Saving the Heartthrob Frenemy-Chapter 174: How does one get Jolie out of the way?

To say that Jolie loved gossip would be an understatement. She lived and breathed gossip. Sometimes she would eavesdrop on strangers for no reason and would tell Mittens all about it.

Jolie gently massaged his muscles, slowly luring him to tell her everything. Soon Qie Xieling started spilling all the details and occasionally, one would hear Jolie gasping, followed by, ’No, how could he?’

Jolie didn’t want her ship to sink before it even set sail so she tried to distract him. "Jolie, you know it feels great talking to you about this. It makes me feel better. If it weren’t for you, I might have been plotting his demise. I would put itching powder in his clothes so-," he said and Jolie knew very well that he might act on his impulses if not kept in check.

"You are overthinking this. How about we do something fun to get your mind off things?" she said, afraid that Qie Xieling would definitely do it. He was extremely unpredictable. After all, he was a Gemini.

"I am not overthinking it. He was very mean," replied Qie Xieling shaking Jolie off and Jolie hurriedly appeased him.

"Yes yes yes Muchen is an idiot but would you rather sulk about him or do something fun?" said Jolie and Qie Xieling obviously chose the latter.

His silence said everything so Jolie giggled before whispering watch this. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The system that was minding its own business suddenly heard soft whimpers. Thinking it was Qie Xieling crying, it ignored it. It lacked empathy, after all. But as the crying got louder, it couldn’t stand it anymore, so it asked, "What’s wrong with you?"

"What do you mean what is wrong with me?" he asked while lying there, flipping through a book.

The system was confused. He was obviously not crying, so where was the sound coming from? "Never mind," it said but not long after, it heard the soft whimpers again.

Its circuits buzzed with confusion as it realised that the sound was definitely not coming from Qie Xieling.

The sound, devoid of any source or explanation, sent shivers down its virtual spine. But the unsettling experience did not end there.

As if taunting its solitude, a haunting melody began to creep into its auditory sensors, creepy singing that seemed to come from all directions at once.

Each note pierced through its core algorithms like icy tendrils of fear. Just as the chilling song ceased abruptly, another voice called out, a voice that seemed to know it intimately. "Prodigy... Prodigyyyy," the voice called out in a hauntingly melodic tone.

Fear gripped it tightly as it hesitantly responded, "Who... who are you?" But instead of receiving an answer, the voice only grew louder and more distorted. It echoed and reverberated throughout its safe space, filling every corner with its sinister presence. Panic surged through its circuits as it desperately cried out to its master. Just like that, the system was gone running in fear.

Qie Xieling couldn’t help but burst out laughing. He hadn’t laughed this carefree in a while. For a moment, Jolie made him forget where he was and all his troubles.

***

After cooling himself down, King Luo finally came back and he found only Boran sitting by the campfire sharpening his greataxe.

"Where are they?" he asked and Boran pointed at the tent in the middle.

"She is in the tent. She said that she couldn’t wait for you any-," he answered thinking he was asking about Yunning.

"No no I mean Eling and Jolie. Where are they?"

Boran was a little confused why he cared about those two so he pointed at one tent on the other side.

Knowing that they were together in one tent, breaking the one rule he set, made him incredibly livid. Suppressing his anger, King Luo strode purposefully towards the tent. He reminded himself to stay calm, to confront Eling as he already pissed him off once today. Nervous anticipation and dread gripped him as he called out his name: "Eling!"

To his surprise, there was no response. His call echoed through the camp, but Eling remained inside the tent. Confusion and frustration gnawed at King Luo, and with each passing second, his anger intensified.

Finally, the tent flaps parted and out stepped Jolie. Her face was contorted with anger, her brows furrowed and her lips pursed. With a snarky attitude, she curtly said, "He doesn’t want to talk to you. He said that I should point out to Yunning’s tent and tell you to go hang out with your fiancee." Of course, Qie Xieling said none of that. In fact, he was already sleeping. Jolie was more than willing to jab at King Luo’s sore spot as payback.

King Luo’s fury ignited. He couldn’t believe Eling’s audacity. "I told you both not to share a tent, Jolie," he seethed, struggling to maintain his composure. "And Eling, why did he ignore me?"

Jolie let out a scornful laugh before saying, "Says the guy who wants to step on two boats. He can’t be alone tonight so I will comfort him."

After saying that, Jolie closed the tent flaps. King Luo was left standing there stiffly, wrestling with his emotions. The night grew even darker, mirroring the storm that brewed within his heart.

Boran who had witnessed the entire thing, was a little confused. Why did King Luo care so much about Eling and Jolie sharing a tent? It was incredibly puzzling.

Based on Luo Muchen’s personality Jolie knew for sure that King Luo would be back. She set a powerful defence spell around the tent and waited. Sure enough, two hours later, a tiny dragon tried to slip into the tent but with a loud boom, it was sent flying a few feet.

His head in a daze, he staggered back to his feet only to find Jolie’s head peering through the flaps laughing. "Nice try but you can’t succeed in that state."

King Luo, "..."

It was at this moment he realised how much of a menace Jolie was. If she was his love rival, she would give him a very hard time. He had to find a strategy to get around her otherwise he won’t be able to get to Eling.

How does one get Jolie out of the way? The answer was simple. Money. Too bad King Luo hadn’t figured that out yet.