The Demon Lord is My Dark Moonlight [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 15

In the end, she died anyway. The sand devoured her so quickly that before the lead could return, Gu Jinli had been swallowed whole.

This death by suffocation officially refreshed Gu Jinli’s personal ranking for the “Number One Most Unbearable Way to Die.”

The good news was that because she had technically died, her limbs went limp, allowing her to lie flat in the quicksand. This actually slowed the speed of her burial to some extent.

The bad news was that her resurrection speed was far too fast. She had to experience the agony of being submerged in sand and unable to breathe all over again.

“Gu Jinli.”

In her near-death state, the female lead’s voice sounded like a literal melody from heaven. Gu Jinli felt a massive suction force from above, and then—pop—her head emerged like a spring onion being yanked out of the earth.

“Cough! Hack! Cough!”

The moment fresh air hit her nose and throat, it burned like fire. Gu Jinli didn’t even have time to take a second breath before she heard Shen Chigui’s anxious shout: “Quick! Grab this vine!”

Vine?

Her eyes were filled with grit, stinging and blurred. Gu Jinli scrambled to look around and saw a withered vine beside her hand, bristling with sharp thorns. At a time like this, she couldn’t afford to be picky. She grabbed it without hesitation. To make sure she didn’t slip halfway through, she even wrapped the vine around her forearm.

“Hiss.”

The thorns sliced through her palms and skin, drawing blood. The pain made Gu Jinli’s face contort, but she gripped that vine as if it were her last hope in the world.

“Big Sister, I’m going to pull the vine and walk outward. You slowly adjust your posture and pull yourself out.”

Holding the other end, Shen Chigui began to move. Currently, Gu Jinli was face-down in the pit, most of her body submerged and still sinking. Shen Chigui had just used her Ghost Qi to barely haul her upper torso out, allowing her arms to reach beyond the sand, but everything below the chest was still buried deep.

“Okay.”

Knowing this was their limit, Gu Jinli recalled the quicksand self-rescue methods she’d read about online. She began to relax her body, letting her lower half slowly “float” upward. It was an agonizingly slow process. Every movement had to be light and steady, shifting upward inch by inch.

She had no idea how much time passed, but finally, Gu Jinli felt her legs break through the sand and meet the open air. Not enough. Still not enough.

“Big Sister, don’t rush,” Shen Chigui said calmly from a distance, tension still in the vine. “You can make it.”

When escaping quicksand, there is no way out except through patience. Gu Jinli knew the situation had already improved immensely.

By the time Gu Jinli had completely extricated herself from the quicksand pit, the temperature outside had plummeted to zero. Her fingers, having gripped the vine for so long, were frozen and stiff. The blood had dried and crusted over; when she finally let go of the vine, it felt like she was peeling a layer of skin off her palms.

“So cold…”

She blew on her frozen hands and immediately noticed something wrong with Shen Chigui. “What’s wrong with you?”

Even though she was out, the girl was still holding the vine, standing far off without moving a muscle.

“Hey! Shen Chigui!”

Frowning, Gu Jinli hurried over, only to find the lead had fainted while standing up. Her eyes were shut tight, her face pale as a ghost. Shen Chigui remained in a pulling stance, but she had clearly lost consciousness; she was simply standing there by sheer force of will.

“???”

She won’t even fall over? Gu Jinli was impressed. “I give up. You win.”

She rubbed her own fingers and reached for the lead’s wrist to pry the vine from her hands. But the moment her fingertips touched the skin, the abnormal body temperature made Gu Jinli’s heart skip a beat. Wait, why is she so hot?

“!”

She reached out to touch the lead’s forehead. The scorching heat wasn’t an illusion. Shen Chigui had a high fever. It made sense; the girl was already slightly ill, and after standing in the freezing night wind for so long just to save her, she had reached her breaking point.

“I guess since you saved me…”

With a soft sigh, Gu Jinli gently untangled the vine from the girl’s hands and picked up the unconscious child. The heat radiating from the girl’s body flowed into her like a warm furnace. Gu Jinli was freezing, so she didn’t mind using the opportunity to warm herself up.

An hour later, Gu Jinli arrived at the oasis with the lead in her arms. Or rather, a wasteland. From a distance, she couldn’t tell, but up close, she saw that the oasis had long since dried up. There wasn’t a speck of green. The plants were dead, the stones weathered, and even the lakebed had turned into a sand pit. It was a dead oasis, devoid of life.

“I hope you don’t burn your brain out,” she muttered, shivering as she started a fire. Gu Jinli took out a water flask and a dagger, cut a strip from her own clothing to dampen it, and began applying a cold compress to the lead’s forehead.

She checked the lead’s storage pouch—only a tiny bit of food and water, no medicine or weapons. This dagger was the only thing she found.

“…”

Whatever, it’s in fate’s hands now. Simple physical cooling was the best she could do. Gu Jinli took a sip of water, pulled some food from the pouch, and started eating. Honestly, the lead was much easier to look at while unconscious. She could move her around however she wanted without getting yelled at.

“If only you were always this well-behaved.”

She poked the girl’s cheek, finished her meal, and tossed more wood on the fire. It had been an exhausting day; this would have to do for now. Leaning back against a dead tree trunk, she closed her eyes.

Did becoming a child actually shrink one’s mental fortitude?

When Shen Chigui woke up, she didn’t react for a long time. She was being held tightly in Gu Jinli’s arms, looking completely vulnerable. A piece of wet cloth slid from her forehead, which she caught in her hand. Feeling the residual moisture, she instantly understood what had happened.

This person… hadn’t taken the chance to kill her. Instead, she had tried to bring her fever down. And she herself had actually fainted so defenselessly.

How disgraceful. Why would she go this far for a Task-taker? She must be losing her edge.

“…”

She wiggled out of Gu Jinli’s embrace. The sky was beginning to brighten. It was the perfect time to investigate this oasis. She remembered…

“Huuu~”

Warm breath brushed against her because of their proximity. Shen Chigui could hear the other woman’s heartbeat clearly. Without even looking up, she could see Gu Jinli’s slumped head and her peaceful, sleeping face.

Honestly, Gu Jinli wasn’t ugly at all. She had a very pleasant face—the kind that looked obedient and innocent, stirring a sense of protectiveness in others. But Shen Chigui knew that was just the surface. How could the Creator who designed her be that simple? Even her submissiveness must be an act.

That was why Shen Chigui often tormented her, trying to force her true self out. But so far, she hadn’t succeeded.

I wonder which side of her is the real one? She was curious.

By the way… what was she thinking about just now?

Hmm…

Forgotten.

Shen Chigui scratched her head.

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