After I Failed to Reform the Female Lead of a Tragic Novel - Chapter 15

Gong Dongling’s thoughts were in complete chaos. She had never expected to suddenly run into a villain boss like this. Unfortunately, she did not dare let any of it show on her face. After all, Mu Chenlin’s identity was sensitive to begin with, and he was skilled at reading people. If he discovered that she knew all these things, he would not be as easy to deal with as Qiu Yan.

She adjusted her emotions and spoke to him through the veil of her bamboo hat. “Shopkeeper, I came to sell pills. Since their origin isn’t proper, I can only sell them through this kind of method.”

“Miss, you seem unfamiliar with our shop’s rules. Although we may look like a shady shop, we do honest business here. It’s one thing if you won’t remove your bamboo hat, but how can you not even give your name?” There was a faint smile on his face as he toyed with a night pearl in his hand.

Hearing him make things difficult, Gong Dongling felt this was the perfect chance to suggest leaving. After all, it was better to have as little contact with this person as possible.

“Shopkeeper, then I’ve disturbed you. I merely stole some pills from home and planned to exchange them for a bit of money. It really isn’t convenient for me to reveal my identity. If Shopkeeper insists, then I’ll leave now.”

Just then, the decorative porcelain vase on the table suddenly exploded soundlessly. Fragments flew in every direction, some brushing past the veil of Gong Dongling’s bamboo hat.

Gong Dongling’s expression changed slightly. Her gaze instantly cooled as she looked at Mu Chenlin through the veil.

“A guest I invite inside cannot simply leave like this. That would be far too impolite. Miss, you saw it yourself. I could have blown apart your bamboo hat directly, but we are not such an unreasonable shop. We only ask that guest and host treat each other with sincerity. What is wrong with that?”

Mu Chenlin still looked refined and weak, but it was clear he intended to use force.

“I can purchase your pills at a price higher than the market rate. The premise is that the other party is sincere and willing to tell me the truth.”

He quietly looked at Gong Dongling’s slightly scorched fingernails with an ambiguous gaze. Those marks had been left behind by improper handling during alchemy. It seemed he had long since discovered that she was an alchemist…

“Wen Yu. An uncertified alchemist. I came here to get rid of the batch of pills I refined. Happy now?” Gong Dongling spread her hands and confessed.

Only then did Mu Chenlin reveal an understanding smile. “Take them out and let me see the quality. If they’re good, we can make the deal here directly.”

Gong Dongling could only reluctantly take dozens of boxes from her storage ring. Each contained a different kind of pill. Back then, she had tried refining them one type at a time and had not considered the issue of selling them. Later, she had decided she would refine more of the pills that sold well and benefited cultivation.

The boxes were lined up in front of Mu Chenlin. He used tongs to pick up the pills, turning them over to inspect them as he carefully examined their color and appearance.

“Why haven’t you taken the certification exam? Your finished products are more than enough to pass the qualification test.” After finishing his inspection, he closed the brocade boxes and looked at Gong Dongling with interest.

“That doesn’t count as part of sincerity, does it? Forgive me for not being able to explain.” Gong Dongling only wanted to sell the pills quickly and leave. Who knew what Mu Chenlin might suddenly decide to do on a whim?

“Let’s work together. This batch of goods you refined is exactly what we need, and the quality is excellent. It just so happens that we only look at goods, not people, while you can only sell things secretly. Of course, every deal will be made at ten percent above market price.”

As he spoke, he took out a storage spirit stone. “There are fifty thousand spirit stones inside. I’ll buy all the pills you have here. Although this is quite a bit above market price, it is our first transaction, so I’ll give you a taste of sweetness.”

Sure enough! He was starting to recruit her. What he craved wasn’t her pills at all—it was her, the alchemist!

Gong Dongling had read the background introduction in the original novel before. It said that after the Demon Clan was defeated, their vitality was greatly damaged, and most demons went into hiding to recuperate. In order to revive his people, the Demon Lord did not hesitate to use his private wealth to purchase large quantities of herbs and pills.

But not a single demonic cultivator could cultivate the immortal path. They had to disguise themselves as righteous cultivators and purchase goods from the black market. They would also form long-term partnerships with many alchemists, just like this.

Looking at it this way, most of those partnerships had probably been forced through threats like this. Refuse to cooperate, and they would not let you leave. A truly old-school shady shop!

There was one fatal problem with cooperating with demonic cultivators. If anyone discovered it, she could be accused of colluding with demons and evil beings. Gong Dongling only wanted to raise a proper, upright junior sister. If she got tangled up in something this murky, who knew what it might trigger?

Gong Dongling knew she had no room to refuse, so she could only agree. “Having a long-term sales channel isn’t bad. But I want to ask—if I don’t have the energy to refine pills and can’t provide goods, can we stop cooperating?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. We’ll ask before placing an order.” From somewhere, he produced a ruby that looked very similar to the one embedded in the bone ring and handed it to Gong Dongling. “This is something our shop uses specifically for communication. If there is a message, it will flash red. Be sure to keep it safe.”

She knew this was a communicator Mu Chenlin used to track, locate, and control his informants. She accepted it with false sincerity, already planning to throw it away in a crowded market later. Once she took Xie Yu and ran, she would see how this demonic cultivator planned to chase her.

…

By the time Qiu Yan arrived, Gong Dongling had long since left.

Mu Chenlin was very displeased by his sudden visit and left him waiting outside for half an hour before allowing him in.

The two of them were superior and subordinate, but their relationship was extremely tense. In the Demon Realm, there was a tradition: only the strong could sit securely in high positions. If someone could defeat you, you had to step down and give way. Even the Demon Lord was no exception.

Of course, Mu Chenlin feared that Qiu Yan might grow too quickly one day and rebel, so he had suppressed him in various ways early on.

Naturally, Qiu Yan was unwilling to accept that. He hid many things from his superior, driven by selfish desire to become stronger and climb higher.

“Didn’t I tell you to come here less often? If someone notices and investigates even a little, they’ll discover the relationship between us and your identity.” Mu Chenlin looked down from above as Qiu Yan knelt on one knee, giving him no permission to rise.

Qiu Yan knelt on the floor with his head lowered, but all his thoughts were on Gong Dongling. Seeing that Mu Chenlin did not mention even half a word related to her, and then seeing the pill boxes still sitting on the table before they had been put away, he could not help feeling confused.

Could she really have come here to sell pills?

But where had those pills come from? Had Master or their fellow disciples given them to her? And why would Gong Dongling sell pills?

Qiu Yan did not know the answers to these questions, but he knew that if he revealed Gong Dongling’s identity now, Mu Chenlin might suspect him of ulterior motives instead.

“This subordinate came to inform Master that the people of Buzhou Mountain are about to head to the Ruoxu Illusion Realm to fight over the Xuanji Grass. Does Master have any arrangements?” He gritted his teeth and changed the topic.

“Do you think you haven’t done enough stupid things lately?” Mu Chenlin sneered, extremely disdainful.

As the master of his informants, he could naturally grasp everyone’s movements. He knew Qiu Yan had been acting very arrogantly recently and seemed to have stirred up trouble in the sect several times, completely unlike his usual low-profile persona as someone who traveled often.

Qiu Yan fell silent. Only after a long while did he say, “This subordinate admits his fault. I accept any punishment Master sees fit.”

Mu Chenlin frowned and swept his sleeve. A powerful force struck Qiu Yan, instantly slamming the defenseless man hard against the door.

Qiu Yan slowly slid to the floor. When he lifted his head, blood had already flowed from the corner of his mouth.

It was not that he could not have dodged that strike. But if he had dodged, he would only have faced an even more violent attack.

“Take this as a lesson. From now on, you are not allowed to target your junior sister again. Xu Ruozhen will notice something. Once he truly starts investigating, none of us will be able to come out clean. Get lost. In the future, don’t rush over here with such stupid matters just to invite scolding.”

As if unwilling to pay any more attention to the half-dead Qiu Yan, Mu Chenlin swept his sleeve and left.

Leaning against the door, Qiu Yan smiled in self-mocking relief. “Fortunately… fortunately, Xie Yu’s existence wasn’t discovered. There’s still a chance…”

Gong Dongling knew nothing of this. As soon as she left the black market, she found a crowded area in the market and located an inn. She casually threw away the ruby. To prevent anyone from picking it up, she even deliberately chose a crack in the wall and stuffed it inside.

This way, the other party would think she had gone to an inn in the market. At the very least, they would not suspect anything today.

When she returned to the place where Xie Yu was waiting, she saw Xie Yu wearing a worried expression, constantly standing on tiptoe and looking around. The moment Xie Yu saw Gong Dongling, she visibly sighed in relief.

“We need to leave quickly. We can’t stay here long. The shop I went to just now—I discovered that the shopkeeper knows Qiu Yan. They’re probably all people who mean us harm. If Qiu Yan finds out I know alchemy, he’ll definitely set me up again!”

Gong Dongling grabbed Xie Yu’s hand and headed out.

Although Xie Yu only half understood, she clearly grew anxious too. “Then Senior Sister should wait until you’ve taken the exam before selling pills. This is far too dangerous. Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. I already sold the pills and earned fifty thousand spirit stones, enough for us to use for a while. It’s just that the shopkeeper also threatened me into continuing to provide pills for them. I pretended to agree, so now we have to run quickly. Junior Sister, you must not go to the black market area again in the future.”

She herself was one thing, but the key was that Xie Yu absolutely could not be discovered by Mu Chenlin. Otherwise, the secret on her body would quickly come to light.

At least until she and Xie Yu became strong enough to defeat those people from the Demon Realm, they could not be discovered by them.

Thinking back to the original plot, the reason the Demon Realm had never known about Xie Yu’s existence was because Qiu Yan had been helping conceal her. Although his motives were impure and he had only wanted to monopolize the power sealed inside Xie Yu’s body, at least he also did not want her to be discovered.

Since their goals were aligned, why couldn’t she win Qiu Yan over? She remembered that Qiu Yan hated Mu Chenlin.

Gong Dongling secretly made a decision. In the Ruoxu Illusion Realm, she would have a proper meeting with this senior brother.

It was already very late. Gong Dongling did not dare look for an inn in this market, so she could only take Xie Yu and fly on her sword to a relatively large nearby village. There was a decent-looking inn there, built like a restaurant.

The first floor of the inn had tables and chairs for dining, but not a single person was there. It was extremely deserted. Perhaps it was because cultivators did not eat meals.

The two of them had already achieved inedia and naturally did not need to eat, nor were they in the mood for a meal. They went straight over to book rooms.

Sitting behind the counter was a distracted-looking youth. He looked timidly at the two of them, hesitation in his eyes.

Just as he was about to say something, a gorgeous woman swayed out from the inner room. She glared fiercely at the youth before smiling and greeting Gong Dongling and Xie Yu. “Oh my, are the guests here to book rooms? How many?”

For some reason, Gong Dongling felt something was strange, but she still patiently said, “Two rooms.”

“One room!”

That sentence came from Xie Yu and the youth’s mouths at the same time.