After Picking Up Long Aotian’s Experience Pack

Chu Miao had lost her memories and was terminally ill when, by chance, she found a young man's corpse in a mass grave and a magical experience pack.

As long as she followed melodramatic plotlines to gain experience points, her health would improve.

Chu Miao immediately refined the young man's corpse into a puppet named Qianmo, then took him along to act out the plots.

[Melodramatic Misunderstandings + White Moonlight Stand-In Reversal]

The tyrant played by the puppet Qianmo held a sword to the side of her neck, his gaze obsessive and sinister. "Tell me, do you love me?"

Chu Miao scoffed. "Considering our relationship, how could I possibly love you..."

A flash of blades, and yes, she was killed!

After reloading and being reborn, Chu Miao gazed at the puppet Qianmo's cold eyes, put her hands together, and smiled sincerely. "I do."

The puppet Qianmo narrowed his eyes and gave a dark, cold snort. "So you have improper designs on me!"

A flash of blades, and yes, she was killed again!

The plot ended, and her experience points were at zero.

Chu Miao had assumed it was because her puppet-making skills were lacking that Qianmo behaved this way. That was, until the day...

The young man had gone on a killing spree in the mass grave, dragging a long sword as he advanced step by step. His expression was sinister, his bloodstained face like that of a beautiful, terrifying soul-reaping ghost.

A ghostly demon?

Chu Miao's blood ran cold. With her delicate hands trembling, she held out the experience pack. "B-Big Brother, this is all I have. Please, d-don't kill me."

As he lowered his head and drew near, her gaze turned as sharp as a blade. She struck as swiftly as thunder, thrusting the dagger hidden in her sleeve toward his neck.

The puppet Qianmo leaned back, nimbly dodging the fierce attack. But while Chu Miao was distracted, he grabbed her hand and forcefully drove the blade into himself!

Blood ran from both his mouth and body, yet he lifted his brows and smiled. "Miaomiao, you're quite good with a knife. You always pick my sensitive spots!"

"..."

The puppet Qianmo chuckled. "Want to do it again? I'll get even more excited!"

A madman.

Chu Miao suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Qianmo by the front of his shirt with one hand and gripping the dagger tightly in the other. The moment she kissed him passionately, she pulled the dagger out.

With a clatter, the faint sound of the dagger hitting the ground brought back every last one of her lost memories.

Reader's Guide:

1. Goofy comedy and mutual healing. A fantasy role-playing murder mystery: a mad, frail human girl versus a scheming, obsessive snake lord who defies the usual overpowered male-lead archetype.

2. Cover art credit: @A Flash of Lightning

My next upcoming book, "Power Plays as the Blade, Madness as the Betrothal" [Clear-headed Black Lotus heroine vs. Fake Sweet-Talker, Mad General]

In her previous life, Shen Shu gave everything for Xiao Wenqing, only to see her family destroyed.

The only one who mourned over her corpse in the snow, weeping without end, was Ling Ce, the "vulgar military man" she had once treated like dirt.

Reborn, Shen Shu resolved to become the one moving the pieces and follow a path utterly different from the one she had taken in her previous life.

She never expected that Ling Ce, the "Charcoal-Faced Living King of Hell" who had been decisive and ruthless in his previous life, would become a frail young nobleman with a face as handsome as jade in this one...

At the betrothal banquet, Xiao Wenqing promised to be faithful to her for the rest of his life.

Ling Ce's steps faltered and his body tilted, accidentally knocking a bellyband hidden in Xiao Wenqing's robes to the ground. He hurriedly bowed in apology.

"How very improper of me, Brother Baichuan. I feared you wouldn't get your wish, so I meant to help mediate. I didn't do it on purpose."

At the banquet to find her a husband, the wounded Ling Ce stumbled and collapsed to the ground. The corners of his eyes reddened as he defended Xiao Wenqing.

"Sister, don't blame him! Blame me for foolishly indulging in wishful thinking. I'm not worthy of becoming a live-in son-in-law of the Shen family."

At the palace banquet, the noblewomen all mocked her low birth and foolish ambition to marry above her station.

Ling Ce raised a hand to cover her eyes, his brows drawn together, his voice cold enough to pierce to the bone.

"Just say the word, Sister, and I will shatter the mountains and rivers and remake the world!"

On the night of the triumphant return, Xiao Wenqing knelt and begged to reconcile.

Ling Ce was covered in conspicuous bloody wounds, his gaze tender. "Sister, my whole body aches unbearably... Could you show me a little kindness?"

Shen Shu gradually realized that while the world mocked the mad, those who silently drank down their sorrow and concealed their murderous grief had never betrayed all living beings in either lifetime.

Unwilling to accept this, Xiao Wenqing came to confront her. Shen Shu raised her eyes and answered calmly, each word ringing clear and firm.

"I chose him not because of his devotion to me, but because he deserves everyone's esteem!"

The court seethed with hidden currents. The one who held power promised her family a hundred years of prosperity. She raised her blade and stabbed toward Ling Ce. "General Ling, if we're putting on an act, we have to see it through."

A trace of sorrow rose in Ling Ce's eyes. He turned her hand around and drove the blade toward their enemy. In an instant, sorrow became an obsessive smile as he leaned close and whispered in her ear.

"Sister, are you satisfied?"

Shen Shu smiled, lifting her brows.

Reborn, she would not return to the dreams of her past.

Theme: Cherish life