The Demon Lord is My Dark Moonlight [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 20

“Xiao Wu! Xiao Wu!”

The commotion seemed to have caught someone’s attention. Gu Jinli hadn’t been lying there long when she regained her senses to see a thin, frail girl running toward her from the side, clutching a long wooden stick.

“How are you?!”

The girl reached her side, checked that the others were gone, and leaned down to help Gu Jinli up. “Did they hit you again? Are you hurt?!”

Under the girl’s anxious questioning, Gu Jinli sat up and looked at her. With just one glance, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

Isn’t this Nangong Jinyao?!

Her startled gaze swept over the girl several times. Though she was much thinner, those familiar features were unmistakable. It was definitely the Young Mistress, Nangong Jinyao.

“Xiao Wu?”

Seeing that the stuttering girl in her arms wasn’t responding, “Nangong Jinyao” looked down in confusion, meeting Gu Jinli’s wide-eyed, stunned stare.

“What’s with that look? Don’t you recognize your second sister anymore?”

The girl shook her head with a faint smile and affectionately tapped Gu Jinli on the forehead. She sighed. “Listen to Second Sister. Don’t go to the Village Chief’s house to steal food from Big Yellow the dog anymore! Even if you get it, we can’t keep it. Look at you—hit so many times there’s hardly a patch of good skin left.”

“People like us… we’re different from the kids born in Pear Blossom Village. No one is going to protect us.”

Watching this once-arrogant Young Mistress show such signs of resignation and compromise, Gu Jinli finally realized: this person, like herself, had entered the twelfth-floor illusion. But unlike her, Nangong Jinyao clearly had no memory of her previous life.

“Nod if you understand.”

Xiao Wu (Little Five) was a severe stutterer; Jinyao didn’t expect a quick verbal answer. But having lived together for so long, she knew how to communicate with her “sister.” “Xiao Wu, you have to promise! No more being stubborn!”

“…”

Well. Since things had come to this, she had to play along. Facing a memory-wiped Young Mistress, Gu Jinli nodded without any psychological burden.

“Good that you understand.”

Seeing the child nod, Jinyao let out a sigh of relief. She knew Xiao Wu; among all the abandoned children, Xiao Wu was the most stubborn. She still remembered the villagers finding her under a pear tree in the dead of winter. The child had waited there so long she had nearly frozen to death. Even after she recovered, she would always go back to that tree alone, as if waiting for someone who was never coming.

“Let’s go back with Second Sister.”

Jinyao brushed the dust off both of them. Holding Gu Jinli’s hand in one and the stick in the other, she began leading her toward the east side of the village.

Gu Jinli followed silently. Being new to this place, she didn’t want to stand out too much. She wanted to use this chance to scout the village. If it was an illusion… there had to be a way to break the core.

******

Pear Blossom Village was strange. That was Gu Jinli’s first impression. This small village was desperately poor, yet it was teeming with children. Walking along, she saw mostly half-grown kids and white-haired elders. There wasn’t a single person of middle-age in sight.

“Second Sister is back! Second Sister is back!”

“She brought Xiao Wu back!”

“Second Sister is so amazing~”

Following a path to the north of the village, they arrived at a dilapidated thatched hut. As they drew closer, Gu Jinli realized there were at least five other children inside.

“I’m back,” Jinyao said, pushing open the woven grass door. “It’s still early. Xiao Si, Xiao Liu, come with me to the mountains to find some food. Anyone else who wants to come is welcome.”

The village backed onto a great mountain, which was their primary source of food. It wasn’t just the adults; even these children were “raised” by the mountain, knowing from a very young age how to forage for fruit to fill their bellies.

“Okay, Second Sister!”

“No problem!”

“I’ll go too! Take me with you…”

The children she called responded immediately, and those she didn’t began grabbing tattered bamboo baskets, cheerfully crowding around her.

“Xiao Wu, you stay here and rest.” Jinyao patted Gu Jinli on the head and quickly led the group away.

“…”

Watching their retreating backs, Gu Jinli hesitated at the door, but ultimately decided not to follow.

******

The hut was falling apart, with the wind whistling through the gaps. It was lucky the weather was currently warm; in winter, a house like this would be a death trap. She wondered how these kids survived the freezing months.

Sitting in a corner to save her energy, Gu Jinli tried to figure out her next move. She was hungry and weak.

“Xiao Qi… wake up!”

In the small hut, every whisper could be heard. Gu Jinli’s attention was instantly piqued. Not far to her left, a child was nudging a girl lying on the ground. “Second Sister is gone. Are you still going today? Xiao Qi? Xiao Qi?!”

The persistent nudging seemed to annoy the sleeping girl. She rolled over, slapped the hand away, and unceremoniously kicked the child.

“Get lost,” the girl growled. “If you want to go, go yourself. Keep yapping and I’ll kill you.”

Huh?

That ferocious tone… it was remarkably familiar.

Gu Jinli’s eyes narrowed as the words escaped her lips.

“S-s-s… Shen Chigui!”

Even if that brat turned to ash, she wouldn’t forget her! She was the darkest shadow of her life!

To confirm it, Gu Jinli scrambled up and marched over to “Xiao Qi” (Little Seven). A few seconds later, she stood over the girl, looking down to get a clear look.

The face was no bigger than a palm and covered in dirt, looking even younger than she had outside the tower, but it was undoubtedly Shen Chigui.

So why on earth was this brat here too?!

Looking at the female lead lying on the ground, Gu Jinli felt her entire world tilting. If her memory served her right, this was the twelfth-floor illusion, wasn’t it? Why was the lead here?! Wasn’t she supposed to be on the thirty-third floor?! Even if the thirty-third floor was also an illusion layer… this was the twelfth floor!!!

“What are you staring at!”

Noticing another person approaching, the child who had been pestering Shen Chigui immediately barked at Gu Jinli with a defensive sneer, “Get lost, little stutterer! This isn’t something for you to know!”

Something she wasn’t allowed to know? And it involved Shen Chigui.

Gu Jinli’s interest was instantly piqued. Instead of leaving, she took several steps forward until her shoes were almost touching the lead’s feet.

“A stutterer?”

Compared to the other child’s hostility, Shen Chigui, sitting on the ground, looked much more composed. She looked up at the noise, her eyes meeting Gu Jinli’s gaze head-on.

The two of them locked eyes unexpectedly—one tense and terrified that her secret might be discovered, the other full of cold, detached confusion.

A few minutes passed. Gu Jinli was the first to let out a sigh of relief.

Excellent.

It seemed that, like Nangong Jinyao, the lead had no memory of reality. Otherwise, her gaze wouldn’t be this clear and vacant. She was finally safe.

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