Transmigrated as Cannon Fodder, Unable to Escape the Black Lotus Villain - Chapter 20

Inside the room, Ning Qi, who had been fast asleep, suddenly snapped her eyes open. She sat up in bed, her breath coming in quick, sharp gasps.

—The person sitting in that wheelchair should have been you!

The recurring images in her mind left her with a splitting headache. She sat on the bed clutching her head for a long time before the pain finally began to recede.

Ning Qi scanned her surroundings—an environment that felt both familiar and strange—until her gaze finally landed on Mu Xin’s elegant, tranquil face. Her lips curled into a slight smile, and she began to relax.

Checking the time, she saw it was only five o’clock. Ning Qi tugged at the covers and slid back under the duvet.

However, she was no longer the least bit sleepy.

Instead, she kept her eyes half-lidded, staring intently at the sleeping Mu Xin. The smile on her face grew more pronounced until, eventually, she reached out her hand. Her fingertips brushed over Mu Xin’s picture-perfect brows and eyes, finally coming to rest on her slightly parted, pink lips.

Looking at the girl who resembled a sleeping princess, Ning Qi felt an increasing loathing for the ending the book had assigned to Mu Xin.

Why?

“Tell me, you’re so beautiful and such a good person… yet your end is so tragic. Does this mean God is blind?”

Ning Qi murmured the words as if speaking to Mu Xin, or perhaps to someone else entirely.

A quiet environment always allows one’s thoughts to wander far. By the time Ning Qi snapped out of it, it was nearly six o’clock.

She stretched her stiff neck, and her eyes caught the morning glow peeking through the cracks in the window. It brought a flicker of vitality to the dim room.

Staring at that ray of light, the haze in Ning Qi’s eyes gradually cleared and brightened.

God?

Whether He was blind or not, she didn’t know. But He had allowed her to transmigrate into this book, giving her a new identity and a new life.

She had to seize this opportunity.

And…

She turned her gaze back to Mu Xin, who was still sleeping peacefully.

Come to think of it, both Ning Qi and Mu Xin found it curious: ever since Mu Xin had started pulling Ning Qi into bed to sleep with her, Mu Xin hadn’t suffered from insomnia once. It was as if all the nightmares had simply vanished.

“The Little Grey Wolf is so cute; you should be the female lead.” Ning Qi flashed a brilliant smile and leaned down to kiss Mu Xin’s forehead.

The determination shining in her usually indifferent eyes was unmistakable. Her gentle voice carried the same clarity it had when they first met.

“Good morning, Little Grey Wolf. The sun is up.”

That night, Mu Xin and Qin Yuyou arrived at the banquet following the address on the invitation.

As the two of them stood near the entrance watching the steady stream of luxury cars coming and going, Qin Yuyou let out a couple of soft chuckles.

“You think if Mu Junyi knew we’d already scouted out all his schemes, despite him putting on such a grand show, he’d die of rage?”

“Perhaps,” Mu Xin replied coldly. In settings like this, she always preferred to maintain an unapproachable air.

In truth, she wasn’t in a very good mood.

When she woke up this morning, Ning Qi was gone. If she hadn’t left a note saying not to look for her, Mu Xin might have called the Ning family.

But even though Ning Qi said not to look, an entire day had passed, and she still hadn’t seen her. The irritation in her heart was predictable.

She couldn’t help but wonder: had her behavior yesterday made Ning Qi realize something, causing her to run away?

At that thought, Mu Xin suddenly felt a wave of sadness.

Qin Yuyou noticed her low spirits and understood the reason. And because she understood, she felt completely speechless.

These two were truly something else.

One was pining away after not seeing the other for a single day.

And the other? She had cornered Qin Yuyou in her room early this morning wearing little rabbit pajamas and pulled a “grappling move” on her. She had literally pinned her to the bed to interrogate her for information on the Mu family, and then the “little rabbit” had bolted out the door.

It looked like she had gone to find a way to solve Mu Xin’s troubles.

Can’t you two just be direct? Being stuck in the middle is miserable, okay?

Huo Liuxue, tucked away in some corner: Ugh, tell me about it! I feel that on a spiritual level.

Despite complaining about Ning Qi a thousand times in her head, seeing Mu Xin’s visible worry, Qin Yuyou still offered comfort: “Don’t worry, Ning Qi is definitely fine. After the banquet, she’ll probably be waiting for you at home.”

“Mhm. Let’s go in.”

Hearing those words, Mu Xin scanned the surroundings one last time. Still seeing no sign of that familiar figure, she temporarily set her thoughts aside.

As the two reached the door, their expressions turned strange when they saw the young man greeting guests.

“Interesting. Mu Junyi is actually waiting at the door personally. Do you think he’s specifically waiting for you?” Qin Yuyou said with a smile, finding it amusing.

“We have to face him eventually. We’ll find out once we go over,” Mu Xin replied, her eyelids drooping to hide her thoughts.

She actually felt this was for the best—finish this farce early so she could go back and see Ning Qi.

“Oh? Isn’t this Mu Xin? Why aren’t you going in?”

At that moment, Mu Junyi noticed the two of them. His tone was one of surprise, but the mocking expression on his face made it clear that this was exactly what he had expected.

“I was just surprised to see my cousin working as a waiter at the door, that’s all. We’re going in now.”

Mu Xin gave him a cold glance and handed over her invitation. Her cool, soft voice rang out clearly, causing a wave of muffled laughter from the surrounding crowd.

The gazes directed at Mu Xin immediately changed.

The heir to the Mu family was indeed impressive. Even while still in school, she possessed such an aura. If she officially took over the Mu family once she came of age, she would surely take them to new heights.

It was just a bit of a pity…

Given Mu Xin’s current situation, people weren’t even sure if she would remain the heir.

Mu Junyi, having been insulted as a “waiter,” saw his face turn dark.

However, he suppressed his temper. He took the invitation Mu Xin handed over, pretended to examine it for a moment, and then said, “This isn’t right, Mu Xin. Didn’t I have Shengge deliver an invitation to you? Did she forget?”

Mu Junyi spoke with feigned anger, then looked at Mu Xin with a face full of disapproval. “But Mu Xin, you can’t just bring a fake invitation. If you had just called me, I would have sent one over. We’re all family; are you doing this because you have a problem with me?”

Mu Junyi didn’t lower his voice at all; in fact, he spoke loudly on purpose so everyone around could hear.

So, this is what he was waiting for.

Mu Xin found it boring. She had thought Mu Junyi was waiting there to spring some elaborate trap she didn’t know about. She hadn’t expected such a petty little trick.

Her eyes reflected Mu Junyi’s smug face. She was thinking about having someone deal with these low-class pests the moment she got back, when a voice filled with amusement made her stop.

She leaned back into her wheelchair, a genuine smile finally appearing on her lips.

“Your name is Mu Junyi, right? You’re saying the invitation is fake?”

Ning Qi appeared out of nowhere, still wearing her No. 1 High School uniform and carrying that memorable backpack.

She stood before Mu Junyi, slightly out of breath, as she asked the question.

This…

Ning Qi’s sudden appearance caused the onlookers to study her closely. Soon, someone recognized her.

“Isn’t that the little girl from the Ning family? I didn’t see the Nings today, so I thought they weren’t coming.”

“Maybe they aren’t, otherwise they wouldn’t have sent this little girl, right? You know her reputation. And look at what she’s wearing—is that a school uniform?”

“Haha, I wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t mentioned it. The Mu girl is also in a uniform. Did the two of them plan this?”

“Where did you go?”

In the center of the scene, Mu Xin asked as she stared at Ning Qi’s back. Her tone was gentle and pleasant.

She felt like Ning Qi possessed some kind of magical power. The moment she saw her, the anxiety and restlessness in her heart vanished.

Compared to the tension of the scene, she was much more curious about what Ning Qi had been up to.

Hearing the voice, Ning Qi lowered her head so her gaze was level with Mu Xin’s. She could clearly see her own reflection in Mu Xin’s amber eyes.

“I went to settle some small troubles, so I’m a bit late. What’s wrong, Xinxin? Did you miss me?”

Ning Qi spoke playfully, intending only to crack a joke to lighten the atmosphere. To her surprise, Mu Xin actually gave a serious nod.

“Yes, I missed you. So, in the future, you’re not allowed to run off without saying a word, okay? Otherwise, I’ll call Auntie He and tell her you’re out fooling around every day.”

Mu Xin reached out, cupping Ning Qi’s face with both hands and squeezing her cheeks, her voice full of indignation.

“Hiss, so cold!” Ning Qi was startled by the icy hands, her body shivering. She quickly pulled Mu Xin’s hands away and tucked them into her own uniform pockets. Then, she tightened Mu Xin’s collar, her face flushing as she grumbled, “I clearly left a note. You’re framing an innocent person.”

Despite the complaining, Ning Qi knew she loved this feeling.

It was sweet.

Strange, what exactly is this feeling? Why have I never experienced it before? Is it because of Xinxin?

She looked down at Mu Xin for a few moments and finally nodded to herself.

It must be. After all, Xinxin is so beautiful; just looking at her makes my mood better.

Ning Qi decided she would stay even closer to Mu Xin in the future. She really liked this sweet feeling.

“Ning Qi!”

At this point, Mu Junyi, who had been ignored for a long time, finally reacted. His first order of business was to hold Ning Qi accountable.

“I’m not deaf, why are you shouting? Are you a mute? Can’t speak without yelling? Since you’re so good at shouting, why don’t you go move that speaker and sit there instead? Save some electricity.”

Having her sweet reflections interrupted, Ning Qi was in a bad mood and unleashed a verbal barrage on Mu Junyi.

“Pfft.”

Mu Xin was the first to lose her composure, laughing as she clutched her stomach.

Hahaha, I never realized Ning Qi was so sharp-tongued.

Standing behind her, Qin Yuyou gripped her hem, struggling to hold it in. She really wanted to laugh too, but she wanted to maintain her “cool” image.

Qin Yuyou: Following these two, I’m breaking character every single day.

There were plenty of others in the crowd also struggling to hide their amusement.

“You… Ning Qi, I’m not going to play word games with you.”

Mu Junyi knew he couldn’t win a war of words with Ning Qi. He pointed at the invitation in her hand. “Mu Xin brought a fake invitation; am I not allowed to say something about it?”

“You say this is fake?”

Ning Qi dropped her playful expression, looking at Mu Junyi with a half-smile.

For some reason, being looked at like that by Ning Qi made his heart skip a beat in panic.

“Yes, it’s… wait.”

Before he could finish, there was a loud rip. Ning Qi tore the invitation into shreds and tossed them at his feet.

“Alright, it doesn’t matter if it’s real or fake now—there is no invitation. Does that mean we can go home?”

Ning Qi curled her lips at the dark-faced Mu Junyi, mocking him inwardly.

Playing such petty tricks… seriously, isn’t that childish? You like to put on an act? I’ll let you keep acting.

Since arriving here, Ning Qi had been suppressing her troublemaking instincts. Usually, she hid them well in front of Mu Xin because she loved seeing Mu Xin’s gentle smile and seeing her happy.

When life was peaceful, she was willing to behave. But she was never truly a “good” kid; she just saved all her patience for Mu Xin.

And now, toward the people who plotted against Mu Xin—the ones who caused her tragic end in the book—she wasn’t going to have a good temper.

“What?” Mu Junyi was stunned when he saw Ning Qi turn to lead Mu Xin away.

Why isn’t Ning Qi following the script?!

Though he wanted to embarrass Mu Xin, he couldn’t let her leave. If she left, who was he going to perform for?

“What? Do you think we can go in now? But let me be clear: if you want us to enter, you’re going to have to beg us.”

A slightly wicked smile played on Ning Qi’s lips.

Mu Xin caught that smile and blinked.

Mm, I’ve never seen Qiqi like this before. Why does she look kind of cool?