Qi Yan looked at her, the dim light of the night making it almost impossible to see her expression clearly. Qi Yan stepped back and maintained a distance from her, but his tone remained gentle as ever: "What's wrong?"

"There's nothing, I just feel..." Meng Zhiying hesitated, raised her head suddenly and asked, "Am I friends with Qiyin?"

Qi Yan paused for a moment, then raised a gentle and faint smile, "No, it's not."

"What...?"

Meng Zhiying suddenly widened her eyes, as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"I said, we are not friends." Qiyuan's every word landed heavily, delivering a powerful blow to her.

"Why?" Meng Zhiying couldn't take it anymore. She shouted at Qi Yan in a frenzy, letting out all the words that had been buried in her heart: "I like you!"

......

As the words fell, there was a silent stillness all around.

Meng Zhiying felt her whole body turn cold and weak, as if she were trapped in an ice cellar and unable to move.

She... said it just like that? In this kind of time, in this kind of place...

Meng Zhiying raised her head in a fluster, wanting to explain or retract her words. But when her gaze met Qi Yan's handsome face, it felt as if a thorn were lodged in her throat, abruptly blocking all her words.

-She wanted to hear Qi Yan's answer.

After she said those words, Qi Yan immediately felt uneasy. Sure enough, the sound of the system prompt came promptly on time.

[Host, please be aware that the female lead's feelings towards the male supporting character cannot be determined. Please handle it properly!]

"...excuse me? Unable to determine what kind of ghost this is?!"

Qi Yan suppressed his displeasure and met the hopeful gaze of the female lead in a moment of distraction.

"I'm sorry," the words flowed out from his thin lips without hesitation, "I have someone I like now."

"..."

Note: In Chinese novels, the characters '「」' are often used to represent speechless or silent moments, where the character's thoughts or emotions are left unsaid verbally. In English translations, these characters are typically translated as ellipses ("...") to convey the same meaning.

For a while, the atmosphere fell silent once again.

[Female protagonist's favorability towards Qi Yan -20, current favorability cannot be determined, please handle it properly, host.]

[The male lead's favorability towards Qi Yan: -10, current favorability: 85.]

Qi Yan: ......!

Silently standing in front of the male student, Meng Zhiying lowered her head. Her face, already blurred by the darkness of the night, became even more elusive.

Qi Yan took a deep breath, about to say something, but suddenly Meng Zhiying forcefully pushed him away and ran off along the path she had come from.

Qi Yan watched her disappearing figure, his handsome eyebrows furrowing lightly.

It's so abnormal. He has completed so many tasks, but there are rarely any instances where the female lead confesses her feelings to the male supporting character, let alone the inability to determine the affection level.

Lost in thoughts, the voice of the system rang out once again.

[The male lead's fondness towards Qi Yan is -5, current fondness: 80.]

His sensitive ears twitched, accurately picking up the sound of footsteps not far away, treading on dried branches.

Qi Yan smiled wryly and took large strides as he stepped onto the small path, returning to the brightly lit camp.

He walked straight towards their tent, where a light was shining and casting the shadow of a figure inside.

Qiyen slipped into the tent, where Luo Han was tidying up the sleeping bags. Upon seeing him enter, Luo Han casually asked, "Where did you go?"

Qi Yan sat down next to him with a grin and said, "Rejecting someone's confession again."

"Oh."

With an indifferent tone, he tried to cut off the topic that both of them were well aware of.

Qi Yan's eyes flickered as he suddenly approached, asking softly, "Don't you want to ask who confessed to me? Don't you want to know how I rejected her?"

"No."

"But I want to tell you..."

"I don't want to know!"

Luohan's voice suddenly amplified, and Qiyuan felt a blur before he regained his senses, finding his back already pressed against the ground.

Luohan's hands were propped up beside his ears, firmly nestled above him.

"Do you really want me to know that badly? Regardless of the consequences?"

The magnetic voice became deep and hoarse, exuding a faint hint of danger.

Qiyun looked into his ink-like pupils, reflecting his own shadow. He saw himself smiling.

"So, what about you, Han?" Qi Yan repeated, "Do you know what you're doing?"

"……"

In response to him, there was a sudden press of lips.

I'm sorry, but you have inputted a '*' symbol as the Chinese novel paragraph. Could you please provide me with the actual text you'd like me to translate?

I'm sorry, but you haven't provided the text that needs to be translated. Please provide the paragraph you would like me to translate into English.

Empress has something to say:

Suddenly, it's about to get steamy. Are you ready?

The empress has also miscalculated... The dog-blood drama will only start a few chapters later Σ(･ω･ﾉ)ﾉ!