Bai Qianluo was unconcerned, perhaps due to the original plot's arrangement, the female lead seemed less cautious here.
If it was the original plot's arrangement, Qin Jiujiu knew she couldn't stop it. As expected, Bai Qianluo replied, "Jiujiu, are you overthinking it? That old woman doesn't have any demonic energy..."
Then she watched Bai Qianluo drain the soup in her hands. Qin Jiujiu swallowed, telling herself she had to stay alert.
"Jiujiu, aren't you drinking? You look pale, this ginger soup is useful. I'm already feeling a bit sleepy..."
Qin Jiujiu: ...
Could it be that while you're sleepy, they'll take your life?
Qin Jiujiu walked to the window and tentatively pushed it. The window actually opened. She rejoiced, it wasn't too bad. So she picked up the untouched bowl of medicine and poured it out the window.
By the time she finished and returned to bed, she could already hear the steady breathing of Bai Qianluo, who was sleeping on the inner side.
It seemed she had fallen into a deep sleep.
This ginger soup indeed had a problem!
She looked towards the door. The light outside seemed to have been extinguished. Through the crack in the door, she saw it suddenly go dark outside. It seemed they had calculated the time. Was it time to act?
She still didn't know how Xie Yun was doing... But since this was part of the original plot, the male and female leads shouldn't be in any easy danger?
She also wondered if pouring out the bowl of ginger soup was the right thing to do.
Suddenly, there was a sound from outside the door, like wood being dragged across the floor. The "scritch-scratch" sound was a bit grating. Was this the fearless one?
Qin Jiujiu quickly lay down, turning to face Bai Qianluo.
A faint glimmer suddenly flashed before her eyes. Qin Jiujiu could feel her heart pounding. The room was silent, which made her even more flustered.
Was it what she suspected?
Someone opened the door. She heard footsteps behind her. The footsteps were heavy, sounding like someone had difficulty walking, coming one high and one low, like two legs of different lengths walking on the ground.
She suddenly remembered the old man sitting on the wooden chair.
During that brief glance, she noticed that the old man's legs were indeed strange, seemingly one longer than the other?
But he was sitting on a wooden chair then, so she couldn't be sure, only that it felt strange!
The footsteps grew closer. Qin Jiujiu closed her eyes tightly, feeling that in this early winter weather, she had broken out in a sweat. The more unknown the fear, the more terrifying it became. That was how she felt now.
"Old man?"
The old woman's voice!
The footsteps suddenly stopped, and seemed to turn, heading towards the door. This time she heard the "scritch-scratch" sound again, like wood being dragged on the floor.
However, the sound seemed much faster than before. Could it be that he was using the shorter leg to walk, and dragging the longer leg behind?
Thinking of this possibility, she quickly turned her head to look at the door, but the sound abruptly ceased.
She happened to run into a pair of deeply sunken eye sockets, and the pupils were strangely vacant, looking like a walking skeleton.
Her pupils suddenly widened. A strange smile appeared on the skeletal face, the corners of its mouth stretching to its cheeks. Qin Jiujiu shivered but dared not move.
The skeleton suddenly turned, continuing towards the door.
One of its legs was dragging behind it, moving quickly towards the door.
Qin Jiujiu dared not make a sound, but she could no longer lie there calmly. She had to find a way to save herself.
"System, are you there?"
There was no response. Just as Qin Jiujiu thought the system hadn't recovered, the system's voice suddenly popped out.
"Host, I am here!"
Qin Jiujiu saw a glimmer of hope and felt joy, but the system couldn't help her with much.
"What's happening outside?"
"Host, outside is a bamboo spirit, called the Bamboo Maiden. She has cultivated for several hundred years in this rainforest. She gained sentience and a spirit, and wished to become human. She must have taken a fancy to your hearts!"
Few people have ventured into this rainforest over the centuries, and those who did were mostly men. Ever since the Bamboo Maiden took a woman's heart to become human decades ago, no woman had entered.
That's why the old woman's gaze upon seeing them was so fervent.
So, she had taken a liking to their hearts.
Without a heart, a person would die. The Bamboo Maiden had a heart, but it was ultimately someone else's, and she would age faster than others!
Therefore, she was now in urgent need of a new heart.
"System, in the original plot, didn't the Bamboo Maiden take the female lead's heart? What should I do now?"
"Naturally. However, with your presence now, and you being awake and discovered by that wooden figure, the subsequent plot is unpredictable..."
Just hearing the system's words made her feel a little panicked.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded again. This time it was the old woman's footsteps.
Qin Jiujiu quickly looked around, searching for a hiding place. The system suddenly said, "Host, hide in that cabinet..."
The Qiankun bag at her waist grew hot. Qin Jiujiu realized that as long as there was demonic energy nearby, this Qiankun bag would behave unusually. But she had no time to ponder this issue now, nor to think. Following the system's instructions, she quickly hid in a wooden cabinet nearby.
Suddenly remembering something, she ran to the window again and opened it. The cold wind outside suddenly rushed in, and the temperature in the room dropped several degrees.
Her consciousness also became clearer.
But this wooden cabinet looked very simple. Could it hide her?
Hiding in the wooden cabinet, Qin Jiujiu asked the system, "System, can this wooden cabinet hide me? Could this be some kind of magical artifact?"
The thought of this possibility made a light flash in Qin Jiujiu's eyes. She looked through the gaps of the wardrobe at the room.
Bai Qianluo was still lying on the bed, motionless. She was the female lead, so she wouldn't be in easy danger. Moreover, at a critical moment, she could trigger the subsequent plot. The most dangerous one was originally her.
In this confined small space, Qin Jiujiu's heart beat faster. She anxiously looked at everything in the room.
"Creak..."
The door seemed to have opened, and footsteps reached her ears.
The old woman's cloudy eyes first fell on the bed, then glanced at the open window. Thinking of something, a hoarse, low laugh came from the darkness.
Qin Jiujiu was terrified, clamping her mouth shut tightly, her teeth chattering. She didn't want a demon to dig out her heart.
The footsteps suddenly drew closer to her, as if coming in her direction.
It seemed the demon didn't believe her illusion – by opening the window, she had held out a sliver of hope, making the demon think she had escaped through the window. But it seemed to have failed.
As the footsteps grew closer, her heart beat faster and faster...
The footsteps suddenly stopped. Through the crack of the cabinet, she saw a dark shadow standing outside.