Chapter 20: Duel Between Two NPCs

"You are one of his people, there is no reason you wouldn't know the location. Who exactly are you?"

A pistol was leveled at Jiang Wanning’s head.

So close. Just a hair’s breadth away. Jiang Wanning felt a pang of regret.

She had never experienced the sensation of being shot in the head, had she?

Strangely, she felt a flutter of excitement.

Pah.

She didn't want to try that at all.

"I just arrived here, isn't it normal that I wouldn't know the location? If you don't believe me, feel free to ask the people outside in the courtyard. Is there anyone there who doesn't know me?"

Taking advantage of the fact that the masters of the house had been away for the past few days, Jiang Wanning had already become well-acquainted with everyone inside and out, from the bodyguards and chefs down to the cleaning ladies. She knew every single one of them by name.

Working at the Lu estate, the best way to build rapport was, naturally, to complain about the boss.

The men would play cards and shoot the breeze; the women would receive flowers she plucked from the garden. She played the role of an amiable old man so well that she had them all charmed—especially since being a dapper old man gave her extra points.

She wasn't afraid of being investigated at all; outsiders would have assumed she had been working at the Lu estate for decades.

"Is that so? But why do I feel like you look familiar?" She couldn't put her finger on it, but she felt a strange sense of recognition—a woman's intuition.

"Maybe I just have a generic face."

Lin Xiaoting lowered her gun.

"I don't really know the location either. Do you want to ask someone else?"

Lin Xiaoting’s tone earlier had clearly suggested she knew, and now she claimed she didn't—it seemed she was still suspicious.

It appeared she wouldn't get anything more out of her, but at least she had narrowed down the general location; with a smaller search radius, it would be easier to find.

Just as Jiang Wanning turned to leave, Lin Xiaoting suddenly gasped behind her: "Ah, I remember now."

Jiang Wanning turned back, and a bottle of liquid splashed onto her face.

It wasn't sulfuric acid, was it? What kind of grudge could they possibly have?

It didn't sting.

She wiped her face, and her palm came away smeared with colors.

What a vicious woman, splashing her with makeup remover.

So that was how she planned to get rid of the "eyeliner"—she understood now.

In truth, Lin Xiaoting had only been testing her. If she were wrong, she could just apologize; if she were right, she would win the gamble. Fortunately, her luck at gambling had always been good.

"You really were disguised." Lin Xiaoting felt triumphant. Having exposed a spy in the Lu household, Lu Jingchen would surely be highly impressed by her competence.

***

As the makeup faded, even though her face was still stained with pigments, the superiority of her features remained visible. It was a beautiful face, clearly that of a woman.

But why did this face look more and more familiar?

"Jiang Wanning? It’s actually you." Lin Xiaoting said in disbelief. This makeup technique was simply too incredible. She had seen many criminal suspects use disguises, but she truly hadn't recognized Jiang Wanning at all; she had only acted on a whim, never expecting it to be her.

This was an unexpected bonus.

Jiang Wanning hadn't expected the first person to expose her to be Lin Xiaoting.

"I didn't expect to run into you here either." This was indeed beyond her expectations. She had been racking her brain on how to rescue Lin Xiaoting, and the system had always been evasive. So that was how it was.

Lin Xiaoting gripped the gun in her hand again. She didn't lower it just because they were acquaintances; instead, a strange smile crept across her face as she slowly pulled the safety.

"I was originally going to let you live, but you insisted on throwing yourself into the fire."

Jiang Wanning’s gaze hardened: "So, you’ve been one of Lu Jingchen’s people all along? Did you tell him about the NPCs, the system, and the fact that I can't harm the protagonist?"

"Yes."

"In the original story, your character was secretly in love with Lu Jingchen, silently sacrificing for him and blessing him and the female lead. But after you transmigrated, you weren't satisfied anymore? Because you truly fell in love with him." Jiang Wanning stated this almost as a fact.

"Yes. No woman in this world can resist a man like him. Falling in love with him is an instinct." Lin Xiaoting smiled, her eyes filled with obsession at the mention of Lu Jingchen.

A hopeless romantic!

If a person is a hopeless romantic, they are the same in every world.

"You were jealous of Jiang Xinwan, so you intentionally let me go, just so they wouldn't succeed in taking her kidney! You wanted Jiang Xinwan to die!"

"Regardless of my intentions, I was ultimately saving you, wasn't I? But you were just too stupid. Instead of running far away, you chose to come back and seek your own death."

Jiang Wanning felt like her kindness had been fed to the dogs.

"Please, do you have any conscience? Who was I trying to save?"

"I winked at you, and you still came back. You can only blame your own stupidity."

Jiang Wanning: "..."

Big sister, you were blindfolded. It would be a miracle if I could see you winking.

"It’s just as well that you walked right into my trap. Now I won't have to worry about them finding you. I’ll kill you now and call it killing a spy; even if Lu Jingchen finds out, he won't have anything to say. So, prepare to die."

Lin Xiaoting placed her finger on the trigger.

[Host's personal safety is under threat. To ensure the smooth completion of the mission, would you like to activate the Novice Protection Safety Gift Pack?] The system's voice echoed in her mind.

[Activate.] Need you ask?

[Given that the host lacks sufficient points, 100 points have been loaned. You will need to repay them later. The gift pack is now being issued.]

Jiang Wanning: "..." This system is a profiteer.

***

Just as Lin Xiaoting was about to pull the trigger, a bodyguard’s shout came from outside the door: "Old Jiang, you’ve got a package."

There are many speechless moments in life, but this one took the cake.

[Do you really think I can go get a package in this situation? Can't you just airdrop it?]

[We are in a modern romance novel; things appearing out of thin air is illogical.]

The system's existence itself was a bug, and yet it wanted to talk about damn logic.

[Considering realistic factors, to facilitate the host's use of the gift pack, a small prop has been gifted to you.]

A tiny fairy wand appeared in Jiang Wanning's palm...

It really was a small prop.

Was it meant to provide entertainment for her impending death?

Heh.

"Look, a UFO."

Lin Xiaoting looked at her as if she were an idiot. In a moment of distraction, a glittering fairy wand was thrown at her face. She reflexively closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, Jiang Wanning had already cracked the door open and retrieved her package.

She wore a crafty smile, looking like a villain who had just gotten her way.

Lin Xiaoting fell silent. Who was the bad guy here, anyway?

Jiang Wanning happily opened the parcel. Inside was a long wooden box with intricate, archaic patterns, like some ancient inheritance from a fantasy world. It looked like a peerless divine weapon—high-end, atmospheric, and classy.

Unpack, unpack, unpack...

She opened one wooden box, only to find another inside, and then another...

It was like a Russian nesting doll.

The last one was tiny, only ten centimeters long, resting elegantly in her palm.

If there were a gun inside, that would be fine, too.

Jiang Wanning optimistically comforted herself.

Lin Xiaoting watched her unpack with her arms crossed. As a fellow transmigrator, she could guess that this was highly likely something the system had conjured up. She just wanted to see what cards Jiang Wanning was holding.

Jiang Wanning decided that once she returned to the real world, she would write a book about the system titled "The Trash System and My 123 Things."

A dagger, sharp enough to slice through iron, glinted under the light, exuding a bone-chilling majesty.