Black Lotus Female Lead, Don’t Love Me Too Much - Chapter 1

“Monster, give up your life!”

A dark-purple figure leaped up within the great hall, his bright sword shedding streaks of black-red blood. His handsome face was completely twisted, wearing a grotesque expression of self-righteous hatred.

Pure, white spiritual energy flowed incessantly from the core of his being. Seemingly feeling an inexhaustible strength, he let out a roar and charged toward the red-clothed female ghost sitting atop the steps.

The ghost was holding a bronze wine cup high. Sweet, scarlet liquid fell from the vessel, but it failed to enter her pale, cherry-blossom lips or reach her searching tongue. Instead, she wore a look of shock and bewilderment, allowing the hard-won liquid to splash across her pulsing throat, her snow-white collarbone, and her chilled chest.

Wait…

Cough, cough… stop, stop, stop… request a pause! Don’t hit me yet!

Who am I?

Let’s figure that out first!

The second question is: why am I here?!

Alright, truth be told, I know who I am. Readers, please listen to me: I am Lu Xiangyu. Lu Xiangyu is this female ghost, but I’m not her! Fine, I am her now!

Someone save my life! Something has happened to me that you readers are all too familiar with. That’s right—I’ve transmigrated!

It’s like this: reading a novel and then transmigrating is a very common occurrence, right? The moment I saw an antagonist with the same name as mine, I had a premonition!

This villain was a piece of “cannon fodder” who only appeared once. I read the entire novel, and she really only showed up once—just once! I was actually looking forward to her having more scenes…

But that’s not the point. The point is, in this one and only appearance in the plot, I—whether as Lu Xiangyu or the Ghost Queen—am about to die.

I’m panicking! Can someone save me… Okay, actually, no one is going to save me because Lu Xiangyu is a complete jerk! She is the head of the Twelve Ghost Kings of the Demon Realm. That title sounds impressive, doesn’t it? Don’t get excited. The territory of the Twelve Ghost Kings is just a remote border of the Demon Realm, and aside from me, every single other Ghost King is a damn undercover spy from the Cultivation Realm! Like this guy in front of me right now!

“Eleventh King, why do you seek to kill me!” I finally remembered my lines.

“Ghost King… Hehehe… I have endured humiliation by your side for three years, biding my time, all for this moment.”

In an instant, blood-red light erupted from the man’s eyes. The tip of his blade drew near as a surging, wave-like spiritual energy bore down on the space between my eyebrows.

He—another one-time cannon fodder spy whose name isn’t even important—what was important again? Anyway, I am not going to die at the hands of a small fry!

In that moment, I felt a rush of ruthless satisfaction in my heart. I turned my head to look at him, my dazed gaze transforming into that of a venomous snake. An arrogant, invisible demonic aura rose around me. His blade and spiritual energy became like a dying old man before me, and I sent him flying in an instant.

—Thud. He smashed into a pillar at the entrance of the hall and then slid down, limp and covered in blood.

“Hahahahaha—”

I let out the classic villainous mad laugh. If nothing else, it felt incredibly satisfying.

“You think you can kill me?” I tried my best to stifle my laughter while reciting the lines from the novel.

There was no helping it; since I had transmigrated, I had to be professional. Though I still wanted to live, I didn’t want to break the plot. Besides, being a Ghost King has been truly awesome! Now that I’ve had my fill of fun, is it time for me to die?

I flicked my vibrant red sleeves, which looked like operatic robes, revealing a bewitchingly beautiful face beneath my jet-black hair.

I continued to sneer coldly. My invisible demonic energy pressed down like the hand of a giant toward that paralyzed rat.

“Why don’t you think about why I am the head of the Twelve Ghost Kings? Why I have held this position for over a hundred years?”

“…How are you still this strong?” The man crawling on the ground coughed up blood and fragments of internal organs. He was gravely injured, yet his venomous gaze still shot toward me like shards of glass, which only made me feel excited.

“Are you talking about this wine?” I elegantly hooked the wine cup with my fingertip. “You poisoned it?” The smile on my lips grew wider. “It’s delicious. The fine wine you brewed for me using those of ‘Extreme Yin’ constitution… it’s just as tasty as the countless beautiful young boys you’ve brought me in the past.”

I tilted my head back and drained every drop of the poisoned liquid. My throat shifted as I swallowed, and my expression turned cold. I slammed the cup onto the floor nearby.

“This is impossible…” he murmured weakly from the ground. He was already on the verge of death, and I was enjoying the pleasure of tormenting him. This was part of the plot.

Suddenly, he realized something. He looked up at me in disbelief. “Could it be… legend says the head of the Twelve Ghost Kings possesses the soul of a True Demon. When did you refine a True Demon Body?”

“Hahahaha…” I laughed mockingly. “What ‘refined’? I have always been one!”

The look in his eyes turned to utter despair; death was imminent.

But a foreboding feeling suddenly rose in my heart. He was about to die, and so was I.

Forget it! I’ll take this man down with me first!

I clawed at the air, my demonic power surging beneath my feet. My True Demon Body allowed my aura to merge with the Demon Realm itself. I took to the air, lunging toward him.

“…”

Just then.

“Senior Brother.”

A clear, cold, and beautiful voice echoed through the hall, sounding like a mountain spring, like a bright moon.

The man and I both froze at the same time.

“Senior Brother Zeng.”

The beautiful voice sounded again. This time, I determined its location: it was in the sky.

Instantly, an intense sense of crisis enveloped my entire body. Subconsciously, I tried to run toward the side door of the side hall. Before I could even pass a pillar, a roar of spiritual energy—powerful enough to split the seas and penetrate the bedrock—blasted toward me.

In truth, this happened in less than a third of a second. However, the vaulted ceiling of my great hall was torn open, leaving a massive hole. The bronze gates and the restrictions upon them were utterly destroyed, and fragments of the building fell like crumbling tofu.

At this moment, it felt as if all sound had been cut off by a vacuum.

I looked up in despair.

Through the rift, the endless demonic aura of the sunless sky was visible. Purple mountains sat behind her, and the moon in the high sky looked like a fresh wound, dripping blood-red.

The woman radiated the majesty of a demonic god, yet a pure white spiritual energy acted like an inexhaustible spring, constantly dispersing into the air of the Demon Realm.

She was stunningly beautiful, but she seemed to carry a hazy, soft glow that made her god-like, merciful features even more tender and moving. She was like a lotus blooming slowly in the sinful depths of the Demon Realm, untouched by any corruption. Instead, her spiritual energy brought unrest to the entire Demon Realm.

The female lead of this novel, Song Shenshi.

The immortal stepped through the void, her hair and the hem of her robes floating without wind. Threads of spiritual energy lingered on her immortal robes, forming clusters that transformed into mythical beasts like Kirins and Phoenixes, which joyfully crashed into the hall, turning my palace into ruins in the blink of an eye.

There was no time for sorrow. I felt my demonic power being torn apart as if by countless sword-shadows. My body was in excruciating pain, but I had to flee, I had to… but…

I looked to the side. The sword mark that had shattered the ceiling cut deep into the earth, creating a chasm. My legs were gone from the thighs down. My entire body had been caught in that terrible spiritual wave, my skin torn and mangled, blood soaking my red robes.

It hurts… it hurts so much… why do I have to suffer this for Lu Xiangyu? I’m talking about the demoness, not me!

The delayed pain brought me to tears. In this moment, I forgot that the fairy in the sky was the protagonist of the book. I hated her to death. Through my tears, I stared venomously at her as she approached. I cursed Song Shenshi.

I wanted her to never get what she desired; I wanted her to die a miserable death.

A cold hand lifted my chin. Her movement was so gentle I could barely feel it.

My tears subsided, as if that face possessed some kind of magic that temporarily halted the pain throughout my body.

She looked at me tenderly, her slightly furrowed brows and sorrowful, watery eyes making her look truly beautiful—exactly as described in the book. It was as if she wasn’t the one who had reduced me to this pathetic state! As if killing me was an act of salvation!

She seemed puzzled. My tears slid over the wounds on my face, making them sting more. As those scalding tears fell onto her fair skin, her brow furrowed deeper.

“Does it hurt?” she asked curiously. Her voice was beautiful and gentle, yet utterly heartless.

I suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. At that moment, she let go of me, and a cyan-colored sword easily pierced through my broken body.

Damn it… this damn hypocritical female lead!

Song Shenshi killed me with a cold, calm brutality that stood in stark contrast to her face. She then dismembered my still-breathing body. In extreme pain and terror, I gradually approached the gates of death.

“True Demon Body.” Her breathing remained steady as she remarked that the True Demon status I had spent a century achieving was “nothing special.”

Then, her brow furrowed deeply, and she tilted her snow-white chin upward, looking like a cold, clear moon.

Only now did a hint of her cruelty leak out as the corners of her mouth curled into a smile.

“Ah… a body without a soul. You escaped.”

“…” My pupils contracted in disbelief and then dilated.

Like a lizard that severs its tail to survive, I had done the same. I was merely the demonic body and a half-wisp of a soul left behind by Lu Xiangyu.

Reader friends, I am dead. I hope someone will miss me.

…

Song Shenshi calmly used the Qingling Sword to perform an inhumane dismemberment of the demon cultivator’s remains beneath her. She then lifted the sword, shook off the blood, and poured corpse-dissolving liquid onto the bloody mess. A wisp of green smoke rose; the corpse first turned charred black, then left only a dark stain.

Once finished, Song Shenshi maintained the smile on her lips and turned toward the only remaining pillar in the ruins—an area she had intentionally avoided.

Senior Brother Zeng… is still alive, right?

As she turned, her footsteps were light, showing the joy and happiness of a young woman.

This time, she had ventured into the Demon Realm alone, without any burdens or obstacles, and single-handedly killed a demon cultivator who was also in the Immortal Forging Realm. It seemed… not very difficult?

Song Shenshi suppressed the pride in her heart, adopted an expression of gentle melancholy and universal compassion, and walked toward Zeng Hongfei.

After a short while, Zeng Hongfei seemed to regain a bit of life. He lifted his bruised and swollen face, his eyes swollen to mere slits.

He looked at the person before him, remembering the girl with the innocent smile from seven years ago.

“Junior Sister, I…” Zeng Hongfei seemed stung by the memory. He wanted to lower his head, but greed made him keep his neck stiff, staring up at Song Shenshi’s face.

“I know, Senior Brother. You were forced to betray the sect,” Song Shenshi said, looking at him with pity. She spoke softly, “This time, it was Senior Brother Zeng who fought to the death with the Ghost King to slay her. I will convey your merits to Master and the sect.”

“Thank you, Junior Sister Song… You are already…”

“I cannot save you.” Song Shenshi sighed helplessly, her eyes filled with sadness. “I attained the Immortal Body three days ago, but unlike other sisters, I did not choose the path of healing. If I were to forcibly pour my spiritual energy into you, Senior Brother, you would suffer the same fate as that demon cultivator.”

“…” Zeng Hongfei nodded and finally said, “Junior Sister, I am very happy that you came to save me.”

He drew his last breath.

Song Shenshi watched as his body slumped. She stepped forward, used her sword to slice open Zeng Hongfei’s chest, and found an object near the third rib.

With a flick of her sword tip, the object was washed of its foul blood by spiritual power and landed in her palm.

It was a small tree root shaped like an infant, slightly longer than a palm. Song Shenshi studied it for a moment, then tucked it away, satisfied.

This was the secret of how Zeng Hongfei could go undercover in the Demon Realm as a spiritual cultivator: a spiritual treasure known as the “Cunmie Lingbao.”

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