Achieving A Happy Ending With The Tragic Female Lead [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 20.1

Unlike the dizzying sensation of entering the illusion, within seconds, Su Mi felt her feet touch solid ground. She did not stop her movements.

Amidst the heavy thud of the stone mirror hitting the ground, the sound of fabric and flesh being pierced rang out.

Having returned to reality along with them, the Mountain Lord’s pupils dilated. She looked down at the sword tip embedded in her body, as if confirming something. Then, she raised her hand and gripped the sharp blade. Stinging blood immediately flowed down her palm and dripped onto the ground.

Su Mi tried to withdraw the sword, but the other woman stopped her.

The Mountain Lord even took a small step forward, causing the blade to sink deeper into her body. She whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear: “Come with me…”

This time, there was a hint of plea in her voice.

Su Mi’s expression froze. She wasn’t sure if it was the identical voice playing tricks on her, but for a moment, she actually felt that the person before her was Wanqi Yue.

The Mountain Lord’s body was covered by black robes, but looking closely, her build was indeed extremely similar to Wanqi Yue’s.

Suspicion rose in Su Mi’s heart, but for the moment, she couldn’t figure out what was going on.

Also emerging from the illusion were Fang Yun and Yue Qianzhou. Unlike the battered Su Mi and Wanqi Yue, these two looked healthy and full of spiritual power.

Yue Qianzhou saw Wanqi Yue and wanted to step forward to show concern, but Fang Yun beat him to it and supported her.

“Small Junior Sister, are you alright?” There was worry in Fang Yun’s eyes.

Wanqi Yue shook her head to indicate she was fine, her eyes fixed on Su Mi. “Eldest Senior Sister is hurt.”

Fang Yun looked toward Su Mi and saw the large bloodstain on her back shoulder.

Suddenly, a plain white silk ribbon appeared from the void and wrapped around the Mountain Lord’s waist, instantly pulling her away from the spot. A figure in plain white then manifested.

The newcomer was none other than the “Physician Immortal,” Bai Zhi.

This was the first time they had seen Bai Zhi’s real appearance. She was even more elegant than her jade statues, like pale pear blossoms in spring. The white silk covering her eyes added a touch of fragility. No one would suspect such a refined and moving woman to be a blood-stained executioner.

As Su Mi’s sword was pulled out, a spray of blood followed. She flicked the blood off the blade and stood in opposition to them.

Bai Zhi scanned the four people before her. Since the Mountain Lord was heavily injured and she was outnumbered four to one, she had no intention of fighting.

“Are you alright?” Bai Zhi asked her.

The Mountain Lord stared intensely at Su Mi, clenching her blood-covered hand. “I won’t die yet.”

At this moment, both Su Mi and Wanqi Yue were at the end of their ropes. Although Fang Yun wanted to capture the Physician Immortal and the Mountain Lord, she was worried about her two companions and did not act rashly.

Yue Qianzhou, however, recognized that the person who attacked him that late night was this Mountain Lord.

“Who exactly are you, and why do you take lives for no reason?” Yue Qianzhou spoke with righteousness, as if he were a noble gentleman seeking to eradicate evil.

The Mountain Lord sneered, her tone slow and clear. “Don’t you find it strange? Why were you drugged so easily by a mere mortal’s medicine back then?” She pointed her blood-drenched finger toward Yue Qianzhou. “Speaking of which, I have this Young Master Yue to thank for his help. I haven’t had the chance to thank him properly yet.”

After speaking, the Mountain Lord was carried away by Bai Zhi, disappearing into a faint pale mist.

Hearing this, varying degrees of shock appeared in the eyes of Su Mi and the others. Wanqi Yue and Fang Yun were shocked by the potential truth or falsehood of those words, while Su Mi was shocked that the Mountain Lord knew the hidden truth of the matter.

Yue Qianzhou had a chance to give chase, but Wanqi Yue was still here, and those parting words were clearly meant to sow discord. If he left now, it would look like an admission of guilt, and it would be difficult to get close to them in the future.

Thus, he suppressed his anger and explained to them: “That demoness is framing me. She tried to kill me before, and now she throws this bizarre ‘thanks’ on me. How truly malicious.”

Su Mi was too tired to listen to his defensive nonsense and showed an impatient expression. She looked at the stone mirror lying on the ground, walked over, and picked it up.

The grey-white stone mirror was covered in countless cracks, its original patterns completely destroyed. It had been reduced to a piece of junk.

Wanqi Yue’s heart and eyes were now entirely focused on her Eldest Senior Sister, she had no energy to pay attention to Yue Qianzhou.

Only Fang Yun spared a glance for Yue Qianzhou, who, seeing this, immediately pleaded earnestly: “Immortal, we were in the illusion together just now, you should know my character well.”

Fang Yun seemed to be recalling something, giving a vague response only after a long pause.

This left Yue Qianzhou with a sense of powerlessness, as if he had punched a bale of cotton yet, he had no choice but to endure it.

“Eldest Senior Sister, how is your injury?” Wanqi Yue looked at the new wound on Su Mi’s chest, and in an instant, her feelings of self-reproach reached their peak.

Su Mi returned the sword to her: “I can hold on. Let’s contact Fifth Junior Sister and the others to leave this place first.”

The place where they were currently standing was clearly not the ship from before, but a relatively open patch of flat ground.

The sky was approaching dusk, with twilight gradually encroaching upon the distant light. Time flowed differently within the illusion than in the outside world, they had no idea how long they had actually been inside.

Su Mi asked Fang Yun to contact Qiao Wuyu and the other disciples. After taking the medicine Qiao Wuyu had given her earlier, she sat cross-legged on the ground to meditate and recuperate. Out here, the medicine finally exerted its proper effect, and the unbearable pain in her wound subsided significantly. However, she could still hear Yue Qianzhou’s voice constantly pestering Wanqi Yue.

Yue Qianzhou first declared to Wanqi Yue that his presence there was due to his concern for his sister, but Wanqi Yue had no heart to sympathize with his worry.

Seeing the conversation dying out, Yue Qianzhou looked at Su Mi not far away and hatched a plan.

“By the way, Miss Wanqi, I have some wound medicine here. I just don’t know if it would be useful for your Senior Sister.” Yue Qianzhou pulled several elixirs from his robes.

Because of his previous pestering, Wanqi Yue didn’t really want to acknowledge him, but her rising temper was suppressed the moment she heard her Eldest Senior Sister mentioned. She glanced at the medicine in his hand, most of them were quite common.

“Thank you for your kindness, but these medicines aren’t of much use to my Senior Sister.”

Despite being rejected, Yue Qianzhou wasn’t upset. Instead, he used this opening to start talking about other random topics.

It was as if he had grasped Wanqi Yue’s weakness: as long as he mentioned her Eldest Senior Sister even slightly, the conversation could continue.

But Su Mi, who had heard everything from a distance, reached the end of her patience. Without even opening her eyes, she coldly called Wanqi Yue over and told her to stay by her side.

Wanqi Yue had previously stayed away for fear of disturbing her Senior Sister’s meditation, now that she could openly stay by her side, she was naturally delighted.

Yue Qianzhou, meanwhile, felt like he had swallowed a bitter pill. For some reason, whenever he faced this Eldest Senior Sister of Qingyang, he felt a trace of trepidation in his heart.

He had gathered countless reports on her while investigating Wanqi Yue, including information on this Eldest Senior Sister whom Wanqi Yue respected so much. However, she didn’t seem to be someone who enjoyed the spotlight, and information about her was scarce.

He hadn’t cared much at the time, only glancing over the reports. Now, it seemed this person might become the greatest obstacle to achieving his goals.

With her ears finally at peace, Su Mi’s mood improved considerably.

Wanqi Yue stayed quietly by her Senior Sister’s side before suddenly whispering: “Eldest Senior Sister.”

“Mm?”

“Do you… not like it when I get too close to that Young Master Yue?” Wanqi Yue’s voice grew even softer, sounding a bit shy. “Then… how about I just ignore him from now on, okay?”

Su Mi: “…Mm.”

The words themselves were fine, but why did they taste different coming out of Wanqi Yue’s mouth?

If she had to say exactly what was off, Su Mi couldn’t pin it down, so she could only respond with silence.

As the sky grew darker, Wanqi Yue watched her Senior Sister’s face, which was half-sunken in shadow. Her long dark lashes cast shadows downward with her high nose and crimson lips, she was impossibly beautiful.

If she could, she felt she could watch her for a lifetime.

It wasn’t long before Fang Yun contacted Qiao Wuyu and the others, learning that a female deacon elder from Mount Qingyang was coming along as well.

It turned out Su Mi had left instructions before departing: if they did not return after a certain time, the sect should be notified. Their absence had lasted a full three days.

During these few days, the disciples had searched every inch of the surrounding area but couldn’t find a single trace of the three of them. They had been on the verge of calling for the Sect Master.

Just as night fell, Qiao Wuyu and the others arrived. Everyone skipped the pleasantries and brought the group back to their lodgings.

Over the past three days, they had found a vacant farmhouse from a villager to use as a temporary resting place.

Upon arrival, Su Mi and her party entered the house, while Yue Qianzhou was politely but firmly blocked and led away by several disciples.

Candlelight filled the room, and only then did Qiao Wuyu see the wound on Su Mi’s body. She knew her Senior Sister was hurt, but she hadn’t realized it was such a large “bloody hole.” She hurried forward to check, finding to her relief that the bleeding had stopped.

Outsiders might not know Su Mi’s strength, but as an inner disciple, Qiao Wuyu knew it well, she could hardly remember ever seeing her Eldest Senior Sister looking so disheveled.

However, after hearing about their ordeal, she felt they were lucky to be back at all. Had it been them, it was uncertain if they would have made it back alive.

Fang Yun also described the illusion she had fallen into a place of green mountains and clear waters teeming with life, where one could even feel their spiritual veins being nourished.

After listening, Qiao Wuyu let out a soft “Ah”: “So, put another way, the spiritual power of Eldest Senior Sister and Small Junior Sister was nourishing you, Second Senior Sister.”

Su Mi remained silent, thinking no wonder Yue Qianzhou had looked slightly injured on the boat but appeared so spirited upon coming out.

She felt a bit annoyed.

After hearing the account, the deacon elder was quite interested in the illusion they described. She borrowed the stone mirror from Su Mi and scrutinized it carefully before letting out a small “Huh?”: “This object seems to be the handiwork of the Lady Zhuoguang.”

“Lady Zhuoguang? She’s already a figure of legend. Elder, how did you recognize it?”

The deacon elder smiled. She loved collecting small spiritual tools and worshipped the top-tier Lady Zhuoguang. By chance, she had acquired a few authentic pieces, though they were just insignificant trifles, she had seen and handled the real thing.

The elder pointed to an inconspicuous spot at the bottom of the mirror. “Lady Zhuoguang’s works always carry a mark: a cluster of Angelica flowers. The spiritual charm within is nearly impossible to imitate, making it the definitive mark of authenticity. Even the stone statues of our ancestors on Immortal-Greeting Cliff at Mount Qingyang bear this mark.”

Hearing the name “Bai Zhi” (Angelica) again, Su Mi and the others felt even more certain. It seemed the disappearance of Lady Zhuoguang was inextricably linked to Bai Zhi and Bai Zhi City.

“Angelica flowers… wait, isn’t the Physician Immortal’s name Bai Zhi?” Qiao Wuyu, who was helping treat Su Mi’s wounds, naturally made the connection. “What exactly is the origin of Lady Zhuoguang?”

The elder replied, “There are many theories about her origin. The most popular is that she was born into a carpenter’s family, was enlightened by a rogue cultivator, and then entered the path of immortality, traveling the world ever since. Those Angelica flowers represent the person most important to her, but no one knows who that person was or what they looked like.”

“We’ll check Bai Zhi City later. The City Lord and the shopkeeper must know a lot that we don’t. Also, have people continue searching for the abducted Miss Xu.”

Though Su Mi said this, she wasn’t sure if Miss Xu was still alive. The Physician Immortal had only said “time is almost up,” but it was unclear if she had to wait for a specific time to take the person’s life.

“I am the one who lost her; it is only right that I find her,” Fang Yun said.

Su Mi glanced at her: “This is everyone’s business, not something you need to carry alone.”

Fang Yun pursed her lips and remained silent.

Qiao Wuyu, who was tending to Su Mi’s wound, glanced toward Fang Yun.

Once Qiao Wuyu finished treating Su Mi and Wanqi Yue and told them to rest, she walked out of the room with Fang Yun and the deacon elder.

After bidding the elder farewell, Qiao Wuyu went to the Second Senior Sister’s side: “Second Senior Sister, don’t take Eldest Senior Sister’s words too much to heart. She just doesn’t want you to take all the responsibility upon yourself.”

Fang Yun raised her eyes and gave her a faint smile. “I know.”

The room felt silent after the others left.

The farmhouse had few rooms, so Su Mi was once again arranged to stay with Wanqi Yue.

Although Qiao Wuyu had treated their wounds, they were only partially healed and still required topical medicine. After some thought, she entrusted this task to Wanqi Yue, since they were in the same room, the two could help each other, and Qiao Wuyu wouldn’t have to worry about being nervous while applying medicine to the Eldest Senior Sister.

However, Wanqi Yue, now entrusted with this heavy responsibility, held the medicine bottle tightly, looking down in thought.

Su Mi tried to move her shoulder. The sensation of unbearable pain from a slight movement was now gone.

“I’ll help you apply the medicine.”

Hearing this, Wanqi Yue looked up and replied after a moment: “Okay.”

This time, she didn’t remove all her clothes, only pulling the fabric down from her shoulders.

Unlike in the illusion, the light in the room was ample. Warm candlelight fell on her neck and shoulder line, casting a faint glow.

Su Mi used a dampened and wrung-out cloth to wipe away the bloodstains on Wanqi Yue’s back.

The distance between them was greatly reduced, until even their breathing was clearly audible.

Recalling what Coal Ball had told her earlier, Su Mi asked with somewhat unpracticed concern: “Does it still hurt?”

Hearing this, Coal Ball felt a sense of relief, thinking its host had finally “seen the light.”

Wanqi Yue answered truthfully: “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”