Chapter 1039: The Protagonist's Situation

“How about I put it this way, Qiǎo Yún jiě…” Hàn Yī Mò swallowed hard and continued, “No matter what happens with Lǎo Zhào, I’m definitely on your side.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wén Qiǎo Yún was thoroughly amused by Hàn Yī Mò. “Is this… some kind of loyalty pledge?”

“Of course it is… Qiǎo Yún jiě…” Hàn Yī Mò said with a sincere expression, “You might not realize it, but my situation right now is really awkward…!”

Wén Qiǎo Yún found it all quite entertaining: “How exactly is it ‘awkward’?”

“Well… Qiǎo Yún jiě, you seem like a very cultured person, so you must have read a lot of novels, right?” Hàn Yī Mò asked.

“I…” Wén Qiǎo Yún was clearly caught off guard by this logic, “First of all… I don’t have a high level of education, and besides, I don’t think being cultured has anything to do with reading novels. In this world, there are professors who love novels and scientists who don’t.”

“Ah, anyway, you get what I mean!” Hàn Yī Mò said, “I’ve run into a not-so-great mentor figure… I mean Qí Xià. He was originally my ‘savior,’ but I’m starting to see that he doesn’t have his full attention on me. Instead, he has his own ideals and ambitions… His ambitions are huge, like a typical villain character setup. You get it, right…?”

Wén Qiǎo Yún fell silent.

“If this villain gets the chance to grow, he could turn into a demon that plagues the world, and as the protagonist, I have to find a way to stop it all.” Hàn Yī Mò said, gesturing animatedly, “But I’m limited in what I can do right now. The only option is to go undercover in Qí Xià’s team and try to dismantle it from the inside… What I mean is, if you’ve read a lot of novels, you’d know this makes sense… Do you understand?”

Wén Qiǎo Yún remained silent.

“Qiǎo Yún jiě, you haven’t seen much of the world, and I don’t blame you.” Hàn Yī Mò went on, “You just need to know that the situation is really urgent. If I don’t take your ‘zì’ with me when I leave, I’ll lose Qí Xià’s trust, and then it’ll be even harder to break them down from within! If you lose to me now, it’s not just for me—it’s for everyone, and for yourself too! Hand over your ‘zì’ to me, and the common people of ‘Zhōng Yān Zhī Dì’ will all be grateful to you!”

As Hàn Yī Mò spoke passionately, a few spit droplets nearly flew onto Wén Qiǎo Yún’s face.

After listening to Hàn Yī Mò, Wén Qiǎo Yún looked to the side, scratched her head lightly with her fingernail, and let out a faint clearing of her throat.

Absurd.

Was today just too absurd?

First Chén Jùn Nán, then Hàn Yī Mò.

Had ‘Zhōng Yān Zhī Dì’ completely run out of normal people?

Or was it only people like them who could survive this long…?

After a moment, she slowly spoke: “Hàn Yī Mò, there’s something I don’t quite understand.”

“Go ahead.”

“I’ve heard from others…” Wén Qiǎo Yún said gravely, “In this place, everyone has been in a cycle of reincarnation, so I’ve just lost my memories—I didn’t just appear here.”

“Yeah, yeah, that seems to be the case. It’s a reincarnation setup,” Hàn Yī Mò replied.

“So, a lot of people know me, and many remember me.”

“Yeah, seems like it. You’re a big figure.”

Hàn Yī Mò thought for a moment and added, “Like an ancient great power.”

“That’s where my question comes in,” Wén Qiǎo Yún said. “Your ‘commander’ Qí Xià should know what kind of person I am, right?”

“Yeah, seems like he does. He knows you.”

“Qí Xià understands me and understands you, and yet I lost to you here.” Wén Qiǎo Yún said, “Are you sure that if you take my ‘zì’ out, he won’t get even more suspicious?”

“Ah…?”

Hàn Yī Mò seemed to grasp what Wén Qiǎo Yún meant, but he hadn’t expected her to say it so directly.

Wén Qiǎo Yún reached out and slowly picked up the coin that the wild boar had left on the table. The coin had “Jiǎ” on one side and “Yǐ” on the other, appearing to be made of pure copper, with one side smooth and the other rough.

“Hàn Yī Mò, just talking about this ‘guess the coin’ game… if we played fifty rounds in a row, how many do you think you could win?”

No sooner had she spoken than Wén Qiǎo Yún flipped the coin high into the air and quickly slammed it down on the table.

“I guess it’s heads. What about you?” Wén Qiǎo Yún asked.

“I… I…”

Before Hàn Yī Mò could respond, Wén Qiǎo Yún lifted her hand, and sure enough, it was heads.

Under Hàn Yī Mò’s shocked gaze, Wén Qiǎo Yún flipped the coin again casually and slammed it down once more.

“Hàn Yī Mò, this time it’s tails.”

“You…”

Wén Qiǎo Yún removed her hand, and indeed, it was tails.

Hàn Yī Mò was completely baffled by Wén Qiǎo Yún’s actions. It was supposed to be a guessing game, but she seemed to be actually seeing the result.

For the third time, she tossed the coin into the air, caught it in her hand, and held it up in front of Hàn Yī Mò.

“This time, you guess,” Wén Qiǎo Yún said.

Hàn Yī Mò stared at her fist for a long time before blurting out: “Tails.”

Wén Qiǎo Yún turned her fist over, slammed the coin on the table, and said softly: “You guessed wrong.”

She lifted her hand for the third time, revealing that it was heads.

Hàn Yī Mò realized she didn’t even need to look at the coin to know whether it was heads or tails. At this rate, his chances of winning were less than one percent.

“Qiǎo Yún jiě, how are you doing that…?” Hàn Yī Mò asked.

“Now that’s a good question.” Wén Qiǎo Yún replied, “Great writer, to me, that question is just like asking ‘Can you deliberately lose to me?’ Do you think I’d tell you before the game ends?”

Now it was Hàn Yī Mò’s turn to fall silent.

He felt like he was being treated like some minor side character.

Seeing that Hàn Yī Mò had nothing to say, Wén Qiǎo Yún continued: “Actually, I have a suggestion. It’s more reasonable than yours—want to hear it?”

“What…?” Hàn Yī Mò asked.

“Just admit defeat and give me the ‘zì’.”

“Ah?!” Hàn Yī Mò thought it was utterly ridiculous. “What kind of suggestion is that…? I already told you, if I don’t take the ‘zì’ out, I’ll definitely…”

“It won’t happen.” Wén Qiǎo Yún said, “Only if you lose to me here will it be a normal outcome for Qí Xià. Otherwise, when he asks you ‘How did you win,’ how are you going to lie your way out of it?”

“This…”

“I’ve completely figured out this game now. Continuing is just a waste of time. I advise you to honestly leave the ‘zì’ behind.”

Hàn Yī Mò hesitated with a troubled expression for a while before saying: “But I don’t have a ‘zì’… How am I supposed to keep playing?”

“Isn’t Qí Xià supposed to trust you?” Wén Qiǎo Yún said with a smile, “Then he’ll definitely give you another ‘zì.’ You can bring that new ‘zì’ and hand it over to me. That way, your team loses two ‘zì,’ and I’ll fully believe you’re on our side. Deal?”