What on Earth Is Going On

"Then... shall we set off now?"

Su Yuxin suddenly spoke up, breaking the brief silence, followed immediately by the sound of Li Mucheng's footsteps as she walked ahead.

"Let's go."

After Li Mucheng stepped out, Xie Yuyan followed suit. Meanwhile, Su Yuxin, who had been standing still, was about to move when her gaze was drawn to the dining table nearby.

Following her line of sight, one could clearly see a sandwich placed on a plate. Su Yuxin pursed her lips and walked toward the table...

"Xie Yuyan, do you think we should go to the middle section or downstream?"

"Miss, the car is ready."

As Li Mucheng and Xie Yuyan stepped out of the manor gates, they saw a long limousine parked in front of them. The driver, Ah Fu, was already standing by the car, greeting them.

"Alright."

Li Mucheng nodded calmly at Ah Fu, then glanced at Xie Yuyan beside her, only to find Xie Yuyan looking back at her.

"Let's go."

"Okay."

Just as the two got into the car, they realized that Su Yuxin, who had been following them, was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did Yuxin go? Wasn't she just in the hall?"

As Li Mucheng craned her neck to look back at the manor, she spotted Su Yuxin rushing over, her golden twin tails swaying frantically.

"S-sorry for making you wait."

Xie Yuyan, seated on the plush car seat, glanced curiously at Su Yuxin but still made room for her.

"Thank you."

Su Yuxin murmured softly as she sat down beside her. Once everyone was settled, Ah Fu started the car.

"Yuxin, what were you doing just now?"

Li Mucheng looked up from her phone, where she had been checking real-time updates about the mountains, and cast a questioning glance at Su Yuxin.

"I... I went to get something."

Su Yuxin stammered, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"Get something? What in the manor did you need to take?"

"Um..."

Realizing she couldn’t hide it any longer, Su Yuxin pulled out the sandwich she had been hiding behind her back.

Xie Yuyan, who had been secretly watching all this from the side, remained silent. She had noticed the sandwich in Su Yuxin’s hand the moment she approached them—likely something she had taken because she was hungry.

Just as Xie Yuyan was about to turn her gaze to the scenery outside the window, she was startled when a sandwich suddenly appeared in front of her.

"......"

Xie Yuyan looked at Su Yuxin in astonishment, her eyes filled with disbelief at the gesture.

"F-for me?"

"Mm."

Su Yuxin nodded, her face still red.

"But... why? I deceived you. Why are you being so kind to me?"

Xie Yuyan stared at Su Yuxin in confusion, a swirl of complicated emotions rising in her chest.

"Whatever happened between us is in the past now, right? We already moved on. Besides, breakfast is important—you don’t want to risk your health."

Su Yuxin mumbled softly, her voice barely audible as she added,

"Ye Feng is waiting for us. Didn’t we promise to go find him together?"

"......"

When the sandwich she was holding out remained untouched, Su Yuxin assumed Xie Yuyan didn’t like it and slowly withdrew it.

"If you don’t like it, I can ask for something else when we get to the mountains. There are food supplies there."

"N-no, that’s not what I meant."

Xie Yuyan shook her head quickly.

"I just never expected... that I could have done something so terrible."

"Huh?"

Seeing tears glistening in Xie Yuyan’s eyes, Su Yuxin was taken aback. She had no idea why Xie Yuyan was crying and turned to Li Mucheng for help.

Li Mucheng smiled gently. For her part, she truly hoped Su Yuxin and Xie Yuyan could get along. After everything she had been through, she didn’t want Ye Feng to suffer any more pain. Maybe if the two of them grew closer, Ye Feng wouldn’t say the things he had before. But it was too soon to tell—everything depended on how things unfolded.

Still, she wouldn’t just stand by. She would do everything in her power to foster harmony between them.

Everything she did was for Ye Feng. That was all.

"Don’t worry, Yuxin. Xie Yuyan is just really touched."

"Touched?"

Su Yuxin turned back to Xie Yuyan and saw her take the sandwich with both hands before offering a faint smile.

"Thank you, Su Yuxin. And... I sincerely apologize for what I did before. I’m sorry!"

"Eh? Ehh?!"

Su Yuxin’s brain short-circuited at Xie Yuyan’s sudden apology and gratitude. Flustered, she flailed her hands like a malfunctioning robot before finally stammering out a response.

"I-it’s fine... I already said it’s... it’s in the past. I forgave you a long time ago."

"And Li Mucheng, thank you too."

Xie Yuyan then turned to Li Mucheng, who remained composed, unlike Su Yuxin.

"It’s nothing. Though we didn’t know each other before and may have had our differences... isn’t it time for a fresh start?"

"Mm."

"Alright, enough with the formalities. Hurry up and eat the sandwich Yuxin gave you. We’re almost there."

......

"Strange..."

Ye Feng, sitting outside the wooden cabin, stared at the system panel in front of him, deep in thought.

Whether it was because he hadn’t opened it in so long or because the system itself had malfunctioned, ever since he fell into the river, there had been no task updates or rewards for avoiding danger. If not for the daily countdown of his remaining lifespan displayed before him, he might have thought the system had broken entirely.

Did the system realize I was slacking off and decide to punish me?

After pondering for a while with no answers, Ye Feng gave up and idly flipped through the other system tabs.

But when he reached the "Progress" section, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

Aside from Li Mucheng’s affection meter being at 100%, Xie Yuyan and Su Yuxin’s corruption levels had plummeted drastically. Xie Yuyan’s, which had been nearly maxed out, was now below 10%, while Su Yuxin’s had dropped to an even lower 5%.

What... what in the world happened while I was gone?