The Fourth Mission

Su Ying stood outside Ling Xian's courtyard, holding a cup of poisoned wine.

This was already her fourth attempt at the mission since transmigrating into this cultivation novel.

In this part of the plot, she, the vicious supporting female character, was supposed to force poisoned wine down the Female Lead's throat, only for the male lead to discover her and stop her. In the end, all the poisoned wine would wind up in her own stomach, leaving her to die with her intestines ruptured and her guts rotting.

Despite her previous experience, Su Ying was still nervous enough to die.

For one simple reason: dying with her intestines ruptured and her guts rotting hurt far too much!

[Host.] A mechanical voice sounded. [Stop dawdling and go inside. If you don't, the male lead will be here any moment.]

Su Ying's hand trembled around the cup of poisoned wine. [Are you sure it really won't hurt this time?]

[You've already taken the shop's Pain-Relief Pill. Of course it won't hurt!] the system said. [You spent a hundred points on it, after all. The Pain-Relief Pills from my shop are guaranteed to be top quality. If you hadn't been so reluctant to spend those points before, you wouldn't have had to suffer.]

Su Ying: *[...]*

After transmigrating into this book, she had come equipped with a system. Usually, it opened its shop and sweet-talked her into buying all sorts of things, while also assigning her various missions. If she followed the plot smoothly and completed a mission, she would receive points as a reward.

If those points were something she couldn't bring into life or take with her in death, she would have spent them.

But the system had told her that once she completed her missions and returned to the real world, she could exchange those points for cash!

One point was worth ten thousand in cash! That was why she refused to spend the points she worked so hard to save, no matter what. As a result, having a cheat was no different from having none at all.

She had endured three deaths and three resurrections in this novel.

And now, she was acting out this character's final plot sequence. If she hadn't experienced the power of the Heart-Breaking Powder when she failed her first mission, she would never have spent a hundred points on a single Pain-Relief Pill.

Fortunately, the points she had earned on her first three attempts were all on record, and they would be returned to her once she completed these missions.

[Host...] the system urged again. [If the male lead gets here, you'll fail the mission and have to try a fifth time!]

[Here goes nothing.] Su Ying took a deep breath and headed inside with the poisoned wine.

"Junior sister." Following the original plot, she smiled sweetly, doing her best to look harmless to humans and animals alike.

Ling Xian was practicing her swordplay in the courtyard. In the original novel, this junior sister was an airheaded beauty without much talent for cultivation, but the male lead appreciated her. In the end, the two overcame every obstacle, eliminated all the villains who stood in their way, and became cultivation partners, earning the Heavenly Dao's favor and receiving its reward.

From then on, Ling Xian, that airheaded beauty, became a model for the cultivation world, supposedly proving that talent didn't matter and that hard work could still make someone the foremost female cultivator of a cultivation sect.

Ling Xian put away her sword. Since Su Ying had already done all sorts of things to harm her, she watched her in silence, her face full of wariness.

Seeing the Female Lead's guarded gaze, Su Ying couldn't help grumbling inwardly.

[The Female Lead's already on her guard at this point in the story, so why do they still have to send me, the vicious supporting female character, to bring her poisoned wine? It makes no sense. If it were me, I wouldn't drink it no matter what.]

After the previous three attempts, the system had become quite familiar with Su Ying, its incompetent host.

It said, [Host, your character was unlikable to begin with, and the readers cursed her so viciously that the original author arranged this particular death for you.]

Su Ying couldn't be bothered with it and continued following the plot.

"Junior sister, I was wrong to hurt you before. This is Jade Dew Nectar I collected from Sit-and-Forget Mountain today. I brought it especially to apologize. Drinking it does wonders for repairing your spiritual root. How about a sip?"

Su Ying tried to bluff her way through.

The system reminded her from the sidelines, [Host, oh, host, stick to the original lines! Otherwise, you could easily fail the mission.]

Su Ying ignored it and smiled at Ling Xian. She had never been the cautious type. As long as she completed the mission, that was enough. How she phrased things didn't matter.

Besides, as a modern person, she really couldn't bring herself to say such flowery, old-fashioned lines.

Looking at the pure, lovely Female Lead before her, Su Ying silently prayed that the male lead, Xiao Muchen, would hurry up and arrive.

"There's no need, senior sister." Ling Xian refused, pressing a hand over her wound.

Su Ying had deliberately inflicted it during their sparring match, following the plot.

In the original plot, she, the vicious supporting female character, had wanted to pierce Ling Xian's spiritual root, turn her into a cripple, and regain the male lead's favor.

But the male lead, Xiao Muchen, had kept a close eye on Ling Xian throughout their match. Once he realized Su Ying harbored malicious intentions, he intervened directly.

So Su Ying hadn't managed to cripple Ling Xian outright, only wound her.

It was precisely this plot point that had caused the Male Lead and Female Lead's feelings for each other to rapidly deepen.

"Come on, this really is good for you. Don't turn me down. You must still be angry with your senior sister, aren't you? How about I feed it to you?" Su Ying put on a sinister expression and stepped forward, trying to pour the poisoned wine down Ling Xian's throat.

"Su Ying, what are you doing?" A cool, commanding voice rang out.

Su Ying sighed inwardly. What had to come would come. Resigned to her fate, she continued acting out the original plot.

She gave a frightened shudder and turned to face the male lead, who approached with the graceful bearing of an immortal descended to earth. "M-Master."

Xiao Muchen took in every bit of Su Ying's guilty demeanor. His gaze shifted to the wine cup in her hand. "What is that?"

According to the plot, Su Ying was supposed to lie and tell him it was Jade Dew Nectar.

But for some reason, Ling Xian spoke instead. "Master, this is Jade Dew Nectar that senior sister brought me as an apology."

Su Ying: "..."

[The Female Lead stole my line. What am I supposed to say now?] she asked the system.

The system replied, [I don't know either, but you're a modern person, host. Just put your modern-day ingenuity to full use. You can do it! You're the best!]

Su Ying could only play it by ear and give a murmured "Mm."

"Jade Dew Nectar?" Xiao Muchen's brows furrowed as he looked at the contents of her cup.

Ling Xian continued, "Master, I already told senior sister that thanks to your treatment, I'm almost fully recovered. I do remember senior sister was injured last time as well. Why don't you drink this Jade Dew Nectar yourself, senior sister?"

Su Ying: [Why is this plot taking such a weird turn?]

[Why is this plot taking such a weird turn?] the system echoed.

In the original plot, the male lead was supposed to force the supporting female character to drink the poisoned wine.

But now-

Su Ying looked blankly at the male lead, then at the Female Lead.

What could she do to make the male lead force her to drink this poisoned wine?

When Su Ying said nothing, Ling Xian simply took the Jade Dew Nectar from her hand. "Senior sister, something this good should be yours to drink."

"N-no need..." Su Ying instinctively tried to resist, but remembering that the plot ended with her drinking the poisoned wine anyway, she abandoned her struggle and decided to lie down and accept her fate.

Bitter liquid flowed down her throat. Her vision went black, and she passed out on the spot.