidly.

The gold nugget was pushed toward Lin Qinghan with a finger.

“I don’t need it,” Ling Yanhe said flatly.

It seems it’s not about Qi Bocang, Lin Qinghan thought.

“Can you tell me, Young Master, what happened during the two days I was unconscious?” Lin Qinghan leaned on the wooden table, looking at Ling Yanhe.

Rather than guessing, he chose to ask directly.

The fingers tapping on the table stopped.

Lin Qinghan met those deep, black eyes.

He hit the mark.

“What do you want to know?” Ling Yanhe’s voice was low, making his emotions unreadable.

“Everything,” Lin Qinghan said immediately.

A gust of wind blew in, making the candlelight flicker.

“Nothing happened,” Ling Yanhe said.

Lin Qinghan frowned: “Nothing at all?”

“Mm.”

“You’ve been avoiding me since I woke up, Young Master. Even Miss Shen noticed. Now you say nothing happened…” Lin Qinghan leaned forward, pressing him, “Young Master, you’re lying to me.”

Ling Yanhe stood up, his shadow falling over Lin Qinghan, adding a sense of oppression.

But there wasn’t a trace of fear in Lin Qinghan’s eyes; instead, there was an air of refusing to let it go.

“So urgent… what exactly are you trying to ask?” Ling Yanhe let out a light laugh, raising his hand to stroke the side of Lin Qinghan’s face, sliding down the jawline before pressing against Lin Qinghan’s prominent Adam’s apple.

A sinister gaze fell upon him, full of pressure.

Lin Qinghan’s eyes curved slightly, and he placed his hand over the one on his neck. His gaze remained fixed on Ling Yanhe, but his hand guided the other’s fingertips to move.

They stopped over the pulsing blood vessel on the side of his neck.

Ling Yanhe’s eyes darkened: “What is this for?”

“I want to know why you’re ignoring me, Young Master.”

Those affectionate eyes stared straight at Ling Yanhe. The latter subconsciously applied some force, seeing the person beneath him tilt his head slightly in discomfort, yet the fingertips pressed over his hand did not pull away.

“Is this important?” Ling Yanhe asked.

“Yes, very important.”

Ling Yanhe looked at Lin Qinghan carefully, trying to find a flaw in his eyes.

But there was nothing.

The other’s gaze was firm and his tone sincere, as if he had suffered some grievance, questioning him both directly and cautiously.

As if Ling Yanhe were extremely important to Lin Qinghan important enough that he could place his own life in the other’s hands to play with.

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