I Snatched the Male Lead’s "Cool Novel" Script - Chapter 44

Jiwu was not someone with patience, so there was simply not much time left for Yan Yu to prepare.

She had not even had time to form the hand seal first when, from the corner of her eye, she saw that red figure fly out.

Was she crazy?!

In that instant, she did not have time to think about anything. She hurriedly pushed the spell out from her throat.

A transparent barrier rose in response, but it only existed for a few brief seconds before quickly shattering under Jiwu’s fierce attack.

Jiwu’s sharp nails cut through the air, rapidly closing in on Yin Beiqing’s neck. Just as the light of victory rose in her eyes, she discovered that her limbs had been controlled by someone, leaving her unable to move at all.

Yin Beiqing raised her hand and lowered the finger pressed against Jiwu’s forehead, letting her remain frozen in that stiff posture in midair, struggling in vain.

“Let me go!” Jiwu gritted her teeth and said to Yin Beiqing, but the latter ignored her voice and spoke to Yan Yu instead.

“The hand seal.” Yin Beiqing made a gesture at Yan Yu. “The power of the spell alone isn’t enough. Also, your stability is too poor. Pay attention to the flow and control of your soul power.”

Yan Yu thought, Of course I know that, but did you give me any time to prepare?

However, when it came to soul power control, she suddenly thought of the figure-eight breathing method Lin Hegui had taught her before.

The figure-eight breathing method took energy in from the left and sent it out from the right. It could not only fuse multiple streams of soul power and harmonize them, but also prevent the collisions and impact caused by disorderly soul power. For her, who still could not grasp the key point, it was practically a guiding light.

After thinking of a solution, Yan Yu slowly raised both hands. She used deep breaths to suppress her body’s trembling, crossed and linked her stiff fingers together, aimed in Yin Beiqing’s direction, and began adjusting the rhythm of her breathing.

“Very good.” Yin Beiqing released the immobilization art on Jiwu and flew back a distance, leaving Yan Yu time to prepare. “This time, I won’t act. Don’t make another mistake.”

Since she had already been pushed to this point, Yan Yu could only keep hypnotizing her own mind.

She could do it… she could do it…

But Jiwu was not that stupid. This time, she did not choose to attack from the front. Instead, after swiftly drawing closer like a swimming snake, she leapt up and attacked from above. The spiritual arts light orb built in her palm held dense soul power, possessing enough force to smash a ten-meter-wide pit into the place where Yin Beiqing stood.

A single barrier was not enough at all.

Realizing this, Yan Yu unconsciously broke out in cold sweat. Even her breathing slowed, afraid that any fluctuation would affect the result of her spiritual art.

“SRE FE RI!”

Jiwu’s fist, carrying sparks, was blocked once again. But this time, the barrier was much sturdier than the last. It drew a large half-circle with Yin Beiqing at its center, covering her entire body without a blind spot. Unless Jiwu could burrow into the ground, she really would not be able to hit her.

“Are you two messing with me?!” Jiwu exploded completely.

Yan Yu: I’m a victim too, okay?

However, this time, her good master finally seemed somewhat satisfied. She nodded and raised her hand to call Jiwu back.

Seeing this restless element shrink into Yin Beiqing’s Beast Mark, Yan Yu finally relaxed and withdrew the protective shield.

She hoped that the next time these two committed domestic violence against each other, they would find some place where other people could not see, so she would not have to constantly be on tenterhooks.

This kind of “actual combat” experience took half her life in one go. If she trained like this every day, then before school even started, Yan Yu estimated she would be trained to death by Yin Beiqing.

At this moment, Yan Yu still did not know how surprised Yin Beiqing was by her performance.

Yin Beiqing knew in her heart that her training method was very difficult for normal people to adapt to. After all, she had never had the thought of taking anyone as a disciple before. At first, she had not expected Yan Yu to get fat in one bite. She only planned to scare her a little and test whether she could see something interesting.

But judging from the result, Yan Yu’s potential was far higher than she had estimated.

One had to know that what Yan Yu had blocked just now was an attack from a Special-rank Beast Soul, and it had been under completely unprepared circumstances. Although it had only lasted for a very short period of time, in the eyes of those ignorant people at Yuling Academy, she would already be like a purple star descended from the heavens.

Yan Yu panted heavily. Her complexion, which had not looked very good to begin with, was made even worse by the explosion-like consumption just now. She silently calculated candidates in her heart, wondering if there was a spiritual arts teacher whose strength was on par with Yin Beiqing’s but who was slightly more reliable.

She wanted to become stronger, not seek death.

Just as she had finally organized her words with difficulty and was about to discuss this with Yin Beiqing, she suddenly smelled that familiar cold fragrance rushing toward her.

At some point, Yin Beiqing had already stood in front of her. The distance between them was very close. She made no sound, only lowering her gaze faintly onto Yan Yu’s face.

“Is there something on my face?”

Yin Beiqing did not speak. Instead, she brought over a handkerchief and carefully wiped away the fine sweat on Yan Yu’s forehead.

“You did very well just now.”

Yan Yu blinked extremely slowly. There was a buzzing noise in her ears. She felt she might have had an auditory hallucination.

She had only built a protective shield that shattered at a touch, not personally killed an A-rank Beast Soul. By this person’s standards, shouldn’t she be punished by cleaning toilets for ten days or half a month first?

Why was she praising her, and in such a gentle tone?

As if she had truly done something amazing.

Yan Yu panicked. She panicked too much. In her subconscious, the calmer Yin Beiqing’s tone was, the fiercer the storm that would come afterward.

She had only just picked up half her life and was not yet prepared to face the end of the world.

Yin Beiqing did not know about the messy things in Yan Yu’s head. Seeing that her complexion was poor, she thought she was tired.

“Your explosiveness is very strong, but that is also your most dangerous point.” She curved her index finger and brushed Yan Yu’s lowered eyelashes, signaling for her to look into her eyes, then continued, “Maintain this calm. Even in chaotic situations, you cannot recklessly explode and lose your reason. You know the consequences.”

The consequences of soul power running wild ranged from ruptured meridians at best to falling into demonic corruption at worst.

However… Yan Yu raised her eyes and met Yin Beiqing’s gaze, silently adding in her heart: If you really put it that way, aren’t you the biggest negative example?

Probably guessing her meaning from Yan Yu’s expression, Yin Beiqing quickly said,

“I’m different from you.”

“How are you different?”

“You’re too weak.”

A personal attack?

Yan Yu nodded to indicate that she understood, then gathered herself and planned to go back to her room to rest. She had only taken two steps when she suddenly sensed something was wrong and quickly stepped back.

“Isn’t that handkerchief mine?” She pointed at Yin Beiqing’s hand.

Langdie Valley distributed a fixed number of handkerchiefs each month for use. Afraid she would mix hers up with others’, Yan Yu had specially embroidered a flower on them. The handkerchief currently in Yin Beiqing’s hand had exactly that embroidery.

Thinking back to the entrance ceremony, she had indeed left a handkerchief with Yin Beiqing. But why had Yin Beiqing not thrown away a handkerchief that had already been dirtied? Why was she carrying it with her instead?

Just thinking about it felt strange.

The questioned Yin Beiqing revealed an innocent expression, as if she truly did not know. “Is that so?”

Yan Yu frowned and studied her expression for a few seconds. In the end, she chose to let it go.

It was only a handkerchief. Moreover, it had originally been Langdie Valley’s property. If Yin Beiqing took it, then she took it.

“Up to you.”

She turned her back, naturally missing the corner of Yin Beiqing’s lips lifting in that second.

But that smile was only fleeting, so quick that one might think it was an illusion.

…

After that, Yin Beiqing would make surprise attacks on Yan Yu about once every two days. Her teaching style was still just as unreasonable, but relatively speaking, the results were also quick.

Yan Yu could now skillfully use more than ten spiritual arts. If nothing else, at least she had some ability to protect herself.

However, the consumption caused by these past few days of high-intensity training made her body begin to show signs of illness again. At night, her coughing grew heavier and heavier, and sometimes she coughed so badly she could not sleep the entire night.

Fortunately, the medicinal field outside her door had always been tended by maidservants, and there was a large harvest of Lotus Bead Grass and Soul-Gathering Grass. She brewed medicine and continued taking it three times a day according to the pharmacopoeia’s method, so the symptoms eased somewhat.

Only, this prescription ultimately treated the symptoms but not the root. Its function was to patch up the series of bodily leaks caused by physical weakness and scattered qi. But every time Yan Yu used a large amount of soul power, it caused destructive damage to this progress.

Her body was like an old water bucket, knocked and patched with repairs everywhere.

If Yan Yu only wanted to live like a normal person, this medicine was indeed already enough. But that was not her goal. She wanted to become a useful right and left hand for Yin Beiqing, not a useless weakling who could only stand in place and wait for someone to protect her.

She sighed. Her lowered brows and eyes were full of helplessness toward this sickly body. Then she pinched her nose, poured the bitter medicinal juice into her mouth in one go, and swallowed it down with difficulty.

After finishing the medicine, Yan Yu stood on tiptoe and took down a physical arts illustrated manual from the bookshelf. At the very least, if she trained her physique well, she would not be this frail. Learning a little more would never be a bad thing.

She rubbed her tired eyes and reluctantly opened the first page.

The night before last, she had barely slept, and at noon she had just accompanied Yin Beiqing in training for a while. Her body was actually exhausted long ago, but the start of school was close at hand. Yan Yu did not dare slack off in the slightest.

…

“Are you done or not?” This was the third time Ruan Yuemin had said this today. The impatience in her tone was about to burst. “I’ve demonstrated several times already. What’s so hard about this? Just stab it in and stitch it out. Isn’t that it?”

As she spoke, she quickly finished embroidering the thing in her hand and stuffed it into Yin Beiqing’s hand. “Otherwise, just take this and turn it in.”

Yin Beiqing looked at her coolly. “Do you think yours looks very good?”

“Then find someone else.”

Ruan Yuemin was not originally a careful and considerate person. Her so-called “embroidery” skills were all experience accumulated from sewing people’s severed limbs over the years. But judging by her rough stitching style, this skill still needed much consideration.

For example, the “flower” she confidently told Yin Beiqing to take and submit had blurry edges, colors muddled into clumps, not the slightest petal shape visible, and no beauty to speak of.

But Yin Beiqing had no other choice. After all, Ruan Yuemin was already the person in Langdie Valley most familiar with the craft of embroidery.

“Why would you suddenly lose your mind and learn this?” Ruan Yuemin pressed her temples. “Are blades not fun enough, or are whips not strong enough? If that’s still not enough, you can go play a few rounds of darts with Lin Baizhu.”

The night before last, Yin Beiqing had suddenly knocked on her door and shoved a pile of cloth sewn into strange shapes in front of her, saying only two words.

“Teach me.”

Ruan Yuemin directly classified Yin Beiqing’s boring and abnormal behavior as having a fit.

It must be that the goddess disciple was not hard enough to teach, which was why this person had so much free time to do these useless things.

“I have my uses for it.”

Ruan Yuemin shook her head, feeling at that moment that she was hopeless.

…

Two days later at noon, Yin Beiqing came to find Yan Yu for training at the scheduled time.

She did not see anyone beside the medicinal field where a lounge chair was usually placed. Only two Beast Souls were hanging from the tree outside and playing. The moment they saw her come over, their expressions immediately turned unfriendly.

Yin Beiqing walked over. “Where is your master?”

“She’s sleeping. Go later.” Panpan jumped down from the tree.

Yin Beiqing turned a deaf ear and skillfully leapt in through the window.

The person in the room was indeed sleeping. But probably because she was afraid she would sleep too deeply and wake up at dusk, she had not dared lie on the bed. She had only covered her knees with a blanket and curled up miserably in the lounge chair.

She looked very tired. The bluish-purple under her eyes had grown much heavier, and her fatigue was obvious. She had probably dreamed of something unpleasant, because a lot of sweat had appeared on her forehead, and her eyelashes kept trembling chaotically.

Yin Beiqing’s brows unconsciously furrowed along with her. She raised her hand and opened the incense burner’s lid, then familiarly took out dried Golden Vine Flowers from her clothes and placed them inside, lighting them with spiritual arts.

This scent quickly dispersed the thick medicinal smell in the room. As if soothed, Yan Yu’s tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.

Only then did Yin Beiqing walk to her side. Her hand reached under the blanket, and her fingertips found the sachet pouch at Yan Yu’s waist. She pulled it out and examined it carefully in her palm.

The cloth was poor, and the dye was inferior, but its owner’s craftsmanship was good. The lotus pattern embroidered on the sachet was vivid and lifelike, and the pouch itself was full.

She could not help gently pinching it a few times and noticed that cotton seemed to have been stuffed inside on purpose, which was why it had such a pretty shape.

Yin Beiqing was too focused on the sachet and did not even notice the gaze slowly falling onto the top of her head.

Yan Yu’s sleep quality had been poor these past few days. Just now, she had not intended to sleep either. She had only accidentally closed her eyes for a while while reading. Sensing that someone was touching her things, she very sensitively woke up.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw someone holding her sachet, looking as if she wanted to take it but also did not.

“You…” She hesitantly opened her mouth, her voice still dry and hoarse from having just woken. “If you like it, I can give it to you.”

Only after hearing her voice did Yin Beiqing raise her head. Their eyes met, and the awkwardness in the air almost filled the whole room.

“No need,” she said.

Yan Yu tugged at the corner of her mouth and propped herself up to sit straight. “Then… training?”

Yin Beiqing’s gaze swept over her pale lips and listless face. She lowered her eyes, hiding complex emotions in their depths. “Not that either.”

“Then you are?” Yan Yu could not figure out what she meant either.

According to the once-every-two-days pattern, today was indeed training day. To prepare for the noon assessment, she had even specially practiced alone until midnight the night before last.

“Spiritual arts lessons end here for now. After this, you’ll practice physical arts.” Yin Beiqing stood, patted her sleeves, and said, “Before that, I’ll give you one day off.”

Yuling Academy’s entrance exam had two sections: spiritual arts and physical arts. Both were practical combat. If either score lagged too badly, it would not work. Yan Yu also knew this. She only had not expected Yin Beiqing’s lesson-ending speed to be this fast.

“But my spiritual arts can’t even last two moves against you.” She hesitated.

“Your ambition is quite big.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

“It’s enough.” Yin Beiqing’s tone was casual but entirely believable. As she spoke, her right hand supported itself on the windowsill, leaving Yan Yu with her back and the remaining half of her sentence. “If you could even beat me, would those new students at Yuling still have a life?”

The entrance exam was, of course, new students fighting new students. What Yin Beiqing meant was that she was afraid Yan Yu would kill someone.

“How did I not know I had that kind of ability?” Yan Yu said softly, then covered her mouth and coughed twice.

She hurriedly poured herself a cup of water and swallowed down the taste of blood in her throat. When her gaze touched the tabletop, she blinked in confusion.

“This is…” She reached out and picked up the sachet that had been placed on the table at some unknown time, holding it in her hand to examine it closely.

Forget the fact that the cloth was expensive; there was even a thumb-sized piece of jade hanging at the bottom. Every tassel was made of golden thread twisted finely by hand. The Golden Vine Flower powder inside was clearly very fresh from the scent alone. Every detail was excellent, except…

The embroidery technique was honestly so bad it was somewhat frightening.