I Snatched the Male Lead’s "Cool Novel" Script - Chapter 6

“Oof!”

The little meatball seemed to have trouble controlling its Spirit Power, tumbling straight down from midair and landing on the ground with a dull thud.

“Are you okay?” Yan Yu was about to get up to check when she saw the little meatball already waddling toward her.

A round, chubby body, distinct black-and-white fur, and two signature black eye circles…

Yan Yu narrowed her eyes. This thing looked so familiar. Aside from being a bit small, it looked exactly like the national treasure—the panda.

In the book, the original owner had never awakened her Animal Spirit before her death, so there was no description of what her Animal Spirit looked like. Yan Yu was also completely clueless about the little round ball before her.

The Animal Spirit raised its plump little paw and pressed it against Yan Yu’s leg, burrowing into her arms. Its furry head nuzzled against her, then it looked up, blinking its bright, watery eyes at her. Its mouth opened and closed as another string of soft, baby-like sounds spilled out.

“Panpanpan! Paaaa!”

Can it not speak?

In theory, after awakening, an Animal Spirit possesses spiritual awareness. They can understand human speech and speak themselves. Even with the weakest spiritual awareness, they can evolve to the intelligence level of a ten-year-old child. But this one in front of her seemed unable to speak yet.

The little thing in her arms kept chirping persistently. Worried it might wake Lu Jia, Yan Yu made a shushing gesture.

“What’s wrong?”

The Animal Spirit seemed to understand her words, somewhat annoyed as it covered its mouth with its front paws. Then it stood upright, retracted its sharp claws, and gently tapped Yan Yu’s forehead with its soft, springy paw pads.

“Panpan…” Sing.

Strangely, although the little meatball still only made the sound “pan,” Yan Yu understood its words this time.

“You want me to sing?”

“Pan!” The meatball nodded.

Yan Yu smiled, wrapping it in her arms and patting its back like soothing a child as she continued humming the lullaby from earlier.

As she sang, she herself began to feel drowsy, gently closing her eyes.

Not long after the singing stopped, Lu Jia’s breathing grew rapid, and its body temperature rose quickly. The painkiller’s effects must have worn off, and it was starting to feel uncomfortable. It curled up, struggling, but the pain in its ribs and lungs made it unable to move.

“Panpan?” The little meatball in Yan Yu’s arms poked its head out, looking at Lu Jia curiously. It tilted its head, mimicking Yan Yu’s earlier gesture, and made a shushing motion toward Lu Jia.

Lu Jia couldn’t hold back, struggling even more fiercely.

The little meatball, puffed up with anger, wriggled out of Yan Yu’s arms. It pressed its two paws together, kneading out a pale blue light sphere that grew larger and larger. With a whoosh, it enveloped Lu Jia.

If Yan Yu had her eyes open, she would have noticed that this light sphere looked very similar to the protective barrier that had shielded her from Yin Beiqing’s attack back in the warehouse.

The light sphere encircled Lu Jia, spinning rapidly. A steady stream of Spirit Power flowed into it, and in the blink of an eye, the freshly stitched wound on Lu Jia’s abdomen healed. Its skin became smooth and renewed, without even a scar left behind.

“Hmph.” The little meatball even crossed its arms, tapping Lu Jia’s head with its paw, looking as if it were lecturing it. “Pan!”

Now you can sleep quietly, right?

…

Yan Yu was a light sleeper and particular about beds, so she would easily wake if Lu Jia made any noise at night. Yet last night, she slept unusually well. Despite having no extra blanket to cover herself, she felt warm and cozy throughout her slumber.

Sitting up, she was surprised to find the pain in her abdomen had vanished. Hastily lifting her clothes to check, she discovered that the large bruise that had been there was completely healed overnight.

Recalling the Animal Spirit that awakened last night, an improbable guess surfaced in Yan Yu’s mind. She stood up, walked to the mirror, and pulled up her clothes to examine her back. Not only was the abdominal injury healed, but her entire body bore no trace of even a scratch the size of a fingernail.

Could it be that this Animal Spirit possessed some healing-like ability?

In the original book, such abilities were uniformly referred to as Spiritual Techniques, but Animal Art Masters and Animal Spirits with Spiritual Techniques were exceedingly rare.

To illustrate just how scarce such individuals were, consider this example: at the world’s largest Animal Art Master academy, the Yu Ling Academy, the Spiritual Techniques department had seen zero enrolled students for ten consecutive years. The school had even revised its admission rules in response, yet to no avail. Instead, it conveniently allowed the instructor, Lin Hegui, to enjoy a paid vacation abroad year-round.

But the problem was, according to Animal Spirit rankings, unique abilities only awakened upon evolution to the Jia rank. Yan Yu’s little one could barely speak coherently and was likely a fledgling barely at the Bing rank.

Unless…

Yan Yu recalled the hand gestures and incantations for Spiritual Techniques from the book. She hooked her ring, middle, and little fingers of both hands together, while extending her index fingers and thumbs, pressing them together to form a pagoda shape.

“KA SHA DI KA.”

This world had over a thousand languages, and the common tongue used across nations closely resembled Chinese in pronunciation, which was why Yan Yu had no trouble communicating with the maids earlier.

Among these languages, the oldest originated from the Polai tribe. The earliest recorded Spiritual Technique incantations derived from this tribe’s language, which was what Yan Yu was now reciting.

This incantation served to detect and mobilize the Spirit Power within one’s body, commonly used by Animal Art Masters for healing. But Yan Yu simply wanted to see how much Spirit Power she actually possessed.

The heart was the source of Spirit Power. Yan Yu probed inward with her consciousness and found, to her surprise, an unexpectedly profound reservoir of power. Yet the aura of this energy felt entirely unfamiliar, slightly repelling the original Spirit Power of her body.

The master’s Spirit Power could also influence the Animal Spirit’s rank. Yesterday, that Animal Spirit Pearl had inexplicably entered Yan Yu’s body, infusing her with a surge of Spirit Power. The little meatball might have been stimulated by this, causing its rank to advance by leaps and bounds.

With her eyes closed, Yan Yu continued to delve deeper. She felt as though her soul were squeezing through a narrow, winding path—dark all around, yet guided by a beam of light ahead.

As she walked on, her vision suddenly broadened, and a certain sensation compelled her to open her eyes.

Whether it was an illusion or something else, the originally cramped room before her had transformed into a vast, boundless plain. She could even catch the fresh scent of soil in the air.

Yan Yu loved weather after rain—slightly damp, yet with beautifully colored skies, where gentle breezes and the just-emerging sun combined to create a temperature she found perfectly comfortable. And everything here was exactly as she had imagined.

Her eyes caught sight of a familiar building in the distance, and as she stepped forward with the intention of walking toward it, her figure flashed, and she found herself standing before the door in an instant.

“Teleportation?”

Yan Yu glanced back at her starting point, which was at least a kilometer away from this house. Setting aside her clumsy Spiritual Technique for now, she hadn’t even chanted a spell just now—it couldn’t have been achieved through Spiritual Technique.

That left only one possibility—this was her Soul Domain.

Only within one’s own Soul Domain could one move freely without using any Spiritual Technique, or even manipulate objects from a distance.

A Soul Domain was akin to a portable space. Apart from being invisible to outsiders, it was no different from the real world. Moreover, the Soul Domain was rich in spiritual energy, and outsiders could not enter or leave without permission, making it an ideal place for seclusion and recuperation. Even the plants, flowers, and trees grown in its soil possessed higher medicinal and nutritional value.

It was worth mentioning that within the Soul Domain’s barrier, the consciousness of its owner reigned supreme. Yan Yu held absolute authority; if she wished, she could crush any intruder like an ant with a mere thought.

Some skilled in illusion techniques would lure enemies into their Soul Domain to capture or kill them. This method was nearly impossible to counter, but few possessed such ability, as a Soul Domain could only be awakened by a top-tier Animal Art Master—and even then, not every top-tier Animal Art Master could cultivate one.

In the original story, the first description of a Soul Domain appeared when the male protagonist, Guo Lu, was granted a golden opportunity.

Guo Lu stole Yin Beiqing’s Animal Spirit Pearl, then apprenticed himself to the divine healer Xun Hegui to learn breathing techniques. After painstakingly integrating the Animal Spirit Pearl into his body and enduring forty-nine days of scorching agony, he barely managed to awaken his Soul Domain while clinging to half a life. Yet, this advantage was unwittingly snatched away by Yan Yu.

The key was, she didn’t even know why the Animal Spirit Pearl had suddenly decided to burrow into her forehead. This unexpected gain left her trembling with fear.

“Creak—”

Just as Yan Yu was lost in her thoughts, the door swung open without warning. An invisible force pulled her inside, and she hurriedly took a few quick steps to keep up. A few more coughs escaped her throat, and the blood at the corner of her lips stained another handkerchief red.

Yan Yu sighed and tucked the handkerchief away, feeling helpless about the fragile constitution of her original body. She raised her left hand, intending to steady herself by holding onto something, but as she pressed down, her palm met a soft, springy texture. She quickly looked around to observe her surroundings.

This was no ordinary house—there were no walls, no ceiling, and even the ground beneath her feet was transparent and smooth, resembling the texture of slime. It felt as though she had been tossed into a water balloon, swaying unsteadily like duckweed on a lake. Dizziness washed over her, and the coughing started again, as if once begun, it couldn’t be stopped.

“Plop—”

At that moment, a small, transparent water sphere separated from the area closest to Yan Yu’s head, drifting and wobbling through the air before suddenly merging into the lotus-shaped Animal Spirit mark on her forehead.

Yan Yu felt as though a clear, refreshing stream of water had been poured into her body, soothing and invigorating. It washed away the dryness, soreness, and pain in her throat, and even the dull ache in her chest eased considerably.

The water sphere circled inside her body before popping out of her forehead with a soft plop. What had been a transparent orb was now tinged with red. It floated back into the wall, and at the same time, the entire room trembled violently, as if experiencing a severe rejection reaction.

Yan Yu was about to fall when two transparent arms extended from the wall behind her, supporting her waist and gently patting her back as if to reassure her.

After what felt like an eternity, the tremors finally subsided. Another transparent sphere floated toward her, and Yan Yu instinctively cupped her hands beneath it, fearing it might drop.

“Chirp, chirp, chirp…”

The transparent sphere wriggled slightly, emitting a sound akin to laughter. It affectionately nuzzled against Yan Yu’s palm before beginning to expand like an inflating balloon. Once it reached its limit, it burst with a loud pop.

After the water sphere exploded, what remained in Yan Yu’s palm was a book nearly three fingers thick. Its pages rustled as they flipped open to the middle on their own.

Yan Yu lifted it to examine it. The book appeared to be a medicinal compendium of sorts, and on the opened page, a particular passage stood out with text in a different color, as if deliberately drawing her attention.

For those with impure Spirit Power, symptoms include scattered energy, physical weakness, coughing blood, chills, and fatigue. The primary remedy is the root of the Soul-Gathering Herb, supplemented with Lotus Pearl petals brewed into a decoction. Take three times daily for two days to see results.

Yan Yu’s mother was an experienced traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, and growing up surrounded by it, she had picked up some basics.

Although Soul-Gathering Herb and Lotus Pearl Flower didn’t exist in her world, the preface explained that the medical principles here largely aligned with traditional Chinese medicine—such as the balance of yin and yang and the theory of the five elements—making it relatively easy for her to grasp.

As she flipped through a few pages, encountering unfamiliar terms in the Pore language, the water sphere seemed to read her mind, eagerly offering a dictionary and flipping to the relevant entries.

The book contained not only prescriptions but also numerous alchemy techniques. Yan Yu became so engrossed that she lost track of time.

Absorbed in the medicinal compendium, she completely forgot what day it was—until Yin Beiqing appeared uninvited in her room.

That unforgettable cold fragrance instantly snapped Yan Yu back to reality. She quickly closed her Spirit Domain, opened her eyes, and pretended to have just woken up.

Yin Beiqing, unusually dressed in white today, managed to make the color appear both bewitching and coldly elegant. She stood at the doorway with a frosty expression, her brows tightly furrowed as if deeply disdainful of the shabby room.

“Do all priestesses keep such peculiar hours?” No matter what Yin Beiqing said, her words carried a light, mocking tone.

Yan Yu glanced outside and realized it was already dark. A massive blood-red moon hung low in the sky, uncomfortably close to the ground, casting an oppressive feeling.

Lu Jia, beside her, seemed to have been waiting for a while. Seeing her finally awake, it scrambled up with its claws, trying to climb onto her.

“Just fine.”

Yan Yu showed little reaction to Yin Beiqing’s remark. She lifted Lu Jia and examined it carefully. Its wounds had healed remarkably, leaving no trace behind. Relieved to see it unharmed, she felt at ease.

“Are its injuries healed?” Driven by curiosity, Yin Beiqing stepped over the threshold and entered.

Just yesterday, Ruan Yuemin had declared this beast companion beyond saving, yet today it was lively, walking and climbing around. Could it be that this sickly girl possessed some extraordinary ability, snatching a beast’s life back from the underworld in just one night?

“Yes.” Yan Yu smiled and patted Lu Jia’s head. “Does it still hurt?”

The little pangolin wagged its tail and grinned at her, a sign Yan Yu knew only appeared when it was happy.

Soon, a large hand reached over, shattering the harmonious scene between master and pet. Yin Beiqing frowned, holding Lu Jia upside down by its tail with her right hand, her gaze sweeping over it from head to toe with a hint of disdain.

It really was healed—even the wound on its belly was nowhere to be seen.

Intelligent beast companions, like Animal Spirits, could speak. Soon, Yan Yu heard Lu Jia’s frightened cry, “Master, master, save me!”

“Put it down.” Yan Yu reached out, but Yin Beiqing avoided her hand.

“First, tell me how you did it.” Yin Beiqing’s silver eyes fixed on her face. “Do you know Spiritual Techniques?”

If that were the case, how could the Spiritual Arts Academy, known for cherishing talent, have rejected Yan Yu’s admission application three years in a row?

The title of “pretty but useless” had spread so widely that even their Langdie Valley knew of it.

How she did it—Yan Yu herself wasn’t entirely sure. She suspected it might have something to do with that chubby little red panda.

“You said it yourself—I’m the Goddess.” Yan Yu took advantage of her distraction to snatch Lu Jia back. “Heaven’s secrets cannot be revealed.”

“Hah.” Yin Beiqing scoffed. Before Yan Yu could understand what she meant, her waist was encircled, and the world spun around her as a wave of cold fragrance enveloped her.

A familiar pain and jolting sensation spread from her abdomen. With a look of utter resignation, Yan Yu was hoisted over Yin Beiqing’s shoulder and carried toward an unknown destination.

She felt it was necessary to find a time to talk to Yin Beiqing. She had legs and could walk on her own—next time, could she please not carry her around like a sack of potatoes whenever the mood struck? She was genuinely afraid she might one day cough up blood all over her.

“Can you put me down?” Yan Yu attempted to negotiate.

Yin Beiqing didn’t respond. Her expression was grim, and the closer she was to Yan Yu, the stronger her connection with the Emperor Moth became, stirring her Spirit Power into turmoil.

She moved swiftly, leaping directly from the rooftops and flying toward the back of the mountain. Passing through a dark forest, the Cobalt-Rhodium Spring hidden deep within the woods finally came into view.

Yan Yu’s sharp eyes caught sight of plump red berries nestled in the grass beside the spring—precisely the Lotus Pearl Flowers mentioned in the medicinal texts earlier.

Before she could get a closer look, the next moment, she was unceremoniously tossed into the water, clothes and all.

“Splash—” Yan Yu flailed in the water, finally finding her balance and surfacing. Her long hair, soaked and clinging to her cheeks and neck, made her look somewhat disheveled.

Gui Mian had been summoned by Yin Beiqing at some point, its serpentine body coiled around a nearby stone pillar, its head raised high as its emerald eyes fixed on Yan Yu, hissing and flicking its tongue.

It seemed to be performing some kind of Spiritual Technique, because Yan Yu felt the temperature of the spring rapidly dropping, and soon a needle-like stinging sensation spread across her skin.

She remembered what Yin Beiqing was about to do. Today was the seventh day—the Emperor Moth was about to shed its skin. Every time this happened, Yin Beiqing endured excruciating burning pain. To alleviate it, she would immerse herself in the icy Cobalt-Rhodium Spring throughout the entire incubation process.

By the spring’s edge, Yin Beiqing had already unhesitatingly shed her clothes, her graceful figure sinking into the water as she slowly made her way toward Yan Yu.

She looked to be in a terrible state, her lips pale and bloodless, yet her gaze and expression brimmed with aggression. Yan Yu wanted to retreat and avoid her, but her hands and feet were frozen numb, devoid of any sensation. Instead, it was this terrifying woman who held the warmth she desperately craved.

A red beast mark of unknown origin, along with rapidly growing vines, swiftly expanded across Yin Beiqing’s skin, stretching from her waist and abdomen upward, past her slender neck, and climbing onto her cheeks.

Yan Yu couldn’t see the face behind the mask, but she could see Yin Beiqing’s eyes—like hollow glass balls filled with red pigment, a deep crimson throughout.

The way she stared at Yan Yu was akin to a werewolf driven wild by the full moon, brimming with animalistic ferocity, ready at any moment to bare its fangs and pounce on its prey.

Yan Yu suddenly realized that she was that defenseless prey.

Author’s Note:

Yes, yes, it’s you.