After I Failed to Reform the Female Lead of a Tragic Novel - Chapter 3

The person who suddenly spoke was Ji Yuran. There was a touch of cynicism on his face, making it seem like a casual inquiry.

However, the people in the hall didn’t dare treat his words as a mere whim. After all, he was a “divine being” from the heavens. Once he achieved full merit, he would return there. Who wouldn’t want to serve him well? If he remembered your good or bad deeds upon his return, it would be disastrous!

Gong Dongling met his eyes. Seeing him disrupt her plan, she became even more amiable.

She laughed inwardly. She knew this “psychopath” who feared nothing more than a peaceful world would jump out to ruin things. Did he think she was making it all up?

Every word she spoke was the truth!

Before the major plot point of the Grand Competition, there was a storyline where the heroine, despite her ordinary background and low cultivation, began to shine.

Xie Yu had gone training with a group of outer-sect disciples to exorcise demons. They accidentally encountered a Fire Ghoul Mother. Xie Yu stepped forward, shielded the other disciples, and defeated the monster.

As a character holding the script, how could she let them slap her face so easily?

This interruption hadn’t wasted her preparations. Gong Dongling stood aside at her leisure, the corners of her mouth curling up as she waited for the “witness” to appear.

At that moment, a disciple standing in the corner stepped forward. He seemed to have made a difficult decision, shouting with a determined heart:

“I am an outer-sect disciple who went training with Senior Sister Xie Yu last month! I can prove it. We did indeed encounter a Fire Ghoul Mother and were nearly devoured because we underestimated it. It was Senior Sister Xie who saved us! She was even seriously injured because of it…”

When all eyes converged on him, his face flushed, and he lowered his head in shame.

“Why was this never mentioned?!” the Elder roared in fury.

Encountering a special monster during training was something that had to be reported to Mount Buzhou immediately for the record of merits and punishments. Yet, nearly a month had passed, and no one had said a word.

The disciple lowered his head further: “I’m sorry. Everyone was overconfident and failed in their duties. The losses were heavy, and since the monster self-detonated its demon core before dying, there were no trophies to offset our mistakes. If we reported it, many people would have been punished… The team leader discussed it with us and decided to cover it up…”

“You… you rebellious disciples!” The old man’s white beard shook with rage.

“Enough. This matter ends here. Since the truth has come to light, do not continue to wrong an innocent person.” Xu Ruozhen, who had been sitting at the head of the hall, suddenly spoke, effectively sealing the case.

As a high-ranking figure of Mount Buzhou, his words carried great weight. Once he spoke, everyone fell silent.

“Ling-er, follow me. the poison in your body hasn’t been fully cleared. The rest of you, disperse. It is quite inappropriate for the Law Enforcement Hall to rush to my hall demanding an explanation when they haven’t even handled their own affairs properly.” With a look of displeasure, he flicked his sleeves and prepared to leave.

Gong Dongling was startled for a moment, then quickened her pace to follow him.

The disciples dispersed one after another, but Xie Yu’s figure emerged from a corner.

She wore the blue-gray uniform common to Mount Buzhou disciples. On the section of her wrist peeking from her sleeve, several layers of gauze were firmly wrapped, finished with a meticulously tied butterfly knot—a striking detail amidst her simple, dark attire.

Having just witnessed a discussion regarding her own guilt, Xie Yu was currently overwhelmed with mixed emotions.

The reason she had firmly believed the Heat Poison incident was Gong Dongling’s doing was because during their match, she had seen Gong Dongling casually wave her hand, appearing to sprinkle something on the sword. Subsequently, Heat Poison was found on Xie Yu’s blade.

But this logical explanation made her doubt for the first time if she had truly wronged Gong Dongling.

On the other hand, while Xie Yu had indeed killed that monster with her sword, the Fire Ghoul Mother had self-detonated its core at the end. Her sword hadn’t touched the core, so logically, it shouldn’t have been stained with Heat Poison…

What she couldn’t understand even more was: why did Gong Dongling prepare so much just to give her justice?

While lost in thought, a group of tall men with varied expressions walked toward her. Her breath hitched instinctively, and she tried to step back to avoid them, only for her back to hit the wall.

A voice called out to her: “Senior Sister Xie.”

The moment she heard that title, Xie Yu felt a daze. It seemed no one had ever addressed her as “Senior Sister” with such respect.

Looking up, she recognized them—they were the outer-sect disciples who had gone to the mortal realm with her to exorcise demons.

They looked remorseful. The team leader spoke first: “Senior Sister Xie, I wonder if you remember our mission? You saved us… Although the truth came out today, we felt we owed you an apology.”

“Didn’t everyone agree not to report it?” Xie Yu turned pale. For some reason, she had begun to fear facing so many people, and her voice was faint.

“If Senior Sister Gong hadn’t reminded us, we would have forgotten your kindness long ago and allowed you to be punished. If you need any help in the future, just ask. we will spare no effort to assist you!”

The man was sincere. Seeing her discomfort, he didn’t linger. He left after making his promise, taking the group with him.

“What exactly do you want…” Xie Yu looked at the butterfly knot on her wrist, her eyes clouded with confusion.

“Master, you didn’t look for me just for that poison, did you?”

When Gong Dongling entered this body, the Heat Poison had been resolved by the System. It was impossible for Xu Ruozhen not to notice.

This was clearly just an excuse for him to lead her away.

He paused and looked back. His face was no longer impatient; instead, it held a touch of helplessness, as if he were facing a mischievous child. “Ling-er, you have truly become distant from your Master recently. We weren’t like this before.”

As he spoke, Xu Ruozhen reached out to touch Gong Dongling’s head, but she dodged by turning her body.

“I am a medicine jar; I wouldn’t want to pass my illness to you, Master.” Gong Dongling showed no trace of disgust on her face, remaining smooth and appropriate, as if she were truly acting for his sake.

However, her heart was filled with intense discomfort. A thought began to emerge: Did this “Master” truly feel only a master-disciple bond for the original owner?

The more tense the situation, the more Gong Dongling could calm down to think of a strategy. She was someone who disliked showing emotion, yet she could extract useful information from the other party’s subtle cues.

In the original work, this master and disciple were in cahoots. The original owner feared yet relied heavily on Xu Ruozhen, while Xu Ruozhen’s feelings toward her seemed more about control…

Xu Ruozhen naturally didn’t believe her words, but as the world’s number one sword cultivator, his pride prevented him from taking further action.

“Good, good, truly very good.” He sneered, his eyes locking onto Gong Dongling.

The feeling of being watched by a poisonous snake made her even more uncomfortable. She suddenly remembered the pressure he had applied in the confinement room. He knew she would be hurt yet did it anyway—simply to punish her for insisting on saving Xie Yu.

This made her realize that with her current frail body and weak cultivation, Xu Ruozhen could do whatever he wanted to her!

She lowered her head respectfully: “If there is nothing else, I will not disturb you. I shall take my leave.”

She turned to go, but was suddenly grabbed firmly by the wrist. Her expression went cold.

“Since you returned from the Far North, you seem to have harbored a grudge against me. Should we have a proper talk? Or is it that the person who suddenly appeared after being missing for so long is not my disciple at all, but someone who has taken over her body?”

“What do you want to talk about?” Gong Dongling looked up. There was no emotion in her indifferent eyes; the “real” her finally emerged.

Xu Ruozhen was startled for a moment. When he recovered, he suddenly recalled that in all her gentle and kind moments in his memory, her smiles had never reached her eyes.

Seeing Gong Dongling drop her guard, Xu Ruozhen’s mood seemed to lighten. He was no longer as aggressive as before, instead giving a bitter smile: “What are you resenting me for? Is it still about the Xie Yu matter?”

“For the two years I was missing, I struggled to survive in the Far North, waiting for you and my fellow disciples to find me. Though I was disappointed time and again, I never gave up. Finally, relying on that conviction, I left the Far North and returned to Mount Buzhou through a thousand dangers. And what was waiting for me? The feeling of being completely replaced!

I can ignore that she looks like me, that she carries my sword, and that I am no longer the protected little Junior Sister. But I cannot ignore being replaced in your hearts.”

Fortunately, Xu Ruozhen loved to fill in the blanks. He provided the material for her to work with. To avoid being suspected of body-snatching, she could only adopt a persona and mimic the original owner’s style.

So she’s just throwing a tantrum. That seemed normal. After all, he knew his disciple; in her heart, no one was more important than the Master who raised her.

“I didn’t know… that Xie Yu caused you so much pain. If you still hate her, I can sever my master-disciple relationship with her.”

Sever the relationship?! He actually had the nerve to say something so unscrupulous. Gong Dongling felt her veins throb with anger.

“The one I hate isn’t Xie Yu! It’s your act of abandoning me! These things have nothing to do with her. Xie Yu should not be a sacrifice in our conflict! You have never understood my heart.” This surge of anger made her exceptionally irritable.

What was the most disgusting thing in this novel? It was treating Xie Yu as a stand-in while pushing all the guilt and faults onto her!

Because they felt uneasy, they bullied her repeatedly, using “getting revenge for Gong Dongling” as a pretense. But did she really hate Xie Yu?

Talk about wanting to have your cake and eat it too.

“Fine, fine, we won’t sever it. In short, my feelings for you remain unchanged. I will always treat you as my closest person. Only if we remain united can no one drive a wedge between us, right?” Seeing her truly angry, Xu Ruozhen began to coax her with gentle words.

“United? Why haven’t I seen Master sharing his heart with me?” A cheerful voice rang out, and a royal blue figure blurred past Gong Dongling, landing instantly on the ground.

He looked back at Gong Dongling with a mischievous smile and a wink.

Gong Dongling finally recognized this person: it was her Eldest Senior Brother.