Stepping in for the Heroine to Crush the Protagonist Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 7

“Junior Brother, how did you get to the Fifth Floor so quickly?” Hu Li patted Xie Qingyang’s shoulder and stepped onto the stair below him.

Xie Qingyang looked down, meeting Hu Li’s gaze. He paused and his brow furrowing slightly. “Senior Brother He, this is the Sixth Floor. How did it become the Fifth Floor?”

After taking care of the demon beasts on the Seventh Floor, he had been instantly teleported here. If it truly was the Fifth Floor, as Hu Li claimed, then he was incredibly lucky to have skipped the Sixth Floor entirely.

Hearing his words, Hu Li realized what had happened. It seemed the full force of the Sixth Floor had been focused on her alone, and the remaining disciples from the Seventh Floor had all been sent here.

However, she had no time to quibble over the floor numbers. All she wanted was to crush the jade token at Xie Qingyang’s waist, send him out of the trial, and eliminate any chance of him meeting Gu Sheng.

“Junior Brother,” Hu Li called out to Xie Qingyang, who was observing her. The moment he looked up, her hand shot toward his waist.

Her movement was incredibly fast; this strike should have been guaranteed.

Unexpectedly, the instant her fingertip touched the jade token, a spiritual arrow grazed the back of her hand, drawing crimson blood.

“Hiss—” Hu Li cried out in pain, retracting her hand and looking toward the direction the arrow had come from.

Gu Sheng? Her pupils contracted. She glanced at the black-robed young woman, instinctively turned, and quickly fled down the stairs.

Gu Sheng watched her retreating back, showing no hesitation. She quickly threw out a Binding Talisman and shouted, “Hold!”

The effects of a high-grade Binding Talisman were excellent. Hu Li felt a heat behind her back, and suddenly, she couldn’t move her feet or speak.

Ha. I knew nothing good would come from entering the Floating Life Pagoda.

Now, seeing the look on Gu Sheng’s face, a look that clearly meant she intended to eliminate a threat for Xie Qingyang. Hu Li had a gut feeling she wouldn’t see tomorrow’s sun.

“Senior Sister, what is the meaning of this?” Xie Qingyang hadn’t figured out the situation. He took a couple of steps forward, intending to tear off the Binding Talisman stuck to Hu Li’s back.

Hu Li stared at his hand, shouting internally, “Hurry up and tear that thing off!”

Instead, Gu Sheng grabbed Xie Qingyang’s restless hand and cast a spell on Hu Li.

“Junior Brother, look closely and see if she is human or demon.” Gu Sheng released Xie Qingyang’s hand and looked at the manifested Hu Li.

Under the dim light, the woman’s red dress was like fire. Her fox-like eyes, resembling polished glass, were deep and bright, like the brilliant moon. She was strikingly beautiful and vibrant, like a thorny wild rose, even looking at her from a distance filled one with an inexplicable joy.

Xie Qingyang’s breathing hitched. His heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and his whole body felt strangely warm.

“Benefactor, it’s you,” he finally said, his eyes filled with undisguised surprise and delight.

In his childhood, his family had suffered a disaster. His mother had told him that an immortal elder from the Fox Clan had helped them through the ordeal. He hadn’t believed it, demanding loudly that he be allowed to see the elder. Then Hu Li appeared. She had picked up the small sprout he was then, smiling faintly, and said, “Is it me you want to see?”

This scene had lingered in his heart for ten whole years. Whenever he found the hardship of cultivation unbearable, he would tell himself, “If you want to one day obtain her, you must persevere.”

Now, he had finally seen the person he had been thinking about day and night. Reason immediately fled, and he instantly wanted to embrace Hu Li.

However, the moment he raised his hand, Gu Sheng blocked him with her sword, placing it between him and Hu Li.

“Junior Brother, she is a demon,” Gu Sheng said coldly.

Xie Qingyang snapped back to attention, glanced at Gu Sheng, pushed her sword aside, and shielded Hu Li.

“Senior Sister, she is a good demon.” Xie Qingyang’s obsession with Hu Li ran deep. Therefore, even though he clearly knew Hu Li was a demon, he would not allow Gu Sheng to harm her.

Gu Sheng saw this, and after a moment of silence, she sheathed her sword. She walked over to Hu Li, tore the Binding Talisman off her back, and said, “I will be watching you.”

With that, she turned and walked down the stairs.

Hu Li watched her retreating figure and immediately let out a sigh of relief. She then looked at Xie Qingyang and gave a practiced, fake smile: “Immortal Master, the Floating Life Pagoda is too dark. Can you lead me out?”

Since her identity was the wicked second female lead, being a little dramatic counted as fulfilling her role.

“You want to leave the Floating Life Pagoda?” Xie Qingyang, who saw Hu Li through a self-applied fairy filter, immediately felt his opportunity to show off had arrived. “If you trust me, I’ll take you.”

“Is the Immortal Master’s word true?” Hu Li looked at Xie Qingyang, who resembled a peacock displaying its feathers, and couldn’t help but inwardly criticize: Why is this guy so pretentious?

In the original novel, he had summarily killed the original host with a single sword stroke to claim credit for himself in order to become the chief disciple of the Tianyan Sect, showing absolutely no mercy. Now, she wondered whether he still possessed a shred of conscience or if he hadn’t yet been completely corrupted by the murky waters of the Tianyan Sect.

“Benefactor, come with me. I will protect you,” Xie Qingyang said sincerely, moving in front of Hu Li.

Hu Li looked at him and replied, “Thank you, Immortal Master.”

Xie Qingyang began to hurry after Gu Sheng. Hu Li followed behind him, first stopping the bleeding on the back of her hand. Then, she secretly began to activate the Mind-Muddling Gu, trying to make him crush his own jade token.

She had previously been concerned that using the Gu again would arouse Xie Qingyang’s suspicion, but now that Gu Sheng was nearby, she couldn’t delay any longer.

However, something was wrong with the Mind-Muddling Gu this time. She chanted the spell several times, yet Xie Qingyang continued to walk quickly ahead, showing no sign of being manipulated by the Gu.

Did the original host use a counterfeit Mind-Muddling Gu? Or has the Gu expired?

Hu Li frowned at her hand, unable to figure it out. She could only quicken her pace to catch up with the two people walking so fast ahead.

There were a thousand steps between the Fifth and Sixth Floors. By the time they reached the end, Hu Li was too exhausted to speak and could only lean against the wall, gasping for breath.

Gu Sheng stood beside her, glancing at her as she surveyed the layout of the Fifth Floor.

This Fifth Floor was supposedly a place for confining demons and wicked cultivators, yet the walls were multicolored, painted with all sorts of strange yet adorable designs. Furthermore, the ceiling was painted sky-blue, with white paper clouds hanging down.

“Floating Life Pagoda Nursery.” Gu Sheng’s gaze settled on a plaque resembling a rainbow, reading out the few smooth characters carved on it.

Hu Li heard the words, collected her thoughts, and pulled out the Floating Life Pagoda Records again. She flipped to the pages containing the information on the Fifth Floor, quickly scanning the few surviving sentences to get a general idea.

The Floating Life Pagoda Nursery: a sanctuary carved out by the demons and wicked cultivators in the Pagoda for their young descendants.

Inside lived little demons and monsters less than a hundred years old. Although she didn’t know how powerful they were, being on the Fifth Floor meant they were likely all little devil kings, each possessing heaven-defying abilities.

Bratty children. Hu Li refined her summary into these three words. Her head began to throb, and she secretly started to consider backing out.

The system detected this ominous signal and urgently said, “Host, no matter how terrifying bratty children are, they can’t be more terrifying than the heavenly lightning!”

“Is that so?” Hu Li blurted out.

But this question, heard by the two people nearby, was utterly random and couldn’t help but cause suspicion.

“Benefactor, is there something wrong with this place?” Xie Qingyang asked tentatively.

Hu Li recovered her senses, glanced at him, and shook her head. “No. Also, don’t call me ‘Benefactor’ anymore. I have a name. I’m called Hu Li. You can just call me by my name from now on.”

The original host was his benefactor. Xie Qingyang calling her that felt undeserved and, to some extent, unfair to the original host.

“Hu Li?” Xie Qingyang was slightly stunned. “Benefactor—no, Hu Li, your name is quite direct.”

Hu Li knew he misunderstood and pouted as she clarified, “Hu Li. Hu as in ‘reckless’ and Li as in ‘lychee’.”

She had chosen the name herself. When she was little in the orphanage, she was constantly bullied, so she chose this surname, thinking that if she was the same as those reckless children, she wouldn’t be bullied. It turned out to be completely useless. However, thankfully, after getting into university and leaving the orphanage, she had finally escaped the suffering. As for the character ‘Li’, that was because lychees were the best thing she had ever eaten in the orphanage, and she wanted to be able to eat them all her life, so she used that character as her given name.

“Hu Li, that name is beautiful,” the embarrassed Xie Qingyang replied, not saying anything more.

Gu Sheng subtly glanced at Hu Li and said, “Let’s go. Time to clear the level.”

Hu Li heard her, walked behind her, and followed her as she bent down and squeezed through the small door under the plaque.

Beyond the door was a huge classroom. Tables of uneven height were haphazardly arranged, forming a small circle. Inside the circle were seven small stools. Four of the stools had names written on them, and the remaining three were new.

“Hey! Who goes there!” Three long spears suddenly appeared from nowhere, pointed at the trio’s waists.

[The Trouble Makers have come online.]

[The Floating Life Pagoda dedicating a floor to a kindergarten must not be for the kids’ sake, but for its own sake.]

[There’s no kindergarten teacher who isn’t crazy. They’re just holding on.]

[Save me, my ears are already buzzing.]

[The fox spirit coming online in this floor is surely the author’s punishment for her.]

[Psychological attack. This is truly impressive.]

[These little demons are quite aggressive. Maybe it’s a physical attack.]

*****

Hu Li looked at the book reviews and listened to the immature children’s voices. She smiled resignedly, knowing the nightmare was about to begin.

Bratty children: the world’s most difficult problem to solve.

In contrast to Hu Li’s pessimism, Gu Sheng was much calmer. She turned to look at the three little demons who were yellow, green, and blue, respectively while holding the spears. She calmly asked, “Three Little Demon Lords, may I ask what the rules of this floor are?”

The three little demons looked at each other, not understanding. They all turned their gaze to the little red-furred demon who was strolling over with his hands behind his back and asked, “Big Brother, what is she saying?”

“Don’t pry into the affairs of the Dao,” the red-furred demon said, flicking each of their heads. He then puffed out his chest and faced Gu Sheng. “This floor is mine to command, and this checkpoint is mine to set. If you wish to pass, you must play a game with us.”

Play a game. Hu Li sneered, remembering the socially embarrassing games played in her psychology classes. She already wanted to run.

But in the end, she meekly huddled on a small stool, joining Gu Sheng and Xie Qingyang to play “Drop the Handkerchief” with the four little demons.

No, it should be “Drop the Hand Grenade.” Hu Li looked at the Type 67 hand grenade the red-furred demon had pulled out and fell into contemplation.

[Dropping the hand grenade. That’s explosively literal.]

[I’m already exploded.]

[Cracking Up JPG.]

[In what state of mind did the author write this story?]

[Physical Cultivation (Physics) – magical power boundless.]

[Physical Cultivation (Physics) – spiraling to heaven.]

[Even the strongest master can’t defeat a Type 67 hand grenade.]

[I bet your hand grenade has no gunpowder.]

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