Chapter 293
Chapter 293
“Your beauty outshines the flowers,” Qin Nan said.
Miss Xie was clearly pleased by the compliment.
She gestured toward Qin Nan with the hand reaching for the flowers, and a moment later, the flowers were in her grasp.
Miss Xie accepted them in high spirits. “You certainly have a sweet tongue.”
The moment she finished speaking, a notification sounded in Qin Nan’s mind.
“Miss Xie’s Favorability +10. Current Character Favorability: 10.”
Now holding two bouquets, Miss Xie released Lu Jing’s whip.
Lu Jing hurriedly pulled it back. He did not lash out with it again, but he remained on guard.
Miss Xie paid him no attention.
She raised a hand and gently flicked her fingertip. A path was forcibly carved through the pool of saliva, leading all the way to the front gate of the Xie Residence. At the same time, the gate abruptly swung open at the motion of her finger.
“You may leave,” Miss Xie said.
Qin Nan did not move. Instead, he looked at Jian Fan.
Jian Fan remained composed. He nodded to Miss Xie, then stepped down from the stool and walked out as if nothing were amiss.
Seeing this, Qin Nan quickly followed him.
By then, Qin Weiyi had also exchanged Points for a bouquet.
He held them out to Miss Xie. After a moment’s thought, he added, “They bloomed for you.”
Miss Xie broke into a smile. “Why are all of you such sweet talkers?”
As she spoke, she accepted the flowers, and Qin Weiyi also received a System notification.
“Miss Xie’s Favorability +10. Current Character Favorability: 10.”
Lu Jing had always followed Qin Weiyi’s lead. He had exchanged his flowers some time ago, so he immediately took them out and offered them to Miss Xie. Then, after racking his brains, he finally managed to blurt out, “The flowers aren’t as pretty as you.”
“Oh my, you shouldn’t say such embarrassingly honest things.” Miss Xie smiled bashfully.
At the same time–
“Miss Xie’s Favorability +10. Current Character Favorability: 40.”
Only after Lu Jing had presented his flowers did he and Qin Weiyi step down from their stools and follow Qin Nan and Jian Fan.
Lin Junruo, Yellow Hair, and Mu Xin did not hesitate either. The three of them took out their flowers one after another and spoke almost simultaneously.
Lin Junruo said, “Your beauty is unparalleled in this world. Even the flowers pale in comparison.”
Mu Xin said, “It is the flowers’ good fortune to be presented to you.”
Yellow Hair said, “You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen.”
Miss Xie smiled as she accepted all three bouquets and their compliments, though her reaction was not as enthusiastic as before. At that moment, a System notification sounded in each of their minds.
“Miss Xie’s Favorability +10. Current Character Favorability: 10.”
The three of them immediately hurried after Qin Weiyi and the others.
Seeing that everyone else had made their choice, Yang Zhen also exchanged her flowers. However, unlike those before her, she did not add any flattering words.
She was giving Miss Xie flowers, so why should she have to flatter her too?
Miss Xie still accepted Yang Zhen’s flowers, but–
“Miss Xie’s Favorability +5. Current Character Favorability: 5.”
Yang Zhen did not know how much Favorability the others had gained, so she saw nothing wrong with the result and calmly followed after them.
Zhou Jingying and Shi Chen hesitated, but everyone else had already left. Now, only the three of them remained…
In the end, Zhou Jingying made her choice as well.
She offered the flowers to Miss Xie, then thought for a moment and said, “When people speak of a beauty among flowers, they must mean someone like you.”
Miss Xie smiled and granted Zhou Jingying +10 Favorability. Shi Chen followed suit, but he truly had no idea what to praise. Since Yang Zhen had said nothing, he decided not to say anything either. Naturally, that meant he received only +5 Favorability.
By the time all ten of them had finished, Jian Fan and Qin Weiyi, who were at the very front, had already stepped through the gate.
At that moment, Jian Fan turned around and looked back at the scene inside.
Xia Zeqin was still standing leisurely on his stool.
Miss Xie looked at him and let out a laugh. “What about you?”
“Do you need it?” Xia Zeqin asked.
Miss Xie’s lips twitched. “Boring. Hurry up and get lost.”
Xia Zeqin smiled, stepped down from the stool, and followed the others toward the entrance.
As he did, his gaze naturally met Jian Fan’s.
Their eyes met in midair, and Xia Zeqin arched a provocative brow at him.
Jian Fan ignored him completely and looked away.
The area covered in saliva was confined to the Xie Residence. Outside, the bluestone road was untouched. The only difference was that the red lanterns they had seen hanging outside every home on their way here had now been replaced by white ones.
“Let’s go,” Jian Fan said once everyone had come out.
“Where?” Qin Weiyi asked.
They had been staying at the NPC Brother Zhao’s house, but now that they knew the NPC was a ghost, were they really going back there?
But if they did not return to Brother Zhao’s house, where else could they go?
This entire town was full of ghosts.
Besides, Miss Xie might have let them go, but who could guarantee she would not change her mind? And would those ghosts really obey her wishes without question?
“It’s the place we’re most familiar with right now,” Jian Fan said.
Qin Weiyi sighed. “I understand.”
They had nowhere else to go. In the end, they could only choose the least terrible option available.
The group retraced their steps.
A little over ten minutes later, they arrived back at Brother Zhao’s courtyard.
Everyone gathered once more in the dining room of Brother Zhao’s house.
To keep Brother Zhao’s family of three from returning and forcing them to share a roof with ghosts again, they barricaded all the doors with tables and stools. They had no idea whether it would actually work, but doing something was better than doing nothing.
If nothing else, it gave them some peace of mind.
Once they were done, everyone stood around the room, exchanging glances in silence.
“So, what do we know?” Qin Nan was the first to break the silence.
Qin Weiyi walked over to the side and sat down. “There are several things we can confirm so far. First, Miss Xie should be a key NPC in this world. She’s choosing a Groom, and whoever is chosen will face a series of life-threatening dangers. Once he dies, he’ll become Miss Xie’s Groom.”
“Second, everyone in this town has turned into a ghost. They’re active at night, while all of Leqing Town is quiet during the day. I think that’s our opportunity. We can search the town for clues during daylight hours.”
“Third, Fang Kang is dead, but we still don’t know what he did to trigger his death. I don’t think Miss Xie chose him as her Groom. It seems more like he accidentally triggered a Death Setting and became the Groom after he died. So, in addition to what we know about Miss Xie choosing a Groom, I have another theory: only someone who has died can become the Groom, and it may not necessarily be the person Miss Xie chose herself.”
“Of course, that’s only speculation. I can’t be completely certain,” Qin Weiyi added.
“What else?” Qin Nan asked.
Qin Weiyi continued, “Fourth, the saliva is dangerous to us. When Jian Fan was negotiating with Miss Xie, he offered the item in exchange for our lives, and Miss Xie responded by opening a path for us. That means the stream of saliva posed a mortal threat to us.”
“Fifth, nothing from this world should be able to harm those ghosts, but ordinary weapons obtained from the Points Mall can.”
“Sixth, we can raise the Favorability of everyone in this town, and that flower was probably tailor-made for Miss Xie. After all, it raised her Favorability by ten points outright,” Qin Weiyi said.
“Wait.”
Yang Zhen paused.