Xie Jing increasingly suspected he was being controlled by physiological desire. Though his mind didn't want to look at Qin Jiujiu, his eyes were unconsciously drawn to her.
Was it really that delicious?
He was not a greedy person and usually ate very little, but seeing her eat with such gusto, he felt a desire to taste it too.
Then, his body reacted before his brain, and he picked up the dessert in front of him and took a bite.
But the pastry was cloyingly sweet, so sweet it was nauseating, and the fruit wine in front of him had a strange taste.
Why was Qin Jiujiu enjoying it so much?
Xie Jing felt that Qin Jiujiu must have been raised in sugar, otherwise, how could she like sweets so much.
At the same time, Xie Jing noticed another gaze on Qin Jiujiu. He had always been very sensitive, and this gaze was clearly aggressive, the kind that was easily perceived and openly directed.
Without even meeting the gaze, Xie Jing knew how intense it must be.
This made him very uncomfortable, extremely displeased!
Xie Jing normally didn't like to meddle in other people's business, but this gaze bothered him immensely, so he coldly looked at the owner of the gaze – Su Yuqing.
Su Yuqing, when facing Xie Jing, revealed the smile he always wore. This smile was very friendly and polite. Coupled with Su Yuqing's scholarly appearance, this smile, in Qin Jiujiu's words, was a typical player's smile.
Xie Jing returned the smile.
Qin Jiujiu, while sneakily glancing at Xie Jing, saw this scene. Two handsome men stared at each other across the table, smiling as if bathed in spring breeze, looking almost tenderly at each other… The rest of the story was left to the imagination, as passionate as one could imagine.
Xie Jing found Su Yuqing very hypocritical. Based on his intuition, this person was definitely not simple. Then he saw Qin Jiujiu beam a lovesick smile at Su Yuqing.
He had never seen her smile like this before, but it wasn't the fake smile she gave him. Apart from when she faced him, she seemed to smile happily.
This made Xie Jing no longer want to investigate Su Yuqing's gaze. It would be best if something happened to that woman, then she would see if she dared to smile like that again!
What Qin Jiujiu didn't know was that Xie Jing had already retaliated against her several times. She had always thought Xie Jing would kill her openly and directly, like strangling her.
She didn't know that Xie Jing had already tricked her many times!
Back at the fortune teller's house, her Qiankun Bag was taken from her by Xie Jing's mischief. She never imagined that after she ran away, the little devil Xie Jing had simply beckoned, and all her wealth had fallen into his hands.
At that time, Xie Jing truly wanted her dead. Just like a moment ago, Xie Jing had murderous intent again, but this time he didn't plan to act himself.
Sometimes, killing with a borrowed knife was also a form of pleasure!
Qin Jiujiu saw that her delighted smile had been discovered by Su Yuqing. He offered her a polite smile, and with a handsome man before her, she naturally had to reciprocate politely.
So she raised a polite smile.
She didn't know that her appearance was already sweet and cute. With this smile, the dimples on her cheeks were as sweet as if they were coated in honey. Her curved eyebrows and round dimples were simply the icing on the cake. Coupled with the influence of alcohol, everything was just right. She was practically a captivating siren at this moment!
Xie Jing's expression grew colder. He simply stopped looking at her and turned to drink.
The wine was truly unpleasant, but he didn't want to stop.
Qin Jiujiu felt annoyed about drinking so much fruit wine earlier. Although the alcohol content was low, it was still liquid. Once consumed, it quickly demanded a trip to the restroom, and she soon felt the urge to urinate.
She scanned the area and saw that the main characters were discussing the Nine Yin Beast with Su Yuqing. While Xie Jing wasn't participating in their conversation, she couldn't rely on him to accompany her to the restroom. Although she was completely unfamiliar with the way, and it was dark, she was afraid to go out alone. However, the more she held it in, the stronger the urge to go to the restroom became.
Qin Jiujiu decided to brace herself and go out to find the restroom.
She quietly slipped out of the room. The main characters were busy with important matters and didn't notice her departure.
Xie Jing, however, did see her. He watched Qin Jiujiu sneakily skirt around to the back like a thief and then leave. He was curious about what she was going to do, but soon suppressed this unease.
Why should he care about her!
He quickly averted his gaze and continued to pretend nothing was wrong. Yet, for some reason, he couldn't even drink the wine anymore.
So he simply put down his cup, closed his eyes, and rested.
Qin Jiujiu had intended to find a maid or servant outside to ask for the direction to the privy, but to her surprise, she encountered no one.
She pressed her forehead helplessly and had no choice but to rely on her intuition.
She was quite lucky, as after searching for a while, she found the privy.
However, after emerging from the privy, feeling completely relieved, Qin Jiujiu panicked again. She had found the restroom, but how was she to get back?
She had clearly gotten lost. She didn't expect that even in a new body, she was still directionally challenged. Now, she had two options – grope her way back by intuition or use the communicator given by Xie Yun to ask for help.
Qin Jiujiu chose the first option without hesitation.
On this dark and windy night, she mentally conjured scenes from horror movies as she stumbled her way back to the hall.
Bai Qianluo noticed Qin Jiujiu was missing from her side when Qin Jiujiu was already lost in the courtyard. Now, she was huddled, with no means of illumination whatsoever, relying entirely on moonlight and the lanterns of the Su residence.
How she missed her phone!
As a young person from the 21st century, lacking a phone made her feel insecure, especially in an era filled with demons and monsters. Qin Jiujiu felt she could easily become an appetizer.
She didn't know where she had wandered to. In her haste, she hadn't paid attention to the path she had taken.
The courtyards of the Su residence all looked similar?
Qin Jiujiu became increasingly flustered. She felt like she was getting further and further away. At this moment, her mind was collapsing. But to tell the male lead that she had gotten drunk, needed to use the restroom, and then gotten lost, asking him to come and rescue her?
Qin Jiujiu felt she still had some dignity.
Suddenly, she remembered she had another option. Although she didn't know if it would work, Qin Jiujiu decided to try.
"System, are you there? You're not asleep, are you? I'm lost. You're so capable, you should be able to guide me, right?"
"Yes, Host."
At this moment, Qin Jiujiu felt that the system wasn't so annoying anymore. It even felt like a timely savior. For someone lost, encountering a guide in their time of need was like meeting a god!
Qin Jiujiu hadn't expected the system to function as a navigation system, though this navigation was within her mind.
"Host, go down the path on the right first!"
Just as Qin Jiujiu was about to step to the right, she suddenly heard a laugh. The laugh was faint, but she recognized it as a female voice. She quickly imagined a ghost movie in her mind, as anything was possible here.
She mumbled unclearly, "If you've done nothing wrong, you have no fear of ghosts knocking at your door! Amitabha..."
"Hahahaha..."
This time, the laughter was louder, and Qin Jiujiu heard it clearly. Upon hearing it clearly, it became less horrifying, as it sounded more like a woman laughing.
"Daddy, I want candy..."
After the laughter, the woman began to speak.
Qin Jiujiu, who was about to leave, immediately stopped. This was clearly a woman. Her voice didn't sound like a child's, but her cooing tone was unmistakably that of a child of a few years old.
Qin Jiujiu was curious and decided to investigate. She stood still and listened quietly. Identifying the source of the sound to be on the left, she turned and walked down the path to the left.
The sound was loud and quite clear, so it should be close.
Indeed, after turning and walking for a short while, she saw a courtyard – Qiuyuan.
This courtyard didn't look very large, but standing outside, she could feel that it was meticulously maintained.
The gate of the courtyard was not closed. Looking in from the outside, Qin Jiujiu felt that it had nothing in common with the courtyards in ghost movies where ghosts appeared.
The courtyard was filled with plants, looking as if they had been carefully tended. Although she couldn't recognize the flowers, and it seemed they weren't in bloom yet, just standing in this courtyard gave one a refreshing feeling.
The owner of this courtyard must be a very discerning person.