Stepping in for the Heroine to Crush the Protagonist Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 9

After descending to the Fourth Floor, Hu Li crawled out of a pile of rubble, looking around, covered in soot. This floor resembled a trench that had survived a major battle. The floor bricks were charred, and all she could see were broken walls and ruined foundations—a complete mess.

I wonder where Gu Sheng went. Hu Li kicked away a broken pillar blocking her way and walked to the base of the ruins, searching for Gu Sheng’s figure. Gu Sheng can’t die. If she dies, my free meal ticket is gone.

As Hu Li was thinking, the book reviews began to swirl in front of her eyes again:

[Is the fox spirit looking for the male lead?]

[I think she’s looking for the female lead.]

[Shampoo is already an orange outsider (ignored by the f/f couple), don’t tag him.]

[The male lead is no longer Shampoo. It’s the fox spirit. She’s been promoted.]

[The Wicked Second Female Lead’s Rise to Power.]

[Sheng Sheng is invisible in the corner. Li Li, charge!!! Shout ‘Wife,’ and she’ll appear!!!]

[Li Li begs for cuddles every day. How can she possibly be the top? (Smiling Face JPG.)]

[CP can be reversed but not broken up.]

[Omnivorous shipper, fearless!]

[One night, the little fox climbed onto Sheng Sheng’s bed and kissed her, Sheng Sheng said ‘beep beep beep,’ Li Li said ‘no,’ and then ‘beep beep beep…’]

…

Hu Li automatically skipped the last censored comment. She closed her eyes, sniffed for Gu Sheng’s unique herbal scent, and followed the aroma toward a wall.

Gu Sheng hadn’t expected Hu Li to find her. She wanted to escape, but her leg was injured, so she could only allow Hu Li to wrap her in her arms.

This posture lasted for about three seconds. When Hu Li’s hand began to wander elsewhere, Gu Sheng couldn’t tolerate it anymore and revealed herself.

“Stop touching me,” she said coldly, her back pressed tightly against the wall, her face rigidly turned away.

Hu Li opened her eyes, meeting Gu Sheng’s gaze directly. She suddenly remembered that censored comment, instantly held her breath, quickly stepped back a few paces, her heart pounding.

“Immortal, I meant no harm,” Hu Li explained weakly.

Gu Sheng turned her face back, her gaze lingering on Hu Li’s reddened ear tips for a moment before she lowered her eyes. “I know.”

Hu Li looked at her awkwardly, wanting to explain a bit more. Unexpectedly, a talisman appeared from nowhere, shooting directly toward her face.

“Execute!” a crisp female voice commanded.

Relying on muscle memory, Hu Li swiftly dodged the talisman by twisting aside and leaped onto the half-broken roof beam above her.

At the same time, the talisman landed on the rubble and exploded with a boom, kicking up a thick cloud of dust from the ruins.

Hu Li covered her mouth with one hand and used the other to wave away the dust in front of her eyes.

“Cough, cough, cough—” a bout of coughing came from the dust cloud.

Immediately following, an unfamiliar female voice rang out below: “Miaomiao, stop using explosion talismans. You’re going to collapse the entire Fourth Floor.”

“There’s a demon,” Shang Miaoyun’s voice sounded.

“Junior Sister Miaoyun, Senior Sister Xiuhé, this demon is good-natured. You don’t need to be so nervous,” Gu Sheng explained for Hu Li. On the Fourth Floor, Hu Li had helped her once; this time, she was repaying the favor.

Hearing this, Hu Li executed a flying leap off the beam, landing next to Gu Sheng. She looked at the two women who emerged from the shadows and nodded, “I’m a good demon. Very well-behaved.”

“A good demon?” A woman in a bright yellow dress with a high ponytail walked up to Hu Li, poking her head out to scrutinize her. “How do you prove you’re a good demon?” Her eyes were full of scrutiny, devoid of any fear, like a reckless person.

Hu Li looked at her, then recalled Gu Sheng’s previous address, and instantly guessed that she was another one of the heavily disguised characters from the original novel—Min Xiuhé.

“Senior Sister Xiuhé, don’t make things difficult for her. She helped me,” Gu Sheng said, reaching out to block Min Xiuhé.

Min Xiuhé lowered her eyes, glanced at the arm blocking her, and consciously stepped back. She then hooked her arm around Shang Miaoyun, who was hiding behind her, and laughed heartily, “Since Junior Sister trusts her, then this Senior Sister won’t ask any more questions.” With that, she stepped back into the shadows and reminded them, “Let’s go. Down to the Fourth, then charge the Third.”

Hearing this, Hu Li grabbed Gu Sheng’s arm, peered toward Min Xiuhé, and asked in confusion, “Are there no demons or wicked cultivators on the Fourth Floor?”

Gu Sheng patted Hu Li’s hand away and explained, “The Fourth Floor was guarded by a wicked cultivator who specialized in talismans and formations. He faced Junior Sister Miaoyun and was scared off.”

Scared off?! Hu Li raised an eyebrow and suddenly understood.

Yes, in the original novel, Shang Miaoyun was the number one spellcaster in the cultivation world. Her highlight moment was wiping out half the Demon Clan with a single formation. Thinking about it this way, it was understandable that the wicked cultivator couldn’t stand up to Shang Miaoyun.

Midway down to the Third Floor, the four of them found the unconscious Xie Qingyang. Out of humanitarianism, they tied the scoundrel up with a Celestial Binding Rope, planning to make him scout the traps first on the Third Floor.

What they didn’t expect was that on the Third Floor, before encountering the level’s guardian, they ran straight into He Shiqing.

The moment their eyes met He Shiqing’s, the room fell into a deadly silence.

It was Min Xiuhé who spoke first, breaking the awkwardness: “Junior Brother, since we’ve met, let’s proceed together.” She, Gu Sheng, and He Shiqing all shared the same master. Thus, for the sake of their master, they couldn’t openly sever ties, even though both she and Gu Sheng were fully aware of He Shiqing’s true intentions.

He Shiqing glanced at Xie Qingyang, who was being dragged on the floor, lowered his head, and replied calmly, “Yes, Senior Sister.”

The group of six successfully formed a team and split up to search for the key to descend to the Second Floor on the Third Floor.

Hu Li hid behind a pillar and once again pulled out the Floating Life Pagoda Records. Although the book was largely destroyed by chicken footprints, the remaining incomplete content wasn’t entirely useless.

The guardian of the Third Floor was a Ghost Cultivator whose characteristic was lechery. In short: a lustful ghost.

The key to passing the level: chicken footprints.

Hu Li forcefully closed the book, unable to smile.

She stood up and emerged from behind the pillar, intending to ask the others if they had found any clues. Instead, she found that everyone behind the pillar had disappeared. Then, a beam of white light suddenly appeared beneath her feet, pulling her into a deep abyss.

When Hu Li regained consciousness, she was standing in a courtyard decked out with lanterns and hung with red cloths. Drums and gongs pounded in her ears, and the sound of wedding music rose and fell. It was clearly a wedding scene.

Tsk, this time they’re playing a scenario role-playing game. According to the usual tropes, she was probably the bride. Hu Li lowered her eyes, scanning her clothes. Sure enough, she was wearing a wedding outfit.

I wonder who the groom is. Hu Li pondered between Xie Qingyang and He Shiqing, deciding that neither was acceptable. Therefore, she chose to quickly run to the wall in front of her, secretly gathered her strength, and prepared to leap over the wall and escape the marriage.

Unexpectedly, in this role-playing game, she had completely immersed herself in the character and lost her spiritual power. She even called the system, but the system, being blocked, couldn’t respond.

With all her cheats gone, Hu Li calmed down and decided to use the most basic method of eloping. She squatted at the base of the wall, pushed aside the weeds that reached her knees, meticulously searched for the span of a tea ceremony, and finally found a dog hole.

As long as I crawl out of this dog hole, my first crisis will be solved. Hu Li thought this and poked her head through the hole, starting to squeeze out.

But just as she was about to pull her entire body through the hole, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed her ankle and dragged her back to her original position.

Hu Li’s heart went cold. She looked up, meeting the gaze of the person who had grabbed her—a little maid with a double-bun hairstyle.

“Let go of me,” Hu Li said, forcefully suppressing her panic, her eyes wide.

The little maid said, “Oh,” released Hu Li’s ankle, and then asked in confusion, “Master, today is Miss’s wedding day. Why are you crawling through this dog hole?”

Master? Hu Li contemplated the maid’s words, looked carefully at her clothes again, and then touched the headpiece she was wearing. She immediately let out a long sigh of relief.

It turns out her role is the bride’s father, not the bride.

That’s good. That’s good.

Hu Li quickly adapted to the role. She climbed up from the ground and said solemnly, “Let’s go. Take me to see the Miss.”

The little maid agreed and led the way.

During the walk, Hu Li finally received intermittent content from her script. It turned out she was the bride’s father, the Master of this residence. Her daughter was mute, and thus, when she reached the age of marriage, she struggled to find a husband. But last month, a matchmaker secured a marriage for her daughter. The groom was the son of a wealthy merchant, and his family was rich. His only flaw was that he was blind.

Hu Li received this part of the script, sighed with mixed emotions, and was about to ask the maid how far it was.

Instead, the little maid stopped first, turned to Hu Li, and said, “Master, we’re here.”

Hu Li glanced at the little maid, acknowledged her, and then looked at the two large red lanterns hanging under the eaves. She had a hunch about the identity of the bride.

According to the trope, it was highly likely to be Gu Sheng. Because she was the female lead, it was reasonable for her to be the bride. Similarly, if the groom was Xie Qingyang, that would also be reasonable. After all, they were the official pairing in the original novel; even if everyone disapproved, they were destined to be together.

Hu Li pouted unhappily at the thought. She was about to push the door open, but the little maid next to her suddenly grabbed her and said, “Master, the groom has arrived.”

Hu Li froze, withdrew her hand, and looked toward the courtyard gate.

She saw several servants with red cloth tied around their waists escorting a person in. One of the servants was smiling very awkwardly. Hu Li stroked her non-existent beard and exchanged a knowing smile with her.

Min Xiuhé. She hadn’t expected her role to be a servant.

But what surprised Hu Li even more was that the groom, who slowly walked into the courtyard, was not Xie Qingyang but He Shiqing.

It was a surprise, but Hu Li immediately understood, recalling that He Shiqing had his lover stolen in the original novel. She figured Xie Qingyang was likely to appear later as the character who snatches the bride.

This role-playing game certainly knows how to be suggestive, Hu Li thought. Immediately after, the little maid inexplicably dragged her to play the role of blocking the door.

During their fake shoving, Min Xiuhé took the opportunity to ask, “Little fox demon, do you know who the bride is?”

Hu Li, remembering the subtle romantic plot between Min Xiuhé and Shang Miaoyun in the original novel, replied with a heavy heart, “It’s Gu Sheng, not Shang Miaoyun.”

“It’s my Senior Sister?” Min Xiuhé stopped shoving, her hanging heart immediately settling. “Alright, then don’t block the door anymore. I’m going to get the bride!”

With that, she picked Hu Li up, placed her on the steps, and pushed the door open. “Let’s get the bride!” she shouted. Immediately, a maid inside carried out the reluctant bride.

Hu Li looked at the woman wearing the phoenix coronet and embroidered cape. She sucked in a cold breath, reminded herself not to disrupt the plot, and resisted the urge to snatch the bride herself, turning her back.

Only after He Shiqing walked out of the courtyard holding the person’s arm did she stealthily follow the sedan chair all the way to the wealthy merchant’s house for the reception.

The wealthy merchant’s house was also brightly decorated and bustling with activity. Hu Li stood in front of a stone lion, watching the sedan chair from a distance, her heart full of mixed feelings.

Why did a perfectly good female lead get entangled with these scummy male leads and second male leads?

I’d be a better male lead or second male lead than any of them, Hu Li complained silently, feeling Gu Sheng deserved better. Unexpectedly, the next moment, she witnessed firsthand He Shiqing forcefully pulling the bride out of the sedan chair.

How dare they treat Gu Sheng like that?! Bastards! Hu Li cursed under her breath. Her mind went blank, and she stepped forward, ready to pull the person away and call off the marriage.

But just as she was about to make a move, her wealthy merchant relative called out to her. “Why are you here?” the other person asked.

Hu Li turned her head, looking at the newcomer. Her expression nearly cracked: “You’re not the bride?”

She stared blankly at Gu Sheng, who was also dressed as an elder/master.

At the same time, Min Xiuhé, who also saw Gu Sheng, was stunned. She had been told the bride was Gu Sheng! She clenched her fist, the image of a teary-eyed Shang Miaoyun flashing in her mind, and prepared to snatch the bride.

But just then, Shang Miaoyun ran out from inside, grabbed Gu Sheng, and whispered, “Senior Sister, it’s time to welcome the bride.”

Then, the moment her eyes met Min Xiuhé’s and Hu Li’s, she too was dumbfounded.

Ah, wait, didn’t Senior Sister say the bride was that little fox demon?

The four of them froze in place, then simultaneously looked at the happily receiving, blind He Shiqing, and then shifted their gaze to the mute bride, who was half a head taller than He Shiqing.

The most improbable answer was about to be revealed.

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