Chapter 154 : Chapter 154
Chapter 154
The scene before her was like a fishbone stuck in Mu Xinyue's throat.
It wasn't that she was struck by this scene, nor did she feel any sense of crisis. It was just an intense jealousy and disgust towards Bai Xuechao, finding him an eyesore.
Mu Xinyue liked Yuan Lan and hated anyone who was closer to him than she was, regardless of gender or status.
Among the executives, she was the last to join the Apocalypse Society. At that time, Yu Ruolan and Lin Changqing were the closest to Yuan Lan. She had once been deeply jealous of these two, and to this day, she still didn't get along with Yu Ruolan, the childhood friend who was so well taken care of by Yuan Lan. As for Lin Changqing, although he was close to Yuan Lan, it was only to the extent of putting an arm around his shoulder, not to the extent of Bai Xuechao.
Besides them, she hated Yuan Lan's "toys" the most. Whether they were controlled voluntarily or not, they were too close to Yuan Lan.
Once, when she could no longer bear it, she thought to herself, if the people of the Apocalypse Society can't be touched, can't they?
Thus, over the past two years, Mu Xinyue had secretly poisoned and killed three women and one man whom she considered to be a great eyesore, all behind Yuan Lan's back.
She knew that Yuan Lan was very intelligent, so she worked hard to hide all evidence of the poisoning, striving for perfection so that Yuan Lan wouldn't find out.
And Yuan Lan had indeed never come to her about this matter. She didn't know if he hadn't discovered that she had done it, or if he had discovered it but didn't intend to blame her. Either way, he had condoned her murderous intent, allowing her to get rid of the people she hated time and time again through poisoning.
Now, the person Mu Xinyue hated the most had appeared—
Bai Xuechao.
This guy had only been here for a few days, but he and Yuan Lan were so close they might as well be wearing the same pair of pants. In order to recruit him, Yuan Lan was even willing to take out the data of the bracelet he had been researching for more than three years.
Even if Bai Xuechao had already joined the Apocalypse Society and become a member, he was still really, really annoying. Especially the posture of sitting on Yuan Lan's lap, which was something none of the previous toys had ever done. Even she herself had only sat on the armrest of Yuan Lan's chair for a photo.
Yuan Lan was really too special to Bai Xuechao.
Previously, because Bai Xuechao had joined the Apocalypse Society and would be considered one of their own in the future, Mu Xinyue had been very well-behaved these past two days. Even though she knew he ate and lived with Yuan Lan, she had never thought of poisoning him.
At that time, she thought, why should she bother with a patient who didn't have long to live?
But now she couldn't help it.
Why? What was so good about Bai Xuechao?
Apart from his doll-like, exquisite face and a mind that was said to be very smart but she had never seen—she had only seen him learn to assemble a gun on the spot, but she thought that only meant he had a good memory. His body was terrible, Lin Lang's divination had said he would die within four months. In fact, he had been rescued by her on the night he was brought back, and yesterday he had stomach bleeding and had to be treated by her urgently. He was still running a fever. In total, he had been in the Apocalypse Society for less than a week, and he had been sick for half of that time.
So far, it seemed that he had made no contribution to the Apocalypse Society, yet he had the audacity to ask to see Yuan Lan's experimental data and consume the potions made with her special ability. If the bracelet were to be removed, his special ability could still be of some use, but now with the bracelet on, he was just a sickly vase, unable to use his special ability.
On what grounds? Was her special ability not good enough? Or was her face not pretty, her mind not smart? Clearly, there was a more outstanding person standing right beside him, yet Yuan Lan always rejected her.
In terms of her role in the Apocalypse Society, she definitely had a place as Yuan Lan's right and left hand, which was why she was so proud.
On what grounds could Bai Xuechao receive such special treatment?
Mu Xinyue compared herself to Bai Xuechao and, believing herself to be more useful, she couldn't figure it out, which made her even more frustrated.
She looked at the two people in the piano room.
Bai Xuechao was still sitting on Yuan Lan's lap, playing the piano.
Yuan Lan was helping Bai Xuechao with the pedal, his chin resting on his shoulder, the corners of his eyes slightly curved. His hands were gently resting on his waist, as if to keep him from sitting unsteadily, but it looked more like he was holding him in his arms.
Mu Xinyue's footsteps hadn't been deliberately quiet when she arrived. She had been standing at the door for 10 seconds now, and the two people in the room still hadn't noticed her. This meant that either they were too absorbed and didn't notice her arrival, or they had already discovered her but felt it wasn't necessary to acknowledge her.
Either way, Mu Xinyue felt a surge of jealousy and was very annoyed.
She no longer stood at the door of the piano room, but walked straight in.
Mu Xinyue saw Bai Xuechao's ruby-like eyes glance in her direction. As she walked to the piano, he happened to finish playing these few measures and was about to lift his hands.
At this moment, Yuan Lan suddenly reached out and held the back of Bai Xuechao's hand, pressing it onto the black and white keys, and said with a smile, "Has Little Xuechao given up?"
"No, I'll play it again later." Bai Xuechao glanced at Mu Xinyue again and said to Yuan Lan, "Mu Xinyue probably has something to say to you."
"What's wrong?" Only then did Yuan Lan turn to look at Mu Xinyue with a gentle smile, explaining in his gentle and sweet voice, as if to appease her, "I was just making a bet with Little Xuechao on playing the piano, so I didn't greet you when you were standing at the door."
As long as Mu Xinyue heard a single word of explanation from Yuan Lan, the anger from being ignored just now vanished.
But she was still very unhappy with Bai Xuechao's current posture, wishing she could move a chair over for him to sit on. A man sitting on another man's lap, what did that look like?
"It's nothing, I just heard the piano and came to see. I thought it was you playing." Mu Xinyue's blood-red eyes were focused on Yuan Lan, then her gaze shifted slightly, glancing at Bai Xuechao who was extremely close to Yuan Lan's face. She continued to say to Yuan Lan, "I didn't expect Bai Xuechao to know how to play the piano too. It seems we'll have three people who can play in the future."
It was obvious who the three people were.
When Bai Xuechao saw Mu Xinyue, he guessed Yuan Lan's intention in bringing him to the piano room. He only had a vague guess as to how Yuan Lan had lured Mu Xinyue here, and Mu Xinyue's words confirmed his guess. There were only two people in the Apocalypse Society who could play the piano, so if Mu Xinyue heard the piano, it could only be Yuan Lan.
Bai Xuechao said, "I can't play."
This surprised Mu Xinyue. She turned her gaze to Bai Xuechao, "Then you...?"
She pointed at the piano, meaning that Bai Xuechao had just been playing.
"Surprised, aren't you?" Yuan Lan took over the conversation with a smile, sparing no effort to praise Bai Xuechao, "Just now, I was making a bet with Little Xuechao. I only played it once to see if he could repeat it. I didn't expect him to give me a surprise. It's just that he hasn't finished playing yet, so I don't know the result."
Mu Xinyue didn't want to praise Bai Xuechao for being amazing, and said with little interest, "Oh, is that so."
Yuan Lan, whether intentionally or not, said with a smile, "Little Xuechao is amazing, but if he wins, I'll be the one eating the ugly mutated species."
"Eating the ugly mutated species?" Mu Xinyue asked with interest, as if she had remembered something, "What's your bet?"
Bai Xuechao knew that Yuan Lan was using a borrowed knife to kill, and he very cooperatively walked right into the trap, "He said he caught a mutated species before, and it's as unappetizing as the Thousand-Eyed Python. The loser has to eat it."
Mu Xinyue thought for a moment and asked Yuan Lan, "Is it the one that can swim?"
"Yes, it is." Yuan Lan nodded with a smile.
"You guys have to be careful when you eat it. It has a lot of poison glands on its body, you have to dig them out before you eat it." Mu Xinyue's expression actually had a hint of joy, and perhaps it was an illusion, but her tone also had a hint of meaning. "Otherwise, you might get poisoned."
She didn't think Yuan Lan would lose, so the one eating the mutated species would definitely be Bai Xuechao.
Mu Xinyue then said in a very reliable manner, "But it's okay, if you get poisoned, you can just take my potion to detoxify. you won't die."
The poison could be detoxified, but some of the physical damage caused by the poison was not within the scope of her special ability's healing. Her special ability could only heal external injuries or wounds. That wasn't considered a wound, it could only be said to be a sequela, similar to being sick, and it would get better with some rest.
But if Bai Xuechao's body was too weak and he didn't pull through, or if he died from the sequelae, that would be normal, right?
Thinking of this, Mu Xinyue felt that a great opportunity was right in front of her.
She wanted to personally witness the outcome of this bet.
Of course, Yuan Lan would not lose.
"Then you guys continue now?" Mu Xinyue said, and as she spoke, she gracefully walked to the empty side of the piano bench and sat down. "I want to watch too, you don't mind, do you?"
Now, a not-so-small piano bench was fully occupied.
This piano bench was chosen by Mu Xinyue. When she first joined the Apocalypse Society and found out that only Yuan Lan could play the piano, she was overjoyed. In order to be able to play four-hand duets in the future, she specially replaced the piano bench that could only seat one person with this one that could seat two people side by side, although it would be a bit crowded and their thighs would have to be pressed tightly together.
She had beautiful thoughts back then, and had played four-hand duets with Yuan Lan a few times, and the effect was very good. Every time, the two of them would sit shoulder to shoulder, extremely close.
But now, as soon as she sat down, she realized—
This time, it wasn't just Yuan Lan she was sitting next to, but also Bai Xuechao.
Because Mu Xinyue was sitting on the front third of the piano bench, and Yuan Lan was sitting firmly on the bench to make himself a stable "chair", their positions were slightly staggered.
Mu Xinyue could feel that her arm could touch Yuan Lan's arm, but it could also touch Bai Xuechao's, creating a strange triangular intimate atmosphere among the three of them.
The smile on her face stiffened for a moment.
The three of them were sitting too close. Just as Mu Xinyue was about to move to the side a little, she suddenly thought, wait, why should she make room for them? She was going to stick to them!
Bai Xuechao's sitting posture was originally a bit casual, his legs were not neatly stacked on Yuan Lan's legs, but slightly apart, otherwise the back of his knees would be pressed against Yuan Lan's knees, which was not comfortable. But as soon as Mu Xinyue sat down, he felt that his knees were diagonally above Mu Xinyue's legs. If he were a little more unrestrained, he would touch them.
Too close.
After all, Mu Xinyue was a girl. If he put his leg on her leg, wouldn't he be taking advantage of her?
Thinking of this, Bai Xuechao silently retracted his legs and completely stacked them on Yuan Lan's legs, his sitting posture instantly becoming reserved and well-behaved.
For a moment, all three of them were silent.
Bai Xuechao and Mu Xinyue were probably a little embarrassed, and Yuan Lan was just watching the show.
As if to ease the inexplicably awkward atmosphere, Mu Xinyue asked, "Yuan Lan, aren't you supposed to be in the laboratory? Why are you playing the piano?"
"It's because I'm too clingy when I'm sick." Bai Xuechao answered first, putting on his most "green tea" attitude, striving to maximize Mu Xinyue's hatred for him. He said in a soft voice like a spring, "He brought me here to play to coax me."
Mu Xinyue: "..."
Very good, the murderous intent has risen again.