Chapter 45 The Sword of the Heart (Two Chapters Combined) Could it be that love has blinded me...?
Hua Deng's injury was caused by a hidden weapon. Although he dodged it in time and the wound was not deep, it was black in color and looked somewhat ferocious.
Shen Zhou picked up the ointment with his fingers, placed it on the wound, and slowly applied it.
If Hua Deng was a little embarrassed just now, she has no such thoughts now, only one word remains—pain.
She gritted her teeth and remained silent, but Shen Zhou's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
He could have healed this minor injury with a single spell.
But his power was nearing its limit, and any spell he used on Hua Deng could potentially harm her. The chance might be one in ten, or perhaps one in ten thousand.
However, he didn't want to gamble. Even if there was a counter-kill curse, he still wouldn't want to.
He could only apply the ointment to every spot, carefully bandage it with gauze, lie down leaning against the streetlight, and say, "Go to sleep."
Hua Deng opened her eyes wide: "You come too."
Shen Zhou said, "Okay." He took off his outer robe and lay down next to her.
The risk of losing control in his sleep increases, but not sleeping is the norm for him, so he can stay awake tonight.
Hua Deng was unaware that she had pulled the blanket over the two of them, and since some time ago, there was only one blanket left on the bed.
Today's competition had taken a toll on her energy, and she quickly fell asleep from exhaustion. Before going to sleep, she made a point of checking the system panel, where she saw that her points progress had reached 19.5%, meaning she could unlock the gift pack when she woke up tomorrow morning.
She was in a great mood and slept even better.
She had a dream in which she fell into a cloud of white fluff. Strangely, the cloud was not soft at all, but rather held her firmly, making her feel a little uncomfortable.
So she had to struggle, and the clouds seemed to have grown hands, binding her waist. She kicked her legs wildly, and during the struggle, her knee seemed to hit something, and she heard a muffled groan that was not very clear.
Strange, can clouds make sounds?
Even so, she wasn't released; instead, she was bound even tighter. She sighed, resigned herself to her fate, and yawned as she sank into the cloud.
I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but the clouds she was leaning against seemed to have gotten warmer, and I could even feel the warmth in my dream.
Never mind, I'm going to sleep.
...
The first thing Hua Deng did upon waking was to move Chen Zhou's arm away. This man always liked to hug her like a wrapped-up dumpling, and she would always feel a little breathless when she woke up.
But he was fast asleep, and she couldn't bear to wake him, so she could only barely break free when he opened his eyes.
The second thing was to ask the system: "System, has my gift pack arrived yet?"
"We've arrived at the host!" The system was also very excited, even with tears in its eyes. It had thought that the mission in this plane would be quite simple, but who knew that it was only now that it was receiving its first gift.
Hua Deng said, "Great! What should I do?"
System: "Master, you don't need to do anything. Just stay by Shen Zhou's side like you are now, and you'll see what you want. However..."
"Why is there still no way?"
"However, locating him is too difficult. We can only determine a general direction. A part of your soul will be extracted and enter the river of time. As for whether you can actually see him, it depends on the probability and luck."
"What if I don't see it?"
"You can apply for the second launch feature, or exchange it for a reward."
"As long as the gift package isn't wasted," Hua Deng said. "Then you can begin."
The system responded, and she closed her eyes, seeing a loading bar appear in front of her. When it reached 100%, she felt a wave of dizziness.
"Loading complete. Please prepare, host. Note: You cannot be detected or contacted by the target. There is a spacetime barrier between you and the target. Observation is the only thing you can do this time."
After a long system broadcast, the view gradually cleared, and Hua Deng closed his eyes tightly for a moment, then opened them again.
At first, she thought the time travel hadn't been successful yet, but later she realized that wasn't the case; the place she was in was indeed that dark.
She must have been in an underground palace, with airtight stone walls overhead and a few dim yellow lights around her that flickered in the cold wind, creating a desolate and eerie atmosphere.
It's called a palace, but it's more like a winding cave. I took a couple of tentative steps under the light of the lanterns and found that I could walk right through the stone walls.
Unable to find Chen Zhou in the system, she simply wandered around aimlessly. Often, she would bump into a group of people as she passed through a wall. These people would all lower their heads and hurry forward, their faces filled with fear, as if they were afraid of something.
They couldn't see the streetlights, so the streetlights continued forward. Gradually, what she saw was no longer living people, but one corpse after another, one skeleton after another.
At another fork in the road, the streetlights brought me to a halt.
The two openings on the left and right were narrow and dim, and for some reason, fragments of the broken lamp remained. Only the middle one was straight and unobstructed, and although it was dark and bottomless, it did not give people a feeling of oppression.
If it were Chen Zhou, he would probably be here.
Thinking this, she lifted her foot and walked over.
She walked a long way until her view suddenly opened up. The room was unusually spacious, but there was almost nothing there except a silver chair behind the steps in front of her, and a tall, dark figure was sitting on the chair.
The man in yellow, whose face was obscured, knelt on the ground and said to him, "My lord, I have something to report."
Is it a slumbering day?
The man on the high seat said, "What do you want now?"
His voice was deep and cold, like ice hitting the ground; it was undoubtedly Chen Zhou.
He wore a loose black robe, his long hair was disheveled, and he looked like a vengeful ghost. He played with a piece of broken bone in his left hand, his posture was casual and lazy, and the exposed part of his wrist was thin and pale, with crisscrossing scars.
The man on the ground dared not raise his head, and respectfully reported, "Reporting to Your Majesty, according to the report from the Youzhou branch, the cultivators in Baishui City seem to have many grievances against our policies and are preparing to stir up trouble. Perhaps we should take this opportunity to wipe them all out in one fell swoop, I believe..."
He went on and on about his strategy, but Hua Deng could clearly see that Shen Zhou wasn't listening at all. She stepped over the corpses on the ground and, in the dim light, finally managed to make out Shen Zhou's face.
This face was exactly the same as it would later appear, but it gave her a completely different feeling. Her eyebrows and eyes were extremely black, but her skin was sickly white, and her sharp features were like a murderous knife; just looking at her made one tremble with fear.
When he raised his eyelashes, Hua Deng noticed that there were dark circles under his eyes and faint blood-red pupils, signs of a fallen demon.
She wasn't surprised. Shen Zhou was the kind of person who did whatever he wanted, and he had never hidden the fact that he had been a demonic cultivator.
At that moment, she was standing right behind the man in yellow. Shen Zhou was staring intently at him, as if he were looking at her as well.
His eyes were indifferent and unwavering, his face etched with weariness, just like Chen Zhou later. But when he looked over, Hua Deng felt as if a skeleton was staring at him.
"Your Majesty, what are your plans?" the person on the ground asked respectfully.
"Shh," Shen Zhou said softly, his eyes fixed straight ahead. "Can't you see? There's some blind brat coming."
Hua Deng paused, looking around. She was all alone.
Those on the ground were equally stunned: "My lord, what are you saying? The matter of Youzhou—"
Shen Zhou lowered his eyes: "It's so noisy."
As soon as the words were spoken, the head of the man in yellow rolled off silently, and his body fell straight forward, adding another corpse to the ground.
The person on the high seat ignored him, resting one hand on his temple and beckoning towards the streetlights: "Come here."
Hua Deng hesitated for a moment, then jumped two steps away from the corpse and asked from a distance, "Can you see me?"
"I can't see you, and I can't hear you."
As if guessing that Hua Deng was asking a question, he answered.
He then asked with great interest, "What are you? Who sent you?"
Since he couldn't hear, Hua Deng didn't answer.
Shen Zhou straightened his sleeves, slowly stood up, opened his arms to her, and smiled, "No matter who you are, I'll give you a chance to kill me. Do it."
Hua Deng was full of questions. She felt that Shen Zhou was not normal. After thinking for a while, she stood on the steps and made a "shooting" gesture.
The gun was pressed against Shen Zhou's head, and as he took a step closer, it passed right through his body.
Shen Zhou stopped in his tracks, a look of regret on his face: "It seems you can't kill me."
That's a real pity. Hua Deng put down her hand and thought about whether there was a way to communicate with him.
Just then, she heard Shen Zhou say, "Next, it's my turn."
Um? ?
Her neck was actually grabbed by Shen Zhou's hand!
He didn't use much force, but the power to transcend time and space and the system truly held her firmly in his palm.
Amidst the system's shrill alarm, Shen Zhou smiled and said, "You don't mind if I see your face clearly, do you?"
His smile was icy, and the magic flowing from his fingers was fierce and powerful. Hua Deng's body gradually solidified, giving the illusion that his soul had been extracted.
Just as she was about to be pulled out of the river of time, the system finally used all its power to bring her back.
Hua Deng suddenly woke up, sat up straight in bed, and touched her neck, still shaken.
"No..." she exclaimed in disbelief, "He said he couldn't see me?! And he even dared to pinch me!"
The system was even more shocked than she was: "Host, I've never encountered anything like this before. Please wait while I report this to headquarters!"
Hua Deng turned her head and stared at Chen Zhou's face. He was still asleep, and it was clear that he had not been affected in this timeline.
Damn it, the more I think about it, the angrier I get!
She angrily reached out and grabbed Shen Zhou by the neck, shaking him awake.
Shen Zhou lifted his eyelids, his pupils clear, showing no trace of the drowsiness of just waking up. He pressed Hua Deng's wrist, leaned back, and said lazily, "What kind of dream did you have?"
Hua Deng became even angrier, baring her teeth and claws as she asked, "Do you really want to kill me?"
Shen Zhou narrowed his eyes, looked at her for a moment, and then shamelessly smiled: "Yes, you've been wanting to kill me for ages."
Hua Deng: "..." You dare admit it! Take this!
After giving Shen Zhou a good beating, she felt relieved, and Shen Zhou was unharmed. The two achieved a perfect peaceful ending and got up to practice their skills.
Shen Zhou almost abandoned her cultivation time, imitating her opponent's moves and sparring with her from morning till night, just like last time, and she enjoyed it immensely.
Hua Deng strongly suspected it was because he could use this opportunity to mock her, for example—
"It's too slow. Didn't you eat a lot at noon?"
"You learn very quickly, but unfortunately it's not very useful. It's not as good as the previous trick."
"Luckily I'm no match for you, otherwise I would have laughed so hard I would have given up immediately."
Hua Deng: "???"
Weren't you quite the smooth talker the other day? Change back to your old ways!
In short, despite the frustrating progress she made, she made it through the semifinals and finals to achieve her dream of first place.
On the day of the finals, she also heard a piece of news: it is said that when Tang Yifeng went out that morning, he was chased and stung by a swarm of wasps. On his way out, he encountered his old enemy and was beaten up.
After he finished hitting him, he limped back when a strong wind suddenly blew him into the lake. For some reason, the lake froze over, and he almost froze to death when he was found.
Bright lights: a symbol of gratitude for the gifts from heaven.
As she stood in the center of the training ground, receiving congratulations from the crowd, a lark suddenly flew over and landed squarely on the medal she was holding.
Hua Deng patted Yun Que's head and suddenly said, "If you're so capable, do it yourself."
The lark tilted its head in confusion, as if it couldn't understand what she was saying.
Hua Deng: "The daytime is over."
Lark: "Squeak."
It was a rather unpleasant way of addressing her, but Hua Deng didn't think much of it. She muttered, "Admitted a mistake?... Oh well, I'll just assume you're Chen Zhou."
The lark hopped slowly, as if in agreement.
When she returned in the evening, Hua Deng first attended the celebration banquet that Su Yiqing had prepared for her. In fact, there were only four people: herself, Su Yiqing, Yun Mingyu, and Pei Jianming, who came to freeload.
Yun Mingyu barely spoke throughout, except for serving food to Su Yiqing and drinking silently. Su Yiqing hugged Hua Deng and praised him profusely, and beat Pei Jianming up when he tried to say "I am the champion of the Nascent Soul group".
Hua Deng's alcohol tolerance was neither good nor bad; he forgot to restrain himself in the end and got quite drunk.
Su Yiqing, however, was immune to alcohol. She kicked away the unconscious Pei Jianming and, leaning on Hua Deng, offered to take her home. Yun Mingyu wanted to get up, but had to give up because she had drunk too much.
Su Yiqing helped Hua Deng walk outside. She had only taken a few steps when she saw a familiar figure by the pillar at the entrance, as if he had been waiting for a long time.
He reached out his hand without saying a word. Su Yiqing subconsciously let go of his hand, and the lantern was suddenly in his arms. She barely saw it.
Then he left. Su Yi scratched her head and could only watch him walk away.
Hua Deng hadn't completely lost consciousness yet. She knew she was being held in someone's arms, but she liked the person's scent, so she didn't struggle and obediently wrapped her arms around his neck.
But the man coldly brushed her hand away.
Hua Deng reached out again, but he stopped her halfway and asked indifferently, "Do you know who I am?"
"I don't know."
The grip on her wrist suddenly tightened: "Really? You don't know now?"
"I know, I know, Shen Zhou, let go!"
He then let go, allowing the two arms to wrap around his neck again.
He returned the lantern to its original location, roughly shoved it onto the bed, and covered it with a blanket.
Before he could get up, Hua Deng sat up abruptly, staring at him with bright eyes: "Why aren't you drinking?"
Shen Zhou said, "I hate drinking."
Hua Deng persisted, "I've already drunk so much, you have to drink too. Here, take this!" She took out a flask of strong liquor from her storage ring.
Shen Zhou didn't even look at it, and casually stuffed it back into her hand: "I don't want to drink it. Go to sleep."
Hua Deng took out another pot, grabbed his collar and handed it to him, tilting his hand to pour it into his mouth: "Try a sip, this wine tastes very good."
Shen Zhou lowered his eyelids, his lips were tightly closed, and wine dripped down his chin, soaking a patch of his clothes.
He remained motionless, his voice icy cold: "Hua Deng, try moving again."
Hua Deng grabbed his arm and laughed, blinking her eyes as she said, "Then you take a sip, and I won't move."
Shen Zhou grabbed her chin, his expression unfriendly: "Are you trying to blackmail me?"
He was a little annoyed. If he could use magic on her, she wouldn't have had a chance to pour out the wine at all.
Hua Deng nodded frankly, brought the wine pot to his lips, and smiled like a fox: "Yes, so are you going to drink or not?"
Shen Zhou looked at her for a moment, then took the wine pot and poured a mouthful into his mouth.
Hua Deng watched him swallow, then exclaimed happily, "One more..."
"Go to sleep," Shen Zhou commanded. "If you don't sleep, I'll use the puppet technique."
"oh."
Hua Deng knew when to stop, obediently lying back down, and secretly wiping the spilled wine on her hands onto Chen Zhou's sleeve, pretending not to see his dark and gloomy expression.
As Shen Zhou watched her fall asleep, he suddenly realized that she hadn't invited him to sleep with her tonight.
But if she didn't see him tomorrow morning, she might be unhappy, so he generously took off his coat, lay down, closed his eyes, and silently recited the Heart Sutra.
Around midnight, he sensed a fluctuation in the communication talisman and opened his eyes.
The message displayed above, sent by the Left Protector, reads: "Your Highness, Ziyang Palace has an important matter that requires your assistance. Would you be willing to come?"
Shen Zhou glanced at the person in his arms and replied, "Tomorrow."
He burned the communication talisman and closed his eyes again.
Meanwhile, on the other side, at Ziyang Palace.
The Left Protector put away the communication talisman and looked helplessly at the young man beside him: "Young Master, is this really a good idea?"
With a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, Jinze said casually, "Good, why not? Only if you transfer him away can I see that woman. I'm going to teach her a lesson."
The Left Protector calmly said, "Just don't regret it."
Jinze sneered, "I'll regret it? You really think I'm afraid of him!"
Left Protector: "...Sigh."
*
The next day, Hua Deng enthusiastically took Chen Zhou down the mountain to stroll around the streets.
A batch of her magical artifacts were destroyed in the secret realm, and she needed to replace them with new ones. However, she went to the clothing store first to buy a few more clothes.
She picked out two dresses, one red and one yellow, and asked Chen Zhou, "Which of these two looks better?"
Shen Zhou said, "The same."
No matter how she changed her answer after that, Shen Zhou's answer never changed.
“Same.” He was indeed looking, and seemed to genuinely believe it. “Your face won’t change, so what’s the difference?”
"Alright, you can shut up now." Hua Deng couldn't help but roll her eyes.
This experience led her to not try to stop Shen Zhou from leaving, but instead wave goodbye as if she couldn't wait for him to go: "Goodbye, I'll contact you if I need anything."
The trace of divine consciousness that Shen Zhou left her was still there, and he taught her how to use it correctly, so she could contact Shen Zhou at any time.
Shen Zhou snorted, feeling an urge to tell the Left Protector to handle it himself, but the Left Protector wouldn't bother him unless it was something important, so he left in the end.
Shortly after he left, Hua Deng finished buying clothes and went to a teahouse to rest.
She entered the private room on the second floor and had just ordered tea and snacks when the window was broken open, and a young man in black clothes jumped in.
After the system scan showed that he was in the Nascent Soul stage, Hua Deng breathed a sigh of relief. She calmed down instantly and did not immediately contact Shen Zhou. She rested her chin on her hand and waited for him to approach.
The young man walked to the other side with his sword, arrogantly slammed it on the table, and said, "So you're the woman beside Shen Zhou?"
Hua Deng guessed that this person probably didn't even know her name.
According to the system scan results, he is not a character in the story either.
She calmly sized up the newcomer. Due to the female lead's buff, people in this world always gave her strange looks.
It could be greed or desire.
But Hua Deng saw no malice in this man's eyes. His gaze was completely different from Duan Yi's and the others. Although he was fierce, his fierceness was pure, like that of a child.
She avoided answering his question and instead asked, "Who are you?"
The young man raised his chin and said arrogantly, "My surname is Jin. Shen Zhou should have mentioned me to you."
Hua Deng said, "No."
Jinze: "...He should have mentioned it, you just forgot."
Hua Deng: "Really, no. Who are you to him?"
The other person seemed taken aback, their face contorted for a long time before reluctantly replying, "I'm his friend. I came here today specifically to meet you, otherwise you'd really think he's some kind of good person!"
Hua Deng nodded, and just then the tea she ordered arrived, so she called to the waiter, "Bring him a pot of the same as well."
Jinze opened his eyes wide. Even with his limited knowledge, he could roughly estimate the price of the pot of tea.
His arrogance immediately diminished by half, but he forced himself to say, "I don't need you, I have money!"
Hua Deng smiled and said, "You're his friend, how can I let you spend money? Sit down and have a drink."
Jinze sat down dejectedly, still unconvinced, and glared at her, saying, "Aren't you afraid I'll take advantage of you?"
While pouring tea by the lamplight, he took a moment to ask, "For example?"
Imazawa gripped the hilt of his sword and said, "For example, I could kill you right now!"
Hua Deng pushed the teacup in front of him and said, "Then you can try it."
Jinze thought, "Let's give it a try." He immediately stood up and performed a set of sword techniques with great vigor. After finishing, he turned around, panting, and said, "Now you know how powerful I am!"
Hua Deng clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Amazing! Absolutely amazing! Your swordsmanship is much more beautiful than Chen Zhou's!"
Jinze: "...You really think so?"
Hua Deng blatantly lied: "Yes, these are my heartfelt words."
"I knew it! Although he refused to teach me his swordsmanship, what I developed is no less effective than his!"
"That's still a long way off." Hua Deng thought to herself, but said aloud, "That's right, you're definitely no worse than him."
Jinze smiled smugly, but quickly frowned and maintained a cold expression.
Hua Deng poured himself a cup of tea and said, "Do you know anything else?"
"You wait, I'll show you something even more amazing!"
Wow, what an honor.
...
In Ziyang Palace, after finishing his business, Shen Zhou withdrew his released divine sense: "Where is Jin Ze?"
The Left Protector lowered his head and replied, "He went to the branch headquarters to take care of some business and will be back soon. Do you want to see him?"
Shen Zhou said, "You should know that lying to me won't work."
The Left Protector immediately changed his tune: "He went to the Qingyang Sect to find your Daoist partner."
“Nonsense,” Shen Zhou said calmly. “He doesn’t know anything, and you’re helping him mess things up.”
The Left Protector laughed and said, "You usually suppress him too much. It's rare for him to act so recklessly, so I want to see what he can do. Anyway, he won't hurt that girl."
Shen Zhou shook his head: "I taught him for four years, why is he still so stupid?"
The Left Protector said, "You've forgotten that he was imprisoned in the Thunder-Suppressing Pagoda when he was twelve years old, and he was imprisoned for ten years. When you rescued him four years ago, he was only twenty-two years old, and his mind was inevitably immature."
After a moment of silence, Shen Zhou said, "This is a one-time exception, or you can go die."
“I understand, Your Highness.” The Left Protector composed himself and bowed respectfully.
"Go to the execution platform yourself and receive fifteen lashes of the thunder whip. When Jinze returns, you will personally administer the punishment, thirty lashes of the thunder whip, not one less."
The Left Protector smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will make sure the young master remembers this lesson."
*
"You don't know, Shen Zhou likes to beat me so much! If I do anything wrong, he will beat me. I am a living person, why is he not afraid of beating me to death?" Imazawa's face was full of indignation.
Holding a teacup, Hua Deng asked curiously, "Really? What else does he like to do?"
Jinze: "?"
I'm not telling you about his hobbies, I'm telling you bad things about him!
Hua Deng looked at him innocently.
Jinze gritted his teeth.
Damn it, is it that so-called love has blinded this woman?
No, no, no, it's his imagination.
She doesn't understand Shen Zhou at all. It's unbelievable what happened today. Those words she used, like "actually quite gentle," "easy to talk to," and "very considerate," are really words that can be used to describe Shen Zhou!
Jinze, holding his breath, took the sword from his waist and placed it on the table, saying fiercely, "Since you're so rich, I'll sell this sword to you. Do you dare to take it?"
This sword is called the Heart-Questioning Sword. He secretly used Shen Zhou's blood and had the Left Protector set up a spell for it. Only someone who truly loves the Lord of Blood can draw this sword.
As long as she can't pull herself out, he can tell Shen Zhou that this woman is just pretending and doesn't really like him at all!
He had planned it all out, keeping a watchful eye on the city lights.
"What's there to be afraid of?" Hua Deng picked up the sword, looking slightly puzzled.
The scabbard felt gentle to the touch, as light as if it were nothing. She said, "But I'm a healer, what would I need a sword for?"
Suppressing his excitement at his successful plan, Jinze said, "Try pulling it out. If you can, I'll give it to you for free, but you're sure—"
With a clang, the immortal sword was drawn.
Hua Deng, holding his sword, laughed and said, "I thought it would be difficult, but I pulled it out in one go."
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