Chapter 87 087 She wanted Yin Xiaozhu to be her weapon, to make Duan Lan…
"Ding! Congratulations, host, for completing the hidden main storyline [Puppet]."
The system notification sounded from above, sounding unreal. Lu Yuanyuan trembled, and in her hazy state, she felt someone approach her and lift her up in their arms.
As soon as someone's presence drew near, even though she couldn't see anything, she instinctively kicked, struggled, and pushed them away in terror. The other person groaned, as if she had hit them somewhere. But he didn't let go; instead, he calmly reassured her again and again, "Don't be afraid, it's alright, it's me..."
Lu Yuanyuan opened her trembling eyelids, and soft light poured into the dark world.
She was curled up in someone's arms, her left hand on her stomach, her right hand clutching the other person's clothes, her palms sweaty. She gasped, still shaken and disoriented, her mind reeling, and instinctively raised her left hand to touch her chest.
There were no wounds, and no bleeding.
Beneath the soft flesh was a perfectly intact, still-beating heart.
As Lu Yuanyuan's consciousness gradually returned, she realized something was amiss. She looked up and saw a pair of dark blue eyes.
Looking down, she realized that her left hand had been gripping Duan Lansheng's hand tightly the whole time, and her fingernails had left several scratch marks on the back of his fair hand.
In a moment of madness, she hadn't quite regained her senses and had forcibly pulled his hand up as well, stacking it between her palm and breast like a human pyramid.
Seemingly not expecting her to suddenly pull his hand up to his chest, his hand stiffened slightly.
His slender fingers lifted slightly, as if trying to avoid touching her body as much as possible.
Regret, embarrassment, and awkwardness overwhelmed her, and Lu Yuanyuan suddenly realized what was happening, pulling her hand away. However, she was still dizzy and in her haste to dodge, she lost her balance and almost tumbled to the ground.
The next moment, Duan Lansheng pulled her back again.
Lu Yuanyuan knew she shouldn't, but now, anyone who touched her intimately would give her goosebumps. Unable to control herself, she pushed him away, saying, "Don't touch me!"
Who else is like her, who was killed by someone right before she opened her eyes, and then saw the person who killed her in her past life?
Duan Lansheng finally stopped, his hand hovering in mid-air, looking at her with some surprise.
"I... that's not what I meant." Lu Yuanyuan was in a state of confusion. In order not to let others see through her, she could only close her eyes and hug her head: "What I meant was... I'm covered in sweat, don't touch me, I want to take a shower."
She could feel Duan Lansheng's breathing become heavy, and his gaze seemed to be fixed on the top of her head. But in the end, he said nothing, and simply went out to call a maid in.
.
Using a shower as an excuse, Lu Yuanyuan finally got some alone time.
She was soaking in the bathtub, the hot water reaching over her shoulders, her skin burning red. But only such a temperature could melt the ice and snow that had frozen to her skin.
Lu Yuanyuan's eyelashes were covered in water vapor, and her knees were pressed against her heart.
This hidden storyline was far too long and ultimately too painful, but she didn't regret entering it.
Otherwise, she would always be a fool kept in the dark, a idiot who has been sold out and is still foolishly counting money for others.
From a very early age, she had a vague sense that Yin Xiaozhu harbored a strange and intense possessiveness towards her. Before descending Mount Shu, after discovering Yin Xiaozhu's secret, his attitude towards her became even more peculiar. And now she understood the source of his possessiveness—how could he tolerate someone else touching his possessions, taking away his means of survival?
From the moment we met, it was all lies. All the kindness I showed her was nothing but bloody deception, exploitation, and scheming.
The hot steam nearly numbed Lu Yuanyuan's brain, and her fingernails dug into her palms without her realizing it.
Princess Manjushri possessed the ultimate Yin destiny, a fearsome presence even to ghosts, her ashes, dead for ten years, could ward off evil spirits. But she, on the other hand, wasn't so powerful. Only the blood deep within her skin could ward off evil. Like canned food, judging by the packaging alone, evil spirits would think she was just an ordinary, somewhat tasty meal. Only by tearing open the lid would they discover what contained within that would harm them.
Back in the mortal realm, she had never tried spitting blood on demons. After arriving in the cultivation world, she frequently benefited from Duan Lansheng's protagonist aura, always managing to complete her missions without major incident. Even when she was injured, it was always from a ranged magical attack causing internal injuries. All these factors combined led her to only now discover the secret of her body.
But such a constitution was useless to her. After all, she couldn't possibly stab herself and spray blood at monsters every time she went on a demon-slaying mission. And the effects of warding off evil didn't last long; at this rate, how much pig liver would she have to eat to cure her anemia?
But if she had the exact same constitution as Princess Manjushri, she might not have survived.
Lu Yuanyuan clenched her teeth tightly, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.
She remembered that when Yin Xiaozhu killed Princess Wenshu, he pierced her heart and drank her blood; his actions were extremely ruthless, and he discarded her after using her. But when he killed her, he was gentler, not breaking her skin.
She didn't know if it was because of the difference in constitution between her and Princess Manjushri, or because Yin Xiaozhu had grown up and therefore used a less brutal method. She endured the excruciating pain and was fortunate enough to survive.
But she is now certain that if Yin Xiaozhu needs her, he will use her again and kill her once more.
Will she be able to pull through this time? Will she be lucky enough to survive?
Even if she doesn't die, she doesn't want to go through that a third time; the process is too painful.
Lu Yuanyuan's neck ridge protruded, and she buried her face between her arms, her lips twitching nervously.
It doesn't matter.
No one will truly care about the cannon fodder, no one will be willing to lend a hand to the cannon fodder, and that's okay.
As long as she never gives up on herself, as long as she keeps trying to pull herself out of the fire, she will definitely find a way; there's always a way out.
.
On this day back in the original timeline, Lu Yuanyuan was soaking in the bathtub, catching up on the progress she had fallen behind on.
The task of "eating infants" has come to an end, but to her surprise, a plot twist has occurred in Yong Kingdom that is inconsistent with the original story - Crown Prince Yue Qi has been deposed for committing an unforgivable crime and will soon be escorted to the ancestral land to be imprisoned.
Xiao Ruo, who was inseparable from the Crown Prince, suddenly disappeared, and no one saw where she went.
This departure from the original story further confirmed Lu Yuanyuan's guess—Xiao Ruo was very likely the one who knew the plot of "The Enchanting Fairy Tale".
She wasn't sure how much Xiao Ru knew about the plot, whether she was an indigenous person or a time traveler; in any case, the other person had temporarily disappeared from Yong Kingdom.
The love triangle in the mortal realm of "The Enchanting Fairy Tale" was completely shattered, with one person dying, one going missing, and one being crippled.
Once the mission was complete, they would return to Mount Shu. Besides keeping up with the plot, Lu Yuanyuan used her last day in the mortal realm to work tirelessly on creating puppet dolls.
Good, the puppet material pack promised by the system has been delivered to Lu Yuanyuan's inventory panel.
Late the night before her departure, Lu Yuanyuan quietly left the palace and went alone to the depths of Langya Mountain, entering a hidden cave.
The material used to make the puppets is a clay-like substance that can be molded into any shape.
Lu Yuanyuan dug two deep pits with her sword, shook her storage ring, placed two identical dolls side by side at the bottom of the pits, and said, "System, give me a reincarnation flower."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Reincarnation Flower, radiating a beautiful white light, slowly fell into her palm. Lu Yuanyuan pinched the flower stem, puffed out her cheeks, and blew a breath onto the flower's stamen towards the doll on her left. The Reincarnation Flower spun rapidly, and the sound of shattering glass echoed in the air. The Reincarnation Flower transformed into a beam of white light and merged into the doll's body.
Then, Lu Yuanyuan moved to the right, bit her fingertip, and squeezed three drops of blood onto the doll on the right. The blood seeped into the doll's body, suddenly emitting an eerie red light, and then quickly disappeared.
After burying it, Lu Yuanyuan began to fill the hole with soil in the order of digging, sprinkled it with gravel, and tamped it down with her feet until it was impossible to see that there was anything hidden underneath.
The puppet on the left is the body she reconstructed for Yue Hong. The puppet on the right is the one she prepared for herself.
She was worried about bringing this thing to Mount Shu; it was better to leave it in the mortal realm.
There are two schools of puppetry: one is possessing a living person's body, and the other is creating a body. The latter sounds much more difficult and advanced. Therefore, the system strictly controls the supply of materials, preventing her from making more than a few.
Originally, according to the plan, the materials in the puppet-making kit were only enough to create one puppet. Several years later, Yue Hong will awaken in this body, appearing as a young man.
But now, she had no other choice but to ask Yue Hong to share half of the materials with her.
Having half the materials won't affect Yue Hong's resurrection plan. However, after his resurrection, his age and mental capacity will be halved, turning him into a child.
Puppetry is meant for the living, and the process isn't that complicated. Yue Hong was an exception because he died a mutilated body and needed to be resurrected using a puppet. Lu Yuanyuan is alive, so she doesn't need any extra tools.
Don't be fooled by the fact that this doll currently lacks facial features and is crudely made. The day she transfers here, this doll's body will rapidly grow, transforming into flesh and blood, and emerging from the earth—the only requirement is that she must perform the transfer while she is still alive.
This was her way out.
It's an opportunity for a gecko to shed its tail and for a cicada to shed its shell.
Lu Yuanyuan sucked the blood droplet from her fingertip.
Originally, she thought she had plenty of time to settle scores fairly when Duan Lansheng was about to ascend to immortality. But it turned out she was too optimistic.
Like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. This was the first time she had felt such a strong sense of crisis and urgency.
She would most likely die at Yin Xiaozhu's hands before Duan Lansheng even ascended to immortality.
These two people deceived her, hurt her, and killed her. Why should she forgive them?
As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle." She was very familiar with Duan Lansheng, but Yin Xiaozhu... Thinking back, during the time the little monster was imprisoned by Princess Manjushri, Duan Lansheng was already a disciple of Mount Shu. You should know that "The Enchanting Fairy Tale" clearly states that when Duan Lansheng was adopted, Yin Xiaozhu, the daughter of the Mount Shu sect leader, spoke well of him in front of everyone.
In other words, when Duan Lansheng joined Shushan, the woman he met and fell in love with was the real senior sister of Shushan, the original woman who had not been replaced.
The original product was switched by the little monster, which happened at least after Princess Manjushri's death.
She also witnessed firsthand how the little monster gained its freedom and transformed into human form after drinking Princess Manjushri's blood, its appearance being exactly like that of Yin Xiaozhu.
On the other hand, the daughter of the dignified Shushan Sect Master was switched, yet no one in Shushan noticed. This also shows that Yin Xiaozhu and the original senior sister must have been extremely similar in appearance, so much so that even her biological father couldn't tell that his daughter had been replaced.
So the question is, how did Yin Xiaozhu know what the original senior sister looked like?
There are only two possibilities: either Yin Xiaozhu had already met the original Senior Sister before being imprisoned by Princess Manjushri, and he specifically transformed himself to resemble her; or the two are related as siblings.
The Sect Master and his wife of Mount Shu were both human, so it was impossible for them to give birth to a monster. However, Lu Yuanyuan remembered reading in the book that when the Sect Master's wife was pregnant, she was kidnapped by a demon and died in the demon realm. The Sect Master of Mount Shu only recovered a baby girl, who later became the original Senior Sister.
Monsters, real and fake senior sisters, look exactly alike... The secret may very well lie in the sect leader's wife's experiences in the demon realm back then.
It may forever remain a mystery.
However, this is not that important.
The important point is that Yin Xiaozhu is a man, a fact that absolutely cannot withstand scrutiny or verification.
She might not have the power to kill him, but to take revenge and ruin his reputation, she wouldn't need to lift a finger. Simply exposing his secret would reveal that he was the sorcerer who had impersonated her senior sister.
However, she will not reveal Yin Xiaozhu's secret for the time being.
Because before Duan Lansheng ascended to immortality, she could very well die at Yin Xiaozhu's hands at any time.
Therefore, before destroying Yin Xiaozhu, she wanted to make the most of him.
She wanted to exploit Yin Xiaozhu's concern for her, his tool, to turn the unrestricted man into a weapon for her, a transmigrator restricted by the system—to become her mouth, her hands, her feet—to cut off Duan Lansheng's path to ascension and force him out of the game prematurely.
Solve one problem first, then solve the next one.
She should stop foolishly comparing her past life to this, clinging to the idea of repaying debts in kind.
She was willing to try any method, no matter how despicable, shameless, or unscrupulous.
As long as it's fast, before Yin Xiaozhu kills her, the faster the better.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
