Chapter 15 Letting Go, Ling Shu.

Traitor.

Zhuang Jinfu quickly calmed down and casually checked the copy of the Tao Te Ching she had made.

I didn't even finish copying it once. The first few lines were neat enough, but the rest became a mess. I'm definitely not going to hand it in tomorrow.

After reading it, she put it down and returned to her desk. She picked up the documents waiting to be processed on her left and continued to review them. The documents were reports from various places on local celestial phenomena, grain production and harvest, river hydrological monitoring, and statistics on forest and wildfires. She needed to analyze the reported information and combine it with the formation to predict the occurrence of natural disasters. If there was an urgent report, she would rush to the local area immediately.

When things are peaceful and uneventful, life is relatively leisurely.

When Ling Shu woke up, it was almost lunchtime. She looked up and saw that Zhuang Jinfu had already returned and was working on documents at the desk on the east side.

She looked down and saw the vivid picture she had drawn. The other person in the picture was right opposite her. Ling Shu snapped the book shut and was thinking about where to hide it when she noticed that the copying papers on the table were neatly stacked.

Ughhhhh, who tidied this up?! Could it be Zhuang Jinfu?! She probably didn't see it!

Ling Shu secretly tucked the storybook into her sleeve and tiptoed out. Just as she reached the door, before her hand even touched it, she was stopped by a stern "Stop!"

"W-What's wrong, Master?" Ling Shu turned around nervously.

A cool magical force entered the sleeve, pulling the book hidden inside out and causing it to float in the air. Ice flowers covered the book, freezing it completely.

The book floated in front of her, as if proclaiming her guilt. Ice flowers sealed the pages, sealing away the secrets of those who could not be seen.

Ling Shu's face flushed red; it was indeed Zhuang Jinfu who had organized and copied the papers for her...

"Don't do it again next time." His words were cold and stern, yet they were actually a sign of leniency.

Ling Shu stood there, her lips pressed tightly together, feeling Zhuang Jin Fu's emotionless gaze sweep over her. Her face was imposing without anger, and Ling Shu felt as if she were being judged from above, judged for her shameful desires. It was always cold where she was. At this moment, for the first time, Ling Shu wished that Zhuang Jin Fu wouldn't be so cold.

Ling Shu stood there without saying a word for a long time. After Zhuang Jinfu finished speaking, he continued to write with his head down as if nothing had happened.

Is this how it ends? Zhuang Jinfu showed no reaction whatsoever, not even a single curse, as if her liking for her was utterly insignificant to him.

Ling Shu couldn't accept her cold demeanor. She thought there had to be an answer, whether it was acceptance or rejection. Zhuang Jin Fu had to give her an answer, so she asked in a trembling voice, "You know everything?"

"Yes." Zhuang Jinfu didn't even look up.

She didn't even look up... Ling Shu felt like she was about to collapse: "Do you think I'm disgusting, Zhuang Jinfu?"

Zhuang Jinfu stopped writing, closed the book he had finished annotating, placed it on his right, and then picked up another book from his left: "How do you think I should react?"

Ling Shu was extremely anxious, wondering about her future: "Are you going to send me down the mountain?"

Zhuang Jinfu finally raised his eyes: "I didn't say that."

Knowing she had impure intentions, yet not sending her down the mountain, keeping someone who covets and desires him by his side—what kind of behavior is that? Showing off his magnanimity?

Ling Shu didn't need her generosity; she just wanted one answer: a quick death or a swift death, not a dull, grinding pain in her heart.

"Don't you know this counts as indulgence?" Ling Shu locked the door tightly, and the madness she had suppressed in front of her reappeared. She reached out to grab the storybook, but the moment her fingertips touched it, the storybook shattered along with the outer layer of ice flowers, turning into a pile of fragments that fell mercilessly in front of her like cold snowflakes.

Zhuang Jinfu sat there, exuding the air of a general pointing out the battle plan on the defense map before the battle. He looked at Ling Shu and asked, "Then what should I do?"

After saying that, he added, "Should I throw you out in the snow to kneel for three days and three nights?"

“Fine,” Ling Shu moved closer to her, “I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

"Don't be crazy." Zhuang Jinfu stood up and was about to walk out as if nothing had happened. As she passed Ling Shu, her wrist was grabbed. Zhuang Jinfu tried to shake her off, but failed. She said coldly, "Let go."

Ling Shu's eyes were extremely red, filled with suppressed emotions: "What do you think I am? Are you crazy? I'm not. I know what I'm doing, and I know my thoughts can't be exposed. You've found out, you know, so why don't you kick me out?"

Zhuang Jinfu raised the hand that she was tightly gripping: "If you're not crazy, then what is this? And what is depicted in the painting? Let go, Ling Shu."

Ling Shu had an urge to pull her close, kiss her, and caress her. She tried desperately to suppress the thought and control herself, but another thought was fighting against her; she didn't want to let go.

Ling Shu gripped her tightly, her eyes like an eagle's, staring at her as she moved closer. Zhuang Jin Fu couldn't help but take a step back, but Ling Shu continued to advance. Zhuang Jin Fu disliked this feeling of being controlled and powerless, so she stopped, used her magic to flick her sleeve, which drew an arc in the air, and Ling Shu was thrown to the ground.

Before leaving, Zhuang Jinfu only said one sentence: "Go outside Qingxi Hall, kneel in the snow for three days and three nights."

Ling Shu shouted at her retreating figure, "Why didn't you chase me away!"

There was no response.

After she left, the air returned to its comfortable warmth. Ling Shu stood up and knelt outside Qingxi Hall as expected.

Outside Qingxi Hall, there was no warmth like inside. Snow was falling heavily, and it was the dead of winter. Ling Shu had only been kneeling for a short while when a layer of snow had already accumulated on her body.

When it was time to eat, Hai Gu searched everywhere for Ling Shu. The Immortal Venerable had promised to stay for the meal, but now he was out. Ling Shu couldn't be found in the study; the unfinished copy of the *Tao Te Ching* was still on the desk, and the read-through storybook was still in front of the bookshelf. Hearing from others that Ling Shu was kneeling outside the hall, Hai Gu hurriedly came out with an umbrella.

The sea maiden smiled kindly: "Did you anger the Immortal Venerable? The Immortal Venerable rarely gets angry, even once in a hundred years. How did you manage to do that?"

Ling Shu retorted angrily, "Are you here to laugh at me?"

Hai Gu squatted down beside her, holding up an umbrella high in her other hand: "No, no, even the Immortal Venerable makes mistakes sometimes. Tell me, and I'll go and scold her!"

Ling Shu noticed the snowflakes falling softly on Hai Gu's shoulders, and her eyelashes were also covered in snow. She pushed the umbrella over Hai Gu's head and said, "She's not wrong, it's my fault."

Hai Gu patted the snow off her head and said, "You can't punish people by making them kneel in the snow! It's bad for their health!"

Ling Shu stubbornly said, "Hai Gu, stop talking about her. It's all my fault! I angered her, and she doesn't want to talk to me. Before long, I'll have to roll down the mountain and continue being a wild fox."

Hai Gu was confused: "What happened? Did she find out because I secretly showed you the storybook? It's my fault, it's my fault!"

Ling Shu couldn't bring herself to say it: "No! Oh, don't ask anymore, just go inside!"

Hai Gu wouldn't leave. Finally, seeing that Ling Shu was determined to kneel, she left an umbrella behind, stood up, and said, "How can you let a child kneel in this heavy snow? I'll go find someone..."

"Don't look for her!" Ling Shu shouted. Hai Gu cried anxiously, muttering "You child," and shuffled her slightly plump body toward the path outside.

About half an hour later, Hai Gu had not returned. Instead, a woman dressed in purple with an air of authority walked towards them from a distance, holding an umbrella. As soon as Ling Shu saw her, she cursed, "You dog, what are you doing here?"

Wang Lifu chuckled, walked around her a few steps, stopped beside her, and said in a very irritating way, "Poor dog."

"What did you say?!" Ling Shu was about to explode.

Wang Lifu laughed twice and said, "Poor dog, you're so pitiful. I came here specifically to see you in this pathetic state."

“The poor dog is about to be driven down the mountain. Once it’s down the mountain, it’s a dead end. Haha! It’s good that it’s dead,” Wang Lifu said.

She wasn't afraid of death; it was just a worthless life anyway. It was just a pity she hadn't seen Wang Lifu die. Ling Shu said indignantly, "I really don't know what my mother saw in you. She's blind."

"Yeah, she's blind," Wang Lifu said jokingly, mocking himself. "Choosing me was the biggest mistake of her life."

Ling Shu ignored her expression and yelled at her, "Get out of here, you dog!"

"Okay, I'll go now." Wang Lifu turned and left, retracing her steps. As she left, Ling Shu glanced at her back and noticed that she wasn't carrying an umbrella.

Ling Shu then realized that since she arrived, the snow had stopped falling on her for a while. She looked up and saw a pale purple umbrella hanging above her head, with magical power falling from it and forming an invisible barrier around her.

"You bastard! Take your umbrella and go!" Ling Shu shouted at the lonely figure walking away into the snow.

Wang Lifu didn't turn around, he just waved his hand and said, "Take it, I pity you."

"Who would want your stuff?! Take it away!" Ling Shu reached out to grab it, pulling hard but unable to budge it. The umbrella was imbued with a magical power she couldn't resist. After a series of tugs, it remained unmoved. Ling Shu moved left and right, and the umbrella moved with her. Ling Shu didn't want to accept the umbrella. She felt it was a mocking handout, and the more she looked at it, the more disgusted she felt.

As darkness fell, the maids who had gone out to buy supplies gradually returned to the palace. Thick clouds obscured the moon, and in the darkness, she stood alone in front of the palace. Even with her body temperature so high, Ling Shu could not withstand the cold of kneeling in the snow for several hours. Her lips turned purple, and her hands became numb with cold.

A tall, strong cultivator rushed over and saw Ling Shu at the entrance of the hall. He quickly ran to her side and said, "Ling Shu, it's so good to see you. Li Chang is missing."

This cultivator was Li Chang's friend. She had met him when she tamed the Emperor. Her name was Zhao Chi, a female cultivator. She was tall and strong, and spoke in a soft, gentle voice.

"What happened?" Ling Shu asked anxiously.

Zhao Chi said, "She heard that you were injured because of us, and she felt bad about it. She said she would go up the mountain to gather herbs for you. She went early this morning and hasn't come back yet. Among us, you are the only one with high martial arts skills. What do you think we should do?"

Ling Shu asked in confusion, "How did she know I was injured?"

Zhao Chi said, "I didn't know. Oh? You're really injured?"

Ling Shu got up from the ground: "Which mountain did she go to? Take me there, I want to find her."

Zhao Chi led her away: "Bitan Mountain." "What kind of herbs can she possibly find there? It's ridiculous! Bitan Mountain is a training ground for cultivators, with many chaotic array formations. Without a master to guide you, it's easy to get lost," Ling Shu said angrily. Zhao Chi said, "She heard that Bitan Mountain has many array formations, and both wild animals and humans keep their distance. The herbs there grow the best, and she went there without a second thought. By the time I found out, she was already there. What kind of nonsense is this!"

After saying that, he asked her again, "Are you really hurt?"

Ling Shu didn't have time to talk about that, and casually replied, "I was stepped on by that stupid pig, but it's nothing. I'm fine now, but I still need to recuperate for a while."

The entrance to Bitan Mountain was no different from any other mountain forest. Once inside, there was a wide open meadow where people often practiced formations. As soon as Ling Shu stepped on it, a circular light flashed, startling her so much that she immediately retreated. She had read books about it, and the most ferocious formation was the Meridian Formation, which was developed in earlier years to imprison evil demons.

Once a demon steps into the formation, it is locked in place. The formation will slowly erode its blood essence, and eventually the demon will bleed to death, becoming like a dried-up corpse. When a demon dies, its body and soul are completely destroyed. This method of death is designed to preserve the demon's body, thereby protecting the demon core from disappearing with the body's demise. It is the most cruel kind of killing formation.

Fortunately, the one Ling Shu stepped on was a spirit-gathering array, used to gather spiritual energy for meditation.

"Li Chang—Li Chang, where are you?" the two called out together, Zhao Chi had fallen behind without anyone noticing.

Ling Shu turned back to find Zhao Chi, fearing that she might accidentally enter the killing formation.

Suddenly, a flash of silver light appeared before his eyes, and a sharp sword tip pierced through him, followed by a deep pain in his abdomen.

Ling Shu stared wide-eyed in disbelief, coughing up blood as she said, "You... you lied to me..."