Chapter Eleven: Jiang Lin's Head Falls

Who am I?
Where am I?
What exactly am I doing?

Lying on the bed, inhaling the faint fragrance that lingered around the girl beside him, Jiang Lin found himself plunged into deep contemplation.

Just this evening, Lin Qingwan had invited him to share her bed. Although Jiang Lin was sorely tempted, he had resolutely refused—after all, what if his secret was exposed? Yet to his astonishment, when he entered the room, Lin Qingwan was already lying on his bed, clad in a light blue silk nightdress, her hair still damp, evidence of a recent bath.

When she saw him come in, this senior sister even stuck out her tongue at him playfully.

Jiang Lin had immediately wanted to flee, but with a wave of her sleeve, Lin Qingwan shut the door and sealed it with a spell. With his current cultivation, he couldn't break through at all.

And so...

...things had come to this.

"Jiang Xin, don't you find it uncomfortable to sleep in your clothes?"

The girl's soft voice drifted to his ears, carrying the delicate scent of orchids. Jiang Lin couldn't help but wonder if his senior sister had chewed fresh orchids before bed.

Moonlight spilled onto the window sill, bathing her delicate features in silver. Her long lashes fluttered like snowy brushes, beguiling and enchanting.

But Jiang Lin dared not look—not even a glance. He lay rigid as a corpse, desperately singing sheep songs in his mind, swearing that he would keep his M4A1 under tight control.

"No, Sister Lin, I prefer to sleep clothed. If you think it's dirty, I can—" He began to sit up.

"No, not at all." Before he could move, Lin Qingwan wrapped her arms around his neck. "Your brother once said, 'Men are like muddy water, filthy and impure, but girls are like snow lotuses in a crystal spring—pleasing to the eye and refreshing to the soul.' So, Jiang Xin, you are very clean. I don't mind at all."

But I mind!

Jiang Lin was on the verge of tears. Had he really said that? It seemed familiar... Yes, he recalled saying it once when comforting a senior sister who liked lilies but was too shy to admit it. How had Lin Qingwan found out? And remembered so clearly?

"Sister Lin."

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"If Jiang... If my brother were to one day stand before you alive—I'm just saying, if—what would you do?"

"If that were the case, I would be very happy."

"You wouldn't hate him?"

"Why would I?" Lin Qingwan answered softly. "Though your brother flirted with the female disciples, spied on me bathing, and even stole the Dragon Vein, I don't hate him. If he were still alive, I would take him away from the Demon Sect and accept punishment with him from the sect. He will always be my little junior brother."

Hearing her words, Jiang Lin’s eyes grew misty. If the system hadn’t warned him that she would break through the Demon Sect gates and kill him a hundred times over before grinding his bones to dust, he might have confessed everything right then.

The bright moon drifted across the sky, sometimes shrouded by wisps of night cloud, only to be revealed again by the evening breeze.

As the girl beside him slipped into dreams, her breath soft and steady, the scent of her hair made Jiang Lin’s eyelids grow heavier and heavier. Just as he was about to fall asleep, the system chimed in his mind, jolting him awake.

Honestly, it was like finally dozing off only for your roommate to start blaring TikTok videos. If he could, Jiang Lin would have scattered the system’s ashes to the wind.

[Mission: The Sleeping Maiden.]
[Mission Overview: The girl beside you is fast asleep. This is your best chance.]
[Mission Requirements: 1. Kiss her stealthily for at least three minutes, so she sheds her cold facade and falls from her pedestal. 2. Bite her neck, leaving your mark.]
[Choose! March toward your destiny as the great villain! The timer starts... 3...2...]

Choose, my foot!

Jiang Lin felt he was going insane. Neither choice made sense—who could kiss for three minutes without suffocating? And the second option—what the hell? Did the system want him to sell strawberries?

But with the countdown ticking, there was no time left!

"Option one!"

At the very last second, Jiang Lin chose the first task.

He glanced at the sleeping girl by his side, hesitated, then gently gathered a lock of her hair and pressed it to his lips, holding it there for a long, long time.

Only when the moonlight shifted did he quietly release the silken strands. The faint scent of orchids lingered at his nostrils, refusing to disperse.

In the pale moonlight, he looked at the girl’s sleeping face and wondered if it was his imagination that made her fair cheeks appear slightly flushed.

[Congratulations, Host. Mission complete. You are awarded 1,000 villain points and a bottle of Body-Tempering Elixir. Keep up the good work—you’re destined to be the villain king of the future!]

As the system’s voice faded, Jiang Lin cursed it inwardly for being both stingy and infuriating.

"No, I need to calm down."

He drew a deep breath, but the air was still filled with her fragrance. Just kissing her hair had set his heart racing; he needed a walk in the cool night air.

He slipped out of bed, tucked Lin Qingwan gently beneath the covers, and after gnawing on one of the hard buns that had been digging into his chest, he leapt out the window.

Moonlight dappled the inn’s courtyard, casting patches of silver on the girl’s gentle face. As she lay curled beneath the blankets like a kitten, her pale cheeks burned crimson, while her small heart pounded with secret joy.

"Did you really think women are so easily deceived, you big fool?" she whispered softly, pulling his pillow into her arms and drifting into a peaceful sleep surrounded by his scent.

...

Out on the street, Jiang Lin walked through the cold night, chewing on the now-cold bun until he finally felt calm.

But just as he was about to circle back to the inn, someone dropped from the sky—a figure with a veiled hat—crashing straight into him. Before Jiang Lin could react, he was pressed against soft curves. There was no doubt—it was a girl.

He barely had time to worry whether this was some immortal scam, when the girl coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood all over his face.

"Miss, you—"

"Look out!"

Before he could finish, before the girl’s warning was fully spoken, a flash of steel glinted behind him—

—and Jiang Lin’s head rolled to the ground.