Chapter 73: King You of Zhou and Bao Si, for the sake of a laugh. (Second update)...
After changing the bed, Hua Deng slept much better.
Jin Yue is truly a kind person. He brought her a lot of food early in the morning, afraid that she wouldn't be satisfied. There were all kinds of flavors. After having a hearty meal, Hua Deng felt much lighter.
However, people are easily bored when they are well-fed and well-rested. Taking advantage of Shen Zhou's absence, she simply ran out of Guiyi Palace and wandered around for a while.
Although the Ziyang Sect was large, it seemed to have few people. Even if there were, they would only dare to lower their heads and pass by her. If she spoke to them, they would run away even faster with their heads down, as if they had encountered a ghost.
I had to give up on the idea of strolling around alone.
As she walked, she entered a palace filled with treasures. She belatedly realized that she must have passed through some kind of barrier, because she possessed Chen Zhou's true energy, which allowed her to pass through.
The palace treasures all looked very valuable. Hua Deng casually picked up a jade bottle and examined it against the light when a cold voice suddenly sounded behind him: "What are you doing here?"
Hua Deng was startled, and the jade bottle fell to the ground with a crash, shattering into pieces. She didn't know how the thing had gotten so fragile, but since it was already so fragile, she could probably afford to pay for it.
She turned her head and saw Shen Zhou looking at her expressionlessly, saying, "Didn't I tell you not to run around?"
Before the streetlights could respond, he warned again, "Stay by my side, or I'll have to say it a second time."
Hua Deng knew that tone all too well, so she didn't take it to heart at all. She followed Shen Zhou outside and said, "I accidentally broke your treasure just now."
"Treasure? What kind of treasure is that?" Shen Zhou frowned. "You can smash it or throw it away as you please. Anything you can break isn't worth keeping."
As he spoke, he brought the lanterns back to Guiyi Hall.
Hua Deng said helplessly, "There's nothing here. Do you expect me to stay here all day long?"
Shen Zhou said, "Don't you like sleeping? Then sleep here."
Hua Deng: "...I am a human being, not a god of sleep."
Shen Zhou: "You can cultivate."
Hua Deng: "I don't want to."
Her answer was too decisive, and Shen Zhou's brow twitched. He seemed to have finally grown tired of this boring conversation and disappeared from the spot.
Looking around, Hua Deng decided to just go to sleep.
But before she could lie down, Jin Yue arrived, bringing with him several women who looked to be around her age.
Jin Yue smiled and said, "Hua Deng, whatever you want to do, they can keep you company."
These girls seemed much bolder; they weren't afraid of her at all and greeted her with smiles. Hua Deng became interested and taught them how to play Ludo.
After a while, Jin Yue brought over a bunch of things, including the treasures she had just looked at, precious magical artifacts, and all sorts of novelties.
The once empty Guiyi Hall was inexplicably filled with people.
Hua Deng tossed the dice with his left hand and scooped up a cat plush toy with his right, exclaiming, "Brother Jin Yue, you're such a good person, how did you end up working for him?"
Jin Yue was pouring tea for her when he heard this. He smiled and replied, "I am a Qinglian Dao Body."
This was a sentence without any beginning or end, but Hua Deng was slightly taken aback when he heard it.
The Azure Lotus Dao Body sounds impressive, but in reality, it's not much better than her Joyful Union Sacred Body. The Azure Lotus Dao Body is best suited for being used as a medicinal mannequin, becoming an ingredient in alchemy.
Whenever a Qinglian Daoist appears in the world, it is hunted down. Some cruel and inhumane individuals deliberately raise Qinglian Daoist bodies, using their flesh and blood for medicine, generation after generation.
The lights immediately came on.
He stayed by Shen Zhou's side because Shen Zhou protected him and helped him escape being hunted down.
While demonic cultivators merely burn their lifespan and damage their mental state, those who become medicine practitioners suffer a fate worse than death, akin to livestock.
With someone by your side, the day can easily pass by.
When Shen Zhou returned in the evening, he saw that she seemed to be having a good time and asked with a cold face, "What else do you want? You'd better tell me all at once, or I'll break your legs."
Hua Deng said, "That's all for now. Oh, by the way, I want to eat braised duck with soy sauce tomorrow, and also..."
Shen Zhou: "Go tell Jin Yue, he will prepare it for you."
Hua Deng nodded with a smile.
And so, she spent her days playing Ludo and Mahjong, strolling around with Jin Yue and others, and returning to the palace to rest at night. Shen Zhou would not disturb her. She ate and drank her fill every day, and surprisingly, she lived a very enjoyable life.
But when she woke up that day, she suddenly realized something was wrong. Not only were her limbs cold, but they also felt numb, as if she were being bitten by ants.
She looked at Chen Zhou in horror: "Did you poison me?"
“I have no interest in doing such a thing,” Shen Zhou said coldly. “You were exposed to his true energy, and your cultivation level rose too quickly. Your body couldn’t handle it, and this happened.”
Hua Deng didn't believe it: "Why didn't I do this before?"
As if thinking of something, Shen Zhou's expression turned colder, and he said with a hint of sarcasm, "Because he clears your meridians every day."
Hua Deng paused for a moment, then said, "Every day?"
Shen Zhou: "If it exceeds three days, you will feel unwell; if it exceeds five days, your meridians will ache."
"What will I do if you're not around?" Hua Deng asked.
"Once you break through to the Nascent Soul stage and your physical body is strengthened, this problem will naturally disappear. Don't worry, with his help, reaching the Nascent Soul stage will be a piece of cake for you," Shen Zhou said calmly.
"But now he's not here to help me." Hua Deng looked up at him. "Can you help me? I don't want to be in pain."
Shen Zhou curled the corners of his lips, as if he had been waiting for her to say those words.
“Fine,” he said. “Come and beg me.”
A question mark appeared above the streetlights: "Are you really that inhuman?"
“You insulted me,” Shen Zhou said.
"Yes, I called you inhuman." Hua Deng glared at him. "Fine, don't help me then, who asked you for help!"
Shen Zhou said, "Then you'll die from the pain."
Hua Deng: "If it hurts so much, then it hurts so much!"
She kept her word, and on the fourth and fifth days that followed, she never gave in to Shen Zhou.
Five days later, her meridians indeed began to ache, and at night she would curl up in bed, wrap herself tightly in the quilt, close her eyes and refuse to make a sound.
A moment later, the bedside sank slightly, and she knew that Shen Zhou had sat down, so she scooted closer to the inside of the bed.
After a moment of silence, she heard Shen Zhou say, "If you beg me, I won't do anything to you."
Hua Deng buried her head completely in the blanket, her voice filled with grievance: "I don't want to stay here anymore, please let me go back."
What she really meant this time was that she didn't want to stay in this world.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. Shen Zhou pulled back the covers, grabbed her wrist, stared into her eyes, and said, "He's the one who makes you suffer, he's the one who causes you pain."
Why don't you hate him?
Hua Deng kicked him directly, saying angrily, "Because he did it to save me, while you just stood by and watched me die!"
Shen Zhou said coldly, "He is me. Why do you believe him? He has lived ten thousand years longer than me and has been insane for ten thousand years longer. Do you think he is normal? Do you think he is a good person?"
He was too lazy to listen to any of Hua Deng's ramblings and said impatiently, "After all this talk, are you going to help or not?"
Chen Zhou remained silent throughout the day.
Hua Deng rolled around on the bed twice and cried out, "I'm in so much pain! Is there anyone who can help me? If anyone is willing to save me right now, he must be the most handsome, righteous, and kindest person in the world!"
Shen Zhou disdained being a good person; he had no interest in Hua Deng's explanation and scoffed at it.
He helped her only to clean up the mess he would make later.
He raised his hand, grabbed Hua Deng by the back of her collar, pulled her back, and bent down to infuse her with spiritual energy.
The process was very comfortable; the lanterns lay there obediently without moving.
The feeling was quite familiar; Shen Zhou would do it every night before bed. She had always thought it was a sleep-aiding spell, since its hypnotic effect was indeed quite good, but she never expected it to have this other function.
Having solved a major problem, Hua Deng returned to her leisurely life. She tried to contact the system, but there was no response. She asked Shen Zhou to take her back, but he casually refused.
She has no choice but to stay here.
However, because of their last argument, she hasn't really wanted to talk to Chen Zhou lately. And that jerk seems completely oblivious, still hanging around in front of her every now and then as if nothing's wrong.
Hua Deng ignored his existence every day, spending his time playing cards and reading storybooks.
"Your Ziyang Sect is so boring!" she couldn't help but say that day. "I'm tired of playing Ludo and Leaf Cards. Is there any singing and dancing performance or anything?"
Jin Yue, sitting opposite, answered honestly: "I once called on the brothers to perform the Green Waist Dance for the Lord to relieve their boredom, but the Lord fined me money and beat me. After that, no one dared to do it again."
Hua Deng: "?"
She glanced at Jin Yue's large and burly figure and fell silent.
To be honest, if she were Shen Zhou, she wouldn't want to watch a bunch of big men dancing the Green Waist Dance, right?
Let's leave this topic at that.
But to her surprise, the next night, Shen Zhou took her to another, larger and more luxurious palace.
Inside the palace, graceful men and women in dancing skirts knelt, while musicians on both sides stood ready with their instruments, including pipa, guqin, bamboo flute... basically everything Hua Deng recognized, even the suona.
Shen Zhou pressed her down in front of the highest table and said, "Let's begin."
The table was laden with her favorite foods. Hua Deng hesitated for a moment, but couldn't resist and picked up her chopsticks. She had only taken one bite when a thunderous suona horn blared, knocking the chicken leg off her feet.
The dancers began to dance.
Whether they were dancing or playing music, everyone had a solemn expression on their face, as if they were about to jump into a mountain of knives and a sea of fire after the performance, with only death as their only option.
The entire hall, except for the lanterns, was filled with a somber atmosphere. The more cheerful the music, the more the lanterns felt the meaning of "joyful scenery highlighting sorrow."
At this moment, Shen Zhou, who had been looking straight ahead as if he hadn't paid any attention to her, suddenly spoke up: "Why aren't you smiling?"
Hua Deng: "???"
Hua Deng's eyes twitched, and he gave a perfunctory smile.
Shen Zhou turned his head: "Not this kind."
That jerk has pretty high standards.
The streetlights gave him a standard flight attendant smile.
Shen Zhou, expressionless, said, "Ugly."
Hua Deng took a deep breath: "Even if you were King You of Zhou, I could never be Bao Si!"
She didn't laugh, but Shen Zhou, for some unknown reason, suddenly burst into laughter while supporting his temples.
This laugh had a serious impact. The music stopped, the dancers stopped dancing, and everyone knelt down, awaiting the impending punishment.
Immediately afterwards, they heard a lazy voice coming from the head of the table: "Jin Yue, take them down to collect their reward."
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