After the Villainess Awakens

Leng Mushi knew there were no living people in this inn. They were all monsters wearing human skin. She could tell from the untouched, exquisite food and wine on the tables in the lobby where people sat drinking.

There was a powerful shapeshifting demon with the strength of the Sun Realm in this inn. These shapeshifting demons maintained their appearances by devouring living people, using their blood to paint their own outlines. This great demon was adept at concealing its demonic aura. Based on Xiao Mian and his two senior brothers' cultivation levels, they wouldn't be able to detect it at all.

In this part of the story, Xiao Mian and his two senior brothers had originally fought with all their might. At the cost of the two senior brothers' lives, they were about to escape, but she, the vicious female antagonist, had to hold them back. She even pushed her own sister out of the protective barrier... As expected of a vicious female antagonist, she suffered the consequences of her own actions. The barrier shattered, and she fell back in with it.

Then came the classic "Who will you choose?" game.

The shapeshifting demon made Xiao Mian choose who to save. Xiao Mian, being a righteous gentleman, naturally wouldn't choose. She, the vicious female antagonist, tried to harm the female protagonist again. In the end, she suffered the consequences of her own actions, her appearance destroyed...

At the thought of being disfigured, Leng Mushi felt a little scared.

Even if she had the opportunity to recover later, she was still a girl. This was the first time she had faced such evil.

But it was precisely because of this plot that the male protagonist hated her even more. The female protagonist also saw her "true colors" and decided to break off their friendship. And the male and female protagonists, having gone through life and death together, began to develop feelings for each other...

This part of the plot was very important.

She couldn't change it. Just like how she knew everything but was still powerless to change the fact that her family was destroyed. She couldn't interfere. Revealing the plot would be punished by the laws of this world, and she couldn't bear that kind of pain--

"Let's not stay here. Let's...let's find another place to stay." Leng Mushi suddenly grabbed Xiao Mian's hand, the one that was reaching for the key to the room.

She closed her eyes tightly, gritted her teeth, enduring the pain of the stone in her storage bag burning her whole body as if it were going to melt. She gripped Xiao Mian's wrist and said, "There are...demons."

She didn't say the last word before her whole body went limp and she fainted on the ground.

Leng Mushi felt like she was being burned by karmic fire. Her soul seemed to be incinerated. It was too painful. She didn't dare to do it again, she didn't dare reveal the plot again!

She woke up with a start, drenched in sweat, and sat up in bed.

Leng Tianyin sat by the bed, wiping her face with a handkerchief. Leng Mushi panted, looking at the unfamiliar ceiling, knowing that they were now staying at this inn—they had entered the mouth of the shapeshifting demon.

"Sister, you're awake. Immortal Yi has already taken your pulse. He said you were just overly frightened, and your fever has subsided." Leng Tianyin put the towel on the rack beside the table and got up to pour Leng Mushi a glass of water.

Leng Mushi glanced at Leng Tianyin, propped herself up on her arm, took the teacup Leng Tianyin handed her, and gulped down three cups in a row. Then she let out a breath and asked Leng Tianyin, "What time is it?"

"It's past the Hour of the Ox." As soon as Leng Tianyin finished speaking, Leng Mushi's heart skipped a beat.

The next moment, the door was broken open. The three immortals entered with their swords drawn, fighting and retreating. Leng Tianyin cried out in alarm, the teacup in her hand falling to the ground and shattering.

"Miss Leng, quickly get inside the formation!"

One of Xiao Mian's senior brothers drew a protective rune barrier on the floor of the room with his long sword. He turned back to call for the frightened Leng Tianyin, who was covering her mouth, and Leng Mushi, who was sitting on the bed with a confused expression, to enter the barrier.

Leng Tianyin was standing on the ground and was the first to be pulled into the barrier by the senior brother. Leng Mushi should have scrambled in after her, but at this moment, she looked at the three immortals who were fighting a chaotic battle with a group of leering and sneering shapeshifting demons, and then at the room that had begun to twist and distort. Suddenly, she felt extremely bored.

Her life was also like the people struggling in the mouth of this shapeshifting demon. Could they really escape if they really fought hard...

"Miss Leng!" The senior brother shouted again, his expression extremely anxious.

Leng Mushi didn't even know this senior brother's name. She deliberately didn't remember, didn't ask because they were also supporting characters, destined to die in the mouth of this demon today.

But just as her desire to survive began to waver, Leng Mushi felt a burning sensation in her waist. The pain of being burned by karmic fire immediately made her roll off the bed and crawl into the protective barrier.

To hell with it, being disfigured was better than being burned to death!

Outside the protective barrier, the three immortals were fighting with their swords, the room filled with silver light. The shapeshifting demons didn't die even when they were cut through. Even with their bodies separated, they could still stand up crookedly, letting out eerie laughter as they charged back up again, though their combat effectiveness would be weakened.

It seemed like they could still win, but Leng Mushi knew it was useless. These shapeshifting demons were just small puppets—they had already entered the mouth of the great demon. This room had already begun to twist and deform. Once these shapeshifting demon puppets were all killed, they would be swallowed whole by the great demon and fall into its stomach.

A shapeshifting demon that had been hacked to the ground, dragging its flat, palm-thick half of a body, crawled towards the barrier where Leng Mushi and Leng Tianyin were. Leng Tianyin, seeing this scene for the first time in her life, was so frightened that her limbs stiffened, and she curled up in the corner of the barrier.

Leng Mushi's scalp also went numb watching this, but the storage bag at her waist was getting hotter and hotter, reminding her that it was time to follow the plot. She had to push Leng Tianyin out!

Leng Mushi watched as the shapeshifting demon, its mouth twisted, teeth bared, climbed up the protective barrier. It was so flat that it was only two layers of skin, with no internal organs or bones. Only blood flowed continuously from its severed waist and abdomen, staining the protective barrier blood red.

At this time, another group of shapeshifting demons came from outside the door. The three immortals had no time to take care of them, and more shapeshifting demons were coming. This scene was like watching evil spirits crawl out of hell right in front of you.

Leng Tianyin was so scared that she was trembling, but her upbringing made her cover her mouth tightly to keep from screaming.

Leng Mushi couldn't even afford to be afraid. Seeing that because of the shapeshifting demon's blood falling on the protective barrier, the barrier seemed to be corroded and getting smaller and smaller, she had to push Leng Tianyin out immediately--

Leng Mushi gritted her teeth, turned around, and grabbed Leng Tianyin's shoulder, but she realized that Leng Tianyin's whole body was ice-cold, obviously scared to death.

Leng Tianyin didn't dare to move, her eyes closed, not daring to look. But as soon as Leng Mushi touched her, she immediately hugged Leng Mushi.

This was the first time the sisters had hugged each other, but it disgusted Leng Mushi.

"What are you doing, acting all sisterly and affectionate at a time like this!" Leng Mushi pushed Leng Tianyin away, but instead of pushing her out of the protective barrier, she leaned back and stepped out of the protective barrier, which was no longer large enough to accommodate two people.

"Ah!" As soon as she touched the blood of these shapeshifting demons, her hands were corroded and became a bloody mess.

The shapeshifting demon that had been lying on the barrier saw that she had come out. Dragging its half body, it jumped directly onto her. Leng Mushi was knocked down by the force, her face sticking to the shapeshifting demon blood that had accumulated on the ground.

Sizzling--

"Ugh..." This time, she didn't even have time to scream. She grabbed the shapeshifting demon on her body with her bare hands, her bloody hands digging into its body, pulling its head. She raised her legs and wrapped them around its half-truncated waist, tearing it apart alive.

This posture was what she often saw in those picture books when lovers were in the heat of the moment. It was a pity that the first time she used her legs to wrap around a man's strong waist, it was not her beloved, but a hideous monster!

She covered her equally mangled face and sat up, not knowing whether it was from pain or grievance, tears streaming down her face.

Leng Tianyin's screams were like a demonic sound in her ears. Leng Mushi glared at her fiercely, half of her face corroded by blood, as ugly as the shapeshifting demons on the ground.

As the three immortals finally killed all the shapeshifting demon puppets, the room completely distorted. The barrier where Leng Tianyin was located had also been corroded. As everyone fell together into the endless darkness, Leng Mushi swore that after she got out of this alive, she would definitely break off all ties with Leng Tianyin, this source of disaster!

They fell together toward the stomach of the shapeshifting demon. Below was a pool of thick blood. If they fell in, they would be corroded, leaving no bones behind.

The three immortals infused their spiritual energy into their swords, using them to fly and create another spiritual energy barrier in the humid and fishy darkness, catching Leng Tianyin and Leng Mushi, who were falling below.

The flowing runes on the barrier emitted a faint light, illuminating their surroundings. There were scarlet fleshy walls everywhere, and not far below them was a pool of constantly churning blood.

Leng Mushi got up from the barrier, in so much pain that she felt like she was dying. She glanced down at the pool of blood—no, it was actually the demon's stomach—and felt a chill run down her spine.

She had only gotten a little bit of the shapeshifting demon puppet's blood on her, and her skin and flesh were already scorched. If she fell in, she wouldn't even have bone fragments left.

Thinking about the next part of the plot, where Xiao Mian's two senior brothers would sacrifice themselves for her, she looked up at the immortals outside the spiritual energy barrier. But when she looked up, she saw Xiao Mian's face.

Xiao Mian's expression was indescribable. He was really frightened by Leng Mushi's appearance. He thought, she must be in so much pain, so broken down... Girls cared so much about their appearance. Even though Xiao Mian couldn't personally understand, he knew how popular the facial rejuvenation pills in the Fragrant Grass Palace of their sect were.

But the next moment, he saw her making faces at him.

The sword under Xiao Mian's feet swayed, and the spiritual energy in his hand loosened. He quickly lowered his head, calmed his mind, and concentrated on pouring spiritual energy into the sword again, turning his head away, unable to bear to look at Leng Mushi again.

Leng Mushi was just trying to scare him, but she was in so much pain that she couldn't make faces. She just bared her teeth. Looking at Xiao Mian's reaction, she must have looked really scary...

Oh well, let this world be destroyed.

She looked in other directions, at the two immortals who were concentrating on supporting the barrier, unaware that they would die here. Leng Mushi suddenly regretted not knowing their names.

At this time, Leng Tianyin recovered from her fright. She hiccuped and crawled towards Leng Mushi.

After seeing Leng Mushi's face, Leng Tianyin opened her mouth, tears streaming silently down her cheeks, which were still strikingly beautiful despite her sorry state. She raised her hands, wanting to touch Leng Mushi's face, but she didn't know where to touch. Her whole body was trembling violently.

Honestly, the expression on her face right now was exactly the same as when she saw their father's corpse.

Unlucky!

"What are you doing?" Leng Mushi raised her hand and slapped Leng Tianyin's hand away from her face. "I'm not dead yet, and you're already crying like I am!"

Leng Tianyin covered her mouth, looking at Leng Mushi with trembling lips, but she couldn't see clearly. She couldn't see clearly, tears constantly blurring her vision.

"There's a place to land. Let's go there." A senior brother pointed to a scarlet open space beside the churning pool of blood, and the three of them worked together to move the barrier towards that spot.

Their spiritual energy was consumed very quickly in this place, and there was no way to replenish it. This situation could only mean that they had encountered a great demon and had fallen under its control. Otherwise, it was impossible for their spiritual energy to be unable to recover.

The three of them were panicking, but none of them showed it. When they landed on the slowly wriggling fleshy wall, the three quickly formed a defensive formation, protecting Leng Mushi and Leng Tianyin behind them.

Leng Tianyin kept looking at Leng Mushi and crying, but Leng Mushi didn't even bother to look at her. She observed the pool of blood, knowing from the plot that shapeshifting demon puppets would soon emerge from it, and one of the senior brothers would be dragged in alive.

Ever since they entered the mouth of this shapeshifting demon, the law stone in Leng Mushi's storage bag had been hot.

According to the plot, she was supposed to do something stupid to Leng Tianyin, accidentally destroying the barrier that was already on the verge of collapse due to the lack of spiritual energy. She would hold everyone back and cause the two senior brothers to die here.

When disciples of the Tai Chu Sect started, their masters would draw out a wisp of their souls and attach it to a specially made headband called the "Life Binding Band."

No matter how they died, the Life Binding Band used to tie their hair would break, so the sect would know that they were in danger. The disciple closest to the disciple in trouble would immediately rush over.

In the plot, there happened to be an elder nearby. Only if the two senior brothers died, and the elder rushed over to kill the shapeshifting demon, would she, Leng Tianyin, and Xiao Mian survive.

Shapeshifting demons had already emerged from the pool of blood one after another. The sword light outside the protective barrier lit up frequently again, and the three immortals were fighting the shapeshifting demon puppets again.

But this time, because the pool of blood provided demonic energy to the shapeshifting demon puppets, cutting off their arms or even their heads was not enough to kill them. They would soon regrow their bodies, and even the limbs and heads that fell into the pool of blood would quickly grow into new shapeshifting demon puppets.

The more they killed, the more shapeshifting demon puppets there were, and the closer they got. If this continued, they would all die here!

But the stone at her waist was almost melting her skin. Leng Mushi looked at Leng Tianyin, who was crying like an idiot, several times, and slowly raised her hand.

This protective barrier was not easy to break from the outside, but it was very easy to break from the inside, especially when the person who set up the barrier was running low on spiritual energy.

But looking at the two immortals who were fighting to protect her and Leng Tianyin, her fingers trembled, and she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Along the way, they had taken good care of her and Leng Tianyin, these two mortals. Even though Leng Mushi knew that they were bound to die, she deliberately didn't ask their names and even avoided talking to them unless it was necessary.

But she clearly remembered that these two were both very good people. One had a baby face and looked younger than her, lively but very reliable. The other one was calm and slender, spending all his spare time cultivating, very diligent.

These two living people, they were all working so hard to live, how could they be supporting characters?

Why?!

Just like her, why?!

Let this damned world be destroyed!

Leng Mushi pressed both hands on the barrier and shouted to the outside, "Cut off their connection to the blood pool—and then use your swords to pick them out of the blood pool."

As soon as she finished speaking, she felt as if she had fallen into the pool of blood. Her whole body was burning as if it were about to melt. She fell painfully inside the barrier, curled up, gritting her teeth, enduring the punishment from the law.

—Why are you doing this? What's the point?

The law asked her. Leng Mushi didn't have the strength to answer. Even if she could speak, she wouldn't know how to answer.

But she also wanted to ask the law, what was the point?

What was the point of making her live at the expense of others?

The punishment didn't last very long. Leng Mushi bit her lip and didn't faint. Leng Tianyin didn't know what was wrong with her and rushed forward to help her, but Leng Mushi curled herself into a ball, and Leng Tianyin couldn't lift her at all.

When Leng Mushi finally caught her breath, she saw that the battle outside had taken a slight turn. Those shapeshifting demon puppets that had been picked out of the blood pool and had their connection to the blood pool severed could only squirm and scream on the ground, unable to get up.

Only then did Leng Mushi open her mouth and say to Leng Tianyin weakly, her face full of frustration, "Get away from me, your knee is on my stomach..."

Leng Tianyin quickly backed away. Because she didn't know what to do and was scared out of her wits, she used a little too much force when she backed away, directly shattering the protective barrier that was already on the verge of collapse and was only a layer of mist.

"Sigh..." Leng Mushi saw her bump into the barrier, raised her hand, and then resignedly dropped it. Fine, anyway, no matter what she did, the plot would be twisted back on track. If she didn't break the barrier, Leng Tianyin would.

The two people who were now exposed immediately attracted the shapeshifting demons squirming on the ground. They had been cut off from the blood pool, and just like how the three immortals' spiritual energy couldn't be replenished, their demonic energy couldn't be replenished from the blood pool either.

And Leng Mushi and Leng Tianyin were now fresh flesh and blood, and fresh flesh and blood could help them recover their combat effectiveness.

So all the shapeshifting demon puppets that had been thrown onto this open space crawled towards the two of them, screaming.

Leng Mushi pulled Leng Tianyin and ran back and forth on this small open space. The ground was covered in blood, too slippery. The blood was also corrosive. If they accidentally slipped and fell to the ground, a layer of their skin and flesh would be corroded away.

The three immortals wanted to help them, but at this moment, more and more shapeshifting demon puppets were emerging from the blood pool.

"Hey! Xiao Mian, give me a weapon!"

Leng Mushi only knew Xiao Mian's name, so she had to call out to him.

She couldn't tear them apart with her bare hands, the blood was corrosive! Fortunately, they had run a few laps, causing the shapeshifting demon puppets chasing behind them to clumsily pile on top of each other, unable to hurt the two of them for a while.

Xiao Mian glanced at Leng Mushi, slashed at the shapeshifting demon in front of him with his sword, and then picked it up, away from the blood pool. He took out a sword, the standard-issue for Tai Chu Sect disciples, from his storage bag, stuck it in the shapeshifting demon, and then threw both the shapeshifting demon and the sword at Leng Mushi and Leng Tianyin.

"I said, brothers, any more?" Leng Mushi took the sword and shouted at the other two immortals while slashing and chopping.

One of the senior brothers did the same and threw down another Tai Chu Sect disciple sword. Leng Mushi and Leng Tianyin, each with a sword in hand, began to run, support each other, and hack at the shapeshifting demon puppets.

Yes, hack. They were both delicate young ladies, how could they know how to use swords? In this situation, it was already amazing that they didn't go limp from fear and were still crawling on the ground like these shapeshifting demon puppets. They were just randomly slashing and chopping.

Leng Mushi guessed that with Leng Tianyin's protagonist luck, they actually managed to resist.

But this didn't mean that they would win, that they would survive, because just as they thought they had the upper hand, the blood pool stopped spawning shapeshifting demon puppets. Instead, it bubbled and boiled, and then a human head the size of a house emerged.

Then came the upper body, and finally, hands large enough to sweep across the entire space.

This gigantic shapeshifter actually had a beautiful face. Unlike the previous shapeshifting demon puppets, her mouth and eyes weren't twisted. She leaned out of the blood pool, looked at everyone, and then giggled.

She opened her mouth, her voice so loud that it was frightening, but her tone was surprisingly gentle, "You little things, so tenacious, I like it."

"Let's play a game..." The blood on the shapeshifting demon's face completely disappeared, and she shrunk a little, becoming as tall as a large golden Buddha statue in a Buddhist temple.

Leng Mushi thought to herself, this works too? So this was the two-choice game that had to be played?

Leng Mushi was still muttering to herself when she heard the giant shapeshifting demon say, "Since ancient times, infatuated men and resentful women have whispered sweet nothings to each other, but they don't know that when disaster strikes..."

Her voice suddenly became sharp, making Leng Mushi's head buzz.

"Love will turn into a poisoned sword, piercing through flesh and bone, leaving one's body rotten and incomplete!"

Her sharp, piercing voice echoed throughout the entire space, and everyone covered their ears.

When her scream ended, her voice returned to its normal, very gentle tone. Her fingers swept across the group, pointing at Xiao Mian, "You choose, these two women, which one do you want to live? You choose, and I'll let her and you leave here safe and sound."

Leng Mushi wanted to curse.

She wanted to jump up and point at the shapeshifting demon's nose and curse!

Of all people, she had to choose Xiao Mian. But who would Xiao Mian choose to live, did she even need to ask?

Author's Note:

Leng Mushi:

I was so angry at that time, I was so不服 (unconvinced/unwilling to accept).

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