Chapter 73 Fragrant City, Peach Blossom Palace (Part 3) You'd better change your title...
Wu Xiutang glanced at her indifferently, showing little interest in the form of address she used.
Instead of approaching them, he leaned against the counter not far away.
It wasn't that Jingque was making a fuss; it was simply that when the boy in front of her stood in the shadows, his features were strikingly similar to the young prince's. However, as the distance closed, the differences between them became completely apparent.
The young prince, born into nobility and pampered, is naturally cherished by the King of Nanyue and his queen, who are deeply in love with each other. As a result, the young prince is spoiled and willful, lawless, and always has a fearless and unrestrained spirit.
But the boy in front of me is different.
He was like a flower that grew alone from the shadows.
Petals are undoubtedly beautiful and alluring.
The flower stamen is extremely poisonous; it can kill instantly upon contact with blood.
Violent and tyrannical was Fei Ying's first impression of him.
She keenly sensed that this man was not easy to get along with and had a terrible temper, which she could tell from the faint chill emanating from his deep pupils.
If anyone is fooled by his outward appearance and truly angers him, that person will suffer a terrible death.
He and the young prince are worlds apart.
Even if there are some similarities in their eyebrows and eyes, it's probably just a coincidence.
Fei Ying grew up in the palace and had never heard any anecdotes about imperial heirs being scattered among the common people.
She held down the magpie's hand.
Startled, the magpie snapped back to reality. Realizing she had spoken out of turn, she bit her lip in annoyance.
Meeting Li Fuchao's questioning gaze, Fei Ying thought for a moment and then told the truth.
“Master Li, we did not mean to hide anything. It’s just that His Highness was traveling incognito and had instructed us to keep a low profile and not to reveal too much information to others. But I see that you are a reliable person, and in order to rescue His Highness as soon as possible, there is no need to hide some things.”
"In fact, our young master is the son of the King of Nan Yue, Prince Hua Guang."
"We had long heard that a winged demon had come to this place. It happened to be the Thousand Autumns Festival. In order to win the Queen's favor, His Highness wanted to capture the winged demon to make a rainbow-colored feathered robe for the Queen. That's how he fell into the trap and was kidnapped to Peach Blossom Palace."
Jingque said, "We have sent people back to fetch reinforcements, but we have not received a reply yet. Since Immortal Li was able to rescue us from the demons, he will surely be able to break into Peach Blossom Palace and rescue His Highness."
The two of them knelt down together.
"Please, Immortal Master, save our Highness!"
“Miss, there’s no need for such formality. Regardless of your status, I will spare no effort to eliminate the evil spirits of Peach Blossom Palace and rescue those who are trapped.”
The white mist supported their knees and helped them up.
Li Fuchao looked at the young man pouring tea for him at the counter and briefly explained the situation.
He couldn't quite make out Wu Xiutang's expression. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Young Master Wu, there is probably a great demon in Peach Blossom Palace. I found many swords left behind by cultivators in the Peach Blossom Forest. They must have been kidnapped by that great demon and taken to Peach Blossom Palace. Peach Blossom Palace is hidden under a complex and maze-like Peach Blossom Formation. Breaking formations is indeed my weakness, but I think that since you were able to lead us out of the lantern tree, you must have a way to break the Peach Blossom Formation."
Shishi said that Young Master Wu had lost his memory and cultivation, but that night she clearly saw Young Master Wu survive safely amidst the many demonic energies.
The water in the teacup had gone completely cold.
With long, slender, fair hands encircling the teacup, Wu Xiutang sneered, "Why bother with all this trouble?"
The moment he finished speaking, the teacup slipped from his hand, crashed against the wall, and shattered into pieces.
The person who was nearly hit was startled by the noise and fell to the ground.
The dim, yellowish candlelight illuminated her pale face.
She is the proprietress of this inn.
Wanrou.
"This is?"
"Since there is a great demon here, and it is less than twenty miles from the town, why are these mortals living so peacefully? Moreover, didn't you notice that there are no men here at all?"
Li Fuchao came and went in a hurry, not lingering in the city for long. He was even more anxious after the aura of Xueyin Sword disappeared.
He feared that Song Qingshu might meet with misfortune, that others in the sect might find her beforehand, and that the world was so vast that he might not be able to find her.
He became caught in an endless dilemma, thus overlooking many suspicious points.
"Shopkeeper, what is the reason for this?" Li Fuchao asked.
Wanrou was terrified. The tea splashed into her hair and a few tea leaves stuck to the hem of her skirt. Her shoulders were trembling, and she looked extremely frightened by the people in front of her.
"I explained to the two girls during the day that the men in the city have all gone to work in the prosperous city and will not return until the end of the year. As for why the monster in the back mountain doesn't come to harm us, how would I know? Are we supposed to go looking for them just because they don't come looking for us?"
What she said wasn't entirely unreasonable, and judging from her expression, she didn't seem to be lying. Li Fuchao was about to defend her.
Wu Xiutang let out a soft laugh, clearly not believing a single word she said.
“My sister lives here, and I don’t want to make things too ugly, but you insist on thinking I’m easy to fool.”
Wanrou never imagined that the boy, who seemed unlikely to live long during the day, would be such a completely different person after nightfall.
She decided to take the gamble anyway.
"Even if you torture me severely, I don't know, so I don't know. Torturing a weak mortal like me, aren't you afraid of being laughed at by other sects if word gets out?"
"Who said I was going to torture you?"
Wanrou met the boy's dark eyes.
"I met your two children today. They are so cute, so I gave them a gift. Would you like to know what it is?"
Wanrou shuddered violently. She suddenly raised her head, her eyes wide with anger, and screamed in disbelief, "What have you done to them? They are just children. You are all cultivators. Aren't you afraid of retribution for doing such a heinous thing?"
Li Fuchao couldn't bear it. He couldn't see anything strange about his sister-in-law no matter how he looked at her, so he tried to persuade her, "Young Master Wu, isn't there some misunderstanding?"
Firefly and Magpie exchanged a glance and remained silent in tacit agreement.
Unmoved, Wu Xiutang slowly pronounced their death sentence: "But your whole family will be the first to suffer retribution."
A wriggling dark shadow appeared on my fingertip.
It's a Gu worm!
“Every minute you delay, your daughter will lose an organ. You can try and see if your stubbornness prevails or your daughter’s life.”
Wanrou was terrified. The boy in front of her seemed even more terrifying than the demons in the back mountain. He was unmoved by either soft or hard tactics and was convinced that she was involved in this matter.
Regardless of whether what he said was true or false, Wanrou would not gamble with her daughter's life. She clenched her fists, almost to the point of exhaustion.
“I’ll tell you everything, please don’t hurt my daughter.”
Wanrou told him everything about Peach Blossom Palace.
“We men were indeed captured and taken to Peach Blossom Palace. The Palace Mistress only captures men for cultivation and doesn’t need women. The reason she hasn’t attacked us is because she needs us to spread the news that the Feathered Demon is here, attracting cultivators to the Peach Blossom Formation to their deaths.”
"So that's how it is," Jingque said angrily. "My master trusted you so much, and seeing how pitiful you and your widowed mother were, he gave all his valuables and toys to Chuntian and Xiatian. How could you be so heartless as to send my master to her death!"
As she spoke, she was about to rush forward and fight with Wanrou, but Feiying stopped her in time, telling her not to be impulsive.
Wanrou curled up in a corner, crying pitifully, "I had no choice. My husband has already been captured by them. Do you want the three of us, mother and daughters, to go and die together? I don't care if I die, but Chuntian and Xiatian are not even seven years old yet. How can I just watch my daughters die?"
Wu Xiutang had limited patience and extremely poor empathy, so he naturally couldn't feel her pain.
Moreover, he didn't believe that everything the woman said was true.
But that doesn't matter anymore.
"Send a message to Peach Blossom Palace, saying that four cultivators from the Azure Cloud Sect have arrived at the inn and are very interested in the Feathered Demon you mentioned."
--
When Shi Xianxue woke up, it was still pitch black outside. She stretched and turned over to hug the person next to her.
Perhaps the touch was a little off, Shi Xianxue opened her eyes a crack, and when she met those unblinking eyes, her drowsiness vanished instantly.
After recognizing the person, Shi Xianxue sat up abruptly and gave Xiaomei a sharp slap, saying, "You scared me to death!"
Xiao Mei was in no condition to express her pain. After being punched, she cried out and jumped off the bed. Seeing that she was really in pain, Shi Xianxue regretted whether she had hit her too hard.
"I didn't use much force... Stop pretending... Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'll be more careful next time, okay?"
"You want a next time?!" Xiaomei was getting fed up with these couples who had no sense of boundaries. "Sure enough, you two can't be two different kinds of people sleeping in the same bed. You two are a pair of scoundrels."
"That's a really crude way of putting it." Shi Xianxue couldn't understand why Xiaomei had become so hostile towards them after just one night. She glanced at the sky outside the window and asked, "What time is it now?"
Shi Xianxue was quite surprised after receiving Xiaomei's unfriendly reply.
It's already past 9 AM?
Why is there no sunlight? The sky outside seems to be covered by something, pitch black.
The cold wind made her more awake, and Shi Xianxue belatedly recalled what had happened last night.
"Where is Wu Xiutang? Isn't this Wu Xiutang's room? Where did he go?"
Xiao Mei paused for a moment, then looked away guiltily after meeting her gaze.
Shi Xianxue was all too familiar with that expression of hers.
She couldn't get anything out of her, so Shi Xianxue opened the door to go out and look for someone.
Unexpectedly, the moment the door opened, two sword energies carrying murderous intent pierced towards her central courtyard.
Even faster than them was the jade-faced spirit fox in Shi Xianxue's arms.
It swelled up rapidly, bit down on the sword that was stabbing at Shi Xianxue, and then swallowed it whole.
The women opposite her were even more furious when they saw their weapons taken away. They threw their bare hands at Shi Xianxue, which just went right into Linghu's hands.
After swallowing one person and seriously injuring another, Shi Xianxue stopped the spirit fox's attack in time.
She clearly recognized them.
A disciple of the Chunyang Sect.
She had no grudge against them, so why did they chase her all the way here to attack her?
But Shi Xianxue didn't intend to ask that question. Instead, she ruffled the fox's head, looked around, and then asked, "Where's Bai Yiyi?"
Upon hearing this, the man's eyes hardened even more, as if he wished she would be splattered with blood on the spot.
"You dare mention it! My senior sister was killed by you two demonic couples, leaving no trace of her body! We came here today to avenge her, but we were outmatched. Kill us or torture us, it's up to you!"
Xiao Mei shouted from behind, "Don't make false accusations! Who killed your senior sister? The grievances have their perpetrators, and you should speak with conscience!"
Shi Xianxue turned around, and Xiao Mei immediately fell silent.
“Fellow Daoist, I did have a quarrel with Bai Yiyi that day, but it wasn’t a deep-seated hatred. There’s no need to take her life. Besides, I really can’t beat her.”
The man spat out blood and cursed, "Hypocritical! You're all birds of a feather. What difference does it make what you killed or what he killed? You'd better kill me now, or our entire Chunyang Sect will hunt you down indefinitely, to the ends of the earth."
Xiao Mei was so anxious she wanted to cover her mouth: "Why waste your breath arguing with her, you little fox, just eat her up!"
The spirit fox turned to ask Master Xianxue for instructions.
Shi Xianxue asked quietly, "It's been so long, why hasn't Wu Xiutang arrived yet? Can't he hear such a commotion?"
Xiao Mei shrank back again, her eyes darting around aimlessly, avoiding eye contact with Shi Xianxue.
But Shi Xianxue wouldn't allow her to remain silent. The spirit fox aimed at Xiaomei's face, making a gaping maw gesture.
"Will you tell me, or not?"
—
There were even trapped cultivators inside the Peach Blossom Formation.
They knew Li Fuchao and were disciples of the Qingtian Sect. When they saw Li Fuchao, they disregarded the rumors about the Qingyun Sect and treated him like a relative. They knew that the Qingyun Sect was a powerful and influential sect, and they also knew that Li Fuchao was a person of extraordinary cultivation and would not stand by and watch someone die. They immediately hid behind him like chicks.
"Fellow Daoist Li has arrived! We are finally saved!"
When they heard that Li Fuchao was going to break into Peach Blossom Palace, the group from Qingtian Sect were terrified and clamored for Li Fuchao to send them out first.
Li Fuchao wouldn't force them, so he told them to wait where they were and that he would come to pick them up after they eliminated the Peach Blossom Palace Master.
However, this was met with unanimous opposition from the Sky-Supporting Faction.
“Fellow Daoist Li, our skills are not proficient, and the Qingtian Sect is no match for the Qingyun Sect. Naturally, we do not have the strength to contend with them. This Peach Blossom Formation is fraught with danger. What if we stay here and are discovered by the Peach Blossom Palace Master?”
"Yes, Fellow Daoist Li, please trouble you to see us out first."
The crowd erupted into chaos, and seeing that Li Fuchao remained silent, they tried to snatch the Linglong Guide from his hand.
Unexpectedly, the previously silent young man in black suddenly made a move, and the exquisite charm fell into his hands without warning.
In front of the Qingtian Sect, the Linglong Yin, which could open the gates of Peach Blossom Palace, was crushed into dust.
Wu Xiutang stared coldly at them: "Alright, now we don't need to fight over it anymore. Let's all die here together."
The people of the Qingtian Sect were no match for Li Fuchao, nor could they escape on their own; they could only follow behind them, their faces ashen.
Li Fuchao asked, "Young Master Wu, did you truly bring Linglong here...?"
"No."
"Then what you just did..."
"It's just a smokescreen." Wu Xiutang glanced at him, his expression full of sarcasm. "Can't you see through it?"
Li Fuchao: "...Shishi said you have amnesia, but to me, you are no different from before."
Wu Xiutang paused, his dark eyes turning cold, and said in a warning tone, "You'd better change how you address me."
Li Fuchao was stunned. By the time he came to his senses, Wu Xiutang had already walked quite a distance away.
Pale pink peach blossom petals rippled beneath the boy's feet, his black, glossy hair hung down smoothly, each strand distinct, clearly well-groomed.
Li Fuchao smiled silently and quickly followed.
The Peach Blossom Formation is beautiful and gentle. Peach blossoms are moderate, with petals swirling in the wind. Therefore, in the depths of the clouds and mist, drifting with the current is the way to break the formation.
Peach blossoms stretch as far as the eye can see, as the wind blows.
Then Peach Blossom Palace appeared before everyone.
Linglong transformed into shattered peach blossom petals and flew in, thus opening the gates of the Peach Blossom Palace.
The pavilion was lush and verdant, surrounded by white mist, blurring the view. Melancholy music, sometimes near, sometimes far, pierced through the mist and entered the ears.
Listening to the unrestrained laughter and playful banter in bed, the young cultivators' hands, gripping their swords, trembled slightly.
The white mist seemed to be alive, trying to devour the circular platform. The timid cultivator took a step back and bumped into something hard. He squinted and looked up, only to find that it was a tall stone sculpture of a man and a woman. When he saw the two men's rather unseemly pose, the cultivator cried out softly and blushed as he hid behind his senior brother.
As the white mist gradually reached their knees, the group exchanged glances, took their positions in the four directions, and shattered the white mist that was trying to engulf them with a single sword strike. The white mist slowly receded, and everyone finally saw the entire Peach Blossom Palace.
Centered on their platform, the surrounding area is filled with warm, steaming pools of water, and at the four ends of the circle are magnificent palaces.
In the main hall, located due east, there is a peach tree as tall as the building.
The snow-white bodies of a man and a woman intertwined beneath the peach trees in the pond. They seemed to have abandoned all shame, turning this peach grove into a huge den of pleasure and debauchery to relieve their desires.
A petite woman in a pink dress sat on each of the peach trees, playing the zither. Seeing that these uninvited guests did not attack, she gave them a charming and alluring smile, her fingertips dancing on the strings, playing music that was sure to captivate them.
Li Fuchao felt short of breath after just one glance.
When the white mist mixed with music swept in again, he promptly sealed the acupoints on his body.
The cultivators of the Qingtian Sect had never seen such a chaotic scene before. If Li Fuchao hadn't sealed their acupoints in time, they probably would have been bewitched and jumped into the pool to become one of those bastards.
Even if they manage to escape in the future, their cultivation will likely be destroyed.
To mate with a demon is a grave offense against one's sect, as it defiles one's cultivation aura and results in expulsion from the sect.
Everyone lowered their eyes, not daring to look any longer, and silently recited the Heart-Cleansing Mantra.
Wu Xiutang, at the back of the crowd, seemed completely undisturbed. He expressionlessly swept his gaze over the intertwined bodies that made people blush and their hearts race. When his eyes met those of the peach blossom fairy closest to him, he saw a fleeting look of amazement.
What do you mean by being forced into this situation? That damned woman was just lying to him.
Thinking of this, Wu Xiutang sneered.
The spirit of loyalty within him was awakened by the demonic energy here. "Master, the demons hidden here are far more nourishing than the wind demons and lightning demons. They are the kind of demons who cultivate by amplifying desires and bewitching people. I have used my restorative abilities to temporarily seal your desires. Their bewitching techniques are ineffective against you."
"You?"
Displeased that his abilities were questioned, the Soul of the Lord said, "I am, after all, a servant of the God of Order. Even though I am sealed now, I just absorbed energy from the Goddess of Wushan. Half of the inner core that my master absorbed from the Wind Demons was also given to me. In addition, my master does not have a soul, so I can minimize my master's desires and passions."
Logically speaking, since the master has no spirit, his feelings towards all things in the world should gradually diminish after waking up this time.
Just like a sudden spring rain, it is but a fleeting moment in this vast world.
No one will remember an ordinary spring rain.
I think of the Lord's soul.
It must be because of the goddess's intervention. The goddess possesses the aura of the creator god, which makes the master feel extremely close to her and instinctively happy.
It seems that even though the Creator God's power has been weakened, it should not be underestimated.
So it increased the dosage.
He casually said, "Before my magic disappears, absolutely no one in Peach Blossom Palace can break this shackle."
The peach blossom fairy's body went weak at the sight of him. She slithered over like a water snake, longing to press herself against his body and extend her pink tongue to try and lick him.
However, she ultimately just rested her arms on the round platform, tilted her head back, and gazed at him with her wet eyes, expressing her admiration for him without reservation, "You're so beautiful." More beautiful than any man she had ever seen here.
She suppressed the intense urge in her body, stared at his exquisite Adam's apple, swallowed, and a pinkish-purple light shone in her eyes: "Would you like to do something pleasurable with me?"
Their gazes immediately fell on Wu Xiutang.
Wu Xiutang looked away with utter disgust, even more annoyed by the flies buzzing around her: "If you don't want to, get out of here."
The peach blossom fairy was somewhat surprised, but the boy's voice was cool and clear, and even when he was cursing, it was still very charming.
With a heart full of excitement, the Peach Blossom Fairy leaped out of the pool, splashing water everywhere. Like a lotus emerging from the water, she was dressed in very little clothing, barely covering her vital parts, and boldly stared at Wu Xiutang.
The others looked away in embarrassment, but he looked at her without any intimacy, his eyes filled with the ferocity of "If you dare take another step forward, I'll kill you."
Seeing that her other sisters had all become entangled with the other cultivators, Peach Blossom Fairy pitifully took a step back, not quite understanding what had gone wrong. She looked at him with a wronged expression, but seemed unwilling to give up.
Just as Li Fuchao dodged the touch of a peach blossom fairy, his other arm was entangled by soft limbs. The woman's fragrance made his temples throb. When he realized that the woman's red lips were trying to kiss his face, Li Fuchao was shocked and wished he could throw the leech-like woman three miles away: "Miss, have some self-respect."
Today, I came here to find Song Qingshu's whereabouts. This place looks like the lair of the Peach Blossom Demon, filled with eerie white mist. The formations in the palace are also bizarre, and the location of the formation's core is unknown. Naturally, Li Fuchao does not support violence in the face of violence.
Just as he was about to remind the others to be mindful of their own conduct and to restrain themselves, and not to get into a conflict with them, the young man on the other side had already coldly raised his knife and severed the peach blossom demon's neck.
The enchanting expression on Peach Blossom Fairy's face was still frozen. With a tilt of her neck, her head rolled into the pool, staining a small patch of water red.
Realizing the boy was extremely dangerous, the peach blossom demon clutched her severed head and fled in terror to her true form, the peach blossom tree. The boy then pierced her demon core with a sword.
The peach tree, its branches swaying in the breeze, withered away rapidly, visible to the naked eye.
Li Fuchao: ...
Wu Xiutang's fierce gaze swept over him, his dark eyes burning with raging flames, as if he would chop off his head if he said another word.
Li Fuchao: Okay, it's all over.
His brutal act of randomly slashing with his sword at the slightest provocation was outrageous. The peach blossom fairies were terrified, their faces pale, and they screamed as they fled in all directions to avoid this madman.
Compared to Li Fuchao's appeasement policy, Wu Xiutang was too lazy to waste words with them.
After the glass flower house, his temper became increasingly strange and violent. When facing Shi Xianxue, he became obedient, docile, and a young beast that needed protection.
Without Shi Xianxue's comforting presence, the peach blossom monster's theft of his fragrance shattered his fragile composure, driving him into a berserk rage. He brandished his sword, slaying several aggressive peach blossom demons, smashing the unsightly stone statue, and turning the enchanting pool into a pot of flower soup.
The flamingo happily added fuel to the fire at the bottom of the pond, and finally grabbed a peach blossom fairy that looked like it was not yet an adult in a corner to scare it.
The sword tip stopped before her pink pupils. The boy's eyes were cold and sinister. When he stared at her, it was as if fate was being gripped by his neck. He didn't look like a cultivator, but rather a world-destroying demon.
Little Peach Demon's hair stood on end, and she was about to cry.
“Take me to see your palace master.”
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