Do You Like Me That Much? Miss Villainess-Chapter 34 : Behind Your Back, She Made a Lifelong Good Friend~

"All good stuff!"
Gazing at those three purple light spots in her heart, Mu Qinglan let out a long breath, feeling the joy of a bountiful harvest.
She had worked diligently and cautiously to complete these tasks—wasn't it all for this very moment?
However, with so many good options, she was now suffering from choice paralysis.
The main issue was that they were all quite excellent.
To be honest, these traits—ah no, destiny traits—she had seen them all when grinding dungeons in her previous life, so she roughly knew what effects they all had.
It could be said that if any of them appeared individually, each would be a must-take.
They were all white moonlight.
Take [Phoenix Feather] for example. Although this destiny trait's name seemed suspiciously like it was plagiarized from some sword-wielding game from her previous life, its effect wasn't about unleashing two sword energies, but rather the heaven-defying acceleration of casting speed.
Even if it was just a small increase.
Anyone who had played games knew how annoying things like casting startup, recovery, and channeling could be—they could directly affect skill damage and hit rates.
And in reality, it could speed up this aspect.
If Mu Qinglan chose this trait, then when she used 'Light Wisp' to flash in the future, she wouldn't even need to wait for the time it took to snap her fingers. With just a raise of her hand, opponents would have to watch out for their eyes.
Other skills would also be much faster.
The effect of the second purple destiny trait [Trickster] was also quite good.
It was the trump card trait most suitable for the Strange Art Practitioner profession in the game, and also very fitting for Mu Qinglan's current ability system. The only pity was—
She wasn't a Strange Art Practitioner.
Then came the third trait that most suited Mu Qinglan's preferences.
"Shadow Flow..."
Mu Qinglan softly murmured once.
To be honest, compared to the first two destiny traits, this one's flashiness was utterly ordinary, but that didn't affect its simple and brutal effectiveness!
Greatly increased shadow affinity!
Greatly!
Those two words "greatly increased" alone were worth its purple status!
And this was the noble shadow affinity—not some flashy cheap goods like water or fire elemental affinity, but the kind most suitable for Mu Qinglan and that she was most skilled with!
Although as a magician, Mu Qinglan had only learned one shadow spell: Shadow Pierce.
But as a noble mechanist who had contracted the world boss [Great Shadow], she could completely use mechanist arts to control nearby shadows!
And the degree of control depended precisely on shadow affinity!
Although in the short term, Mu Qinglan might not be able to perfectly utilize this level of affinity, from a long-term perspective, this trait could actually provide her with the greatest assistance in the late game.
Moreover, compared to other ritual participants, she had one biggest advantage.
That was she always knew what her goal was.
Some people might choose very powerful destiny traits early on, but end up unable to use them later due to slight changes in their professional system!
Or someone might choose water-based traits, but while practicing, suddenly discover they had fire-based talent!
What then! Just treat the trait as wasted!
You couldn't force yourself to become an ice-fire dual wielder.
You had to know that reality was different from games.
There was no respec option.
Each ritual also gave each person one and only one chance to choose their destiny trait.
Therefore, knowing she had [Great Shadow] and was determined to walk the path of shadows and domination, Mu Qinglan would always choose the trait that provided her with the greatest improvement.
She wanted to be a late-game carry!
Thus, Mu Qinglan slowly closed her eyes and silently recited in her heart:
'I choose [Shadow Flow].'
As her words fell, the other two destiny traits quietly shattered.
A warm current surged through her heart, like warm water flowing through her body, rushing through her blood vessels, washing her entire being clean and making her feel reborn.
The destiny trait [Shadow Affinity] slowly melted.
The melted trait became a warm current that joined the new circulation.
And on the trait description for [Shadow Flow], the "greatly increased shadow affinity" had quietly changed to... extremely greatly increased at some unknown point.
As the sensation of weightlessness suddenly hit, Mu Qinglan jolted awake.
Looking out the window, dawn was breaking.
'It took a whole night... I can undergo another Human Gate ritual next month, I'll need to be careful then…'
Mu Qinglan's eyes dimmed slightly, then she smiled.
She lay down on the bed and fell into deep sleep, leaving only a meaningful murmur lingering in the room—
'And there's Jiang He…'
"When will you come looking for me?"
○
Clang—
Suddenly awakening from her dream.
Bai Yuyu abruptly sat up, breathing heavily like a drowning person rescued from water.
The sky outside was still dark, with a hint of dawn about to break, and she could still occasionally hear the watchman's characteristic calls.
"Sleep early, rise early, take care of your health—"
After catching her breath, she realized it was now the fifth watch.
'Am I back?' Bai Yuyu thought.
Then, without time to examine her current appearance, she eagerly raised her small hand, clenched her fist, and felt the power now flowing through her body.
"Is this eighth rank?"
Bai Yuyu smiled happily, her eyes curved like crescents.
"And it's even a purple destiny trait... it's probably thanks to those two. Without them, I definitely couldn't have gotten this kind of evaluation in that assessment."
The little girl chatted cheerfully to herself.
Without strangers around, Bai Yuyu relaxed considerably.
"[Falling Stars]? It perfectly matches my Bai family's 'Star-Plucking Branch'! And I never knew before that I actually have an innate destiny trait too! It's just that the activation conditions are a bit troublesome—I need a weapon infused with moonlight power to activate it… I'll ask Grandpa when I get back! Maybe he can find one!"
Bai Yuyu got up in a good mood, cleaned the room, and went out with cheerful steps.
The information from the assessment also needed to be investigated when she had a chance, though this kind of thing could probably only be investigated secretly by herself.
Her family wouldn't support it.
And there were Miss Qingqing and Miss Jiang Jiang—she hoped to have the chance to see them again in the future.
Oh right, I still haven't had the chance to meet that rumored little girlfriend of Senior Sister! But she seems to be related to Prince Qi's mansion? I can ask Senior Sister to introduce me someday.
Just right for investigating what Miss Qingqing mentioned.
Ah, so many things!
The little girl ran and ran, then became worried again.
Under the night sky, there weren't only cheerful people like this little girl. There were more people who woke from their dreams in rage.
In a certain mansion in the city, an enraged woman's voice echoed endlessly.
Elsewhere, a black-clothed man also suddenly awoke, his expression uncertain.
And in the northern imperial palace, far from all this.
Jiang He gasped urgently twice and opened her eyes.
However, unlike the happy Bai Yuyu and the scheming Mu Qinglan, Jiang He's heart wasn't particularly joyful, but rather carried some reluctant emotions.
—She had been somewhat emotionally deceived by the bad woman.
"You're awake!"
Ning Shuyu put down the ancient book in her hands, glanced over at her, and sensing she seemed to have low spirits, comforted her:
"Looking at you like this, did you fail the Human Gate? Or is the destiny trait you chose not ideal? But it's fine—most people's destiny traits don't greatly improve them anyway. You have an innate destiny trait, which already puts you far ahead of others."
She only thought Jiang He's bad mood was due to some problem in the assessment.
There was indeed a problem.
This silly child's heart had been stolen by a bad woman—wasn't that a big problem?
"No," Jiang He was silent for a moment, "I got a purple destiny trait."
"Hm?" Ning Shuyu thought she had misheard. "You got a purple destiny trait, so why do you still look so unhappy? Not satisfied? You should know that those who can get purple destiny traits in the Human Gate are one in ten thousand. You should be content. Even my Human Gate back then was only three blues."
Ning Shuyu spoke about the brutal competition in Human Gate rituals, slapping her book onto the table:
"So what destiny trait did you choose? Let me help you analyze it?"
Halfway through her words, she suddenly slapped the table again, interrupting herself:
"No, wait, let me guess first. Most purple destiny traits have been recorded by our predecessors—maybe I can guess it."
Water-based, water-based...
"Um, when you were choosing the destiny trait, did it give related descriptions?" Ning Shuyu asked.
Jiang He honestly replied:
"Beautiful, powerful, immortal and undying..."
"This..." Ning Shuyu frowned with a troubled expression: "I don't seem to have any impression of it. What to do—could it be some destiny trait that's never appeared before?"
"[Crown of Tears and Lament]."
Jiang He maintained her honest child character, ignoring the little routine meant to lighten the mood.
"I really haven't heard of it." Ning Shuyu shook her head. "Let me go search through the library when I get back and give you an answer tomorrow. But this sounds like it might be related to the merfolk from the South Sea..."
She spoke while picking up the book from the table, tidying up to leave.
"By the way."
"What?"
"Nothing." Jiang He shook her head and turned around.
Ning Shuyu didn't think much of it, just assuming Jiang He had called out to her casually, and joked: "See you in a couple days then. Don't miss me too much, okay?"
"I won't miss you."
Jiang He turned back and seriously replied.
After saying this, she seemed to feel her previous words were inappropriate, opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say, so she turned away again and fell silent.
Ning Shuyu left with a light laugh.
She didn't mind.
In her view, Jiang He only had her as someone she could talk to—barely counting as a friend. If they didn't see each other for a few days, being alone in the imperial palace, she would surely feel somewhat reluctant.
'It's not like she suddenly made friends…'
This thought only flashed through Ning Shuyu's mind for an instant before she immediately shook her head with a smile:
'How is that possible! She's never even left the palace—where would she get friends?'
'I'm definitely overthinking it.'