The Demon Lord is My Dark Moonlight [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 30

The female lead shoved me out again!

Why am I not even surprised…

Back in the real world, she was constantly being used as a shield. She was practically used to it by now. Protection? Sacrifice? That would never happen with this protagonist. That girl was, at her core, a complete “scumbag”.

…

After being tossed up, the first thing Gu Jinli saw was the Golden Buddha looming in the hall. The monster had indeed awakened. It had already stepped off the pedestal and was heading toward the courtyard. Fortunately, it hadn’t noticed the person at its feet yet.

“…”

Gu Jinli held her breath until her lungs burned. According to what she knew, the Buddha was slow and clumsy; even if it saw her, it would take an age to turn around. Still, she kept her steps light. She couldn’t worry about the lead still in the hole; she just wanted to slip out without being noticed.

Please, let me make it…

She crept toward the exit, her eyes fixed on the mutated back of the monster. But her caution was for naught. A series of loud crashes erupted from the hole behind her.

The Golden Buddha, which had been walking away, froze. Then, it turned.

It didn’t turn its body—it turned its head. While its torso still faced the courtyard, its massive, grotesque head spun 180 degrees with a sickening snap, locking eyes directly with Gu Jinli.

Gu Jinli: “!!!”

It saw me!

“…”

When terror peaks, speech fails. Gu Jinli stared at the Buddha, her mind a total blank. She forgot to run. She forgot to scream. She just stood there like a rabbit in headlights, paralyzed.

Run! Move! Her survival instinct screamed, but her muscles wouldn’t listen. She watched as the Buddha slowly shifted its entire body toward her, swinging one of its long, spindly arms in a wide arc.

This is it. I’m actually going to die.

The shadow of the limb expanded in her vision. A single thought remained in her head: I really should have known better than to trust that brat!

“Xiao Wu! Watch out!”

Nangong Jinyao burst into the courtyard just in time to see the horrific scene. Without a second of hesitation, she charged in with her shovel.

Don’t come in!

—SQUELCH!

The internal warning never made it to her lips. Gu Jinli felt a sudden lightness in her upper body. Then, her world began to spin uncontrollably. She caught a glimpse of her own legs still standing there. She saw Shen Chigui’s silhouette climbing out of the hole.

Wait… why can I see my own legs?

Then it hit her. She had been cleaved clean in half.

Oh… that really hurts.

******

As the realization of her death set in, Gu Jinli’s vision was flooded with crimson. Like a screen shattered by a hammer, the world broke into a thousand jagged, connected shards.

What’s happening?

Her hollow gaze drifted to Shen Chigui. She watched the girl leap from the hole, glance at her bisected remains, and indifferently kick the two halves aside like trash. Then, Shen Chigui nimbly dodged the Buddha’s reach and bolted straight for Nangong Jinyao.

Gu Jinli realized with a shock that Shen Chigui hadn’t even given her corpse a second look. Her focus was entirely on Jinyao.

Run!!

An alarm blared in Gu Jinli’s mind. She didn’t understand why, but she saw the intent in Shen Chigui’s movement. What was she going to do?!

“Xiao Wu!”

The sight of her friend being torn in two had shattered Nangong Jinyao. She stood there, trembling, the shovel nearly falling from her hands. She was so traumatized she couldn’t move. “Xiao Qi… Xiao Wu, she…”

“She’s dead.”

Shen Chigui finished the sentence for her as she closed the distance in three strides. She snatched the shovel from Jinyao’s hands and, before the girl could blink, swung it with all her might at Jinyao’s head.

“And you should be, too,” she said.

Nangong Jinyao: “!!”

Gu Jinli: “!!”

—CRUNCH!

Nangong Jinyao was dead. She died instantly under Shen Chigui’s efficient strike; the shovel split her head open like a ripe watermelon. It was a scene of such raw brutality that Gu Jinli felt a spiritual suffocation.

What is going on?!

Someone tell me—am I not dead? My body is in two pieces on the floor, so why do I still have consciousness? Did I just watch Shen Chigui murder Nangong Jinyao for real?

“Am I… am I dreaming?”

Gu Jinli murmured to herself, completely lost in the madness of the moment.

*******

And right at that moment, Shen Chigui moved once more.

“It’s over.”

Having successfully dealt with Nangong Jinyao, Shen Chigui let out a heavy sigh of relief, as if completing a necessary ritual. She then returned to the main hall and faced the Golden Buddha. Dropping the shovel, she stood with open arms, a picture of total surrender.

“Now… kill me!”

Her arms were wide, but her gaze didn’t fall on the Buddha; instead, she stared into a void, as if she had truly given up. Seeing the prey present itself, the monster didn’t hesitate. The Golden Buddha swung a spindly, writhing arm, lashing out at Shen Chigui.

The scene was so familiar that Gu Jinli couldn’t help but roar, “What are you doing?! Get out of the way!!”

Crazy—everyone was crazy! Was Shen Chigui insane? She was going to die! Even if it was just an illusion, even if…

Wait. This was an illusion. Could it be…?

—SQUELCH!

The spindly arm pierced through her chest. The force sent Shen Chigui stumbling back two steps. But her expression remained serene, as if the one dying wasn’t her. A faint smile even played on her lips.

“Don’t be afraid,” she said. “I’m coming to accompany you.”

Then, her eyes flickered and landed squarely on Gu Jinli. Despite being separated by the veil of life and death, their gazes met with eerie precision.

“You…”

She can see me?

RIPPLE—

Something finally shattered. The world began to lose its color, peeling away like a broken spiderweb from the ceiling down. The earth beneath their feet, the houses, the sky—it all began to collapse into a chaotic abyss. Those falling shards suddenly erupted into a violent, blinding light.

Amidst that white radiance, Gu Jinli quickly lost consciousness.

*****

Gu Jinli felt as though she had been lost in a very long dream. In the dream, she was a ceramic doll abandoned outside a temple. In a place where she breathed in incense every day, she gradually grew a spirit, becoming a minor deity.

One day, a monk picked her up. Noticing the divinity within her, he cut his palm and let his blood drip onto her forehead. From then on, she became a blade in the monk’s hand, forced to do many things against her will.

Later, she was taken to a place called Pear Blossom Village and buried deep in the soil for a long, long time. She was lonely and terrified. Facing only the eternal darkness of the earth, she wanted to leave but couldn’t move an inch.

Then… she seemed to receive offerings from the villagers, finally allowing her to send out a sliver of her divine consciousness. The taste of freedom was so sweet, but as her true body slumbered, she slowly forgot her mission.

She remembered nothing.

******

Why would I have a dream like that?!

When she opened her eyes, Gu Jinli was back on the twelfth floor. The familiar stone door before her was the mark of a cleared level. It was only then that she realized she had actually passed? The illusion was broken, and she was alive.

“What on earth happened!”

Recalling the events of the illusion, “surreal” didn’t even cover it. A twelfth-floor trial linking to the thirty-third floor was beyond unexpected. Gu Jinli quickly blamed the Tower for her encounter with the lead. The two arrays must have been connected! It’s not because I skipped to the thirty-third!

Comforting herself, she scrambled up and dusted off her clothes, summoning the courage to look at the stone door. She promptly shuddered at the sight of a giant “33” carved upon it.

“Xiao Wu? No… Gu Jinli.”

When Nangong Jinyao’s familiar voice rang out, the reality was set in stone. Gu Jinli couldn’t lie to herself anymore. she turned around stiffly to see the two people she would recognize even if they were turned to ash: Nangong Jinyao and Shen Chigui.

Gu Jinli: “…”

Wait. Wasn’t I on floor twelve?! Nobody told me clearing it would jump me straight to thirty-three!

Nangong Jinyao rubbed her temples to soothe the throbbing ache. The memories of the illusion were still vivid—or rather, her head was a mess, with her true memories clashing with the ones forced upon her in the village. She didn’t know how to react.

“Big Sister.”

Compared to Jinyao, Shen Chigui was the most composed. Without waiting for Gu Jinli to speak, she walked naturally to the girl’s side. With a smile in her eyes, she said, “See? I didn’t lie to you, did I?”

Lie about what? Caught in this whirlwind, Gu Jinli’s brain was too fried to process the situation. She had no idea what the lead was talking about. But soon, she understood.

“I said—as long as Big Sister doesn’t betray me, I will do anything for you.”

That gentle voice, for an instant, overlapped perfectly with “Xiao Qi” from the illusion. Standing before Gu Jinli, Shen Chigui wasn’t as calm as she appeared. Her heart was in turmoil. The memories of the illusion had affected her more than she cared to admit. Looking at this person, her emotions were spiraling out of control.

What do I do? I think my heart is racing for her.

For my Creator.

For a liar.

[Target Shen Chigui: Favorability +3, -3, +5, -5…]

[Favorability +20, -20…]

[Target Shen Chigui: Final Favorability: 0]

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