Bai Heng snapped her eyes open.
The blush on her cheeks hadn't even faded yet, and now it flared hotter—half embarrassment, half fury at being exposed. She yanked her tail back into her arms like she was protecting a priceless treasure, hugging it tight while her gaze darted everywhere except Wei Qing's face.
"W-Who's pretending?!" she stammered, voice loud but flimsy. "I-I just… happened to wake up, that's all!"
Wei Qing straightened, deadpan. "Oh? You happened to wake up at the exact moment I pulled your tail? What a coincidence."
"It is a coincidence!" Bai Heng puffed her cheeks, trying to reclaim some momentum—only for her flaming ear tips and guilty eyes to betray her instantly.
She buried herself deeper into the blanket, leaving only a pair of wet, flustered eyes showing. "…H-How did you know?"
Wei Qing answered succinctly. "Your eyelids were shaking like they were about to take off."
Bai Heng: "..."
Her backbone collapsed on the spot. She slammed her face into the pillow and let out a muffled wail.
"This is so humiliating… I'm going to die. I'm really going to die…!"
"Jingliu—how could she say that?! And Jing Yuan! Dan Feng! Ying Xing! What are they even thinking?!"
Wei Qing watched the ostrich act, then dragged a chair over and sat down calmly. His tone stayed flat, almost amused.
"Yeah. I'd also like to know what they were thinking."
"Miss Bai Heng… don't you think you owe me an explanation?"
Bai Heng lifted half her face from the pillow, eyes watery and chaotic. "Explain what?! I don't know anything! I just felt like everyone was weird today—especially Jing Yuan! He clearly knows you're—"
She cut herself off like she'd bitten her tongue, glancing around in panic. Then she lowered her voice to a whisper.
"…He knows who you are, and he still went along with it. Like a bunch of idiots."
Wei Qing's eyes narrowed slightly. "So you're sure Jing Yuan already knows my identity?"
He needed to untangle this mess. Jing Yuan's behavior today was too strange—either there was a deeper play, or it was all just a catastrophic chain of misunderstandings.
Bai Heng frowned, forcing herself to rewind her memory.
"It started… the day you agreed to help him with the Destruction gang prisoners." She hesitated, then pushed on. "He… he asked me if I was 'like Jingliu back then.' I-I thought he'd recognized you… so I… I admitted it."
Wei Qing instantly saw the problem.
He rubbed his temples and stared at Bai Heng—still tugging at the tip of her tail in self-punishment like it had personally betrayed her.
For a moment, he didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.
"So," he summarized, "Jing Yuan thought you fell for 'Dian Dao' at first sight…"
"And you thought Jing Yuan had already seen through me—and chose to quietly approve… and even… help set it up?"
Bai Heng jammed her whole face into the pillow again and produced a muffled, dying fox noise.
After replaying it all, even she understood where the stupidity had started.
"…Yeah… probably…."
"…I'm finished. I can't explain this anymore! Jingliu even asked that directly, and you—you answered like that…"
She meant the line: "Yeah… I like her, too."
Wei Qing fell silent for a beat.
Back then, he'd been cornered by Jingliu's pressure, surrounded by that "meet the family" vibe, and… honestly… he'd ridden the moment.
Watching Bai Heng and those "old friends" stumble around in a tangle of misunderstandings had scratched some petty itch in his heart.
He couldn't exactly tell Bai Heng that.
So instead he went with a safer excuse.
"In that situation, Jingliu was pressing hard. I got a bit… carried away. You know what I'm like." He lifted a hand. "You can't blame me for that."
"Besides, Jing Yuan and the others clearly enjoyed it. Keeping the misunderstanding might actually be useful for our current 'identity.'"
Bai Heng shot up like she'd been electrified. Her fox ears snapped straight up.
"W-What are you planning?!" she snapped, hugging her tail tighter. "I'm warning you, Wei Qing—don't you dare use this as an excuse to take advantage of me! I'm not easy prey!"
The threat had zero intimidation value. It even carried a faint, accidental… coquettishness.
Wei Qing's mouth twitched. "Take advantage?"
He shook his head lightly. "Bai Heng. Do you really think I'm that kind of person?"
"Listen."
"If Jing Yuan and the others have formed this misconception—and they're happy to let it exist—then it's excellent camouflage."
"As long as we keep it going, my room to maneuver in the Luofu increases dramatically. They'll subconsciously rationalize some of my actions… and might even… provide convenience."
Bai Heng blinked at him, stunned.
Annoyingly, his logic made sense.
The misunderstanding was smoke. It blurred his true intention. If they believed "Dian Dao" had feelings for Bai Heng, then their vigilance would soften; some things would be waved off under a "we're basically friends" filter.
But—
What does that have to do with me?!
So you're going to spend my reputation like currency?!
"WEI QING!!"
A pillow flew at his face with a sharp whoosh.
He caught it easily, only to find Bai Heng had already grabbed another.
"You shameless bastard! Deadbeat scum! Trash man!" she shouted, standing on the bed like a furious little warlord. "You want to use me as your cover?! In your dreams!"
Wei Qing dodged the second pillow with a half-step, still calm. "Bai Heng. Calm down. It's a temporary measure—"
"Temporary your fox tail!" Bai Heng screamed, grabbing a third pillow and flinging it like artillery. "What about my reputation?! How am I supposed to live in the Luofu after this?!"
"Reputation?" Wei Qing raised an eyebrow as he sidestepped. "We don't have any 'real relationship' that requires responsibility, do we?"
"When the dust settles—or when I leave the Luofu—you can just say I'm a scumbag who disappeared. That I—"
Bai Heng looked like she'd been hit by a thunderbolt.
"Y-You already planned the exit strategy?! You planned to use me from the start?!"
"I'm telling you right now—I have no obligation to help you! I'll report you tomorrow!"
"Report me?" Wei Qing drawled, voice smooth. "Sure. Go ahead."
"Walk into the General's seat and tell Jing Yuan: these past days you helped Qingzhou hide his identity, you escorted him into the core of the Shackling Prison, and today you cooperated in a 'mutual affection' performance that made everyone look like fools."
He listed it calmly, line by line.
With every sentence, Bai Heng's eyes widened another notch… and her fury shrank by another.
Her ears wilted. Her tail went stiff. Her voice dropped to a squeak.
"..."
Wei Qing tilted his head. "Go on."
"Report me."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 147)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter185)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter215)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 185
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/1
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 206
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 190
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/23
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 106
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 125
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 90
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 80
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 86
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 81
Still playing traditional Honk 65
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 65
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 59
Checking In in Demon Slayer 59
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 73
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 45
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 36
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 40
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 60
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 30
Why did they assign me to Uma 35
MYGO Beauties 43
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 30
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 31
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