Chapter 98 : Chapter 98
Chapter 98
Their answers were completely opposite, and anyone could tell something was wrong.
Standing outside the door, Mu Xinyue seemed to have thought of something. Her brow twitched, and she actually pushed the door open and entered without any courtesy.
As she opened the door, a dull thud came from the bed in the room, accompanied by a soft "mmph" that sounded as if it was holding something back. It sounded like Bai Xuechao's voice.
Mu Xinyue pushed the door completely open. After seeing the scene inside the room, she was stunned, and her pupils trembled in her widened, blood-red eyes.
She unconsciously raised her voice and questioned: "What are you two doing?!"
Yuan Lan was seen sitting on the large European-style bed in the bedroom, with his back to Mu Xinyue who was standing at the door. He was wrapped in a quilt and holding Bai Xuechao in his arms. The two of them were hugging intimately, and the quilt wrapped them tightly, making it impossible to tell if they were wearing clothes or not.
Bai Xuechao was facing Mu Xinyue, his body completely blocked by Yuan Lan and the quilt, with only the upper half of his head exposed. His moist and translucent red eyes were looking at her from above Yuan Lan's shoulder.
In reality—
Bai Xuechao was sitting sideways in front of Yuan Lan with his legs tucked in, supporting his body with his right hand and holding the human specimen in his left.
When their answers didn't match just now, Yuan Lan reacted extremely quickly, lifting the quilt that was covering Bai Xuechao and jumping onto the bed with the human specimen.
Yuan Lan jumped to the back of Bai Xuechao, which was also the side closer to the door, while at the same time releasing the three puppet threads of the human specimen. The dull thud Mu Xinyue heard was the sound of him jumping onto the bed. The human specimen, carried by the momentum of the jump, collided with Bai Xuechao's chest, causing Bai Xuechao to let out a soft "mmph."
Immediately after, Yuan Lan quickly controlled the puppet threads to bend and tie the human specimen's legs, bundling her into a posture of hugging her knees to make her smaller. At the same time, he pulled over the quilt with his right hand and embraced Bai Xuechao to face him with his left, using both of their bodies to hide the human specimen in their arms, and then wrapped them in the quilt.
The entire process was extremely fast, and the disguise was completed without a hitch.
Bai Xuechao's chest was still aching faintly.
Moreover, his scalp was a little numb. A minute ago, he would never have imagined that he would be holding a human specimen now.
Bai Xuechao's chin rested on the human specimen's head, and he could smell the faint citrus fragrance emanating from the human specimen in his arms. In fact, after being processed, the human specimen itself had no smell, but that pervert Yuan Lan had actually sprayed some citrus perfume on her.
At this moment, the three of them were wrapped together. The citrus perfume and their two lure-pheromones—the cold fragrance of plum blossoms and the sweet scent of cream—mixed together and lingered at the tip of his nose, making him feel a little dizzy, which might also be a psychological effect.
Yuan Lan turned his head slightly, his lips lightly brushing against Bai Xuechao's hair. In Mu Xinyue's eyes, it looked like a reluctant gesture.
"Sorry, Mu Xinyue, we're a bit busy right now." He still had his back to Mu Xinyue, revealing a small part of his exquisite side profile. Under his straight nose, his lips were slightly curved as he said gently, "Could you please leave first?"
Bai Xuechao's fists clenched when he heard this.
From his angle, Yuan Lan couldn't see Mu Xinyue's expression, but he could.
Ever since Yuan Lan said, "We're a bit busy right now," Mu Xinyue's expression had changed. Although it was a normal thing to say, combined with this bizarre situation, the way Mu Xinyue was looking at him felt like she was cursing him with very foul language.
Bai Xuechao couldn't tolerate it. He let go of the hand holding the human specimen and twisted Yuan Lan's firm waist with all his might.
"Hiss—" Yuan Lan gasped in pain.
Because Bai Xuechao let go, and because they weren't holding on very tightly to make room for the human specimen, the human specimen started to slide down. Yuan Lan had to quickly hold Bai Xuechao tighter, and the two of them used their bodies to clamp the human specimen in place.
He endured the lingering pain and exhaled. It sounded like a gasp. He said somewhat aggrievedly, "Little Xuechao, don't be so forceful, it hurts."
Bai Xuechao: "..."
Yuan Lan, I'll kill you.
Mu Xinyue, who didn't know what to imagine, was already looking at him as if he were a dead man.
At this time, Xiao 6 also appeared and added another blow: "Host, I've finished watching Mu Xinyue's replay! This woman is so ruthless, she has poisoned four of Yuan Lan's toys to death! But Yuan Lan kept one and made it into a human specimen, which is the one you're holding in your arms."
My goodness, a master poisoner!
Mu Xinyue retracted her gaze from Bai Xuechao and stubbornly stepped into the room, as if wanting to see what was going on.
Seeing this, Bai Xuechao pinched Yuan Lan hard again.
He had already sacrificed so much. If Mu Xinyue found out that they were secretly hiding a human specimen with female ghost makeup, wouldn't he have lost the battle and his troops?!
...Eh, wait, why was he being so stupid? If he exposed the human specimen now, wouldn't that clear up the misunderstanding? Then he could ask Mu Xinyue to keep it a secret for them, and the prank could continue. He would just be scaring one less person.
Having figured it out, Bai Xuechao immediately wanted to get up.
Yuan Lan naturally heard Mu Xinyue's footsteps. He directly used a few puppet threads to block Mu Xinyue's path. At the same time, because Bai Xuechao pinched his waist hard again, he let out a muffled groan.
"I told you not to be so forceful." His tone was like he was whining.
At this moment, Yuan Lan noticed that Bai Xuechao had propped himself up a little with his hands on his legs, almost revealing the human specimen's head. He quickly raised his hand to press him back down.
"...Yuan Lan, you're blocking me?" Mu Xinyue looked at the puppet threads blocking her like a warning line, her tone hurt.
But the way she looked at Bai Xuechao was like daggers, a little fierce.
Bai Xuechao was speechless, feeling that if he didn't expose it now, it would be too late.
He grabbed the human specimen's clothes, trying to lift her up a bit for Mu Xinyue to see, but Yuan Lan, who had noticed his intention, held him tightly: "Little Xuechao, don't move for now."
It seemed that directly presenting the evidence was not an option. He could only speak: "Mu Xinyue—"
As soon as Bai Xuechao opened his mouth, Yuan Lan freed a hand and covered his mouth firmly, turning the rest of his words into "mmph mmph mmph."
Bai Xuechao: I'm going to kill someone!!
Bai Xuechao leaned back, trying to dodge Yuan Lan's hand, while at the same time raising his hand to push Yuan Lan's shoulder hard, trying to push him away.
Yuan Lan pushed forward against Bai Xuechao's force, and with his other hand wrapped around his back, he held him tightly. By applying force from both front and back, he prevented Bai Xuechao from leaning back any further, just to stop him from speaking.
Unable to move back and forth, Bai Xuechao swayed his body from side to side, trying to break free.
Yuan Lan gave him a look: What are you doing? We're about to get away with it.
Bai Xuechao glared at Yuan Lan: Let. Me. Speak!
Yuan Lan smiled: No. Way!
The above was all the eye contact dialogue that Xiao 6 understood.
Mu Xinyue still didn't give up. Seeing that Yuan Lan was ignoring her, she called out, "Yuan Lan!"
"Mu Xinyue, get out," Yuan Lan said.
"Huh?" Mu Xinyue let out a trembling gasp of disbelief, and her eyes suddenly turned red.
She made a move to squeeze through the gap between the puppet threads and said stubbornly, "No, I want to see what you two are really doing!"
Yuan Lan suddenly said, "Are you sure you want to see?"
His tone was somewhat ambiguous, and Mu Xinyue's movements paused.
Yuan Lan's hand wrapped around Bai Xuechao's back continued to exert force, successfully pressing the leaning-back Bai Xuechao into his arms and firmly blocking the human specimen.
His other hand was still covering Bai Xuechao's mouth.
Bai Xuechao bumped into Yuan Lan's chin, and the human specimen's head pressed against his collarbone.
Yuan Lan chuckled, seemingly pleased with his victory in this strength contest, and turned his head back to look at Mu Xinyue.
This time he turned in the other direction, and Mu Xinyue could see his entire side profile.
His brilliant golden eyes held a somewhat wicked smile as he said slowly, "You might regret it after you see it, you know? If you leave now, you can still pretend that nothing happened."
Hearing this, Mu Xinyue's eyes widened.
I don't know what she thought of, but Mu Xinyue's red eyes became somewhat moist. She glared fiercely at Bai Xuechao, bit her lip, and actually turned and left. Her back revealed a hint of fleeing in panic.
Yuan Lan suddenly said, "Wait."
Mu Xinyue stopped at the door, but she didn't turn back, so he couldn't see her expression.
Her voice was a little muffled: "What is it?"
"Can you do me a favor?" Yuan Lan said gently. "Ask A-Qing to bring another set of clothes over. Little Xuechao's clothes are dirty."
"...I know." Mu Xinyue clenched her fist.
Bai Xuechao felt a little suffocated. In his mind, he asked Xiao 6 without much hope: "Among the four people Mu Xinyue poisoned to death, were there any men?"
I hope this sister doesn't have her eyes on men.
Xiao 6 said sorrowfully: "Yes, three women and one man."
Bai Xuechao: "..."
After the sound of Mu Xinyue's footsteps faded away, Yuan Lan breathed a sigh of relief and released his hold on Bai Xuechao.
After being freed, Bai Xuechao immediately pushed the human specimen aside, lunged forward, and tackled Yuan Lan, sitting on him and strangling his neck with both hands.
"Are you trying to die?" Bai Xuechao said through gritted teeth. "I'll send you on your way right now."
Yuan Lan pried at the hands strangling his throat, a smile actually appearing on his face. He said, struggling to breathe, "What are you doing... didn't we just get rid of her?"
He slowly pried Bai Xuechao's hands open.
Bai Xuechao smiled faintly: "Your master poisoner has her eyes on me."
"Master poisoner?" Yuan Lan was stunned for a moment, then realized he was talking about Mu Xinyue and burst out laughing, "Hahaha... your nickname for her is so funny!"
Bai Xuechao's face was expressionless as he threw a punch at Yuan Lan's smiling face.
Yuan Lan caught his fist and said nonchalantly, "You can just explain it to her after the party."
"Will she believe me if I go and tell her?" Bai Xuechao pressed his knee against Yuan Lan's stomach and began to apply pressure, threatening, "You go and tell her, or I'll make sure you can't eat for at least two days."
"Okay, okay, I'll go and tell her." Yuan Lan compromised readily. "Get up quickly, you're going to make me puke."
Bai Xuechao released the pressure and said, not quite reassured, "You have to explain it clearly."
"I will definitely explain it clearly—" Yuan Lan suddenly said, "But what should I explain? That the two of us didn't actually do anything, we were just holding my puppet together?"
Bai Xuechao: "..."
Hiss, that sounds so perverted.
"Do I have to teach you what to explain?" Bai Xuechao pressed his knee against Yuan Lan's stomach again. "Explain it clearly, we were hiding your puppet!"
Yuan Lan readily agreed again: "Okay, I'll definitely explain it clearly."
Bai Xuechao released his knee again, preparing to get up.
"Don't worry, I'll tell Mu Xinyue the whole story," Yuan Lan propped himself up with his elbows and said with a smile. "It was your idea to scare everyone, and the two of us were hugging each other to hide the puppet with makeup on."
"Whatever," Bai Xuechao said.
As long as it was explained clearly and he was removed from the master poisoner's list, that was fine.
He hated trouble and didn't want to have to guard against being poisoned during his time at the Apocalypse Society.
Yuan Lan controlled the puppet threads, pulling the two human specimens up and sending them towards the collection room: "A-Qing will be here soon, let's put them away first."
"Why did you call Lin Changqing..."
Before Bai Xuechao could finish his sentence, he suddenly noticed that the makeup on the face of the human specimen he had just been holding was smudged.
He was stunned for a moment, then looked down at his chest.
He was wearing Lin Changqing's black Hanfu-element shirt. The foundation, eyeshadow, and other cosmetics had rubbed off on it, making it look particularly obvious, like words written with chalk on a blackboard. And it wasn't just his clothes. The exposed skin of the human specimen was also covered in foundation, causing his black pants to be stained a lot as well.
Alright, Bai Xuechao understood. It was indeed dirty.
Because the human specimen was facing him just now, a lot of it had rubbed off on him.
But Yuan Lan's white suit was also stained a little, mainly the sleeves and pants, from rubbing against the foundation on the human specimen's arms and legs.
Yuan Lan sent the two human specimens back to the collection room and sighed, "It's too late to touch up her makeup now, but that puppet is the main act."
Bai Xuechao understood again, a vein was about to pop on his forehead: "So this is why you didn't let Mu Xinyue see?"
Yuan Lan was going to use the girl Mu Xinyue had poisoned to death to scare Mu Xinyue.
"Yes," Yuan Lan said with a grin.
"Boss..." Lin Changqing's voice sounded in the hallway, and the sound of footsteps was also rapidly approaching.
Both of them were stunned. Lin Changqing was here so quickly?
"My two living ancestors, what have you two done again? Why would the young miss Mu..." Lin Changqing saw the scene in the room and finished his sentence in a daze, "...be crying..."
He saw Yuan Lan pressing on top of Bai Xuechao, the two of them covered tightly by a quilt, with only their heads exposed.
Lin Changqing said decisively, "Excuse me, I'll go back and get the clothes first."