Chapter 73 Seventy-Three Slashes "Are you calmed down now?"...
"I passed out?" Luo Mingshu scratched her head, making her slightly curly hair messy. "Then just pass out. Xie Changming, why are you carrying me?"
"I'll bring you to the pool to recover, and your tail has returned to normal," Xie Changming said.
"I fainted... I can drink hot water myself, you can just throw me in the pool." Luo Mingshu blushed slightly as she recalled her dream. It was all Xie Changming's fault for holding her and making her dream about this kind of thing.
She remembered the feeling of burying her head in his fur, the little dragon horns on her forehead pressing against his back, as if sinking into a wonderfully soft blanket.
"Why would you drink hot water if you're dizzy?" Xie Changming leaned closer and touched Luo Mingshu's forehead with the back of his hand. "Shushu, were your divine senses damaged by the other party?"
"Anyway...anyway you're shameless, sneaking to touch my tail while I'm sleeping!" Luo Mingshu said, tugging at Xie Changming's clothes.
Xie Changming withdrew his fingertips from Luo Mingshu's forehead, which had been brushing against the dragon horn. He cupped Luo Mingshu's hand in his large palm and answered sincerely, "I only touched it once."
"You must have touched my tail a lot." Luo Mingshu was so angry that her tail sticked out of the water.
Xie Changming turned to the side and pulled her into his arms. Luo Mingshu's dragon tail was bent and hung down from his arm.
"Yes." Xie Changming had to admit it.
“A bad dog like you deserves to have its tail cut off,” Luo Mingshu said, lying in his arms.
Xie Changming immediately pulled his wagging tail back: "No need."
Luo Mingshu shook her tail, and the little dragon's tail transformed into legs, with her fair ankles outlining an extremely alluring curve.
"Where are my shoes?" she began to get furious.
“In the yard,” Xie Changming said. He was good-natured; Luo Mingshu was now lying in his arms, helplessly furious, like a cute little kitten.
He carried her out, his steps steady, but Luo Mingshu still managed to grab his collar.
Xie Changming looked down at her bent fingers and reminded her, "Shushu, you can loosen them now."
Luo Mingshu pulled down a little more, her face still flushed slightly.
As a result of her violence, the lapel pin on Xie Changming's clothes fell off, and his once neat clothes came undone, revealing his prominent Adam's apple, his bony neck, and his beautiful collarbone hidden under his clothes.
His lapel pin was cold, with an intricate floral design, and was deliberately forged in a dark color. It landed on Luo Mingshu's chest, feeling icy cold and sending a shiver down her spine.
Luo Mingshu's fingers trembled, and she withdrew her hand as if she had been electrocuted, obediently placing it on her knees.
“In the future…in the future, don’t use such cheap lapel pins. I paid for a better one for you. How come it loosened as soon as I pulled it? Did you do it on purpose?” Luo Mingshu’s tone was much weaker, and she struggled to look away from Xie Changming’s collar.
"You used too much force," Xie Changming said bluntly.
"Take it back!" Luo Mingshu was unwilling to do it herself, because the lapel pin was on her chest, and the decorative patterns on the edge kept brushing against the skin below her collarbone.
She didn't do it on purpose, so why should she pick it up herself?
"I don't have hands." Xie Changming said confidently, because he was holding Luo Mingshu with both arms.
He lowered his eyes, his long, thick eyelashes concealing a dark expression: "I'll get it back for you."
After speaking, he lowered his head, and his dark hair, which was tucked behind his ear, fell down and landed on Luo Mingshu's cheek, tickling her.
Luo Mingshu's breath caught in her throat as Xie Changming's warm breath sprayed onto her chest, moist and warm, like the furry wolf from her dream approaching her.
She clenched her hands on her shoulders, her fingers twisting the light gauze.
His eyes fell upon the undulating curves of her neck. Xie Changming's lips touched the area near her nipples, then parted just as quickly, easily picking up the three-dimensional decoration from the lapel pin.
A soft metallic clanging sound rang out, and Luo Mingshu's breathing gradually eased, ruffling the dark hair on his cheek.
Xie Changming held the lapel pin in his mouth, a gold chain hanging from it, swaying gently and casting shimmering light and shadow that fell into Luo Mingshu's beautiful eyes. Her eyes seemed to be a deep lake rippling with purple light, but now the surface of the lake was disturbed, and a dark golden light flashed by.
"Xie Changming—" Luo Mingshu unfolded her bent fingers, revealing the wrinkled hem of her skirt beneath them, and she began to rage in a fit of impotence again.
But Xie Changming couldn't answer her this time, because he was holding his lapel pin in his mouth, and his extremely seductive lips were outlined in a slightly upturned curve.
His long eyelashes fluttered up and down, and a hint of triumphant pleasure appeared in his eyes. Luo Mingshu guessed that he must be thinking, "You're the one who told me to take it back."
Luo Mingshu dared not move again and could only let Xie Changming carry her into the courtyard. Her embroidered shoes were left on the grass in the courtyard, placed very haphazardly on the left and right, which meant that she had indeed dropped the shoes herself.
Xie Changming carried her to the stone table. Luo Mingshu was still a little uncomfortable when she was suddenly separated from his warm embrace.
His lips parted, and the brooch he had been holding in his mouth fell to Luo Mingshu's side, the cold chain causing her little finger to curl slightly.
"What are you doing!" Luo Mingshu was about to continue speaking, but Xie Changming's warm hand had already grabbed her ankle.
He slipped the embroidered shoes back on, and Luo Mingshu braced herself with her hands at her sides, her voice growing softer: "Don't think that just because you put my shoes on, I'll forgive you."
He put the other embroidered shoe back on, and Luo Mingshu muttered under her breath, "I will never forgive you even if you wear both."
Xie Changming stood up, still holding Luo Mingshu's ankle with one hand. He leaned forward and gently kissed the spot on Luo Mingshu's forehead where dragon horns grew.
He pulled her into his arms: "So many questions?"
Luo Mingshu was furious: "You...you've gone too far."
"Isn't it too much to pull on my collar?" Xie Changming withdrew his hand, straightened his collar, took the lapel pin back from Luo Mingshu's hand, and carefully fastened it with his eyes lowered.
"Xie Changming, you wait." Luo Mingshu jumped off the table, her skirt falling like flower petals. "I'll get my hands on it another day."
“Okay,” Xie Changming replied.
"Are all demons as shameless as you?" Luo Mingshu pushed his chest.
She lifted her skirt and strode angrily out of the courtyard. Xie Changming stood still and did not chase after her.
That day, Luo Mingshu received a message from his spiritual network.
[Anonymous monk (192cm tall): I'm ready. When are you going to touch me again?]
【Shushu is so beautiful: You wish!】
[Shushu is so beautiful: I'll expose you on the Four-Sided Water Mirror tomorrow.]
[Anonymous monk (192cm tall): What are you revealing?]
Luo Mingshu was speechless for a moment. She didn't know what to expose, but... but this demon was too hateful.
So all she could do was spout nonsense.
【Shushu is so beautiful: Just you wait.】
After waiting for many days, the matter was dropped.
Soon enough, the day arrived for the official start of testing for the Yingtian Palace storytelling experience project, and even Xu Qian and Meng Weifang came to join in the fun.
"I didn't expect you to even invite Yu Hanlu." Xu Qian said excitedly, playing with the experience token in her hand. "However, I don't want to experience the checkpoint made up of palace servants in front of the Cold Palace again."
"It's a replica of the original. Yu Hanlu and I designed over a hundred different endings. The best ending is that she gets pushed into a well by the concubines in the harem and awakens her talent for cultivation," Luo Mingshu said, flipping through the storybook in her hand.
Although they recruited many cultivators to act as characters in the scene, since this was the first test, Luo Mingshu and Xie Changming decided to play the roles of guards and palace maids, ready to fix any loopholes at any time.
Lu Yaoyao enthusiastically participated in the activity at the system's urging. Luo Mingshu also wanted to see what kind of trouble the system could cause, so she agreed to continue being Lu Yaoyao's concubine to monitor any possible accidents.
Meanwhile, Lu Yaoyao's system kept encouraging her to cause trouble. Unable to bear it any longer, Lu Yaoyao subtly hinted to Luo Mingshu to resolve the matter.
So, Luo Mingshu pulled the system into that treacherous chat group again.
[I cultivate with pride: You and your host have successfully infiltrated Luo Mingshu's forces, haven't you?]
[System: Yes, my host is quite capable; she's completely fooled Luo Mingshu. Now, Luo Mingshu entrusts her with whatever tasks she needs, which is very beneficial to our mission.]
[I cultivate with pride: The task I assigned you was to ensure your host always had the upper hand over Luo Mingshu. Look at what you're doing!]
[System: We're planning to have the host sabotage Luo Mingshu's newly developed project.]
[I am proud of my cultivation: What good is your meddling other than causing trouble for Luo Mingshu? Please always remember your mission; causing trouble is not the primary objective. What if she becomes even more determined after setbacks?]
[I cultivate, I am proud: You're all useless. What you should be doing now isn't causing trouble, but absorbing Luo Mingshu's business philosophy and essence, understand? That way, you can surpass her in the same field later.]
[I cultivate this system with pride: What a stupid system.]
[System: Master, I understand. I will remember your teachings.]
Luo Mingshu herself believed what she said, but the system itself raised a new question.
[System: Master, where is the other master?]
[I am proud of my spiritual practice: He had something to do today and didn't come.]
[System: Is the Four Immortal Lords having another meeting?]
【I'm proud of my cultivation: ... 】Why did you blow up a truck?
[I am proud of my cultivation: Yes, you may step down.]
After banishing the system, Luo Mingshu began to think wildly. The information the system had inadvertently provided was crucial, indicating that the person behind the scenes was one of the Four Immortal Lords.
She wasn't actually trying to get Xie Changming away to trick him into revealing the system's secrets; she wasn't that clever.
The reason Xie Changming didn't show up today is simple: he offended Luo Mingshu a few days ago, so Luo Mingshu deprived him of the opportunity to tease the system today.
However, this information still needs to be shared. After all, the Four Immortal Lords are not someone she can deal with now. There's a ready-made henchman, so why not use him? In any case, judging from the details in the Misty Star Sea, Xie Changming must have owed her something in the past, and she is just using him to get it back.
So, Luo Mingshu sent a message to Xie Changming.
【Shushu is so beautiful: Are you there?】
As always, the other party replied instantly.
[Anonymous monk (192cm tall): Yes.]
[Anonymous monk (192cm tall): Are you calm now?]
【Shushu is so beautiful: No!!! You bad dog!!!】
[Anonymous monk (192cm tall): ...]
[Shushu is so beautiful: The system says one of the Four Immortal Lords is his master.]
[Anonymous cultivator (192cm tall): There are four Immortal Lords of the Four Directions. We can't kill them all, because the Pillar of Heaven will collapse.]
[Shushu is so beautiful: What pillars? Just find them and kill them. Have you met the Four Immortal Lords? Were there any of them particularly cunning-looking ones who seemed to be full of evil intentions?]
[Anonymous monk (192cm tall): Yes.]
【Shushu is so beautiful: Let's get him.】
[Anonymous monk (192cm tall): The most shifty-looking one has already been killed by me.]
【Shushu is so beautiful: ?】
[Shushu is so beautiful: Please stop making this joke.]
[Anonymous cultivator (192cm tall): The other Immortal Lords are hard to find, but once the range is determined, it will be much easier.]
[Shushu is super beautiful: Okay, once I advance and return, I'll wipe them out completely.]
[Anonymous monk (192cm tall): Hmm.]
Luo Mingshu found Xie Changming agreeable because of him; he wouldn't laugh at her bold pronouncements, and no matter what she said, he would just say "uh-huh, okay, okay, yes, yes, yes," which might seem a bit perfunctory, but in reality, he genuinely believed that she could do it.
She often had strange ideas popping into her head, so Xie Changming's understanding was very heartwarming to her.
Luo Mingshu's anger subsided temporarily, and the next day she even took the initiative to ask him to try on the clothes of a palace maid and a guard. Although Luo Mingshu herself really wanted to play the emperor, there was a line in the main storyline where she had to kill the emperor, and being the emperor meant she couldn't run around the palace like a palace maid, which would be very detrimental to her work of correcting loopholes. So she and Xie Changming decided to just play an ordinary, insignificant character.
Here at Xie Changming's place, Luo Mingshu looked in the mirror, put on the pearl hairpins in her hair, squinted and examined herself in the mirror. She looked beautiful, and even in such a simple palace maid outfit, she still looked radiant.
"Is this alright?" Luo Mingshu straightened her hair.
Although Luo Mingshu's attire was already perfect, Xie Changming still straightened the slightly loose beaded flowers: "This is fine."
"Good." Luo Mingshu was very satisfied. "We're just waiting for the first batch of cultivators to arrive."
"This is the list of the first batch of cultivators to experience the training." Xie Changming remembered that he still had something he hadn't shown to Luo Mingshu.
"Why didn't you show it to me?" Luo Mingshu still valued the quality of the first batch of cultivators.
"You've ignored me these past few days," Xie Changming said, sounding aggrieved.
He stared intently at Luo Mingshu, his tone earnest.
“But… well…” Luo Mingshu stammered as she took the booklet from his hand, flipping through it haphazardly to distract herself.
As she flipped through the pages, she came across a familiar name.
"Fan Qing?!" Luo Mingshu was very sensitive to this name because she knew that the two spirits on the Spirit Network that imitated her name were Fan Qing. That familiar divine thought back then was correct.
She hadn't expected Fan Qing's spiritual power to be so strong. Although she later successfully changed the name of her spiritual network, she herself was also affected by the backlash.
"This thing can even come here?" Luo Mingshu cursed.
Xie Changming didn't remember the details of this kind of miscellaneous matter very well. He flipped through the records and revealed the truth: "You gave some pre-selected spots to the major sects, and she came here using a pre-selected spot."
Luo Mingshu remembered that Fan Qing was a disciple of the Yu Ling Sect, one of the four major sects. It was not surprising that she could come.
She knew that Fan Qing harbored unfounded hostility towards her, and she guessed that Fan Qing must have come to cause trouble.
"I need to find a way to get rid of her," Luo Mingshu said angrily.
"Mm," Xie Changming replied.
——
At the entrance of Yingtian Palace, Fan Qing frowned in disgust as she looked at the imposing dragon carvings on the palace gate.
"Why is Yinglong everywhere? Is she mentally challenged? Even now, it's said that she only found out her identity when she entered the Misty Star Sea for the second time?" Fan Qing thought Luo Mingshu had something wrong with her brain.
"She has grown horns... but it's not outwardly apparent that she has dragon horns. However, her condition cannot fool the Heavenly Pillar, so we have concealed this discovery from above." The system was completely open with Fan Qing. Due to the previous mishap, the system level captured by the Heavenly Realm this time was higher, and it was able to know more secret information.
"Moreover, the eldest princess of the demon race, Shui Qingnian, also entered the Misty Star Sea at that time. She was searching for the Crimson Copper Lotus, a key treasure for Yinglong's advancement. Although she was a Silver Flood Dragon, her ambitions were higher than the sky, and she even dared to dream of becoming a dragon." The system said contemptuously, "This pattern may be a manifestation of her inner desires."
"What a greedy demon race," Fan Qing said in a low voice. "I won't let them continue this project peacefully."
Meanwhile, Shui Qingnian, who was innocently and maliciously misunderstood by Fan Qing and System No. 2, was holding someone's hand and standing at another entrance of Yingtian Palace. She wanted the Crimson Copper Lotus, but it was just a last resort, and she also wanted to advance her cultivation. Who would have thought that she would be misunderstood like this?
Standing next to Shui Qingnian was Shui Qingsi. Looking at the exquisite palace architecture before her, she exclaimed with delight, "Sister, this Yingtian Palace is so beautiful! Is this where you participated in your first trial?"
"Why did you participate in this trial? Isn't Yingtian Palace yours?" Shui Qingsi asked curiously. "Sister, didn't you win?"
"Shut up." Shui Qingnian shook her off and said, "Say one more word and I'll throw you away, and you can go in by yourself."
“Ziyun said he would come with me, but something happened in his clan.” Shui Qingsi was not afraid of anyone in the Demon Realm, but she lost her momentum when she saw Shui Qingnian. “Sister, I don’t know the way very well. If you leave me alone, I will get lost.”
"Shui Qingsi, why are you so troublesome?" Shui Qingnian said through gritted teeth, "If Father hadn't asked me to bring you, I wouldn't have come."
“Sister, let’s go in then,” Shui Qingsi replied. “So, sister, what role did you play in Yingtian Palace back then? We are the royal family of the demon realm, so you must have held a position like empress, right?”
Shui Qingnian was so angry she almost fainted. She remembered the time when she was a cruel imperial physician and was exploited by Consort Ya. When had she ever suffered such grievances?
It's all Luo Mingshu's fault. Meeting her never ends well. Yingtian Palace is supposedly hosted by the Demon Realm, so it shouldn't have anything to do with Luo Mingshu. That's why Shui Qingnian came here with peace of mind.
Of course, Shui Qingnian's visit was partly motivated by personal reasons; she was thinking about her online boyfriend and wondered if that despicable anonymous cultivator had mistreated him.
She wanted to see him, so she set off.
Meanwhile, Shui Qingnian's heart was filled with thoughts of Feng Xin Suo Ai (183 cm tall), who was Xie Changming's protector. Don't ask why the dignified Demon Lord only had one protector; the answer is that Wen Yu was worth two.
"My lord, shall I become the imperial physician?" This was Wen Yu's first time encountering something like medicine. He thrust the silver needle in his hand into the wooden figure in front of him with a "plop." The silver needle went all the way into the wood, leaving only a small part of the end visible, which showed how strong Wen Yu was.
Watching his movements, Luo Mingshu suspected that Wen Yu could break those patients with a single punch.
“Yes,” Xie Changming said, straightening his guard robes.
"Speaking of which, Lord, whose brilliant idea is this?" Wen Yu was in charge of all matters in the Demon Realm, so he was very sensitive to matters related to spirit stones. "Didn't we only release a small number of paid slots for the first test? Even these slots were sold at high prices on the Four Directions Water Mirror. One such test is equivalent to a quarter's revenue for our Demon Realm."
Luo Mingshu listened, and she also had her own calculations in mind. Wen Yu was right. If it weren't for the huge income that Yingtian Palace could generate, she wouldn't be so concerned.
Nothing is more important than making money, Luo Mingshu thought.
She coughed lightly and answered Wen Yu seemingly casually, "It's me."
"Does Your Majesty also like human beauties?" Wen Yu was really bold to say this, because Luo Mingshu did not have any demon characteristics, and there was no such person in the Demon Realm, so he naturally assumed that Luo Mingshu was human.
Luo Mingshu: "?" What do you mean, "like"? What human race? But he praised me as beautiful...
"No." Xie Changming stepped forward and blocked Wen Yu's gaze from looking at Luo Mingshu.
"Get to work. Report any abnormalities immediately. My formation is generally reliable, but we can't rule out the possibility of accidents." Xie Changming was meticulous in his work.
"Yes." Wen Yu asked Xie Changming in a low voice, "Is the Venerable One no longer looking for fish?"
“Found it,” Xie Changming said.
"So she's a beauty from the demon race!" Wen Yu clapped his hands and said, "Demon beauties aren't bad either."
Xie Changming glanced at Wen Yu, because of him he remembered Shui Qingnian.
A beautiful demon... Wen Yu is really unlucky.
"Take care." Xie Changming patted Wen Yu on the shoulder, then left with Luo Mingshu.
Thus, the palace intrigue simulation experience at Yingtian Palace officially began. (Small. Piano. Organization.)
At this moment, Luo Mingshu had no idea what kind of things had infiltrated her precious project that she had placed so much hope in.
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