The pretty little follower gets targeted by the crazy guys at the elite academy

Li Ruo carefully scraped off the edge of the gold foil on the invitation with her fingernail.

Take out a tiny locator the size of a grain of rice from it.

Under the light, the metallic luster of the locator flashed by.

[Holy crap! A locator! The female lead really did tamper with it! Her goal was to pinpoint Li Ruo's exact location to those six lunatics, then trick them into stumbling upon Rose Manor, ultimately using Fu Chenzhou's methods to eliminate the lunatics and Li Ruo?!]

[The female lead's rebirth is indeed quite shrewd! But how did Li Ruo know?! Didn't she notice yesterday?]

[Perhaps she discovered it last night when she was examining the invitation?! After all, she grew up in the slums; she's all too familiar with these kinds of tricks!]

Li Ruo held the locator in her hand, twirling it between her fingers, a cold smile playing on her lips.

Then she turned around and gently placed the locator in the mouth of the stone lion at the back gate of the academy.

After doing all this, she bent down and got into the car.

The car doors closed silently, and the black phantom sped into the twilight like a ghost.

-

8:10.

The third floor of the library at St. Lia College.

Xia Qinghe sat by the window, a thick professional book open in front of her.

But she couldn't concentrate on reading a single word.

She had put her phone on silent and placed it face down on the table.

She dared not look.

I'm afraid of seeing the outcome I'm hoping for.

I'm also afraid of seeing...unexpected changes.

"Xia?"

A gentle voice sounded in my ear.

Xia Qinghe looked up abruptly and saw Gu Yan standing in front of her.

He was wearing a faded blue shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows, revealing his clean-lined forearms.

He held several thick volumes of literature in his hands, and the glasses on his nose gleamed softly under the lamplight.

"I'm sorry I'm late. The professor called me in to discuss the competition."

Xia Qinghe's heart skipped a beat.

She had this feeling every time she saw Gu Yan.

Clean, warm, and safe.

Completely different from those crazy critics.

"No, it's okay, I just arrived recently."

She tried her best to make her voice sound normal:

"Thank you for your help, Gu Yan. I've been looking at this question for ages and still can't understand it..."

Gu Yan sat down opposite her, opened the book, and began to patiently explain.

His voice was gentle yet magnetic, his logic was clear, and his steps were detailed.

But Xia Qinghe's attention was completely off the topic.

She would occasionally glance up and steal a look at Gu Yan, who was explaining the problem to her across from her.

Just that one stolen glance was enough to make her heart race.

She cherished this peaceful and beautiful moment.

But I'm also secretly worried.

She was looking at the night view outside the window.

It was pitch black, with no stars.

Li Ruo should have arrived at Rose Manor by now, right?

Did Fu Chenzhou see her?

Have the doors to those collection rooms already been opened for her?

Therefore, the range of values ​​for this variable should be...

"Xia, Xia?"

Gu Yan's voice pulled her back to reality:

"Are you...worried about something?"

Xia Qinghe was taken aback, then forced a smile:

"No, it's just... this question was too hard, and I got a little distracted."

Gu Yan looked at her, his gaze calm and profound.

He didn't say anything, he just pushed the book towards her:

"Let's watch it again."

"Gu Yan, classmate."

Xia Qinghe suddenly interrupted him, her voice trembling with unease:

"I always feel... a little uneasy."

Gu Yan raised his head, his handsome face showing concern:

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"

"no."

Xia Qinghe shook her head and pushed up her glasses:

"It's Li Ruo... She went to a very dangerous place tonight. I tried to persuade her, but she wouldn't listen."

She deliberately spoke vaguely, wanting to see Gu Yan's reaction.

"A dangerous place?" Gu Yan's reaction was beyond her expectations.

Xia Qinghe felt a sharp pain in her chest, as if stabbed, but her face still showed a hint of worry.

"Well... she has a new target, and she'll probably be staying at that man's house tonight."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yan remained silent for a few seconds:

"Li Ruo... is actually quite different from the rumors."

"I heard that she was harassed by those six crazy guys at school in the classroom today. Is that true?"

Xia Qinghe's heart tightened.

Gu Yan wasn't at school at that time.

Furthermore, he never paid attention to any gossip or rumors at school, focusing solely on his studies. How could he...?

Why is he speaking up for Li Ruo like this?

Aside from those few lunatics, is it possible that even Gu Yan is being drawn to Li Ruo?

No.

No.

"Yes, he suddenly barged into the classroom and asked her why she had deceived their feelings."

She sighed, her tone more worried:

"I always feel like Li Ruo is planning something. She's changed so much lately."

[The female lead is testing Gu Yan's attitude towards Li Ruo!]

[Gu Yan actually knows that those lunatics are looking for Li Ruo?! Isn't he usually oblivious to everything around him?]

[Oh no, the white moonlight is starting to notice the tool! The female lead is in a huge crisis!]

Gu Yan didn't reply, but simply lowered his eyes and continued reading the book in his hands.

But his fingers tightened slightly at the edge of the page for a moment.

This subtle movement did not escape Xia Qinghe's eyes.

Her heart sank.

-

7:30.

The car boarded a boat and sailed around a lake.

After disembarking from the boat, the black limousine drove for a full twenty minutes on the winding mountain road.

Li Ruo sat in the back seat, watching the scenery outside the window gradually become desolate.

The city lights have long been left behind.

Instead, there is a dense primeval forest, and occasionally a strange stone sculpture.

The stone sculptures are contorted in their postures, as if their struggles are frozen in time.

This road looks really strange! Was the description of Rose Manor in the original novel this eerie?!

[In the original story, this area was completely undeveloped, with no buildings at all! What happened?!]

According to the original novel, Fu Chenzhou's manor is a place that "does not exist" at all; only those who are invited can find the entrance.

[Li Ruo, be careful! There's something strange about that fog ahead!]

Just as the comments section opened, Li Ruo felt a slight jolt in the car.

The view outside the window changed instantly.

The forest has disappeared!

Instead, there was an endless sea of ​​roses.

Deep red roses bloom under the moonlight, their flowers so large they seem unreal, each one appearing to grow by absorbing moonlight.

In the middle of the sea of ​​flowers, a white gravel path winds forward, ending at a huge black iron gate.

The iron gate slowly opened.

Behind the door was a long tree-lined avenue, with black roses planted on both sides.

The roses gleamed with an eerie dark red glow in the night, as if they had been carefully watered with blood.

[The Black Rose! Fu Chenzhou's Symbol!]

It's said that the fertilizer for these roses is... ugh, I dare not say!

[Li Ruo, look out the car window! Those flowers are moving!]

Li Ruo looked out the window.

Indeed, the petals of those black roses trembled gently in the stillness of the wind, like a living thing breathing.

Even more strangely, when the car drove by, all the flowers turned towards the car.

It was as if countless eyes were watching her.

The car continued on its way.

Through the car window, Li Ruo saw the true face of the Rose Manor.

This is not a manor at all.

It is a city.

The black Gothic buildings are arranged in a staggered pattern, with spires piercing the night sky and huge bronze bells hanging from the tops.

The building's exterior walls were covered with deep red rose vines, as thick as arms, tightly coiling around each stone like blood vessels.

At the very top of the main building in the center, a huge stained-glass window gleamed eerily in the moonlight.

The paintings on the windows are not religious symbols.

It was a woman's face.

The face was breathtakingly beautiful, but the eyes were two empty, dark holes, as if staring at everyone who entered the manor.

[Holy crap! That woman's face is looking more and more like Li Ruo! What kind of illusion magic did Fu Chenzhou use?!]

It is said that the windows of that building in the Rose Manor were made from human ashes...

[Ugh—this is so twisted!]

【Li Ruo, don't look at that window! You'll be possessed!】

Having obtained information from the comments, Li Ruo indifferently looked away.

She found her heart racing.

It's not fear.

Rather, it's an excitement about exploring the unknown world.

I never imagined that the world she lived in had such a bizarre side.

Could it be, as the comments suggest, that this world is actually a novel?

In order to enhance the halo of the reborn female protagonist, the author deliberately designed this Rose Manor dungeon, just to completely destroy her, the cannon fodder tool, and the six lunatics here.

The ending is that the female lead, Xia Qinghe, and her beloved Gu Yan live happily ever after.

So, in the original story, was her fate destined to be death?

But she didn't believe in fate.

Whether in the slums or from the moment she was pulled out of the slums, she never believed in fate.

The car stopped at the entrance of the main building.

The car door opened, and a hand wearing a white glove reached in.

"Miss Li Ruo, welcome to Rose Manor."

Li Ruo looked up and saw a middle-aged man wearing a black tuxedo.

The man had an ordinary face, empty eyes, and a standard smile on his lips.

This smile gave Li Ruo a strange feeling.

The smile seemed to be etched onto his face, its curve never changing, exuding an unfathomable eeriness.

Li Ruo placed her hand in his palm and got out of the car.

Old Zhong's gaze lingered on her for a second.

A gentle evening breeze lifted the girl's long, flowing hair, revealing her smooth forehead and her clear, almost transparent eyes.

No makeup, no accessories, no extra colors.

She stood there, like a white rose growing from ruins, clean and sharp, fragile and startling.

Old Zhong's gaze really only swept over it for a second.

But that one glance made Li Ruo feel as if she had been scanned by an X-ray.

"Miss Li Ruo's outfit tonight... is absolutely perfect."

Old Zhong's voice remained completely still.

"Mr. Fu will like it."

[Nonsense! Li Ruo's outfit is practically the epitome of ascetic aesthetics!]

Extreme cleanliness is the ultimate temptation!

[Li Ruo's look today is absolutely stunning! So clean it's almost blinding!]

This is true, ultimate beauty, isn't it? No embellishment needed; just standing there, it's captivating!

[Fu Chenzhou's twisted aesthetic sense is absolutely unbearable!]

[The female lead is probably chuckling to herself in the library right now, right? She definitely thinks Li Ruo is doomed! Although Li Ruo really does die in the end, sob sob...]

But why do I always feel like Li Ruo will turn the tables? The look in her eyes when she got out of the car was terrifying!

[It's starting! It's starting! Li Ruo is really going in!]

Li Ruo followed Lao Zhong into the main building.