I am the villain in the book

The firelight flickered, casting a hazy glow on Li Zimu and Tang Chen.

When the two stood facing each other again, it was clear they both had a lot to say, but they didn't know where to start.

After a long silence, Li Zimu finally smiled, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and whispered:

"I thought you weren't coming back."

"..."

"I..."

Tang Chen glanced back at the teleportation array and shook his head: "I still need to explain things to His Highness the Prince."

"Okay."

Li Zimu nodded gently and asked again: "Did he allow you to return?"

"Whether he allowed it or not, I'm back, aren't I?"

Lowering her head and twisting the hem of her clothes, Li Zimu blushed, unsure of what to say next.

Instead, Tang Chen, whether out of "insensitivity" or "feigned ignorance," hesitated before asking a question that could almost be considered nonsense.

"Um... were you waiting for me?"

"Otherwise, who would I be waiting for?"

Slowly raising her head, Li Zimu looked at Tang Chen and retorted with a hint of reproach: "Who else could I be waiting for?"

"Uh..."

Tang Chen lowered his head awkwardly, responding with considerable embarrassment.

"I understand."

"..."

One sentence from you, one sentence from me, their conversation was fragmented and sounded very disjointed.

And this precisely reflected their complex feelings at this moment.

Not just joy, but also a kind of entanglement that perhaps only they themselves could understand.

After all...

"By the way, have you seen Young Master Chu?"

Suddenly, Tang Chen asked tentatively: "Does he know about us?"

"He should know."

Li Zimu looked directly at Tang Chen: "Young Master Wei must have told him."

"Is that so? Where is he now?"

Tang Chen took a step closer, his expression very serious: "I want to talk to him."

"..."

Tang Chen actually took the initiative to suggest talking to Chu Xianping.

This action was something Li Zimu had not anticipated.

Her expression became even more complicated, she was silent for a few breaths, and then gently shook her head.

"He has already returned to Liangzhou City."

"Young Master Wei prepared a welcome banquet for him, and they left in the afternoon. They should be drinking now."

"Oh, then we'll talk about it later."

Tang Chen nodded, not paying too much attention, and after exchanging a glance with Li Zimu, they walked out of the hall where the teleportation array was located.

Outside the hall, several guards were standing watch, and not far away, a patrol of soldiers was making their rounds, the sound of their armor rubbing together sounding heavy and lonely in the deep night.

They all saw Tang Chen, but they didn't step forward to question or inspect him, probably because Wei Changtian had given some instructions before leaving.

"Miss Li..."

Standing outside the hall, Tang Chen looked up at the crescent moon in the night sky and turned to ask Li Zimu.

"Where do we go now? Back to Liangzhou City?"

"Also, should you tell Young Master Wei that I've returned?"

"No need, the moment you stepped out of the teleportation array, someone must have already sent a message back."

Li Zimu smiled, her eyes seeming to sparkle like stars.

"As for where we go now..."

"Young Master Tang, the two countries have already ceased fighting, and if nothing unexpected happens, we should be returning to Great Shu in a few days."

"Once we leave this time, who knows when we'll come to Liangzhou again."

"So, will you accompany me to see the snow-capped mountains again tonight? Is that okay?"

See the snow-capped mountains?

Tang Chen was stunned, looked at the vast, white, and spotless snow-capped mountains stretching out in the moonlight in the distance, and subconsciously asked:

"Miss Li, do you like snow scenes?"

"Yes."

Li Zimu responded softly, her eyes becoming somewhat lonely in an instant.

She looked into the distance, murmuring as if in admiration and regret:

"Because snow is very pure..."

"..."

Liangzhou City.

Just as Li Zimu and Tang Chen were sitting on a boulder outside the Mountain God Temple, silently watching the Tianshan Mountains bathed in moonlight, the banquet gathering all the important figures in the city finally came to an end.

With Liang Qin and Yang Liushi standing outside the courtyard gate, Wei Changtian was seeing off all the guests one by one to their carriages.

"Brother Du, go back and rest well, we'll discuss matters at the state office early tomorrow morning!"

"Hahaha! Lord Dong! Before I leave, I'll definitely host another table! We'll drink again then!"

"Uncle Liang, after thinking it over, I feel that we should continue to address each other as uncle and nephew..."

"Brother Chu, Tang Chen is back..."

In the night, several carriages had already driven away one after another, and until they completely disappeared, Chu Xianping's carriage was still parked at the entrance of the small courtyard.

Next to the carriage, Wei Changtian teased with some schadenfreude:

"Hahaha, who between you and Tang Chen will ultimately win the beauty is now uncertain!"

"Young Master, didn't you say..."

Chu Xianping asked blankly: "Is Miss Li pretending to like Tang Chen?"

"It's pretending now, but what about later?"

Wei Changtian smiled and said: "Who can say about these things called feelings? What if Li Zimu ends up giving herself away?"

"Uh..."

Frowning, Chu Xianping had obviously not considered this possibility, so he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

He hesitated for a long while before whispering:

"Young Master, when are they coming back? I want to talk to Tang Chen."

"Brother Chu, they probably won't be back tonight."

Wei Changtian, "not minding the trouble when watching a show," replied with feigned emotion: "The two of them are still looking at the snow scene at the Mountain God Temple."

"Tsk tsk tsk, I wonder what they're talking about..."

"..."

Outside the courtyard gate, the lights were bright, and the fine horses pulling the carriage held their heads high, their front hooves moving back and forth on the ground.

Seeing Wei Changtian's expression, Chu Xianping felt both worried and embarrassed for a moment.

He knew that if he continued to speak, he would probably feel even more awkward, so he quickly cupped his hands and prepared to slip away.

"Cough, Young Master, I understand."

"We'll talk about this later. Tonight, I accidentally drank a few too many cups of wine, and I have a terrible headache right now, so I'll go back and rest first."

He's already a fifth-rank cultivator, yet drinking wine still gives him a headache.

Chu Xianping's excuse was undoubtedly very clumsy, but Wei Changtian didn't "press his advantage" any further, just waved his hand and smiled:

"Alright, go!"

"Yes."

"Young Master, Ladies, farewell."

"..."

After cupping his hands to Liang Qin and Yang Liushi again, Chu Xianping got into the carriage as if relieved of a heavy burden and quickly drove away.

Wei Changtian stood in place and watched for a while before walking to the last person preparing to leave.

"General Han, I have a question for you."

The smile on his face slowly faded, and Wei Changtian at this time seemed like a different person, his expression overly calm.

Seeing this, Han Zhao immediately restrained his smile, cupped his hands, and said solemnly:

"Please speak, Young Master."

"Um..."

Wei Changtian nodded, not hesitating, and then asked a question in Han Zhao's astonished gaze.

"General Han, can you sense the aura of the Puppet Pill on Chu Xianping?"

"..."

Suddenly raising his head, his eyes widened subconsciously.

Han Zhao never expected that Wei Changtian would ask this.

Those who have taken the Puppet Pill can sense each other's special aura, which is the simplest way to identify colleagues in the Same Boat Society.

And Han Zhao had taken the Puppet Pill, so naturally, he could sense whether Chu Xianping had taken the Puppet Pill or not.

So Wei Changtian's question itself was not difficult to answer.

What truly surprised Han Zhao was actually the logic hidden behind this question—

If you deeply trust someone, then you certainly wouldn't test or verify their loyalty.

And once you intend to verify whether someone is loyal, it means that you have already become suspicious of that person.

Therefore, Young Master Wei is actually suspicious of Chu Xianping?!

For anyone who has been by Wei Changtian's side for a relatively long time, this matter is unbelievable.

In other words, in the eyes of almost everyone, if a traitor really appeared by Wei Changtian's side, then Chu Xianping should be the least likely one.

So now...

For a moment, fine beads of sweat had already seeped out of Han Zhao's forehead.

He knew that what he should do most now, and the only thing he could do, was to tell the truth, so he quickly composed himself and replied truthfully in a deep voice:

"Replying to Young Master, Chu Xianping does indeed have the aura of the Puppet Pill on him!"

"..."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure!"