Transmigrated Into The Arms Of The Heroine Of A Sadistic Novel - Chapter 45

The three of them followed the guards to Yu Mao’s residence.

Their timing was decent Yu Mao had stopped crying. Her eyes were still red as she bent over a sheet of yellow paper, writing letters to burn for her friends who had died unexpectedly.

After the guards closed the door and left, Qin Changxin comforted Yu Mao before asking about meeting the island master.

The moment she mentioned it, Yu Mao’s tears surged again.

“It feels like the Island Master has turned into a different bird entirely! So many clansmen died in Hundred Birds Ravine, yet she could still speak to me so calmly. She’s never been so cold toward her people before!” Yu Mao wiped her tears as she spoke. “I’ve lived on Sparrowfeather Island for almost thirty years, and I’ve never seen her like this. Even when a fledgling died prematurely, she would grieve for half a day!”

Lin Yanyu asked, “And before this? Has she been like this these past few years?”

Yu Mao thought about it. “She was fine before. It’s only this year suddenly she doesn’t want to see people and loses her temper easily. She’ll still meet with old friends like us, but after just a few words, she’ll say she’s unwell and dismiss us. I even asked the healers apart from some weakness, she’s not sick at all…”

“Could she be under someone’s control and avoiding familiar faces?” Lin Yanyu pressed.

Yu Mao froze, patting her forehead. “That… you’d have to ask her attendants. I’m often out delivering letters, so I don’t know if she’s met any outsiders. But… with the Island Master’s cultivation, there aren’t many in this world who could control her.”

Lin Yanyu’s expression darkened. “There really is one.”

After thanking Yu Mao, the three left.

“We can’t get close to the Island Master or her attendants,” Qin Changxin said as they crossed the vine bridge. “We’ll have to wait for Feng Xianchen and Senior Sister Zhuang to return.”

While helping Qin Changxin across, she whispered, “Do you think it’s Xiao Xianyi?”

Lin Yanyu frowned. “No proof but he’s the likeliest suspect. Whether it’s him or not, we must be ready to face the Island Master. If a demon of her power loses her reason, the consequences will be catastrophic.”

When they reached the guest tree, they were surprised to find Feng Xianchen and Zhuang Jingwei already waiting.

“We couldn’t speak much with the Island Master,” Zhuang said bluntly. “She called the bird demon mutations an ‘internal matter.’ We told her about the demon attack, but she acted indifferent like an outsider.”

Feng Xianchen lowered her voice. “We suspect she’s under Xiao Xianyi’s control, but asking directly would get us all killed.”

Qin Changxin asked, “Senior Sister Zhuang, can you tell if someone’s mind is being controlled?”

“I’d need to touch her head.” Zhuang frowned. “If Senior Feng Mingchi were here, he could diagnose her through the veil.”

Feng Xianchen sighed. “Yes, my uncle specializes in spiritual exorcisms. None of the others we brought are.”

Lin Yanyu thought back to the original story in the book, the Sparrowfeather Island Master had already gone mad and could only be slain. That version was much simpler.

She glanced at Qin Changxin, the story’s heroine surely she was the key.

Just then, their eyes met and Lin Yanyu suddenly had an idea.

“The Wuyuan Fan! You still have it!” she blurted out, too excited to control herself.

In the book, Qin Changxin’s fan had been stolen. But in this reality, with Lin Yanyu’s help, she had already bonded to it by blood. The Wuyuan Fan’s greatest power was creating illusions.

Lin Yanyu didn’t know exactly how Xiao Xianyi had controlled the Island Master the book never said but she was certain the fan could solve it.

All eyes turned to Qin Changxin. She hesitated, then summoned the fan and held it out, looking to Lin Yanyu for guidance.

“What should I do?” she asked.

Half an hour later, outside the Island Master’s quarters.

Qin Changxin adjusted the black cat in her arms and followed the guards inside.

Lin Yanyu pretended to sleep, secretly using her spiritual energy to observe.

The guards explained that the Island Master was frail, so she received guests in her bedchamber. But Lin Yanyu quickly noticed something odd the entire room was strung with fine, translucent threads of demonic energy.

Ordinary visitors wouldn’t notice demons lived here, after all but Lin Yanyu recognized the aura immediately. She had felt Xiao Xianyi’s energy before.

The culprit was indeed Xiao Xianyi.

Just as she confirmed this, the guard said, “The Island Master is just ahead. Please speak to her through the curtain.”

Peering forward, Lin Yanyu saw two white veils hanging ten steps away unembroidered, of some unknown fabric, but full of isolation wards to block illusions.

She was debating whether to burn them with demonfire when Qin Changxin stopped walking. Lin Yanyu refocused and watched through the veil.

“Greetings, Island Master,” Qin Changxin said, bowing with the cat in her arms. “I am a beast tamer of the Feng family, come to offer you a rare black cat demon.”

Lin Yanyu’s plan had been inspired by the original story: the Island Master had once seen Qin Changxin and suddenly attacked, saying she “smelled the black cat’s scent” likely Xiao Xianyi’s vengeful will. Thus, Lin Yanyu decided to use herself as bait.

As expected, movement stirred behind the veil. Soon, a slender hand reached out.

“Let me have a look,” the Island Master said softly but Lin Yanyu instantly sensed killing intent emanating from her.

Even Qin Changxin felt it. She hesitated, clutching the cat tightly.

Sensing her fear, Lin Yanyu lightly scratched her palm and nuzzled her hand, mewing softly.

After a brief inner struggle, Qin Changxin finally placed the cat into the Island Master’s hand.

Lin Yanyu stayed limp, playing the role of a docile cat while preparing to help trigger the illusion.

Through the veil, she saw the Island Master, Pu Wei a stunning beauty dressed in gauzy silks despite the winter chill, every inch radiating allure.

Lin Yanyu ignored her looks, focusing instead on the dark markings spreading across her skin concealed beneath hair, painted nails, and long black nail sheaths.

The corruption was worse than she’d imagined.

Just as she was about to signal Qin Changxin, a sudden stab of cold pain pierced her abdomen.

She’d been stabbed.

The pain was sharp and immediate. Lin Yanyu instinctively tried to heal herself with demonic energy but then realized the strike had landed precisely where the Soul-Locking Incense had once been hidden.

Pu Wei sniffed perhaps puzzled that the incense wasn’t there and began to pull back her hand. But before she could, the scene around her warped into an illusion, trapping her completely.

Seizing the moment, Lin Yanyu rolled under the bed, spat a burst of demonfire at the curtain, and set it ablaze.

“Fire! Help!”

“An assassin! Protect the Island Master!”

Chaos erupted.

Coughing from the smoke, Lin Yanyu huddled beneath the bed. As Pu Wei’s murderous aura flared, she summoned the Floating Axe, letting it act on its own.

Drawn by the killing aura, the axe flew from beneath the bed and struck Pu Wei squarely. It phased through her body, drawing out a cloud of black energy before returning to Lin Yanyu.

As the axe purified the malice, a violent roar echoed in Lin Yanyu’s mind the wrath of expelled spirits.

She stayed calm, despite the agony of her wound. The pain kept her conscious, her will unshaken.

She sat beneath the bed, eyes closed, battling the invading darkness until

A pair of warm hands lifted her up.

“Yanyu’s hurt!” Qin Changxin’s trembling voice cried. “Where’s the healer? Hurry!”

Lin Yanyu blinked open her eyes just as tears fell onto her face.

“How did you get hurt this badly?” Qin whispered, clutching her tightly. “I shouldn’t have let you do it…”

Lin Yanyu couldn’t bring herself to say “I’m fine.” Blood still flowed freely from her belly, soaking Qin’s robe.

She’d realized the truth the Soul-Locking Incense once buried in this body had been placed there by Xiao Xianyi. For eighteen years it hadn’t moved; the original cat would never have dared to. One stab at that spot would’ve killed her.

But Lin Yanyu wasn’t the original. Since the moment she’d defied Ye Yaozhi, she’d shifted the incense’s location. And now, with her soul whole confirmed by the Silver Orchid Exorcist she couldn’t be killed so easily.

Soon she was carried to the island’s healing tree, laid on a bed in the Hundred Herbs Hall.

Only then did she see Qin Changxin’s robes, stained red from carrying her.

The healers were quick and skilled, cleaning and binding her wound.

Lin Yanyu didn’t mind the pain she’d endured worse. A few days’ rest would heal her.

But when she met Qin Changxin’s tearful eyes, guilt and warmth welled up inside her.

Someone actually cares for me now, she thought. How could I still throw my life away like before?