Chapter 50 050 Double Secret Reveal
No one knows the story of Xiao Ruo and Duan Lansheng better than Lu Yuanyuan.
The cold-faced young cultivator and the charming little fox demon are a timeless combination. Nine out of ten cultivation novels feature this bickering couple. The popularity of the male lead outside the book "The Enchanting Immortal's Fate" proves that readers still love this trope.
Regarding Xiao Ruo, the original text reads: During the Immortal Cultivation Conference, Xiao Ruo got involved in a case of demons injuring people and was captured and interrogated by the disciples of Shu Mountain—of course, this is also the author's double standard treatment of the female lead.
If it were any other monster, it would either be released on the spot or killed without mercy, rather than being brought back from afar.
At that time, the person ordered to arrest her was Duan Lansheng.
From the very first day she ventured into the world of cultivation, Xiao Ruo lived a life of ease and success. Wherever she went, she was loved by everyone and admired by all. She could make friends with whomever she wanted without having to curry favor; she could do so effortlessly with just a flick of her finger.
Duan Lansheng was the first obstacle she encountered.
Unlike the men she had encountered before who showed her tenderness and pity, Duan Lansheng treated her with ruthless professionalism and coldness, as if he were looking at a roadside stone.
It had been a long time since anyone had treated her like this. If Duan Lansheng were human, it would be normal for him to hate monsters. But his mother was a fox demon.
A sense of injustice, novelty, curiosity, and a touch of kinship born from the fact that they both have fox demon blood... all greatly increased Xiao Ruo's interest in Duan Lansheng.
To use a cheesy line, it would be: Man, you've successfully caught my attention.
Soon after being captured and taken to Mount Shu, Xiao Ruo cleared herself of suspicion of harming people and quickly won the admiration of many. The disciples who were initially hostile towards her because she was a demon were all captivated by the little fox demon's charm, and they all changed their minds and became her devoted followers.
...
Xiao Ruo truly lives up to her role as the female lead; she only made a brief appearance on the mountain, yet she became the talk of the town among the Shu Mountain disciples.
In one afternoon, Zhou Que had found out the whole story.
"...The sect leader and his fellow disciples were patrolling near the Spirit Treasure Secret Realm when they passed a village and smelled a strong stench of blood. They went to investigate. Upon entering the village, they found that almost everyone was dead. Only one villager who had gone to a neighboring village to buy supplies escaped. He said that when he returned, he saw a fox demon running out of the village, her clothes covered in blood, acting suspiciously. Given the gravity of the situation, the sect leader ordered her to be captured and brought back." Zhou Que said while eating, "It's truly rare. This is the first time I've ever seen a demon brought back for interrogation. I wonder how long the interrogation will take. They're still in the Hundred Battles Hall right now."
Lu Yuanyuan nodded slightly, poking at the green beans at the bottom of the bowl with her chopsticks.
It seems that the current version of the story, although the timeline has been fast-forwarded by several decades, is still trying its best to stay close to the style of the original work.
Xiao Ruo is branded as a bad monster, and Duan Lansheng captures her and takes her back to his sect. Duan Lansheng attracts her attention, and the beginning of the "bickering lovers" storyline has all the elements you'd expect.
However, after reviewing the original timeline, she discovered a very obvious contradiction—
In this year, Xiao Ruo, by all accounts, shouldn't be in the world of cultivation, but rather traveling in the mortal realm. In the near future, she will also be involved in a love triangle with Yue Qi, the crown prince of Yong Kingdom, and Yue Hong, the third prince.
She's currently imprisoned in Mount Shu, so won't the storyline in the mortal realm be cut short?
System: "Please rest assured, host. Based on the principle of 'the female lead gets to have all the men she's supposed to have,' the [Duan Lansheng Route], [Yue Hong Route], and [Yue Qi Route] will not be a three-way choice. Since they can't be separated, they can be combined."
Lu Yuanyuan: "What do you mean?"
System: "Shushan will soon uncover the truth and release Xiaoruo. Also, do you remember what I said before? After the disturbances in the Ghost Realm, something escaped to the mortal realm. After two months of fermentation, the harm caused by these things is enough to constitute a dungeon. Duan Lansheng and his group will soon go to the mortal realm to exorcise the evil spirits. Xiaoruo had already developed a strong interest in Duan Lansheng at that time. After regaining her freedom, she spontaneously caught up with them and entered Duan Lansheng's dungeon, while also intersecting with Yue Hong and Yue Qi, starting a chaotic melee. In this way, the three routes can proceed simultaneously."
With a single poke of her chopsticks, the green pea crumbled in two. Lu Yuanyuan put down her chopsticks and smiled wryly, "Actually, what I really want to know is why the timeline was moved forward."
This question cannot be answered by the system.
Lu Yuanyuan felt as if she were inside a sophisticated machine, with countless gears turning simultaneously from all sides. She only knew that the plot was crashing down on her, but she couldn't pinpoint which gear had started moving first.
She had no appetite, so she ate a few bites hastily and put down her chopsticks. She and Zhou Que walked out of the cafeteria and down the tree-lined path. As they walked, they suddenly heard a series of panicked screams coming from ahead.
"I was pulling it! How did it get out?!"
"Watch out, make way!"
The wind was so close that the two looked up in astonishment, and a dark shadow with four legs on the ground rushed in front of them—it was a Qilin.
Faced with the enormous object, Zhou Que's face turned pale. Fortunately, Lu Yuanyuan reacted quickly, grabbing her friend's waist and pulling her aside, preventing the two from being hit by the thing.
One step back leads to another, and Lu Yuanyuan took a half-step into the air, losing her balance while holding Zhou Que, and the two of them fell hard on their backsides like a human pyramid. Lu Yuanyuan's foot was also heavily pressed down by Zhou Que's sword sheath, and she groaned in pain.
A disciple from Shui Ren Peak rushed over anxiously from afar, knelt down with a thud, and cried out in distress, "I'm so sorry! Senior Sister Lu! Senior Sister Zhou! Are you alright?"
They were disciples of Shui Ren Peak, usually responsible for raising spirit beasts. Today, they hadn't been careful and released a litter of immature Qilin, which were now running amok on the mountain path. They would definitely be punished when they got back... no, being punished was the least of their worries; injuring someone was a much bigger problem.
Zhou Que was unharmed because there was a human cushion underneath him.
Lu Yuanyuan had already sprained her ankle once before. She reached out and pinched it, and knew that there was no injury to the tendons or bones. It wouldn't affect her walking; it was just swollen. She shook her head and said, "I'm fine. You don't need to worry about us. Go and chase after them."
The young disciple from Shui Ren Peak nodded gratefully and ran off.
Although she hadn't sprained her ankle, the swelling still made her quite uncomfortable. Zhou Que personally escorted her back to Danqing Peak. Reaching the bottom of the steps, Lu Yuanyuan hopped off her sword on one foot, landing abruptly when she heard a familiar voice from above: "What happened?"
The two looked up together and were surprised to see Yin Xiaozhu, whom they hadn't seen for almost two months, standing on the steps.
Shouldn't she have also gone to the Hall of Hundred Battles to observe the interrogation? How did she end up here!
However, she was still wearing her clan robe, so she must have only recently returned.
Noticing that Lu Yuanyuan's gait was somewhat unnatural, Yin Xiaozhu's smile froze. Zhou Que felt inexplicably annoyed, but dared not hide anything and told her what had happened on the mountain path.
"So careless?" Yin Xiaozhu frowned, walked down the steps, and took her from Zhou Que's hands: "You go back first, let me do it."
Zhou Que nodded hurriedly: "Yuan Yuan, you should get some rest."
Lu Yuanyuan thought Yin Xiaozhu was going to take over from Zhou Que and become her crutch. Unexpectedly, after Zhou Que left, her waist suddenly tightened, and she was lifted up straight.
Startled by the sudden lift off the ground, she instinctively wrapped her arms around the other person's shoulders and leaned forward. From a distance, it looked as if she missed the other person and couldn't wait to snuggle up to them.
Upon realizing this, Lu Yuanyuan loosened her arms slightly, a little awkwardly asking, "When did you get back?"
Yin Xiaozhu raised her head, her chin brushing against her shoulder, and sighed, "Of course I was much earlier than you. But when I opened the door, the house was cold and deserted, not a single person was there."
She seemed to be sighing, but a smile played on her lips.
“I thought you were…” Lu Yuanyuan said, and when she looked up, she inadvertently saw that there was a person standing right behind Yin Xiaozhu and in front of her.
After noon, under the blazing sun, Duan Lansheng seemed to be nailed to the shadows, silently watching them, his eyes dark and unfathomable.
There was no one there just now; he must have just arrived and hasn't even changed his clothes yet.
When he saw her dangling in the air, Lu Yuanyuan felt even more embarrassed. She tugged at Yin Xiaozhu's hair and whispered, "Put me down first."
Yin Xiaozhu paused, but did not stop or let go. He climbed the steps and placed her on the stone bench.
The footsteps grew closer, and Duan Lansheng had caught up. His expression had returned to normal, and he said calmly, "Yuanjun, I have something to say to Yuanyuan."
Clearly, this means the two of them need to talk.
“Okay.” Yin Xiaozhu agreed, then bent down, leaned on the stone table, and smiled: “Let’s talk here, don’t wander around. I’ll come out and carry you inside in a bit.”
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the word "hug" was pronounced with exceptional clarity, as if no one else was around.
Once she went inside, only the two of them, one sitting and one standing, remained in the flower-filled courtyard. Duan Lansheng knelt down, lifting his robe, and asked, "What happened to your foot?"
"Oh, it's nothing, I just accidentally got hit by the hilt of a sword. A warm compress will reduce the swelling."
Duan Lansheng didn't speak, staring at her feet, lost in thought for a moment.
He remembered the time when he and Lu Yuanyuan were trapped in the sea of consciousness. At that time, she had also sprained her ankle and had difficulty moving around. The person who carried her around every day was none other than him.
But the snow in the sea of consciousness had stopped for a long time.
Lu Yuanyuan didn't remember that past event either.
In reality, he's a man, and even if he wanted to lend a hand, there would be many inconveniences. It would be perfectly reasonable for the senior sister to be the one to carry her.
Why did he just now... feel so annoyed that someone had taken over his place?
He knew that such thoughts were abnormal, but he couldn't control them.
Lu Yuanyuan's voice interrupted his thoughts: "Actually, I saw you guys at noon today. I saw you bring a fox demon to the Hundred Battles Hall. How is it going there? Did that fox demon really harm anyone?"
Duan Lansheng came to his senses and shook his head: "I don't know, I only handed her over to my master."
When the little fox demon was mentioned, his tone was indifferent, clearly showing he didn't care.
As the original story proved, Duan Lansheng did indeed appear uninterested in Xiao Ruo at first.
But it doesn't matter, the female lead will soon prove with her actions that even a forced relationship can be sweet.
The longer Lu Yuanyuan lived after her rebirth, the less she wanted to look back and dwell on her past failures. She turned her face away and asked, "What do you need me for?"
Upon hearing this, Duan Lansheng did not get up but remained squatting on the ground, slightly shorter than her. Looking at her, he said, "Master just gave me and a few senior brothers and sisters a mission. After the strange events in the Ghost Realm, some demons have entered the mortal realm. We will be setting off for the mortal realm in three days. We may not return until it gets cold. Yuanyuan, do you want to come with me?"
Lu Yuanyuan was stunned.
System: "Ding! The hidden main storyline [Puppet] has been triggered. Please decide whether to [go] or [not go]."
The plot the system foretold was unfolding so quickly, and it was even a hidden plot she could participate in. However, the name of this hidden plot couldn't help but remind her of Yin Xiaozhu's mysterious friend.
This is probably not a coincidence.
If nothing unexpected happens, if she accepts this mission, she will most likely run into Yue Hong.
Actually, she wanted to see Yue Hong.
But if things continue this way, Xiao Ru will catch up soon. Then, a chaotic scene will unfold in the mortal realm where the three potential male leads will all be together. This time, she won't be able to refer to the original text beforehand.
She didn't want Duan Lansheng's love life to go smoothly, but she also didn't want to get involved in a situation with an uncertain future.
Lu Yuanyuan tightened her grip before shaking her head and saying, "I don't really want to go to the mortal realm. You go ahead, but be careful."
.
Lu Yuanyuan refused to go with him, and Duan Lansheng couldn't force her. Because the departure was so urgent, there wasn't much room for persuasion.
Apart from that, everything is proceeding as the system predicted.
Several days after Duan Lansheng left, Xiao Ru was indeed cleared of suspicion and released.
In less than half a month since arriving at Mount Shu, Xiao Ruo had successfully turned her reputation around. Every disciple of Mount Shu who had interacted with her disliked her, and when she left, everyone was reluctant to part with her, saying they would welcome her to visit Mount Shu in the future. Even Cen Fei and Fu Xinguang began to mention her name in their daily conversations.
On the night Xiao Ruo left Mount Shu, Lu Yuanyuan couldn't sleep.
Unable to calm down, she simply sat up and went through all her usual mental techniques, starting with the serious ones. When she got to the "Three Techniques of Seduction," she suddenly heard a soft "thump" from the next room.
It sounded like the bed curtains were torn and something was falling to the ground.
Lu Yuanyuan opened her eyes in an instant.
A few days ago, Yin Xiaozhu left the sect, saying he was going to visit a friend, and only returned this morning.
Over the past three years, the other person had occasionally gone out. However, this time, Lu Yuanyuan felt that the other person's complexion was a little worse than usual. He said he was tired and had stayed inside with the door closed all day.
Still somewhat worried, Lu Yuanyuan put on her shoes and went to the other person's room, knocking but receiving no answer. She frowned, and suddenly heard the system's voice in her mind: "Ding! Hidden plot [Bitter Night] updated. Please enter Yin Xiaozhu's room to check."
Immediately afterwards, the room door lock opened with a click.
Lu Yuanyuan: "..."
The hidden storyline, 【Bitter Night】, which was triggered three years ago, hasn't had any new quests released for a long time. So long that Lu Yuanyuan began to suspect it had ended without her knowledge. But here it is, an update has arrived!
Lu Yuanyuan pursed her lips and stepped across the threshold. Following the sound, she went around the screen. She saw a large lump on the bed.
Yin Xiaozhu didn't fall off the bed, but remained under the covers. However, the covers were so large that they could easily fit several people inside.
On the bed... it seems there's more than one person.
The sweltering summer night brought forth a damp sweat, and her heart pounded wildly against her sternum. Lu Yuanyuan tiptoed forward, taking a step, when suddenly she stepped on something.
She paused, looked down, and saw a large wad of gauze lying on the ground that she had never seen before.
It is semi-transparent, but much stiffer than ordinary silk.
What's this?
Lu Yuanyuan squatted down, touched it for a moment, and her face turned pale.
This is... a snake's shed skin.
A massive snake molt. Judging from its diameter, the snake's body inside must have been thicker than her waist.
Suddenly, she heard a voice, very different from usual, low, hoarse, and cold, coming from behind the dimly lit screen: "...Get out!"
Startled by the menacing tone in the voice, Lu Yuanyuan trembled, dropped the snake skin, and retreated. But before she could leave the room, she heard another long, agonizing groan, as if the victim was being tortured. Lu Yuanyuan's feet froze in place.
The scene of Yin Xiaozhu detoxifying her, rushing into the cabin to rescue her, and the look of cherishing she showed when she played with that little orange lamp seemed to flash before my eyes.
Humans are truly strange creatures. We are usually very cautious with every step we take, but at certain moments, our brains can be seized by some inexplicable impulses.
No matter how much suspicion there was, Yin Xiaozhu never hurt her, and he was good to her... all of it was genuine.
So, even knowing the danger, they still clung to a sliver of hope. They were still inexplicably drawn to the idea of being like moths to a flame, eager to find out what was going on.
Lu Yuanyuan steadied herself against the screen, mustered her courage, and turned around.
She took one more look, just one more look.
The rustling sound beside her ears suddenly intensified, and abruptly, her body was enveloped by something thick, soft, and cold. Her internal organs felt as if they were being squeezed together, air spilled out, and she could hardly breathe. With a thud, she fell to the ground, a face looming larger in front of her.
Her scream seemed to be choked. Lu Yuanyuan's eyes widened as she saw that the face approaching her in the moonlight was no longer one of unparalleled beauty, but a monstrous face.
Only those eyes were incredibly beautiful. They were a translucent, ethereal green, like gems dug from the ashes of a fire.
Judging from its silhouette under the moonlight, one can vaguely make out that its upper body, arms, and face are human-shaped, with its serpentine body starting from its waist. However, its body shape is different from that of a human; it is ferocious and ugly, and all that can be touched are scales.
Lu Yuanyuan couldn't tell if it was fear or being entangled too tightly. She trembled all over. When she came to her senses, she had already placed her hands on the other person's shoulders to push him away. As she twisted, her lips brushed against the other person's eyelids.
In an instant, a strange, gentle current rose from the point of contact and swiftly flowed into her golden core.
Lu Yuanyuan's hand, which was pushing away, froze, as if she had been hit on the back of the head with a club.
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