Love from the Male Protagonist’s Harem - Chapter 25-1
Chapter 25-Suxi Pavilion Part 1
Translated by Snowfall77
Xia Ge awoke to the twittering of sparrows.
Her eyes didn’t open. But she had woken up.
……whatever she was laying on was clearly not her own bed.
There was a very soft quilt, with a light scent of sandalwood. Ah, this quilt was a hundred times softer and warmer to bask in than her own.
Eyes still closed, Xia Ge felt out of it. How long had she been sleeping? When had she fallen asleep? Had the effects of {soul capture} passed?
—-She had no idea.
Still, unexpectedly she didn’t feel at all panicky.
A reassuring fragrance encompassed her as she slowly recalled what’d happened that day.
She’d skipped class to go drinking, she’d been caught in the act by Senior Sister, left the tavern to be surrounded by murderous demon puppets, and then Senior Sister’s {tianzhuling}……
—–“You can keep your eyes closed till dawn, the evil spirits won’t hurt you.”
The young lady’s voice had been clear and cold, yet very gentle.
“Little puppet, little puppet.” Xia Ge called to her system.
Finally, after a long silence, the system lazily answered: [Yes? I’m Here, What’s The Matter?]
“Has the effect passed yet?”
System: [……What Effect?]
Xia Ge: “{soul capture}.”
The system sounded rather surprised: [Your {soul capture} Was Upgraded. If You Are Not Deliberately Using It, The Effect Will Cease In Three Minutes.]
Xia Ge: “……”
For a split-second Xia Ge felt a twinge of unbelievable shame for her contrived acting in front of Senior Sister yesterday.
Eyes still closed, she thumped her forehead with back of a hand: “Oh my god……”
Before she believed she couldn’t open her eyes because of {soul capture}, and now she couldn’t open her eyes because it would be unbearable to meet the gaze of a certain someone.
Suffocating.
System: [It Serves You Right. Who Told You To Not Bother Reading The Skill Description?]
Xia Ge: “I didn’t want to read it. If I read it, I’d only be tempted to use {soul capture} more, and then that’d only raise the chances of getting exposed.”
It took the system a moment to follow that line of thought: [……Guess That Makes Sense.]
Xia Ge rolled over. Of course it made sense. When a salted fish wanted to goof off, any plausible excuse would do.
Pretending to be frail, Xia Ge lay still like a corpse for a long while. But no one came to check up on her and eventually playing invalid for a nonexistent audience got boring. Finally opening her eyes, the first thing Xia Ge saw was that the bandages on her left hand had been changed. She touched her neck, feeling two layers of soft, neat bandaging that had an almost imperceptible scent of sandalwood.
Next, she scanned her surroundings.
Warm sunshine filtered through a carved window lattice, illuming a clean and tidy room. A pearwood table was in front of the window, a solitary, small porcelain vase atop it, holding a graceful branch of peach blossom.
Well……it obviously wasn’t her own room.
The quilt over her body was so soft. Xia Ge lifted it to glance down at her body, breathing a sigh of relief at what she found.
Her clothes had not been removed.
System: [Even If You Had Been Stripped, It’s Not Like There’s Anything To See……]
Xia Ge: “……”
“”
Trash system. Is it just too hard for you not to talk?
Expressionless, Xia Ge got out of the bed. She scratched her head without thinking, but was surprised to find her hair loose and her green ribbon missing.
Suddenly the system remembered: [Host, You Let Those Two Demon Sect People Escape Yesterday.]
“Where’s my green ribbon?” Xia Ge asked, ignoring the system’s remark, “Where did it go?”
[You Gave The Liuli Puppet To That Boy Bairen……What Are You Planning?]
Pausing only to put on her boots, Xia Ge practically turned the room upside down looking for her green ribbon: “Where the hell did it go……”
[Host, I Must Warn You. Do Not Try To Change The Direction Of The Plot—–]
“You’re very irritating.”
Eventually, Xia Ge found her green ribbon on the pearwood table. Pressed under down by a paper weight, next to the fine rice paper, it was now missing a small corner, thanks to one of Bairen’s paper needles. Noon breeze flitting, that touch of emerald green lifted a person’s mood.
“I won’t try to change the plot.” Xia Ge indolently tied her ribbon, “The plot is good as it is, I like it.”
[Then You……]
“I hear the scenery of the Demon Sect is very nice. I just wanted my little Liuli puppet to be able to enjoy it, alright?”
System: [……]
Don’t think I believe your evil words.
The atmosphere became subdued.
Feeling that its words had been a little too severe, and wanting to maintain an amicable and cooperative relationship with its host, the system decided to offer a friendly suggestion: [Oh By The Way Host, The Points Mall Has Many Daily Bargains, With Very Fascinating Capabilities. If You Have Some Spare Time, You Should Take A Look……]
The system’s reminders seldom came across as genuine or subtle.
Xia Ge: “Don’t want to.”
Trying to get her to spend her available points was nothing but pit digging by the System. And, given her current bad mood, Xia Ge didn’t feel like being pitted.
You trying to be clever, selling me cheap goods?
System: [Look Or Don’t Look, Whatever Pleases You.]
The breeze carried in the fragrance of April peach blossoms beginning to bloom as the sun shone. Glancing out the window at the peach tree branches, Xia Ge’s eyes had a faint light.
The plot might be a fixed thing, but the people within it were alive.
……Ye Ze.
