Qin Jiujiu had not expected that the female lead was also a straightforward woman. Upon hearing her praise for the Qingjue Sword, she had lifted it and held it before Qin Jiujiu, as if expecting her to take it and examine it closely. Qin Jiujiu was genuinely startled. The Qingjue Sword was unsheathed, and with the female lead's maneuver, it was now suspended directly in front of Qin Jiujiu's neck. Although there was a distance, as Qin Jiujiu gazed at the dazzling, glowing Qingjue Sword, she felt as if the blade would sever her throat at any second.
Did they have a vendetta against her neck? Despite her fear, Qin Jiujiu had only ever seen swords on television and had no real-world experience with them. The bloody scenes from those shows were now vivid in her mind. Qin Jiujiu felt it was necessary to distance herself; if the hand holding the sword twitched, her life could be forfeit.
So, Qin Jiujiu smiled and moved a small distance away. Only when the sword was no longer in front of her neck did she dare to relax. Bai Qianluo, not being particularly perceptive, did not notice Qin Jiujiu's unease. However, Xie Jing took it all in.
The corners of his lips curved upward even more, and eventually, he let out a direct laugh, causing the other three people in the room to look at him.
"Xiao Jing, what are you laughing at?" Xie Yun found Xie Jing very strange today. Usually, he wouldn't even smile, and making him speak a sentence was difficult. But today, he was quite unusual.
Qin Jiujiu noticed that Xie Jing's laughter this time was not accompanied by sarcasm or other emotions as described in novels. She could tell his smile was genuine, a rare sight indeed. She recalled that the author had written that his most sincere smile appeared much later in the book, and it was given to the female lead.
All the exceptions for the villain belonged to the female lead; Qin Jiujiu understood this deeply.
Could it be that Xie Jing felt the female lead's bravery was highlighted when compared to her? Qin Jiujiu could only think of this. Yet, she was supposed to be assisting the male and female leads, but instead of progress in their relationship, the villain's feelings for the female lead seemed to be deepening.
Qin Jiujiu felt that this could not continue, so she decided to act quickly.
Xie Jing's smile was indeed genuine, but it was not from admiration for the female lead; it stemmed from mockery of Qin Jiujiu. For the first time, the system harbored some doubts about its host. This host was the most peculiar and foolish it had ever encountered. It couldn't imagine Qin Jiujiu successfully completing her mission. The system felt it might have to re-bind its host soon...
Of course, Qin Jiujiu knew none of this. She was lost in her own speculations, and the system had not given her any hints. However, even if she had known all of it, she wouldn't have dared to show any displeasure to the villain, other than cursing him in her heart.
Since the fox demon disappeared that day, there had been no news related to it in the city. The male and female leads still went out daily to various places to check in, but strangely, the fox demon had truly vanished without a trace.
Besides eating and drinking daily, Qin Jiujiu's activities consisted of clinging to the female lead to gain favor, and also to boost the favorability points of the male and female leads. As for how to do it, Qin Jiujiu believed that as long as she prevented the second male lead from interacting with the female lead, and as long as the supporting female character, which was herself in this case, did not interact with the male lead, then the relationship between the male and female leads would naturally progress smoothly.
Thus, on this day, Qin Jiujiu pestered the female lead, who had not yet left, with praise for the male lead for an entire morning. However, Qin Jiujiu overlooked her original character as a supporting female who liked the male lead and often made the female lead jealous. Under her strenuous praise of the male lead, the female lead's expression grew increasingly displeased.
Qin Jiujiu had thought that by using all the words she had ever read in novels to describe male leads on Xie Yun, the female lead's affection for the male lead would be strengthened. However, the result was—the female lead became even more convinced that she also liked Xie Yun.
"Do you perhaps like Xie Yun?"
Qin Jiujiu stared blankly at the female lead, thinking she was being wronged. Just as she was about to explain to Bai Qianluo, she was interrupted by someone.
When Xie Jing entered, Qin Jiujiu thought, *I knew the second male lead would take advantage of the male lead's absence to come and flirt with the lone female lead.* So she decided to strike first. She even wanted to praise herself for it. Qin Jiujiu didn't notice that her gaze at Xie Jing clearly held an expression of, *I knew you would come.*
"Miss Qin? What are you doing in Miss Bai's room?"
Qin Jiujiu didn't believe Xie Jing was genuinely asking what she was doing there. Based on her intuition, Xie Jing's sentence clearly meant, *Qin Jiujiu, get out quickly, don't delay my developing relationship with Bai Qianluo!* But in reality, Xie Jing's intention was: *Are you that idle, so idle that you're here praising Xie Yun?*
What Qin Jiujiu didn't know was that Xie Jing had been outside the door since she started her elaborate praise of Xie Yun. The system had detected this, but it simply didn't say anything. It not only detected Xie Jing's arrival but also his subtle impatience. Although the villain hadn't yet discovered all his powers, he was very strong, his power unfathomable. In fact, the system was afraid. That's why whenever Xie Jing was present, the system dared not speak, trying its best to lower its presence.
It could only silently tell its host, *Pray for your own good fortune.*
Bai Qianluo didn't want to continue the previous topic. Xie Jing must have come to her with something important, so Bai Qianluo beckoned Qin Jiujiu out. "Jiujiu, you should go back first!"
Qin Jiujiu thought to herself, *This is bad.* Although she had gained a lot of favor from the female lead, this move today had likely created a rift between them. However, with Xie Jing present, it was not convenient to explain. So, she simply followed Bai Qianluo's suggestion and decided to return to her room.
The plot had changed significantly due to her transmigration. Originally, the protagonist should have set off from Shangyang Town long ago, but because of her butterfly effect, there had been no progress.
As soon as Qin Jiujiu left the room, she silently called out to the system in her heart. Away from the villain, the system finally breathed a sigh of relief and dared to respond to Qin Jiujiu. "Host, I just detected that the female lead's favorability towards you has decreased by ten percent. Your current favorability is fifty percent. I cannot detect the villain's favorability towards you, so you'll have to work harder yourself..."
Qin Jiujiu wasn't going to be discouraged by the female lead's decreased favorability. All she wanted to know now was what had happened to the fox demon.
"The fox demon? Why hasn't she appeared? If the fox demon is not destroyed, the plot cannot proceed..."
"The fox demon? She was killed by the villain that day, just like in the original ending." The system's words left Qin Jiujiu speechless for a moment. She had been killed by the villain that day, but this system hadn't told her. Qin Jiujiu felt this system was truly useless; she thought it could be called a 'waste system.'
The fox demon had died long ago. This would explain why there had been no trace of her in the city. The fox demon needed to absorb human essence to heal. But since that day, there had been no news from the city. So, the fox demon had already died.
Since the fox demon was dead, the protagonist group would likely depart for the next location soon to level up and fight monsters! Did this mean her life was temporarily safe?