After Transmigrating Into a Book, I Was Played by the Black Lotus – Chapter 5

Hero Saves the Beauty

“Can you help me?”

Lin Xingzhu finally landed another punch on Qiao Zijin for good measure, then, picking spots where bruises wouldn’t easily show, she hammered her hard a few more times before tossing the completely defenseless Qiao Zijin out the door.

She had initially planned to call security to have Qiao Zijin taken away, but when Lin Xingzhu pulled out her phone, she realized she’d entered twice now without spotting any security guards.

It seemed the security in this residence was really poor.

Resigned, she had no choice but to make a different call to have someone deal with Qiao Zijin.

She pulled the door to, not even closing it completely, in an effort to reduce Bai Xiying’s anxiety.

After closing the door, Lin Xingzhu finally turned to look at Bai Xiying, who was crying like a beauty in distress¹. The tip of her nose was red, and her tears, like pearls from a broken string, fell heavily to the floor. She made no sound, just wept silently, her slender shoulders wracking with sobs. She was clearly terrified to her core.

Lin Xingzhu actually understood Bai Xiying somewhat.

A week ago, she had been drugged and nearly sexually assaulted. After a week of difficult recovery, she had just been discharged from the hospital and returned to the familiarity of her home, only for something like this to happen again.

Even the strongest-willed person would find it hard to bear.

Moreover, when she was drugged a week ago, the aphrodisiac had clouded Bai Xiying’s consciousness. This had made her somewhat numb to her surroundings at the time. Even if she felt fear about what was about to happen, under the drug’s influence, she hadn’t possessed the clarity of mind to process it.

But today was different. Today, she was perfectly lucid, forced to watch helplessly as she was about to be sexually assaulted.

That kind of conscious agony was immense torture.

Lin Xingzhu took out a handkerchief she always carried and offered it to her, murmuring soothingly, “Wipe your tears. I’ve already driven her away.”

The plain handkerchief was adorned with nothing but a single stalk of emerald-green bamboo.

Bai Xiying paused for a moment, then, without ceremony, she reached out and took the handkerchief, haphazardly wiping her tears. She seemed to be just regaining her composure, tilting her head to look at the disarray left from the incident, appearing somewhat dazed and lost.

“Why would she do this?”

Lin Xingzhu wasn’t sure if the “she” Bai Xiying referred to was Qiao Zijin, “Lin Xingzhu” (the original owner of the body), or perhaps both.

But it was clear that, at this moment, Bai Xiying desperately needed an answer from someone.

She lifted her eyes to Lin Xingzhu, eyes that were even clearer and more captivating after being washed by tears. Her fair, delicate face was like a tender pink flower bud, trembling as it emerged after a fresh rain in the secluded mountains²—beautiful and alluring. Despite clearly possessing a spirit that didn’t shy away from hardship, her entire being exuded a fragility, as if she could shatter at the slightest touch.

This contradictory blend of resilience and fragility was what made her most captivating.

It made one want to shatter her spine, to grasp her fragile, harmless neck, to tempt her into surrendering to desire, into wanton indulgence.

The pleasure derived from such a sense of conquest was unparalleled.

This was a sentiment Lin Xingzhu recalled from the original novel, a reflection on Qiao Zijin’s abuse of Bai Xiying.

In fact, it wasn’t just Qiao Zijin. In the original story, nearly half of the prominent ‘gongs’ possessed forceful, domineering personalities.

These thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant, but Lin Xingzhu’s expression remained unchanged.

She looked down at Bai Xiying. The incandescent light behind her obscured her expression, but Bai Xiying sensitively detected an almost imperceptible note of pitying lament in her voice.

“Beauty is the fount of carnal desire; conquest, merely a tool of the strong.”

Lin Xingzhu said only this, then fell silent.

Bai Xiying froze slightly.

She stared at Lin Xingzhu, trying to read something in her expression.

Unfortunately, she found nothing.

Lin Xingzhu had already crouched down and was examining Bai Xiying’s injuries.

At such close proximity, with Lin Xingzhu no longer towering over her, the incandescent light generously bathed her refined, gentle face, allowing Bai Xiying to see it in its entirety.

Eyebrows of just the right thickness, alluring peach blossom eyes³ that held a natural charm, a pert, well-defined nose, and thin, pale pink lips.

And at the outer corner beneath her left eye, a distinct and unmissable small, dark mole.

A flicker went through Bai Xiying’s eyes.

Things had been too rushed earlier for Lin Xingzhu to carefully examine Bai Xiying’s condition. Now, seeing her clearly, she couldn’t help but frown.

Bai Xiying’s body bore multiple dark bruises and red marks from the struggle, looking especially stark and alarming on her delicate skin.

Especially on her chest—perhaps a fingernail had scratched her during the struggle—a long, red welt stretched across a large portion of her collarbone, disappearing into the loose collar of her clothes.

Looking further…

Having seen all this, Lin Xingzhu had a good grasp of the situation. She straightened up and, looking at Bai Xiying whose emotions were gradually calming, slowly asked, “Do you need my help to report this to the police?”

Legally speaking, Qiao Zijin was guilty of attempted r#pe and breaking and entering. If Bai Xiying chose to report it, and there was sufficient evidence, the police would have the authority to arrest Qiao Zijin.

Bai Xiying lowered her head, and Lin Xingzhu couldn’t see her expression.

The room fell silent. Lin Xingzhu waited patiently.

After what felt like a long time, or perhaps no time at all, Bai Xiying finally spoke. “Would it even be useful?”

As she spoke, Lin Xingzhu noticed a fresh bite mark on her lip, seemingly a result of her efforts to endure.

“For people like you all, reporting to the police is completely useless.”

Lin Xingzhu said nothing, because Bai Xiying was speaking the truth.

Her earlier suggestion to call the police stemmed from her own principles and from considering Bai Xiying’s perspective—perhaps Bai Xiying needed a sense of justice more.

Whether it was due to profound disappointment or a stark clarity, Bai Xiying didn’t dwell on the matter for long. Seeing this, Lin Xingzhu also refrained from saying anything further.

Bai Xiying pushed herself up, her face a little pale. “Could I trouble you to wait here for a moment? I’m going to change my clothes.”

Lin Xingzhu nodded.

Ten minutes later, Bai Xiying emerged from the bedroom, having changed her clothes.

Seeing Lin Xingzhu waiting on the sofa, she said, “Thank you.”

Lin Xingzhu shook her head. “No need.” She assumed Bai Xiying was thanking her for keeping watch.

A faint pink gradually suffused Bai Xiying’s previously pale face, and her pearly teeth deepened the bite mark on her lip. “I didn’t expect you to actually come tonight after I called.”

She had only called to test the waters.

Just to see what would happen.

But she hadn’t anticipated Lin Xingzhu would be so astute, observing the situation silently after answering the call, and arriving so promptly.

—It hadn’t been a waste of effort to deliberately set Lin Xingzhu as her emergency contact.

Otherwise, Bai Xiying truly wasn’t sure if, in the next moment, she wouldn’t have taken matters into her own hands and sent Qiao Zijin on a one-way trip to the Yellow Springs⁴.

Lin Xingzhu said, “That’s also thanks to our usual relationship not being very good.”

Given their poor relationship and Bai Xiying’s personality, it was highly unlikely she would call Lin Xingzhu at such a time right after being discharged from the hospital. And Lin Xingzhu, out of caution, had let the other party speak first—a careful move.

Bai Xiying: “…”

Her breathing unknowingly grew a little heavier.

A moment later, by the time Lin Xingzhu realized what was happening, Bai Xiying’s cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were glistening as if about to overflow with tears.

Her chest heaved dramatically, and a faint pink blush spread across her neck and then her arms.

Lin Xingzhu was somewhat dumbfounded. “You…”

Although Lin Xingzhu had been watching over Bai Xiying all week, she had never actually witnessed one of her… episodes of sensitivity. The only accidental encounter had been those soft gasps Bai Xiying had inadvertently let slip from the hospital bathroom.

Bai Xiying, clearly distressed, gripped the sofa cover tightly with both hands, her slender neck arched high as if she were desperately trying to endure something.

Lin Xingzhu felt her throat go a little dry. She cleared it, somewhat at a loss. “Should I… step out for a moment?”

Heavens, this was the first time in her life Lin Xingzhu had directly faced such a… stimulatingly awkward situation.

Bai Xiying glanced at her.

Lin Xingzhu froze on the spot.

That single, brief glance from Bai Xiying conveyed a myriad of emotions. Those captivating eyes, so expressive they seemed to speak, were telling Lin Xingzhu: Don’t go.

Don’t go. Stay.

Lin Xingzhu was startled. Had she misread that? Their relationship wasn’t nearly this intimate, was it?

Besides… Lin Xingzhu, feeling like the unwitting instigator of this, felt an indescribable awkwardness. It wasn’t as if she could actually help, could she?

This kind of situation, cough, seemed to be something Bai Xiying needed to handle on her own.

Just as Lin Xingzhu was caught in a dilemma, Bai Xiying suddenly spoke.

She looked at Lin Xingzhu, her eyes glistening. “Can you… help me?”

Lin Xingzhu: “…”

Lin Xingzhu: “?”

She hesitated. “How?”

Lin Xingzhu glanced down at her own hands—fair and slender.

“What do you need me to do?” Lin Xingzhu heard herself ask.

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“I’m back with it.”

Lin Xingzhu knocked on the bedroom door. From inside, she heard the rustling sounds of someone putting on shoes, then footsteps approaching. Finally, the door opened a tiny crack.

Lin Xingzhu passed the item in her hand through the opening. Then, she heard a low, hoarse, “Thank you.”

The voice sounded somewhat unfamiliar to Lin Xingzhu, not at all like Bai Xiying’s usual tone.

She drew back her hand and was just about to grasp the doorknob to close the door—

An ambiguous, breathy moan drifted unhindered through the air, straight into Lin Xingzhu’s ears.

Lin Xingzhu paused for a moment, then lowered her head, her gaze dropping as she firmly closed the door, leaving not even the slightest gap.

Lin Xingzhu sat down on the sofa. This distance was enough to completely block out those sounds.

She leaned back against the sofa, wearily rubbing her brow bone. She couldn’t help but feel that events had taken a slight detour from what she’d expected.

Lin Xingzhu mused that she had simply wanted to compensate Bai Xiying, had merely done what any normal person would do when encountering such a situation—intervene. But why, then, did she always so coincidentally stumble upon Bai Xiying’s most private moments?

She considered herself a normal woman, a normal woman who was attracted to other women. Constantly encountering situations like this, she too would find it quite distressing.

Even if her mind harbored no untoward thoughts, an adult woman’s body would inevitably have certain physiological reactions.

At this thought, Lin Xingzhu opened her eyes and stared silently at the incandescent light fixture on the ceiling.

Suddenly, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention.

Lin Xingzhu turned her head and noticed a patch on the sofa beside her where the green fabric was a shade darker than the rest.

Her gaze paused there for a moment before she nonchalantly looked away.

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