Competing with the Male Lead for the Female Lead (Transmigration) - Chapter 17

A major event occurred: Wen Ran was dead.

When Lan Feier heard this news, her first reaction was that this was the backlash from Sheng Baihe altering the plot.

Then she felt a sense of pity. After all, Wen Ran was a good person and the female lead’s own elder brother. Wen Wuning must be heartbroken.

Sure enough, she then heard the news that Wen Wuning had fallen into a coma.

Lan Feier wasn’t worried. Protected by the plot, Wen Wuning wouldn’t die.

Lan Feier was pondering a more important matter: would this backlash end with Wen Ran’s death? Or was this just the beginning?

It was highly likely that the entire Wen family wouldn’t escape. After all, in the book, it was the Wen family that was supposed to be annihilated.

If that was the case, she had to make plans early.

Wen Ran was dead, and Wen Wuning was unconscious. Wen’s father didn’t handle Wen Ran’s funeral arrangements. Apart from visiting the comatose Wen Wuning once, he remained shut up in his room and didn’t come out. Fortunately, Sheng Baihe stepped forward to take charge of the overall situation, preventing the Wen family from falling apart. However, Sheng Baihe was, after all, an outsider, so he could only maintain temporary stability.

Lan Feier’s residence was far from the Wen family’s power center. The fellow disciples living near her had all perished in the last night raid. These courtyards were empty, and no new disciples had moved in yet. So, even though the Wen family was in chaos, her residence remained particularly quiet.

Lan Feier wasn’t confined to her room all day. After all, she hadn’t yet achieved Bigu (abstaining from grains) and still needed to eat. She would occasionally go out to find food. Moreover, although the ginseng doll could help her gather information, the ginseng doll was probably still young, and its ability to express itself was extremely problematic. It couldn’t clearly describe slightly complex situations, and listening to it speak was simply infuriating. Therefore, Lan Feier would occasionally go out herself to inquire about the situation and also to make her presence known.

“Wen Wuning still hasn’t woken up?” Lan Feier asked the ginseng doll, who had just returned, after finishing the marinated meat she had just gotten from the kitchen and taking a sip of tea.

The ginseng doll squeaked, “Zhi zhi zhi~”

“Was she seriously injured?”

The ginseng doll gestured wildly with its hands and feet, squeaking, “Zhi zhi zhi~”

The more Lan Feier listened, the more her head ached. She resisted the urge to kick this useless thing away and interrupted its rambling description, “Are you saying Sheng Baihe has been staying by her side all along?”

The ginseng doll nodded, “Zhi zhi zhi~”

Lan Feier got up and stretched her limbs. With Sheng Baihe there, things would be difficult. She couldn’t even go see Wen Wuning’s condition. Moreover, a very far-fetched thought crossed Lan Feier’s mind: a lone man and a woman in the same room, and Wen Wuning was unconscious. She wouldn’t believe it if Sheng Baihe didn’t take the opportunity to take advantage.

Lan Feier walked outside, basking in the sun, stretching her waist while thinking. The ginseng doll sat on the doorstep, lowering its head to play with its whiskers.

After a while, the ginseng doll heard a sigh. Looking up, it saw Lan Feier turn around and go back into the house, and she didn’t come out for the rest of the day.

Wen Ran’s remains were lost, and only a cenotaph was erected. On the day of the spirit raising, all the disciples came. Lan Feier was submerged among the crowd, very inconspicuous. But someone like Wen Wuning, as soon as she appeared, would be the center of attention.

However, today, Lan Feier searched around the coffin twice but didn’t see Wen Wuning.

Half a month had passed since the incident. She had heard that Wen Wuning had finally woken up two days ago. How could she not attend Wen Ran’s funeral?

But the fact was that Wen Wuning really didn’t come. She didn’t see Wen Wuning’s figure until sunset when the coffin was buried.

Was her injury so severe that even though she was awake, she couldn’t get out of bed?

While Lan Feier was thinking, she suddenly felt a coolness on her face. She looked up and found the sky gloomy, and it seemed to be starting to rain.

When it was Lan Feier’s turn to pay her respects, she stepped forward. Although she had seen many dead people in this world and even killed quite a few, this was the first time she had solemnly attended a funeral and the first time she had seen a tomb.

She had no personal feelings for Wen Ran, but thinking of his youth and promise, his life cut short and turned to dust, she still felt very sentimental. When bowing, Lan Feier held a heart of pity.

*May you have a bright future and live to be a hundred years old in your next life.*

When following the other disciples down the mountain back to the Wen family, Lan Feier pondered whether to go see Wen Wuning. As an ordinary disciple worried about her senior sister, Sheng Baihe probably wouldn’t suspect anything.

The stone path in the mountain was uneven and had accumulated rainwater. Lan Feier stepped on a puddle, and water splashed, landing on her shoes and trouser legs. Lan Feier’s mind raced, and she suddenly looked up at the distant mountain peaks shrouded in thick fog, stopping her steps.

Lan Feier was already at the rear. After the others walked far away, she suddenly plunged into the wet, dense forest.

Lan Feier knew that this guess of hers, or perhaps it should be called a feeling, was very unreliable. After all, if Wen Wuning could move, why wouldn’t she attend Wen Ran’s funeral and instead run to the mountaintop to enjoy the wind? But she had this feeling, and even if it was impossible, she wanted to verify it.

When Lan Feier reached the foot of the mountain peak, the sun had set, and the entire mountain was shrouded in darkness. The only sound in the forest was the pattering of rain on the leaves.

Looking up at the cliff that pierced straight into the darkness, Lan Feier wiped the rain from her face and felt that she must be crazy. Turning around to go back, she thought that in this pitch-black darkness and rain, it would take her at least half an hour to climb up, just to verify that almost impossible guess? She must have water on the brain.

The path in the rainy forest was difficult to walk. Lan Feier stumbled along for a few meters, her face dark, before parting the bushes and turning back, silently climbing up the cliff.

Lan Feier’s mood was extremely bad. When she reached the top, she looked as if she had just been fished out of water. Seeing Wen Wuning truly standing in the rain made her mood even worse.

*Fucking melodramatic!* Lan Feier cursed inwardly.

She sat in the rain for a good while. The wind up here was strong, cold, dark, and wet. She didn’t want to stay for even a second longer.

Getting up with a leap, Lan Feier jumped onto the boulder where Wen Wuning was, half-kneeling behind Wen Wuning and patiently saying, “Senior Sister, let’s go back together.”

Wen Wuning didn’t speak.

It was pitch black above. Lan Feier could only see a rough outline, but just looking at her figure, she noticed that Wen Wuning had lost a lot of weight in less than a month. The impatience in Lan Feier’s heart dissipated by more than half.

Remembering that the person they had just paid respects to was her own elder brother, the remaining small part also vanished like smoke.

“Senior Sister, you were in a coma for so long and just woke up. Staying out here in the rain all night, your body won’t be able to take it.”

Lan Feier waited for a while. Seeing that Wen Wuning didn’t react, she raised her hand to push her slightly. Before her hand even touched the person, a voice suddenly came. This voice startled Lan Feier because it was so hoarse that for a moment, Lan Feier doubted if she had misidentified the person.

As the female lead, Wen Wuning had a good birth, good talent, and was a first-class beauty. Even her voice was cold and clear.

But this voice now was so unpleasant that Lan Feier didn’t know how to describe it.

Too surprised, Lan Feier didn’t even notice what she had said and spoke again, “Senior Sister, let’s go back with me.”

Placing her hand on Wen Wuning’s back, feeling the distinctly protruding bones, Lan Feier felt a pang of discomfort. The dead couldn’t come back to life, so why torture oneself?

Pulling this cold, soaked body into her own equally soaked but still warm embrace, Lan Feier said softly, “You still have your father, the Wen family, and us.”

In the darkness, Wen Wuning closed her eyes, tears and rain flowing down her face together.

Wen Ran’s position in Wen Wuning’s heart was something no one but herself could know.

She had lost her mother at a young age. Her father loved her, but he spent too little time with her. She had no playmates in her childhood. The only person who had always been closest to her was Wen Ran. Wen Ran was her elder brother, but also like a father and mother figure to her, accompanying her in loneliness, comforting and encouraging her in times of loss, teaching her not to be conceited in times of triumph…

“My elder brother is still here,” Wen Wuning choked out.

Although she had personally witnessed her elder brother being swallowed by black fire before her eyes, she was unwilling to admit that he was gone. She was unwilling to participate in anything related to her elder brother’s funeral. She didn’t want anyone to remind her that her elder brother was no more.

This self-deceptive sob made Lan Feier lower her eyes.

In the book, Wen Wuning cried almost never. To make such a person cry, she must have been heartbroken to the extreme.

Unsure whether to hypocritically agree with her or cruelly make her face reality, Lan Feier could only remain silent.

On the desolate peak of the vast heavenly trace, the raging wind from all directions carried cold rain, pouring down on them.

Compared to heaven and earth, they were too small, too vulnerable.

“Senior Sister, my place is quiet. If you don’t mind, you can come stay the night at my place.” They couldn’t stay up here all night.

Since Wen Wuning didn’t want to see anything related to Wen Ran’s funeral, few people went to her place, and there were no white mourning decorations.

Perhaps not wanting her to accompany her in the rain all night, Wen Wuning came down the cliff with her. However, it was too late and the rain was too heavy for them to return to the Wen family, so they found a nearby cave to spend the night.

Because disciples often meditated in the mountains, the cave usually had dry grass and firewood prepared.

Lan Feier added some firewood, turned over the damp clothes she had set up to dry, and sat down against the dry stone wall. Wen Wuning, wearing only white inner garments, lay sideways on the pile of dry grass, already asleep.

Her skin was almost transparent. The red glow of the fire reflected on her face made her complexion look a little better. She curled up slightly, her hands placed in front of her, looking gentle and harmless. Lan Feier always liked to sleep sprawled out. She thought that with Wen Wuning’s personality, she should also lie flat, perhaps even more properly than her, certainly not in such a pitiful posture that easily evoked pity.

Outside the cave, it was pitch black, and the rain pattered down. Occasionally, wind gusted into the cave. Lan Feier stirred the firewood and got up to see how the clothes were drying. The dried clothes were very warm. Lan Feier took them and covered Wen Wuning with them.

She also casually touched Wen Wuning’s body. It was no longer as cold as before, but warm and soft. Lan Feier tucked the clothes around her. At this moment, Wen Wuning was completely defenseless, her sad expression like that of a young beast showing its wounds, a posture seeking caress, pity, and affection.

Lan Feier squatted and stared at this face for a long time.

Getting up, she returned to where she had been sitting.

Sheng Baihe must have taken advantage of Wen Wuning.

If it had been mere malicious speculation before, Lan Feier could now be certain.

The fragile appearance of a proud person was truly irresistible.

Moreover, it was foolish not to take advantage when there was an opportunity. If she were Sheng Baihe, she would definitely have done something.