Stepping in for the Heroine to Crush the Protagonist Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 14

“Little girl, long time no see. How have you been lately?” Elder Qi walked into Hu Li’s shop, holding a scroll in his hand.

Hu Li recognized her voice, suddenly looked up, and, remembering that Shopkeeper Feng knew her identity, her brow furrowed. “Elder Qi, what are you here for?”

The woman never visited unless she had a motive; this visit was probably not for anything good.

Elder Qi stood by the counter, noticing Hu Li’s nervousness, and replied with a smile, “I’m here to hire you as a bodyguard.”

Hu Li was puzzled. “A bodyguard?”

With her slender arms and legs, she didn’t think she was suited to be a bodyguard. Furthermore, being a bodyguard likely carried life-threatening risks, so she couldn’t agree.

Hu Li was about to refuse Elder Qi, but Elder Qi stated succinctly, “The pay is one thousand spirit stones.”

One thousand spirit stones?! That was a sum Hu Li wouldn’t have dared to dream of, even after working as an inn waiter for half a month.

But such a good offer almost certainly hid some catch.

So, after some deliberation, Hu Li still refused. “Elder Qi, your price is too high. I am not fortunate enough to accept it.”

“Oh, is that so?” Elder Qi placed the scroll on the counter, resting her chin on her hand, and slowly issued a threat. “If you don’t agree, I might have to go tell the Young Sect Leader of the Tianyan Sect that she’s been keeping a little fox demon by her side.”

Hu Li: ?!

She knew Elder Qi could see through her black robe disguise and that Shopkeeper Feng was aware of her fox demon identity, but she hadn’t expected Elder Qi to know she was lurking by Gu Sheng’s side.

Initially, she had thought Elder Qi was Xie Qingyang’s “Wise Old Grandpa” cheat, but now it seemed Elder Qi’s identity was far from simple.

She must have incredibly bad luck to run into a person who was essentially an X-ray machine come to life.

“Alright, tell me who you want me to fight,” Hu Li conceded.

Elder Qi smiled, replying, “I’m not asking you to fight anyone. I’m asking you to be my personal guard.”

As she spoke, she unrolled the scroll, revealing an ink wash painting. “This painting is called ‘Mountain River Ravine.’ Inside the painting is a top-grade magical artifact called the ‘Ink Heart Inkstone.’ I need you to enter the painting with me to retrieve this artifact.”

Hu Li looked down at the painting. “Enter it right now?”

Elder Qi shook her head. “Entering the painting requires someone to guard the outside. How can we just go in? Furthermore, this painting is merely a replica.”

Hu Li shifted her gaze from the painting back to Elder Qi. “Then what does the Elder mean?”

Elder Qi: “Come find me at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion tomorrow at this time.”

Hu Li muttered her acceptance: “Got it.”

Having received the answer she wanted, Elder Qi grandly gave Hu Li half the promised payment, then left.

After Elder Qi left, Hu Li stared at the ink wash painting and poked the system. “System, who is this Elder Qi? Can you spoil it for me?”

The system scanned the database. [No results found for this person.]

*******

The underground city was closed during the day. The Ox-Head and Horse-Face guards leaned against the two sides of the gate, dozing off.

“Ox-Head, someone’s coming,” Horse-Face yawned, propping up his spear, standing up straight, and preparing to stop the person.

Ox-Head reluctantly opened his eyes upon hearing this, unhappily leveling his steel trident across the doorway, and roared at the approaching figure: “Scram.”

However, the person didn’t stop and walked straight toward them.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face glowered, about to attack, but when the person drew near and they recognized the herbal satchel hanging from her waist, their expressions instantly changed. They bowed respectfully. “Greetings, Elder Qi.”

Elder Qi glanced at the two of them, acknowledged them, and walked into the underground city, returning to the tightly locked Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.

Inside the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, Shopkeeper Feng was counting inventory. As soon as he saw Elder Qi enter, he put away his ledger and said, “Miss, have you settled everything?”

Elder Qi sat down, gave a brief “Mm,” picked up a cup of cold tea, and took a few sips.

Shopkeeper Feng sat across from her, took the cold tea from her hand, poured it out, and began re-brewing a fresh pot. He then asked, “Miss, why did you take that fox demon out of the Floating Life Pagoda?”

Elder Qi: “When I was in the Floating Life Pagoda, I noticed something was off about her. I wanted to see if Li Li had returned.”

Shopkeeper Feng’s hand paused while brewing the tea. He sighed helplessly. “Miss, you were a bit rash this time. If it wasn’t her, wouldn’t you have caused yourself unnecessary trouble?”

Elder Qi smiled faintly. “She’s right under my nose anyway. No matter how capable she is, she can’t hide.”

Shopkeeper Feng was silent for a moment, then changed the subject. “Miss, Xie Qingyang has been dealt with. However, the information Xue Qingshu requested has not been found yet.”

His mistress had made a deal with Xue Qingshu: if Xue Qingshu controlled Xie Qingyang to kill He Shiqing, she would be given information about a certain woman. However, the woman in question seemed to have vanished into thin air. Even after half a month, no clue could be found.

Elder Qi: “That’s fine. I will negotiate with Xue Qingshu again.”

Shopkeeper Feng looked thoughtful, quietly brewing the tea with lowered eyes.

Elder Qi said no more, closing her eyes to stabilize the thread of consciousness she had separated from her main body.

After a long time, Elder Qi let out a long breath, preparing to go upstairs to rest.

But just then, a rooster flew down from the attic, transforming into a young girl.

“Miss, I know I was wrong. Please let me return to Tingfeng Cliff,” she pleaded.

Elder Qi’s gaze passed over her lightly, and she was about to speak, but Shopkeeper Feng spoke first, his voice stern. “Feng Xianyue, you almost ruined the young lady’s plan, and you still want to go back!”

Feng Xianyue hid behind Elder Qi and mumbled, “Father, how was I supposed to know that Miss gave that stupid dog the guidebook so she would stay put in the Floating Life Pagoda, waiting for—”

Before Feng Xianyue could finish, Shopkeeper Feng grabbed her by the ear, forced her back into her original form (a rooster), and tossed her into a painting on the wall.

“Miss, this girl has caused you trouble,” Shopkeeper Feng said self-reproachfully.

Elder Qi shook her head, replied, “It’s fine,” and went up to the second floor.

In the private room on the second floor, Elder Qi took off her black robe, hung it on a screen, and prepared to take a nap.

Unexpectedly, Yu Shibai’s voice suddenly rang in her ear: “Gu Sheng, I told you to meditate. Is this how you’re deceiving me?”

*******

The next day, the weather was gloomy. Snow had fallen all night, and the ground was wet and slippery.

Hu Li held a worn umbrella borrowed from her neighbor in one hand and a scroll in the other as she walked toward the underground city.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face stood on either side of the gate. They were originally going to stop her, but upon smelling the faint herbal scent on Hu Li, they immediately pretended to be blind, acting as if they saw nothing, and let Hu Li enter.

The journey was unimpeded. Although Hu Li felt something was wrong, she couldn’t pinpoint it, so she removed the red jade hairpin from her hair and tucked it into her sleeve.

Arriving at the door of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, Hu Li took a deep breath, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

[Did Fox Demon know about “Mouth Mouth is Mouth Mouth” yet?]

[Mouth Mouth is truly well-hidden.]

[Fox Demon: I was so foolish, so utterly foolish.]

[At first, I thought Mouth Mouth was truly innocent. Now I think the Fox Demon is truly innocent. In the end, I realize only I was truly foolish.]

[Mouth Mouth, you really—I could cry.]

[Mouth Mouth helping Mouth Mouth enter the Tianyan Sect seems to have been a way to kill two birds with one stone.]

[Mouth Mouth was actually black-bellied; Mouth even Mouth Mouthed Mouth Mouth and Mouth Mouth Mouthed.]

*******

A screen full of Mouth Mouth Mouth crashed into her view. Hu Li raised an eyebrow, thinking that the book reviews were uttering such crazy things they were all being censored.

However, what did they mean by calling her foolish? While she knew she was naive, lately, besides having her cover blown by Elder Qi, she hadn’t done anything truly brainless.

As Hu Li was thinking, Shopkeeper Feng suddenly walked out of the shadows in the corner, startling her so much that she forgot about the game of “fill in the blanks.”

“Shopkeeper Feng,” Hu Li took a step back, her eyes full of wariness.

After last night, she had figured it out: Elder Qi helped her enter the Floating Life Pagoda simply to expose her disguise.

Therefore, facing Shopkeeper Feng now, she had to be careful, cautious, and extremely wary to prevent him and Elder Qi from setting her up again.

Shopkeeper Feng scanned Hu Li a few times, ignoring the “nervousness” written all over her, and said, “Follow me.”

The Mountain River Ravine painting Elder Qi mentioned was in a private room on the second floor. After leading Hu Li to the location, Shopkeeper Feng went back downstairs and left.

Hu Li pushed open the door. The room was empty. It contained no furniture like screens or couches, nor a desk or a meditation mat. Looking around, the only thing visible was the ink wash painting suspended in the center.

Gu Sheng stood in front of the ink wash painting, the hand exposed by her black robe as pale as white paper.

Yesterday, Yu Shibai had punished her for apparently dozing off during meditation, forcing her to copy scriptures all night. Now she was listless and utterly exhausted.

As a result, she only noticed Hu Li when she reached her side.

“You’re here,” she said, her voice hoarse.

Hu Li didn’t notice anything amiss. She nodded and replied, “Let’s enter the painting.”

Gu Sheng glanced at her, then closed her eyes, pinched a hand seal, and recited an incantation, turning herself and Hu Li into two wisps of inky smoke that floated into the painting.

Inky mountains bloomed before their eyes. The trail of a few brushstrokes beneath their feet, the mountain path was intimidating.

Hu Li looked at the composed Gu Sheng walking onto the trail. She bent down and picked up a man-height branch from the ground to use as a hiking stick.

This was a mountain that soared into the clouds. A person within it was merely an imperceptible ink dot. Even after walking a hundred steps, the ink dot had only moved a tiny fraction of an inch on the painting.

Hu Li wanted to use the Shrinking Steps technique to take Gu Sheng directly to the summit, but Gu Sheng warned that the ink wash painting had a spirit. Using a magic spell would likely attract the Ink-Devouring Beast that guarded the Ink Heart Inkstone.

The Ink-Devouring Beast had a thousand variations and could transform into anything. If they weren’t careful, they would be tricked and used by it, ultimately to be swallowed and turned into ink.

Therefore, to avoid it, the two could only hike on foot to the mountaintop to find the Ink Heart Inkstone.

After walking for about an hour, Hu Li leaned on her branch, a dense layer of fine sweat glistening on her forehead and back.

Gu Sheng was in even worse condition than her. Her steps were unsteady, and she stumbled as if she might fall at any moment.

“Here.” Hu Li couldn’t stand it anymore. She put the branch she was holding into Gu Sheng’s hand, telling her to use it as a support.

Gu Sheng accepted it, thanked Hu Li in a hoarse voice, and continued to sway forward.

Hu Li looked at her retreating back, sighed helplessly, and picked up another branch from the ground to lean on as she followed.

After walking for a long time, the wind suddenly began to rustle, carrying a hint of coolness.

Hu Li wiped her sweat and looked up at the gradually spreading grey clouds, sensing trouble.

It was going to rain.

She looked back at Gu Sheng, who had fallen some distance behind. She quickly walked over to her side and said, “It’s going to rain. I remember there’s a bamboo house in the painting that should be nearby. Let’s go hide from the rain and continue our journey once it stops.”

Gu Sheng heard this, glanced at the sky which had grown darker still, and nodded. “Alright.”

The bamboo house was located on the mountainside. A small yard was enclosed by a four-sided fence, and inside the yard grew black and white gourds and vegetables. It felt both cozy and strange.

Hu Li, carrying Gu Sheng who had sprained her ankle halfway, walked into the yard and knocked on the bamboo house door a few times, but received no answer.

With no other choice, she pushed the door open and called inside, “Is anyone home?”

The reply was a stretch of silence.

Gu Sheng, lying on Hu Li’s back, groggily opened her eyes and said, “The people in the painting all live down the mountain. This is a yard I created myself.”

Hu Li: “I see.”

She was thoughtful. She carried Gu Sheng inside and closed the door.

The furnishings in the bamboo house were simple, but Hu Li looked around, feeling that something was subtly odd.

Gu Sheng noticed Hu Li observing the bamboo house. Remembering the house was furnished exactly like the one on Tingfeng Cliff, she quickly spoke, trying to distract Hu Li.

But just then, a knock-knock-knock sounded at the bamboo house door, which was usually left completely undisturbed.

Support Stepping in for the Heroine to Crush the Protagonist Group [Transmigration]