After I Failed to Reform the Female Lead of a Tragic Novel - Chapter 17

The candlelight flickered, the wick dancing. The warm glow that filled the room brightened and dimmed by turns, stretching the shadows of the two figures lying in bed into a wide, dark patch.

After Xie Yu “fully charged” the Recording Stone, Gong Dongling tossed it by the window, aiming the lens at the natural scenery outside. After all, sleeping time counted as personal privacy. It was enough to film their surroundings to prove she had not gone to the illusion realm.

In other words, now was truly time for just the two of them.

Gong Dongling lay flat on the bed, secretly glancing from the corner of her eye at Xie Yu beside her. Xie Yu was lying on her side with her back to Gong Dongling, trying her best to curl herself into a small ball at the very edge of the bed. She was completely still, and Gong Dongling had no idea whether she had fallen asleep or not.

Although the two of them were not especially close, Gong Dongling was still sensitive to the faint warmth radiating from Xie Yu. She bit her lip, then unwillingly turned her head to the side.

Xie Yu’s slender, pale neck was half-hidden among her dark hair, black and white interwoven, carrying a particularly disheveled beauty.

What would it feel like to touch it…

Gong Dongling stared quietly. She raised her hand and lightly touched the back of her own neck. It was icy cold, doing nothing at all to ease the craving in her heart.

The frustration of being unable to get what she wanted seemed to give Gong Dongling a little courage. She could not help reaching out. But just before she drew close, she hesitated, changed direction, and picked up a stray lock of black hair that had “crossed the border,” winding it twice around her fingertip.

The strand of hair should have been cool and silky, but perhaps because it had just been pressed under Xie Yu’s body, it still carried some warmth. The fine, soft hair entwined ambiguously with her skin for a moment. The faint prickling sensation seemed to pierce straight into her heart, and that subtle feeling strangely catered to her “illness.”

Just then, the person beside her suddenly moved, shifting a little farther to the side and nearly tugging on that lock of hair.

Gong Dongling quickly withdrew her hand under the brocade quilt and closed her eyes. Her trembling lashes, however, revealed that she had not yet escaped the ripples from just now. Even the corners of her mouth finally carried a faint, satisfied smile.

Stolen bites had to be taken in moderation. Only then would her selfish desires not swell out of control. Gong Dongling understood this principle. So satisfying this special little habit often required only the tiniest bit of contact.

On the other side, Xie Yu could sense slight movements coming from Gong Dongling, but she knew nothing of what Gong Dongling had just done. She only thought she had accidentally moved her stiff body and disturbed Senior Sister. Just thinking that made her even more nervous.

At that moment, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

It was light and slow, as if the person outside only wanted to confirm whether the people in the room were asleep.

Hearing this, Xie Yu jolted and hurriedly turned to look at Gong Dongling, only to meet a pair of half-open, half-lidded peach-blossom eyes, hazy and lingering. The two of them stared at each other just like that.

Gong Dongling pressed a finger to her lips and shook her head slightly, signaling for her not to make a sound.

In this strange atmosphere, Xie Yu could not help holding her breath as she waited for the person outside to make their next move. That person only stayed for a moment. After confirming there was no response, they left. Each footstep was like the beat of a drum, striking with steady rhythm.

Only when their surroundings grew quiet again did even Gong Dongling relax slightly.

“Did they leave?” she asked quietly.

Before Xie Yu could say anything, the piercing sound of a bell tore through the dead silence of the night.

The answer was self-evident. That person had not left at all. They had even tried to break down the door.

The two of them quickly got up, took their swords, and stared at the doorway.

They had lain down fully clothed earlier, so they did not look too disheveled now. But neither of them had expected the enemy to come so quickly. Gong Dongling also frowned for once, gripping the rhombus mirror tightly in her hand.

The protective spell on the door had already been broken under the silent attack. The long ringing of the bell was not only a warning to the people inside the room, but also told that thing that Gong Dongling and Xie Yu were now awake.

But this did not scare it away. It seemed especially confident in its own strength and continued attacking without restraint.

At that moment, the fragile wooden door exploded with a crash. The bell abruptly stopped ringing. The copper bell split into several pieces and rolled across the floor, letting out a few weak jingles, as if calling for help.

That thing’s true appearance was revealed as well.

It was none other than the young man named Xiao Chun.

But at this moment, his eyes were blood-red, and blue-black veins bulged beneath his skin. Evil energy soared around him, making him completely different from the timid Xiao Chun from earlier.

Before Xiao Chun could enter the room, the Demon-Binding Net they had laid in advance moved first. Like a living creature, it lunged at him with perfect accuracy, tightly wrapping around his body and continuously extending until it finally bound him so firmly he could not move.

Xiao Chun’s hands were restrained, leaving him unable to cast spells. He could only twist his torso constantly, trying to break free from the bindings. But the more he struggled, the tighter the net wrapped around him.

Gong Dongling stood at the front, coldly watching the changes in him. Although Xiao Chun appeared powerless, she was still on guard in case he suddenly erupted.

Gradually, the roaring weakened. Xiao Chun seemed to regain a bit of his senses and looked at the two of them pleadingly. “Immortal ladies, save… save me! Why am I inside this beast net?”

Gong Dongling and Xie Yu exchanged a glance. Neither of them took even a step forward.

But just then, Xiao Chun let out an indistinct chuckle from his throat. Immediately after, his hands suddenly became able to move. Without the slightest probing, he violently tore the great net open.

Only then did they realize that Xiao Chun had kept his hands behind his back, and at some point, he had already melted two holes in the parts of the net touching his palms. Everything he had done earlier had only been to divert their attention.

Once the evil thing was fully released, he seemed even more frenzied. Without even looking at Xie Yu, who stood a little farther forward, he charged straight toward Gong Dongling. His sharp fingers clamped around her slender neck, and following that force, he slammed her against the wall.

Gong Dongling was nearly suspended in midair. The suffocating pain around her neck did not make her lose the ability to think calmly. While gripping the rhombus mirror tightly, she looked past the monster toward Xie Yu.

It was not time to use the mirror yet. She knew her limits very clearly.

Xie Yu did not disappoint her. Her hands moved rapidly to form seals, driving her sword into the air before fiercely stabbing toward Xiao Chun’s seemingly defenseless back.

But the instant the blade touched his left shoulder blade, it was immediately wrapped in a mass of dense black mist. Just like the Demon-Binding Net, it was gradually dissolved and corroded. Xiao Chun, however, seemed to feel nothing and only tightened his hands further.

This is bad…

Seeing that the situation was wrong, Gong Dongling was just about to activate the rhombus mirror.

But in the next instant, Xie Yu decisively threw aside the badly corroded sword. Pressing two fingers of her left hand against her right arm, she gathered all the spiritual power in her body into her right palm, forming a layer of golden light.

She stared ahead. With a tap of her toes, her entire body borrowed the momentum and flew forward, striking Xiao Chun’s back with one palm.

That palm broke through layer after layer of black mist and struck heavily into his flesh, bones, and soul.

She had bet correctly!

The monster seemed to suffer immense pain. With a shrill roar, he released Gong Dongling and charged toward Xie Yu instead.

Gong Dongling fell to the ground. She clutched her throat and could not stop coughing while anxiously looking toward Xie Yu. Only then did she realize that Xie Yu’s sword seemed to have been completely corroded by the black mist. She quickly drew Xuanling and tossed it into the air.

Xuanling had already acknowledged Xie Yu as its master to begin with. At this moment, it flew out on its own initiative, following Xie Yu’s constantly leaping and dodging figure.

Xie Yu had no time to think. She grabbed Xuanling before her, flipped backward, and dodged the unidentified black mass the monster had thrown at her.

After brushing past the black mist several times, she could see the semi-transparent vengeful souls within it, tangled together and biting at one another. When they drew close, she could even hear their piercing screams, making her scalp go numb.

The power Xuanling conveyed to her made Xie Yu suddenly stop. She turned and faced Xiao Chun as he rushed toward her. Xuanling was a divine sword, unafraid of corrosion from vengeful souls and demonic energy. With this sword, she could fight this evil thing.

Xiao Chun released even more vengeful souls to oppose Xuanling’s increasingly fierce attacks.

For a moment, the two sides were locked in a stalemate. Gong Dongling also stood up and carefully observed Xiao Chun’s weaknesses. She knew Xie Yu’s spiritual power would sooner or later be exhausted by these endless vengeful souls.

The enormous contrast in Xiao Chun’s behavior before and after looked very much like a situation she had once seen in the original novel…

Sure enough, before long, Xie Yu failed to dodge in time, and her arm was bitten and torn by a vengeful soul.

But at that moment, something strange happened. The gray vengeful soul hanging from Xie Yu’s arm disappeared outright, leaving only the hideous wound seeping blood.

The sight of blood seemed to redden Xiao Chun’s eyes. He ignored everything else and pounced straight at her, wanting to devour this “delicacy” raw.

But the moment his hand touched her blood, a thread of blood like a tiny red snake swiftly spread upward from his fingertip. Everywhere it passed, his skin carbonized and blackened directly, turning into dust in midair. Xiao Chun let out a shrill cry and pulled his hand back, but he could not stop that “little snake” from greedily devouring his flesh and bone.

Xie Yu was also stunned, but a voice soon snapped her back to her senses.

Gong Dongling cried out, “Stab the bone between his brows! He’s possessed by an evil demon!”

Hearing Senior Sister’s instruction, Xie Yu did not hesitate. She used all her strength to raise Xuanling and stabbed the sword into the brow bone of Xiao Chun, who was rolling across the floor in panic.

In an instant, a black shadow howled out from the bone between his brows. Xiao Chun also collapsed as if his soul had left him, falling unconscious.

Before the black shadow could flee, that drop of blood stuck to it. The two things vanished together between heaven and earth.

“Senior Sister, are you all right?!” Seeing that Xiao Chun had finally been dealt with, Xie Yu ignored her own bloodied wrist and rushed to Senior Sister’s side, carefully examining the bloody marks around her neck.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I don’t know where the innkeeper went. She must be a demon too. We can’t let her escape,” Gong Dongling said anxiously.

Xie Yu searched carefully, but she could not find even a shadow. The valuables at the counter were gone as well. That woman had clearly already taken the money and run. They were probably one step too late.

By the time Xie Yu returned, Xiao Chun happened to slowly wake up. She immediately became alert again and raised Xuanling toward him.

However, Xiao Chun had returned to that timid, cowardly state. His pupils and skin color had returned to normal, and even his severed hand had recovered as before. He hugged his head and cried out, “Don’t kill me! I’m not a monster!”

Gong Dongling signaled for Xie Yu to lower the sword. “Were you possessed by something?”