After a Metaphysics Master Transmigrates into a Scummy Alpha, She Ends Up with the Best Actress - Chapter 10

Gu Li was a natural-born “Human Koi.” To outsiders, her life was an object of envy, but only she knew how agonizing it truly was. Her constitution was different; her luck wasn’t static but grew more potent every year. It seemed like an endless streak of good fortune, but this very trait had once brought her a catastrophic disaster. Since then, she had tried to burn off her excess luck through her screen presence, but the effect was dwindling. That was why she had orchestrated this specific setup.

The people she had chosen all possessed negative constitutions; they were meant to serve as vessels to drain her fortune. She hadn’t expected Ye Lin to see through it. A previous fortune-teller had claimed Ye Lin’s luck was on a downward spiral—a “bad luck” constitution that should have absorbed a massive amount of fortune, yet she turned out to be an expert in the mystic arts. It was troublesome.

“Don’t worry, though. I put an ‘Isolation Talisman’ in your pocket. It’ll mask your Koi constitution so no one discovers it, and your fortune won’t be siphoned away.” Ye Lin gave her a reassuring look.

Gu Li reached into her pocket and felt the folded yellow paper. Reassured? My foot! She had gone through all this trouble to set the stage, only for it to be ruined. When Ye Lin wasn’t looking, Gu Li stealthily tossed the talisman into the grass.

On the pitch-black country road, moths and flies danced in the beam of their flashlights. Ye Lin performed a quick “Pest-Repelling Incantation,” but as she turned her head, she was nearly blinded.

Beside her, Gu Li was radiating a brilliant golden light that stood out sharply against the night. Ordinary people couldn’t see it, but to a Celestial Master, it was the optical equivalent of a flashbang. Did the talisman fail?

“Where’s the charm?” Ye Lin shielded her eyes from the glare with one hand while rummaging through her bag with the other. Her flashlight beam darted around before settling on Gu Li. “Did you lose it already? Here, take another. I have plenty.”

Gu Li: “…”

Gee, thanks.

“You must hold onto it,” Ye Lin reminded her solemnly. A single talisman of hers was worth a king’s ransom.

“Don’t you want to absorb a little luck yourself?” Gu Li asked.

Ye Lin, who had already “borrowed” a bit of luck earlier, gave a sheepish smile. She reached out to help Gu Li over a puddle. “Everyone around you today caught a bit of your good fortune, myself included. That’s already more than enough. One’s constitution is innate; forcing a massive amount of luck into someone can disrupt their personal magnetic field. Good luck can also invite disaster.”

Ye Lin knew that altering one’s fate against the heavens often invited divine retribution. To steal the luck of a “Heaven’s Favorite” was practically asking to be struck by lightning.

Gu Li’s hand tightened into a fist as she let it drop to her side. She took a large stride, jumping over the puddle and leaving Ye Lin with nothing but the view of her back.

Ye Lin hurried to catch up with her flashlight. Fortunately, the wooden shack was only a few meters ahead. It consisted of two adjacent rooms, with a latrine made of haphazard planks situated 300 meters away. It looked pathetic.

Ye City, thousands of kilometers away.

In a detached villa, Jiang Yue supported her belly with one hand while meticulously reviewing her gowns with the other. Since becoming pregnant, she rarely attended large banquets. She either couldn’t find a gown that fit, or the ones that fit didn’t suit her mood, or she couldn’t find the right shoes. She had practically turned her walk-in closet upside down and still couldn’t decide.

“Honey, are you ready yet? The banquet is about to start,” her husband called from outside the door.

The pressure made Jiang Yue even more anxious. Coupled with pregnancy hormones, she felt a wave of frustration. Even though she had bought maternity gowns, why did none of them feel right? She grabbed a pink dress, her face full of hesitation, and met her husband’s questioning gaze.

“Hubby.” Jiang Yue’s eyes filled with tears. “What should I do? I’ve become ugly. I can’t fit into anything.” She looked at him piteously. “Is the banquet going to be late because of me?”

The man couldn’t bear to see his wife cry. He hurried to coax and comfort her until she finally felt better.

By the time Jiang Yue was dressed and ready, the banquet had already been underway for some time. Since they were late anyway, her husband told her not to rush, safety first for the baby.

Just as Jiang Yue took her husband’s arm to board the car, his assistant ran over in a panic. He informed them that a fire had broken out at the banquet venue, triggering a stampede. The event was cancelled. Her husband was shocked and immediately began calling friends to check on them. Jiang Yue, however, was even more stunned. She remembered what Ye Lin had told her at the airport. Does Ye Lin have the power of prophecy?

The wooden shack sat at the foot of the mountain. After nightfall, a chill settled in. Gu Li pulled the covers tight, but she still felt cold—unbearably cold. It didn’t feel like a summer night at all. The frost seemed to seep from the soles of her feet to the tips of her hair; she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. The bedding felt damp and frigid. Her teeth began to chatter.

There’s something wrong with this room. Gu Li knew it, yet she couldn’t open her eyes. No matter how much her mind struggled, her body refused to move. A powerful sense of suffocation washed over her, pressing down until she couldn’t breathe.

“Why don’t you just die!”

“Get away from me, I beg you!”

“You disgust me! Why won’t you die? Why won’t you die! WHY WON’T YOU DIE.”

A woman in a blood-stained white dress glared at her with a distorted face, taking one slow step after another toward her.

“I’m sorry!”

With a sudden gasp, the suffocation vanished. Gu Li sat up by reflex and crashed directly into a warm embrace. The warmth was so overwhelming that she clung to that slender back, refusing to let go.

Gu Li’s heart felt like it was going to leap out of her chest. The dream had been so vivid; she had almost thought that the past was repeating itself once again. She took deep gulps of air, filling her lungs.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It was just a nightmare. Don’t be afraid.” Ye Lin’s gentle voice came from above. She rhythmically stroked Gu Li’s back. “Don’t be afraid. The room isn’t dark anymore, and it isn’t cold.” The softness of her voice provided an inexplicable sense of security.

Sensing something was wrong, Ye Lin had come to knock on the door. Getting no response but hearing the shriek of a spiritual entity, she had broken in. She had ignited a “Light Talisman” to illuminate the room, revealing a purified spirit cowering by the door and Gu Li—bathed in golden light and trapped in a painful nightmare.

Ye Lin had brushed the “Sha” (malevolent energy) from Gu Li’s forehead, allowing her to wake. Seeing her crying into her chest made Ye Lin’s heart ache. She must have had a terrifying dream, Ye Lin thought, I’ll comfort her just this once.

Gu Li felt a sudden surge of vulnerability. In life and on screen, she was always the strong, lucky, perfect “Goddess.” People only saw her beauty and her talent; she was untouchable and flawless. But she was human, too. It had been a long time since anyone had comforted her with such patience and tenderness.

“Are you feeling better?” Ye Lin’s ears turned slightly red. Having the Movie Queen rubbing against her chest and hugging her waist was a very complicated sensation.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Li forced her tears back. Only then did she realize she was resting against something incredibly soft. She couldn’t believe how bold she was being. Despite her playful teasing during the day, she was actually quite conservative; she had never even held hands with the opposite sex. Now, she had jumped straight to a full embrace. Startled, she snapped her head up and pushed the other woman away.

Before Ye Lin could process what was happening, her arms were empty. Gu Li, face flushed, retreated to the foot of the bed with lightning speed, looking nothing like the “tofu-stealing” flirt she had been earlier.

“Ahem.” Ye Lin cleared her throat, but before she could organize her thoughts—thump! Gu Li was suddenly back in her arms. This time, the Movie Queen had lunged back with such force that Ye Lin was nearly knocked to the floor.

“There’s a—a—a—a ghost!” Gu Li shrieked at the highest decibel of her life. The sonic attack hit Ye Lin right in the chest. Gu Li pointed a trembling finger toward the door, where a translucent, humanoid figure was hovering.

The figure wore ancient long sleeves and a flowing skirt, with raven-black hair trailing behind. Its hands were tucked into its sleeves, fingers fidgeting nervously as it looked at Ye Lin with an expression of helpless innocence.

Ye Lin felt a tingly, restless sensation in her chest and had a sudden urge to scratch it, but Gu Li was currently occupying that space. She sighed and flicked her finger toward the doorway; the translucent figure was instantly bounced out of the room.

“It’s, it’s okay. There’s no ghost. Look, it’s really gone.” Ye Lin’s chest felt scorched by the Movie Queen’s warm breath, and the back of her own neck was beginning to throb with heat. What was happening? She caught that scent of agarwood again. Her brain misfired, and the words tumbled out before she could stop them: “Movie Queen Gu, your perfume smells incredible.” She even leaned down instinctively to take a sniff.

Perfume? Gu Li never wore perfume. She instinctively covered her nape. It was her habit to sleep without a scent-blocking patch, but she hadn’t expected Ye Lin to burst into her room. She looked up, her eyes flashing with a hint of fury.

To have a stranger especially an Alpha smell her pheromones was a deeply shameful and private matter.

Gu Li immediately pulled back, putting distance between them. “That ‘agarwood’, it’s the scent of my pheromones.”

The room was as bright as day under the talisman’s glow, and Ye Lin visibly swallowed as she tried to steady her breathing. The scent was truly intoxicating. She had cram-studied the local gender dynamics and knew that pheromones were intensely private, shared only with those closest to you. She scratched her cheek sheepishly, trying to suppress her racing heart and act natural. In reality, the gland at the back of her neck was practically thumping to a rhythm.

Seeing Ye Lin’s crimson face, Gu Li began, “Don’t tell me you’re.” But since there was no other pheromone scent in the room, she trailed off. A doubt rose in her mind: Could Ye Lin really be as ‘clueless’ as she seems?

Gu Li found a scent-blocking patch and applied it. As the agarwood fragrance faded from the air, Ye Lin’s restless gland finally settled down.

The broken door creaked and groaned as it swung back and forth in the mountain breeze, making Gu Li jump. “Did you break my door?”

“I, I heard a noise and came to check on you.” Ye Lin wanted to say she had sensed Sha energy and came to exorcise it, but she feared Gu Li wouldn’t be able to handle the truth. “How about you stay in my room tonight?” She added quickly, “Don’t misunderstand! I mean we swap. You go to my room, I’ll stay here. Like that.”

Ye Lin gestured as she spoke, looking quite earnest and cute. Her demeanor caused Gu Li’s tension to evaporate instantly.

“That thing just now, it was a ghost, wasn’t it? My room was freezing, I could see my own breath, that was its doing, right? You came here to catch it?” Gu Li voiced her suspicions. If Ye Lin truly was as capable as she appeared, she might just be the savior Gu Li needed.

“Uh, while it might clash with your worldview, it’s exactly as you say.”

Before Ye Lin could finish, Gu Li lunged forward and grabbed her hands. Her eyes were glowing with excitement. “If you agree to help me, I’ll keep your secret! I can make you famous—super famous! Or, you can make any request you want.” Anything, she thought, to get rid of this Koi constitution.

“Let me bite you once.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, both Ye Lin and Gu Li froze. Time seemed to stand still. Ye Lin wondered why on earth she had said that, while Gu Li was actually wondering. Should I just let her?

“Excuse me, could I get a word in, you two?” The pitiful, translucent spirit, sporting a red bump on its forehead from Ye Lin’s earlier “flick,” drifted back to the door and asked tentatively.

Ye Lin and Gu Li turned to look at it in unison. The spirit performed a deep, traditional bow toward Ye Lin and spoke respectfully: “Great Master, I have waited here for you for over ten years. Finally, we meet today. I beg you, Master—save my life!”