The Cloth Doll

“Nothing happened. You just got drunk last night. After I put you to bed, I found another inn to sleep in.”

Su Wanqing could see the worry written all over Chen Xueli’s face. She sighed helplessly, deciding not to mention that she had been completely seen naked.

Seeing the confused look on this rebel disciple’s face, she knew the girl had blacked out. At least that was a silver lining.

If Chen Xueli actually remembered any of those erotic scenes, Su Wanqing would be the one who lost big time.

Originally, she had planned to sleep on the bed last night, but the moment she lay down and felt the girl’s body heat beside her, she simply couldn’t bear it.

In the end, she cleared the table and spent the night face-down on it.

Because of that, she hadn’t slept well at all—waking early, back aching, whole body sore.

But at least the rebel hadn’t noticed she was lying.

Just as Su Wanqing let out a breath of relief, Chen Xueli immediately asked the one question she least wanted to face.

“Then why were my clothes soaked?”

“And why am I wearing your clothes?”

“Did… you change me?”

“…”

Faced with these questions, Su Wanqing hesitated for a moment. After a brief internal struggle, she answered guiltily:

“Ahem… Last night, after you got drunk, you started throwing a drunken fit. Then you ran into the hot spring by yourself to bathe—and even drank a few mouthfuls of the water to quench your thirst.”

“After I fished you out, you were completely soaked and unconscious.”

“To prevent you from catching a cold, I had no choice but to…”

“…”

After saying this, an extremely awkward atmosphere fell between them.

Not only was Su Wanqing blushing from recalling last night’s scenes, even Chen Xueli—who usually didn’t care about such things—had a faint red tint on her cheeks.

And technically, Su Wanqing wasn’t lying.

That rebel really did run into the hot spring herself, was fished out by her, and had her clothes changed by her.

Thinking back to how the girl had drunkenly licked the droplets falling from her hair… Su Wanqing was certain her version was correct.

Yes! Exactly! She drank a few mouthfuls of bathwater!

She just conveniently omitted whose bathwater it was…

“Alright, you can’t stay dressed like that. Hurry and change.”

“…Okay.”

Probably sensing the increasingly delicate atmosphere, and to prevent things from escalating further, Su Wanqing urged Chen Xueli to change quickly.

The sound of rustling fabric reached her ears.

Su Wanqing continued fiddling with the things she had brought, showing no intention of peeking.

But now she somewhat regretted it—listening to the sounds of changing inevitably made her unconsciously recall the exquisite figure she had felt with her eyes closed last night.

Suddenly, just as Su Wanqing fell into memory once more, the rustling stopped.

Then came Chen Xueli’s puzzled voice:

“This is…?”

Unable to resist her curiosity, Su Wanqing looked over.

Chen Xueli had half-removed her clothes. Aside from the crucial parts, large expanses of snow-white skin entered her vision.

This scene was far more stimulating than the dim, unclear view from last night.

But compared to that, what Su Wanqing cared about more was the object in the girl’s hand.

A crude, thumb-sized cloth doll that vaguely resembled a little girl.

“Doll?”

Chen Xueli had taken it from the waist of the clothes.

The moment Su Wanqing saw it, memories flooded back.

Though the craftsmanship was rough, she recognized it instantly.

It was the birthday gift her master had bought her years ago.

Even now, she kept that doll in her most important storage bag—it was the first gift she had ever received in her life.

But the one in front of her now was far inferior to the original, looking like someone’s very first clumsy attempt…

“Give it back!”

In an instant, Su Wanqing turned into a cat with its fur standing on end. She rushed forward, snatched the doll from Chen Xueli’s hand, and hugged it protectively.

She had been looking for this doll for ages but never found it.

So it had been hanging at the waist of these old clothes all along.

At this moment, Su Wanqing felt no joy at recovering a lost item—only the panic of having her secret exposed.

To prevent her disciple from seeing through the lie she had told years ago, she no longer cared about anything else.

She retreated to the door in a flurry. Just before fleeing, she still couldn’t help but remind:

“Remember to eat what’s on the table. Contact me if anything happens.”

With that, she hurriedly left.

“…”

Staring at the tightly closed door, Chen Xueli hadn’t even processed what just happened.

She instinctively looked toward the table her master had deliberately mentioned, and a satisfied, smitten smile slowly spread across her face.

“Heh~”

A bowl of warm, stomach-soothing white porridge, along with several dishes that helped with hangovers.

Outside the door, Su Wanqing leaned against the wall, heart racing.

She stared at the cloth doll in her hand—phantom pain shot through her fingers.

It took a full minute before she finally exhaled, stored the doll away, and walked out of the inn.

She removed the transmission token from her waist and channeled spiritual energy into the trace left by Li Ziyue.

Soon, the token responded, and the other’s voice came through.

“Elder Li.”

“Elder Su has news?”

“Mm. Let’s meet at the teahouse from last time and talk in detail.”

“Alright.”

Feeling the connection break, Su Wanqing reattached the token to her waist.

For some reason, the thought of what came next filled her with faint unease.

Even as a transmigrator, she had no confidence she could fully control what was about to happen.

Her greatest worry was pushing the female protagonist over to the Red Embroidery Sect.

She only hoped everything would go smoothly without any accidents.

After all, some things were inevitable under His control, butterfly effect or not.

But ever since Chen Xueli’s personality had changed, Su Wanqing increasingly felt that many things had already spiraled out of control.

Changing fate… didn’t seem so difficult anymore.

After all, everything she had done so far hadn’t met any obvious interference.

Lost in thought, Su Wanqing arrived at the teahouse and entered the familiar private room, where a familiar person waited.

“Elder Su doesn’t look well today. Did you not rest properly?”

The moment they met, Li Ziyue noticed her fatigue.

“Uh… I didn’t sleep well last night.”

Su Wanqing could only reply awkwardly.

She had slept poorly, and after thinking the whole way here, she looked utterly worn out.

As expected of a Nascent Soul expert—one glance and her condition was exposed.

“Then…”

Just as Li Ziyue was about to tell her to take care of herself, Su Wanqing cut in.

“I’ll be careful. Let’s not talk about that—Elder Li, shall we exchange information?”

“Very well.”

Seeing the serious expression on Su Wanqing’s face, Li Ziyue didn’t waste words and nodded decisively.

They began discussing.

“First, what we’ve learned is that in three days…”

Unlike previous times, even though she already knew what would happen, Su Wanqing still discussed everything seriously with the other party.

Because she knew that if they didn’t coordinate properly, it would hinder her plan.

And the most important part—the female protagonist—was about to make her entrance…