Love from the Male Protagonist's Harem

Chapter 92-There Is Only One Part 1

Translated by Snowfall77

After Chu Yao and Xia Ge parted with each other, Xia Ge went back to the grove of persimmon trees.  Weighing a heavy persimmon in her palm, Xia Ge decided her trip to Jianfeng was more gain than loss.

Although, on her way back to Danfeng, she couldn’t help feeling somewhat uneasy.

“Little puppet, little puppet……”

Xia Ge called to the system several times, but received no response.

“Still hasn’t woken up.”  Xia Ge decided to not worry about it.  Whenever she got sick or lost consciousness, the system would usually go into standby mode.

Perhaps the system was doing some repair, or maybe it’d malfunctioned and loading up after standby was simply taking longer.

Xia Ge would just have to be patient.

Besides, she had other things to worry about.

The first being……Chu Yao had discovered Xia Ge’s identity as a puppet master.  Even if Chu Yao apparently planned on keeping it to herself for now, secrets had an inevitable way of being found out.

Once one person knew, there’d be a second person, then a third, a fourth……until it’d get all out of hand and many, many people would know.

""

And when that time came, Xia Ge would have to be packed and ready to get out of Danfeng.

“Ai, too upsetting.”

Plucking some dog-tail grass, Xia Ge chewed on a stalk and considered her second worry.  It was simple enough, but very troublesome.

It was that……besides Chu Yao, there was already clearly a ‘second’ and ‘third’ person who knew Xia Ge was a puppet master.

The only good thing about it was that they weren’t in Lingxi.

They were from the Demon Sect.

After a couple days of observation, it seemed that the Demon Sect had swapped out one ‘Huo Bai’ for another.  He certainly wasn’t the Huo Bai from before.  Xia Ge hadn’t acted before because she figured that the Demon Sect would be too suspicious if ‘Huo Bai’ suddenly disappeared.  Then the real Huo Bai had gotten injured, and a knock-off had taken his place.  Only now did Xia Ge realize……there was a little more to it.

A substitution must also have taken place because……it’d been discovered that Bairen had been under the spell of her first little puppet.  The Demon Sect couldn’t have a compromised Bairen acting as a spy.  So of course a replacement would’ve been deemed necessary.  And since the little puppet have been exposed, the fact that there was a puppet master in Lingxi had also been exposed.

For ordinary people, {soul-controlling voice} and {soul capture} might be hard to deal with.  However, for the Demon Sect that treated puppetry like child’s play, such things could be easily solved.

“Ai.”

Throwing away the blade of dog-tail grass, Xia Ge felt disheartened.  The system had been right.  She really shouldn’t have blown up her second little puppet that night.

She’d gotten both Chu Yao’s and the Demon Sect’s unwanted attention.

It’d been the dumbest, worst move she’d ever made, bar none.

System: [It Was Incredibly Stupid Of You.]

Xia Ge was startled: “You’re finally back?”

System: [Mmm.]

Sighing heavily, Xia Ge said: “Ai, its basic purpose was fulfilled.  That’ll have to be that.”

The system thought for a moment: [Speaking Of Huo Bai, Why Didn’t You Expose Him Earlier?]

Xia Ge: “There was no good reason for me to do so.”

System: [Hmm?]

Xia Ge: “I knew from the beginning, but didn’t do anything about it because was convenient for me……his actions made getting Guilongyu to Ye Ze easier.”

System: [I Understand That, But What About After Ye Ze Got Guilongyu?]

Xia Ge: “Everything was alright with Huo Bai that day.  And I couldn’t be entirely sure whether it was actually him that night or not.  So why not just wait and see what happens?  After all, anyone can make empty accusations, but some things should require proof.”

System: [……]

“Ai, it didn’t occur to me they’d swap him out though,” Xia Ge bemoaned, “Since then, ‘Huo Bai’ knows there’s a puppet master around him.  If he catches me, my cover is well and truly blown.”

System: [……Then It Seems You’re In A Tough Spot Now.]

Xia Ge: “Well, it’s not like all hope is lost.  I’ll just take one step at a time.  Whatever happens, it can’t get any worse than it was before.”

System: [But Didn’t That Fake Huo Bai Want To Kill You Today?]

Xia Ge: “If I thought he could kill me, would I be this mixed up?”

“Huo Bai is nothing.  Although I am afraid of whatever chaos the Demon Sect will try to stir up.”

Chatting along with her revived system, a relaxed Xia Ge happily made her way back to Danfeng and her room.

Yet such a mood was not to last long.  Seeing an unexpected guest standing outside her door, Xia Ge’s footsteps instantly faltered.

“……Senior Sister?”

Expression unreadable, Gu Peijiu glanced at Xia Ge: “You’re back.”

Trying to play off her surprise, Xia Ge’s tone was slightly teasing: “Senior Sister, this late at night and you’re out here waiting for me?”

Gu Peijiu: “Mmm.”

Xia Ge: “……”

“You missed both your afternoon class and your evening class,” Gu Peijiu stated, “The master complained and left it to me to discipline you properly.”

Gu Peijiu gave Xia Ge another sweeping glance, and noting the small doll hanging from Xia Ge’s waist, her slight frown eased.

“Where did you go?”

“I……was called away……by Jianfeng’s Senior Chu.”  Unable to hold Gu Peijiu’s impassive gaze, Xia Ge stared off into the distance.  “In order to promote friendly, harmonious relations between Danfeng and Jianfeng, I placed righteousness above familial loyalty……no, I heroically martyred myself, accompanying Senior Chu for a discussion about the meaning of life and other substantive topics……nothing much.”

“Played truant for no reason,” Gu Peijiu concluded.

Xia Ge immediately denied: “No!  I……”

Gu Peijiu looked at Xia Ge silently, reflected moonlight giving her eyes an indefinable chilliness.

Having caught her breath, Xia Ge finally apologized honestly, her voice low: “I’m sorry, Senior Sister.  I skipped classes for no reason.”

大义灭亲

[dà yì miè qīn]

place righteousness above family loyalty; punish one’s own relations in the cause of justice; place righteousness above loyalty to one’s family; sacrifice consanguinity for the sake of righteousness