After Transmigrating, the Female Lead Went Dark (GL) - Chapter 13

Xiao Xinyue carried Zhou Zhuying back to the courtyard the entire way without even a hint of breathlessness.

The more Zhou Zhuying watched, the more she felt the female lead had been given the male lead’s script. She also regretted not being able to recall any of the original owner’s martial arts. With this kind of martial prowess and stamina, she could’ve been a human bottle rocket.

Xiao Xinyue mused, “Why is the Sect Leader suddenly so…”

“Silly and overdramatic?” Zhou Zhuying was quite self-aware.

“No, you just look very lovable and pitiable.”

Zhou Zhuying internally screamed like a marmot: She’s so good at flirting!

Why do queer girls always fall for straight girls? Because queer girls aren’t as good at flirting as straight girls are!

Zhou Zhuying took advantage of the female lead being straight and was deliberately reckless. She held Xiao Xinyue tighter around the neck, leaned close to her ear, and parted her rosy lips. “Because I was scared!”

A gentle breeze brushed against Xiao Xinyue’s ear, like the reeds in a marsh swaying and lightly stroking her earlobe. Fine, soft hairs seemed to tickle her heart and spread a sensation across her whole body.

Xiao Xinyue stopped walking, her earlobe turning slightly red. “Scared of what?”

Zhou Zhuying carefully recalled her earlier feelings but couldn’t articulate them. “I don’t know.”

Xiao Xinyue silently carried Zhou Zhuying back to the room and said, “Rest early after your hot water arrives and you’ve had a bath.”

Zhou Zhuying quickly slid off her back and pulled off the cloak to show her. “Oh, right, I mended the cloak!”

When Xiao Xinyue saw the two embroidered words on the cloak, she was speechless. After a long moment, she said expressionlessly, “It’s fine. I’ll give you this cloak!”

The Sect Leader feigned shyness. “Oh, that’s too kind.”

Xiao Xinyue: “…”

She had thought the Sect Leader’s pitiful, helpless, and vulnerable state earlier was her own delusion.

“Ah, and your zither! It’s such a fine zither. How can you leave it outside to get frosted?” Zhou Zhuying brought Xiao Xinyue’s guqin out.

Xiao Xinyue took the zither, her fingertips lightly stroking the strings, but her eyes were fixed on Zhou Zhuying’s face. Zhou Zhuying only stared at her slender, pale fingers, wondering if the female lead had the skill to use zither music as an attack method, as was common in wuxia dramas.

Putting the zither away, Xiao Xinyue said, “I’m going back now. If the Sect Leader is still afraid, you can call for me.”

Zhou Zhuying didn’t feel afraid at all now. She even suspected her earlier anomaly was an emotional fluctuation caused by changing hormone levels, as her period might be approaching.

Speaking of which, do characters in wuxia novels get periods? Will my life be the same as before now that I’ve become the Sect Leader?

She felt a little uncertain.

Thinking of this, she wondered if she should prepare sanitary napkins in advance. After all, she couldn’t get used to the sanitary strips made of plant ash and wanted to make some sanitary napkins herself.

Modern sanitary napkins were out of the question, but she could find substitutes for the non-permeable backing. And judging by the bedding she was using, cotton existed in this world. With various raw materials, making simple sanitary pads shouldn’t be too hard!

She quickly brought up her request for cotton and other materials before Xiao Xinyue left.

Xiao Xinyue asked her, “What does the Sect Leader need these things for?”

“To make sanitary—menstrual cloth.”

“Doesn’t the Sect Leader’s period usually—”

Xiao Xinyue’s words abruptly stopped. Zhou Zhuying gave a confused “Huh?”

Xiao Xinyue paused, carried the zither back to her room, and returned a moment later with a packet. “If it really comes, use this!”

Zhou Zhuying opened it and nearly gnashed her teeth in frustration: This is exactly the simple sanitary napkin she had imagined! Besides lacking the plastic waterproof film and wings, it’s virtually identical to a modern sanitary napkin! Who beat her to figuring out sanitary napkins?!

But then she thought: The original work was, after all, an unrigorous novel, a work of artistic license with existing loopholes and implausible plots. And given how inventive ancient people were, it’s not surprising that sanitary napkins were already invented. It’s understandable!

“What is this…”

Xiao Xinyue said, “Menstrual cloth from Yunxi Pavilion.”

“Oh!” Zhou Zhuying felt enlightened. She guessed that “Yunxi Pavilion” was a place that sold feminine products, as the name sounded like a high-end boutique.

With the sanitary napkins available, Zhou Zhuying stopped worrying about her period. After seeing Xiao Xinyue off, she hummed a tune, took a bath, and went to bed early, following her body clock.

Xiao Xinyue left the room and let out a heavy sigh.

She returned to her room, saw the guqin she had hastily set down earlier, and with a shift of thought, flipped it over.

The back of the guqin was also very plain. Above the Dragon Pool (a part of the zither), the words “Ming Xin Jian Xing” (See the Nature of the Mind) were engraved, and on the side were a few small characters: “Xinyue Zhao Yunxi” (The Heart of the Moon Shines on the Cloud Stream).

Her fingertip stroked the small characters, and a soft sigh escaped her throat.

After a while, she saw the lights in Zhou Zhuying’s room were out and she was asleep. Only then did she put on her cloak and quietly leave the courtyard.

In one of the Moshan Sect’s dungeons, painful groans escaped from the dark, cramped, and foul-smelling cell.

Xiao Xinyue paused at the front, holding a lamp. The iron chains inside rattled, followed by a tragic and powerless roar. “I really don’t know anything about the Demon Venerable…”

Xiao Xinyue remained silent for a moment. The person in the cell then opened his eyes. He clearly saw the visitor’s face in the lamplight, and his heart trembled. “It’s you!”

“It seems the Right Protector still recognizes me.” Xiao Xinyue’s expression was indifferent. “Go on, why don’t you keep pretending?”

The person in the cell seemed to have gone mute, unable to say a word.

Suddenly, he lunged forward, but the iron rings on his ankles and neck restricted his movement, forcing him to stop a meter away from Xiao Xinyue.

He tightly gripped the iron bars and shouted, “I haven’t seen the Demon Venerable in a long time! I truly don’t know his whereabouts.”

Xiao Xinyue said, “I’m not here for the Demon Venerable. Tell me, what happened after the Demon Venerable took your Sect Leader back that year?”

••••

Zhou Zhuying was a little disoriented when she found herself in a gloomy, terrifying great hall.

Where am I? Why does this place look so familiar?

Then, looking at the Xuantie (Black Iron) Chair she was sitting on, she remembered. She was in the great hall of the Demon Palace, the main base of the Demon Sect.

The empty hall seemed to be devoid of people. She stepped down from the high platform, walked past the bright lamps, and continued until she reached the large door at the end.

The candlelight flickered, and her shadow became increasingly blurry. She turned her head back, but her vision suddenly plunged into darkness—all the lamps went out. Darkness surged toward her like a torrent.

Her heart shuddered. Seeing a faint light outside the door, she tried to open it, only to find the door was sealed shut, unmoving.

She frantically slammed and crashed against the door, desperate to open it quickly, or she would be completely swallowed by the darkness.

“Bang—”

The door fell. Zhou Zhuying stumbled to the ground, her body trembling, and she woke up.

She stared at the gray top of the bed curtain, took several deep breaths, and finally calmed down.

There were no ghosts, murderers, fires, or zombies chasing her in the dream, yet she was still startled awake. This showed that nightmares were completely illogical.

Could it be that I was startled last night, which led to a dream like this? I should really drink some calming tea before bed to soothe my nerves.

Zhou Zhuying mused that she would ask the female lead for calming tea later.

She saw a faint light outside the window and, considering that winter mornings broke later, estimated it was about six or seven o’clock. She wanted to go back to sleep, but hearing a commotion outside, she wrapped herself in the quilt, climbed up, and peered out the window.

Outside, the cold wind was biting, and the shadows of the plum trees rustled. A white figure danced among the plum blossoms—or rather, was practicing martial arts, but the blend of dance and martial arts was exquisitely displayed by the graceful figure.

The agile posture, steady footwork, and decisive movements gave Zhou Zhuying a deeper appreciation of the “Wuxia World” she was in.

The Sect Leader, who had the character setting of “super-skilled in martial arts” but couldn’t recall a single move, thought seriously:

Is it too late for me to seek a master now?