Chapter 16 The Wise King: "I can help you."
Bai Yuheng coldly exposed her: "So you've been stalling for time."
"Hahahaha...you guessed right."
As soon as she finished speaking, a pink mist suddenly enveloped the four of them. Peony's figure gradually disappeared, and an illusion appeared. They each watched Fang Linchun's short and tragic life over and over again.
"You keep talking about vanquishing demons and upholding justice, but you don't even realize you've fallen into my illusion. You're utterly useless!" That cold voice appeared again, dissipating as the illusion's effects became increasingly real. "You should experience that pain for Lin Chun!"
The sound disappeared, and darkness enveloped the four of them. When they opened their eyes again, it was as if they had become Fang Linchun, walking her path again and again, experiencing her pain and helplessness.
"Bang—"
A golden light exploded, and the illusion vanished.
"How could this be!?"
Bai Yuheng retracted the golden snake, its body coiled around her fingertips. Her scarlet vertical pupils stared intently at the figure hidden in the mist, hissing as she flicked her tongue.
"Peony, please help me."
"good!"
"Shuashuashua——"
Countless peach petals transformed into sharp blades, piercing through the dissipating thick fog and hurtling through the air.
"Everyone be careful!"
"Know!"
"clear!"
Amidst the thin mist, swords gleamed and shadows flickered; only a few dark figures could be seen darting back and forth.
"Why are you targeting us?!" Peony shouted angrily. "Aren't you supposed to be fighting evil and promoting good? Why don't you get rid of the real pests? Why are you targeting us instead?"
“We are not targeting you, but rather to capture the demons that are harming humanity. As for the evildoers you speak of, the decision will naturally be made by the human authorities.”
Bai Yuheng spoke coldly and ruthlessly, while Mudan laughed heartily, her gaze full of sarcasm: "Is this the path you cultivate?"
"Everyone says that the goddess loves the world, but you cannot distinguish between black and white, you are blind and deaf and cannot tell good from evil! Why should we respect and worship such a goddess!"
Bai Yuheng dodged the thrusting blade with a quick turn, and while making hand seals, she said calmly, "This is just your own imagination."
The floral mist has dissipated.
"Whether gods or humans, everyone has their own responsibilities in this world. The person who killed Fang Linchun can seek help from the government or file a complaint with their superiors; there is always a way to resolve the issue. Our responsibility, however, is to capture the demon that violated the covenant of the Three Realms and make it receive the punishment it deserves."
"Hahaha, you're so naive," Peony sneered. "Do you know that nowadays, officials protect each other, officials protect merchants, and merchants protect their relatives. The people bully the poor, merchants bully the people, and officials bully merchants... one layer after another, how can we, as lowly as ants, possibly stand against them? If they stomp their feet, it will be a catastrophe for us! Tell me, how can we sue them!"
"I can help you."
Li Tiankuo used his sword to block the oncoming blade, then smoothly sheathed his sword in one swift motion.
The golden snake on Bai Yuheng's wrist transformed into a large shield, blocking all the flower blades.
"Hmph! How can I believe you?" Peony glared at him coldly. "It's just your clever words to deceive me."
“This is my token. I can lend it to you if you need it.” Li Tiankuo took out a small gold-inlaid jade token with the character “贤” (virtuous) engraved on it.
"This is the token of the wise king. Use this to file a complaint at the yamen, and they will help you."
Peony raised her hand, and the attacking flower blades stopped instantly. She relaxed slightly and asked doubtfully, "Is this for real? How do I know you're not lying to me?"
"If you don't believe me, you can try it yourself." With that, Li Tiankuo tossed the token to her.
"..."
Peony's expression softened slightly. She glanced at the token, and a figure flashed through her mind, suppressing the unease.
"Thank you for your kindness, but since things have come to this point, I must make them suffer the same pain in the same way!"
Having said that, he flicked his hand, and the fallen petals floated up, transforming once again into sharp blades that pierced through the air and reached straight for his face.
"Mingcan, Xiaoying, hurry to the He family and the Yuan family!" Bai Yuheng looked at Li Tiankuo beside her, not caring whether he followed her instructions or not, and said, "Li Tiankuo, you go with us too. If there is any unusual activity, remember to send a message. I'll handle it here quickly."
The three of them said in unison, "Okay."
Cen Ying: "Be careful!"
"Um."
"Want to leave?" The crimson dot on the peony's forehead deepened, and hundreds of petals kept stabbing at them. "Let's ask them if they want to leave first!"
Bai Yuheng transformed the golden snake into an encirclement to shield the three of them from the piercing blades coming from all directions, finding a safe place for them to leave.
"Run!"
"Why are you going against me!"
When she was alone in the encirclement, she gathered 30% of her strength and deflected the thrusting blade back.
The blade, without eyes, sliced through the air with a loud bang, embedded itself in the mountain wall, and snapped tree trunks...
"Bang!"
Peony was originally just a mortal and had no magic. She only borrowed a portion of the peach blossom demon's soul to gain some of its power, which gave her the ability to summon inanimate objects as weapons. However, she was only capable of attacking with flower blades and could not defend herself.
So when thousands of blades hurtled towards her face, Peony faced death with equanimity, only regretting that she couldn't witness those people die and experience the thrill of revenge.
But when the flower blade actually pierced through, she couldn't help but close her eyes. The pain she had imagined didn't come. When she opened her eyes, she saw a golden shield enveloping her, blocking the flower blade, and then she floated lightly to the ground.
"..."
Her chest heaved violently as Peony stared at her in disbelief: "What do you mean by this? You're not going to kill me?"
"I said, matters of the mortal realm should be handled by people of the mortal realm," Bai Yuheng said calmly, retrieving the golden snake.
"..." Peony didn't know what to say, she just tugged at the corner of her lips, "It's no use if you don't kill me now, Chun Tao has already gone, she must have already succeeded."
"Oh?" Bai Yuheng's expression was indifferent, and she didn't take what she said to heart.
Peony couldn't help but get annoyed: "Aren't you worried at all? The person you're trying to protect will die soon."
Bai Yuheng played with the docile golden snake, saying nonchalantly, "Although I didn't know who you wanted to kill most, I had my companions set up a barrier in their homes beforehand."
Bai Yuheng smiled and said confidently, "There aren't many people in this world who can break my barrier."
Peony's face stiffened for a moment, then she sneered, "So what? Chun Tao's magic is boundless; how could you immature brats possibly contend with her?"
"Is that so?" Bai Yuheng said dismissively. "That peach blossom demon left 30% of her power for you to fight against us. With only that little bit of power left? If you're not convinced, I'll show you what's what."
With that, she waved her hand, and a picture was projected onto the mountainside.
Peony stared intently, not daring to miss a single moment, for fear of overlooking something.
On the screen, a beautiful woman with cheeks as pink as peach blossoms and a peach blossom ornament on her forehead hovered in the sky above the west courtyard of the He family.
She suddenly transformed into a flurry of petals, attempting to rush into the room, but was violently thrown back. A faint golden light instantly appeared, and a barrier enveloped her completely, rendering her attacks futile.
The peach blossom demon was unwilling to give up, so she went to Yuan Zheng's house again and found that it was the exact same barrier.
"..." Peony watched as Chuntao suffered setbacks several times, her heart filled with panic, resentment, and a deep sadness.
"I beg you, I beg you."
Peony knelt on the ground, breaking her own pride, and pleaded with her with tears streaming down her face.
"Please let her go. It was all my fault. I held a grudge and wanted to kill them... It has nothing to do with Chun Tao. Please, let her go."
Bai Yuheng helped her up, saying, "I never said I wanted its life, but it did violate the covenant of the Three Realms. How to deal with it is not up to me."
"..." Peony slumped to the ground, her eyes filled with sorrow. "It's my fault, it's all my fault..."
Bai Yuheng half-squatted down, supporting her, her right hand slid the golden snake along, and asked, "How did you two meet? Why did it help you kill them?"
“On the day Linchun was buried, I bumped into her coffin. My mother and the pimp locked me up, but Qingyuan let me out. She told me that because of my incident, Linchun couldn't be buried and was left in the suburbs. I found someone to cremate her and find a new place for her to be buried…” Peony looked at Fang Linchun's tombstone, “This was where she buried her fine wine. I thought she would prefer and be more familiar with this place than other places, so I buried her here…”
"That peach blossom fairy is Chun Tao, who once received the kindness of Lin Chun in watering her."
She said, "Don't you mortals always say that a drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring of gratitude? Since my benefactor has passed away, I will guard her grave well so that she can rest in peace after death."
“When I heard her words, I had an idea. I told her about Linchun, and she was furious. She promised to help me. Chuntao will use illusion magic to make those people suffer the same mental anguish as Linchun before her death, and then endure our intimidation day and night until they finally end their own lives. But those people deserve to die!” Peony gritted her teeth, wishing she could skin them alive and drink their blood. “They repeatedly beat and verbally abused Linchun! They even demanded that she hand over her secret recipe for brewing wine, threatening to torture her if she didn’t…”
When they dressed her body and cremated it, she saw the horrifying wounds on her body. She hated those who had abused her, and she hated herself for not paying more attention to her, for not spending more time with her, at least to have noticed something was wrong before she wanted to die…
How did you find out?
"Heh, those guys are usually so audacious in bullying men and women, but they were scared out of their wits by a little illusion. They confessed before they were even really scared."
"Tell me! Why did you kill her?!"
"Fairy, spare us! Fairy, spare us! We didn't mean to harm her!" Terrified, they knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly. "Blame her for falling for the wrong person!"
Peony asked in surprise, "What do you mean?!"
Chen Haiquan knelt down and kowtowed: "Fang... Fang Wuyan has fallen in love with Tang Peiqian!"
Peony knew him; he was the most famous scholar in Hibiscus Town, both talented and handsome.
But as far as she knew, Mr. He had already regarded Tang Peiqian as his ideal son-in-law and had previously announced the wedding date between his daughter and him.
Peony would never have imagined this.
"Our first evil thought came about that night when we were drunk. We felt we hadn't had enough to drink, and someone mentioned that Fang Wuyan's wine in Cat Lane was the best in the surrounding area, so we went there..."
It was just getting light, and she had already set up her stall before the others had even opened.
"Hey! Bring us a few cans of good wine!"
Ever since Fang Wuyan met Mudan, she has always worn the mask that Mudan made for her, which perfectly covers the wound on that side.
The other half of her face was revealed: deep-set eyes, a straight nose, and naturally red lips.
"Okay." She wasn't one for words, only uttering a few brief words.
"Your wine."
Fang Linchun brought the wine over, his back hunched, his face always lowered.
"stop!"
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