Stepping in for the Heroine to Crush the Protagonist Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 58

“Gu Sheng,” a voice called out to Hu Li.

Hu Li’s heart leaped. In a swift motion, she flipped her hand, conjuring a dagger. She whirled around, pressing the blade against the neck of the person who had called out to her.

The icy blade pressed against Su Weiyun’s throat, causing her breath to catch. “It’s me, Su Weiyun,” she said quickly. She reached out and gripped Hu Li’s wrist.

Feeling the warmth of Su Weiyun’s palm, Hu Li frowned. She wrenched her hand free, stepping back. “So it’s you,” she said.

Seeing this, Su Weiyun lowered her head, her lips pressed into a thin line, a hint of disappointment in her posture.

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Hu Li stood her ground for a moment before sighing. “Fine. Whatever it is, let’s sit down and talk.”

With that, she glanced around, her eyes quickly settling on a teahouse.

The teahouses in the Underground City were different from the tea shops Hu Li had visited before. This one resembled a tavern, its air thick with the rich aroma of wine rather than the delicate scent of tea.

A waiter, carrying a teapot and teacups, led Hu Li and Su Weiyun to a table and poured them each a bowl of coarse tea.

*********

“Ladies, would you care for a pot of our specialty, Forget-Worry Wine?” the waiter asked.

Hu Li shook her head. “No need,” she replied. “We’ll just be having a brief conversation before parting. Please bring us a pot of decent tea instead.”

The waiter understood these two weren’t here for drinks or a meal. He went to the kitchen and returned with a pot of tea and a plate of fruit, placing them on Hu Li’s table.

Hu Li picked up her teacup, took a small sip, and set it down. “How did you end up in the Black Market?” she asked Su Weiyun, who sat across from her.

“Well…” Su Weiyun cradled her teacup, her fingertips tracing its rim for a moment before answering. “I heard about what happened to you and went to the Tianyan Sect to find you, but you weren’t there. Then I heard there’s an information broker in the Black Market’s Underground City who knows everything, so I thought I’d try my luck and see if they knew where you were. I never expected to run into you the moment I entered the Underground City.”

Hu Li’s lips twitched slightly. “What a coincidence.”

Su Weiyun, oblivious to the odd tone in Hu Li’s voice, agreed. “Yes, it seems we’re truly destined to meet.”

The smile on Hu Li’s face froze. She quickly changed the subject. “So, what brings you here to find me?”

*******

Su Weiyun confessed, “I heard you were colluding with the Demon Race and wanted to know what was really going on.”

Realizing her words sounded inappropriate, she quickly added, “I mean, I trust your character—”

Hu Li cut her off, stating bluntly, “I swore sisterhood with the Demon Venerable. We’re sisters now.”

Hu Li had no desire to admit her shallow friendship with Min Yaxing, but she felt she needed to be decisive with Su Weiyun. Otherwise, misunderstandings would deepen over time, creating unnecessary complications and hindering Su Weiyun’s feelings.

Hearing Hu Li’s words, Su Weiyun was stunned to learn she truly was involved with the Demon Race. For a moment, she didn’t know how to respond.

Her upbringing had taught her that if Hu Li was truly allied with the Demon Race, they were sworn enemies. Yet Hu Li was also the first person she had ever genuinely cared for. Torn between these conflicting emotions, Su Weiyun could only remain silent.

*******

Hu Li understood Su Weiyun’s inner turmoil. She sat sipping her tea, one mouthful at a time, until the bowl was empty. Only then did she speak, her voice calm and measured: “Fairy Su, I have a Dao Companion.”

Hu Li had long sensed Su Weiyun’s feelings for her, both through her demeanor and the repeated mentions in the Comments. But Hu Li had always been one to avoid confrontation, so she had convinced herself that by avoiding Su Weiyun, she could pretend nothing had ever happened.

Now, however, Hu Li realized she had been wrong. Some things, if left unsaid, fester into problems—problems that grow more severe with each passing day.

That was why Hu Li had chosen to be honest.

Having spoken her piece, Hu Li rose from her seat. She paid the waiter for her tea and walked toward the door.

Just as she reached the entrance, someone stumbled in.

Hu Li stepped aside to avoid the person, but the newcomer, swaying drunkenly, still bumped into her shoulder. The person then slipped on the wet floor the waiter had just mopped and fell heavily.

Hu Li stood beside the fallen figure.

She frowned, hesitated for a moment, then crouched down to help the person up before leaving.

*******

After Hu Li left, the person she had bumped into leaned against the wall to recover for a moment. Then, with a cold glare, they turned toward Su Weiyun, who was still sitting dazedly by the window, her mind clearly elsewhere. Fury surged within them.

“Su Weiyun, get over here!” the person shouted telepathically, their voice ringing with anger.

Su Weiyun flinched at the sound, snapping out of her daze. She looked toward the figure leaning against the teahouse doorway.

“Master?” she asked, straightening up nervously.

Lingqing Zhenren sneered. “So you still remember I’m your Master, do you?”

He had followed Su Weiyun into the Black Market and then into the Underground City, only to discover that his “good disciple” had come to meet that woman who was colluding with the Demon Race.

Fortunately, he had been cautious, preventing any disaster from unfolding.

“Come, let’s go to the Tianyan Sect,” Lingqing Zhenren said, grabbing Su Weiyun’s arm and dragging her toward the exit.

Puzzled, Su Weiyun asked, “Why are we going to the Tianyan Sect?”

“None of your concern,” Lingqing Zhenren snapped.

With that, he retrieved a paper crane from his Storage Bag, placed it on the ground, and vanished with Su Weiyun from the Underground City.

At the same moment, the paper crane slowly rose into the air, flying toward the Myriad Treasures Residence.

After leaving the teahouse, Hu Li returned to Myriad Treasures Residence.

Inside, Uncle Feng was entertaining several guests who had come to inspect artifacts.

Hu Li exchanged a glance with him, and Uncle Feng immediately recognized her. He transmitted a message: “Go to the second floor. Dinner is ready.”

Hu Li nodded in acknowledgment and went to a brightly lit room on the second floor.

Feng Xianyue was already there, having transformed into human form—a girl who appeared to be about seventeen or eighteen years old.

Hu Li raised an eyebrow, finally understanding why Feng Xianyue had such a fiery temper. She must be going through puberty, unable to control her emotions.

But upon further reflection, Hu Li realized her own temper wasn’t much better. She suddenly felt too embarrassed to criticize Feng Xianyue.

Feng Xianyue, feeling a bit guilty, lowered her head and pointed to the cushion beside her. “Here, sit here,” she mumbled.

Hu Li glanced at her and, following her instructions, sat down on the cushion beside her.

“Why did you change back into human form?” Hu Li asked, taking a sip of water to soothe her throat, which was still irritated from the coarse tea.

*******

Feng Xianyue mimicked Hu Li, taking a sip of water before saying, “The Young Miss turned me back.”

“Young Miss?” Hu Li’s brows furrowed slightly. “Gu Sheng emerged from seclusion so quickly?”

Feng Xianyue glanced up, meeting Hu Li’s gaze briefly before darting a look at the nearby screen. She hesitated, then nodded uncertainly. “She’s… probably… sort of out.”

Hu Li stared at her, speechless.

Following the girl’s earlier glance, Hu Li’s gaze settled on the screen.

The screen was black, with a small red fox at its center and a Fire Radiance Flower in each corner, each bloom in a different stage of opening.

A lamp behind the screen cast a soft glow through the translucent material, revealing a faint silhouette. Hu Li glanced sideways at Feng Xianyue, whose head was swiveling nervously, avoiding her gaze. Rising, Hu Li walked to the screen, placed her hand on the shadow, paused, then draped her cloak over the screen.

The shadow remained motionless.

A faint smile curved Hu Li’s lips. “Sister Ningning,” she said deliberately, “are you hiding from me?”

As soon as the words left her lips, the shadow behind the screen flickered slightly.

*******

“I wasn’t hiding from you,” Gu Sheng said, stepping out from behind the screen, her hair cascading over her shoulders, unbound by any hairpin.

The red marks on her neck hadn’t faded yet. Seeing this, Hu Li pressed her lips into a thin line, hastily suppressing the lingering romantic thoughts in her mind. “Did you find a solution so quickly?” she asked.

Gu Sheng glanced coolly at Feng Xianyue before replying to Hu Li, “Yes, I did.”

Even if she hadn’t found a solution, she had no intention of staying in the library any longer, poring over those comments.

[Sheng-sheng finished her seclusion so quickly?!]

[Other people’s seclusion: two thousand years later.]

[Sheng-sheng’s seclusion: half a day.]

[Actually, Sheng-sheng’s seclusion doesn’t really count. She just spent a day reading in the library.]

[I was hoping to see more of Yueyue and Li Li’s CP, but no luck.]

[At least with the Yueyue/Li Li CP, we can still find some twisted fan theories to enjoy. But the Su Weiyun/Hu Li CP is truly dead—completely and utterly dead.]

[Su-su: That emotional con artist claims she has a Dao Companion now.]

[Waaah, Su Weiyun and Hu Li have absolutely no sweetness, just shards of glass.]

Gu Sheng: “…You saw Su Weiyun?”

*******

Gu Sheng’s gaze swept over the comments below, her fingers curling slightly beneath her sleeve, a dangerous edge to her smile.

Feng Xianyue, who had just reached for her chopsticks, sensed the shift in atmosphere. She swallowed hard, silently hoisted the food tray, and tiptoed away from the scene as quickly as possible.

Having already endured her young miss’s murderous glare earlier that day, Feng Xianyue knew better than to linger. Disappearing was the only sensible course of action.

“Yes, I saw her,” Hu Li said, sensing Gu Sheng’s rising tension. She took Gu Sheng’s hand, led her to sit on a cushion, and pressed a bronze mirror into her hand.

The mirror reflected Gu Sheng’s slightly displeased face and Hu Li’s hand holding a comb.

“I told Su Weiyun I had a Dao Companion,” Hu Li said, gently smoothing Gu Sheng’s hair. “But Su Weiyun still thinks I’m you, so I didn’t specify who my Dao Companion is.”

Gu Sheng tilted the mirror slightly to catch Hu Li’s face, then quickly lowered it, forcing her voice to steady. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Gu Sheng knew she was an intensely possessive person.

*******

Perhaps it was because she had received so little and lost so much in her childhood, or perhaps it was because Hu Li was one of the few people who genuinely cared for her. Whatever the reason, Gu Sheng refused to let anyone come between her and Hu Li.

Whether it was Feng Xianyue, Su Weiyun, or Chen Yidong, none of them were allowed to interfere.

Even though Gu Sheng knew perfectly well that Hu Li loved her—deeply, deeply, deeply—her jealousy still gnawed at her.

“Gu Sheng, I’ve never been afraid of you,” Hu Li said, finishing Gu Sheng’s hair into a neat bun. She wrapped her arms around Gu Sheng’s neck and leaned against her back.

Gu Sheng turned her head to look at Hu Li, her heart gradually calming.

But a moment later, she suddenly pulled away, frowning. “Li Li, what kind of scented powder are you wearing?”

When Gu Sheng had first entered the room, her mind had been elsewhere, and she hadn’t noticed the unfamiliar fragrance on Hu Li. But now, with her thoughts settled, she realized something was off.

“Scented powder?” Hu Li pondered, recalling the makeup powder she had applied earlier that day. She leaned her neck close to Gu Sheng’s nose. “Is it this scent?”

*******

Gu Sheng sniffed the air and shook her head. “No, it’s not that.”

“Could it be some other scented powder that transferred when Su Weiyun grabbed my hand earlier?” Hu Li raised her hand and sniffed it, but detected nothing unusual.

Gu Sheng fell silent, her gaze landing on the white powder dusting Hu Li’s sleeve. Her pupils constricted. “Damn it! It’s Scent-Tracking Powder from the Piaomiao Sect.”

As she spoke, her eyes darted to a paper crane that had materialized on the window lattice. Her breath caught in her throat as she frantically rummaged through her Storage Bag for a Teleportation Talisman, but it was already too late.

A silver flash streaked past the window, and in the next instant, Gu Jinghe appeared before them, accompanied by Lingqing Zhenren and the entire Tianyan Sect contingent.

“Gu Sheng,” Gu Jinghe said coldly, “I had no idea you were secretly building such a formidable force behind my back.” As he spoke, a formation matrix flared to life beneath Hu Li and Gu Sheng’s feet.

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