Chapter 16: One Scheme After Another

“Yue Yiyue! Wake up quick, don’t sleep————”

“Yue Yiyue, don’t scare me!”

Who slept?

Yue Yiyue was confused. She hadn’t slept. She looked around in bewilderment.

She looked down at herself. She was standing just fine—

Then she saw Gu Nanqiu running over anxiously, passing right through her body.

That’s when she realized something was wrong.

She looked down and saw her own body standing beside her, Gu Nanqiu anxiously pinching her philtrum.

Was this death?

Yue Yiyue was utterly bewildered.

Dead just like that?

Wasn’t it a bit too hasty?

Before she could figure out what was happening, another person appeared in the classroom.

It was Wang Xiaoyan, whom she hadn’t seen for several days.

She was still wearing the clothes from playing Script Killing and hadn’t changed into her school uniform.

She must have just arrived and hadn’t gone to the Dormitory yet.

She stood at the door, her face pale, with some bruises on her hands that looked freshly formed.

And most conspicuously, there was a clear strangulation mark around her neck.

As if sensing Yue Yiyue’s confusion, Wang Xiaoyan stiffly raised a finger toward another cabinet: “Protect Gu Nanqiu well. You can do that, right?”

“Zhao Heyi really deserved to die, and it served him right that he died first. Zhang Yang’s next target is Fan…..”

“No, I can’t say it.” Wang Xiaoyan tilted her head. She looked at Yue Yiyue: “Alright, don’t keep Nanqiu waiting. Don’t let Nanqiu go hungry. You should go back now.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a gravitational pull tugged at her. Yue Yiyue felt like she was falling from a great height.

Then she felt discomfort in her philtrum.

She dazedly opened her eyes and sensed some wetness on her face.

Yue Yiyue raised her hand to soothe the person in front of her, who was crying her eyes out with pear-blossom tears, her nose all red.

She said weakly: “Wait a bit, let me catch my breath. After I catch my breath, I’ll grab something, then we can go eat……”

She lay on the ground for another minute before fully recovering. “I’m fine. Wang Xiaoyan just used some special method to tell me a few things.”

It was just a bit too rough and direct; she couldn’t quite handle it.

She got up and walked to that cabinet. A Faction Conversion Card lay there quietly.

Yue Yiyue picked it up. “Nanqiu.”

She swallowed. She didn’t know how to break this bad news.

Should she say they had almost saved Wang Xiaoyan?

Or that Zhang Yang had killed Wang Xiaoyan, and she was next?

This Fan wasn’t hard to guess—it had to be Fan Ning.

Why do this?

Just to keep Gu Nanqiu from going to university?

Wasn’t it that they didn’t want to attend the same university as Gu Nanqiu?

Was it that hard to get into this school?

She had checked C University’s admission scores and this body’s College Entrance Exam results.

They were lower than in her own world.

These past few days of practice problems weren’t that hard either.

Zhang Yang was way too extreme.

For Gu Nanqiu to be liked by someone like this, she was really unlucky.

With that thought, Yue Yiyue looked at Gu Nanqiu with a touch more pity.

She would definitely protect Gu Nanqiu well and ensure she had a normal romance in the future.

This Zhang Yang wouldn’t do. She really wouldn’t.

“Nanqiu, I know this might be hard for you to hear, but Zhang Yang has issues. Wang Xiaoyan might have died at her hands.”

Yue Yiyue pursed her lips. “She and Zhao Heyi had the same goal.”

“They wanted you to stay here forever, accompanying them.”

————

When they arrived at the Cafeteria, there was still plenty of time to eat, but most students had already finished and left. Only a few people remained inside.

Gu Nanqiu was still reeling from Yue Yiyue’s words. Her nose was bright red, making her look fragile to Yue Yiyue.

Yue Yiyue had Gu Nanqiu sit down while she took the Meal Card to get food.

This also gave Gu Nanqiu some time—at least this time, she hadn’t witnessed Wang Xiaoyan’s death right in front of her.

After this incident, Yue Yiyue suddenly recalled parts of the Original Work’s plot.

Wang Xiaoyan had indeed died at Zhang Yang’s hands, just not this early.

Later, Zhang Yang had tricked her into the bathroom, and someone pushed her off the building.

That event had made Gu Nanqiu realize something.

But what exactly it was, Yue Yiyue couldn’t remember.

It was as if this world was deliberately playing a joke on her.

Letting her remember parts of this world’s content, but nothing that touched on the way to escape.

Those Blue Clothes were now in Yue Yiyue’s schoolbag; she didn’t know what they were for.

She needed to observe the situation more to figure it out.

And she had to find out what Zhang Yang was up to.

After getting the food, she pushed the portion with more meat toward Gu Nanqiu.

Gu Nanqiu forced a smile. “Yiyue, do you think if I hadn’t come to this event, none of this would have happened?”

“Were they……real?”

“Eat properly.” Yue Yiyue snapped apart the chopsticks and handed them over: “Those few were all in cahoots, backstabbing each other.”

It counted, since they all shared one common goal, though two had veered off path.

“What about you?” Gu Nanqiu looked at Yue Yiyue in confusion, a barely perceptible plea in her eyes.

Gu Nanqiu looked fragile yet beautiful, with a heartbreaking sense of brokenness.

“Zhang Yang told me something, but I didn’t get it.” Yue Yiyue recalled that baffling text message and said honestly. Back then, she had just arrived, her thoughts all jumbled, so how could she know what Zhang Yang meant? Only later, recalling the plot, did she piece it together.

“So I just brushed it off vaguely. Looking back, they had premeditated it all. I should have warned you then.”

Yue Yiyue’s sincere words reassured Gu Nanqiu.

At least Yiyue was on her side.

Gu Nanqiu’s eyes reddened as she suppressed her inner fear and hurriedly shoveled a bite of rice.

A moment later, she said softly: “Tonight…… I still want to sleep with you, holding you……”

“Got it. But kicking Zhang Yang out of the Dormitory right now isn’t a good idea. If you need to, I can carry you back.” Yue Yiyue took a bite of rice. Sleeping together was no big deal, but the main issue now was Zhang Yang: “And apparently, her next target is Fan Ning. We need to stay alert over the next few days. Fan Ning can’t have an accident; she’s key to us getting out.”

And what card did Zhang Yang have up her sleeve? She had definitely lied about her identity.

The Original Work’s plot had completely derailed.

Thinking that she hadn’t seen Wang Xiaoyan’s Identity Card in that room, Yue Yiyue considered a possibility……

It would take some time to verify.

Perhaps scared, Gu Nanqiu only ate a few bites at lunch. Worried she would go hungry in the afternoon, Yue Yiyue made a trip to the Convenience Store.

As soon as she entered, she saw the bread shelf completely empty, while instant noodles piled up beside it.

And from the moment she walked in, the Convenience Store Boss stared stiffly at Yue Yiyue.

Her gaze was odd; anyone could tell it wasn’t the look of someone watching for thieves.

It was a scrutinizing gaze, appraising whether she measured up.

Distant hoarse bird calls echoed, as if reminding her of something……