After the Black Moonlight’s "Death Escape" Failed [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: The Wolf and the Whip-Wielder

◎ The Wolf-Eared Girl Who Illegally Entered ◎

After leaving the eerie stained-glass windows and the mysterious person, Jiao Qingyin hadn’t walked far before she was stopped by a noble man and woman.

At first, she thought she had encountered another group looking for a “group activity,” but when they addressed her by an unfamiliar name, she realized they had mistaken her for an acquaintance.

Before she could speak, the male noble excitedly claimed he had news to share. Seeing as she had nothing better to do, Jiao Qingyin decided to stay and listen.

“I just found out tonight—it’s said there’s a new person by the Prince’s side,” he whispered, gossip gleaming in his eyes. “An unknown noble.”

Jiao Qingyin paused her finger, which had been twirling a lock of hair. So, the subject of the news is me.

The female noble swirled her glass, clearly drunk. Her voice was slurred. “I heard too… leaked from the Royal side… masked, leg disability, apparently a friend of Her Highness.”

She let out a wine-induced hiccup, her face clouding with memory. “Someone saw Her Highness bring someone with her tonight. Was it her?”

Jiao Qingyin’s body stiffened instinctively, realizing they were talking about Al.

Before the ball, perhaps through their own speculation, the maids had dressed Al in a gown far beyond the grade of a slave. They had even carefully hidden her collar with a silk scarf. Since the clothes were already changed and Jiao Qingyin had her own selfish reasons for it, she hadn’t objected. It was only natural that those who saw her and Al picking out masks would mistake the latter’s identity.

“No, no!” The male noble waved his arm, thrilled to have an exclusive his friend didn’t. “Actually, that person isn’t a noble at all—she’s the Prince’s slave!”

Jiao Qingyin’s pupils contracted.

The female noble spat out her wine, splashing it all over the man’s clothes.

“Ah! What are you doing?!”

As they began to bicker, Jiao Qingyin became the person most desperate to hear the rest. She stepped between the two, who were practically ready to fight. “Why do you say that?”

Basking in the attention, the man’s desire to share won out. He shoved a glass into Jiao Qingyin’s hand, his face flushed with excitement. “That person has leg problems, a very distinct trait. I saw it with my own eyes just now—the Prince dragged her onto the podium, saying she was going to publicly punish a disobedient slave!”

Crack.

The wine glass in Jiao Qingyin’s hand shattered.

Fresh blood seeped through her fingers. The female noble gasped, her drunkenness vanishing in fright as she scrambled for a handkerchief.

However, Jiao Qingyin seemed completely numb to the pain. She shook off the glass shards, her expression so dark it seemed to drip with gloom. “You really saw this with your own eyes?”

The man, oblivious to her change, continued to grin foolishly. “Really! How could I mistake the Prince’s style? If you don’t believe me, go look, they’re still there—Hey, are you actually going? Come back!!!”

Jiao Qingyin didn’t take long to arrive at the scene.

Her two targets were conspicuous. The moment she entered the main ballroom, she locked onto a direction—in the middle of the crowd, there was a figure so golden it hurt the eyes.

Hearing the lewd cheers and mocking laughter nearby, Jiao Qingyin’s expression turned grim as she quickened her pace.

“And here I heard she was some noble; turns out she’s just a slave!”

“Haha, exactly. The collar hasn’t even been taken off.”

“It’s not easy to catch the Prince’s eye. Maybe she used some ‘tricks’—thinking about it, a pair of legs that can’t move really does have a special charm, hahaha—”

A sudden burst of loud laughter made Jiao Qingyin’s head buzz.

When they first entered the ball, Al had tugged at her sleeve, whispering a plea: “Can I follow you?” But for the sake of her mission, Jiao Qingyin had swiped her hand away.

What did she say back then?

“Stay away from me.”

At the time, she had deliberately avoided Al’s crushed gaze, but now, that aggrieved and pitiful expression resurfaced vividly before her eyes.

Jiao Qingyin kept telling herself that Al had enough means to protect herself, but… what if something went wrong? Even if Al was destined to endure hardships to become the protagonist, seeing it happen after personally pushing her into the blade felt entirely different from reading it in text.

Al might be the protagonist, but right now, she was just a disabled slave with a collar around her neck. It was no exaggeration to say that without Jiao Qingyin, everyone in the ballroom tonight could trample over her.

Jiao Qingyin suddenly felt glad the System was gone. If it were still here, her next actions would definitely be judged as an OOC (Out of Character) failure, costing her countless points.

“D*mmit, why are you pushing me—”

“Hey! Bastard! Get to the back!”

Jiao Qingyin shoved through the crowd. When met with the foul language of drunken nobles, she simply raised her hand and delivered a punch to each of their faces. After a few strikes, the world went quiet.

Her long dress trailed elegantly, and her silver heels glinted, yet she walked with a murderous aura that suggested she was stepping over enemy corpses. The crowd parted like the sea; even the drunks realized something was wrong.

Only the noble with her back to Jiao Qingyin remained oblivious. She was focused on humiliating the slave before her. Under her sneer, the slave’s weak pleas were almost entirely drowned out.

The sharp scent of blood entered Jiao Qingyin’s nose. She looked down and saw several torture instruments scattered by the wheelchair.

Her rage broke through the threshold. Jiao Qingyin stepped forward, grabbed the noble by the collar with one hand, and hoisted her into the air.

“Ah—!” The noble screamed, her limbs flailing to break free, but she was slammed heavily onto the ground.

The sound of breaking bones echoed. The noble’s face contorted in the dim light; blinded by pain, she couldn’t see who her attacker was, only feeling a hand clamp down on her jaw. Survival instinct kicked in as she wept and begged for mercy, but her captor didn’t hesitate for a second. The next moment, a terrifying tearing force ripped into her jawbone.

—As if someone was trying to peel the face right off her head.

Someone in the crowd realized what Jiao Qingyin was doing and shouted instinctively: “The disguise mask cannot be pulled off directly—”

The person stopped mid-sentence. With a soul-piercing scream, Jiao Qingyin stood up. In her hand was a mask shaped like human skin, still dripping with blood.

“I remember your face,” Jiao Qingyin spoke softly. Her voice was steady, yet it sent a collective shiver down everyone’s spine. “After you go home today, there will be other gifts waiting for you.”

She stepped over the noble and approached the slave tied to the wooden chair.

At first glance, Jiao Qingyin knew it wasn’t Al. But the slave’s condition was wretched, reminding her of when she first saw Al at the start of her transmigration.

This slave had lost far more blood than the noble rolling on the ground. Her scarred legs hung limply—clearly paralyzed. There wasn’t a single patch of healthy skin visible on her body, and her left eye was a bloody, hollowed-out socket.

She was looking at Jiao Qingyin with her intact right eye. There was fear, but more so a sense of gratification from seeing her abuser punished.

Jiao Qingyin instinctively raised her hand to heal her, then realized she couldn’t—she had publicly beaten a noble, and her identity would surely be exposed. The original “Odelia” was not proficient in magic. if she revealed magical abilities, it would invite a royal investigation. The royal family didn’t lack for one Prince; for safety, they would kill her even if they couldn’t prove her identity.

And… the slave might be beyond healing.

Blood welled from the slave’s mouth, her complexion turning ashen. Jiao Qingyin’s hand paused in mid-air before settling on the back of the chair. She swept her cold gaze across the growing crowd and barked:

“Get out.”

The people who had just witnessed her brutality scattered like startled birds. There was a time and place for spectating. They mostly recognized the noble who had been unmasked—a rising Earl with a wealthy but not overly powerful family. Anyone who dared to offend her so brazenly was someone they couldn’t afford to provoke.

Once the crowd cleared, Jiao Qingyin looked back at the slave. “Whose slave are you?”

It took a while for the slave to find the strength to speak. She looked at the noble still howling on the floor and let out a laugh. “Hers.”

“…” An expected answer.

Jiao Qingyin paused. “Does she do this often?”

“Often…?” The slave’s expression shifted—recalling, then giggling inanely. It took a long time to get a full sentence out.

She must be drugged… Jiao Qingyin frowned.

“Not often… twice a day? Three times? Can’t count… Often? Following the Prince’s example… many people like doing this… you don’t?”

The slave spoke incoherently, but Jiao Qingyin extracted information that made her go silent.

She realized then that sometimes, even if she didn’t commit evil herself, things wouldn’t necessarily move in a good direction. The identity of “Odelia Hughes” was a symbol of vice. Every move she made, regardless of intent, could be misinterpreted. Everywhere, people were reaching out to harm the innocent just to cater to and mimic her.

She stopped one person today; there would be a second and a third tomorrow.

Unless “Odelia Hughes” died—no, unless the Empire’s system was overthrown, this would never end.

The slave couldn’t speak anymore. Great mouthfuls of blood erupted from her mouth, and seconds later, she went silent forever.

Jiao Qingyin stared at her quietly. In her mind’s eye, the image of this quietly deceased slave flickered with the image of Al, lying in a pool of blood, looking at her with those blue eyes.

The commotion drew the attention of Duke Lism. As the host of the ball, the tipsy Duke arrived with his men to investigate. Jiao Qingyin took the opportunity to remove her mask.

Seeing her face, those who were secretly watching let out a collective gasp.

It’s Her Royal Highness—!

Instantly, they understood why Jiao Qingyin was so enraged. They had mistaken an Earl for the Prince—a massive insult. For the Prince to only punish that one person without targeting them was an act of immense leniency.

What terrified them even more was that they had mistaken the Prince’s friend for a slave. If that person was actually a high-ranking noble, they would be doomed. Many began to secretly resent the Earl: she knew she was being mistaken for the Prince and never explained, causing them to offend the Prince and the mysterious guest. How detestable.

Duke Lism seemed truly wasted. It took a reminder from those nearby for him to remember who Jiao Qingyin was. He smiled and moved to perform a hand-kissing rite, but Jiao Qingyin stepped back.

“Don’t bother with the formalities,” Jiao Qingyin said coldly. “Lism, find me a room to rest.”

Tonight was a full moon. On this continent, a full moon appeared every 27 days. The first time Al turned into her beast form was on a full-moon night.

That night, she had encountered Jiao Qingyin as a beast. Now, shortly after the ball began, she possessed a demi-human form—human in appearance, but with animal ears and a tail.

The problem was, these ears and tail seemed to have a mind of their own. No matter how much she tried to control them, they popped out occasionally, forcing her to sneak into the Duke’s warehouse to steal a large, hooded robe.

Fortunately, the full moon also brought an incredible surge of elemental power, making it easy for her to track Jiao Qingyin.

She was almost obsessively determined to know how Jiao Qingyin felt about her.

She doesn’t like me at all!

Thinking of the mocking smile Jiao Qingyin gave during her probe, Al gritted her teeth. Her competitive nature was ignited. She wanted to see exactly what kind of person the Prince did like.

Driven by this thought, Al controlled a passing noble to talk to Jiao Qingyin, but within thirty seconds, she was brushed off. Despite being rejected, the corners of Al’s mouth curled up. When she secretly followed her to the stained-glass window and approached her personally, her heart felt a mix of anxiety. She wanted Jiao Qingyin to be interested in her, but she didn’t want the interest to be based on her disguised self.

Then came another rejection. Al felt both elated and dejected.

Once Jiao Qingyin’s footsteps faded in the quiet corridor, Al, still sitting under the window, tensed her body. She funneled elemental power into her legs and, after a moment, stood up extremely slowly.

After that simple action, her forehead was covered in cold sweat and her body shook. Before coming to see Jiao Qingyin, she had tried this once—concentrating power in her legs to walk for a short time using magic support. Besides the short duration, the condensed power put immense pressure on her legs; every step felt like needles stabbing her calves.

Luckily, it was a full moon, otherwise she could only have stood for a few seconds.

“Cough, cough…”

Because other parts of her body lacked elemental protection, the over-usage of magic caused her to cough uncontrollably while she maintained a different face. Her whole body hurt, but to Al, compared to the feeling of finally being free from the wheelchair, a little pain was nothing.

Coughing, she walked step by step to where she had hidden the wheelchair and sat down. After resting, she regained some strength, checked the tracking spell on Jiao Qingyin, and followed the direction.

When the spell was far away, it could only provide a general direction. Al searched for a long time without seeing the person she wanted to see. With every passing second, Al grew more irritable—especially after witnessing how chaotic this place was.

The thought of Jiao Qingyin mingling and cavorting with those people made her want to destroy something. Al suppressed her emotions while tracking, hearing snippets of gossip. At first, she didn’t know who the “unnamable person” was, but after hearing “Prince” and “slave,” she realized something was wrong.

Someone impersonated the Prince, publicly punished a disabled slave, and was caught by the Prince herself…

Hearing them describe the events gave her a powerful sense of déjà vu. She almost coughed again. Hearing that Jiao Qingyin had stopped the whip from hitting the slave reminded her of the day she was taken from the Red Tower. That feeling of impending death was still fresh; without Jiao Qingyin, she would be dead.

Previously, Al had been using a concealment spell, lowering her presence so people would instinctively ignore her. But her fluctuating emotions caused a lapse in her magic. A noble sharing gossip happened to look up, saw a dark figure, and screamed. By the time the others turned around, she was gone.

Al sneaked into the room where Jiao Qingyin was resting.

Located upstairs from the main hall, far from the guests, it was as quiet as another world. Al stood by the door, watching the sleeping Jiao Qingyin reclining on the soft sofa for a long time before the pain in her legs snapped her back to reality.

When Jiao Qingyin slept, she often frowned, looking restless. Today was even worse.

Al approached silently. Perhaps because she was in a semi-beast state, her sense of smell was much sharper, and she detected a faint scent of blood.

Did she get stained by accident, or is she hurt? Al’s expression tightened as she carefully observed her.

Jiao Qingyin hadn’t changed her gown. She was covered with a thin blanket, and her mask had been removed. Her long black hair spilled down, some strands resting over her closed eyes, making her look more fragile than usual. Her exposed skin was undamaged; she seemed simply exhausted.

Al looked at her face, her gaze tracing every feature, dazing out inappropriately again—though she didn’t realize it herself. Her eyes lingered on Jiao Qingyin’s lips. She took a step closer, and the stronger scent of blood reminded her of her purpose.

She couldn’t find a wound just by looking. Al twitched her nose, trying to sniff out the source.

Under the blanket… Al moved her gaze to a bulge in the blanket—likely her right hand resting on her thigh.

Mindful of previous encounters, Al stared at her for a long time until she was sure she was asleep before cautiously making a move. However, where it should have been soft, her hand met something hard.

Al froze, then remembered the scene she caught while Jiao Qingyin was changing. The thigh ring, which had been snug, tightened slightly because of the dagger tucked inside, pressing into her soft thigh and creating a subtle curve.

At the time, Jiao Qingyin was just being practical, but when Al saw her hook her index finger under the ring to adjust it, her entire face had turned beet red. That momentary lapse had allowed Jiao Qingyin to detect her magic. If she hadn’t run fast enough, she would have been caught.

Now, even through the fabric, Al could visualize that glimpse. The temperature of her face rose again. Her hand shook, and the healing magic she had prepared was released.

Oops— Al quickly pulled her hood tight, but due to her legs, she couldn’t retreat in time and her wrist was grabbed by Jiao Qingyin.

The physical contact broke the concealment magic, and Al was exposed.

Jiao Qingyin woke up the moment she felt the tingling sensation in her palm. After grabbing the intruder, she reflexively flipped the blanket over, bagging the person’s head.

This was pure instinct—in her past life, when the base lacked food and they had to hunt large mutated animals, she was usually the one responsible for slitting throats or bagging the heads with nets.

Al, bagged in darkness, struggled immediately, only to have her tail grabbed the next second.

An electric current seemed to surge from her tail to the top of her head. She almost lost control and cried out, but managed to bite her own arm at the last moment.

“Eh?”

Hearing Jiao Qingyin’s confused voice, Al felt a wave of shame and embarrassment.

The fluffy sensation in her hand made Jiao Qingyin realize her mistake. Finding the person she caught had no hostile intent, she released the blanket. However, the person under the blanket didn’t come out; instead, she grabbed the corners, wrapped herself up, and crouched on the floor, motionless.

“You…” Jiao Qingyin spoke hesitantly.

Al huddled into a ball, her tail stiffening into a straight line. This was not how she imagined meeting Jiao Qingyin. The meeting under the stained-glass window had been more to her expectations, though Jiao Qingyin clearly didn’t like her feigned arrogance. While frustrated, Al always wanted to win a round, but now…

The strange sensation at the base of her spine remained. Al’s cheeks were flushed red, and she refused to say a word.

Jiao Qingyin was absolutely certain she had felt a tail. That smooth, soft texture was almost identical to her dog. Though her dog was tsundere and usually didn’t let her touch its tail or belly, she managed to get a touch occasionally, so she knew what a canine tail felt like.

Seeing the person hiding their face, Jiao Qingyin guessed they had some hard-to-conceal traits. She asked first: “Are you a demi-human?”

Al moved under the blanket like a large ball of fluff.

Having rested, Jiao Qingyin was much calmer. Seeing the person wouldn’t answer, she didn’t want to pressure her and rose to leave the room to her. At that moment, Al pulled the blanket down a bit.

The black hood came into view. Jiao Qingyin recognized the mysterious person she had met earlier, but her attention was quickly drawn to something else—a soft, floppy pointed ear was peeking out from the edge of the hood.

The ear, clearly animalian, was covered in pure white fur, with a contrasting pink inner ear. Perhaps because the owner was nervous, it was trembling slightly, twitching like jelly.

Jiao Qingyin’s throat felt dry. She awkwardly averted her gaze.

The ears aren’t even standing up yet… must be a young dog—cough, demi-human.

Al realized the slip and quickly tucked her ear back in. Although she kept her face hidden, her eyes never left Jiao Qingyin, so she caught the other’s strange reaction.

In that moment, an absurd thought popped into her head.

The Prince said she didn’t like men or women and was cold to everyone, yet when facing her beast form, she showed an expression never seen in normal circumstances…

Could it… could it be—

Al stood up abruptly. The movement was so sudden that Jiao Qingyin swallowed the words she was about to say.