After Qingming, the weather turned warm and pleasant, with comfortable temperatures.

The filming of “Campus Bully” entered its final sprint phase.

The pace of filming was noticeably tighter than before, and the shooting locations were no longer limited to the school.

Only a small portion of the scenes took place at the homes of the male and female leads.

So, there was frequent location shifting and busyness.

The atmosphere among the crew was more serious, with fewer light-hearted moments.

Filming often extended into the night, and as the female lead, Ning Qiuxui’s workload was intense.

She was almost completely exhausted every day, collapsing into bed after a shower.

As the final wrap approached, Ning Qiuxui was in high spirits.

After the wrap, she had a half-month vacation, which she was eagerly looking forward to.

“Since I have to go abroad for business in May, how about we vacation together abroad?” Ning Qiuxui, lying in bed after her shower, suggested during a video call with Zhan Qingyue.

Ning Qiuxui had been filming all day and was so exhausted that her eyelids were drooping while holding her phone.

She mumbled a vague agreement to his question, then closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Zhan Qingyue: “……”

“Be careful—” Just as Zhan Qingyue finished his sentence, he saw Ning Qiuxui’s face suddenly enlarge on the screen.

“Thud.” The sound of the phone hitting her face followed, and the screen went dark, cutting off the view.

The microphone still picked up the sound of Ning Qiuxui’s surprise, “Ouch, that hurts!”

“You really are…” Zhan Qingyue chuckled helplessly, “Get up and check if you’ve bruised yourself.”

However, Ning Qiuxui, startled awake by the pain, rubbed her face where the phone had hit and muttered before flipping over and going back to sleep.

Zhan Qingyue: “………….”

“Qiuxui?” Zhan Qingyue called softly.

“……” No response.

Zhan Qingyue, both amused and concerned, ended the call and let her rest.

She must be exhausted.

The next morning, Ning Qiuxui woke up, completely forgetting what had happened before she fell asleep.

She noticed a dull ache on her face and found a small bruise in the mirror. It wasn’t very noticeable and wouldn’t affect filming.

The source of the bruise was quickly revealed when Zhan Qingyue left her a message on her phone.

【Abstinence for Half a Year: Remember to massage the spot where the phone hit you and get plenty of rest.】

Ning Qiuxui: “……”

No more video calls while drowsy—she might end up disfigured!

Since many of the scenes after the reunion of the main characters took place in a company setting, the production rented an entire office floor as a shooting location.

The only characters who had not changed, apart from the leads, were the second female lead, Jia Hanxu.

After graduating from university, the female lead became a designer, while Jia Hanxu’s company happened to have a design project up for bidding.

The two women met again in a competitive setting.

Today’s scenes involved Ming Ge winning the bid with her design proposal and successfully securing the project for their company, which made Jia Hanxu extremely angry.

Ming Ge subtly mocked her after the bidding.

After the bidding concluded, the two women encountered each other in the restroom.

“Congratulations, congratulations,” Jia Hanxu said with a fake smile, “Ming Ge, it seems I really underestimated you.”

Ning Qiuxui, washing her hands, replied coldly, “Then keep your eyes wide open and watch me.”

“……” Jia Hanxu was momentarily taken aback by her words, then anger surfaced on her face. “You, a newcomer who has been in the industry for less than a year, can land such a great project. There must be something more to it.”

“Cut!” Just as Ning Qiuxui was about to respond, the director, Xiao Sheng, called for a cut.

The two women stepped out of the restroom, and Xiao Sheng told Jia Hanxu, “Your emotions are off. You need to convey pride and disdain to Ming Ge, not anger. If you’re angry, you’ve already lost. Do you understand?”

Jia Hanxu took a deep breath, “Sorry, Director Xiao. I’d like to request a 10-minute break.”

Xiao Sheng frowned, “What’s going on with you today? Why are you so off? You look disheveled.”

“I…” Jia Hanxu tightened her fingers and said, “Maybe it’s because I didn’t rest well last night.”

Xiao Sheng’s frown deepened, and his face turned cold, making the atmosphere around him tense.

Everyone held their breath, expecting him to get angry, but he waved his hand and said, “Fine, take ten minutes. Find your state.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Ning Qiuxui moved to one side, took the hot drink that Xiao Qi handed her, and then had the makeup artist do a touch-up.

After that, she saw Jia Hanxu approaching.

“Qiuxui,” Jia Hanxu called softly.

Ning Qiuxui took a sip of her hot drink and asked indifferently, “Sister Hanxu, what’s up?”

“After this scene, could you stay behind to help me rehearse? I’m having a really bad day today and can’t find the right feeling. I’d like to go over the scenes for the wrap-up in advance.”

Ning Qiuxui wasn’t keen on it.

Previously, Jia Hanxu had tried to sabotage her by spreading false accusations to Zhan Qingyue.

If it weren’t for their complicated relationship, Zhan Qingyue’s discernment would have easily seen through her lies.

Now… she’d rather use the time to get some extra sleep.

But these thoughts were only in her mind. Being in the same crew, if someone needed her help, it was her work responsibility, and she couldn’t refuse.

Ning Qiuxui nodded, “Sure.”

Jia Hanxu’s expression relaxed, “Thank you.”

After the break, Jia Hanxu’s performance improved significantly.

They completed the scene in one take, and the morning’s filming was done.

In the afternoon, they had to switch locations to shoot outdoors.

Due to the tight schedule, they didn’t return to the hotel.

After lunch, the two of them rehearsed in the meeting room where they had just finished their bidding.

Both knew their lines well and quickly got into character.

“I’m not reconciled, really not reconciled,” Jia Hanxu said, covering her face and crouching down, her body trembling slightly. “Since high school, you’ve always been ahead of me in everything, and he has always only had eyes for you. Why have you taken all the advantages?”

Ning Qiuxui sighed.

Perhaps it was because of the extra sugar in the milk tea she had just drunk, making her blood sugar spike.

She felt weak and struggled to maintain her energy.

She forced herself to continue, “You came from a better background, with more talents, obviously…”

She couldn’t continue. Her legs gave out, and she sank to the ground.

It’s a trick!

Ning Qiuxui was startled internally but reacted quickly.

With the remaining strength she had, she swiftly reached into her pocket, unlocked her phone with her fingerprint, and pressed the number nine button, holding it down.

—This was her quick dial setup for Zhan Qingyue. Holding it down for a few seconds would automatically dial his number.

He would definitely come to her rescue! At that moment, Ning Qiuxui had unwavering faith in this man.

Jia Hanxu, who was originally crouching, looked up at Ning Qiuxui.

Seeing her trembling and realizing her intent, Jia Hanxu rushed over frantically and reached into her pocket to grab her phone.

Ning Qiuxui, feeling her strength rapidly draining, was as limp as a cotton candy.

Even with her strength-enhancing talisman, it was useless.

As Jia Hanxu snatched the phone away, Ning Qiuxui mustered enough strength to shout, “Help me, Qingyue.”

Jia Hanxu, flustered and shaking, had already hung up the call. With a triumphant look on her face, she said, “Give up. It didn’t go through.”

“……” Damn, unlucky.

However, Ning Qiuxui could feel her deep fear.

Weakly leaning against the meeting room table, she forced a smile and said, “You still have… a chance to turn back.”

She didn’t know Jia Hanxu’s exact motives, but it was clear that she was heading for her own destruction.

“Take care of yourself first,” Jia Hanxu glared at her with resentment. “After today, you’ll be disgraced and have nothing left.”

Ning Qiuxui gave a weak smile, “You too.”

“I won’t be,” Jia Hanxu said harshly, repeating to herself, “You pushed me to this. Yes, you pushed me.”

“……” What did she push her into?

Seeing Jia Hanxu in a state of confusion, Ning Qiuxui thought there might be an opportunity.

She was about to gather more strength to speak when the meeting room door was pushed open, and Fan Yanli, with his increasingly noticeable beer belly, walked in. “Oh, what a lively scene.”

It was him!

“Mr. Fan, I’ve completed the task. I’ve done it,” Jia Hanxu stumbled over to Fan Yanli, grabbing his arm like a lifeline.

“Yes, well done,” Fan Yanli said, signaling his men to pull Jia Hanxu off him.

He dusted off his nonexistent dust and walked up to Ning Qiuxui, looking down at her from above. “Long time no see, Qiuxui.”

Ning Qiuxui lowered her eyes, ignoring him, her mind racing to figure out how to escape.

Since the fake arm bearer was found and the two bodyguards assigned to protect her had been withdrawn, and Xiao Chi, who was the only one around her, had likely been tricked, her strength-enhancing talisman was ineffective.

It seemed like a dead end.

Calm down, calm down, Ning Qiuxui told herself to stay calm.

There must be a way out.

Fan Yanli, not bothered by her silence, smiled and said, “Qiuxui, I really like you.”

“……” Ning Qiuhui was amused by his shameless words and gathered her strength to reply, “Such a special kind of liking.”

Fan Yanli chuckled and said, “I can’t help it. When it comes to things I like, if I can’t have them, I want to destroy them. Qiuhui, I can’t bear to destroy you. Just take one small step forward, and the world will be yours.”

Pervert!

Seeing that Ning Qiuxui remained silent, Fan Yanli squatted down in front of her, pinching her chin to force her to look up at him.

He wore gloves, probably to avoid leaving fingerprints.

“Then don’t blame me for not giving you a chance. What a pity for this pretty face.”

He let go of her, stood up, and clapped his hands.

His people began taking out equipment, such as DV cameras and regular cameras.

Ning Qiuxui realized his intentions and used all her remaining strength to say, “Dare you!”

Fan Yanli leisurely sat down in a chair in front of her and said, “What’s there to be afraid of? Qiuxui, no matter how disgraced you are, I will always like you. But Zhan Qingyue might not.”

—Indeed, there’s nothing he wouldn’t dare. His character in the book is a pervert, a scoundrel created by the author to torment the female antagonist.

Although he appears wealthy and powerful, he is utterly ruthless and capable of anything.

Ning Qiuxui felt utterly desperate.

With only a small amount of strength left, she tried to stand using the magnifying effect of the talisman.

Just as her hand touched the ground, she felt a sharp object.

It was a thumbtack that had fallen there at some point!

Ning Qiuxui felt a surge of hope and tilted her weakened body toward the hand that touched the tack.

As her fingertips were pierced by the tack, a sharp pain surged through her, and her drained strength revived a bit.

Using the magnifying effect of the talisman, Ning Qiuxui managed to prick all five fingers with the tack.

The sharp, bloody pain stimulated her brain, making her regain some strength.

Taking advantage of the distraction of the people around her, Ning Qiuxiu quickly got up from the ground.

With the boost from a strength talisman and a desperate will to survive, she managed to toss them aside like trash, creating loud thuds as they hit the ground and struggled to get up, crying out in pain.

Stumbling, she made her way to the door and opened it.

She had been filming in this building for several days and was very familiar with the layout—she knew where the stairs and elevator were.

Unfortunately, the elevator was far away, but luckily the fire escape was right next to the conference room.

The brief recovery of strength was fleeting; her body quickly weakened again as Fan Yanliang’s people came after her.

Before her strength completely faded, Ning Qiuxiu rolled and crawled down the fire escape.

Fortunately, a security guard from the building heard the commotion and came to check it out.

Ning Qiuxiu, desperate to escape, practically rolled to the guard’s feet, her bloody hand grabbing his pants, and weakly mouthed “help me.”

Then, she lost consciousness.

…

“Wow, another traveler. After so many times, you’re still so useless. It’s almost unbelievable,” a voice said as Ning Qiuxiu struggled to open her eyes.

She saw a stranger with an air of immortality smiling at her. “Awake now, little traveler.”

Ning Qiuxiu tried to sit up but failed. Her body felt like it was filled with lead, and she couldn’t speak, just moving her mouth without any sound.

The man noticed her struggle and said with a smile, “You’ve just taken over this body and can’t fully control it yet. Rest a bit, and I’ll cast a spell to make you lively again.”

Possession, traveler?! Had she traveled again?

But what about Zhan Qingyue?

She hadn’t even had a chance to see him one last time. What would happen to him? Would he be heartbroken if she just left like this?

Or would another soul take over her body and be happy with someone else?

Any outcome was painful for Ning Qiuxiu, and tears began to flow.

“Why are you crying? Oh no, don’t cry. I really can’t stand it when women cry. Stop it, stop it. I don’t mind that you’re useless. It’s really something, traveling so many times and still so sensitive.”

Ning Qiuxiu’s tears flowed even more.

The man seemed genuinely worried about her crying.

He hurriedly performed a spell in the air, muttering words under his breath. With a final chant, he said, “Go!”

The spell flew into Ning Qiuxiu’s body.

She felt her throat loosen and could speak and move again.

The man helped her sit up. “Alright, alright, don’t cry. I was wrong, okay? You young girls are really hard to handle.”

“I want to go back,” Ning Qiuxiu said tearfully.

“Go back? Where to? The world of travelers is all illusory. Don’t think too much. Just take a nap,” the man said nonchalantly.

“I want to return to my previous world. Even though it was just a novel, it had my loved one,” Ning Qiuxiu said, looking at him hopefully. “You know I’m a traveler. You must know the rules. Can you send me back?”

The man replied, “I don’t know. I can’t.”

Ning Qiuxiu: “……”