After deceiving the villain, I was forced to love him.

Chapter 146 A Bet? Beginning

It was a clear autumn day, but the air was still rather unpleasant.

Especially since he agreed to the bet with Wang Qingyan that day, he has wished he could put a pair of eyes on her body these past few days.

The so-called "last chance" is a complete lie.

Not a drop of water was added.

But thankfully, she's not human.

"When do you plan to spread the news that you're going to marry me?"

Wang Qingyan paused in his act of picking up food... almost thinking he had misheard. "No rush."

"Not in a hurry?!" Baili Ce immediately became somewhat angry.

He slapped his chopsticks down and said, "So, you're not planning to run away after you've done this, are you?"

Wang Qingyan looked her up and down, and after confirming that she was Baili Ce, he said calmly, "Didn't you say you were unwilling?"

Baili Ce tilted his head to one side, "Hiss~"

"What do I mean by 'unwilling'?"

"I'd love to!"

"..." Wang Qingyan continued eating with a "stop joking" look on his face.

"Don't forget what you said that day."

"Didn't I say I agreed to this marriage that day?"

"Didn't I carefully choose my wedding dress?"

At the last sentence, Baili Ce stood up abruptly!

There's no other way; that's just how it is.

He walked around to Wang Qingyan's side, grabbed his collar, and looked extremely fierce!

It's the kind of thing that will scare kids to tears!

"What, you keep telling me to take responsibility, but you chicken out when it comes to something serious?"

Wang Qingyan, who stood up to cooperate with her, remained silent.

Unexpectedly, a Gu Guard instantly appeared beside him, uttering a single sentence with a completely emotionless and deathly expression.

The Baili family has made a move.

Seeing the Gu Guard disappear again, Baili Ce momentarily forgot to let go.

Seeing her stunned, Wang Qingyan smiled and took her hand meaningfully, "You see, you don't need to do anything, they will come on their own."

"..." In an awkward moment, Baili Ce slowly let go and smoothed out his collar.

Sit down quietly and finish your meal...

......

Late at night, Baili Ce was awakened by the sound of thunder.

She groggily opened her eyes, and in the dimly lit room, a figure slowly approached her...

Still half asleep, Baili Ce initially thought it was Wang Qingyan who had returned, so he turned over and tried to go back to sleep...

As the chilling air, carrying the stench of blood, drew ever closer, she finally realized...

The body shape is wrong!

"Ahhhhhh—" it squealed and thrashed about.

Bai Li Ce jumped off the bed clutching the blanket, his voice cracking with fright.

Looking at the torrential rain outside, he shouted to himself to bolster his courage, "Gu Guards?! Where have all the Gu Guards gone?!"

It's usually like a ghost, omnipresent, but it's nowhere to be seen now.

"..." The figure approached step by step, and the water and bloodstains on the ground were occasionally revealed by the lightning.

Bai Li Ce hugged the blanket and backed away step by step... looking at the disheveled, dripping water... water ghost?

My legs went weak. "Big brother, I...I'm a great swimmer, no...no...I'm not suitable to be your scapegoat. I suggest you...find someone else."

"The Gu Guards outside are perfect for you!" Taking advantage of his momentary daze, she threw down the blanket and ran!

"Ahhh—" The water ghost had no morals and grabbed her without saying a word, "passing" through the blanket.

"Young lady, it's me."

Huh? Baili Ce opened one eye, trembling...

Half an hour later.

Inside a carriage speeding through the rain, Seventeen was bandaging his wounds.

Beside him was Baili Ce, who looked utterly dejected.

She really didn't expect to trick Seventeen into revealing herself.

At this moment, her hands were bound, and she was leaning against a corner of the carriage wall.

"Seventeen, I won't hold it against you for scaring me half to death just now. After all, I'm a magnanimous person."

"But you really have to take me back quickly, otherwise if he catches up, I won't even be able to plead for him."

The more they beg, the more they kill.

However, Seventeen ignored him and said only, "Don't worry, young lady, Wang Qingyan will definitely not find the place I take you to."

That's a very absolute statement.

"Blind confidence will only harm you."

Seventeen paused, then smiled palely and sadly, "Is the young lady afraid of him?"

That smile contained resentment and disappointment, but even more so, the arrogance and recklessness of youth.

Bai Li Ce simply shifted his position, sat up straight, chest out, head held high, open and honest, exuding confidence and magnanimity, "Yes!"

If I weren't afraid, I would have fought him long ago.

"..." Seventeen was almost in tears.

She wasn't like this before.

All you can see is him crying, crying, crying. Baili Ce is also very lax and tries to persuade him with kind words.

"Don't you believe me? Take me back right now, or I really can't protect you!"

Seventeen held back her tears, turned her head away with a stern face, and said in a cold and resolute voice, "This subordinate will definitely make sure that the young lady can be the person she used to be."

"......" Another one who can't understand human speech.

Bai Lize could only take a deep breath and force a smile that reached all the way to his temples. "I'm fine now. Take me back."

Seventeen stubbornly tilted her head even further to the side!

Yeah!

Bai Li Ce also lost his temper and kicked him directly, saying, "You can't beat him, and you're not even as ruthless as him, so why are you so stubborn?!"

Seventeen got angry. "Who said I can't beat him?"

"Laughable, who gave you that confidence?" Even a dog emperor wouldn't dare say that.

"I'm not the same person I used to be!" Seventeen exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Bai Li Ce clicked his tongue, leaned back, and said sarcastically, "Oh, oh, oh, not the same person you used to be? So you just scratched yourself for fun?"

Seventeen was so angry that she trembled all over. "You...you...no matter what you say, I will never let you go back to him!"

“…Hmm?” Baili Ce squinted at him.

Something's not right, this kid's acting strangely.

Seventeen felt flustered by Baili Ce's gaze and immediately avoided his probing eyes, her pale face instantly regaining some color.

"Young lady, please don't overthink it. What I mean is... I will definitely take care of the person you want to save and the matter you want to handle."

haha~

Bai Lize immediately found it somewhat amusing.

Sure enough, Seventeen is still the same Seventeen.

"Oh? Who do I need to save?" Bai Li Ce tilted his head and leaned closer, showing no signs of awkwardness despite not having seen each other for years.

Seventeen held his right hand with his left, moved to the side, and muttered something under his breath, somewhat dissatisfied.

"Who else could it be? Consort Xuan has been missing for so long, so the only person His Majesty would ask you to save is naturally her."

"..." Bai Li Ce's eyes sharpened.

He casually retreated to the corner he had just been in, and asked, "What can you do to save her?"

Turning to look at Baili Ce, the teasing smile in his eyes had disappeared, and Seventeen relaxed as well.

"I cannot say for sure right now, but please rest assured, young lady, I will definitely rescue Consort Xuan."

is it?

Bai Li Ce stopped playing with him, quickly untied the ropes, crossed his arms, and looked at him with great seriousness, "You're that confident?"

"Yes"

"Are you really not going to consider sending me back?"

Seventeen's eyes reddened with anger once again, "..."

"...Okay, I'll give you one chance."

After saying this, Baili Ce immediately handed over a jade pendant in a serious manner, "This is the token of love between Consort Xuan and His Majesty. I found it in Wang Qingyan's study."

"If anything unexpected happens afterward, you must make sure you return alive."

"No!" Seventeen's pupils dilated, and he grabbed Baili Ce's hand excitedly. "We must live together!"

Bai Li Ce immediately froze...

After a while, she managed to suppress the urge to shake his hand off and said with a wry smile, "Seventeen, we're not children anymore. We should prioritize the bigger picture."

"But you..."

"You should know that no matter what, neither Wang Qingyan nor anyone else will let me die easily."

"..." After a moment of silence, Seventeen nodded helplessly and heavily.

"Remember, if anything unexpected happens, you must personally deliver this item to His Majesty and tell him that He Yao is still alive."

"Wait patiently for the right opportunity; we will meet again someday."

With tears glistening in her eyes, Seventeen looked at Baili Ce. For a moment, she really wanted to confess.

In the end, however, he simply kept the jade pendant close to his body.

The torrential rain washed away all traces completely.

Looking at Seventeen's wet hair, Bai Li Ce urged him for the twenty-fourth time to change his wet clothes, and repeatedly assured him that he would not peek.

Seventeen still refused to change until the carriage had been running all night and they needed to change to another mode of transportation. Only then did he agree to change out of his half-dry clothes.

They found a temple to stay in, and after checking it several times over the area, they dared to let her in. "It's relatively safe here, we can rest for two hours."

"Okay, I'll go buy some food."

Seventeen immediately refused, "I'll go instead."

“Okay~” Baili Ce readily agreed.

But as he was walking outside, she called out to him, "Seventeen."

"Is there anything else you need, young lady?" Seventeen turned around.

"Wang Qingyan is cunning and treacherous; we must be careful."

Seventeen nodded and said he understood, but then went out the door and walked further and further away.

Her left foot also began to ache slightly.

......