Chapter 33033 Since you are awake, why pretend to be asleep

The lights are dim and the farce is over.

The vendors, their foreheads dripping with sweat, were the last to leave. They pushed their carts away, leaving fruit peels, confetti and discarded items on the ground unpicked and slowly blown away by the wind.

The long street is no longer as lively as before.

"How could a demonic being infiltrate the Full Moon Night Banquet?" a passerby muttered. "The elders from Yingyue Palace arrived too late... If it weren't for the help of other cultivators, the consequences would have been disastrous."

"Yingyue Palace also needs to prepare a night banquet. Furthermore, rumors have it that the Nightmare Queen has been causing trouble recently. I'm afraid the masters are already too busy dealing with that demonic creature."

"A Nightmare Princess, can't the adults handle it?"

"Don't you know that this is the first event of the full moon night banquet in the palace this year?"

"Of course I know that in addition to elixirs, gold, silver, and jewelry, there are also artifacts refined by Master Liao. I'm afraid they are specifically used to attract monks."

"Then do you know the conditions for winning? It's to subdue Nightmare Queen! If the masters of Yingyue Palace didn't find it difficult, why would they seek outside help?"

"...Nightmare Queen deserves our attention. Does that mean the safety of the people threatened by the snake demon is irrelevant?"

"What the hell are you talking about? It wouldn't be good if the adults in Yingyue Palace heard it... Anyway, nothing serious happened tonight, right?"

"Why didn't she come out? Isn't Aunt Hong a human life?"

"Alas, Aunt Hong..."

Shu Qianhe pricked up her ears to listen to people talking. When the night wind blew, she couldn't help but shrink her neck.

It was mid-autumn and the temperature had already dropped, but she was a cultivator after all, and her behavior was not due to a cold body. It was clearly a chill in her heart.

Nightmare Queen...whatever you fear will come true.

This kind of monster was born in the chaos of heaven and earth and can only be suppressed but not eradicated.

It feeds on people's emotions and desires. The stronger the emotions, the more it will covet them. It will even deliberately create trouble just to have a good meal, causing people to feel extremely happy or sad.

This time in the fantasy world, the "natural disaster" that corresponds to the earth dragon's calamity must be this Nightmare Queen, right?

Although the phantom that reappeared in the illusion would never be as powerful as the original, what if it aroused the emotions of Zhuang Rong'er or Wu Heng and made them as crazy as Shui Jue in his previous life, wouldn't that be the end of it?

The more Shu Qianhe thought about it, the more she felt that this was exactly what would happen, so she couldn't continue to be depressed, otherwise she would be waiting to die.

She gritted her teeth and headed in the direction Wuheng had left. No matter what means she used, she had to wake up her disappointing uncle!

…

"No horizontal."

The woman combing her hair in front of the bronze mirror called out softly.

She was only wearing a single piece of clothing, with her long black hair draped over one side like a waterfall. Her slender fingers passed through her hair, and she looked at the man behind her through the mirror.

"Who is the woman holding your arm tonight?"

Wu Heng had been gazing at her face infatuatedly, but upon hearing this question, his heart ached and he quickly said, "I don't know her! Really, she's probably just a crazy woman who mistook someone for her."

"But she called out your name." You Xue said tearfully.

"...Is there?" Wu Heng was stuck. He couldn't remember whether it was there or not, and he didn't dare to recall his memory in detail or question his inner self.

Although he was unwilling to admit it, he did feel somewhat familiar with the young woman, but it was more of a rejection and he didn't want to have any contact with her, as if he had a premonition that her appearance would destroy something.

"...You are hiding something from me." You Xue sighed and seemed a little sad, with tears in her eyes.

Wu Heng panicked upon seeing her like this. He hurried over and held her hand, saying, "How could this be? We are the closest people in this world, husband and wife, lovers... In my heart, nothing is more important than you."

"Yeah?"

"nature!"

"That's clearly not the case." You Xueqi actually smiled, tears streaming down her raised lips. It looked a little strange. Her voice was soft, but it hammered heavily on Wu Heng's heart. "If that were the case, why didn't you ever come to save me? When my whole city was massacred, my family was captured by powerful people, and I was forced to endure hardships, how come you, Wu Heng, were never seen?"

"Snow Cry..."

Wu Heng's face turned as pale as paper in an instant.

"The most important thing to you is yourself. You don't care about my life or death, and you don't care about the humiliation I suffer..."

Wu Heng let go of her hand, stood up, and took two steps back. His voice trembled a little, "Xue Qi, what are you talking about? Aren't we just an ordinary couple from Xingluo Country?"

"Husband and wife?" You Xueqi laughed again, "How can a human and an animal be husband and wife?"

As she spoke, she glanced behind Wu Heng. Following that suggestive look, Wu Heng also turned his head. He saw that his lower body had already transformed into a giant centipede tail, terrifying and unsightly...

Wu Heng's drastic emotional changes made You Xueqi so excited that her fingertips were trembling, but her expression was still sad and her tone was still desperate.

She had previously absorbed his happiness, and now she absorbed his pain, and the taste was truly sweet.

She couldn't help but let those emotions fester, accusing him of something else: "Whether it was when you separated from me in Flowing Sand City to join a righteous sect, or when you later chose to remain dormant and endure under the pressure of Qinghai Tower, every time from beginning to end, you chose to abandon me and give up on me. What's the point of pretending to be affectionate afterwards... Those casual expressions of concern are useless, and only serve to numb and soothe your incompetent and despicable heart!"

"No, that's not the case..."

The centipede's huge tail was spinning wildly, and most of the furniture in the room was destroyed by him unconsciously.

He tried to say something, but his mind was completely blank. He had no way to refute You Xueqi's words. He was just an incompetent person pretending to be affectionate...

"That's right. Blame me for mistaking my thoughts. How could a centipede possibly have the emotions that only humans have? A lowly poisonous insect certainly doesn't understand what love is."

There was a flash of malicious teasing in You Xueqi's eyes. After she finished speaking, she licked her cracked lips, and suddenly stood up and ran out of the house screaming.

Her voice was shrill and hoarse as she shouted, "Help! My husband has turned into a centipede demon! Please, Master Monk, save me!"

…

In the darkness of the night, there was a sudden deafening roar, and a row of houses in the town collapsed. Smoke and dust rose up, and broken wood flew everywhere. At this moment, an extremely long black shadow suddenly rushed out of the street, and its body twisted and rolled among the collapsed houses. Its huge figure almost filled up half of the road.

The villagers screamed and scattered, running away crying.

Someone fell to the ground and looked back in horror. He saw the centipede monster's huge tail swung suddenly, smashing another house to pieces. He felt great sorrow in his heart and couldn't help but cry out in grief: "My house!"

——When Shu Qianhe arrived following the sound, this was the scene she saw.

The centipede monster's true form looks too scary.

She was startled, and the word "Master Uncle" got stuck in her throat and she couldn't say it out.

It would be fine if Wu Hengguang was just lost in a fantasy world and couldn't wake up, but how did he end up like this?!

"Girl, run! The monsters are wreaking havoc. Now that the white snake is gone, there are more centipedes. No one can withstand this kind of torture!"

The fleeing people did not forget to kindly remind her in their panic, and when they saw her standing there stupidly, they even reached out to pull her away.

"Don't be afraid, everyone... I, I am a cultivator!"

Shu Qianhe was eager to stay, but she regretted it as soon as she finished speaking, because the people all stopped and looked at him hopefully, and some even knelt down to worship him.

"The monk is here! That's great! Please subdue that monster! Save us!"

Shu Qianhe stared at the huge manic centipede and her lips trembled twice. If she wanted to suppress it with spiritual power, she would not be able to beat her uncle-master at all!

In a flash, she suddenly remembered something and reached into her pocket - the bamboo slip was still there!

That’s right. After all, her whole body was swallowed by the World-Devouring Whale, so the things are naturally still on her.

"Everyone, please step back and let me take down the centipede..." Although Shu Qianhe said this, she was still a little unsure. She mustered up her courage and rushed forward, holding a bamboo stick in her mouth and blew the "Fu Que Yin" - a secret technique to subdue demons, specially used to suppress insect monsters.

A demon cultivator of Wu Heng's status naturally would not be at the mercy of ordinary insects and snakes, but when she was in the Wuji Sect, she occasionally followed her master to tease her uncle, and had a modified trick. This bamboo piece was also a common prop that always stayed in her pocket.

Wu Heng's human form wouldn't be affected at all, but if he were in centipede form, he would become drowsy as if drunk after hearing it...

"It works...it works! The monster seems to be still!"

"God has eyes, luckily a cultivator arrived in time!"

"Thank you, lady! You are so young and promising..."

Shu Qianhe's heart was finally at rest. She swallowed hard, not daring to take everyone's compliments to heart. She asked nervously, "Uncle, I'd like to ask how I can contact the people in the Moon Palace? I'll take my master... I'll take this centipede demon to the dungeon, right next to the snake demon we'll be holding tonight!"

"We've already sent a signal to the adults at Yingyue Palace. It won't be long... Hey, look, they're here!"

"Thank you!"

Shu Qianhe raised her eyes and saw the palace maid coming quickly, and she breathed a sigh of relief without leaving any trace. Fortunately, it was fast enough. She was really afraid that Wu Heng would wake up in a while, and she would not be able to suppress it if he blew it a second time.

Before leaving, she couldn't ignore the strange feeling in her heart and subconsciously turned her head to look back.

It wasn't an illusion; someone was truly staring at her—on the rooftop, a woman in plain clothes, her face as white as jade, beaming with joy, exchanged glances with Shu Qianhe before her figure began to dissolve into mist, gradually disappearing...

Nightmare Queen!

Shu Qianhe suddenly realized that it was Yan Ji!

The so-called "wife" walking hand in hand with Master-Uncle was actually Yan Ji, and Master-Uncle was being toyed with in her hands?!

How could this be? This is lame, this is ridiculous!

It would be better for her to take his position as the elder of Wuji Sect!

…

The other end.

Zhuang Rong'er and Jing Huai, the brothers who "tamed the snake demon", were led into Yingyue Palace.

Staring at the unconscious white python being carried into the dungeon by a dozen palace servants, Zhuang Rong'er withdrew her gaze and looked at a fat old man sitting beside the stone steps of the palace.

He had a rather striking trough nose, and although his hair was a mixture of black and white, his beard was completely white. At the moment, he was resting with his eyes closed, and his upper body was swaying.

He didn't talk to them, but Zhuang Rong'er couldn't help but stop and ask him, "...Why don't you come over?"

"What are you doing here?" the old man answered her without even blinking.

"Give the sword you forged to your destined one."

The old man blew his beard and shook his head, saying, "You are not my destined one."

“…”

Zhuang Rong'er was puzzled, because the destined person she was referring to was not herself.

In her assumption, Liao Shiquan should rush forward to harass Jing Huai and threaten to give him the Yinyue Chuanyun Sword, even if it means breaking his promise to the Palace Master of Yingyue Palace.

Jing Huai would politely decline, saying that he was better at swordsmanship.

Liao Shiquan was a little angry and embarrassed, and immediately left, but was stopped by her who appeared from the corner. She wanted to exchange the Gu for the knife, but was rejected.

Seeing her disappointed, Liao Shiquan added that if she wanted to get the knife, she should win the first prize at the Full Moon Night Banquet.

——This is a development that is completely different from the current situation.

Zhuang Rong'er's silence finally made the old man open his eyes. He glanced at Jing Huai calmly, then closed them again and said, "He is not."

"Rong'er..." Jing Huai suddenly grabbed Zhuang Rong'er's arm, "The Palace Master of Yingyue Palace is still waiting for us. If you have anything to ask Master Liao Shiquan, why not wait until later?"

"What did you call me?" Zhuang Rong'er frowned.

"I'm sorry, I thought we were old friends..." Jing Huai said a little embarrassedly, "But is that a bit rude? How would you like me to address you?"

"...I don't know." Zhuang Rong'er looked at him quietly, then suddenly said, "Let's go."

The two of them walked away.

But Liao Shiquan was still sitting there.

He muttered to himself, "Since I'm awake, why bother pretending to be asleep? You know, it's hard to continue a beautiful dream, even if you're reluctant to let go, it's in vain..."