After I Failed to Reform the Female Lead of a Tragic Novel - Chapter 23

Inside the maze, the treasure-seeking rat sprawled on Qiu Yan’s body was growing extremely restless. It pointed forward, only to be forced by its master to turn in another direction.

“Squeak squeak squeak!” Stupid human, it’s this way! This way!

But not only did Qiu Yan refuse to listen to it, he even rolled his eyes at it.

The treasure-seeking rat, spoiled since childhood by Immortal Lord Nandou, had never suffered such grievance before. How could they not go in a straight line! Clearly, the shortest distance between two points was a straight line, and that was the best!

As a treasure-seeking rat with severe obsessive tendencies, it deeply understood the principle of either erupting in silence or perishing in silence. So it suddenly bit down hard on Qiu Yan’s shoulder, then scampered to the ground and dashed toward its beloved straight line!

“Fuck!” Qiu Yan clutched his shoulder and cried out, startling Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo beside him so badly that their whole bodies twitched.

He had no time to answer their questions. He lunged after the fleeing treasure-seeking rat.

But that little thing was small and nimble. It slipped through a crack in the tree wall and vanished in the blink of an eye! Qiu Yan, meanwhile, slammed headfirst into the tree wall.

Running into a wall himself was a small matter. Losing Immortal Lord Nandou’s precious treasure-seeking rat was a huge matter. Leaving aside the fact that it was the Xianjun’s beloved pet, even if it were only an ordinary treasure-seeking rat, Qiu Yan could work himself to the bone for ten thousand years and still not afford to repay it!

Thinking of the severity of this matter, Qiu Yan had no time to think further. He raised his sword, intending to split open the tree wall and break straight through.

But how could the maze allow someone to destroy it at will? The moment his first strike landed, the damaged trees began growing wildly. Not only did they instantly fill the tiny gap he had just cut open, they also wrapped around Qiu Yan’s body all at once, forcibly hanging him on the wall and leaving him unable to move.

The two others rushed over. They still did not understand the situation, but they had witnessed the entire process of Qiu Yan suddenly going mad and chopping at the trees, only to be hung up on the wall.

“Good heavens. Did he go crazy because he couldn’t get out of this maze?!” Qiu Zijian fearfully retreated half a step and poked Qi Tuo’s shoulder.

“Should we let him down?” Qi Tuo saw that he had been left alone at the front and was afraid he would be swept up by the vines again. His heart panicked, and his imposing body shrank back as he retreated two steps.

Qiu Yan: Are you two seriously both taking half a step back?!

“How could we not let him down?! That would be so disloyal!” Qiu Zijian shouted louder than anyone else, but his feet seemed greased as he turned and ran.

“So… so disloyal!” Qi Tuo immediately followed, disappearing into the twists and turns of the maze.

Only when they could no longer see the look in Qiu Yan’s eyes, as if he wanted to eat them alive, did Qiu Zijian immediately send a message to Gong Dongling’s Recording Stone to brag. “Bet you didn’t expect this! We over-completed the mission. Not only is Qiu Yan trapped in the maze, we even got him hung on the wall! Just tell us when to let him down, and we’ll let him down.”

Gong Dongling had no time to ask what “hung on the wall” meant. She only anxiously asked, “What about his treasure-seeking rat? Can you snatch it?”

Qiu Zijian froze, then walked back to take a look.

That one glance almost angered Qiu Yan into passing out.

Fine, you won’t save me, but you actually came back to look at my miserable state?!

“Senior Sister, we checked. Qiu Yan’s treasure-seeking rat seems to have run off. It escaped through a crack in the maze’s tree wall. Go block it at the exit and see if you can pick up that rat.”

Qiu Zijian’s brain was a little better than that of his useless teammate. He quickly deduced the treasure-seeking rat’s escape route.

Following the information he provided, Gong Dongling had only just arrived at the southwest exit of the maze when something crashed straight into her.

The treasure-seeking rat was covered all over in fallen leaves and bits of grass, large patches of blue-purple and deep green hiding its originally golden fur. It looked dusty and miserable. If not for its fluffy squirrel-like tail, it would be no different from a real big rat.

The treasure-seeking rat had crashed into Gong Dongling’s instep and was knocked dizzy. Only after a long while did it finally regain its senses. But by then, Gong Dongling was already holding it in her hand.

It was especially wary of strangers. Seeing that she was someone it did not know, it tried to slip away, only for the back of its fated neck to be pinched by Gong Dongling.

“Squeak squeak squeak!” Let me down! Wuwuwu, I don’t know you!

The treasure-seeking rat was nearly scared to death by this bad woman. Powerless, it flailed its four short little legs wildly in the air.

Gong Dongling took out a handful of pills from her storage ring. These were not pills she had refined herself, but stock kept in her storage ring for strengthening the body. She casually picked one up and brought it to the treasure-seeking rat’s mouth.

“Squeak squeak squeak!” Even if I, the treasure-seeking rat, starve to death, die outside, and jump down from here, I still won’t eat a single thing from a bad woman!

Just as it was about to turn its head away, it was drawn in by the pill’s clear fragrance. It smelled so good—an entirely new flavor it had never eaten before, wuwu!

Treasure-seeking rats relied entirely on instinct to find treasures. In truth, they had not the slightest bit of spiritual power themselves, so naturally, they did not need heavenly treasures to be raised. Very few owners would feed them such expensive pills. But Gong Dongling was rich and generous, casually grabbing a whole handful as if they were snacks.

“It’s all right. Eat. I won’t hurt you. I just want you to take me to the Xuanji Grass. Once I get the treasure, I’ll bring you back to Immortal Lord Nandou.”

Gong Dongling stroked its fluffy tail and spoke gently.

As if it understood her words, the treasure-seeking rat looked at Gong Dongling with its pure black bean-like eyes. Finally, it ate the pill brought to its mouth.

So fragrant, wuwuwu! It had long since forgotten that it had called her a bad woman earlier.

“All right. Since you ate the pill I gave you, you have to guide me properly.”

Gong Dongling released its neck. Sure enough, the treasure-seeking rat no longer ran. Instead, it climbed along her arm all the way to her shoulder and obediently lay there, completely losing its bratty appearance from before.

Under the treasure-seeking rat’s guidance, although they still had to walk in a stiff straight line, at least by taking a few longer detours, they could get there.

And whenever it was about to doze off, Gong Dongling hurriedly fed it a pill, instantly waking the treasure-seeking rat up again.

After feeding it dozens of pills, they finally arrived before an utterly ordinary-looking swamp.

The place was empty. Both the giant python and Xie Yu were nowhere to be seen.

The treasure-seeking rat lowered the paw it had been holding up the whole time and even shook it as if its arm had gotten tired.

But Gong Dongling had no mind to pay attention to its little movements. She looked silently at the traces near the swamp: a large stretch of winding, wet slime, and a patch of blood appearing at intervals along the route. Everything displayed the terrible state of Xie Yu being chased and harmed by the giant python.

The giant python had already slithered away, its slime trail stretching toward the north.

The bloodstains, however, disappeared at the edge of the swamp. At the very least, this showed that Xie Yu had successfully escaped into the illusion woven by the Xuanji Grass, just like in the original novel.

“If I go down now, will I fall into a memory too?”

【Don’t worry. I’ll wake you. Once you wake from your own illusion, you can enter Xie Yu’s illusion and wake her.】

The system also knew how serious the situation was and wholeheartedly helped Gong Dongling.

【But there is one thing you must understand. The Xuanji Grass’s protection mechanism will make anyone who steps into its illusion fall into the darkest memory of their life. And in your own illusion, you will lose your memory and experience those events again from your own perspective. Are you still willing?】

“I’m willing.”

Gong Dongling looked at the treasure-seeking rat on her shoulder and decided to bring it in with her. After all, leaving it outside was too unsafe.

With that, she walked step by step into the swamp.

…

When Gong Dongling woke, the first thing she saw was a deathly white ceiling. Her mind was completely blank.

Who am I? Where am I?

A dull pain came from her heart. Instinctively, she raised her hand to cover the left side of her chest.

The moment she moved, countless tubes and wires were tugged, producing a rustling clatter. Only then did Gong Dongling discover that a needle was inserted into the back of her small hand. Because of her movement just now, the area had already turned bluish-gray.

Blue-and-white striped hospital gown. Flowers and fruit baskets piled at the head of the bed. An empty private hospital room…

Oh. She had suffered a heart attack and been sent to the hospital.

Gong Dongling gradually remembered everything.

She was only eight years old this year, yet she had been given a death sentence from the moment she was born: “This child won’t live past eighteen at most. She has congenital heart disease.”

This time, she had collapsed on the road after secretly playing with her deskmate after school. Uncle Fang, her life assistant, had not been by her side. Fortunately, a passerby sent her to the hospital. After that, she remembered nothing.

The nurse sister had told her that this had been her most severe attack yet. If she had been sent to the hospital any later, she might never have woken up again.

But Gong Dongling felt no relief at surviving a disaster. Looking at the empty hospital room, she only felt that it was like a monster, about to swallow her whole.

A child whom no one looked forward to—was there really any need for her to live?

The door was pushed open. A flash of hope rose in her heart, and she immediately turned to look over. But the moment she saw clearly, the light in her eyes went out.

The person who came in was Uncle Fang. He carried a lunchbox brought from home. He was here to deliver her meal.

Uncle Fang knew what little Dongling was hoping for. But Mr. and Mrs. Gong’s company was currently at a critical point before going public. They were unwilling to let outsiders know they had a young daughter with heart disease, lest it affect the company’s stock price. Even when their daughter had once been in critical condition, they had only transferred Uncle Fang a sum of money and instructed him not to let the media discover the child.

Sometimes, he wondered whether being born into such a family was fortunate or unfortunate for Miss.

The food was laid out on the small table in front of Gong Dongling. It was a recuperation meal made by the family chef, perfect in color, aroma, and taste. But Gong Dongling felt that the food her deskmate’s mother delivered looked even more fragrant.

Her childish voice spoke. “Uncle Fang, have Mom and Dad still not come?”

Uncle Fang’s hand paused as he was serving the dishes. He met little Dongling’s eyes and saw that the child’s gaze was pure, without a trace of impurity. One glance was enough to see the loss and loneliness inside.

Under such clear eyes, Uncle Fang felt as if something had lodged in his throat. Only after a long while did he say, “They’re just too busy. They’ll come back very soon, and they’ll bring our little Dongling a whole pile of gifts.”

“But… I haven’t seen them for a long, long time.”

Gong Dongling had been intelligent since childhood. She knew she would not live past eighteen. She was kept locked at home and was not even allowed to go outside normally. She had met only a handful of people. She could not even call her own parents “Mom” and “Dad” in front of outsiders.

When everyone saw her, they would feel sympathy and pity, but they would never pour their love into her. Not even the smallest bit of attention.

That was right. Who would show true feelings for someone who would die sooner or later?

She also knew she had never been irreplaceable. She had many outstanding elder brothers and sisters, each of whom had grown up amid expectation and love.

It was not that she had never hoped. It was only that her hope had been extinguished by disappointment again and again.

“Uncle Fang, were you punished because of me…” Although she was sad, the tears only spun in her eyes before she forcefully held them back.

She suddenly remembered that she had almost delayed treatment because she had secretly played with her deskmate, so she asked Uncle Fang with worry and guilt.

Uncle Fang’s heart warmed. This child was already like this, yet she was still thinking of him. He smiled bitterly. “I’m fine. But Miss can no longer go to school in the future.”

Hearing this, Gong Dongling’s eyes widened in disbelief. The chopsticks pinched in her right hand fell to the ground with a snap.

The first friend she had just made…

“No. I want to go to school! My first little friend is there!” she said anxiously.

“This is what your mom and dad want. Why isn’t little Dongling listening to them?” Uncle Fang helplessly pressed down her hand with the IV drip so she would not move around.

Gong Dongling lifted her face. “If I don’t go to school anymore, will Mom and Dad come see me?”

“There are many things you’ll understand when you grow up.” Uncle Fang sighed in the end and tucked the blanket around Gong Dongling.

But can I still grow up?

Gong Dongling lowered her head and said nothing in the end.

After Uncle Fang left to ask the attending doctor about her condition, Gong Dongling carefully took the phone from the bedside. Skillfully, she entered a string of numbers into the call log. It was her deskmate’s home number. She held the phone nervously.

The call connected!

“Hello? Is this Lanlan? It’s me…”

But before Gong Dongling could finish, Lanlan’s hysterical voice came from the other end. “Don’t come looking for me again! It’s all because of you that my mom and dad lost their jobs!”

There was the sound of the phone being snatched away, and then it became a woman’s gentle yet humble voice.

“Lingling, it isn’t that our Lanlan doesn’t like you. It’s just that you two are not people from the same world. We have already paid the price because of your illness. Please, I’m begging you, don’t disturb our family again.”

Gong Dongling froze in place. The phone emitted a beeping sound. The other side had already hung up.

Just then, a news notification popped up on the phone and entered her eyes:

#Mu Group chairman Mu Geng denies that the little girl who recently collapsed on the street from heart disease is his daughter. He says she is merely a child from a welfare home sponsored by the group’s charity foundation, and hopes the public will focus on their charitable work rather than their private lives…#

It was as if every sound was moving far away from her. Tears fell unconsciously, and no matter how she wiped them, they would not stop.

Just then, a sharp pain came from the left side of her chest. She curled up and clutched her chest, feeling as if her breathing was about to stop. In the next second, a voice sounded in her mind.

【Host! Wake up quickly! The female lead’s blackening level has deepened!】

That voice immediately awakened Gong Dongling’s memories.

She was inside an illusion! None of this was real.

In an instant, everything in the hospital room shattered into fragments and dissipated into the air. Gong Dongling landed on an ancient street, the treasure-seeking rat still perched on her shoulder.

When the treasure-seeking rat saw that she had returned, it finally breathed a sigh of relief and squeaked twice. Then it noticed the tear tracks on Gong Dongling’s face, hugged its own fluffy tail, and wiped away her tears.

Gong Dongling smiled faintly and rubbed the treasure-seeking rat. “I’m fine.”

She turned her attention to the ancient street before her.

This… this was Xie Yu’s memory?

Gong Dongling’s heart tightened. For no reason, she felt as if she were peeking at a scar in someone else’s heart. But she could not care about that anymore. If she did not wake Xie Yu, her blackening level would only deepen further.

She looked around blankly. The street was not prosperous. Many shops and restaurants were closed. Only ragged, skeletal vagrants wandered through the street.

A thin, weak child ran past her. Just as the child was about to collide with Gong Dongling, she unexpectedly passed through Gong Dongling’s body. Only then did Gong Dongling realize that she was currently not a physical entity, but an observer in the state of a wandering soul. No one in the illusion could see her.

Gong Dongling walked aimlessly forward, but Xie Yu was nowhere to be seen.

Just then, a burst of noise drew her attention. She looked toward the side of the street and saw an old woman being shoved to the ground by several beggars. The old woman said nothing. She only tightly clenched her fingers, curling her body into a ball. No matter how they beat her, she refused to hand over what was in her hand.

“Still not taking it out?! You old hag!” Several people cursed, their hands and feet never stopping. Each blow landed solidly on the old woman.

Gong Dongling rushed over, wanting to stop them. But the moment she touched them, she realized this was Xie Yu’s memory. She could not affect anything inside it. She could only watch anxiously as the scene unfolded before her.

A voice came over.

“Grandma!”

Gong Dongling looked up. It was a little girl who looked no older than ten. Her whole body was gray and dusty, and her clothes were nothing but ragged strips of cloth, clearly something someone else had thrown away.

Her hair was messy, her face covered with overlapping wounds and filth, so much so that her original skin tone could not be seen. She looked like a little coal ball. Her eyes were pitch-black, as if they could easily see through others.

Although she looked utterly disheveled, Gong Dongling recognized her immediately.

It was Xie Yu. Xie Yu as a child.

“A-Yu!” Gong Dongling blurted out, wanting to wake Xie Yu. But Xie Yu clearly did not hear her at all. She only gritted her teeth and looked at the group bullying her grandmother.

【Host, once inside the illusion, you cannot wake the dreamer immediately. You need to wait until the person is at their weakest, then call out to them. Only then will it work, just like when you heard my voice earlier,】 the system explained.

Gong Dongling pressed her lips together and said nothing. She could only continue silently watching everything.

Those beggars did not care about a little girl who was not even half their height. Their wolf-like gazes greedily fixed on the thing in Xie Yu’s hand.

It was a cornbread bun long dirtied by mud and filth, something she had picked up from the ground.

But even such a cornbread bun was life-saving food to refugees. The beggars were hungry too, and they wanted to snatch it.

Xie Yu trembled all over under their gazes and could not help taking half a step back. She took a deep breath and threw the cornbread far away. Sure enough, those beggars all rushed forward to fight over it.

While the beggars were busy scrambling for it, she hurriedly helped her grandmother up. The old and young supported each other and finally escaped from beneath the beggars’ fists and feet.

Gong Dongling immediately followed Xie Yu’s footsteps.

Perhaps afraid those people would chase after them again, Xie Yu walked a long distance in one breath. Only when they reached a hidden dead-end alley that could barely shelter them from the rain did she put the old woman down.

There was a broken straw mat here and a piece of coarse hemp cloth so filthy it was beyond recognition. This seemed to be their sleeping place.

The old woman lay on the straw mat, her face scraped and her body covered in bruises. Yet she grinned especially happily and stuffed the thing she had been tightly clutching into Xie Yu’s hand. “A-Yu, this is for you.”

Xie Yu opened her palm and saw a tiny copper coin. She stuffed the coin back. “Where did you get this? You almost got beaten to death over this tiny thing! Are you stupid?!”

“I picked it up! This old woman has sharp eyes! Those people wanted to snatch it from me? Not a chance!” Although the old grandmother grimaced from pain, she still showed it off proudly.

“What will you do next time if I don’t come?” Xie Yu was still angry, her little face stern.

Grandmother chuckled. “My good granddaughter is angry. Once I buy you candied hawthorns, you won’t be angry anymore!”

“Who wants you to use your coffin money to buy candied hawthorns! I won’t eat them.” Xie Yu’s blame and anger gradually faded, leaving only bitterness behind.

“When I was still a young girl, your grandfather bought me my first skewer of candied hawthorns. That sweetness—I’ve never eaten anything that sweet in my whole life…” the old woman murmured, a nostalgic smile appearing on her face, even though she had already told this story many times.

At this moment, the scene before Gong Dongling warped, and suddenly she was back on the street.

But compared with the earlier street full of refugees, this one was much more prosperous. Many dignitaries and nobles dressed in brocade came out from restaurants while exchanging flattering words.

Gong Dongling immediately spotted the small, thin Xie Yu in the crowd. She still wore those ragged clothes and looked completely out of place among everyone. Holding a string of dragonflies and grasshoppers woven from straw rope, she looked timidly at the passersby.

But before she could call out to sell them, a waiter harshly drove her aside. “Where did this refugee come from? This isn’t a place people like you can come! If you bump into a noble, you’ll lose your head! How unlucky!”

She shrank into a corner, tightly clutching the things in her hand.

If I can’t sell them, then there’ll be no food again today…

Thinking of this, she still stood up and approached several young women dressed like maidservants. She raised a timid smile. “Sisters, would you like to buy…”

The girls, who had seemed gentle and kind, changed expressions the instant they saw her. Their brows stood upright in disgust, and they covered their noses. “Don’t come over! This person stinks to death. She’s covered in disease! Hurry up and get lost!”

Xie Yu retreated several steps in confusion, her eyes full of panic.

Another maidservant seemed unable to bear it, so she plucked a flower from her hair and tossed it toward Xie Yu from a distance. But before she could say anything, her companion pulled her away. “Come on! Why are you worrying about her? If you delay the task Miss arranged, let’s see what you’ll do!”

Xie Yu did not pick up the flower. She only let passersby step on it at will, grinding it into flower paste.

She no longer tried to sell her shabby handmade toys to anyone. She only wandered along the street in a daze. Some children even threw stones and vegetable leaves at her. She lifted her eyes and saw the children making faces at her as if it were a prank. “Little beggar! Ugly freak!”

The voices grew farther and farther away. In the next second, the scene before Gong Dongling changed again. This time, Xie Yu was anxiously searching for something along the road.

She searched the broken straw mat, the garbage piles, and the steamed bun shop, but saw no sign of her grandmother. She continued walking toward the main street, only to see a crowd gathered around one place, pointing and commenting at what was inside.

“I heard that refugee tried to eat without paying in broad daylight. She took something but didn’t give money and was caught on the spot!”

“Isn’t that right? Ever since the refugees poured into the city, there hasn’t been a single peaceful day. If they’re not robbing people, they’re begging. Do they have no shame? They should all be whipped to death!”

Xie Yu was too small to see what was happening inside the crowd. But just hearing this conversation made a bad feeling rise faintly in her heart. She pushed through the crowd and squeezed into the center through the gaps, only to freeze completely in place.

Gong Dongling also looked forward.

It was Xie Yu’s grandmother. Several men dressed as officials were whipping her. The old woman shouted and rolled on the ground, but she was still beaten until her flesh split open.

Beside her, the candied hawthorn vendor pointed at the old woman and tearfully complained to the crowd. “It was her! She tried to take candied hawthorns without paying. After I caught her, she insisted she had given me a copper coin. Where would a poor ghost like her get a copper coin?!”

He wiped his tears in a fake display, but a triumphant smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“You’re lying! My grandmother had money. She definitely gave you a copper coin!” Xie Yu could no longer bear it and stepped forward to refute him.

After saying that, she ignored everyone’s reactions and threw herself over her grandmother, trying to shield her from the whips.

“Where would a refugee get money? Maybe she stole it from someone!” Before the vendor even had to reply, the onlookers on the street had already begun discussing it among themselves.

Xie Yu was roughly lifted up by two officials. As she struggled, she said, “My grandmother picked it up. If you don’t believe me, ask those beggars on North Street. They beat my grandmother up because they wanted to steal the copper coin she found. The wounds are still on her body!”

“I’m a beggar from North Street. I can prove that coin was stolen by the old woman from our fifth brother. We beat her that day only to help Fifth Brother get his money back.” Someone jumped out from the crowd. He was shockingly one of the beggars who had beaten the old woman that day.

He was clearly lying, yet he received the support of the onlookers.

They seemed to have selectively forgotten the fact that the candied hawthorn vendor had slandered the old grandmother and swallowed the copper coin himself. Once again, they placed the crime of theft onto the old woman.

Xie Yu still wanted to say something, but she suddenly understood. No matter how much she said, they would not believe her. After all, refugees equaled evil. No one would believe the words of refugees. They were eager to see refugees die.

Amid the noise, an arrow pierced through the air with a sharp whoosh. In the next second, the old woman’s dodging movements stopped completely. An arrow had pierced through her back.

“Grand… Grandma?” Xie Yu’s struggling also stopped. She stared blankly over there and saw red blood gradually spreading beneath the old woman’s body, stinging Xie Yu’s eyes.

Her eyes seemed to be dyed red by that color as well.

“Prince Beiye!” A brief commotion broke out in the crowd. Everyone lifted their heads to admire his figure.

At the railing on the second floor of the restaurant, a man was carefully wiping the bow in his hand with a silk cloth. His tone was calm and indifferent. “I merely removed a scourge for the people.”

A wave of cheers rose from the street. No one looked at Xie Yu or the old woman again. Even the officials released Xie Yu, who had already collapsed to the ground.

Xie Yu knelt there. She did not cry or shout. Not a single tear fell. Her whole body only trembled. She crawled forward a few steps to her grandmother’s side, laboriously dragging up her body and covering the wound that kept gushing blood, as if this could stop her grandmother from leaving.

“A-Yu… Grandma wanted to buy candied hawthorns for you, but I couldn’t…” Grandmother was still smiling. After saying this, she closed her eyes.

Xie Yu said nothing. Her eyes had been completely dyed scarlet. She lifted her head, her deathly still gaze turning toward the person who had shot the arrow.

Gong Dongling also followed her gaze upward, only to see someone on the other side who should not have appeared here.

That was Xu Ruozhen!

He wore white robes and looked down coldly at everything below, as if he had been here all along and had witnessed the whole process. “Truly vile mortals. Completely severing emotional ties is a good thing.”

【Host! Hurry, now is the time to wake Xie Yu!】

Gong Dongling immediately pulled herself out of her daze. She gave Xu Ruozhen one last look before shouting at Xie Yu, “A-Yu! Wake up quickly! This is only a dream!”

As if hearing her words, Xie Yu suddenly turned back to look in her direction. The scarlet in her eyes gradually faded, and she subconsciously spoke.

“Senior Sister?!”

In that instant, everything in the world turned into countless fragments, just like what Gong Dongling had experienced earlier, dissipating completely before the two of them.

The two finally returned to the Ruoxu Illusion Realm. But the moment Xie Yu broke through the illusion, she fell into a deep sleep. Gong Dongling supported her body and carefully settled her on the ground before lifting her eyes to look ahead.

But she did not notice Xie Yu’s tightly furrowed brows, nor the faint black mist slowly rising from her body.

The large swamp had already vanished, returning to its original appearance. What remained was a vast patch of all kinds of herbs that survived by relying on the spiritual energy of the Xuanji Grass. And nestled at the center was the purpose of their trip—the Xuanji Grass.

This legendary Xuanji Grass was only a small plant, tender green in color. Its appearance was similar to immortal spirit grass, and it emitted a faint glow. If not for the treasure-seeking rat, Gong Dongling would only have treated it as an ordinary spirit herb.

She approached the Xuanji Grass step by step, only to see light burst from within the grass. The light startled Gong Dongling, and she thought some kind of attack was about to appear. She could not help putting up a defensive posture.

But from the core of the grass, a silver ball of light slowly floated out. The light sphere flew toward Gong Dongling and finally landed in her palm. The light was not warm, but it was especially refreshing and soothing.

Following her instincts, Gong Dongling placed it inside a glazed bottle. What this thing was would probably need to be studied later. Right now, the most important thing was picking the Xuanji Grass first.

She reached out and carefully pulled the Xuanji Grass up by the roots. In this instant, the essence nurtured by heaven and earth for a hundred years finally reached its conclusion.

…

Xie Yu slowly woke.

The moment she opened her eyes, a flash of scarlet light passed through them, and her entire aura seemed to have changed somewhat. She coldly swept her gaze around and saw Gong Dongling lying on the ground not far away, curled into a ball.

Only then did a trace of warmth enter her eyes.

Xie Yu quickly walked to Senior Sister’s side and carefully examined her body, discovering that she seemed to have fallen asleep only because she was too exhausted.

Gong Dongling’s face had returned to that pale, fragile appearance. In Xie Yu’s eyes, she looked like delicate porcelain that would shatter if one was even slightly careless. Thinking of this, Xie Yu’s expression seemed to struggle somewhat.

Just then, Xie Yu’s attention focused on Gong Dongling’s hand. In it was a crystal-clear blade of grass, its top emitting a faint, quiet silver light.

It was the Xuanji Grass.

“Xuanji Grass! That woman took advantage of Master’s unconsciousness and stole what should have belonged to Master.”

A voice shouted inside her heart. But this time, Xie Yu did not indulge it. Instead, she sneered. “Shut up. You think you can sow discord with Senior Sister? You should see whether you’re worthy first.”

After hearing Xie Yu’s warning, that voice no longer dared act recklessly.

“So Senior Sister got it first.” Warmth flowed through Xie Yu’s eyes. “That’s good. I don’t have to choose. If it can cure the cold energy in Senior Sister’s body, then that’s wonderful.”

It seemed even Xie Yu herself had not realized that, unconsciously, this was the result she wanted to see. Somewhere along the way, some things had already become more important than the power she had always longed for.

“A-Yu? You’re already awake?” Gong Dongling’s somewhat muffled voice came from the side. She rubbed her eyes and sat up.

Hearing her voice, the scarlet in Xie Yu’s eyes quickly faded, and she changed back into that dull, obedient little girl from the beginning. She turned around and smiled at Senior Sister. “Was Senior Sister the one who saved me?”

Gong Dongling laughed softly and told Xie Yu everything from beginning to end.

She said that she had coincidentally encountered the treasure-seeking rat, found the place where Xie Yu had fallen into the swamp by following the giant python’s trail, then tried to go down and search for her. Unexpectedly, it was an illusion woven by the Xuanji Grass. After Gong Dongling broke through her own illusion, she woke Xie Yu as well, and in the end, they obtained the Xuanji Grass by misfortune turned blessing.

After hesitating for a moment, she still apologized. “A-Yu, I didn’t mean to pry into your memories. I only wanted to wake the you inside the dream.”

“So that was the full version of the candied hawthorn story I told Senior Sister before without beginning or end. As expected, the whole thing isn’t that happy.” Xie Yu’s sealed past had been unintentionally torn open at one corner, but she did not mind at all and gave a carefree smile.

She knew Gong Dongling had not seen the part that came after this. Right now, in Gong Dongling’s heart, she was only a pitiful little girl. If that matter was exposed, Senior Sister would only treat her as a monster, fear her, and grow distant from her.

Thinking of this, the corners of Xie Yu’s mouth curved slightly.

Then she simply had to keep Senior Sister from finding out. She would forever wear this obedient, forbearing, weak mask in front of her and remain her junior sister.

“A-Yu…” For a moment, Gong Dongling did not know what to say.

“Being forced to relive it wasn’t exactly pleasant, but I gained something new from it.”

Those words instantly made Gong Dongling recall Xu Ruozhen standing on the second floor. She blurted out, “You saw him too…”

But Xie Yu turned her head with a confused expression. “Saw who?”

Xie Yu had not seen him at all!

Gong Dongling swallowed the second half of her sentence. “No… nothing.”

Xie Yu did not press her. Instead, she spoke of her own thoughts. “Some things happened so long ago. It’s about time I reconciled with myself.”

That was: hiding inside her own world would only punish herself, not those who had wronged her. Since there was no justice in this world, she would seek it back for herself, bit by bit.

Together with her finally awakened “servant.”