Transmigrated as Cannon Fodder, Unable to Escape the Black Lotus Villain - Chapter 23.2

Li Xiang looked to the side in anger, only to see Ning Qi looking at him coldly. Her indifferent expression made his angry voice die in his throat.

“You… who are you?”

Li Xiang swallowed hard. He felt like the girl in front of him was terrifying.

“Li Xiang? Let me introduce myself: I’m Ning Qi.”

Ning Qi crouched down and patted Li Xiang’s shoulder. The next second, Li Xiang felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, and half his body went numb.

“Ah—mph!”

Li Xiang let out a terrified cry, but Ning Qi had somehow produced a piece of scrap cloth to gag him.

“Don’t scream. Can’t you act like a man? I just came to ask you a few things.”

Cold light flashed in Ning Qi’s dark eyes as she spoke with a fake smile.

She then glanced at the other boy, who was already frozen in fear.

“You can leave. But don’t say a word, okay?”

“Okay, okay! I didn’t see anything! I-I’m sorry, Ning Qi!”

The boy scrambled up from the ground, ignoring Li Xiang’s pleading gaze, and bolted away while stammering apologies.

How unlucky! To run right into Ning Qi!

Everyone in school knew Mu Xin and Ning Qi were best friends—even better than best friends.

Ning Qi was famously protective. Everyone remembered how she sent Long Xiang to the hospital with two ball hits just because he bothered Mu Xin.

Now that he had been caught bothering Mu Xin, he could only imagine how miserable Li Xiang’s fate would be.

“Ning Qi, what do you want?” Li Xiang asked tremulously after she removed the gag.

“Oh, I heard you have a bet with my Xinxin?” Ning Qi said.

“Yeah, is there a problem?”

“Of course there’s a problem!” Ning Qi glanced at him, feeling speechless at how easily he was cowed.

With this kind of courage, he wants to step on Mu Xin to climb up?

Mu Xin really did have too good a temper.

Ning Qi decided she would have a serious talk with Xinxin later.

“Since it’s a bet, both sides should have a stake. But I just heard that you didn’t bet anything,” Ning Qi sneered. “Looking for a free ride?”

Seeing the coldness in Ning Qi’s eyes, Li Xiang shivered.

“Not really… Mu Xin didn’t mention it herself.” Li Xiang didn’t want to provoke Ning Qi, so he could only push the blame onto Mu Xin.

“Oh, you’re saying Xinxin didn’t mention it.”

Ning Qi nodded as if she believed him.

“Yeah.” Li Xiang breathed a sigh of relief. He was about to ask if he could leave when he saw Ning Qi’s expression change.

“Well, Xinxin just forgot. See, I came back specifically to ask you for it.”

Ning Qi pulled out her phone, checked the forum news for a moment, and smiled at Li Xiang.

Her harmless appearance was like night and day compared to a moment ago.

“What? Ask for what?” Li Xiang’s heart raced.

“The stake for the bet. It’s written all over the forum: if Xinxin loses, she voluntarily gives up her spot in the Biology Competition. What about you? What are you prepared to give up?”

Ning Qi spoke as if discussing something trivial, her tone flat, but she was actually furious.

She continued scrolling through the messages on her phone. After a while, she said, “I heard you’re participating in the Math Olympiad this year. Perfect. Both are high-level competitions; neither side loses out. What do you think?”

Ning Qi smiled at Li Xiang, appearing to be negotiating reasonably.

“No… that won’t do.”

Li Xiang was truly panicked now. He actually had no confidence in beating Mu Xin; he just wanted to use these “noble heirs” to make a name for himself.

That was why he had used a loophole when proposing the bet to Mu Xin.

But if he actually had to stake something of his own against her, he didn’t dare. He knew very well that in a real test of grades, Mu Xin would likely leave him in the dust.

“Why won’t it do? I say it works, so it works.”

The smile on Ning Qi’s face vanished instantly. Her cold eyes locked onto Li Xiang, her tone brookng no argument.

“Post it. Use your own account. Put the stake for the bet on the forum.”

“No, please. I won’t bet anymore. Can’t I just not bet?”

Li Xiang was on the verge of tears. If he really staked his competition spot and lost, he’d be finished.

“That won’t work. You decide to bet, and then you decide not to? Does my Xinxin not have any dignity?”

Ning Qi lowered her voice.

“You should know who I am. If you don’t bet, I have plenty of ways to make sure you can’t join the competition anyway—and it’ll be much worse. What do you say?”

Ning Qi’s lips curled into a smile again, but to Li Xiang, it looked like a death warrant.

“You… this is bullying!” Li Xiang pointed at Ning Qi indignantly.

“Mhm, you’re so smart. I am bullying you.”

Ning Qi admitted it without the slightest concern, then raised her voice.

“Hurry up and post it. Stop dawdling; I have to go back and eat with Xinxin.”

Under Ning Qi’s gaze, Li Xiang had no choice. He sluggishly pulled out his phone, spent ages fumbling, and finally handed it to her.

“I… I posted it.”

He spoke cautiously, but the flash of resentment in his eyes didn’t escape Ning Qi.

Ning Qi curled her lip and opened the group chat titled ‘Saving for Qi-baby’s Dowry.’

Qi-baby: Bro! Someone is bullying me! From our school, his name is Li Xiang!

After sending the message, she tucked her phone away, ignoring the chaos her single text would surely cause.

She glanced at Li Xiang’s screen, seeing the comments flooding in under the new post he’d made, and nodded.

“Alright, I’m heading out. Stay lying there for another ten minutes.”

With that, Ning Qi left Li Xiang behind and walked back toward Mu Xin’s exam hall.

She had only hit a few pressure points to make his body numb; he’d be fine soon.

Trying to scheme against Xinxin? Charging a little interest isn’t too much, is it?

At the thought, Ning Qi’s smile widened, and she even began to hum a little tune.

When Ning Qi returned to the hall, she peeked inside and saw Mu Xin staring blankly into space, her chin resting on her hand.

Ning Qi rubbed her own face, adjusting her expression to look angry. Then, she strode in boldly.

She walked right up to Mu Xin’s desk and leaned forward suddenly, slamming her hands down.

“Xinxin!”

Her voice wasn’t quiet. She had intended to startle Mu Xin so that she’d be more obedient when they discussed the serious matter, but Mu Xin didn’t react at all.

She simply looked up, and suddenly her eyes turned red.

Her voice held a hint of a sob.

“Qiqi… I thought you were mad at me.”

Ning Qi had been gone for so long, and Mu Xin feared she was truly angry—or worse, that Ning Qi had discovered her secret feelings and was avoiding her.

“I’m not angry.” Ning Qi instinctively reached out to gently wipe the corner of Mu Xin’s eye, her voice softening.

“Then why were you gone for so long?”

Mu Xin saw that she really wasn’t mad and began to grumble. She reached out irritably to cup Ning Qi’s face, finding the collagen-rich cheeks too soft to resist.

She couldn’t help but knead them a few times, thinking to herself: No wonder Qiqi likes touching my face; the texture is amazing!

With her face being squished, Ning Qi’s voice came out muffled and soft.

“I… I just went to take care of something. I’m back now, aren’t I?”

“What thing?”

Mu Xin pressed further. Clearly, if Ning Qi didn’t explain, she wouldn’t let it go.

But she couldn’t tell Mu Xin about bullying Li Xiang. Ning Qi’s eyes darted around, and she reached out to pinch Mu Xin’s cheeks in return.

“Xinxin, are you stupid? Betting with Li Xiang without asking for a stake? Let him take advantage of you for nothing?”

“Uh, that…”

Mu Xin’s expression froze. She awkwardly withdrew her hands, rubbing her fingertips together once they were hidden in her sleeves.

At the same time, she felt annoyed.

Who was it? Who told Qiqi everything!

“Well?” Seeing Mu Xin shrink back, Ning Qi felt triumphant. Good thing I’m quick-witted.

“Xinxin, are you silly? Betting with people just like that, and letting them put up nothing?”

Mu Xin’s face flushed.

Truth be told, she didn’t care about Li Xiang’s thoughts or the bet at all. For her, the most important thing about this exam was her promise to Ning Qi.

She really wanted to win, too.

So her goal was actually to take first place.

As for agreeing to the bet, it was only because that guy was as annoying as a buzzing fly.

“Qiqi, actually I…” Mu Xin opened her mouth to explain, but found she didn’t know how to start.

Should I say: I was only thinking about how to get you to call me ‘Sister,’ and since that fly was annoying, I just agreed?

Mhm, it seemed plausible.

Plausible, my foot!

Mu Xin was certain that if she dared say that, Ning Qi would blush and run away again.

She didn’t want to scare her off again.

Qiqi is still too pure.

So, she tried a different approach.

She leaned forward slightly, resting her hands on Ning Qi’s shoulders until their foreheads touched. Her warm breath fell directly onto Ning Qi’s face; she felt that if she moved just a fraction more, she might even touch those rosy lips.

“I was wrong.”

Mu Xin swallowed, admitting her fault directly.

“You… why…” Ning Qi looked at the Mu Xin who was so close to her, her nose twitching, wanting to say something.

“I’m sorry, Qiqi.”

“Xinxin, I just…” Ning Qi’s tone had already softened completely.

“I’ll listen to you from now on, okay?”

Ning Qi: “…Why?”

Ning Qi didn’t know what to say anymore. This made it impossible to stay mad!

Dammit, am I being bewitched by something?

“Giggle.” Mu Xin noticed that Ning Qi was starting to stutter and wondered if she was teasing her too hard.

But she really, truly liked Ning Qi.

Oh, wait—she liked “Qiqi.”

Mu Xin’s eyes dimmed slightly. She knew very well that the person she liked was the “Qiqi” she had spent this past month with.

Not the original “Ning Qi.”

So, what exactly could cause a person to change so drastically?

Mu Xin didn’t know, but she hoped Ning Qi would always be this “Qiqi.”

“Because you’re important, Qiqi. Can you please never leave me, no matter what?”

Mu Xin’s voice dropped low, as if she were worried about something.

Ning Qi’s heart tightened; her chest felt heavy.

Just as she wanted to hug Mu Xin when she acted cute…

Now that Mu Xin was unhappy, she felt unhappy too.

“Mm. I’ll always be here, okay?”