A yelp of pain came from the corner, and who else but Xie Jing appeared before Qin Jiujiu.
"Xie..." The word "Jing" was about to escape her lips, but Qin Jiujiu quickly changed it to, "Second Young Master Xie." In truth, she felt he didn't deserve the title of "Young Master" at all; not calling him a scoundrel was already an achievement!
Xie Jing responded coldly. Qin Jiujiu couldn't see his face clearly, only a rough outline.
System: If this isn't true love, how could she recognize him?
However, the Xie Jing at this moment overlapped with the Xie Jing from the original text. He didn't get too close to her, so she couldn't smell him.
"How did you get in?" Wasn't this pit only accessible from above? How did she not notice anyone coming down?
Xie Jing didn't answer, but the system chimed in, "Host, you have entered a plot described in the original text. Do not ask too many questions related to the plot!"
Hearing this, Qin Jiujiu was still somewhat confused. She retorted, "This is part of the original plot? What's going to happen next?"
The original plot mainly described the main protagonists, and even Liu Jin appeared very little. If the system said this was a plot from the original, then Bai Qianluo and Xie Yun should also appear!
But as fate would have it, the system said, "Due to certain reasons, the plot has changed. Your mission is to replace Bai Qianluo and complete the task—to rescue the spirit snake from the villain's sword!"
It turned out the system had been rambling on for so long, only for the last sentence. Qin Jiujiu secretly rolled her eyes; she was just a tool.
"Host, right now! Complete the mission quickly!"
As swift as lightning, Xie Jing had already drawn his sword towards the spirit snake. The spirit snake appeared to have low cultivation and had just been heavily struck by Xie Jing, leaving it defenseless.
If Qin Jiujiu couldn't stop him, it would be sliced in two by Xie Jing!
What should she do in this situation!? How could this person move so fast? In the blink of an eye, he had gone from being in front of her to being by the little spirit snake! If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it!
"Slow!" Xie Jing froze for a moment, and his sword also halted in mid-air. Qin Jiujiu seized this opportunity and ran over quickly.
Unfortunately, there was a tripping hazard on the ground that sent her tumbling down. With a cry, she fell to the ground.
System: This wasn't me! When you have bad luck, even stones will trip you up!
Xie Jing looked at Qin Jiujiu's disheveled state, the corners of his lips curling up, a naked mockery on his face.
He inwardly scoffed—how could this woman not be so clumsy she'd kill herself!
Qin Jiujiu quickly got up and rubbed her knee. It didn't hurt much, but it was too embarrassing! In this day and age, missions were hard enough without even a stone trying to harm her!
The spirit snake also silently cursed, "How can there be such a clumsy human! Those humans are so cunning, what kind of species is this woman? Completely ignoring that she suffered misfortune for whose sake!"
Qin Jiujiu ran to Xie Jing. Despite her embarrassment, she decided to play it cool if she was thick-skinned enough. So, with a calm expression, she said to him, "Can you not kill it for now?"
Xie Jing didn't reply. His gaze fell on Qin Jiujiu's knee, and he felt inexplicably annoyed. He nudged his tongue against the roof of his mouth and then turned away.
Qin Jiujiu thought he refused and quickly called out in her mind, "System! System! Come out quickly! How did the female lead in the original text deal with the villain? I can't handle him!"
"The female lead didn't use words..." Before the system could finish, Qin Jiujiu understood—so it was because she was a weakling who couldn't do anything!
She suddenly felt a strong desire to train!
What if she tried a sneak attack?
With a flash of cold light, Xie Jing's hand holding the sword moved again.
As the little spirit snake was about to be tragically killed by the sword, Qin Jiujiu suddenly stood on tiptoe and lunged forward to kiss him, shouting in advance, "Xie Jing!"
This shout of "Xie Jing!" successfully drew his attention. He suddenly turned to look at her. Qin Jiujiu, who had originally only intended to kiss his cheek, accidentally kissed his lips.
Her kiss landed lightly on his lips, a brief touch, yet it stirred a ticklish sensation like a feather brushing past, traveling from her lips to her heart.
Time seemed to stop in the darkness.
The little spirit snake, not yet an adult, just watched the two of them blankly. The fear it had felt from the murderous intent emanating from the fierce man before it had largely dissipated.
The spirit snake was most sensitive to its surroundings and also skilled at peeking into people's hearts. Therefore, it immediately sensed the change in Xie Jing and instinctively knew—its life was temporarily safe!
Qin Jiujiu carefully apologized, "This... was an accident, do you believe me?"
His gaze was fixed on her rosy lips. Though it was dark all around, he could see her face clearly. He suddenly reached out and touched her face.
Qin Jiujiu stiffened, almost swatting his hand away. He curved his lips into an extremely charming smile. A deep voice emerged from the darkness, sounding different from his usual tone. Qin Jiujiu felt a shiver crawl up her spine.
She heard him say, "Then what if I say this was also an accident, do you believe me?"
Qin Jiujiu: ???
Her bewildered eyes sparkled in the darkness. As she stared at Xie Jing, utterly confused, his face suddenly moved closer, so abruptly that she couldn't dodge at all.
They were very close. She felt his breath, tickling her cheek. Startled, Qin Jiujiu thought he was going to kiss her cheek, so she quickly cupped her hands over her face, covering it tightly.
Xie Jing's lips curved slightly; it seemed he was smiling. Qin Jiujiu was a bit dazed, finding the villain's actions unfathomable. But she didn't expect that the next moment, his lips would press heavily onto hers!
The moment he kissed her, Qin Jiujiu understood he was mocking her!
So this was the accident he had mentioned!
Qin Jiujiu wouldn't let him have his way. Now fully conscious, she shoved him away forcefully.
Xie Jing looked at Qin Jiujiu with amusement. Her lips were slightly swollen, but not from the current incident.
"I said it was an accident, do you believe me?" He latched onto that sentence, as if genuinely asking for an answer.
Qin Jiujiu could only reply, "These two accidents are quite coincidental! They just happened, wouldn't you say?"
She feigned nonchalance, but inwardly, she wanted to beat him up! This was clearly him taking advantage and then playing innocent! No matter how you looked at it, she was the one who lost out!
The little spirit snake watched the two of them flirt, finding it too much to bear!
It silently transformed back into a small snake, its size much smaller than the giant python it had been before. It would be less awkward as a snake, right?
Xie Jing stopped pursuing the topic but also had no intention of killing the snake anymore. Qin Jiujiu also heard the system's notification, "Host, the mission is half complete. Please take the little spirit snake out!"
Qin Jiujiu breathed a sigh of relief. Although she didn't know why Xie Jing had abandoned the idea of killing the snake, she looked at the little spirit snake in the corner and felt a strong reluctance.
How was she supposed to take this snake out? Ask Xie Jing? He would be lucky if he didn't kill it!
In the end, she decided to try and negotiate with the little spirit snake— "Little black snake, will you let big sister take you out?"
The little spirit snake looked with disdain at this girl who called herself "big sister" but was only in her teens. It turned its snake head away, clearly unwilling!