I Quit Being This Female Lead (GL) - Chapter 59

The Elixir of Immortality.

A legend that had been circulated for nearly a thousand years: that by taking the heart’s blood of the Demon Tribe leader and drinking it, one could gain eternal life.

But a legend is a legend after all. The world now was mostly inhabited by demonic beasts left over from the primal chaos, and true members of the Demon Tribe would not brazenly appear in the human world.

However, if there was no concrete information, why would the Emperor be so eager to leave the capital and travel west with such a massive, imposing entourage?

Their route was exactly the same as the Emperor’s. This definitely wasn’t a coincidence.

Mang Ke couldn’t help but ponder this while eating her noodles.

After finishing her portion of noodles and cleaning her bowl and chopsticks, the chef had already left to deliver the buns, leaving the kitchen entirely to herself.

Mang Ke looked at the food items in the kitchen and thought that since they still had a journey ahead, she might as well make some stir-fried dried noodles or something similar. If they got hungry, they could just boil water on the road to mix and drink.

Although the taste of stir-fried noodles was notoriously awful, calculating the days, it was only half a month until they reached the mountain gate. She would just have to bear with it.

Mang Ke took out the flour, steamed it on a clean bamboo steamer, and added some corn kernels and shredded meat pieces. This would make the resulting chao mi (stir-fried rice/flour) taste slightly better.

After preparing all of this, she found a bag to pack it in. Once mixed with hot water, it would provide four or five meals.

After finishing all this, Mang Ke stretched. She hadn’t realized how boring life was when she wasn’t running into Xun Fangyun.

Thinking back, she had spent over twenty years that way. Although the time spent in the book worlds passed in the blink of an eye in reality, those days were indeed real.

After breakfast, Mang Ke went to look for her Senior Sister. Usually, at this time, she would be practicing martial arts in a nearby open area. Mang Ke was unskilled in physical labor and ignorant of basic skills—practicing martial arts or swordplay would likely only injure herself.

Guided by the innkeeper, Mang Ke learned that her Senior Sister had gone outside the back courtyard, where there was a large bamboo forest that looked desolate after the previous night’s snow.

“Little Lady侠, it’s best not to go,” the innkeeper advised. “The path is slippery with snow, and at the end of the bamboo forest is a cliff. It’s very dangerous.”

Mang Ke wondered, “A cliff?”

The innkeeper said, “Yes, usually we only go there to collect bamboo shoots. It’s dangerous ordinarily and is fenced off, but with the wind and snow these days, Little Lady侠, you really shouldn’t go.”

“But didn’t my Senior Sister go over there?”

“She did. I tried to warn her, but she said she’d be fine, and I couldn’t stop her.”

Mang Ke thought for a moment. She still needed to call her Senior Sister back for a meal and prepare to pack up and leave. She looked up at the sun; the day after the snow was exceptionally sunny. Mang Ke then told the innkeeper, “I’ll just call out to her from the edge of the forest. If my Senior Brothers ask about me, tell them I’ll be right back.”

“Huh?” The innkeeper watched Mang Ke run off and sighed helplessly: “These young people, why are they so headstrong? So impulsive, every single one of them.”

Mang Ke trod on the thick snow and walked into the bamboo forest. Just as the innkeeper had said, there were railings every short distance in the forest. The railings weren’t very tall, but they weren’t low enough to miss.

She searched in the bamboo forest for a long time but didn’t see her Senior Disciple-Sister. The snow on the ground made it terribly cold, and the wind shook the bamboo, scattering residual snow. When it accidentally poured down her neck, the feeling was truly awful.

Unable to find her, Mang Ke decided to head back, thinking her Senior Sister might have already finished her practice and returned.

Just as Mang Ke leaned on a bamboo stalk, preparing to go back, she heard a rustling sound behind her. The sound was highly penetrating; it traveled from far away and drilled directly into her mind, as if thousands of voices were calling her to come closer.

Mang Ke felt her head spin slightly. She looked back over her shoulder, but the empty bamboo forest only held blue-gray bamboo leaves and the white expanse of snow on the ground.

The wind rustled the bamboo leaves, and as the snow piled on the leaves drifted down, it was as if it were snowing again.

[What a pretty girl~]

[Yes, yes. How long has it been since a living person came here?]

[She looks delicious. Should we keep her?]

[Keep her, keep her!]

[We haven’t encountered a girl we like this much in ages. And winter has just set in, so the fertilizer is running low…]

Mang Ke seemed to hear many voices speaking. They were ethereal and low, like a group of people whispering right next to her ears.

Oh no, she’s run into mountain spirits and wilderness monsters.

Mang Ke instinctively covered her ears. Her spiritual power was weak; one could even say she had a body with entirely weak roots. In front of these spirits, she was essentially an ordinary person.

[Hehehe, she’s so cute.]

[Can she hear us talking?]

[If she can hear us, she must have spiritual roots. She’d be excellent, deeply nourishing fertilizer!]

[That’s wonderful! This little girl is much more nutritious than those rough villagers.]

[Yes, yes! We must keep her here!]

As the voices finished speaking, Mang Ke felt the cold air around her instantly drop several degrees. Though there was no wind, the bamboo stalks rustled, and large swaths of snow fell from above, covering Mang Ke’s footprints from where she had come.

Darn it, these spirits are trying to keep her here!

This is bad, this is bad. She just went out for a casual stroll and now she’s going to lose her life. Mang Ke‘s vision swam. She felt her luck was truly terrible!

Before the snow could completely cover her footprints, Mang Ke quickly lifted her feet and started running!

[She’s running, she’s running!]

[Hehehe, she won’t get away. No one can escape from the bamboo forest.]

[Little Sister, don’t run! You can’t escape the palm of our hands!]

Mang Ke ignored the voices. She remembered her Senior Sister mentioning during a casual chat that some minor demons would use illusion formations to trap people until they starved or died of exhaustion, becoming their nourishment.

So, when facing a situation like this, one must remain calm. Otherwise, it would be truly embarrassing to be eaten by minor spirits.

Right, right, right.

Mang Ke made up her mind. These mountain spirits could only trap her at most. As long as she maintained a peaceful state of mind, she could certainly find a way out!

Maintain composure, silently recite the incantation.

Sword, come!!!

Mang Ke reached out and drew the longsword from her waist. She only saw a flash of cold light, and two-tenths of the bamboo forest blocking her way was instantly cut down.

[Is the little girl from an immortal cultivation sect?]

[Hmph, no wonder she has spiritual roots. I thought we were so lucky that any random girl wandering in would possess spiritual roots.]

[Since she knows a bit of magic, we must not let her leave. What if she goes out and brings a group of people to attack us?]

[Yes, we must keep her here! We can’t let her escape!]

The longsword in Mang Ke’s hand hummed loudly, making her palm web tingle. She heard those words clearly.

Oh no, oh no. She only knows the basic attack. She doesn’t know anything besides this one move. If this group of minor spirits wouldn’t let her out, she truly had no one to call on for help!

Mang Ke gritted her teeth. The thin spiritual energy surged out from her dantian and converged into the sword energy!

“Sword, come——!!”

In an instant, a silver-white sword energy burst forth, severing seven or eight bamboo stalks in front of her. Mang Ke held the sword with both hands and shouted again: “Sword, come——!!”

After three or five repetitions, Mang Ke felt her arms were numb, and the spiritual energy in her dantian was completely empty.

Mang Ke couldn’t help but complain: Why is her mana so low!!!

[Look quickly, the little girl is out of strength.]

[Has her spiritual energy run out?]

[No way! How could it run out after just a few moves? Isn’t she a disciple of an immortal cultivation sect?]

[She’s so weak! How did she even get admitted?]

[Yes, yes. Could she have used back door connections?]

Mang Ke was furious. Clenching her sword, she shouted toward the bamboo forest, “I didn’t use back door connections! Don’t talk nonsense if you don’t know anything!!!”

[Hehe, she’s angry, see?]

[The Little Spiritual Root is angry.]

[Even when she’s angry, she’s cute.]

Mang Ke was absolutely livid at the nickname ‘Little Spiritual Root.’ What kind of people were these mountain spirits and wilderness monsters? How dare they randomly give people nicknames!!!

“Don’t call me ‘Little Spiritual Root’!” Mang Ke shouted in frustration, “Once I gather enough mana, this bamboo forest won’t be able to trap me!!!”

[Hehehe, Little Spiritual Root has quite the nerve. Why don’t you try it? Let’s see if your ‘Sword, come’ is faster, or if our bamboo forest is faster.]

Mang Ke focused her mind and directed her spiritual energy into her inner elixir, immediately feeling that the faint spiritual energy had increased significantly.

That’s the spirit! One more ‘Sword, come,’ and she would show these spirits how powerful she was!

The wind picked up, and the snow moved.

Mang Ke gathered the spiritual energy onto her sword and swung horizontally at the path she had just cut: “Sword, come——————”

In an instant, more than ten bamboo stalks broke and fell, and a large empty area suddenly appeared before Mang Ke!

“I’m out!”

Mang Ke’s eyes shone with excitement. She emotionally lifted her feet and ran towards the opening!

[Oh no, Little Spiritual Root, wait!]

[Don’t go, don’t go!]

[That way, that way is…!!!]

Before their voices could finish, Mang Ke took a running leap and charged out. Breaking through the bamboo forest, she saw an expansive, clear blue sky and the sensation of weightlessness as she fell through the air!!!

“Aah aah aah aah aah————”

Why is there a cliff here!!!!!

[Oh dear, she fell.]

[We told her not to go that way. Why did she run so fast?]

[What a shame for a spiritual root. She’s certainly going to die from this fall.]

[Alas, doesn’t this girl know where she came from? Why would she run around recklessly?]

[Is she… directionally challenged?]

The wind blew through the bamboo forest, shaking off the remaining snow, which fell to the ground and melted into the dirt.

At the same time, the woman in green, who had just walked in from outside, saw the Grandmaster and her Junior Brothers sitting in the lobby and asked, “Where is Xiao Ke?”

The Second Senior Brother glanced at her and said, “Huh? Senior Sister, didn’t you go to the bamboo forest in the back? Why did you come in through the front door?”

“I didn’t go to the bamboo forest,” the Senior Sister said suspiciously. “I just went to look at our carriage and then went around the village to buy some rations for the road.”

Who said she went to the bamboo forest?

“Ah?” The few disciples looked at each other, then said, “But Little Junior Sister went to the bamboo forest to look for you. It’s been almost two hours.”

“Two hours?”

The woman in green frowned: “Little Junior Sister couldn’t be in trouble, could she?”