Stepping in for the Heroine to Crush the Protagonist Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 34

The sword struck suddenly, and Hu Li knew she couldn’t dodge in time.

But at that critical moment, a small rainbow dragon shot from Gu Sheng’s sleeve and bit down hard on the Fudi Demon’s rear.

Dare to bully my mistress? it thought furiously, You haven’t even weighed yourself! It tightened its grip.

The Fudi Demon yelped in pain, instinctively dropping the Demonic Sword as he tried to pry the tenacious little dragon off his butt.

But his efforts backfired. The dragon’s grip only grew stronger, refusing to yield an inch.

Soon, the Fudi Demon was writhing in agony, utterly helpless against the dragon. He had no choice but to beg for mercy.

“Aiyo, my Dragon Grandfather, please let me go!” he wailed.

The Little Rainbow Dragon let out a confused “Awoo!” It didn’t understand the words and took the demon’s pleas as a challenge. With renewed fury, it sank its teeth deeper into the demon’s flesh.

“Ah, you stupid dragon!” the Fudi Demon howled, grabbing at the dragon’s body again.

The dragon and demon wrestled fiercely, locked in a desperate struggle.

The chaos only ended when Hu Li finally regained her senses. She transformed her Red Jade Hairpin into a long rope and bound the Fudi Demon, bringing the farce to a close.

“Tell me, what’s the way out of the Demon Abyss?” Hu Li demanded, her foot planted firmly on the Fudi Demon’s back. Since he has a role in the original story, she thought, he must be an important NPC who knows crucial information about the exit.

The Fudi Demon’s face was pressed against the icy ground, his resolve unwavering. “I know nothing. Kill me, torture me. Do as you please.”

Hu Li crossed her arms, looking down at him from above. She silently requested twenty more packs of Powerful Hair Removal Strips from the System, then leisurely tore open a packet and began applying the strips to the Fudi Demon’s left hand.

The familiar, icy sensation washed over the Fudi Demon’s body. He shuddered and mechanically turned his head to see Hu Li smiling faintly at him, her eyes narrowed. A chill ran through him.

This vicious woman! He gasped, gritted his teeth, and closed his eyes, refusing to yield.

Hu Li crouched beside the Fudi Demon’s left side, her gaze sweeping over his tightly clenched fist. She chuckled softly before mercilessly ripping off the first strip.

The Fudi Demon let out a muffled groan, his jaw still locked tight.

Unperturbed, Hu Li leisurely peeled off the second strip, then the third, the fourth… the second pack, the third pack.

By the tenth pack, the Fudi Demon finally broke.

Tears welled in his eyes as he gazed at his pale, bare arm, his voice trembling. “The only way out of the Demon Abyss is known to the Lord of Evernight City.”

Hu Li paused mid-rip on her eleventh hair removal strip. She gathered the remaining nine strips into her Storage Bag and asked, “Is that true?”

The Fudi Demon wiped away his tears. “Absolutely.”

Hu Li fell silent, pondering the Fudi Demon’s credibility.

Beside her, Gu Sheng had been watching quietly for a long time. Now, she stepped closer to Hu Li and said, “Give me your Storage Bag.”

Hu Li glanced up at her, puzzled, but still unfastened the Storage Bag from her waist and handed it over.

Gu Sheng took the bag and rummaged through it until she found a red cord. She tied it around the Fudi Demon’s wrist.

The red cord looked vaguely familiar. Hu Li was sure she’d seen it somewhere before, but she couldn’t quite place it.

“This is a Puppet String,” Gu Sheng explained. “It will make the Fudi Demon obey your every command. Moreover, if he harbors any ill intentions toward you, the Puppet String will extend into his heart meridian and take his life.”

Hu Li stared at the red cord, thoughtful. “Is that so?”

Gu Sheng hummed in affirmation, then pinched her fingers together and chanted a spell. Immediately, the red cord flickered, and a crimson thread detached from it, wrapped around Hu Li’s wrist, and vanished in an instant.

Hu Li raised an eyebrow, watching the scene unfold with surprise. “So, you were actually binding me?”

Gu Sheng hesitated. “No, I was binding this body.”

“Ah, I see,” Hu Li replied, then quickly realized, “How did you even get something like that?”

Gu Sheng lowered her gaze, retrieving the Red Jade Hairpin that had been binding the Fudi Demon. After a moment’s hesitation, she handed it to Hu Li, explaining calmly, “My cultivation is lacking, so I’ve focused more on these… auxiliary methods.”

“I understand now,” Hu Li said, accepting the hairpin without further thought. Her gaze then fell on Gu Sheng’s disheveled hair. “Don’t you have any hairpins or ribbons to tie it up?”

Gu Sheng looked at the ground and nodded slightly.

Hu Li pressed her lips together, bypassing the Fudi Demon awaiting judgment. She pulled Gu Sheng over to the stone steps beside the Crystal Coffin, helped her sit down, then reached into the storage bag at Gu Sheng’s waist. She quickly retrieved a small, exquisitely crafted bronze mirror.

“Here,” she said, pressing the mirror into Gu Sheng’s hand.

Feeling the warmth behind her, Gu Sheng stiffly held the mirror, her gaze fixed on the hand resting on her shoulder in the reflection.

********

Hu Li, oblivious to Gu Sheng’s discomfort, reached into the storage bag at Gu Sheng’s waist and pulled out a fine-toothed comb.

“I’m used to styling my hair with a Red Jade Hairpin, but I don’t have the money for fancy hair ornaments,” she explained, gently combing Gu Sheng’s hair to either side. “So, you’ll have to make do with this for now.”

At one point, the comb snagged on a knot, and Hu Li accidentally pulled too hard, causing Gu Sheng to let out a soft humph. From then on, Hu Li’s movements became instinctively lighter, so light it felt like a tickle. Gu Sheng even felt Hu Li’s hand repeatedly brushing against her earlobe, disrupting her usually steady breathing.

Moreover, the Fox Clan’s senses were naturally sharper than those of ordinary humans, only intensifying the effect.

Hu Li, however, remained completely unaware. She focused intently on combing Gu Sheng’s hair, smoothing each strand before gathering a few stray locks near Gu Sheng’s ears and braiding them into the rest of her hair, step by step, with deliberate care.

“Do you like this braid?” Hu Li asked, glancing at the mirror. She suddenly noticed that Gu Sheng’s face and neck were flushed crimson.

Startled, she couldn’t help but ask, “Is something wrong?”

*******

Gu Sheng clenched her hand beneath her sleeve, muttering, “It’s fine. Continue.”

Hu Li paused, noticing the swirling comments reflected in the bronze mirror.

[Oh ho~ Sheng Sheng’s got feelings!]

[Li Li is such a hopeless romantic! Even after Gu Sheng’s been so awful to her, she still loves her fiercely.]

[Pure love warriors, falling to their knees in defeat.]

[The Fox Spirit is utterly smitten with Sheng Shengzi.]

[I don’t care if Li Li loves her or not! I just want to say: Li Li, get your hands somewhere else and show Sheng Sheng you’re not someone to be trifled with!]

[Asking again: Is the Fox Spirit… incapable?]

[Li Li, you had your chance! Why are you so useless?!]

[Fox Spirit, do you really want Sheng Sheng to make the first move?]

[They’ve got a younger, wolfish boyfriend. We’ve got a younger, dumb dog.]

Hu Li: “…You’re the dumb dog! Your whole family’s dumb dogs!”

She rolled her eyes, shifting her gaze from the comments to Gu Sheng for a fleeting moment before lowering her eyes to continue braiding Gu Sheng’s hair.

Gu Sheng watched Hu Li’s steady movements in the mirror, her anxiety gradually easing. Little did she know, the face unseen in the reflection was now flushed crimson.

After braiding all of Gu Sheng’s hair together, Hu Li swiftly flipped the long braid with her left hand while firmly inserting the Red Jade Hairpin into the bun with her right, securing the entire style.

Though a few strands stubbornly escaped, the overall effect was quite pleasing.

“How does it look?” Hu Li asked, holding up a bronze mirror and turning Gu Sheng around to face it.

Gu Sheng gazed at her neatly arranged updo in the mirror, the first time her hair had been styled so properly. She nodded. “Not bad.”

Hu Li responded with a pleased hum, stowing the mirror and comb in her Storage Bag before approaching the Fudi Demon, who was sitting in the corner, nearly covered in cobwebs.

“Get up,” she ordered. “Lead the way.”

The Fudi Demon looked up, casting a resentful glance at Hu Li before springing to his feet with a carp-like flip. “Understood,” he said.

With that, he swept aside a shard of the Crystal Coffin and leaped into the Black Hole below.

Hu Li followed closely behind, but Gu Sheng grabbed her arm. “What about you?” she asked. “You gave me the Red Jade Hairpin. What will you do?”

Hu Li paused, her answer concise: “I’ll go to Evernight City and buy a new hairpin. Then I’ll ask you to return this one.”

With that, she jumped into the Black Hole.

Gu Sheng’s hand fell empty. She froze for a moment, then snapped back to attention when the Little Rainbow Dragon poked its head out of her sleeve, searching for Hu Li. She quickly followed them into the darkness.

********

Evernight City lived up to its name, ablaze with light as bright as day. It stood like a beacon in the endless darkness of the Demon Abyss, illuminating a corner of the world.

In a narrow alley paved with bluestone slabs on the city’s eastern edge, a hidden door concealed within a white wall suddenly swung open. Three figures emerged in single file, each wearing a veiled hat beneath which lurked a demonic mask.

“Demon Cultivators swarm Evernight City,” the Fudi Demon warned casually, leading the way out of the alley. “You, a Monster Race member, and you, a Cultivator—stay sharp.”

Outside the alley, the streets teemed with people, an endless stream of passersby. Countless shops lined both sides of the road, their entrances marked by colorful banners.

It looked like any ordinary market street, except for the red lanterns hanging high from shop eaves or carried by pedestrians.

“What are these lanterns for?” Hu Li asked the Fudi Demon.

The Fudi Demon glanced over, exclaimed, “Oh dear!” and quickly added, “It’s been too long since I’ve been to the city. I completely forgot about that.”

*******

As he spoke, he hurried into the nearest lantern shop and bought three lanterns, handing one each to Hu Li and Gu Sheng.

Hu Li took the red lantern, her heart filled with suspicion. She was about to ask Fudi Demon, “What’s the meaning of this?”

But Fudi Demon, panting heavily, quickly explained, “Evernight City has an unwritten rule: every person must carry a red lantern. If the lantern goes out, they must either retreat home or leave the city. Every shop must hang a red lantern as well, and if it goes out, they must close and cease business.”

Hu Li raised an eyebrow. “And what if my lantern goes out, but I don’t retreat home or leave the city?”

Fudi Demon lowered his voice. “Then Evernight City will devour you.”

A chill ran down Hu Li’s spine. “Devour me?”

Fudi Demon’s voice dropped even lower. “Exactly. Devour you.”

He pulled Hu Li and Gu Sheng into a corner and whispered conspiratorially, “Evernight City has a spirit. Every year, people who don’t know the rules—those whose lanterns go out and still wander around—get devoured. Not even their bones are left behind.”

******

Hu Li felt like she was listening to a ghost story. She instinctively held her breath and asked, “Didn’t anyone survive?”

Fudi Demon shook his head. “They all died. Even those who lived to the next day went mad and didn’t last more than half a month.”

Hu Li gasped, exclaiming, “This is just a Ghost City!”

Hearing this, Fudi Demon quickly covered Hu Li’s mouth. “Don’t say that word! They’ll hear you! If they do, Evernight City won’t let you go.”

Hu Li pulled Fudi Demon’s hand away and silently began to back away. I can’t stay here.

As she thought this, her feet moved backward almost imperceptibly.

But just then, a suona horn blared from the end of the street, followed by a procession of people dressed in red robes and shoes.

They beat drums and gongs, shouting invitations to join them. In the hazy mist, the red lantern light cast an eerie glow upon them, suffocatingly bizarre.

“It’s a… a Ghost Wedding?!” someone in the crowd whispered.

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