Achieving A Happy Ending With The Tragic Female Lead [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 5

Su Mi looked at the wall before her, which stood taller than a person. From here, she could faintly hear the clamor of the crowds up ahead, accompanied by the ethereal scent of burning incense.

As the two were speaking, the tightly shut door suddenly creaked open. An old woman with silver hair and a hunched back peered out at them.

“Do you two young ladies have business here?” the old woman asked slowly, her voice raspy with age.

Wasn’t this door supposed to stay locked?

Before Su Mi could speak, Wanqi Yue stepped forward with a smile. “Grandmother, we sisters came to visit the Temple of the Physician Immortal out of admiration, but we accidentally took a wrong turn. We were wondering if you might do us a kindness and let us pass through here.”

The old woman’s clouded eyes studied Wanqi Yue. After a long pause, she sluggishly stepped aside. “Please, come in.”

Su Mi glanced inside the doorway and could only whisper a warning: “Once we’re inside, stay close to me.”

Wanqi Yue nodded vigorously, obediently lowering her head to watch her step.

Once Su Mi and Wanqi Yue had entered, the old woman standing by the side closed the door and slid the bolt back into place. Perhaps due to her advanced age, her movements appeared stiff and clumsy.

With the door locked, the old woman began to lead the way, and they followed slowly behind her.

This backyard appeared long-abandoned. The courtyard was overgrown with weeds half as tall as a person, nearly swallowing the winding stone path in the center. To the left lay a nearly dried-up pond, its shallow surface was blanketed in green algae, giving it a vibrant yet stagnant appearance.

As they walked further, the towering weeds thinned out, revealing a dilapidated, teetering house. Countless roof tiles lay shattered on the ground, and the yellowed timber seemed to be struggling just to keep the frame of the house upright.

Su Mi observed her surroundings thoughtfully.

“Isn’t this the backyard of the Physician Immortal Temple? Why hasn’t it been repaired?” Wanqi Yue remarked, somewhat shocked by the ruin.

The old woman leading them replied slowly, “This is the Physician Immortal’s former residence. She does not allow anyone to touch this place.”

It was unexpected that this was the actual home of the Physician Immortal during her lifetime, and even more so that the temple built to worship her was situated directly in front of her old residence.

Wanqi Yue pressed further, “Then why are you here?”

“…The Physician Immortal called for me.” The old woman’s voice was slightly hoarse, her elongated tone carrying a faint, airy quality.

Su Mi’s brows furrowed slightly. The statement sounded strange could it be that the Physician Immortal had appeared to her in a dream?

Curiosity getting the better of her, Wanqi Yue asked, “Grandmother, what kind of person was this Physician Immortal of yours, really?”

The old woman continued her stumbling pace ahead, her voice sounding distant. “The Physician Immortal was a good person. We all rely on her to survive… We all rely on her to survive.”

She repeated the last sentence twice.

Wanqi Yue tried to fish for more information by asking other questions, but the old woman merely repeated that single phrase, refusing to say anything else.

It was as if her responses were pre-programmed, lending a sense of inexplicable eeriness to the scene.

Wanqi Yue leaned in close to Su Mi and whispered, “Eldest Senior Sister, don’t you think the way she talks is a bit weird?”

It wasn’t just her speech; her movements were also somewhat mechanical. Yet, Su Mi could detect no trace of ghostly energy or demonic aura from her.

Su Mi was still not quite used to such physical intimacy with others. She subtly tilted her face away and gave a brief, soft hum of acknowledgement.

Her response, however, was masked by the old woman’s sudden fit of coughing.

Thinking Su Mi hadn’t heard her, Wanqi Yue tried to lean in even closer to repeat herself. She failed to notice a small protrusion on the path; as she stepped on it, her foot slipped, and her body tilted to the side.

A flash of panic crossed her face, but luckily, having practiced swordplay since childhood, her lower body strength was exceptional. She stabilized herself after only a slight wobble.

She breathed a sigh of relief, thankful she hadn’t embarrassed herself in front of her Senior Sister again.

Beside her, Su Mi silently withdrew the hand she had reached out to catch her. It seemed the female lead did not require her help.

“What was that?” Wanqi Yue muttered as she looked back. When she saw exactly what she had stepped on, her almond-shaped eyes widened. Her stride faltered for a second, and she bumped right into Su Mi.

“What is it?” Su Mi didn’t move away; instead, she asked softly.

Just as Wanqi Yue turned back to speak to her Senior Sister, she caught a glimpse of the old woman ahead who had abruptly stopped and turned around.

The cloudiness in the old woman’s eyes seemed to have thickened, and she was staring straight at them.

Wanqi Yue felt a shiver of dread and found herself momentarily speechless.

“We are almost there.” The old woman raised her arm and pointed to the redwood door behind her. Having said that, she resumed her walk.

As they drew closer to the temple, the scent of incense grew stronger, mixed with the muffled, distant noise of the crowds.

The little “coal ball” on Su Mi’s shoulder invisible to outsiders hopped twice.

[Detection: There are a large number of formations/arrays in this area. Does Master need my help?]

Su Mi made a casual gesture of brushing off her shoulder, signaling it to be quiet.

Wanqi Yue’s expression shifted as she turned her head, her tone urgent. “Senior Sister, something is definitely wrong here. I just stepped on.”

She turned back to point at the spot where she had tripped, but her expression froze. Her eyes instantly filled with renewed wariness.

It was gone.

The stone tile amidst the weeds was empty. The fragment of a gray, decayed finger bone she had clearly seen moments ago had vanished without a trace.

“We have arrived,” the old woman’s voice drifted back again.

A cool breeze swept through from the distance, rustling the nearby foliage and adding a touch of tension to the silence of the courtyard.

Creaaaaak…

The heavy wooden door was suddenly pushed open from the outside. A woman holding a broom froze when she saw the people inside, but then let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh my, you scared the life out of me! I thought something had happened. Who are you, and why are you here?” After addressing Su Mi and her companion, the woman turned to the old woman beside them, looking rather frustrated. “Wang-po, how did you sneak in here again? Don’t tell me you’re the one who let them in? This is absolute nonsense!”

Having finished scolding the old woman, she beckoned Su Mi and Wanqi Yue to come out quickly. She then reached out, pulled the old woman out, and swiftly locked the door behind them, acting as if she were terrified of being tainted by something unclean. All the while, she kept muttering complaints under her breath.

“Sister..”

The woman, wearing a headcloth, glanced at Su Mi and interrupted her: “Are you from outside the city?”

“Yes, we were just looking for a shortcut,” Su Mi replied, explaining the reason for their presence.

“I don’t know if you’re unlucky or just plain lucky. Next time, stick to the main entrance and stay away from this ghost of a place,” the woman said kindly.

“Why do you say that?”

“You wouldn’t know, but since this place has been abandoned for so long, it’s… not quite clean.” The woman’s expression became cryptic, and she seemed unwilling to say more.

She suddenly pointed to Wang-po, who was standing to the side. “Otherwise, you might end up like Wang-po here. She became this dim witted because she used to spend too much time in this backyard.”

Since being pulled out of the courtyard, the old woman had remained standing with her back to them at the door. Her wrinkled hands fumbled incessantly with the door bolt while she mumbled something unintelligible.

According to the woman, Wang-po used to be a cleaner at the Physician Immortal Temple. However, every time she cleaned this area, she would wander into the “Physician Immortal’s Residence” to tidy up. Over time, she became dazed and slow witted.

Similar incidents had happened in the past, and everyone claimed it was a punishment from the Physician Immortal for repeatedly violating her dying wish to leave her home undisturbed.

“Then why don’t you post a notice to warn people?” Wanqi Yue thought of the many travelers passing through the city who might accidentally stumble in.

The woman waved her hand dismissively. “A few times is harmless. The Physician Immortal only gets angry if someone comes too often.”

As she spoke, she led them to a side path connecting to the front courtyard of the temple. “Alright, enough idle talk. If you head through there, you’ll reach the temple. Don’t take the wrong way again. While you’re at it, go pay your respects and apologize to the Physician Immortal. Ask her not to hold your unintentional intrusion against you. I have work to do.”

With that, the woman walked back toward where Wang-po was standing.

Su Mi and Wanqi Yue headed toward the side entrance she had indicated.

Once they were alone, Wanqi Yue, her mind racing, couldn’t wait to ask: “Eldest Senior Sister, there’s definitely something wrong there. Did you see anything?”

Su Mi nodded slightly. “There are dozens of small scale formations set up in that courtyard. Most are minor tricks designed to disturb the mind nothing truly lethal. However, if an ordinary person stays inside for too long, their Fushi one of the seven physical souls will be extracted.”

Humans possess three ethereal souls and seven physical souls. The Fushi is also known as the “Commanding Soul” it governs the other physical souls and controls consciousness.

Without the Fushi, a person becomes exactly what the woman described: someone who has lost their mind.

As a sword cultivator, Wanqi Yue knew very little about formations and runes. However, remembering the finger bone she had seen disappear, she realized that if a normal person saw such a thing, they would naturally panic and that moment of mental weakness is exactly when the formations would strike.

Wanqi Yue wrinkled her nose. “Could the person who set these arrays be doing it to honor the Physician Immortal’s command to keep her old home undisturbed?”

Su Mi glanced toward the threshold of the main temple, where a constant stream of people was crossing. She said softly, “Perhaps. Let’s go inside and take a look.”

She took two steps forward. The area was crowded, and no one took notice of where the two of them had come from.

Wanqi Yue hurriedly followed, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her as they merged with the crowd and entered the temple.

Despite it being daytime, two rows of red candles burned along the sides of the temple, their bright flames casting flickering shadows against the walls. A massive lotus pedestal stood at the front, and the statue of the Physician Immortal enshrined in the center was actually carved from white jade.

The jade statue stood six feet tall and was translucent white. Its facial features were soft and elegant. A carved white silk blindfold covered its half-closed eyes, with the fluttering ribbons of the blindfold sculpted so lifelike they seemed frozen in mid-air. This gave the jade countenance an air of sacred, compassionate grace.

Rows of prayer mats were arranged on the cold, polished floor. Devotees continuously knelt on the mats, bowing and praying.

The half-closed eyes of the jade statue seemed to look down upon the crowd of pious believers seeking protection, yet the slight curve of its lips seemed to betray a hint of mockery.