I Became the Most Popular Character by Acting as a Villain in the Manga

Chapter 99

After Lin Changqing finished speaking, he hurriedly left.

After he had gone far, Yuan Lan lifted the quilt, smiling and sighing: "We were almost seen."

Bai Xuechao was a little speechless, but he glanced at the makeup stains on both of them and said nothing.

Yuan Lan stood up on the bed, taking off his white suit jacket as he walked to the edge of the bed and stepped down. Bai Xuechao could feel the soft mattress tremble slightly.

"I'm going to change into a new set of clothes." Yuan Lan walked towards his cloakroom.

"When A-Qing comes back later, don't let him see the marks on your clothes, or you can take off your clothes and throw them in the laundry basket over there." He pointed to the laundry basket in the corner near the bathroom.

Bai Xuechao gave a noncommittal "hmm." As Yuan Lan walked into the cloakroom, he suddenly said: "Wait, I want to take a shower."

He smelled of the human specimen's perfume and couldn't stand it.

"Oh? That's fine too." Yuan Lan poked his head out from the cloakroom and asked, "Do you need new underwear? I'll find a new pair for you."

Bai Xuechao wasn't polite with him either: "Yes."

"Okay, you go take a shower, I'll find it for you after I'm done changing." Yuan Lan waved his hand and retracted his head.

Bai Xuechao climbed off the bed, preparing to go to the bathroom to take a shower.

He tried to pat the foundation marks on his clothes and found that there were residues, so he had to change into a new set. He didn't try anymore, took off his clothes, and threw them into the laundry basket.

Ten minutes later.

Yuan Lan came out of the cloakroom in a new black suit. He was still wearing the same white shirt underneath with the top two buttons undone. The thin necklace he had been wearing was replaced with a black leather choker, and a gold chain brooch with a gemstone was pinned to the lapel of his suit, giving him an air of casual nobility.

He glanced at the clock.

Six thirty-five, already past the agreed party time.

Yuan Lan didn't seem to care about being late. He walked to the bathroom door, knocked, and said in a long, drawn-out voice: "I'm here to deliver the package——"

Bai Xuechao opened the bathroom door and reached out his hand towards him.

Yuan Lan handed him the unopened box, blinked, and asked curiously: "Why are you wearing two?"

Bai Xuechao, standing at the door, was wearing a pure white bathrobe and had another one of the same style draped over him. On top of that, a towel was draped over his shoulders.

He had pushed back his wet hair, revealing a pale, clean forehead. The heat from the water had flushed his cheeks slightly.

Xiao 6: I'm going to cheer for my host's beauty!

"Cold," Bai Xuechao said succinctly as he took the box.

"Is it cold in the shower?" Yuan Lan reached his hand towards his head.

Bai Xuechao dodged his head to the side: "What are you doing?"

Yuan Lan didn't mind Bai Xuechao's evasive action. He was just faster this time, grabbing the collar of Bai Xuechao's bathrobe and pulling him towards him, while his other hand covered his forehead.

"Eh?" Yuan Lan let go of Bai Xuechao's collar and touched his own forehead, asking, "Are you running a fever?"

"Boss, I'm back." Lin Changqing stood at the door and knocked. Seeing Yuan Lan touching both his own and Bai Xuechao's foreheads, he paused for a moment and asked with a slightly strange expression, "What's wrong? Is... he running a fever?"

Bai Xuechao said: "It's nothing."

He slapped away Yuan Lan's hand on his forehead: "I'm not running a fever, I'm just flushed from the heat."

Yuan Lan pouted as if in pain, rubbed his slapped wrist, and said aggrievedly: "I was just concerned about you."

"No need," Bai Xuechao closed the bathroom door.

Yuan Lan went over to Lin Changqing, took the clothes he brought, and glanced at them.

They were very similar to the Hanfu-element shirt Bai Xuechao had chosen before, but in white, with embroidered plum blossom branches on the clothes. The red petals were reminiscent of Bai Xuechao's eyes.

"It suits Little Xuechao quite well," he commented, then asked casually, "A-Qing, why did you take so long to get here?"

Lin Changqing said hesitantly: "Uh, to give you two some time to deal with things?"

Yuan Lan chuckled but didn't explain anything. He said, "Then we still need some more time. Let's go over at seven."

"...Alright," Lin Changqing said with an awkward smile. "Do you need more time?"

Yuan Lan blinked: "Possibly?"

Lin Changqing was silent for a moment and said, "He doesn't seem to be in good health?"

Yuan Lan hummed in agreement.

Lin Changqing's expression was complicated: "Never mind, I won't say any more."

The sound of a hairdryer came from the bathroom.

"I'll go and tell them to eat later. Can you send me a message before you go?" Lin Changqing explained, "That guy Lin Lang wants to eat noodles. If the noodles sit for too long, they'll get soggy. After you send me a message, I'll have the kitchen make them again."

Yuan Lan said: "Okay."

Just as Lin Changqing was about to leave, he heard Yuan Lan say, "By the way, is Mu Xinyue still here?"

"No." Lin Changqing seemed to have a headache, tapping his temple twice with his finger.

"She said she wasn't feeling well and went back to her room."

Anyone could see that it wasn't that Mu Xinyue wasn't feeling well, but that she was upset. But no one in their group could console her, only Yuan Lan could soothe her.

When Yuan Lan heard that, how could that be? He pressed Lin Changqing's shoulder and said, "A-Qing, the party must have Mu Xinyue present."

"...Huh?" Lin Changqing was shocked. He felt that Yuan Lan was really ruthless. After a two-second pause, he raised his hand and wiped his face, "I'll try my best... I'm afraid she'll hit me."

Yuan Lan thought for a moment: "If she doesn't go, just say I told her to."

Hearing this, Lin Changqing took a deep breath: "Okay."

"You can go now, I have to get busy." Yuan Lan pushed him out of the bedroom and closed the door.

Lin Changqing: "..."

***

Bai Xuechao was no longer cold after blow-drying his hair. He pulled off the towel and bathrobe.

He opened the door and saw Yuan Lan standing in the room, touching up the foundation on the exposed skin of the human specimen suspended by puppet threads in front of him—the girl Mu Xinyue had poisoned to death.

This human specimen was wearing a creamy yellow floral dress with short puff sleeves and a hemline that reached just above the knees.

Yuan Lan had already reapplied foundation to her neck and arms and was now working on her calves.

Hearing Bai Xuechao open the door, Yuan Lan tilted his chin to indicate for Bai Xuechao to look at the bed: "The clothes are there."

Bai Xuechao walked over and took a look. Lin Changqing probably feared that he wouldn't like other styles, so he had sent a set of clothes similar to the one he had chosen before.

The white Hanfu-element shirt also had a factory-shaped placket like a round-necked robe.

The fabric was soft and smooth, with elegant plum blossom branches embroidered on the collar and one shoulder, and bright red plum blossoms blooming on the chest. The pants were also the same style as before, a pair of loose-fitting white nine-tenths wide-leg pants.

In addition, next to this set of clothes was a black windbreaker that clearly belonged to Yuan Lan.

He picked up Lin Changqing's clothes and was about to go back to the bathroom to change.

Yuan Lan suddenly called out to him: "Little Xuechao."

Bai Xuechao glanced back at him.

Yuan Lan put down what he was doing and ran in front of him, asking out of the blue: "If your reputation is ruined, what would you do?"

Bai Xuechao narrowed his eyes sharply: "Why do you ask? What did you do?"

"You're wronging me, I didn't do anything," Yuan Lan raised both hands as if to prove his innocence. "I was just asking casually."

Bai Xuechao stared at him for a while.

Yuan Lan's brilliant golden eyes seemed to be filled with bright sunlight. His eyelashes fluttered as he blinked at him, his expression extremely innocent.

Bai Xuechao directly asked Xiao 6: "What did he do?"

Xiao 6: "Hehe."

Bai Xuechao: "?"

Xiao 6 said: "He just had a nonsensical conversation with Lin Changqing. Lin Changqing probably misunderstood you guys just like Mu Xinyue did."

"Oh," Bai Xuechao thought to himself, it's just one more person to explain to.

Tsk, Yuan Lan really knew how to cause trouble for him.

After knowing the situation, Bai Xuechao gave Yuan Lan a murderous yet kind smile and said pointedly: "I will find the culprit who ruined my reputation, flay him alive, then find a healing-type special ability user to heal him, then subject him to lingchi, then heal him again, and torture him until I'm in a good mood and finally kill him."

Yuan Lan let out a long "oh," nodded, his expression unchanged: "Little Xuechao, you're so cruel."

"It's alright," Bai Xuechao maintained his smile.

Yuan Lan said: "I'll continue to touch up the puppet's makeup."

Xiao 6 was about to die of laughter: "Are you trying to scare Yuan Lan?"

Bai Xuechao snorted coldly: "What do you think?"

He went back to the bathroom to change his clothes. When he came out, he saw that Yuan Lan had already finished applying foundation to the human specimen and was now redoing her makeup.

"How long is this going to take?" Bai Xuechao walked over and glanced at the clock. "It's six-fifty."

Hearing this, Yuan Lan poked his chin with the handle of a makeup brush and gave a mischievous smile: "I'm going to give her a new look, make her look like she did when she died. It'll be faster, maybe ten more minutes at most?"

Bai Xuechao: 6, you won't stop until you've scared Mu Xinyue to death, will you?

"Then hurry up." Bai Xuechao's expression was indifferent as he sat on the edge of the bed and waited for him. "I don't want to eat too late."

Yuan Lan's speed of applying makeup to the human specimen increased by a fraction as he chatted idly, "Why?"

Bai Xuechao said: "I'll probably gag in the middle of the night."

"Is your stomach upset?" Yuan Lan found a larger brush, dipped it in blue eyeshadow, and started patting it on the human specimen's face.

"No," Bai Xuechao said. "I just tend to get like this after eating at night."

"Even if you're not feeling unwell?" Yuan Lan sighed, "You're quite hard to raise."

Bai Xuechao crossed his arms and said, "Then send me back."

Yuan Lan said with a grin: "That's impossible!" Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on Nove1Fire.net

Fifteen minutes later, a beautiful girl with light makeup, but with a slightly bluish face and purple lips, was presented before Bai Xuechao.

"Look, perfect, isn't it~" Yuan Lan said.

Bai Xuechao gave a perfunctory "hmm."

Yuan Lan pulled the puppet threads, pulling the human specimen back from in front of Bai Xuechao, and examined it from left to right: "Oh, I missed a beauty mark under her eye. She liked to add a beauty mark when she did her makeup." As he said that, he picked up an eyeliner pen and poked a dot below the human specimen's left eye.

He looked at Bai Xuechao: "Little Xuechao, do you want a beauty mark?"

"No," Bai Xuechao urged, "Are you done yet?"

"I think you'd look even better with a beauty mark." Yuan Lan didn't insist and casually threw the eyeliner pen aside, "Alright, let's get ready to go."

He picked up his phone to send a message to Lin Changqing, then went to the bathroom to wash his hands and pulled the two human specimens to the door.

"I'll have them appear halfway through the meal," Yuan Lan said.

As the two were about to walk out the door, Yuan Lan suddenly said, "Wait."

Bai Xuechao said: "What now——"

Before he could finish his sentence, the black windbreaker was draped over his shoulders by Yuan Lan. It was the one he had seen on the bed earlier.

Bai Xuechao's plum-blossom-like red eyes looked at him.

"For you," Yuan Lan said as a matter of course. "Didn't you say you were cold before?"

Bai Xuechao remained silent.

Xiao 6 bit its handkerchief: Yuan Lan, that bastard, is so good at this!

Yuan Lan smiled and said, "Let's go."

Just as Bai Xuechao was about to leave, Yuan Lan suddenly said again, "Oh no, I forgot to prepare shoes for you."

Hearing this, Bai Xuechao was also stunned for a moment. He had been stepping on the soft and warm wool carpet in Yuan Lan's bedroom and had forgotten about shoes.

"I'll wear slippers," Bai Xuechao said.

"Hmm, wait for me," Yuan Lan ran to find slippers.

Before long, he returned with a pair of white fluffy slippers with bunny ears, his eyes sparkling: "These suit you so well!"

Bai Xuechao: "..."

Where did he get such cute slippers?

As if seeing the doubt in Bai Xuechao's eyes, Yuan Lan explained: "When I took Little Yu out shopping before, she bought them for me, but the size is a little small for me."

He took a towel, brought the fluffy slippers, and knelt on one knee in front of Bai Xuechao, reaching out to grab Bai Xuechao's slender ankle, looking like he was going to help Bai Xuechao put on the shoes.

Bai Xuechao quickly took two steps back.

What the hell! This person was really willing to stoop so low to get closer to him, wasn't he?

"Don't worry," Yuan Lan raised his golden eyes to look at him. "These slippers are obviously small, so I've never worn them before."

"It's not because of that," Bai Xuechao bent down and took the towel from Yuan Lan's hand.

Yuan Lan understood and made a 'please' gesture to him.

Bai Xuechao wiped the soles of his feet with the towel himself and put on the fluffy slippers with bunny ears. His toes and the back of his feet were enveloped in the fluffy texture, feeling warm and cozy.

"Let's go, it's already very late," Yuan Lan said.

Bai Xuechao retorted: "Whose fault is it that it's so late?"

He threw the towel aside, went to the bathroom to wash his hands, and then the two of them left together.

Yuan Lan took Bai Xuechao to the dining room.

The restaurant for the Apocalypse Society's gathering was on the first floor of the castle's main building. The style was still European, consistent with the castle, with oil painting-style murals on the walls and a magnificent chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. In the center was a long dining table, and behind the main seat was a huge stained-glass window. However, the sun had already set at this time, and the brilliant colors that were illuminated by the sunlight during the day were gone.

"You're finally here." The speaker was a rather tall and beautiful woman, standing to the side with her arms crossed.

The woman had wine-red hair that fell to her collarbones. Her brow bone was quite high, making the distance between her eyebrows and eyes look slightly closer, giving her a bit of a mixed-race look. She was wearing a dark red long cheongsam with embroidered patterns, a black fur shawl draped over her arm, and a pair of black high heels with red soles. With the high heels on, she was probably over 1.8 meters tall.

Her face was exquisitely made up. Under her arched eyebrows, her dark brown eyes were looking at Bai Xuechao and Yuan Lan, and her lips, coated with a matte tomato-colored lipstick, were curved into a smile.

"You must be the new member," the woman took the initiative to walk towards Bai Xuechao and extended her hand with black nail polish. "Hello, my name is Lin Lang."

Her voice was very unique, a little deep and lazy.

Bai Xuechao shook her hand lightly and then let go: "Bai Xuechao."

"I've already heard your name," Lin Lang said with a meaningful smile.

Yuan Lan pushed Bai Xuechao's shoulder and walked around Lin Lang to go inside: "Little Xuechao, let me introduce you to the other members of the Apocalypse Society."

There was no need to introduce Lin Changqing, Mortar, and Mu Xinyue.

Bai Xuechao saw Yu Ruolan sitting alone in the corner of the dining table.

When Yu Ruolan noticed that Bai Xuechao was indeed looking at her, there was a flash of surprise in her eyes, as if she was happy that someone other than Yuan Lan had noticed her immediately. Then she lowered her head shyly.

"The Apocalypse Society has six executives. You've met the other five." Yuan Lan led Bai Xuechao to a man standing against the wall. "He's the last one. You've heard his name, Tao Ru."

He knocked on the VR glasses Tao Ru was wearing: "Tao Ru, meet someone."

Tao Ru pulled down his VR glasses and hung them around his neck.

What appeared before Bai Xuechao was a pair of black eyes full of vicissitudes and stories.

Tao Ru was an uncle who looked to be in his forties. He had a very melancholic temperament, with a stubbly beard and messy but relatively clean black hair. He was wearing a white shirt and a gray suit vest. The top button of his shirt was undone, and a black tie hung loosely around his neck. He was unkempt, as if he had just woken up and thrown on some clothes.

There was a black tattoo like a vine on his face from below his left eye to his cheek, which was proof of his identity as a special ability user, similar in nature to the character 'Promise' on Lin Changqing's tongue.

After all, the appearance of a special ability user would change a little after awakening, and some people would have "tattoos," which were not difficult to recognize.

Tao Ru's eyelids drooped as he lazily extended a hand. His deep voice, with the same lazy tone as his movements, sounded: "Hello, Bai Xuechao."

Bai Xuechao shook his hand: "Hello."

"The executives have been introduced. There are also two executive candidates." Yuan Lan continued to push Bai Xuechao, but he wasn't looking for anyone.

He led Yuan Lan to the first seat on the right below the main seat, which was empty. Next to it was Mu Xinyue, who was leaning against the back of her chair with a cold face.

Bai Xuechao: "..."

He wasn't going to sit next to Mu Xinyue, was he?

As it turned out, he was.

Yuan Lan directly pushed him into this seat and then sat in the main seat.

Bai Xuechao noticed that Mu Xinyue next to him glared at him and then turned her head away, no longer looking at him.

At this time, two people walked towards them. Bai Xuechao followed the sound of footsteps and raised an eyebrow.

He had seen both of the people who walked over.

The first was the subordinate who had knelt on one knee before Yuan Lan when he first appeared in the manga.

The second was Qiao Wenjie, whom he had just seen in the manga not long ago.

After the first person arrived, he first bowed respectfully to Yuan Lan and called out, "Boss."

Then he introduced himself to Bai Xuechao: "Hello, my name is Jing Han."

He didn't extend his hand to shake, but nodded slightly.

Qiao Wenjie also first said "Hello, boss" to Yuan Lan before introducing himself to Bai Xuechao, also not intending to shake hands.

"Hello," Bai Xuechao said.

When the two of them left to return to their seats, they each secretly glanced at Mu Xinyue, with an almost imperceptible emotion hidden in the depths of their eyes.

Bai Xuechao understood. These two both seemed to like Mu Xinyue?

Recalling their actions just now with this answer in mind, although their tones were polite, neither of them shook his hand, and there was a faint hint of rejection.

But Bai Xuechao didn't care.

He wasn't even afraid of Mu Xinyue, so why would he care about these two? He just found it troublesome that Mu Xinyue used poison to kill people, and it was troublesome for him to guard against being poisoned. It wasn't that he was afraid of her.

"Little Yu, what are you doing sitting so far away?" Yuan Lan sat in the main seat and called out to Yu Ruolan, who was sitting at the end of the dining table. "Come here."

Everyone followed Yuan Lan's gaze and seemed to have just noticed Yu Ruolan's presence.

The first seat on the left of the main seat at the dining table was empty, apparently reserved for Yu Ruolan.

From this, Bai Xuechao deduced that the first seat on the right, the one he was currently sitting in, was very likely originally Mu Xinyue's seat.

Bai Xuechao: "..."

Wasn't his hatred value high enough already?

Yu Ruolan lowered her head and walked to the first seat on the left and sat down, her fingers nervously fidgeting, her head still bowed.

"The hand-pulled noodles I ordered will take a while to be ready," Lin Lang, who was sitting next to Yu Ruolan, spoke up with a smile. "Sorry, I'll have to make everyone wait for a while."

No one said anything.

Lin Lang raised her hand with black nail polish and placed it in the embroidered handbag with a clasp next to her. Tarot cards flew out and floated above her palm, as if by magic.

It was not difficult to see that this was Lin Lang's special ability, probably something like controlling playing cards.

"Anyway, it's boring to wait," Lin Lang looked at Bai Xuechao, "Why don't I do a divination for the newcomer?"