Female Lead, Something's Not Right (GL) - Chapter 3

Gu Shiyan gritted her teeth and nodded. “Please be quick, Senior Sister.”

Satisfied, Qin Qianqian took out a few medium-grade spiritual stones and set up a simple spiritual gathering array. She then continuously funneled spiritual energy into the flower bud. Gu Shiyan kept a vigilant watch, afraid that a fierce beast would appear at any moment.

“Get ready to take the flower!”

The Bloodvine Flower, which had been a bud, began to bloom in the stagnant water. The water boiled, and the crimson petals emanated a strange black light. As the flower bloomed, the surrounding miasma automatically dissipated, befitting its reputation as the chief antidote to all poisons! Gu Shiyan carefully channeled spiritual energy into her hand, squatted, and reached out to pluck the flower.

A splash of boiling stagnant water broke through the spiritual energy on Gu Shiyan’s hand, leaving a small black pit on her skin. She frowned but didn’t dare to retreat. Better a quick pain than a prolonged one. Just as her hand was about to touch the Bloodvine Flower, the surrounding vines immediately wrapped around her hand.

“Hiss!” Gu Shiyan’s eyes widened. She had just cut one vine with her Floating Light Sword when countless others surged from all directions.

Seeing this, Qin Qianqian whipped her long whip, entangling it with the vines. Struggling, she yelled in frustration, “What are you dawdling for?!”

Gu Shiyan dodged awkwardly. The vines seemed to be protecting the Bloodvine Flower, and every attack forced her back. This wasn’t a place for a third-stage Qi Condensation outer sect disciple. Just dodging the attacks had already exhausted most of her strength, and she had multiple cuts on her body, let alone the task of retrieving the flower.

When it rains, it pours!

The Bloodvine, which had been dancing in the air, shot out poisonous thorns. Qin Qianqian could barely hold on, and her pale face showed she couldn’t last much longer. Gu Shiyan, pierced by the poisonous thorns, was in an even worse state.

She felt dizzy and nauseous, and cold sweat streamed down her body. She struggled to circulate her spiritual energy but was horrified to find that it was disappearing. She looked over and saw that Qin Qianqian’s spiritual energy shield was also fading. It seemed she was also poisoned!

The two were now at a disadvantage. The vines quickly wrapped around their ankles, pulling them toward the stagnant water. Falling into that water would dissolve even their divine senses!

Without spiritual power, Gu Shiyan’s quick reflexes allowed her to stab her short Floating Light Sword into the ground, barely holding on. Qin Qianqian quickly took a revitalization pill from her storage bag, used her spiritual power to cut the vines, and leaped into the air!

“Useless!” With that, Qin Qianqian launched a signal flare into the sky and fled without a second glance.

The vines on Gu Shiyan’s leg pulled hard, lifting her up and about to drop her into the stagnant water. She stared at the Bloodvine Flower, so close she could touch it, and a method of self-preservation instantly came to her.

The Bloodvine Flower wasn’t affected by the stagnant water and was an antidote to all poisons. If she ate it, would she be able to avoid the water’s corrosive effects and then find a chance to escape?

It was a gamble! Gritting her teeth, Gu Shiyan reached out and plucked the Bloodvine Flower. The severed stem of the flower gushed with a bloody liquid!

Things never go as planned. The moment the Bloodvine Flower was plucked, a fierce beast that had been lying in wait at the bottom of the water instantly erupted. It burst from the water, leaped into the air, and opened its massive, gaping maw, waiting for its prey to fall.

“A third-stage demon beast!!”

A third-stage demon beast was equivalent to a Golden Core cultivator. Even if she avoided the stagnant water, there was no escaping this marsh alligator. For a moment, Gu Shiyan closed her eyes, lamenting her tragic fate. Perhaps she was truly fated to die.

But this life was perhaps a little too miserable. At least in her last life, she still had a complete corpse!

As Gu Shiyan fell into the marsh alligator’s gaping maw, she could even smell the foul stench of rotting corpses from its stomach. But the imagined pain never came. Instead, she felt a warm touch and a soothing scent of sunk-wood surrounding her.

“Roar!”

A sharp sword intent directly pierced the marsh alligator’s skull. The beast roared in pain, its six-meter-long body twisting violently as it thrashed its tail.

Gu Shiyan opened her eyes in a daze and saw herself being held in Shen Shu’s arms. The light veil fluttered, and she could clearly see the other woman’s beautiful face and slender neck. So close she could feel her steady heartbeat… and the soft, firm texture of her chest.

Wait.

She was in Shen Shu’s arms!!!

Gu Shiyan was instantly wide awake. This felt worse than falling into the alligator’s mouth. She struggled to get up.

In mid-air, Shen Shu dodged the alligator’s tail attack while holding Gu Shiyan. Feeling the person in her arms’ restlessness, she spoke in a cold voice, “Don’t move.”

Gu Shiyan also saw the enraged marsh alligator below, along with the attacks from the vines and poisonous thorns. Survival was the most important thing right now!

She became as obedient as a small rabbit, wrapping her hands around Shen Shu’s neck and resting her chin in the hollow of her collarbone, huddling quietly.

In over two hundred years, Shen Shu had never been so close to anyone. Holding the other person was originally just to protect the Bloodvine Flower. She didn’t expect the timid little person in her arms to be so intimate. The careful, warm breath lingered on her neck, and every time the alligator attacked, the person in her arms would cling even tighter.

To an outsider, the two looked as if Shen Shu was protecting Gu Shiyan, and Gu Shiyan was whispering intimately in her ear. The relationship between them appeared extremely close and ambiguous.

Completely unaware of how she appeared, Gu Shiyan watched as Shen Shu dealt with the dual attacks with an air of nonchalance. She lamented her own weakness. If only she were a little stronger, she wouldn’t have to be constantly running for her life on this continent. When the marsh alligator lunged at them again, Gu Shiyan subconsciously buried her face in Shen Shu’s neck.

Suddenly, a soft touch flashed across her chin. Although fleeting, Shen Shu’s sharp senses caught it.

It was Gu Shiyan’s lips.

She tilted her head slightly, looking down at the small face in her arms, revealing only a pair of pink lips pressed together in tension. The hurried breaths on her neck grew more intense! Since she began cultivating, countless men and women had sought her favor and pursued her, but in her eyes, these things were just fleeting clouds on her path to the great Dao. She never cared about them and they never caused any ripples in her heart.

This strange feeling was unpleasant for Shen Shu. She just wanted to throw this hot potato in her arms as soon as possible.

Thinking this, Shen Shu directed the sword to weave through the vines, no longer considering the feelings of the little person in her arms. She released her full power and unilaterally slaughtered the creatures. After dealing with one wave, she flew to a withered tree and set Gu Shiyan down.

“Lu Ran and the others will arrive soon. The marsh alligator’s target is you. Hide here and don’t move.” Shen Shu left these words and went to face the alligator. She summoned the sword, and sword light erupted. The flashes of light were so fast that Gu Shiyan could only see white afterimages.

The alligator’s scales were incredibly tough, and it was nearly impossible to pierce them unless one had the sword intent of a powerful cultivator. It would be extremely difficult to injure it.

The alligator had been guarding this Bloodvine Flower for a long time. Seeing the flower plucked and being obstructed, it was furious and charged at Gu Shiyan. But each time, it was stopped by Shen Shu. The alligator lunged into the stagnant water and used its tail to splash it at Shen Shu.

“True Monarch, be careful! That stagnant water will consume spiritual energy just like the poison thorns!”

After saying this, Gu Shiyan’s heart leaped. Her spiritual energy had disappeared, so how had it returned so quickly? Could it be?

She looked down at the Bloodvine Flower in her hand. A closer look was shocking. The flower had somehow rooted itself in the wound on her palm. At this moment, she was using her own flesh, blood, and spiritual energy to protect the Bloodvine Flower from withering.

What should she do?

The others, seeing the signal flare, also began to arrive. Lu Ran and Zhao Feixue joined the battle against the alligator, while Liu Shuang and the other disciples held back the vine attacks.

“Senior Uncle Lu Ran, Senior Sister Feixue and I will hold it in place. You find an opening to throw an explosive talisman into its mouth! We’ll break it from the inside!”

“Alright!”

Zhao Feixue, who had a single spiritual root of lightning, was a sword cultivator just like Shen Shu, who had a single ice spiritual root. Shen Shu used her spiritual power to freeze the alligator’s four claws.

“Lightning!” Zhao Feixue scattered a handful of medium-grade immortal artifact Lightning Pearls around the alligator. “Everyone, scatter!”

“Floating Light! Hold!” The Floating Light Sword manifested its sword intent and pierced directly into the alligator’s tail. The three of them flew away. When the Lightning Pearls exploded, fire and light scattered everywhere. The vines all retreated into the stagnant water, and the immobilized alligator let out a painful roar toward the sky!

Seeing the opportunity was ripe, Lu Ran approached and threw a top-grade talisman into the alligator’s mouth. Just as he was about to leave, the alligator bit down on his sleeve and began a death roll on the ground.

“Watch out!”

Everyone exclaimed, but Shen Shu watched calmly. Moments later, a massive explosion rang out.

“Rumble!” The alligator fell to the ground with a thud. In the flying dust, Lu Ran stood there, fanning himself with his feather fan. The other disciples were all amazed and ran over to see the colossal fallen beast.

“Liu Shuang, we must take the Bloodvine Flower to the White Tiger Pagoda to repair the seal. You take the disciples and deal with the alligator’s corpse and the aftermath, then return to the sect as soon as possible.”

The White Tiger Pagoda to repair the seal! Wasn’t that one of the four pagodas that suppressed demon energy? Could the demon energy be stirring again? No wonder there was a demon cultivator in the ancient secret realm in her past life.

Qin Qianqian took the opportunity to rush over to the withered tree, her voice filled with urgency. “Where’s the Bloodvine Flower!”

Gu Shiyan held out her palm. “Senior Sister, do you have a safe way to take it?”

“How can this be?” Qin Qianqian’s hand, which was holding the jade box, froze. She never imagined that the flower could be safe without the box. In that case, what good was she?

She had specially had the jade box forged at the Artifact Forging Division to preserve the Bloodvine Flower without it withering. She had dripped her blood to bind it and had nourished it with spiritual energy day and night. No one but her could open the box. She had hoped to use this to travel with True Monarch Hehua, to impress her. But now, everything was ruined by this outer sect disciple!

Thinking of how she had been hiding in the shadows and saw Gu Shiyan being held in the True Monarch’s arms, a deep jealousy surged within her. Although she was certain that the True Monarch was only protecting the flower and would never fancy this useless person, she was furious that no one had ever been so close to True Monarch Hehua. That should have been her!

With that thought, Qin Qianqian looked at Shen Shu, who was standing not far away, and forcefully grabbed Gu Shiyan’s hand, planning to just rip the flower off. What happened to Gu Shiyan was none of her business!

Of course, Gu Shiyan would have been happy if she had taken it. Although she didn’t know much about the flower in her palm, forcefully removing it would probably only damage her spiritual roots, which was a small price compared to going to the White Tiger Pagoda. She didn’t want to go to such a dangerous place. Surviving the Western Marshes was already the limit of her luck.

However… if the Bloodvine Flower was forcefully removed, its effect for sealing the demon energy would be greatly reduced, which was not what Shen Shu and the others wanted.

Just as Qin Qianqian’s right hand was about to yank the flower off, a sword was pointed at her throat, and an icy chill instantly swept through both of their bones.

“What are you doing?” Shen Shu appeared beside Gu Shiyan, her gaze on Qin Qianqian slightly cold.