Chapter 65: Wait, I'm supposed to hit Jiang Xiyue? For real?

***

Watching Jiang Xiyue closing in on her, Bai Ning swallowed hard.

Never mind where they were right now, if Jiang Xiyue actually pulled a repeat of what happened before, she'd probably end up bedridden for another whole day.

Cold sweat dripping down her forehead, Bai Ning kept stepping back while trying to talk her way out of it.

"I think we could take another shot at those 3 questions from earlier. I'll answer them seriously this time, I promise."

Jiang Xiyue had no intention of letting Bai Ning off that easy, and kept closing in step by step.

"No need. Once you already know the answers, getting a question right is pretty simple, isn't it?"

With Jiang Xiyue getting closer and closer, escape was completely hopeless. Bai Ning was already half-ready to just flop back onto the hospital bed and give up.

Right at that moment, a voice suddenly rang out.

System: [Ding! Correction quest activated: Faced with the villainess Jiang Xiyue's threat, there's no way the protagonist like you would just roll over and take it. Fight back! You must be the one in control here.]

Bai Ning: "???"

Curled up on the hospital bed, the panic on her face shifted into pure shock, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly.

What the heck is this? Is that seriously how you launch a correction quest?

She glanced down at her own slender arms, mouth still twitching. She knew the system's quests could get a little abstract, but she really hadn't seen this one coming.

Her hitting Jiang Xiyue? Was that actually happening?

Could she even win?

System: [I have no feelings. I am nothing but an emotionless quest-dispensing machine.]

She slowly looked up at Jiang Xiyue. The hospital's color scheme was all white and blue, and Jiang Xiyue's white coat made her skin look almost as pale as the fabric itself.

There was no denying it, even among mixed-heritage people, Jiang Xiyue's looks were top tier.

She always had this completely unfazed expression on her face, and yet every single thing she said or did managed to catch people completely off guard.

While Bai Ning was still sizing her up, Jiang Xiyue had already walked right up to her. Watching Jiang Xiyue lean her head down closer and closer.

Bai Ning clenched her teeth, her eyes hardening with resolve. Even without this quest, she had nowhere to run anyway. Might as well take the initiative. On top of that, she'd been fed up with Jiang Xiyue's little liberties these past few days, and honestly, she really wanted to see what Jiang Xiyue looked like surprised.

She was always the one taking advantage of her big sister types. Since when did anyone get to take advantage of her?

She grabbed Jiang Xiyue by the collar, and under Jiang Xiyue's completely baffled stare, she lunged forward roughly and pressed their lips together.

"!"

Feeling the contact, Jiang Xiyue's pupils shrank slightly, she was clearly a little surprised.

It was like a little bunny that normally grazed on grass being cornered by a big bad wolf. Just as the wolf was getting ready to enjoy its meal, the bunny suddenly threw its arms around the wolf and took a bite, and not just a quick defensive bite either. It just kept biting and wouldn't let go.

Feeling Bai Ning clinging to her like an octopus and just going for it, Jiang Xiyue genuinely couldn't figure out what was happening.

She'd only planned to tease Bai Ning a little. She hadn't actually intended to do anything, after all, they were still in the hospital, and she'd just spotted Nan Zha getting out of a car in the parking lot below.

Bai Ning stared at Jiang Xiyue's face, which was still calm and unreadable, seemingly completely indifferent to what she was doing. It felt like her entire body had been set on fire, a surge of frustrated rage shooting straight up to her head.

Fine then.

So you're not reacting at all, huh? Then let's kick it up a notch!

Bai Ning threw every bit of her body weight into it and yanked Jiang Xiyue down hard onto the bed.

Thud.

The sound rang out, and the 2 of them crashed down onto the bed together.

The moment they landed, Bai Ning didn't give Jiang Xiyue any time to react. While keeping up what she was doing with her mouth, both her hands started moving too, her nimble fingers beginning to roam all over Jiang Xiyue.

She may not have eaten pork before, but she'd definitely seen a pig run.

All those years of watching movies hadn't gone to waste.

Hah, there's a reaction now, isn't there!

[Jiang Xiyue: surprised, confused, feedback value +206]

Eyes wide open, watching the clear shift in Jiang Xiyue's expression, and listening to the system's readout, Bai Ning felt pretty smug about herself.

She, Bai Ning, was the one who was supposed to be on top!

But before she could enjoy it for long, a surge of overwhelming force came out of nowhere, and her entire world flipped upside down, followed immediately by another system chime.

[Jiang Xiyue: comfortable, on cloud nine, feedback value +486]

Bai Ning barely had time to register what happened before she found herself pinned flat on her back under Jiang Xiyue.

Jiang Xiyue's legs spread on either side of her, holding her down solidly, while both of Bai Ning's wrists, which had been struggling to resist, were locked tight in Jiang Xiyue's grip, raised above her head and pressed into the pillow.

The sudden reversal startled Bai Ning into letting out a muffled "Mmph."

Without any visible effort at all, Jiang Xiyue had completely flipped the situation in an instant. She only needed one hand to pin both of Bai Ning's wrists, leaving Bai Ning with zero strength to fight back.

"Jiang Xiyue, what do you think you're doing?!"

Even though she was pinned down and her heart was absolutely racing, Bai Ning couldn't afford to lose the protagonist's composure. If she did and the system ruled the correction quest a failure, she'd be done for.

"Mm!"

Jiang Xiyue leaned over, looking down at Bai Ning, who was clearly panicking but trying her best to act calm. Her expression was blank. She gave a single firm nod in response to Bai Ning's question.

"Since you asked, and I agreed, I won't hold back then."

Before the words had even finished landing, without giving Bai Ning any chance to speak, their lips met again while Bai Ning's eyes were still wide with panic.

Ever since that time at the banquet, it was like Jiang Xiyue had gotten a taste and couldn't get enough. She'd been hooked on that feeling ever since. She'd tried countless times over the past 2 days, what used to feel so good was starting to feel a bit hollow now.

She'd been telling herself that Bai Ning was still recovering and needed rest. Every time she caught a glimpse of Bai Ning's fair skin beneath that loose hospital gown, she'd been holding herself back.

She hadn't expected Bai Ning to just walk right into her arms this time.

So this time, she didn't hold back at all. Channeling everything she'd been bottling up, as if trying to let it all out at once, she pushed forward to the point where Bai Ning felt like she could barely breathe.

Jiang Xiyue's technique was probably a little rough around the edges, she could train her body regularly, but in this particular area, she was still somewhat inexperienced.

Being pushed to the point where she could barely breathe, her hands pinned tight by Jiang Xiyue, Bai Ning could only twist her head and protest with muffled "Mmph mmph" sounds.

Resistance wasn't really working, and not by a small margin either. Steeling herself, Bai Ning went ahead and bit down on Jiang Xiyue hard.

With the goal of making Jiang Xiyue let go, Bai Ning didn't hold anything back with this one. She bit down as hard as she possibly could.

In an instant, a faint and familiar metallic taste spread between their lips.

She'd expected the pain to make Jiang Xiyue immediately pull back, but what happened next went a little beyond what Bai Ning had imagined.