After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Entangled by a Crazy and Beautiful Villain - Chapter 10

Ye Tingran nodded cooperatively, slowly drawing out her longsword. The blade reflected a cold light. “Junior Sister, what you said makes sense. In that case, let’s…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Mu Tong immediately panicked and cried out, “No, wait! Lady Ye, please hold on! I was just joking with you a moment ago…”

“Just ask whatever you want! I will tell you everything I know, without fail! I’ll spill all the information I have!”

“Smart move,” Song Linlin said smugly.

Ye Tingran did not sheathe her sword. She maintained her half-drawn stance and said calmly, “Now, tell us everything you know. Remember, if anything you say contradicts what I already know, dare to deceive us, and you know the consequences…”

She didn’t explicitly state the consequences, but the sharp longsword was the ultimate deterrent.

Mu Tong dared not lie. He recounted everything he knew faithfully, including who had given him orders and some partial information about the faction hiding within the Luofeng Temple.

He didn’t know much. Mu Tong had only received their covert support. That group provided him with some medicinal ingredients and pills, helped him suppress other apothecaries, and Mu Tong was merely the person responsible for selling them. He drew out half of the shop’s monthly profit to share with them.

He also had to collect intelligence in the city for them, constantly watching for anything unusual. Occasionally, that group would ask Mu Tong to do some tasks, but they were never too difficult.

Only one person came each time to assign tasks and collect money. Mu Tong had never interacted with the other members of the faction.

Ye Tingran listened, thought for two seconds, and asked, “Are you saying the person responsible for meeting with you is also here in Yuanqing City?”

If that person was also in Yuanqing City, things would be troublesome. The fight they had with Mu Tong created quite a commotion.

If the news reached that person’s ears, they would surely vanish without a trace.

“No.”

Mu Tong shook his head affirmatively, recalled for a moment, and said, “He is not in Yuanqing City. That person is also hiding in the Luofeng Temple. He only appears at our agreed location at a specific time each month to collect the money the apothecary owes for the previous month.”

“Other than that day, he only comes to Yuanqing City occasionally when he has something to instruct me to do.”

“What day is your agreed time? And where is the location?” Ye Tingran pressed for details.

Mu Tong looked up, his voice firm: “Tomorrow night!”

“As for the location, don’t even think about it. Even if you kill me, I won’t tell you now! I will naturally take you there tomorrow night.”

He wasn’t so foolish as to reveal everything he knew. The most crucial detail had to be kept back to ensure he maintained his value and wouldn’t be silenced after the other party got the information they wanted.

Ye Tingran clearly knew that no matter how much more she asked, she likely wouldn’t get any new information. She told Song Linlin and Zhiyu, “You two go back first, and explain the current situation to the others. Everyone is still waiting at the inn.”

“I’ll stay here and watch Mu Tong. Zhiyu, go back and explain the situation to the others, then have Liu Zhi bring one person with him. Come relieve me in two hours. We will arrange the time and take turns guarding him.”

Zhiyu did not hesitate. She nodded. “Understood, Senior Sister Ye. Please be careful. We will head back now.”

Ye Tingran was the strongest person, and she clearly still had the energy to handle the current situation. Meanwhile, she herself was clear-headed and better at organizing affairs, so she needed to return and arrange everyone’s tasks.

Song Linlin was injured in the previous fight and also needed to go back and rest and recuperate early.

“Let’s go, Junior Sister, we’ll head back first.”

Zhiyu helped Song Linlin, who was sitting down, stand up, and the two walked back towards the inn. Song Linlin felt a bit better now, not in as much full-body pain as before.

She just felt she was truly prone to misfortune. She had been thrown off balance by the aftermath of a fight between powerful figures the night before, rested for just one morning, and was thrown again that afternoon…

The most critical thing was that her sword was broken!

Don’t let the sword hanging on her waist fool you; it looked fine. But if she were to draw the hilt, she would find that the long scabbard contained only a blade broken clean in half.

“Sigh!”

Song Linlin couldn’t help but sigh. The only thing worth being relieved about was that they had caught Mu Tong and gathered some intelligence.

Sure enough, this team would fall apart without me. We still have to rely on my cleverness to successfully take that guy down.

The path was deserted. They had intentionally brought Mu Tong to this remote place for interrogation. Zhiyu walked beside her, chuckled softly, and asked curiously, “Junior Sister Song, what was that about Zhang San…? Why didn’t I know you had this identity?”

“Uh… this…” Song Linlin was a little embarrassed. She had just spoken carelessly at the time, and now, looking back, it felt too awkward.

“Senior Sister Zhiyu, please don’t tease me. I just used my quick wits and made it up at the time. How would I know if there’s such a person in the Medicine King Valley?”

“Is that so.” Zhiyu nodded, seemed to recall something, paused for a second or two, then smiled. “I thought you were actually acquainted with Fellow Daoist Zhang San from the Medicine King Valley.”

“Huh?”

Song Linlin was shocked. Was there really such a person? Who was so careless as to give someone such a random name…

“Is that Zhang San… very powerful?” Song Linlin pressed curiously.

Zhiyu nodded, confirming, “Fellow Daoist Zhang San is very powerful in alchemy, similar to how you just described him, Junior Sister Song.”

Song Linlin fell silent. She had literally just said the first thing that came to mind and had somehow been right…

But it shouldn’t be a big problem. They weren’t from the same sect. How could she know that she was impersonating her?

With this thought, Song Linlin felt reassured.

The two returned to the inn. Zhiyu went to discuss the follow-up with the others. Song Linlin was simply too exhausted to participate in these matters. After greeting Zhiyu, she went up the stairs, planning to return to her room to rest.

They had left in the afternoon, and now it was dusk. Song Linlin dragged her weary body up the stairs and finally reached the door of her room.

She pushed the door open and weakly said to the person inside, “I’m back.”

Chi Qianning was sitting on a stool by the table, taking small sips of water. She turned her head when she heard the movement at the door and saw Song Linlin looking half-dead.

Her previously clean and tidy clothes were dusty. A lock of hair near her temple looked like it had been sliced off by a sharp object, one side long and one short, looking truly strange.

Song Linlin closed the door, sat on the other stool, and then draped her upper body across the wooden table, too tired to move.

She recovered for several seconds, then raised her hand to pour herself a cup of water, drinking the entire glass in one gulp.

Chi Qianning frowned slightly at the sight, put down her tea cup, looked Song Linlin up and down, and asked with doubt, “Were you chased?”

“Ah?”

Song Linlin finished her water, her face resting on the tabletop. “No, I just fought someone.”

“Did you win?”

“Don’t even mention it!” Song Linlin sighed, her fingers gripping the sword hilt, drawing out the broken sword, and said bitterly, “That guy held a grudge and chased after just me to attack. My sword got broken.”

“But thankfully, that guy was ultimately captured by Senior Sister Ye, so breaking a sword wasn’t in vain.”

Chi Qianning’s expression didn’t change. She propped one hand on the table, leaned her face against the back of her hand, and said flatly, “Mmm. Did he die in the end?”

Song Linlin didn’t know how to respond to her for a moment. How could she speak of killing someone so calmly, without even changing her expression?

She pondered her choice of words before replying, “We can’t kill him right now. We still need him to get intelligence on the enemy faction, and we need him to lead the way tomorrow night.”

Likely finding the matter uninteresting, the other party didn’t pursue the subject. Song Linlin was also lazy and just remained sprawled out, her eyes nearly closing.

Chi Qianning couldn’t stand it anymore and spoke up, “If you want to sleep, go sleep on the bed.”

“My clothes are too dirty. I’ll definitely stain the blanket if I get on the bed.”

Song Linlin opened her eyes, clutched her chest, hissed, and frowned, looking rather pathetic.

“I feel like that guy really gave me internal injuries. Although I feel better after taking a healing pill, let me just rest here for a bit. Don’t worry about me. I’ll go wash up later.”

Chi Qianning was silent for two seconds, then suddenly said, “Get up.”

“Huh? Why?” Song Linlin really didn’t want to move. Her chest felt heavy, and she felt weak.

“Get up, sit straight,” Chi Qianning emphasized again, her tone brooking no refusal.

Looking at the other person, Song Linlin sighed and finally sat up reluctantly, feeling all floppy, as if she would faint even sitting up.

“Turn around, face me.”

“Oh…”

Song Linlin turned around, facing Chi Qianning, and opened her mouth wearily: “Next…”

However, just as she spoke these words, while Song Linlin was completely unprepared and had no time to react, Chi Qianning slapped her chest. A cold palm pressed against Song Linlin’s chest.

The force of this palm strike was not great; it looked light and airy, but a special energy was enveloped in the palm. With one slap, Song Linlin’s unfinished sentence was interrupted.

“Pfft!”

Blood surged up her throat from her chest, and Song Linlin spat out a mouthful of blood directly.

“Cough! Cough! You… I…”

She really couldn’t speak, coughing for a long while, until she had coughed up all the remaining blood in her throat. Song Linlin looked up, staring at the other person in horror.

Where did I upset her?

Was it necessary? To make me cough up blood with one slap!

Chi Qianning watched calmly as Song Linlin coughed for a long time. It wasn’t until the other person looked up at her that she spoke faintly, “Did you spit out all the congealed blood?”

Congealed blood?

After hearing her, Song Linlin realized that her previous feeling of tightness in her chest and shortness of breath had seemingly been completely unblocked. Her breathing felt much lighter.

So, she wasn’t deliberately trying to make me cough up blood because she was annoyed with me…

Song Linlin, who had wrongly accused the other party, felt a little ashamed and said sincerely, “Thank you, the congealed blood is out. I feel much better now!”

Chi Qianning saw through her thoughts instantly, raising an eyebrow. “What? Did you think I was trying to kill you just now?”

Song Linlin could only offer an awkward smile. She then noticed that because she had been facing Chi Qianning, most of the congealed blood she spat out had landed on her own clothes, but some splattered blood beads had flown outwards.

There was a little bit on Chi Qianning’s face, and her pale-moon-colored long dress was dotted with red bloodstains, like small red flowers.

“Oh! There’s blood on your face, let me wipe it for you!”

Song Linlin tried to change the subject, stood up, bent slightly closer to the other person, and subconsciously cupped Chi Qianning’s cheek with one hand, picking up her sleeve to help wipe away those few spots of blood.

The touch in her hand was cold and delicate. Song Linlin only realized after wiping that her sleeve was dirty. Not only did she fail to wipe the blood clean, but she rubbed a gray smudge onto the other person’s face instead.

She hurriedly let go of her sleeve and wiped it again vigorously with her finger. Her fingerprint rubbed against the smooth, delicate skin, leaving a faint red mark on the cool, white skin.

She had a feeling she was making a mess of things.

Song Linlin stopped moving and realized that the distance between the two of them was now excessively close. The other person’s breath was even hitting her fingers.

What was supposed to be a cold sensation now felt strangely hot. Song Linlin let go of the hand that was cupping the other person’s face. Her mind went blank, and she stared into Chi Qianning’s eyes for a moment before spitting out one sentence: “Uh… I’m sorry, I was wrong.”

As she spoke, her own mouth was still stained with blood, making her look not very bright.

Chi Qianning turned her head away, breaking eye contact with Song Linlin. Song Linlin also stood up straight, taking two steps back, putting some distance between herself and the other person.

“Clumsy.”

Song Linlin heard the other person’s soft comment. She couldn’t see what the other person’s expression was. The silver long hair covered most of her face, and only the red mark left by her own recent rubbing was particularly noticeable.

Then Chi Qianning turned around, and she also stood up. She pinched a hand seal, and the next second, Song Linlin felt some kind of change happen to her body.

She looked down and saw that her previously filthy clothes were now completely refreshed, looking exactly like new. The bloodstains on the other person’s pale-moon-colored dress had also completely disappeared.

“Wow!”

Song Linlin let out a sound of awe, like someone who hadn’t seen much of the world. She looked down, turned her body left and right, and said in surprise, “Is this the Cleansing Spell?”

“Mm.”

Chi Qianning responded blandly. This was not a very profound spell; it was just that Song Linlin was too weak right now and couldn’t learn it yet.

She turned around and walked towards the bed. “Don’t just stand there stupidly, go sleep on the bed.”

“Okay.”

Now that she felt clean and refreshed, even cleaner than after a good scrub at the bathhouse, why sleep on the table? Of course, sleeping on the bed was more comfortable.

Chi Qianning sat on the innermost part of the bed. Song Linlin lay back down in her original spot, with the blanket piled between the two of them.

After a day of work outside, lying in bed now, Song Linlin felt a sense of relief. Just as she was about to close her eyes, she noticed that Chi Qianning, who had been sitting, also lay down.

Song Linlin: ?

She turned her head and asked in confusion, “Aren’t you not sleeping?”

“I’m tired.”

She didn’t offer any further explanation. Song Linlin thought about it and felt it wasn’t a big deal. The bed was so big, so what if they slept together for one night?

No longer pondering these matters, Song Linlin yawned and closed her eyes, gradually relaxing her whole body. Only her chest still hurt a little.

That slap from Chi Qianning looked light, but it genuinely hurt when it landed. Song Linlin was just relatively tough, and she endured it without complaining because it felt a bit embarrassing to mention.