Stepping in for the Heroine to Crush the Protagonist Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 38

The bridal chamber was deathly silent.

Hu Li clutched Gu Sheng’s hand, her blood running cold.

[This City Lord’s Manor is truly cursed.]

[Even I, who’s usually brave, can barely stand it, let alone Hu Li, who’s terrified of ghosts.]

[It’s like we’re trapped in a ghost maze.]

[Where’s the Fudi Demon?]

[The Fudi Demon is dead. He died right here in this bridal chamber. I wonder if his body is still here.]

Hu Li and Gu Sheng exchanged a glance, then simultaneously looked toward the bed. No one was there.

They lowered their gaze to the floor and gasped in unison, their pupils shrinking in sudden terror.

The Fudi Demon was dead, reduced to a stark white skeleton.

His once fiery red Phoenix Coronet and bridal robes had turned a ghastly pale, resembling funeral garments.

Ordinarily, a skeleton would be unrecognizable, but the messy stitches on the funeral robes were unmistakably Ye Qingtang’s handiwork.

“Gu Sheng, let’s get out of here,” Hu Li said, her voice trembling as she clutched Gu Sheng’s hand. This time, she was truly terrified.

Gu Sheng brushed aside Hu Li’s hand and instead wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her up to the rafters in one swift motion. “It’s too late,” she whispered.

********

As soon as she finished speaking, several shadowy figures appeared against the pale window paper outside. Immediately afterward, a piercing suona horn blared.

“Sending off the bride!” A harsh, raspy voice called out, and the door was pushed open from the outside.

Hu Li huddled in Gu Sheng’s arms, her mouth clamped shut by Gu Sheng’s hand.

Her gaze fell on the figures entering the room. They were all dressed in mourning attire, each clutching a soul-summoning banner, like a funeral procession.

A funeral procession… sending off the bride. Hu Li suddenly understood.

The people below seemed oblivious to their presence. They carried in a coffin, placed the Fudi Demon inside, closed the lid, and then hoisted the coffin together.

As they swayed toward the door, the leader abruptly stopped.

Hu Li’s heart clenched.

In the next instant, the figures tilted their faceless heads toward the direction where Hu Li and Gu Sheng were hiding.

Hu Li shuddered violently, squeezed her eyes shut, and burrowed deeper into Gu Sheng’s embrace.

Gu Sheng tried to soothe Hu Li, but a pale green hand suddenly descended from above and gripped Hu Li’s shoulder.

Thinking it was Gu Sheng, Hu Li instinctively opened her eyes. Instead, a faceless face pressed right up against hers.

******

A ghost… a ghost right in my face…

Hu Li’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted completely.

Gu Sheng, cradling Hu Li in her arms, glanced up at the Faceless Demon’s featureless face. She pinched her fingers into a spellcasting gesture, conjured a Spirit Sword, and with a swift strike, severed the demon’s hand that rested on Hu Li’s shoulder.

The Faceless Demon’s limbs were formed from Demonic Qi, so the moment its hand fell, it rapidly regenerated.

Simultaneously, the severed hand dissolved into wisps of Demonic Qi, which surged toward Hu Li’s face.

Reacting instinctively, Gu Sheng pulled Hu Li closer, shielding her with her body and intercepting the Demonic Qi.

The Demonic Qi surged into Gu Sheng’s body, racing through her Spiritual Meridians toward her Sea of Consciousness.

Realizing what she had done, Gu Sheng’s brow furrowed instantly. I set this trap for Hu Li, and I’m the one who fell into it.

Regret was useless now. With a swift motion, she formed a orchid-like hand seal and sealed her body’s Spiritual Meridians.

The Faceless Demon watched this unfold, cackling maniacally. “What a pair of star-crossed lovers. Too bad you’ll both end up in my belly tonight.”

As he spoke, he raised his sickly green claw, preparing to strike Gu Sheng.

But Gu Sheng calmly observed the scene, then snapped her fingers.

“Get out here and devour these wretched things!” Gu Sheng commanded.

From within her Storage Bag, Little Coal Ball, whose seal Gu Sheng had already released, trembled as it emerged. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into its true form as the Ink-Swallowing Beast, its massive jaws snapping shut on the Faceless Demon’s hand reaching for Gu Sheng.

The Ink-Swallowing Beast, also known as the Demon-Swallowing Beast, had been raised by Gu Sheng for over a decade, all for this very moment.

The Faceless Demon stared in terror at the Ink-Swallowing Beast, frantically leaping off the roof beam and fleeing.

Behind him, the remaining Faceless Demons stood frozen in place, oblivious to what was happening. In the next instant, they were swallowed whole by the Ink-Swallowing Beast.

During its time being raised by Hu Li, the Ink-Swallowing Beast had always been hungry. Now, with a buffet delivered right to its doorstep, it devoured the Faceless Demons one after another without hesitation.

As the beast feasted, Gu Sheng, still cradling Hu Li, leaped down from the roof beam.

She sat on a round stool, calmly watching the Ink-Swallowing Beast devour the last Faceless Demon. Then, she climbed onto its back and rode it back to the Safe House where Shang Miaoyun and Min Xiuhe were waiting.

Inside the Safe House, Min Xiuhe had already fallen asleep due to her severe injuries.

Shang Miaoyun, guarding Min Xiuhe’s side, tensed when she heard the door creak open. But her vigilance relaxed as soon as she recognized the newcomer.

“What happened to Senior Sister?” Shang Miaoyun asked, glancing at Hu Li cradled in Gu Sheng’s arms.

“She fainted from fright,” Gu Sheng replied tersely, then tried to set Hu Li down. But Hu Li clung stubbornly to her neck, refusing to let go.

With no other choice, Gu Sheng had to let Hu Li sleep in her arms.

Shang Miaoyun stared at the scene, dumbfounded.

Perhaps she had completely misjudged the nature of their relationship from the start.

Maybe Senior Sister relentlessly pursued this Fox Demon and finally won her over, she thought. I never imagined she, usually so reserved, would be so decisive when it came to someone she liked—just going straight for it.

Gu Sheng raised her eyes, meeting Shang Miaoyun’s knowing gaze. She immediately saw through the other woman’s convoluted thoughts.

Her thin lips tightened slightly as she spoke coldly, “Keep an eye on your own people and stop letting your imagination run wild.”

Shang Miaoyun felt a chill run down her spine at those words. She quickly averted her gaze, lowering her eyes to study Min Xiuhe. How is it that spending time with someone can make you start acting like them? she wondered.

With that thought, she dared not utter another word.

Silence settled over the Safe House once more.

Before long, Shang Miaoyun leaned against Min Xiuhe’s shoulder and drifted off to sleep.

Gu Sheng closed her eyes, her Spiritual Sense probing the Demonic Qi coursing through her body. The situation was far worse than she had imagined.

Some of the Faceless Demon’s Demonic Qi had already infiltrated her Sea of Consciousness. If left unchecked, it would likely brand her Soul within three days.

Originally, she had planned to let Hu Li be corrupted by the Faceless Demon’s Demonic Qi, triggering the Demon Heart Powder within her and causing her to manifest an Inner Demon.

Instead, a moment of misjudgment had led her to fall into this trap herself.

Gu Sheng sighed deeply, her gaze falling on Hu Li’s face. She couldn’t understand how she had made such a rookie mistake.

Perhaps it was the lingering influence of that sensual dream, or perhaps it was because this reborn version of Hu Li wasn’t as wicked as she remembered. Or perhaps it was some other inexplicable reason that had stirred her compassion.

In truth, during that moment of mental distraction, Gu Sheng had glimpsed the answer buried deep within her heart. But she refused to dwell on it. She only wanted this final rebirth to allow her to see her Li Li again.

*******

From this day forward, she would never make such a mistake again.

Gu Sheng closed her eyes slowly, calming the restless heart that had been tormented for so long.

The next morning, the lanterns outside the Safe House glowed red once more, casting crimson light across the courtyard and illuminating several unfamiliar faces.

They stormed in, kicking down the door of the Safe House.

“They’re the ones who killed the City Lord’s Wife!” the leader shouted. “Seize them all and throw them into the Dungeon!”

With that, he stepped aside, clearing a path for the attendants behind him.

Obeying the order, the attendants cautiously advanced, closing in on the four women.

Hu Li remained unconscious, and Min Xiuhe was still unconscious from her severe injuries.

That left Gu Sheng and Shang Miaoyun. One had her Spiritual Meridians sealed, rendering her unable to cast Spells, while the other had exhausted her Spiritual Power and couldn’t summon a Formation.

Thus, the attendants easily bound the four women and tossed them into the Dungeon.

The Dungeon was damp and dark, its only illumination coming from the red lanterns hanging overhead.

*******

The red lanterns here were smaller and more dilapidated than those outside, casting an eerie, unsettling glow rather than a festive one.

Another half-day passed before Hu Li finally stirred awake, groggily.

She released her tight grip on Gu Sheng’s hand, lifted her gaze to meet Gu Sheng’s eyes, and froze for a moment before scrambling off her.

“How are you feeling?” Gu Sheng asked softly, smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress caused by Hu Li’s sleep.

Hu Li gave an awkward smile. “Not bad.”

Hearing their exchange, Shang Miaoyun buried her face in Min Xiuhe’s neck, letting out a few soft, kitten-like giggles.

Hu Li glanced at Shang Miaoyun, then lowered her head and shifted the topic. “What happened yesterday?”

Gu Sheng sat up straight, glanced at Hu Li, and then recounted the events that had transpired after Hu Li lost consciousness, omitting her act of shielding Hu Li from the Faceless Demon’s Demonic Qi and glossing over her control of the Ink-Swallowing Beast to devour the demon.

Hu Li’s eyebrows arched slightly as she listened, whispering in surprise, “I never knew Little Coal Ball ate demons too.”

******

Gu Sheng nodded, glancing at Shang Miaoyun, who was listening with rapt attention. She shifted the subject and replied to Hu Li, “This little guy’s true form is an Ink-Swallowing Beast. If it hadn’t suddenly reverted to its original shape, I never would have realized I had such a powerful Spirit Pet.”

Hu Li pondered for a moment. “Then why don’t we release it now and have it lead us out of here?”

Gu Sheng paused before pulling Little Coal Ball from her Storage Bag and placing it in Hu Li’s palm. “It overate yesterday.”

Hu Li lowered her gaze to the Little Coal Ball, which was still clutching its belly and burping Demonic Qi. She silently tossed it back into the Storage Bag.

“So, how do we escape now?” Hu Li’s eyes fell on the flickering red lantern outside the cell, sensing that the situation was about to worsen.

Gu Sheng lowered her gaze. “Do our best and leave the rest to fate.”

Hu Li, at a loss for words, turned to Shang Miaoyun for help.

But even with their combined efforts, they couldn’t match Gu Sheng’s strategic thinking. After a lengthy discussion, they still hadn’t devised a plan when the red lantern outside abruptly changed color.

Immediately afterward, hands began to emerge from all three walls of the dungeon.

Hu Li: ……

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