After I Failed to Reform the Female Lead of a Tragic Novel - Chapter 22

On the other side, Xie Yu carried Gong Dongling and easily ran out of the maze through a small side exit. Only then did she put Gong Dongling down.

Although Gong Dongling had not been the one using qinggong, her face was still pale, and even her crimson lips had lost their color. She supported herself against the wall, breathing lightly, unable to say a single word.

“Senior Sister, are you all right…”

Before Xie Yu could even be happy that the plan had succeeded, she looked at Gong Dongling worriedly.

Gong Dongling waved her hand. “I’m… I’m fine. Just let me catch my breath.”

She knew that her stamina was far inferior to that of other cultivators. Whether for the sake of her own body or to avoid becoming a burden to others, she really ought to strengthen herself properly.

But thinking again of her body in her previous life, which could not handle any intense exercise at all, this was clearly already a great improvement!

“Senior Sister, I really didn’t expect such an unreliable-looking plan to actually succeed,” Xie Yu could not help sighing once she saw Gong Dongling had recovered somewhat.

The entire process of tricking Qiu Yan had been Gong Dongling’s plan.

Because she had read the original novel, Gong Dongling knew the treasure-seeking rat’s general route. It would keep moving in a straight line toward the southwest from the entrance. According to the map, right beside the route Qiu Yan had to take, there happened to be a huge plant maze.

So Gong Dongling had arranged for Qiu Zijian and the other disciple to wait inside the maze in advance, while she and Xie Yu rushed toward that route to search for traces of Qiu Yan’s passage.

Sure enough, because Qiu Yan had the treasure-seeking rat with him, his speed was extremely slow, and they just happened to run into him on the way.

Of course, what Gong Dongling said about Mr. Mu had not been fabricated out of thin air. After all, in the original novel, some time later, Mu Chenlin really did issue a “reclaim order” against Qiu Yan, although that only happened after the matter involving Xie Yu was exposed.

Gong Dongling had used those words to fully attract Qiu Yan’s attention and lure him into the maze.

The two of them left through the side gate drawn on the map, while Qiu Zijian and his companion disguised themselves as the two girls and lured the enemy deep into the center of the maze.

The whole purpose was to trap Qiu Yan inside the maze and prevent him from finding the Xuanji Grass first. At the same time, it also planted the seed of betraying Mu Chenlin in Qiu Yan’s heart.

As the saying went, there were no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

There was no need to rush. What Gong Dongling needed to do now was slowly boil the frog in warm water, wearing away Qiu Yan’s hope and arrogance little by little. Then, when he had no way out, she would extend a helping hand and have him join her side.

“Senior Sister, how did you know Qiu Yan would definitely be on this road?” Xie Yu finally asked the question that had troubled her for a long time.

“You didn’t know? A treasure-seeking rat always walks in a straight line. Before we came in, I saw that the direction the treasure-seeking rat pointed to was the southwest. From the entrance to the southwest corner, could it be any road other than this one?”

Xie Yu froze. Only then did she realize that Senior Sister had long since located the Xuanji Grass. “Then our next step is to go to the southwest corner to search for the Xuanji Grass too?”

At this, Gong Dongling also grew troubled.

Because the original novel had only described things in words. It only mentioned the general direction, and on top of that, the way Xie Yu found the Xuanji Grass had been rather dramatic.

At the time, Xie Yu had not yet broken through to Foundation Establishment, so naturally she had not practiced inedia yet and still needed food to stave off hunger. She wandered in the Ruoxu Illusion Realm for half a month and still found nothing. The dry rations she had brought were all eaten, so she could only pick edible wild fruits in the illusion realm.

Inside the illusion realm, the brightly colored fruits growing out in the open were basically all poisonous. Only in remote, dark places could one search for edible ones.

While Xie Yu was looking for fruit, she was targeted by a black evil scarlet-patterned python and nearly swallowed into its belly in one bite. Fortunately, Xie Yu escaped and ran desperately.

But that huge python had been hungry for a long time and naturally would not let her go. It pursued her relentlessly and chased her all the way to a swamp.

With no way out, Xie Yu knew that only by jumping into the swamp might she have a slim chance of survival.

Unexpectedly, that swamp was actually an illusion created by the Xuanji Grass to prevent itself from being easily picked. After all, no cultivator would jump into a swamp for no reason.

Logically speaking, Gong Dongling only needed to search for the swamps in the southwest corner, then follow that clue to find the Xuanji Grass, and the matter would be done.

But the problem lay precisely here…

According to the map, there were more than a hundred swamps of all sizes in the southwest corner alone!

Xie Yu had read books related to the Xuanji Grass. “Senior Sister, the books say that the Xuanji Grass has always appeared near swamps. We can go search there. Perhaps we’ll gain something.”

Hearing this, Gong Dongling understood. In truth, what the books said was only one portion of hearsay.

The reason the Xuanji Grass grew near swamps was not because it liked the swamp environment, but because of the illusion it created.

“A-Yu, just point to any swamp,” Gong Dongling said, steeling her heart. Although the female lead’s lucky halo around Xie Yu was rather thin, as things stood, this was the only way.

If she had known earlier, she would have “borrowed” that treasure-seeking rat…

Xie Yu was caught between laughter and tears. She reluctantly pointed to a dark green shadow on the map closest to them. “So casual? Then let’s start with the nearest one.”

Although the Ruoxu Illusion Realm had no alternation of day and night or changing seasons, it was humid all year round and had formed swamps of various sizes. These swamps looked like unremarkable patches of soil from the outside, but the vegetation covering them was far sparser than elsewhere. After all, many spirit herbs, flowers, and trees were not suited to growing in a swamp environment.

Gong Dongling and Xie Yu had now arrived before the actual swamp.

Although it was only a small patch on the map, its true size far exceeded their imagination. From afar, it stretched out in a vast expanse, like a small dark-yellow lake.

Around the swamp was a small black valley, covered and surrounded by spirit grasses of the same color. From time to time, as if stirred by the wind, all the vegetation on the valley rustled and swayed.

Xie Yu’s gaze landed on that patch of spirit grass, and she said with slight surprise, “I didn’t expect to see edible fruit here. The spirit fruits we saw on the way here were all poisonous.”

“You’ve already practiced inedia now, yet you’re still thinking about fruit.” Gong Dongling also glanced over. Thinking of the fruit plot they had avoided, she could not help smiling.

After saying that, she fixed her eyes on the swamp and probed it with her sea of consciousness. Finally, she came to one conclusion: laughable. She could not tell whether it was real or fake at all.

No, she had to throw something in and test it…

Thinking this, she formed a spell, lightly tapped a broken stone on the ground, and pointed toward the swamp before her. With a plop, the stone landed on the dark-yellow mud of the swamp and slowly sank.

“Ah, no…”

Gong Dongling was somewhat disappointed and was just about to say something to Xie Yu when she felt the other girl lightly press against her back.

She turned her head and saw that Xie Yu had, at some point, moved to her side, not daring to breathe loudly. Instead, Xie Yu was staring upward ahead of them in a daze.

Gong Dongling also looked in that direction. First, she saw a massive shadow cast over them. Then her gaze traced it upward.

Before them was actually a huge black python as tall as a two-story building!

That black thing just now was no small valley. It was clearly a giant python lying there!

The python was pure black from head to tail, with rings of scarlet patterns across its body. It raised itself high, its pair of vertical golden pupils looking down on Xie Yu and Gong Dongling. Its crimson forked tongue hissed and flicked. It looked not only disgusting, but especially sinister.

A black evil scarlet-patterned python…

Gong Dongling had never imagined that the place Xie Yu casually pointed to would actually be where the python was, and that the plot she had changed would close back onto the worldline in such a strange way!

“Senior Sister, when I count three, two, one, we run. I’ll draw its attention. You run in the opposite direction. I’ll use qinggong to shake it off.”

Xie Yu leaned against Gong Dongling’s back. Her voice was forcibly calm, but the slight tremor in it still exposed her inner tension.

“No—” Gong Dongling blurted out.

She had read the original novel. Xie Yu simply could not outrun this huge python. After being seriously injured, she had only jumped into the swamp because she had no other way out.

What if, because of Gong Dongling’s changes, Xie Yu was swallowed alive by the python before even encountering the Xuanji Grass?!

For the first time, Gong Dongling felt the uncontrollability and despair of the plot. She was unwilling to let Xie Yu lure the python away alone, but she also could not circulate spiritual power and move across walls and eaves. If she stayed by Xie Yu’s side, she would only drag her down, and the two of them would end up together in the python’s belly.

【This is the plot correcting itself! Host, don’t follow her. You’ll die!】 At this moment, the system’s voice, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly exploded.

There was no time for Gong Dongling to think further. The huge python drew its entire body backward and tensed, as if it would launch itself forward in the next second.

“Three! Two! One! Run!”

Xie Yu scooped up a stone and, the instant she flew out, hurled it at the python. The python’s whole body jolted. Sure enough, its attention was drawn to Xie Yu. Its entire body wound sinuously around, yet its speed was terrifyingly fast as it chased after Xie Yu’s figure. The slime on its body dragged across the ground, leaving a spreading trail of moisture.

【Host, run! Xie Yu will safely encounter the Xuanji Grass, but if the host dies in the python’s mouth, you’ll truly be dead. There’s no chance to reload and start over!】

Seeing that Gong Dongling was still anxiously looking toward Xie Yu’s retreating back, the system grew frantic and hammered at her with warnings.

After all, the arrival of a transmigrator would disrupt the balance of the world inside the book. So in certain illusion realms and plot points similar to the original text, there might be situations where the plot corrected itself. If the transmigrator did not interfere further, the plot’s development would gradually return to its original outcome at those correction points.

After hearing this, Gong Dongling also ran desperately in the opposite direction.

According to the plot, the moment Xie Yu stepped into the swamp, she would enter the illusion created by the Xuanji Grass. That illusion was the darkest memory of Xie Yu’s life. Anyone who fell into the illusion would instantly lose their memory and believe they were the person inside that recollection.

The moment the person involved realized it was an illusion, they would break through and awaken. Conversely, if they failed to realize it, they would be trapped forever inside the illusion.

In the book, after Xie Yu fell into the illusion, under the catalysis of the dream and the spiritual power released by the Xuanji Grass, she actually advanced. That advancement happened to save Xie Yu’s life, forcibly awakening her from the illusion.

But now, Xie Yu would not advance…

Gong Dongling’s pupils suddenly constricted. This was like the butterfly effect. One small change she had made out of goodwill had brought about a storm of towering waves.

“System… will Xie Yu be unable to wake up?” she asked inwardly.

【I’m not sure either,】 the system said helplessly.

Even the changes made before, once they affected the corrected plot, could have immeasurable effects on the story.

Gong Dongling had her answer.

She had to enter the illusion and wake Xie Yu.