Achieving A Happy Ending With The Tragic Female Lead [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 90

As Su Mi was about to depart, she suddenly felt a prying gaze land upon her. Her footsteps faltered, she raised her eyes to sweep the surroundings, but that sensation of surveillance vanished in an instant.

Not a single trace remained.

She withdrew her gaze, lowered her eyes slightly, and stepped into the void, disappearing.

When Su Mi reappeared, she was in a mountain valley.

The surrounding mountains rolled continuously, and the air carried a damp scent. Looking around, weeds grew in wild profusion with almost no place to set foot, and the sound of gurgling stream water filled her ears.

However, after walking a bit further, the surroundings changed abruptly. The lush vegetation gradually turned withered and yellow, and the dampness took on a bone-chilling cold. Several small mounds were scattered about, and the exposed soil revealed a hint of grayish-white.

The temperature plummeted, and a chilly breeze blew, the entire area exuded an aura of ruin and death.

By all accounts, this was not a good place, it looked more like a mass grave.

As Su Mi stepped forward, the dry grass snapped under her feet, only to spring back to its original shape after she moved, as if nothing more than a gust of wind had passed through.

In contrast to her, a rustling of footsteps came from the side, mixed with the sound of fabric rubbing against the surrounding brush. A woman dressed in a white robe with blue patterns approached Su Mi, everywhere she stepped, obvious marks were left behind.

The woman had a plain face, yet her features were refined. She stopped three feet away from Su Mi and performed a meticulous salute. “Greetings, Your Majesty.”

“Xu Bai, how is it going?” Su Mi looked at her sideways.

“Two days ago, I found traces of the target at Shijun Mountain. After the cunning opponent escaped, I have been searching here. Xu Bai is incompetent. I have yet to find them.” Xu Bai reported her actions and findings in a gentle tone.

In truth, Xu Bai couldn’t be entirely blamed. Shijun Mountain was once a densely populated village, but it was later ravaged by war, and tens of thousands were slaughtered there.

For thousands of years, countless souls who had not moved on wandered this place, eventually forming a gateway to the Underworld (Yellow Springs). Yin energy flourished, and nothing grew.

Over time, many cultivators had come to perform rites of passage, but it was a drop in the bucket. Later, the Great Families of the mortal realm joined forces to purify the land, but they couldn’t achieve a total cleansing. As time passed, the Yin energy in these areas showed signs of growing again.

Now, the Yin energy here was so thick that if an evil ghost intended to hide their aura within it, they would be nearly impossible to track.

“However, I have a suspicion,” Xu Bai continued. “The target may no longer be here but has fled elsewhere. It’s just that there are many scattered forts and villages nearby, and it is difficult for me to investigate them all at once.”

Saying this, Xu Bai looked up at Su Mi. She had heard that the Queen had entered into a Ghost Marriage contract, but for some reason, she had yet to attain a complete physical form.

If the Queen could manifest a physical body in the mortal realm, the search speed would certainly be much faster.

While they were speaking, Su Mi suddenly turned. A second later, she appeared a hundred meters away.

Crack!

Beneath her powerful five fingers, she gripped a twisting, struggling soul-body, pressing it heavily against a thick tree trunk. The trunk cracked at the center of the impact, as if unable to withstand the force.

This soul-body was very weak, even against Su Mi, whose power was currently significantly diminished, it had no strength to resist.

The faint, flickering prying from before had come from this creature. Moreover, its body was tainted with the aura of the escaped evil ghost, though faint, it was still detectable.

“Look, it delivered itself to the door. Extract its soul consciousness and interrogate it,” Su Mi said calmly. “I have matters to attend to and must leave. Contact me if anything comes up.”

Xu Bai looked at the soul-body thrown before her without objection, ceremoniously bowing as she saw Su Mi off.

After leaving Shijun Mountain, Su Mi’s already unstable form became slightly transparent.

“Where is she now?” Su Mi asked.

Hearing the Queen’s summons, a small paper man “whooshed” out and landed on Su Mi’s shoulder.

“The Little Lady has already met up with her friends. She looks very happy, not at all like her previous unhappy self~” The paper man finished speaking and realized it had said the wrong thing, quickly covering its mouth.

Those words made it sound like the Little Lady wasn’t happy at all when she was with the Queen.

Su Mi turned her head and gave it a cold, indifferent glance. The paper man guiltily stepped outward and whispered:

“Your Majesty, the Little Lady and the others are getting ready to go to their lodging.”

On the road, Qiao Xinyue, whose nerves had been tensed, finally relaxed the moment she saw the familiar faces of the photography club. Chatting with the girls further washed away her anxiety.

The group took a car to their pre-booked hotel. On the way, Qiao Xinyue walked and chatted with the girls from the club.

Su Mi walked on the other side, following at a distance. Watching Qiao Xinyue laugh and talk with her companions, she couldn’t help but find those people’s smiles an eyesore.

She can laugh and talk like that with others, yet she feels nothing but fear when she sees me.

Then, she saw a young man trying to force his way into Qiao Xinyue’s conversation. An unkind glint flashed in Su Mi’s eyes, recognizing this person as someone who harbored ill intentions toward Qiao Xinyue.

On the other side, Qiao Xinyue didn’t have much of an impression of this person. She wasn’t fond of talking to strangers, but this man kept trying to direct the conversation toward her.

At first, she replied with a few words out of politeness, but his persistence was becoming genuinely annoying.

“Senior Qiao, what kind of person do you like?” the other party asked again, lacking any sense of social awareness.

Qiao Xinyue, losing patience, replied: “I like people who don’t talk much. Preferably a mute.”

This answer elicited a round of laughter from those around them. The junior laughed awkwardly, but just as he stepped forward to say more, his foot suddenly tripped. He lunged forward and hit the ground with a loud thud, landing directly on his knees.

The massive sound attracted everyone’s attention.

The two little paper men, having finished their “good deed,” hurried away. They ran back behind Qiao Xinyue’s suitcase, gave each other a high-five, and then quietly clung to the back of the luggage.

While the club members teased the fallen junior with well-intentioned laughter, Qiao Xinyue felt her blood run cold. She looked around alertly, trying to find a figure both familiar and strange.

But she saw nothing, so she turned her gaze back to her own suitcase, lost in thought.

“What’s wrong, Junior? You suddenly look like you’ve lost your soul,” a senior girl from the club asked with concern.

Qiao Xinyue forced a smile. “It’s nothing.”

The accommodations were handled collectively, but since the number of girls was odd, one “lucky” person got to stay in a single room.

With some “luck” assisting her, Qiao Xinyue ended up with the single room.

It just so happened that Qiao Xinyue didn’t like sharing a room with others, so she was naturally happy to have the single.

However, she felt like something wasn’t quite right.

Meanwhile, the hidden Su Mi stood leisurely not far away, witnessing everything.

“Your Majesty, are you going to see the Little Lady?” the paper man asked.

Su Mi watched Qiao Xinyue take her room card and prepare to go upstairs. “Later.”

There were no arrangements for the afternoon. The club leader told everyone to drop off their luggage and meet downstairs in ten minutes for dinner.

Qiao Xinyue’s room was 306. The hotel had local characteristics, with some ancient inn designs, the interior featured simple, traditional Chinese furnishings.

After she put down her luggage, her gaze lingered on her suitcase, her hesitation clear. She bit her lower lip repeatedly.

“Is it you?”

Her voice echoed softly in the room, but there was no response.

Inside the room, Su Mi stood to the side with her arms crossed, watching her slightly uneasy face.

The next moment, Qiao Xinyue suddenly stood up and kicked her suitcase twice. Gathering her courage, she said: “Stop hiding. I’ve already seen you. Come out now.”

“I… I’ll count to three. If you don’t come out…”

The little paper men looked back at the Queen leaning against the wall. Understanding her meaning, they all trotted out from behind the suitcase on their short legs.

When Qiao Xinyue saw the walking paper figures, she was instantly frightened into standing up. “What kind of ghost thing is this?!”

However, perhaps because they looked too harmless, her fear subsided after a moment, and she settled down.

“What are you things? Did she leave you here?”

“Little Lady, please don’t be afraid. We aren’t ‘things,’ and we aren’t ‘ghost things’ either.” Paper Man No. 1 approached and rubbed against the tip of her shoe. “We are paper men.”

“Your Majesty was worried about you, so she sent us to protect you.” Paper Man No. 2 tugged at her shoelaces.

Paper Man No. 3 silently came to Qiao Xinyue’s feet, struggling to reach up and grab the hem of her pants.

Regarding the “Queen” they spoke of, Qiao Xinyue could only think of that exceptionally beautiful female ghost named Su Mi.

She just couldn’t imagine what kind of female ghost would be called a “Queen.”

She must be a very powerful, evil ghost.

“I don’t need any protection. You guys go back,” Qiao Xinyue said heartlessly.

“Little Lady, please don’t drive us away.” Paper Man No. 1’s voice suddenly became pitiful.

“This is a task assigned by the Queen. If we don’t do it well, the Queen will be angry.” Paper Man No. 2 followed suit.

Paper Man No. 3 remained silent but worked harder at tugging her pant leg.

Qiao Xinyue wanted to be firm, but the paper men looked so tiny and fragile. A hint of hesitation appeared in her eyes. “…Will she punish you?”

“She will, she will,” the paper men nodded repeatedly. “The Queen’s wrath is terrifying. Even the Ten Lords of the Halls are afraid of her.”

Though Qiao Xinyue had never seen the Queen’s rage, she had personally experienced her overwhelming strength in bed at certain moments, one could not defy her even slightly.

Soft-hearted Qiao Xinyue ultimately didn’t drive them away. “I won’t kick you out, but don’t follow me around.”

The paper men quietly glanced at No. 3.

“What are you looking at it for?” Qiao Xinyue followed their gaze to No. 3 and noticed it had been silent the whole time.

The paper men shook their heads in unison. “Little Lady, we will follow you from a distance and won’t disturb you.”

Qiao Xinyue asked, “What if someone sees you?”

The paper man said, “Ordinary people can’t see us.”

Because Qiao Xinyue was taking a long time to come downstairs, someone called her to hurry her up. After hanging up, she looked at the paper men and finally decided to take one with her so the little things wouldn’t get in trouble.

She chose the most taciturn one, No. 3, feeling it would be the least trouble.

Qiao Xinyue picked it up and found it was truly like a piece of paper, weightless.

Paper Man No. 3 wrapped its arms around her finger, leaning against her gently.

The other two paper men silently turned their backs, not daring to look, fearing they might be silenced for witnessing this.