After I Failed to Reform the Female Lead of a Tragic Novel - Chapter 1

“Did you hear what they said? When Daofa Zhenren came out of the confinement room that day, there seemed to be blood splattered on the hem of his white robe! I’ve never seen him that furious before!”

In front of the stone door to the confinement room, several disciples on guard duty had found a bit of free time after noon and gathered together to discuss the major incident that had happened during the sect competition these past few days.

“Exactly! Everyone knows Daofa Zhenren raised Senior Sister Gong himself. Naturally, their bond isn’t like that of an ordinary master and disciple. He cherishes her more than anything. Who would have thought Xie Yu would actually dare to poison her own senior sister in public during the competition?”

One disciple’s expression and tone were full of disdain. “Xie Yu is nothing but a substitute. Did she really think she was someone important?”

As soon as those words came out, the expressions of the others turned somewhat subtle.

Xie Yu being Gong Dongling’s substitute was practically an open secret throughout the sect.

Back then, Daofa Zhenren’s second disciple, Gong Dongling, had gone missing while training in the Far North. Half a year later, Zhenren brought Xie Yu, who looked seventy percent similar to Gong Dongling, up Buzhou Mountain and accepted her as his third disciple.

Then, one month ago, Gong Dongling had actually returned, bringing with her the divine artifact Ice Marrow from the Far North, as well as a body full of injuries and illness.

The instant she saw Xie Yu, Gong Dongling understood everything. Dragging along her frail body, she had tried to leave the mountain at once. In the end, she had just barely been persuaded to stay, but the feeling of having been replaced naturally stuck in her throat like a fishbone.

Everyone felt guilty toward Gong Dongling, and because of that, Xie Yu became even more of an eyesore to them.

“This isn’t the first time Xie Yu has made a move. Over the past month, Senior Sister Gong has suffered who knows how many losses both openly and secretly. I saw Senior Sister’s portrait that Xie Yu tore up with my own eyes. Forget Zhenren—even I want to go into that confinement room and teach Xie Yu a harsh lesson…”

Before he could finish speaking, however, he sensed that the atmosphere around him had turned strange. The disciples who had been talking with him just moments ago were no longer chiming in. Instead, their expressions had suddenly become tense.

When he looked up, he met a soft, elegant, plainly beautiful face.

“Se… Senior Sister Gong.” The disciple felt ashamed of himself and called out in a hoarse voice.

Gong Dongling’s expression was not as delicate and gentle as usual. Instead, there was a rare seriousness to it. She lifted her eyes and swept her gaze over the disciples before saying clearly, “You are on duty right now, yet you’re neglecting your posts and gossiping about others. Is this the conduct of a gentleman?”

“…We respectfully accept Senior Sister’s teachings.” The disciples snapped out of their shock and hurriedly admitted their mistake.

In their impression, Senior Sister had never once reprimanded them before.

“Junior Sister Xie Yu has never harmed me. I hope none of you will continue spreading these baseless rumors. If I hear this kind of talk again, it won’t be resolved with just a few words of reprimand.”

Gong Dongling smiled as she spoke, but the smile did not reach her eyes. Instead, they were icy cold.

With that, ignoring the disciples’ stunned expressions, she walked toward the confinement room. She formed a hand seal to open the door and was about to strike it against the stone gate.

“Senior Sister, Zhenren gave orders that no one is allowed to go in and see Xie Yu…”

A soft laugh rang out. Gong Dongling had already opened the stone door. “I’m not going in to see her. I’m going in to return justice to her. I’ll explain things to Master myself.”

The disciples were left speechless. They could only watch as the hem of Senior Sister Gong’s plain white robes disappeared through the doorway.

【You need to find Xie Yu quickly. She was severely beaten with Daofa Zhenren’s Soul-Devouring Whip. If she isn’t treated soon, her meridians and spiritual root will suffer lasting damage.】 The system’s voice sounded slightly anxious.

Both the system and Gong Dongling knew that Xie Yu would nearly lose her life in this accident. Even after being rescued, she would be left with permanent injuries.

“It’s fine. I brought a Heart-Protecting Pill. It can preserve her life for six hours.” Gong Dongling’s gentle voice was like a spring breeze, especially capable of calming people down.

【Where did you get something like that?】 The Heart-Protecting Pill was a life-saving medicine worth a fortune, so even the system couldn’t help being shocked.

“With the original owner’s frail body, it’s not strange for any kind of heavenly treasure to end up in her hands.”

That was right. Gong Dongling had transmigrated into a book. She had become the sickly white moonlight supporting female character in a substitute-themed angst novel, and she had also bound herself to a system whose purpose was to redeem the female lead.

In the original novel, the female lead Xie Yu would blacken because the plot was far too cruel, and Gong Dongling’s mission was to redeem the female lead and stop her from falling into demonic corruption.

Once the mission was completed, she would be freed from the heart disease she had suffered in her previous life and return to the real world with a healthy body to continue living.

The only thing Gong Dongling had not expected was that even after transmigrating into a book, she still had not escaped the fate of being a medicine jar. This sickly white moonlight’s body was not much healthier either. She was weak and ailing, her figure even thinner than Gong Dongling had been in her previous life when she had been hospitalized and hooked up to tubes.

The original owner had only just escaped death and returned from the bitter cold lands. All the meridians in her body had been eroded by cold energy, and even after being nourished with heavenly treasures for so long, she still showed no sign of improvement.

The crystal-clear Heart-Protecting Pill Gong Dongling had taken out now was one of the good things she had dug out from that pile of heavenly treasures.

At this point, even the system could not help admiring Gong Dongling’s ability to adapt to her environment. She had only transmigrated into this cultivation world a day or two ago, yet she could already identify pills and use the spells and incantations the original owner had learned in the past.

As she walked deeper inside, the light from the entrance gradually faded, and the depths of the confinement room became pitch-black.

Gong Dongling tried forming a fireball spell to create some light, only to discover that ever since entering this place, her spiritual power seemed to have been suppressed by something.

She did not panic. Instead, she took a night pearl from her storage ring, and the entire cave was instantly illuminated.

It was also in that instant that Gong Dongling saw Xie Yu collapsed in a dried pool of blood.

Xie Yu was curled into a tiny ball, her whole body covered in whip marks. Beneath the torn scraps of her clothing was a glaring red mess of mangled flesh and blood. Some of the wounds had long since dried and stuck to the fabric, a horrifying sight.

An abnormal flush had risen on the young girl’s pale, paper-white face, and her long lashes trembled faintly.

Gong Dongling frowned and quickly walked over. She carefully turned Xie Yu’s face toward her, pried open her lips, and placed the pill into her mouth.

The Heart-Protecting Pill did not need to be swallowed. It only had to be held in the mouth. Over time, it would gradually shrink. Once six hours passed and the pill disappeared completely, it would no longer have any effect.

After making sure the pill would not fall out, Gong Dongling began checking Xie Yu’s injuries. Whip marks covered her from head to toe. Some of the wounds had begun to inflame and become infected because they had been contaminated by the dirt on the ground.

She had a fever… That was the most basic symptom of infection. Gong Dongling tested Xie Yu’s forehead with the back of her hand, and sure enough, it was terrifyingly hot.

“We need to take her away and treat the infected wounds first.” As Gong Dongling spoke to the system, she carefully avoided Xie Yu’s injuries and helped her up bit by bit, letting her lean against her as they made their way outside.

When they reached the exit, however, Gong Dongling gradually made out a human figure standing there.

She stopped walking. She possessed most of the original owner’s memories, so of course she recognized him. That person was their master, Daofa Zhenren—Xu Ruozhen.

Xu Ruozhen stood there in a black-and-white Daoist robe, his back to the light, making his expression impossible to see.

The two of them stayed silent for a while. The atmosphere seemed to freeze. Finally, Gong Dongling spoke first.

“Master.”

She knew they could not delay Xie Yu’s treatment any longer.

“Any disciple placed in confinement to reflect on their mistakes is forbidden from taking even half a step out of the confinement room before the allotted time is up. Even if they die inside, they must reflect on their mistakes until death. Ling’er, do you still remember this rule?”

His voice sounded as though it had been soaked in shards of ice. Just hearing it made one feel a chill all over.

“This disciple remembers. However, Junior Sister was locked in the confinement room on the charge of poisoning a fellow disciple. Since that charge is false, why can’t I take her out?” Gong Dongling supported Xie Yu’s thin shoulders and looked straight at Xu Ruozhen as she spoke.

“What makes you say that?”

There was no change in Xu Ruozhen’s voice, but Gong Dongling could clearly feel the pressure released by this mighty Soul Division cultivator. It was like a massive mountain pressing down on her primordial spirit. She gritted her teeth and could hardly breathe.

He loses his composure this easily over the slightest defiance? So much for being a dignified Zhenren…

As she thought this, Gong Dongling’s sickly body finally could not hold on anymore, and she spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Ling’er!” The moment he saw her cough blood, Xu Ruozhen quickly withdrew his pressure, his expression dark and unreadable.

Gong Dongling wiped the blood from the corner of her lips with her sleeve and continued supporting Xie Yu as she walked forward. As she brushed past Xu Ruozhen, she left him with one casual sentence.

“Of course I know she didn’t poison me, because I used that poison on myself.”

Behind her, Xu Ruozhen remained motionless for a long time, no one knew what he was thinking.

By the time Xie Yu woke up, it was already the next day.

The bed is wrong…

That was the first thought that appeared in Xie Yu’s mind. This bed was too warm and soft. It was nothing like the bare stone slab she used for cultivation. It seemed that from childhood until now, she had never once slept in such a soft bed.

What proper cultivator uses something like this to cultivate? Xie Yu thought groggily, yet she still greedily clung to this fleeting warmth.

“Since you’re awake, get up and take your medicine first.” A gentle female voice rang out.

At some point, Gong Dongling had already come in and placed a bowl of medicine on the redwood cabinet beside the bed.

“Gong… Gong Dongling?” The instant she heard that voice, Xie Yu jolted and was frightened fully awake. Ignoring the bandaged wounds all over her body, she struggled to sit up. Her dark eyes stared warily at Gong Dongling, and her body even shrank back a little.

Seeing Xie Yu’s violent movements, Gong Dongling knew exactly what would happen. Sure enough, before long, red blood began seeping through the white gauze exposed at Xie Yu’s wrist.

“You’re that afraid of me? I’m the one who bandaged all those wounds on your body. If you tear them open like this, I’ll have to apply medicine and wrap them up for you again.” Gong Dongling did not step forward to further provoke Xie Yu. Instead, she sat at the Eight Immortals table with her chin propped in her hand, smiling as she watched the frightened young girl.

She’s still just a child… How cute.

Hearing this, Xie Yu’s expression changed again. Only then did she lower her head to look at herself. The whip marks all over her body had long since been carefully bandaged. Even the white gauze clothing she was currently wearing was clearly Gong Dongling’s…

Xie Yu bit her lip and could not say a word for a long time.

Every sign pointed to the fact that the person who had saved her was Gong Dongling—the very person who had once made things difficult for her and framed her in every possible way.

“Why?” Xie Yu’s voice was especially hoarse.

Gong Dongling tilted her head and asked despite knowing exactly what she meant, “Why what?”

Those words seemed to ignite Xie Yu’s anger. She lifted her head, her eyes burning like sparks. “Why did you frame me and make Zhenren whip me, only to come save me afterward like some merciful saint?!”

Gong Dongling slowly stood and walked to Xie Yu’s side. She bent down, looked straight into her eyes, and said each word with solemn sincerity:

“A-Yu, I’m your senior sister. From now on, Senior Sister will protect you properly. No one will ever bully you again.”