Nan Yao opened the mailbox to find only the greeting card she had written herself, displaying a single unidirectional arrow.
Before long, she caught the sound of male guests’ footsteps outside the door, immediately followed by a knock.
Only after hearing the adjacent door open did Nan Yao unlock hers. Looking to the left, she saw a row of bashful, beaming girls.
Lu Jingwang, Jiang Ying, and Chu Jie had all chosen Su Xiao’ai, while Su Xiao’ai had chosen Jiang Ying. Liu Xing and An Feiwan had chosen each other. Jiang Jingyu and Peng Xin had chosen each other as well—with Nan Yao adding her vote for Jiang Jingyu.
That meant Liu Xing and An Feiwan were the only top-match Heartbeat Couple. The remaining guests were split into a three-way date and a four-way date.
Jiang Jingyu rubbed his forehead and led Peng Xin over to Nan Yao. The corners of his mouth twitched upward in a smirk he couldn’t suppress, his tone dripping with self-satisfaction. “I see you picked me.”
“Yes.”
“So… where’s the bracelet?” Jiang Jingyu let out an embarrassed laugh. “Put it on my left wrist.”
“…” Nan Yao looked down at the wrist Jiang Jingyu offered, spreading her empty hands. “Didn’t make one.”
Jiang Jingyu blinked. “Didn’t you know about it because you weren’t here yesterday? Didn’t Peng Xin tell you? I remember she went looking for you.”
Damn it!
Peng Xin hung her head, grinding her teeth in quiet rage, despising Nan Yao for intentionally throwing her under the bus.
“Jingyu,” she murmured, her demeanor instantly shifting as she looked up with tear-brimmed, pleading eyes, putting on a coy and aggrieved act. “Nan Yao probably thought I was nagging yesterday, so she got upset and didn’t want to talk to me. I even sent her a message, Jingyu, but she probably didn’t see it and assumed I was in the wrong… You have to believe me.”
“Of course I believe you.” Jiang Jingyu quickly leaned down to comfort Peng Xin, who was pouting unhappily. “I was just asking—I didn’t mean to blame you. Maybe Nan Yao really just missed the message. It’s fine.”
“I know that’s how it is.” Peng Xin looked dolefully at the unbothered Nan Yao. “Maybe she was just dealing with some frustrating stuff that day. After all, Nan Yao has a ton of personal baggage to handle. You know, Jingyu, she used to be a low-grade movie… oh, I mean, an D-list nobodies’ star. Joining a show like this must have taken an awful lot of effort…”
Draped in a cloak of gentle understanding, her words dripped with thin-veiled mockery.
“Have you said enough?” Nan Yao’s voice was ice-cold. “The only reason I haven’t exposed your little act is that I don’t waste my breath on useless nonsense. Don’t push your luck.”
“Nan Yao, I’m just telling the truth. I’m just worried bad actors behind the scenes might trouble you,” Peng Xin said, gazing up at Jiang Jingyu with innocent, wide eyes. “Nan Yao’s used to running wild in the industry. I just hope you can be patient with her during the date, Jingyu.”
Nan Yao scoffed and turned away.
Jiang Jingyu’s eyes flickered, masking his true thoughts behind a brilliant, charming smile. “Definitely. You two are both princesses, and today, I’ll be the knight for both of you.”
“Why don’t we head to the amusement park today? What kind of rides do you like?”
“I love the carousel,” Peng Xin said excitedly.
“What about you, Yao?”
“The haunted house.”
Jiang Jingyu’s eyes lit up with delight. “It’s pretty rare for a girl to like haunted houses.”
Peng Xin narrowed her eyes and suddenly leaned into Nan Yao’s space. Though her words were aimed at Nan Yao, they were clearly meant for Jiang Jingyu’s ears.
“Is it because it’s easier to jump into a guy’s arms?”
Forced to stop in her tracks, Nan Yao set her unreadable eyes on Peng Xin. The corners of her lips curled into a cold smile. “No, I just like playing the ghost—specifically to scare snakes in the grass.”
Peng Xin’s face instantly darkened.
Jiang Jingyu stared blankly at Nan Yao’s fleeting, radiant smile, blurting out instinctively, “You actually look really nice when you smile.”
Nan Yao glanced back at him with a cryptically unreadable look. “Then let’s go to the haunted house.”
“Sounds great!”
“I don’t want to go!”
After digging in her heels to the very end, Peng Xin ultimately had no choice but to compromise.
“I’m really sorry, but we only have a Zombie House here, not a haunted house. If you folks want to step inside and check it out, it’s pretty fun too.”
Upon arriving at the amusement park, they made a beeline for the haunted house, only to be informed by the staff that the facility housed a zombie attraction instead.
“Fate decided we shouldn’t play this! Let me take you somewhere else, Jingyu—let’s do another ride,” Peng Xin chimed in instantly, seizing the moment.
“It’s fine, I’ll protect you two inside,” Jiang Jingyu boasted, patting his chest with complete confidence. “It’s not like the zombies inside are real. Trying it out won’t hurt.”
“I’m scared!”
Nan Yao curled her lips into a subtle smirk, glancing at Peng Xin with a light smile. “It’s fun, and it builds up your future survival skills.”
“What’s that supposed to mean!” A wave of goosebumps broke out over Peng Xin’s skin. This kind of horror was the one thing she feared most in life.
In the end, no amount of pushing could get Peng Xin to step foot inside.
“I think you’re actually pretty impressive.”
In the pitch-black space, Jiang Jingyu’s admiring voice echoed right beside Nan Yao’s ear, his entire body leaning so close he was practically glued to her.
Nan Yao frowned deeply and took a large stride forward, her voice low with warning. “Stay back.”
Jiang Jingyu froze, bewildered. “What did I do?”
“You’re too close.”
“How am I supposed to protect you if I don’t stay close… Holy shit!”
Nan Yao’s eyes flashed with lethal intent. Pulling her fist back, she swung a fierce strike right past Jiang Jingyu’s cheek.
Bang!
The monstrosity that had suddenly lunged toward his face was smashed directly into the wall.
“Ugh!” Jiang Jingyu couldn’t help gagging, his stomach churning violently.
The monster’s face was a mass of rotting, split flesh. A pair of bloody, dangling eyeballs swung down into its gaping, torn mouth, while a long, hole-riddled tongue chewed frantically with a sickening crunch.
Even though Jiang Jingyu knew it was fake, having that gruesome face suddenly thrust in front of him made his stomach turn inside out. He could almost feel its rancid blood splattered across his own skin!
Before he could catch his breath, Nan Yao grabbed him by the collar, hauled him up, and slammed him hard against the solid wall.
A gleam of excitement sparkled in Nan Yao’s eyes as she launched another punch, sending a zombie flying.
[System, collect the crystal nuclei for me.]
[On it!]
Taking advantage of the darkness, Nan Yao flipped her wrist, putting the bladed weapons she had collected yesterday to good use.
Wielding a massive machete, she hacked away with unstoppable momentum, her blade flashing as she cleaved straight through the zombies’ heads!
It was a bumper harvest!
After decapitating the last zombie that lunged at her, Nan Yao deftly spun the heavy machete in her hand and stepped in front of Jiang Jingyu.
“Let’s move.”
Jiang Jingyu swallowed hard, staring at her blood-soaked frame; she looked for all the world like a demon clawing its way out of hell.
“They… they were supposed to be staff members. You—you—”
His Adam’s apple bobbed uncontrollably as his trembling finger pointed toward her dripping blade. “You killed someone…”
“Heh.” Nan Yao let out a soft laugh, tilting her head to look at him with amused contempt as she deliberately extended the machete toward him. “It’s pretty fun. Want to give it a shot?”
“No, no, no! You go ahead.” Jiang Jingyu’s face crumpled in terror. The roomful of shattered remains looked like a pile of bloody sludge.
Nan Yao hummed indifferently, pretending to scoop a knife off the floor and handing it to Jiang Jingyu. “It’s all about maximum immersion. What’s there to be afraid of? It’s all fake.”
“…” Fake?
It looked terrifyingly real! Dammit, he regretted coming in here with every fiber of his being!
“Take it. I’m not playing bodyguard to dead weight—if you die, don’t blame me.”