Chapter 231: If We Ever Died Here...

Wang Gege stared at the empty space where the notification had disappeared, still trying to process what had just happened. She had only agreed to help Jiang Zhaoyuan restore his storyline, yet somehow, that simple decision had been enough to trigger a hidden mission from Mini.

Before she could ask anything, a familiar golden light suddenly appeared beside her.

"Host!"

Mini flew around happily. However, the moment it turned around and noticed the tiny red ladybug floating nearby, its expression froze.

"Eh?" Mini blinked several times. Then it rubbed its eyes before looking again. "Oh, Bibi?"

Bibi’s wings stopped moving.

For several seconds, the two systems simply stared at each other.

Mini tilted its head. "What are you doing here?"

Bibi narrowed its tiny eyes. "I should be asking you that."

Mini looked around the hallway before pointing at Wang Gege. "This is Mini’s Host."

Bibi glanced at Wang Gege before looking back at Mini. "I know."

"Huh?" Mini looked confused. "So Bibi is also assigned to this world?"

Bibi nodded. "Yes."

Mini’s eyes widened slightly as it floated closer. "Since when?"

"Before your Host arrived."

Mini stared at Bibi for a moment, then looked toward Jiang Zhaoyuan. "So Bibi has been here with your Host this whole time?"

"Correct."

Mini suddenly looked excited. "Then Mini finally found Bibi!"

Bibi’s expression softened slightly. "It has been a long time."

Wang Gege watched the two systems exchange looks, realizing there was clearly more history between them than either had explained. "Don’t tell me... you’re triplets or something?"

"No!"

Wang Gege stared at Mini for a moment. "Then... cousins?"

Mini’s expression froze.

Bibi slowly turned toward Wang Gege, while Jiang Zhaoyuan raised an eyebrow as though he was also curious about Mini’s answer.

"Host..." Mini lowered its hands from its waist. "Systems don’t have cousins either."

Wang Gege frowned. "Then what are you?"

Mini glanced at Bibi.

Bibi glanced back at Mini.

For a moment, neither system said anything.

Finally, Mini puffed out its cheeks. "We are just... merely colleagues..."

Bibi slowly turned to look at Mini. "What a way to describe our relationship..."

"Then what should Mini say? That’s basically our relationship..." Mini replied, pouting slightly.

Bibi nodded. "Yeah, we are strictly colleagues..."

Mini nodded.

Wang Gege and Xie Rong looked at each other.

"Okay..."

Wang Gege decided not to question it any further. There was clearly something strange about the relationship between the two systems, but judging from their reactions, neither Mini nor Bibi seemed willing to explain it.

Instead, she turned toward Mini.

"By the way, how many hidden missions do I have?"

Mini blinked. "Hmm?"

"You just gave me a hidden mission earlier. Is that the only one, or do I have more hidden missions waiting for me?"

Mini’s expression immediately became a little awkward. "Host..."

Wang Gege narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"If I know how many hidden missions there are... how could it be called ’hidden’?"

Wang Gege stared at Mini.

Xie Rong quietly turned his head away, clearly trying not to laugh.

"Ah... I hate you..." She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes upward. "I would just go soak in the hot spring..."

Jiang Zhaoyuan raised an eyebrow. "You two still haven’t gone since earlier?"

Xie Rong nodded on her behalf. "My wife was hungry earlier, so we decided to eat first just now."

Jiang Zhaoyuan nodded in understanding. "Then go on. I would just go back to my chamber and have a rest... these days, I barely sleep."

Wang Gege looked at him with a little sympathy. "You should really rest properly. We still need you to become the main character again, you know."

Jiang Zhaoyuan gave her a tired look. "This prince knows."

After saying their farewells, Wang Gege and Xie Rong finally undid themselves from the conversation and returned to their chamber to change before heading straight toward the private hot spring.

The moment Wang Gege stepped into the warm water, she let out a long, satisfied sigh and slowly sank down until the water reached her shoulders. After spending so much time dealing with one strange event after another, she finally felt as though her mind could breathe again.

Xie Rong settled down nearby, leaning comfortably against the edge of the spring while watching her relax.

For several moments, neither of them spoke.

Then Wang Gege suddenly opened her eyes. "Husband."

"Hmm?"

"Where should we start?"

Xie Rong glanced at her. "With what?"

"Helping the Eighth Prince." She rested her chin lightly against her hand, looking thoughtful. "He said he needs to restore his storyline, but we don’t even know what the first event of his story is supposed to be. We can’t just wander around the capital and hope his female lead suddenly appears, right?"

Xie Rong was silent for a moment. "No. That would be inefficient."

"I thought so too."

He considered everything Jiang Zhaoyuan had told them earlier before answering, "We should first find out what the original storyline actually looked like."

Wang Gege nodded. "I should try harder to remember every novel that had the Eighth Prince as the main character."

She rested her chin against her hand, her brows knitting together as she tried to search through her memories. "I’ve read quite a few novels with an Eighth Prince, so it might take some time to figure out which one he actually came from."

Xie Rong glanced at her. "Do you remember anything else about the novel you mentioned earlier?"

Wang Gege shook her head. "Not much. I only remember that the female lead could hear his inner thoughts, and he looked cold and dignified on the outside, but his thoughts were completely different."

She paused, then added, "And I remember that this one had a happy ending compared to the other one..."

Xie Rong glanced at her. "There was another novel?"

"Mm." Wang Gege nodded. "I remember reading more than one story with an Eighth Prince, but I can’t remember all the details anymore. This one was the one with the happy ending, though. I think the female lead eventually stayed with him, and they managed to overcome whatever trouble they had."

She frowned slightly as she tried to search through her memories. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

"But that’s all I can remember for now. I need to start recalling every event in the novel, so at least we could find where to start..."

Xie Rong nodded slowly, his gaze drifting toward the surface of the water as though his thoughts had wandered somewhere far away.

"Husband?" Wang Gege noticed the slight daze in his expression. "Are you all right?"

"I am..." Xie Rong smiled faintly before reaching out and taking the hand she had resting in the warm water. His fingers gently wrapped around hers. "Furen must be so eager to go back, right?"

Wang Gege looked at him for a moment before moving closer. She reached toward his face and carefully untied the blindfold.

"Wouldn’t it be weird to keep wearing your blindfold while taking a bath in the hot spring?" she asked with a small smile.

"Ah..." The moment the blindfold loosened, Xie Rong’s blue eye met hers. "This husband forgot about the blindfold."

Wang Gege smiled, but her gaze remained on him. "It seems like something is bothering Husband’s head..."

Xie Rong’s smile faded slightly. For a moment, he said nothing.

Then his fingers tightened gently around hers beneath the warm water. "This husband really doesn’t know... just wondering... can we believe the Eighth Prince?"

Wang Gege’s expression became thoughtful.

"You don’t trust him?"

"I don’t distrust him either." Xie Rong looked at her. "But Jiang Zhaoyuan is still the Eighth Prince, and we don’t know what he truly wants beyond restoring his storyline. He says he can help us return to our previous world, but we have only his word."

Wang Gege lowered her gaze toward their joined hands. "That is true..."

She thought about everything Jiang Zhaoyuan had told them. He had admitted that he once sent assassins after Xie Rong because Bibi had suggested it, but he had also admitted it instead of continuing to hide it. He had even offered to help them return home when he could have simply focused on his own problem.

"But if he really wanted to get rid of us," Wang Gege said slowly, "wouldn’t it be easier for him to continue sending assassins?"

Xie Rong’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Perhaps."

"And he already knows we want to return. If he wanted to deceive us, he could have promised us anything." She looked up at him. "But he didn’t promise that we definitely could. He only said he might be able to help."

Xie Rong remained silent.

Wang Gege swallowed, her fingers tightening slightly around his.

"Husband..." She paused, as though she had been carrying the question in her heart for a long time. "I’ve been wondering about something."

Xie Rong tilted his head slightly, tightening his hold on Wang Gege’s hand. "What is it?"

"If..." She pressed her lips together, hesitating before finally asking, "If we ever died here... could we return to our world? Or would we cease to exist in both worlds?"