After everyone was reborn, I was strictly disciplined.

Jiang Huaijin twirled the rice cake with its faint osmanthus pattern between his fingers. The slightly warm touch spread across his skin, mixed with the cloyingly sweet osmanthus fragrance, but it did not bring a trace of warmth to his eyes.

His gaze lingered on the rice cake, as if examining its patterns or pondering something. His deep eyes held a melancholy that others could not fathom, with only the occasional glimmer of light revealing a hint of something unusual.

Xie Xingran, standing in front of him, looked up with her little face upturned, her eyes filled with the expectation of a child. But the malice surging deep in her eyes was like the rising tide, surging rapidly and irresistibly, almost breaking through the disguise of innocence.

How stupid!

A moment later, a slight smile slowly curved the corners of Jiang Huaijin's lips.

The smile was extremely faint, but as it spread from the corner of his lips, it carried a hint of cold malice, mixed with a touch of barely perceptible mockery.

They mocked the child's clumsy pretense, and even more so his overestimation of his own abilities and his scheming.

The wind blew through the woods, carrying fine fallen leaves across the bluestone path, dispersing some of the sweet fragrance of osmanthus cake and adding a sense of oppression to the surrounding silence.

"Brother, don't you like it?"

Xie Xingran felt uneasy seeing Jiang Huaijin staring at her, and her stomach started pounding inappropriately, the empty sound particularly clear in the quiet back mountain.

He suppressed the panic in his heart, spoke softly, and maintained an obedient appearance, but his eyes involuntarily glanced at the osmanthus cake in Jiang Huaijin's hand, and his heart jumped into his throat.

Could it be... that Jiang Huaijin has noticed something?

The poison mixed in the cake was colorless and odorless; it was a premium product from the system's shop.

Moreover, this matter was clearly done in an extremely secretive manner, so Jiang Huaijin should never have been discovered.

Xie Xingran's heart suddenly raced, like a rabbit running around wildly. Even her breathing became rapid. The smugness she had felt earlier was now completely replaced by unease.

He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to calm down, but his mind kept wandering uncontrollably.

If Jiang Huaijin really finds out...

Xie Xingran couldn't help but swallow.

Would Jiang Huaijin kill himself?

He subconsciously glanced at Jiang Huaijin, who still had that ambiguous smile, making it impossible to read his mind.

This made Xie Xingran even more uneasy. Her eyes unconsciously drifted around, quickly surveying the remote back mountain, and she hurriedly calculated her escape route in her mind.

If Jiang Huaijin really saw through his tricks and became angry enough to attack him, he had to turn around and run away immediately.

But as Xie Xingran's gaze swept around, her heart sank again.

This was a place he had specifically chosen, far from the sect, sparsely populated, with wildly growing grass and trees on both sides of the bluestone path. Tall ancient trees blocked out the sun, their branches intertwined and blocking out the sunlight. The bushes under the trees grew densely, with intertwined roots, and there was no path to walk through.

He chose this place because it was secluded and deserted, so that even if he poisoned Jiang Huaijin, he could dispose of the poison cleanly without anyone noticing.

But now, thinking about it from another perspective, if something were to happen to me here and I were to be countered by Jiang Huaijin, no one would know, and I would simply become nourishment for the plants and trees in this desolate wilderness.

The wind blew again, carrying the dampness of the forest. Xie Xingran couldn't help but shiver. A chill crept up from the soles of his feet, carrying with it deep regret and fear, making his seemingly innocent face appear somewhat pale.

"Gurgle—"

A long, clear rumble from the stomach unexpectedly broke the silence of the back hill.

The sound was particularly abrupt in the dense forest, completely out of sync with Xie Xingran's tense state of mind.

The appetite that had been whetted by the sweet aroma of osmanthus cake surged up again with the rumbling of his stomach, instantly turning his already pale face a light red, like a touch of rouge, revealing a hint of helpless embarrassment.

He quickly lowered his head, his long eyelashes drooping down to hide the fleeting panic and embarrassment in his eyes. Even the tips of his ears felt hot, and he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

What's going on?!

Xie Xingran cursed inwardly: "Is there something wrong with this stomach? Why did it have to make that noise now of all times?!"

Whose villain gets hungry while committing murder?!

Xie Xingran is a ruthless person; when she gets ruthless, she even curses herself.

"Ranran, are you hungry?"

Jiang Huaijin took in his appearance, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes. He deliberately softened his tone, making it sound teasing.

He slowly brought the still-warm osmanthus cake to Xie Xingran's lips, the sweet osmanthus fragrance wafting directly to the child's nose, his tone laced with feigned tenderness:

"How about we eat some pastries first to fill our stomachs?"

"don't want!"

Xie Xingran stiffened like a cat seeing a cucumber, then instinctively jumped back.

His movements were hasty and chaotic, and he didn't notice the few bluestone steps behind him. He tripped on his ankle, lost his balance, and fell heavily backward to the ground.

The plate she was holding slipped from her hand and crashed onto the stone steps with a loud bang, the crisp sound echoing through the woods. The remaining osmanthus cake on the plate rolled off.

The delicate pastries, now covered in dust, had instantly lost their former appearance, lying disheveled among the cracks in the bluestone slabs and withered grass.

Xie Xingran collapsed to the ground, her palms aching from the pebbles, but she didn't bother to rub them. She just stared blankly at the dusty pastries on the ground, her eyes filled with panic and a sense of bewilderment at her failed plan.

"oops!"

Upon seeing this, Jiang Huaijin immediately let out an exaggerated exclamation, his tone filled with just the right amount of anxiety, as if he had really witnessed a child accidentally fall down.

"Ranran, how did you fall? Does it hurt?"

As he spoke, he bent down, his well-defined knuckles reaching out towards Xie Xingran, his hand hovering in mid-air as if to gently pull her up.

But the smile he tried to suppress couldn't hide, and it spread freely from the corner of his lips. The playfulness in his eyes was also undisguised, shining brightly in his pupils, forming a glaring contrast with his concerned tone, and bluntly exposing his true thoughts.

Xie Xingran stared at the hand extended in front of her, then looked up and met the mocking look in Jiang Huaijin's eyes. Her blood seemed to freeze instantly, followed by a surge of coldness that rushed to the top of her head.

As his initial panic and confusion subsided, he instantly understood.

Jiang Huaijin knew everything! He knew the poison hidden in the osmanthus cake, he knew that he had plotted to kill him, and he knew all his pretense and scheming.

The teasing and the probing with pastries were all intentional!

He wasn't oblivious at all; he was watching coldly, gradually forcing himself to reveal his flaws, watching himself act like a clown, anxious and making a fool of himself over his clumsy plan.

Xie Xingran clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms. A stinging pain shot through her palms, but it did nothing to suppress the shame, anger, and hatred surging within her.

He stared intently at Jiang Huaijin's face, which wore a fake smile. His throat tightened, and he felt as if he had been manipulated from beginning to end. All his little thoughts had been laid bare by the other party and exposed on this quiet back mountain, making him look pathetic and ridiculous.

"You did this on purpose!"

Xie Xingran was trembling with anger; he had never been so humiliated!

Like a clown, he was made to laugh at by Jiang Huaijin.