After I Failed to Reform the Female Lead of a Tragic Novel - Chapter 27

In the night-shrouded market, Mu Chenlin knelt in the hidden chamber of the black market just as Qiu Yan once had, humiliated as he accepted the interrogation of the black-robed man before him.

“Didn’t you say it was foolproof? Why was Buzhou Mountain’s informant exposed?” The man’s voice was steady, revealing no joy or anger. It was even difficult to judge his approximate age.

Mu Chenlin nearly crushed his teeth from clenching them. Although he despised Qiu Yan, he had never imagined that one day Qiu Yan would expose his Demon Clan identity. What followed was an investigation by the major sects into their own disciples, which had an enormous impact on the Demon Realm’s deployment in the spirit realm.

After the Demon Lord heard of this matter, he had personally come to the black market to hold Mu Chenlin accountable.

“Your Majesty… The seal and the gu worm used back then were tested again and again. In more than ten years, aside from Qiu Yan, no one else has ever had an accident.” He tried to defend himself, but it was clearly futile. The person under his command had caused trouble, so the one to bear responsibility would inevitably be him.

The only thing worth being grateful for was that after Qiu Yan was exposed, he had not betrayed anyone else from the Demon Realm. Buzhou Mountain had not obtained any intelligence.

Of course, this was not because Qiu Yan was so loyal. Rather, when the Demon Realm deployed informants, they naturally used certain methods to ensure they could not tell the truth. The moment they tried to say it aloud, they would die.

The arm hidden beneath the Demon Lord’s black robe lifted slightly. Wrapped around it was a thin little snake, pure silver from head to tail. The small snake slowly wound its way down and landed on the ground.

This was a Poison-Spirit Lingyan Snake. Although it was not as terrifying as a giant python, the poison it released could make a Nascent Soul cultivator die in agony within just a few minutes.

Its poison had an antidote, but that antidote also came from the Poison-Spirit Lingyan Snake itself. What was most frightening in poisons? That only the poisoner possessed the antidote. This was why those skilled in using poison all liked raising this kind of snake.

The Poison-Spirit Lingyan Snake moved lazily on the Demon Lord’s hand, but once it was on the ground, its speed was as swift as a phantom. In the blink of an eye, it had climbed onto Mu Chenlin’s neck, using its forked tongue to lightly lick his smooth skin.

Mu Chenlin was so frightened he did not dare move in the slightest, afraid that one accidental tilt of his neck would bring him straight into the snake’s fangs.

“I do not care about the process. I only ask about the result.” Even as he released his snake to threaten Mu Chenlin, the Demon Lord’s voice remained utterly calm.

Mu Chenlin stiffened his neck and prostrated himself on the ground, taking the initiative to confess in a trembling voice. “Your Majesty, it was this servant’s negligence. But please spare this servant’s life for now and allow me to investigate this matter clearly. It will not be too late for Your Majesty to kill me afterward!”

But before he could finish speaking, the snake suddenly bit his neck and injected venom into him.

It reluctantly pulled out its fangs. If its master had not forbidden it, it absolutely would have devoured this delicacy raw.

“Ah—!” Mu Chenlin’s scream tore through the calm of the night. In that instant, he was horrified to discover that the skin around his neck had gone numb.

The Demon Lord casually tossed a gray-black pill onto the ground. “This pill can only temporarily suppress the poison in your body. Bring the intelligence to me before the night of the full moon. If I am satisfied, I will grant you the antidote.”

Mu Chenlin hurriedly looked toward the full moon outside the window, and his heart sank.

Only one month…

“Thank you, Your Majesty, for sparing my life!” he said as he struggled to crawl toward the pill.

Just as his hand was about to touch the pill, the Demon Lord stepped on his fingers. “If I am not satisfied, you know what the outcome will be.”

Only after Mu Chenlin swallowed the pill whole did he feel the numbness spreading through his body gradually recede. He did not even dare breathe loudly, afraid of drawing the Demon Lord’s displeasure.

“Have you found any trace of the evil bone I ordered you to search for?” Fortunately, the Demon Lord changed the subject and no longer cared about Qiu Yan’s matter.

The evil bone the Demon Lord spoke of was a sacred object of the Demon Clan: a finger bone of an ancient evil god. Contained within it was the evil soul power that created the Demon Clan, and it was the key to maintaining the entire Demon Clan bloodline.

But sixteen years ago, during the war among the spirit, demon, and yao realms, the evil bone disappeared.

The evil bone had always been served by a saintess chosen by the Demon Realm. But during the chaos, the previous saintess had privately taken the evil bone and fled. By the time everyone finally found her again, there was no longer any trace of the evil bone.

They obtained not the slightest information from the saintess, who had died by suicide, and the lifeline of the Demon Clan vanished without a trace.

The disappearance of the evil bone struck the Demon Clan even harder than their defeat in war. Without the protection of that power, no one in the Demon Realm could continue advancing. This was also why, even after reorganizing for more than ten years, the Demon Clan could still only disguise their identities and recuperate in secret.

Joy rose in Mu Chenlin’s heart. He knew the information he was about to report could ease the Demon Lord’s anger. “Replying to Your Majesty, ever since we detected fluctuations of evil soul power in the mortal realm ten years ago, we have recently discovered traces of it again in the spirit realm. Although it is extremely concealed and difficult to trace to its source, as long as we are given time, we can definitely find out where it is.”

“You certainly know how to preserve your life. If you can find the evil bone’s whereabouts, let alone sparing your life, even giving you the position of protector would not be difficult.”

After saying this, the Demon Lord asked no more. His black robe swept up, and in a burst of dense black mist, his figure instantly vanished from the room.

Only then did Mu Chenlin finally straighten his body, covering the two holes in his neck as if he had survived a disaster.

He suddenly remembered a rumor related to the evil bone that someone had once told him.

The saintess who fled with the bone was the Demon Lord’s own younger sister. While fleeing, she fell in love with the righteous light of the spirit realm and even had a child with him. But the husband and wife both died unnatural deaths, so that child surely could not have survived either.

Mu Chenlin stopped thinking about these rumors, which were half real and half false. He had to hurry and investigate the truth behind Qiu Yan’s demonization.

According to his intelligence network, when Qiu Yan turned demonic, four people had been present. Two of them were Qiu Yan’s junior sisters, while the other two severely injured people were inner disciples of Buzhou Mountain named Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo.

These two had practically become crippled. After descending Buzhou Mountain, they were staying at an inn in the market.

Speaking of this inn, Mu Chenlin suddenly recalled the female cultivator who had come to sell pills before. The token he had given her had been tossed into that inn right after she turned around, causing Mu Chenlin to discover something was wrong only several days later and lose track of her entirely.

Even now, thinking of it made him grind his teeth. If he found that woman, the first thing he would do was make her pay the price!

After the Demon Lord came to hold him accountable, Mu Chenlin immediately went to “visit” those two.

Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo were both spineless. Mu Chenlin did not even need to torture them before they said everything.

The words they had used to fool the Elders’ Council could not pass before Mu Chenlin. After personally seeing Mu Chenlin blow apart the screen in the inn with his bare hand, they finally told the truth.

After hearing their account, Mu Chenlin finally learned that the direct cause of Qiu Yan’s demonization was the gu worm Qi Tuo had fed into his mouth. That gu worm had devoured the old gu worm that originally suppressed the demonic energy, resulting in what happened.

Qiu Zijian looked at the powerful Mu Chenlin before him, and his little schemes began stirring again. Before, he had lacked the ability, which was why he had been unwilling to provoke Xie Yu. But he had always remembered the grudge of Xie Yu ordering Qiu Yan to kill the two of them. Now that a man who could help them get revenge had appeared, how could he not complain?

After hesitating for a moment, he said mysteriously, “The reason Qiu Yan went there was to find his junior sister Xie Yu. There seems to be some secret between them…”

“Who is Xie Yu?” Mu Chenlin had never heard Qiu Yan mention this person, so he asked with a frown.

Qiu Zijian then told Mu Chenlin, one by one, about Xie Yu’s strange behavior that day—especially the part where Qiu Yan knelt on the ground and humbly begged Xie Yu for a gift, only to be provoked by a sentence or two from Xie Yu into wanting to kill them.

Xie Yu…

Mu Chenlin narrowed his eyes. He had nearly missed such important intelligence.

Seeing that the two of them had no other information, he smiled. “Thank you.”

“Senior expert, you must investigate this matter clearly. You must not let Xie Yu go!” Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo saw Mu Chenlin’s satisfied expression and thought they had succeeded in pleasing him. Joy rose in their hearts.

But just then, something suddenly clamped around both their throats at the same time.

An invisible force strangled their necks, making them almost unable to breathe. They widened their bewildered, terrified eyes and stared at the man before them, as if they could not understand how someone who had been so modest and courteous just now could suddenly attack.

“I will remember your last wishes. As for you two, after seeing me, how could you possibly still have a path to survival?” With a wave of his hands, he flung the two who had suffocated to death aside.

Mu Chenlin patted his hands, skillfully climbed out the inn window, and disappeared into the night.

…

Wuwang Island.

A white-haired old man sat by the window, carefully examining a jade pendant that had shattered into several pieces. He seemed immersed in his memories, cut off from all the disturbances of the outside world.

Just then, he suddenly raised his head and looked toward the vast Wuwang Sea beyond the window. At the far end where water and sky met, something seemed faintly to be flying.

“Oh, guests are coming today. Look at this poor memory of mine!” He slapped his forehead, carefully placed the broken jade into a box, and rose to welcome the guests.

The guests were naturally Xu Ruozhen and the very unwilling Gong Dongling. They had dragged things out all along the way, and at last, they finally flew to the legendary Wuwang Island.

Before coming here, Gong Dongling had briefly learned about Wuwang Island and Immortal Lord Nandou.

Immortal Lord Nandou was the most respected wandering cultivator in the world today. Back then, when the demon and yao realms joined forces to invade, it was Immortal Lord Nandou who personally killed the Yao Emperor. Only then did the alliance between the two realms collapse, giving the spirit realm a chance to catch its breath under that ferocious offensive.

But at that time, an accident occurred, causing Immortal Lord Nandou’s only disciple to die under the inhuman torture of the Demon Clan.

After that, the Immortal Lord secluded himself on Wuwang Island, forming a faction of his own and no longer participating in any disputes.

Aside from being outstanding in immortal arts and possessing unfathomable cultivation, Immortal Lord Nandou was also a high-level ninth-grade alchemist. Because of this, many sects and families would ask him to help refine pills, just like Xu Ruozhen’s purpose for this trip.

The Immortal Lord never cared who the other party was. As long as they gave enough money, he would accept the request and refine the pills.

This was Gong Dongling’s first time seeing a great senior in the alchemy world. High-level ninth grade! He was practically the ceiling of alchemists, a goal who knew how many alchemists chased and looked up to from afar!

But compared to her excitement at meeting a great senior, Gong Dongling was more worried about what came next. They were here to send back the treasure-seeking rat and deliver the Xuanji Grass, but where was she supposed to find the Xuanji Grass?

At this moment, she was flying above Wuwang Sea and looking down. In the endless lake that stretched magnificently like an ocean, she could see a small island. That was Immortal Lord Nandou’s residence, Wuwang Island. But just then, an enormous jiao suddenly leaped out from the surface of the lake, as if about to pounce on Gong Dongling flying above.

A dignified voice came from afar. “Evil creature!—”

The jiao let out a long cry, changed its flight direction, and plunged back beneath the mirror-like surface of the water.

This was the Wujian Qingfeng Jiao that Immortal Lord Nandou raised in Wuwang Sea. Without the Immortal Lord’s permission, it would not let anyone enter Wuwang Island. Its aura just now had been especially terrifying and startled Gong Dongling badly.

The Immortal Lord was already standing on the island, his hands behind his back as he welcomed their arrival.

The moment Gong Dongling landed, the treasure-seeking rat could not wait to jump down from her shoulder and pounce toward the Immortal Lord’s leg.

Amid Immortal Lord Nandou’s white hair, his eyes smiled warmly, especially kind and benevolent. He stretched out his hand, letting the treasure-seeking rat jump onto it, and held it up before himself to carefully examine it. “You’ve gotten quite a bit fatter. It seems this trip wasn’t a loss for you. You ate quite a few pills from someone, didn’t you?”

Hearing this, the treasure-seeking rat raised a paw and pointed at Gong Dongling. “Squeak squeak squeak!” The immortal sister gave me pills to eat!

“So that’s how it is.” Immortal Lord Nandou seemed able to understand the treasure-seeking rat as well. He tucked it into his sleeve, then looked up at the young person who had earned the treasure-seeking rat’s affection.

But when he looked over, his cloudy eyes brightened in that instant. Gong Dongling’s appearance made him lose focus for a moment.

Seeing this scene, Xu Ruozhen’s expression changed slightly. He took a few steps forward and blocked Gong Dongling, then respectfully said, “Immortal Lord, I trust you have been well.”

He was not certain whether Immortal Lord Nandou had ever seen that woman. After all, Gong Dongling’s appearance did resemble her somewhat…

Immortal Lord Nandou came back to himself and knew he had lost composure. He said, “Zhenren, this disciple of yours looks very much like an old acquaintance of mine. I am old now. One glance just now nearly made me mistake her for someone else. That was discourteous of me. I apologize to Zhenren and to this young friend.”

Hearing this, Xu Ruozhen and Gong Dongling were both startled. Xu Ruozhen’s guess deepened, while Gong Dongling found it strange. Aside from Xie Yu, there was actually someone else who resembled her? Was her face truly that common in the cultivation world?

The Immortal Lord invited the two into his house.

Compared with Immortal Lord Nandou’s status, this house was truly rather simple. It was only a courtyard residence, with a small front hall used to receive guests. The rooms at the back were probably used for resting and refining pills.

As her time of death drew closer and closer, Gong Dongling had no mind to appreciate the place. She only secretly gripped the heirloom rhombus mirror that could let her leave by surprise. If matters grew so serious they could not be controlled, then she would simply use the precious single chance of the mirror.

Tea had already been placed on the table. After the three sat down, Immortal Lord Nandou asked about Gong Dongling’s condition. “To what extent has the cold energy from the Far North affected you?”

“My body is just rather poor, and I can’t circulate spiritual power normally,” Gong Dongling hurriedly answered.

“If those are the only symptoms, I do know a prescription that can suppress the cold energy. A pill can be refined to restrain it without needing the Xuanji Grass.” Immortal Lord Nandou stroked his long beard as he spoke.

Hearing this, Gong Dongling was startled. Wasn’t that the same prescription she had seen in the book?

“Immortal Lord, is the prescription you’re talking about recorded in an ancient alchemy book?” Gong Dongling could not help asking.

These words made Xu Ruozhen glance sideways, his gaze falling on her meaningfully.

Immortal Lord Nandou, however, laughed heartily. Only after taking a sip of tea did he say, “The ancient alchemy book young friend speaks of may well be this old man’s humble work. Because that prescription is my own creation, I once wrote it into an introductory alchemy book as a practice prescription. I didn’t expect young friend to have dabbled in this area as well.”

“I don’t know alchemy. It was my junior sister who has read widely. After hearing that I was afflicted by cold energy, she offered this prescription to me. After reading that prescription before, I felt that even without the Xuanji Grass, that pill could suppress it.”

“Immortal Lord,” Xu Ruozhen suddenly interrupted their conversation and smiled, “the transaction I made with Immortal Lord before was to use the Xuanji Grass to refine the pill. Other pills are unnecessary.”

Immortal Lord Nandou raised a brow. “In that case, give the Xuanji Grass to me. Within a week, I will have a carrier pigeon send it to Buzhou Mountain.”

Xu Ruozhen also turned his gaze toward Gong Dongling. “Give the Xuanji Grass to Immortal Lord Nandou.”

Under both of their gazes, Gong Dongling stiffened all over. She swallowed with difficulty and said hoarsely, “I…”

But before she could speak, a sharp cry suddenly came from Wuwang Sea outside.

All three abruptly looked out the window. The jiao had leaped from the water again, baring its claws and fangs toward the distance. Following the direction of its confrontation, Gong Dongling could not help widening her eyes.

On the water’s surface, she actually saw a black giant python rising up. That physique comparable to the jiao’s, those rings of scarlet patterns—wasn’t that the black evil scarlet-patterned python that had appeared in the illusion realm that day?!

A jiao and a python began tangling and biting each other across the water, neither giving way. Before long, the clear surface of the water was dyed a faint red.

But how could that thing appear in Wuwang Sea?

Gong Dongling was not the only one dumbfounded. Looking at the scene outside the window, Immortal Lord Nandou’s eyes instantly surged with turbulent waves. In the next instant, he broke through the window and flew out.

Xu Ruozhen frowned and instructed Gong Dongling, “Stay here. Do not wander around. I’ll go see whether someone has broken in.”

Seeing Xu Ruozhen hurriedly leave, Gong Dongling no longer cared why that thing had appeared here. She packed up and darted in the opposite direction. This chaos had come at too perfect a time. If she did not run now, when would she?

They were currently on the side close to the receiving hall, so she planned to leave through the back door farther inside.

This time, however, she was not so lucky. The back door was locked, as if it had not been opened in many years. Gong Dongling hit a wall there and ran toward the storage room on one side instead, deciding to leave through the window.

Ignoring the cobwebs and dust on the paper window, she gathered her strength and pushed. Dust burst all over Gong Dongling, making her cough nonstop. But the window opened. Overjoyed, she looked outside, only to discover that this side of the small courtyard was built on a massive reef. Jumping from here would be no different from leaping off a cliff.

Just as Gong Dongling hesitated over whether to jump, chaotic footsteps faintly came from behind her. It seemed Xu Ruozhen had already discovered her departure and was quickly chasing after her!

There was no time!

Gong Dongling steeled her heart, stepped onto the window with one foot, and leaped out.

She closed her eyes tightly, only feeling the cold wind whistling beside her ears.

But the imagined pain of falling into a complete mess never came. Instead, she seemed to fall into a warm, soft embrace.

When Gong Dongling opened her eyes, she fell into a pair of smiling eyes filled with stars. That person held her and landed steadily on the ground, her cool voice seemingly tinged with the warmth of the mortal world. “Senior Sister, I came to get you.”

The person who caught her in midair was Xie Yu.

At this moment, Xie Yu was soaked from head to toe. Wet strands of hair clung to her cheeks, and her long lashes trembled slightly. Fine water droplets rolled down, refracting the warm morning light. A damp smile bloomed across her cool face, yet she was as soul-stealing as a sea demon.

“A-Yu…” Gong Dongling looked up at Xie Yu, who had come through the morning light to save her. Her eyes grew hot, and she could barely say a complete sentence.

Xie Yu held her a little tighter and looked up toward the opened window. Xu Ruozhen had already chased to the window and was glaring furiously at the two of them.

Seeing him, Xie Yu showed not the slightest fear. Instead, she raised a brow with malicious provocation.

Xu Ruozhen was about to chase after them, but the floating sensation from earlier suddenly swept over him again. His body disobeyed him and went weak. Before he could even touch the window, he fainted onto the floor.

“He… what is this?” Gong Dongling had also witnessed this scene and could not help speaking.

“We’ll leave here first. I’ll tell you everything.” Xie Yu set Gong Dongling on the ground and drew the sword on her back, preparing to leave by sword flight.

Gong Dongling hurriedly called up Xuanling as well and followed Xie Yu’s footsteps. Without knowing when it had happened, Xie Yu had become the person she could trust and rely on completely.

But just then, danger appeared. A pillar of water suddenly shot into the sky from the Wuwang Sea beneath their feet, surging toward the two of them like a water dragon.

Someone was controlling the water to stop them.

Xie Yu reacted quickly and pushed Gong Dongling aside, staring closely at the water dragon charging toward her. Wind and rain roared as they lifted her long hair and the edges of her clothes, but she still stood firm in the wind and raised her hand, which had already condensed a layer of ice crystals.

“Xie Yu!—” Seeing Xie Yu block the water dragon for her, Gong Dongling cried out in alarm.

In the water curtain that seemed about to drown Xie Yu, all the flowing water strangely froze at that moment. A faint sizzling sound came. The flowing liquid condensed into ice, and with Xie Yu’s palm as the center, pale blue ice crystals spread visibly along the direction of the current.

The water dragon remained eerily frozen in the moment it opened its bloody maw, becoming an ice-blue dragon sculpture. Its long tail stretched all the way down into the water. The ice crystals refracted sunlight, reflecting Xie Yu’s celestial posture.

Behind the ice sculpture, a person’s figure finally appeared. It was none other than Immortal Lord Nandou, whom Gong Dongling had just met.

The Immortal Lord floated in the air, only gazing at Xie Yu. Suddenly, he laughed. “You do have some real ability.”

“Senior flatters me. Such petty tricks truly couldn’t fool Senior’s eyes.” Xie Yu pressed her lips together, a dark glint flashing through her eyes.

“You used too little Xuanji Grass. Were you trying to save some for her?” Immortal Lord Nandou exposed the flaw in one sentence. If the proportion of Xuanji Grass had been sufficient, even he would have temporarily fallen into the illusion.

“I can help conceal your tracks, but you must temporarily stay on my Wuwang Island.”

The condition the Immortal Lord proposed greatly surprised both of them. Even Xie Yu had been prepared to carry out another plan after being detained.

“Why does Senior want us to stay here?” Xie Yu asked with a frown.

“Wuwang Island has had no human presence for too long. A few more people will make it livelier, that’s all. You should also know that my place just so happens to be the best place to hide your traces.” Immortal Lord Nandou smiled as he looked at them, his tone filled with complete certainty.