I Snatched the Male Lead’s "Cool Novel" Script - Chapter 26

“Big Sisters, did you come here this time to carry out a mission?” The You tribe girl stared at Teng Jingjie and Xueji with sparkling eyes. “I heard from my mother that our country has specially organized Beast Arts Master units that hunt evil spirits. That’s you, right?”

Xueji shrank to the side, holding the Beast Soul in her arms and gently stroking it, looking not very interested in the girl. Teng Jingjie did not like talking to people to begin with, and lazily leaned to the side, pretending not to hear.

“Right, I remember now! It’s the Red Pavilion! You’re all great heroes from the Red Pavilion!”

“The Red Pavilion.” Hearing this, Teng Jingjie sneered. “A place where the bounty can’t even feed a chicken and the work hours are longer than a dog’s? Who would go there?”

“Oh~ I know now. If it’s not the Red Pavilion, then you must be a privately organized spirit-hunting team. It’s fine, it’s all the same. In my heart, you’re still great heroes.”

Teng Jingjie let out a long breath, somewhat regretting why she had run her mouth and replied to her just now.

“You just saved me, so I’ll work hard to pay you, but can you also save my mother?” As the girl spoke, she lowered her head. “Ever since she retired from the army because of her injury, her health has gotten worse day by day. At first, she just couldn’t eat. Now she’s so sick she can’t even get out of bed.”

“We found the goddess in the tribe to treat her, but her body still hasn’t gotten better.”

Teng Jingjie frowned and thought, Where did all these goddesses come from?

As the girl spoke, she began to cry. “My father was helpless, so he could only follow the tribe every day to pray at the Sacred Spirit Monument under the suspension bridge. But ever since he started praying, his whole person changed. He doesn’t cry, doesn’t smile, doesn’t respond to people, and he doesn’t even go serve my mother by her sickbed anymore.”

Teng Jingjie picked at her ear and crossed her other leg on the table. “Little girl, stop crying. You said it yourself, your mother is sick. We’re Beast Arts Masters, not Healing Masters. Killing people is fine, but we really can’t do the work of saving them.”

“No! No!” the girl said loudly. “I discovered that all the tribe members who went to pray at the Sacred Spirit Monument started showing the same condition as my father. But the more they become like this, the more often they go. Erniu from our neighbor’s house—he directly died of illness!”

“The strangest thing is, those people’s corpses have skin as pale and hard as plaster. And originally, according to custom, dead tribe members are supposed to be cremated and sent off, but their families all insisted on refusing cremation.”

“I heard evil spirits are most afraid of fire. Is that Sacred Spirit Monument cursed? Did it turn them all into evil spirits? Is that why their families don’t want to cremate them?”

Teng Jingjie was unmoved by her little story. “Little Sister, you should read fewer horror novels and stop overthinking. Go home and sleep properly. Your mother is still waiting for you to take care of her.”

“No, no.” The girl tugged at her arm. “I know Beast Arts Masters are all kind and powerful existences. Big Sister, just come with me and take a look. I swear, no matter what you want—gold? Medicinal herbs? I’m willing to pay you double the bounty!”

Usually, commissioning a spirit-hunting team had to go through an organization, but she had no time to follow the procedure now. She could only make a private commission.

Hearing this, Teng Jingjie grinned at her. Her right arm instantly transformed into an enormous curved blade, which she waved threateningly at the girl. “What about me makes you think I look like a good person who enjoys helping others? If there are evil spirits, then there are evil spirits. Even if your whole tribe dies, I won’t feel uneasy about it.”

The girl was startled by the blade that suddenly sprang out and dodged away. “But just now, you…”

“I wasn’t the one who saved you just now.”

“So you’re going to kill me?”

Teng Jingjie: “…”

Why was it that when she only wanted this little brat to shut up, she would be misunderstood as wanting to kill someone? But this was fine too. If she could scare her into trembling and not daring to speak, that would count as achieving her goal.

“No!” The girl seemed to go through an internal struggle before stubbornly staring at her. “You won’t kill me! Bad people wouldn’t waste so many words with me. If they wanted to kill, they’d just do it directly.”

So you do know you talk a lot. Teng Jingjie closed her eyes with a headache.

What exactly had she done wrong to be misunderstood as a good person?

She had never been this speechless!

…

The carriage had only traveled for a short while before noisy human voices came closer from afar.

Yin Beiqing, who had been lying comfortably on Yan Yu’s lap, sat up with a frown and clicked her tongue impatiently.

She tidied the clothes that had been wrinkled from lying down, then raised her head and saw that Yan Yu had already fallen asleep from exhaustion. Her head leaned to the side, her hand still holding a handkerchief used for stopping blood. Even the torn cloth she had used to block miasma on her face had not been removed.

Yin Beiqing raised her hand, wanting to take it off for her. But the knot was tied behind her head, so she could only lift Yan Yu’s head with one hand first, then reach the other hand over.

However, Yan Yu seemed very sensitive. The moment Yin Beiqing’s fingers touched her hair, she immediately opened her eyes, her gaze looking somewhat guarded.

Yin Beiqing did not retreat. Instead, she continued moving her fingers, taking off the cloth Yan Yu had used as a temporary mask. When she withdrew her hand, her fingers brushed past the tip of Yan Yu’s ear, leaving behind a touch of warmth.

Yan Yu rubbed the ear that had been brushed, not used to it, and said, “Your arm was only just stitched back on. Don’t move around.”

“You mean moving around like this?” Yin Beiqing grabbed the Demon-Slaying Blade she had casually thrown in the carriage earlier and waved it a few times.

Yan Yu hurriedly grabbed her arm to make her stop. “You—” How old are you!

“Me?”

“You should rest first.”

“Rest for what? It’s noisy outside.”

“I’ll take a look.” Yan Yu poked her head out from the window and looked into the distance. To her surprise, she discovered a group of people riding horses toward them.

Judging by their clothing, they should still be You tribespeople.

“Zhaozhao!”

“Aunt!” The girl, vaguely hearing someone call her name, stuck her head out and waved hard toward the front. “I’m here, I’m here!”

The two groups quickly converged. The woman at the front swiftly flipped down from her horse and rushed anxiously to the side of the carriage. “Zhaozhao, are you all right?”

Li Zhao’s mother was bedridden, and her father happened to have gone out at night to worship at the Sacred Spirit Monument. By the time the neighbors discovered she was not at home, a long time had already passed.

The tribespeople had searched anxiously everywhere and found nothing. In the end, they had been drawn over by that earth-shaking soul power disturbance.

Just now, along the way, they had smelled an extremely strong miasma and even found a cloth shoe. They had originally thought Li Zhao had surely been killed. They had not expected her to be safe and sound, so the woman was truly overwhelmed with joy.

“You must be the one who saved our Zhaozhao.” She turned her gaze toward Teng Jingjie, who was sitting to the side, not minding her strange attire at all. She bowed sincerely in thanks. “Thank you! Thank you! Truly, thank you so much!”

“I wasn’t the one who saved her!” Teng Jingjie said, simply unable to bear it anymore.

“Ah… Zhaozhao, what is this?” The woman, who had been yelled at, innocently looked toward Li Zhao.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. This sister just speaks a little loudly. She actually has no ill will.” Li Zhao pulled on her arm. “I went out to gather medicinal herbs for Mother and accidentally ran into an evil spirit. Fortunately, these Beast Arts Master sisters saved me. Aunt, I want to invite them to our house as guests for one night. Can you help me speak to the clan chief?”

The You tribe people were very united, but at the same time, they were also extremely xenophobic. If unfamiliar outsiders barged into their territory, they would most likely be shot dead by the guards at the sentry post.

“Of course.” The female clan chief, who had walked forward a step later, nodded. “You are all esteemed Beast Arts Masters, and you even helped one of our tribe members. That makes you benefactors to our entire tribe. We should treat you warmly. What is one night’s stay?”

“Thank you, Clan Chief Mama!” Li Zhao pounced over and hugged her.

All the underage children in the tribe liked respectfully calling this female clan chief “Mama” in daily life, because she treated all You tribe children as if they were her own and had considerable prestige.

Teng Jingjie gritted her teeth and was just about to refuse when someone suddenly emerged from the carriage beside them. Yin Beiqing lazily leaned against the doorframe. “Thank you. Please be quick. I want to rest.”

“This is?”

“This sister was the main one who saved me! You don’t know, her spiritual arts were amazing! Just swish, swish, and she killed the evil spirit.”

“All right, all right. Then please come with us.”

Zhongpu drove the carriage again, and the group was welcomed into the You tribe settlement.

…

“You Beast Arts Masters must all be tired. Zhaozhao’s house can only clear out one room. It will already be crowded with two or three people sleeping there. How about the rest of you stay at my house?” the clan chief said. “My home has a dedicated guest room.”

The You tribe people were not hospitable, so most homes rarely had guest rooms. As clan chief, her situation was somewhat better.

“All right, thank you.” Yan Yu replied and helped Yin Beiqing down from the carriage.

But as soon as she showed her face, all the You tribe people gathered around them were startled. “Goddess! Why is the goddess here?”

“Ah? What are you talking about?” Li Zhao ran over, and after clearly seeing Yan Yu’s face, she was also startled. “G-Goddess! Sister, why do you look exactly like the goddess?”

Yan Yu’s face had been half-covered earlier, and Li Zhao had only glanced at her hurriedly a few times. She had never expected that the face beneath the mask would actually look so much like the goddess of their tribe.

“Exactly the same” was indeed an exaggeration born from shock. But aside from hair, clothing, and the small differences in eyes and nose, it was almost impossible to distinguish between the two.

“No, she isn’t the goddess. Her eyes aren’t red,” someone pointed out.

“That’s true. I used to think the goddess was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen, but this sister seems to be even more delicate and prettier.”

“Shh! You’re not allowed to discuss the goddess’s appearance like that.”

Yan Yu felt somewhat awkward. She did not know who the “goddess” these people spoke of was.

According to the plotline, Guo Lu’s experiences before arriving at Yaochi Mountain had all been glossed over in one line. It only said that when he climbed halfway up the mountain, he encountered a dream demon that could use illusions. After being trapped for two days, he learned the method to break it and walked out of the illusion. After all, it was only the early stage of the plot. The way he obtained golden fingers and the difficulty of the instance were not high.

As for the You tribe settlement, it was only given a simple background introduction.

“Silence!” the clan chief shouted with full vigor, then took Yan Yu’s hand. “This person is a Beast Arts Master benefactor who just saved Zhaozhao. You all are chattering about someone else’s appearance like this. Do you have even the slightest respect?”

“Sorry…”

Yan Yu tugged at the corner of her mouth. “It’s fine.”

“Come, please stay at my place.” The clan chief took Yan Yu’s hand and had no intention of letting go.

“I…”

“No, Clan Chief Mama.” Li Zhao came over and held Yan Yu’s arm, her face wrinkling. “This is my lifesaving benefactor. I should be the one to properly entertain her.”

After speaking, she turned uncertainly to confirm with Yan Yu. “Right, Sister? You’ll stay with me, won’t you?”

Yan Yu smiled. “All right.”

“Then you?” The clan chief looked at Yin Beiqing again.

Yin Beiqing waved her hand. Too lazy to say even a perfunctory sentence, she lifted her leg and walked into Li Zhao’s house with absolutely no sense that she was an outsider. After reaching the doorway and discovering she did not know the way, she stuck her body out again. “I’m tired. Lead the way.”

The remaining three naturally went to the clan chief’s house.

Li Zhao seemed very happy. Holding one person with each hand, she dragged both of them into her room. She took a new quilt out of a chest and planned to lay it out for them. “This is my room. I’ll let you sleep here tonight. I’ll squeeze in with my mother. Don’t worry, this quilt was just washed and is very clean. It even smells warm from the sun.”

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Yan Yu stepped forward to help. “I’ll do it. You still have to take care of your mother, so don’t busy yourself with us.”

“Mm…” At the mention of her mother, Li Zhao’s happy expression disappeared all at once. “I really didn’t accomplish anything today. I didn’t gather the medicinal herbs, and I even dragged everyone out to look for me.”

“It’s good that you’re safe. You’re already very sensible. Don’t blame yourself too much. Everyone didn’t blame you either, right?”

“Sister, you’re so good.” Li Zhao’s mouth flattened, and tears rolled down in strings again. She stepped forward and hugged Yan Yu’s waist, feeling that the medicinal herb scent on this sister’s body was inexplicably comforting. “Wu wu wu… I miss Mother so much. I want her to recover quickly.”

Yan Yu hesitated, then raised her hand and gently stroked her head, saying softly, “How about this? Tell Sister what medicinal herb you need to gather. Tomorrow during the day, Sister will help you find it, all right?”

“It’s… it’s Amber Grass.” Li Zhao’s shoulders trembled from crying, looking terribly pitiful. Perhaps feeling embarrassed, she buried her head into Yan Yu’s shoulder again and said in a muffled voice, “I heard the goddess say there’s Amber Grass near Blacklight Forest, so I went there. Wu wu wu, Amber Grass has to be picked at night. It can’t be found during the day. What should I do, Sister… wu wu wu…”

Amber Grass had negative phototropism. When exposed to sunlight, its leaves would curl and wither, only stretching out again after the sun set. If one wanted to use it as medicine, then it was indeed more effective to gather Amber Grass blooming at night.

“Don’t cry.” Yan Yu took a handkerchief and gave it to her. “I happen to have some Amber Grass here. If you need it, take it.”

Li Zhao sniffed. “Really?”

Yan Yu nodded, took out a cloth pouch from her lapel, and handed her a few plants. “Take a look. Is this what you need?”

“It really is Amber Grass!” Li Zhao’s eyes instantly lit up. “I’ve never seen Amber Grass this green, with leaves this big! Sister, where did you pick it?”

“It’s good if it can be of use,” Yan Yu said.

“I really don’t know how I can repay you!” Li Zhao was so happy she nearly jumped in place. She held Yan Yu’s face with both hands, stood on tiptoe, and was about to kiss her face in the next second.

At that critical moment, a hand suddenly reached out from behind her and grabbed her by the collar. With an easy pull, Li Zhao’s whole person retreated several steps.

She turned her head in confusion, only to meet Yin Beiqing’s warning-filled gaze.

“It’s very late.” Her voice was somewhat low.

“Right, right, right!” Li Zhao remembered. “You suffered such a serious injury, so you definitely need to rest early. This Amber Grass soup strengthens the body. When I finish brewing it later, I’ll send some over for you too, benefactor.”

“No need.”

“All right. Then I won’t disturb you. Sleep well.” Li Zhao looked at Yan Yu reluctantly. “My bed is a little small, so I’ll have to trouble you two sisters to squeeze together. If it gets cold at night, I’ll borrow another quilt for you.”

After speaking, she held the Amber Grass in her arms like a treasure and left, leaving Yan Yu alone to face Yin Beiqing, whose pressure was extremely low.

This person’s mood changed even faster than the weather. Yan Yu also did not quite understand why this person had seemed normal a few seconds earlier, yet now looked as though she wanted to eat someone.

“The bed is too small. You can sleep alone. I’ll go back to the carriage to sleep.” Yan Yu carefully tucked in the corners of the quilt, afraid that too many wrinkles in the sheet would trigger this person’s dissatisfaction.

“It’s only one night. You should be able to make do, right?” She remembered this person’s mysophobia and feared she would be unable to accept sleeping under someone else’s quilt.

But after she threw out several sentences, the person behind her gave no reaction at all. Yan Yu straightened and turned around in confusion.

Yin Beiqing stood with her arms crossed, frowning, staring at her with an unhappy expression.

“What… is it?”

“Do you touch just anyone’s head?”