After Transmigrating into a Book, I Became Partners with My Mortal Enemy - Chapter 17 

You Fuling’s pent-up resentment did not dissipate with Ding Xiandi’s arrival; the kiss was more like a mauling.

Fluctuating spiritual energy churned around them. The bead curtains of the bed frame swayed without a breeze, the pond water roiled, and the soaked talisman papers finally sank to the bottom, turning into fibrous pulp that floated back up.

She looked at the person pinned beneath her. Ding Xiandi’s eyes were clear, unlike her own, which were ugly and distorted, filled with a ferocious, predatory longing.

You Fuling asked, “Would you be willing… no matter who it was?”

Ding Xiandi shook her head. “I have standards too.”

Throughout her life, she had always chosen the most suitable things from her available options. It wasn’t as if she only maintained relationships her parents deemed necessary; in the eyes of adults, a teenager’s choice of friends was filled with “sincerity,” but that wasn’t always the case.

You Fuling gasped for air, the spiritual energy coursing through her body feeling like it might ignite her. Ding Xiandi’s lips were already torn from You Fuling’s biting. She remembered the cabinet where You Fuling had retrieved the elixirs the last time she visited. “Where is your medicine?”

You Fuling shook her head. “Not taking it.”

She slumped over Ding Xiandi, seemingly resisting the blurriness brought on by the spiritual riot. Her body curled up instinctively, her breathing so rapid it seemed she was having a full-blown attack.

Ding Xiandi pulled up the brocade quilt, silently marveling at the luxury of the Heaven-grade apartments. It was a far cry from her life since transmigrating—impoverished and talentless, sleeping under thin blankets while enduring the snoring of her roommates.

She rolled You Fuling into the quilt like a burrito, intending to get off the bed to find the elixirs.

You Fuling’s Tianji Command was shattered beyond repair, so Ding Xiandi had to use her own to find Ji Ting and ask for help.

The Tianji Academy had a specialized category within the Tianji Command that used to be open to the public. Rumor had it that a hundred years ago, a graduating disciple was kidnapped, and their secrets were stolen through dark arts. Those kidnappers possessed a chain of anomalous techniques that could break one array through another. Since then, the Academy had reinforced its protective arrays, and every department’s array had its own insurance. Furthermore, the rules of the Tianji Command regarding the Academy were changed; graduates could no longer access Academy runes without an official summons. If one wanted to contact a fellow disciple, they had to use traditional talismans or add them individually.

Before Ding Xiandi could find Ji Ting, she heard a loud rip. She turned back in shock to see the expensive quilt and cotton stuffing flying through the air. A disheveled You Fuling was reaching out for her.

Ding Xiandi let out a long breath, thinking: If this isn’t a female ghost, I don’t know what is. No matter how pretty she is, with this crazed mental state, is it me who’s going to fall into a demonic trance, or is she already there?

Her cultivation was too low to resist You Fuling. She had just found Ji Ting’s contact, but before she could tap it, she was dragged back. If the face before her weren’t so pale and beautiful, Ding Xiandi would have punched her.

The girl was still emitting a misty ice-blue aura, like an overfilled gas pipe. Even pressed together, she felt freezing cold. Ding Xiandi reached out, but You Fuling seized her wrist. The strength in her grip contradicted her frail appearance; perhaps only Mei Chi could compete with her.

The overflowing spiritual energy felt chilly to the touch. Ding Xiandi poked at her several times without much effect, only to be bitten by the girl again.

“Do you know who I am?”

The girl’s eyes were hazy. Whether it was due to her condition or something else, even her pupils glowed with a blue light, making her look increasingly inhuman.

You Fuling’s mind was still a tangle of voices. After a brief moment of clarity, she fell back into a more desperate sinkhole. She returned to her childhood, growing up in pain all over again, the constant beeping of medical equipment following her like a shadow.

Headaches, difficulty breathing, total body weakness, inability to run, rapid heart rate, blurred consciousness.

Her mother’s cries, her father’s disappointment—the praise she received was far outweighed by the comments of letdown.

“Mom…”

You Fuling’s voice was thin and weak. The manic girl who had just shredded the quilt became as docile as a kitten. She leaned against Ding Xiandi, close enough for Ding Xiandi to hear the whispered syllable repeated over and over.

“Oh… so you miss your mom too.”

Ding Xiandi tried several times to leave the bed, but every time she moved, the girl would snap and pull her back. After the third time, Ding Xiandi gave up. She wasn’t made of steel, and the back of her head was starting to feel bruised from being slammed into the bed.

You Fuling’s treatment at the Heaven-Refining Sect was excellent; one could tell by her lifestyle. The carvings at the head of the bed were exquisite, supposedly brought in by the major sects using specialized magical tools.

The person in her arms was hot one moment and cold the next, calling for her mother one minute and cursing her father the next. As Ding Xiandi listened, she actually burst out laughing. She thought of the impression her friends had of You Fuling back home—always “gentle” or “well-bred.” Those repetitive, bland words didn’t fit this. Her cursing didn’t even repeat once; while the gritting of her teeth was likely due to physical pain, her vocabulary was clearly rich. This wasn’t something one learned overnight.

Where did she hear all this if she never goes out? Just how many faces does she have?

Ding Xiandi was exhausted after a long day of classes. The ratios for the Sword Forging theory were looping in her head, occasionally interrupted by Mei Chi’s retelling of their Master’s words. Before transmigrating, Ding Xiandi had never been away from home for this long.

The girl in her arms trembled, her lips pressed against Ding Xiandi’s neck. Her murmurs were shaky. Ding Xiandi reached out to comfort her. You Fuling’s incense was as cold as she was; after smelling it for a while, the lingering scent was heavy and sleep-inducing.

Ding Xiandi lay with her amidst the torn silk and cotton, both of them reminiscing about the past. She was almost asleep when the Tianji Command let out a solemn bell toll. Ding Xiandi nearly bolted upright.

Ji Ting was asking what was wrong.

Ding Xiandi reached out, and the device slid closer to her. In a world where everything required spiritual power, things were very unfriendly to her. She was exhausted in an instant and collapsed back down.

The person leaning on her, thinking of god-knows-what, began to writhe restlessly again. The soft calls for her mother turned into “Go to hell,” and Ding Xiandi was hammered back into the pillows.

She let out a sigh, wondering if this was karma. The person in her arms was clearly not right; she felt it would be better to get some medicine into her, otherwise, she couldn’t stay here forever. She was still waiting to go to the library to find her way home.

The world was big, but going home was the priority.

Ding Xiandi tried to push You Fuling aside, only to find the girl was as sharp as a dog guarding its food. The moment Ding Xiandi’s skin no longer touched hers, her closed eyes snapped open. If her eyes had any life in them, it might have been fine, but their emptiness was terrifying.

Ding Xiandi was forced to maintain a hand-holding posture while communicating with Ji Ting. She didn’t have time to write character by character. If her spirit stones hadn’t unlocked the new functions of the Tianji Command, she would have loved to take a picture of You Fuling’s current state and send it to her parents in this world.

Ji Ting’s voice remained cold: “Didn’t I tell you to feed her the medicine?”

Ding Xiandi glanced at the girl lying in a pile of ruined quilts. “Your sister won’t let me leave. My spiritual power isn’t even enough for telekinesis.”

“Aren’t you two going to be Dao companions?” Ji Ting replied. “If my sister is severely injured because of your spiritual leakage, I won’t care about the ‘friendship’ between our three sects—I will kill you.”

Ding Xiandi couldn’t forget the sword Ji Ting had sent flying at her when they first met. If You Fuling hadn’t moved fast, her head would have rolled at the start of the game. “Friendship” between the sects? Non-existent.

Given how much Ji Ting doted on You Fuling, why didn’t she stop the engagement? Why let her come here to soothe her? Ding Xiandi looked at You Fuling; the girl’s brow was furrowed, her eyes closed without any sign of relaxation. The way she hooked her fingers into Ding Xiandi’s reflected her agony.

She seemed even more miserable in this world than in the last.

“Are you just going to leave her like this?” Ding Xiandi asked.

Ji Ting snorted. “She’s like this because of you. Do you dare deny it?”

Ding Xiandi was speechless. The senior on the other end seemed busy as well, taking a deep breath before saying, “A-Shan’s condition used to make it impossible for anyone to get near her. Now that we aren’t at the sect and have no elders to help, just feed her the elixirs in the cabinet.”

Ji Ting was currently writing a damage report for the Academy’s residential arrays. A fellow Heaven-Refining disciple stood by her, unhappily paying the fine. Hearing Ji Ting’s relatively polite tone, she couldn’t hide her displeasure. “Eldest Senior Sister, why do you even bother talking to that social climber? I think the Star Point Sect is just a bunch of heretics. They take cranes, beggars, and gluttons as disciples. For all we know, someone there is a demonic cultivator and has bewitched Second Senior Sister.”

Another sword cultivator from their sect covered her mouth. “Don’t talk about demonic cultivation! And ‘bewitched’? Ding Xiandi looks like that. If she were a fox demon, she’d be out of business.”

“I can’t—” Ding Xiandi started to say.

Ji Ting, whose headache was clearly worsening, cut off the conversation entirely.

A girl standing beside Ji Ting asked, “Is it really okay to leave Second Senior Sister in the care of that failure?”

Ji Ting hadn’t received a reply from her Master, but she had learned of Ding Xiandi’s birth details from the Head Elder. Even if the exact hour wasn’t precise, it was enough for Ji Ting to recall what You Fuling’s Master had mentioned when she first brought her back. The Heaven-Refining Sect was the top sect of Liuguang, filled with powerful masters. That year, before the Ancestor passed, You Fuling was the last person she read the fate of.

Ten thousand years ago, the masters of the three sects were all disciples of Taoist Yushan; they were originally one family. Essentially, the three sects practiced the same lineage of knowledge. These days, marriage was like a game, and in reality, many from the Heaven-Refining and Moon-Falling sects intermarried. The Star Point Sect was simply underpopulated, and since their Sect Master rarely traveled or cared about the grand competitions, they had naturally declined.

“It’s fine,” Ji Ting said. “Master told me I cannot interfere with her decisions.”

Whether life or death, or marriage—all were the woman’s own destiny. If life was like a floating weed, a “Grounded” life (Di Jin) was a mayfly beneath it—blessed with peerless talent but a short lifespan. Ji Ting had known for a long time that her sister’s life might be like the morning dew.

But fate always leaves a glimmer of hope. Even if the ground has an end, the heavens do not trap a person in a dead end. If the “Grounded” meets the “Heavenly Severance” (Tian Jue), then the briefest moment becomes eternity. Ji Ting wanted to bet on that “what if.”

Ding Xiandi knew none of this. She tried to let go of You Fuling’s hand, but before she could even take a step, she was thrown back onto the bed by the girl. The apartment felt like a spider’s web, and she was the prey for this “female ghost” cultivator.

The girl’s eyes were completely hollow, yet her murmurs were full of grievance. Ding Xiandi had spent her time deducing You Fuling’s personality from known information: similar family backgrounds, overlapping educational resources. Before she had stumbled upon You Fuling’s father’s affair, Ding Xiandi had always thought the other girl was happier than she was. Parents who had loved each other passionately and had a child was a beautiful story; the only defect could be fixed with modern medicine.

But.

You Fuling was not happy. Her pain was manifested here, as if she were treating Ding Xiandi as her only lifeline. Biting, eating, devouring, and sucking.

Ding Xiandi’s lips were already wounded. Unable to stand the girl’s hesitant fumbling, she cupped You Fuling’s face and brushed aside her messy hair. “You Fuling.”

The girl was still struggling, her limbs twitching. Ding Xiandi glanced at the talisman papers on the floor. Her memory was perfect; if she had spiritual energy, she could have easily drawn a calming talisman. But without it, she could do nothing.

She was also getting angry. She wasn’t naturally even-tempered; she just hid her foul moods beneath her skin. The person whose face she was holding seemed to be fighting the chaos in her mind, looking at the short-haired girl walking away with friends in her memories.

“Ding…” “Xiandi.” “Wait…”

Before she could finish the word “I,” You Fuling was kissed back fiercely.

Torn cotton swirled as they rolled. The pond water roiled even more violently in response to the apartment owner’s emotions. Along with the kiss, the locked fingers, and the tangled breathing, the spiritual energy that Ding Xiandi had never been able to gather finally began to coalesce.

She snapped her eyes open. The person in her arms didn’t like the pause; she hooked a knee and tried to pin her down. Their bodies fought, the kiss indistinguishable from a brawl.

In this chaos, Ding Xiandi split a thread of her mind. Closing her fingers, she recited a mantra she had memorized countless times. The talisman papers on the floor rose with a rustle and rushed toward her.

Her eyes lit up. It worked!

“You!” Ding Xiandi started to speak, but the person who had been trying to pry open her lips finally succeeded.

Ding Xiandi couldn’t make a sound. With the kiss, You Fuling’s leaking spiritual energy flowed continuously into her body, like a drained battery finally finding a compatible power source. Ding Xiandi was overjoyed and cupped the other’s face to welcome her warmly.

She didn’t care if it was a “heterodox” method; she just thought it was incredibly useful, a classic case of mutual benefit. You Fuling should be quite satisfy.

Before she could finish her smug thought, the person whose eyes had cleared closed them again. Taking advantage of the moment, she greedily caressed Ding Xiandi, leaning in to whisper in her ear:

“You asked me if I knew, how are you really that good at it?”

Support After Transmigrating into a Book, I Became Partners with My Mortal Enemy