Acting as the Vicious Second Lead [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 44

The enemy force consisted of one hundred burly bandits.

On the other side, Qin Xiaoxiao’s three-person team was in dire straits: she was severely wounded, her Junior Brother had been captured by the bandit leader, and her Junior Sister, though resisting valiantly, was no match for their numbers.

At a glance, this was a lopsided battle; Qin Xiaoxiao and her companions were certain to lose.

So, when the severely injured woman in white suddenly stood up, brandished her sword, and shouted, “Get your hands off my Junior Sister,” the masked man merely sneered in disdain.

“Take her down!” he commanded in a low voice.

“Yes!”

At their leader’s order, his minions swarmed toward Qin Xiaoxiao, while the remaining twenty or thirty continued to grapple with Yan Qingxue.

The clash of steel rang out like a discordant melody.

With the majority of the enemies drawn toward Qin Xiaoxiao, the pressure on Yan Qingxue lightened considerably. She focused her inner energy, concentrating on fighting the remaining bandits. However, upon hearing her Senior Sister’s shout, she felt a mixture of gratitude and frustration at her impulsiveness. In their current situation, retreating was the best strategy—even if it meant only the Senior Sister could get away. But her Senior Sister had ignored all reason and charged in headlong…

“Ah!!”

The cry came from a bandit.

Then, a chorus of screams followed, one after another, incessant and piercing.

Yan Qingxue was slightly taken aback. The bandits surrounding her seemed even more shocked; they stood with blank stares fixed on her Senior Sister, their movements stalling.

Seizing the gap, Yan Qingxue struck down the bandit in front of her and spun around to counter those behind her. As she turned, she caught a quick glimpse of her Senior Sister.

That one look almost made her doubt her own eyes.

The woman in white was weaving through the bandits’ attacks. Compared to the muscular men, she looked as small and fragile as a lone leaf in the sea, seemingly about to be swallowed up at any moment. But her movements were incredibly agile—like a fish in water—and so fast they were a blur.

“Take this!”

With the “cheat” in hand, genius was on her side.

Qin Xiaoxiao was unstoppable. She cut them down one by one, then two by two, as easily as slicing through tofu.

In no time, the ground was littered with the masked man’s underlings. They were covered in cold sweat, clutching their wounds as blood seeped through their fingers. The sword wounds looked terrifying, but a closer look revealed that she had skillfully avoided all vital points. Though not fatal, they were certainly painful enough to incapacitate them.

In a flash, Qin Xiaoxiao had reached the front of the masked man. She knew the principle: To catch the bandits, you must first catch the ringleader.

“Heh heh, you have a few tricks up your sleeve,” the fox-masked man laughed.

With the threat right in front of him, he showed no panic. He suddenly grabbed Yang Hu and threw him at Qin Xiaoxiao like a projectile.

Qin Xiaoxiao had no pity for her Junior Brother. She sidestepped to dodge the human missile, then grabbed him by the back of his robe just as he was about to fall, steadying his frame.

When she looked up to settle the score with the masked man, she found he had already vanished.

“Retreat!”

His command rang out from afar, deep and resonant as if amplified by a megaphone. Qin Xiaoxiao knew, however, that he had merely used his inner energy to project his voice.

Inner energy—what a wonderful thing, Qin Xiaoxiao thought.

On the other side, hearing their leader’s call, the injured bandits were relieved. They gritted their teeth through the pain, scrambled to their feet, and fled back the way they came. The uninjured ones followed suit, scrambling away in panic. They vanished like a receding tide.

“Don’t let them escape!” Yan Qingxue bit her lip, watching their backs with unyielding frustration. She wanted to chase them down, slaughter them all, and ensure they could no longer do evil.

Qin Xiaoxiao reached out and caught her arm. “Do not chase a desperate foe,” she advised.

It was best to quit while they were ahead; one shouldn’t get bogged down in battle. Besides, her time limit for the cheat had expired. To chase them would be unwise. She had two uses left, and she intended to keep them as a backup for emergencies. After all, life in the Jianghu was perilous. If another dangerous criminal appeared, she wasn’t as experienced as the original host—one wrong move and she’d be singing her own funeral song. With the cheat, however, she had more room for error and could complete her missions more efficiently. If used well, she could survive in this chaotic world for a long, long time.

Yan Qingxue didn’t understand these internal calculations, but she calmed down at her Senior Sister’s reminder. She turned to look at the woman’s pale face and asked with concern, “Senior Sister… your wounds have not healed yet. Please, don’t exert yourself.”

“It’s nothing,” Qin Xiaoxiao said, looking away guiltily.

In reality, the surge of internal energy from the cheat had nourished her meridians. Her chest pain was mostly gone, and she felt almost fully recovered. But no matter how strong the original host’s body was, she was still a human, and no human could heal a deep, long blade wound in half a day. To avoid suspicion, Qin Xiaoxiao clutched her chest, pretending to endure pain while projecting a look of steely resolve. “Let’s go. We must continue our journey.”

“The Senior Sister is absolutely right,” Yang Hu said, walking toward them after having almost face-planted into the mud. He suggested, “It’s getting late. We need to find a safe place to stay before nightfall.”

He wore a sycophantic smile, gazing respectfully at the woman in white—a far cry from his earlier sneers. Qin Xiaoxiao had not forgotten that he had called her a “dying dog on the side of the road,” and she couldn’t be bothered to give him even a glance. However, to maintain the original host’s kind and merciful persona, she simply nodded with a faint smile.

Seeing that she wasn’t angry, Yang Hu assumed she hadn’t taken his previous disrespect to heart. He leaned in to flatter her: “Your poise with the sword just now was truly astonishing. It left us all speechless.”

“I believe that within half a year, your skills will surely surpass the Sect Leader’s.”

Though he found it strange that someone so severely wounded could unleash such power, people had a habit of “normalizing” strange phenomena by concocting their own logical explanations. He began to wonder if he had misjudged the depth of her wounds, or if perhaps the Junior Sister’s medical skills had reached a miraculous level.

Hearing this, Qin Xiaoxiao quickly added a layer to her story: “You flatter me. My being cut by the bandits was merely an oversight. Sigh, having just fought, I can feel that my martial arts are much weaker than at their peak.” She emphasized the last half-sentence. “As for the Sect Leader,” she added with a straight face, “his mastery is supreme. His achievements are something I could never reach in a lifetime.”

Yang Hu: “…”

How is she even better at bootlicking than I am?

Yang Hu was terrified. He had never been close to Qin Xiaoxiao and only knew her by reputation. He hadn’t expected her to be this formidable—single-handedly overpowering dozens of vicious bandits. He knew for a fact he couldn’t do the same. He had been blind, insulting a master. Cold sweat drenched his back, and he silently prayed she would be a magnanimous person and not take revenge later.

“Senior Sister has always been that formidable!” Yan Qingxue said, glancing at the man from the side.

In her heart, her Senior Sister was a towering, insurmountable mountain. Even though those thieves had played dirty, catching her off guard and wounding her, the sight of her pale and fragile form had stirred a desire in Qingxue to protect her. But seeing her regain her strength and take on a hundred men alone, Qingxue was only briefly surprised before accepting it—she had no suspicion.

Because her Senior Sister was always strong. Always noble. Always kind and gentle.

Like a lotus flower, untainted by the mud, unprofanable. To simply watch her, to feel the warmth of her palm when she held her hand, had become a pillar of support for Qingxue. And to protect this warmth, Yan Qingxue was willing to pay any price.

As the Junior Sister and Junior Brother were lost in their own thoughts, Qin Xiaoxiao was thinking about something else. She asked, “Do you have any water? My throat is a bit dry.”

“I do,” Yang Hu replied. He searched his waist for a moment, then froze, his expression turning to one of frustration. “It’s gone.” He gave an awkward laugh. “I must have lost the water skin while fighting the bandit leader on the way here.”

“You have the nerve to say that!” Yan Qingxue pointed a finger at his nose. “It’s all because you insisted on leaving—”

“Alright, alright, don’t get angry.” Qin Xiaoxiao stepped in as a mediator to extinguish the fire between them. “Let’s find a water source and then continue on our way.”

“Agreed,” Yang Hu said. “We follow the Senior Sister.”

Yan Qingxue had no objections either.

Looking at her obedient, lovely Junior Sister, who seemed as if she would never disobey her, Qin Xiaoxiao felt relieved. The more she looked at her, the more pleasant she found her.

The beauty of the present moment made Qin Xiaoxiao think: The original host was truly a monster. How could she be so cruel to such a cute Junior Sister, forcing her to be a scapegoat? How could you bear to do it?

I can’t bear it.

But the plot must go on.

After a moment of internal conflict, Qin Xiaoxiao pulled herself together and set off with them to find water.

As the sun began to set, night gradually veiled the magnificent dawn clouds. After much hardship, they finally found a clear creek. After replenishing their water, Yang Hu gathered wood and lit a bonfire.

Time slipped away. The moon hung on the branch, and the evening breeze was cool. Under the moonlight, the creek glittered like a shattered mirror. Yang Hu had fallen asleep, snoring like thunder.

“Senior Sister…”

Yan Qingxue rose and said to Qin Xiaoxiao, “Please, come over for a moment.”

“Hmm? What is it?” Qin Xiaoxiao didn’t refuse.

Guided by the moonlight, she followed the girl closely. A moment later, Yan Qingxue stopped, turned, and gazed at the woman in white. “Senior Sister, it is time to change your dressing.”

“N-no need,” Qin Xiaoxiao waved her hand, trying to decline. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

“How can you be fine? The wound cannot be neglected.” Yan Qingxue frowned, clenching her fists. “I will be careful. I won’t hurt you, Senior Sister.”

The moonlight shed its brilliance upon her exquisite face, making her skin appear almost transparent. Her bloodless lips added a sense of fragile beauty. She stood there in her white gown, like a fairy beneath the moon, as if she might vanish in the next second.

A girl born prematurely, left with a frail constitution, not destined to live past twenty. Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind—the description of Yan Qingxue’s tragic background from the novel.

“Okay,” Qin Xiaoxiao sighed, feeling a pang of heartache. She gritted her teeth and agreed.

Hearing this, Yan Qingxue’s eyes lit up. She exhaled with relief that her Senior Sister was finally taking care of herself.

“I will help you take off your clothes,” the girl said, reaching out her hands.

To her, changing a bandage for a patient was something she had done countless times; there was no emotional color to it. But Qin Xiaoxiao was not used to it.

“No need.” Qin Xiaoxiao rejected her kindness, unconsciously taking a step back.

Stunned by being pushed away, Yan Qingxue’s hands hung in mid-air, feeling a little hurt.

Seeing this, Qin Xiaoxiao softened her tone as much as possible. “I will do it myself.”

Beneath the moon, the woman in white smiled. But inside, she was crying, having jumped into a trap of her own making. She raised her hands, grabbed her collar, and pulled it down…