Chapter 30 The Villain He lowered his eyes, his eyelashes like damp raven feathers, his chest…
Xu Qingning eventually figured it out.
Based on Zhou Fuling's previous behavior, he was certain that Zhou Fuling would not do such a thing.
...Her previous behavior clearly showed that she was afraid of being exposed. She probably didn't want Zou Li and the others to come in even more than he did.
Seeing that Xu Qingning was not threatened or teased by her, Zhou Fuling snorted inwardly. Indeed, she was just joking, but she didn't like Xu Qingning's arrogant and submissive attitude.
Her hand once again slipped inside Xu Qingning's Taoist robe and found the jade tablet.
"Open it, let me see where your uncle is," Zhou Fuling ordered Xu Qingning.
This communication jade slip has a unique design throughout the entire Immortal Realm. Even if a cultivator is restricted or unable to move due to exhaustion of spiritual power, they can still open the jade slip using secret runes to receive and send messages.
Xu Qingning looked away, meaning he refused.
Zhou Fuling said, "Then let's both die here."
Xu Qingning ignored her, so Zhou Fuling used "Killing Affection" again. Xu Qingning remained unmoved, but her face turned pale, and she refused to look at her.
There was no other way. Zhou Fuling released him and threw him onto the bed.
Xu Qingning's black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, extremely disheveled. Her Taoist robe was also messed up by Zhou Fuling. She lay on the corner of the couch with her hands behind her back, her mouth full of jade, her face as white as frost. She was as beautiful as jade.
But he looked somewhat disheveled.
Zhou Fuling tugged at Xu Qingning's ear hair, causing him to grunt angrily.
She went out.
After Zhou Fuling left, Xu Qingning lowered her eyes and reflected on her situation.
Her wrists were still bound with the cold Immortal Binding Rope and the snake's tail, and in her mouth was the cold jade that held her cousin's life in her jaws.
The latter was a keepsake he had given her, a treasure left to him by his uncle, exquisitely carved by a hermit master, with a rhombus-shaped tassel hanging on it, the design of which he had personally drawn.
But she used it to humiliate him.
...This may not be the most critical moment for Xu Qingning.
This wasn't the first time Xu Qingning had been treated this way by Zhou Fuling.
However... she also gained the identity of "junior sister".
Because the person who relentlessly pressured, mocked, and confronted him was his "junior sister" Zhou Fuling, anxiety, pain, and humiliation once again overwhelmed Xu Qingning's heart, lingering for a long time.
Xu Qingning closed her eyes and rested for a while.
After a short while, he suddenly sensed a spark of inspiration; the jade tablet had moved.
...Uncle, it has indeed been too long since we last made any moves. I wonder if the things we discussed earlier have been done well?
Xu Qingning looked out the window. There was no sign of Zhou Fuling returning. She wondered if she had run into Zou Li and the others.
While watching Zhou Fuling's movements, he quietly untied the jade tablet, then suddenly opened his eyes.
...because the person who sent the message was someone he had never expected.
It is Kuang Yunchu, the leader of the Ten Thousand Mountains... who is now the second most powerful and influential person in the Immortal-Mortal Alliance, second only to the Immortal Zou Lanci.
She was also his stepmother.
...
"Qingning, your father truly loves you, which is why he wants you to go to the Repentance Prison. It's to cleanse you of your demonic energy and distracting thoughts, and he's also afraid of tarnishing the reputation of the Tianji Sect... Don't do anything rash..."
Hundreds of years ago, Xu Qingning had just escaped from Tianjue Gorge.
At that time, Kuang Yunchu stood gently behind her father, a pearl pendant dangling from her jade hairpin, as if she were the most beautiful person in the world. She was just a junior cultivator then, watching him struggle with red eyes.
He looked up and stared at the person in front of him.
"'Senior Sister,' wasn't it you who encouraged this?"
"Xu Qingning, how dare you speak to Yun Chu like that?! She is your mother now!!"
Xu Qingning was slapped hard by Xu Lexun.
...
Xu Qingning slowly opened his eyes, his gaze as white as frost and snow. For some reason, memories of the past drifted back, and he lowered his eyes, his eyelashes trembling slightly.
He paused for a moment, then saw the message transmitted via the imperial edict:
[Kuang Yunchu: Qingning, I received an urgent report that Zou Li has arrived in Dongzhou with a hundred snake guards, seemingly targeting you, specifically your mortal junior sister Zhou Fuling. Be careful; Zou Li is ruthless, lest something terrible happen.]
"..." Xu Qingning suddenly fell silent, staring at the incoming message in a daze, trying to figure it out.
……Why?
Why did Kuang Yunchu send him this letter?
He and Kuang Yunchu have always been at odds.
Now that Kuang Yunchu has gained power, the situation between the mountain gate and the immortal realm is complicated. They have not fought each other for the time being and have kept to themselves for the past ten years.
The message that suddenly appeared was related to Zhou Fuling.
Why?
Was it a sudden whim of hers to do someone a favor, or... was there some other reason?
...
Amidst the snow-covered landscape, Zhou Fuling stood atop a giant tree, her embroidered shoes as white as snow, blending seamlessly into the scene.
She crouched down like a cat, but her gaze was as dangerous as a snake's.
She was thinking about a question... why Zou Li had come.
A moment later, she rolled over and darted down the snow like lightning.
—
"...Young Master, could this be a ruse? Wait, there are people over there!"
Hidden Village was completely deserted.
Zou Li, the young master of the Zou family, led his men into the snow-covered valley with great momentum, leaving only the sound of the cold stream.
He was accompanied by two people.
One of them was Mr. Qing, Zou Li's teacher.
This person comes from the mortal realm. He is not proficient in immortal arts, but he is good at strategy. He was personally recruited by Zou Lanci from the mortal realm many years ago. He is walking forward with his hands behind his back beside Zou Li.
Beside him was a wild captain from Longtan, wearing leather armor and boots carved with snakes; he was Yuan Zhong, the Snake Guard under Zou Li's command.
Yuan Zhong was sent by the immortal to follow this young master, but seeing that there was no one around, he felt quite uneasy.
This young master Zou Li... ever since he was humiliated by Xu Qingning at the Immortal Fish Pond and was reprimanded by his mother, the Immortal Zou Lanci, he has harbored resentment towards Xu Qingning.
Yesterday, the punished young master had a fight with his mother, and then angrily led his men to make things difficult for Zou Qin.
But on the way, something happened that made Yuan Zhong feel very uneasy.
"Let's go to Dongzhou!" Zou Li said. "I refuse to believe that I can't control Xu Qingning! If Mother doesn't believe me, I'll produce evidence to convince her!"
However, as Zou Li spoke, a glint of excited hatred flashed in his eyes.
Not long after Zou Li left the Dragon Pool, Mr. Qing arrived with a Qi-finding compass and a sachet.
"This is a protective talisman given by Zhou Fuling to the disciples of Tianji Sect. Using this Qi-finding compass, one can find her. She seems to be in Dongzhou."
"That's the person Young Master Xu cherishes most," Mr. Qing said in a low voice.
“Good, good! Xu Qingning and Xu Lechuan are trapped in Longtan now, and they are also looking for Zou Qin. The Dongzhou border village is completely empty…” Zou Li said, “But I wonder, sir, if we go over like this and really make a move against Zhou Fuling, will Mother blame us…”
"What's so strange about it?" Mr. Qing said coldly. "No one will blame you for killing a person of no character, unless that person is insane."
“Go ahead and kill. You are the young master of the Zou family. To regain power, you need to establish your authority and make an example of someone.”
Zou Li, who had been hesitant, rushed to Dongzhou with great enthusiasm.
His eyes were bloodshot, making it seem as if he was there to settle a personal score rather than to investigate anything.
Yuan Zhong felt a chill run down his spine; he wasn't unfamiliar with Zou Li's appearance.
The last time something like this happened was many years ago when Zou Li was going to a city in the mortal realm to investigate a case.
However, the city garrison there was a kind and virtuous man in Yuan Zhong's eyes. But because he opposed Zou Li's indiscriminate suppression of cultivators and spoke a few words of justice, Zou Li found an excuse to duel him at the city garrison's mansion.
The entire family of the city garrison commander was beheaded and dismembered by Zou Li and his teacher, Mr. Qing, and their bodies were left in the wild to be fed to demons.
Yuan Zhong actually disapproved of Zou Li's behavior.
However, water flows downhill, and people strive to rise higher.
It is impossible for a person to live in a place that completely conforms to their own beliefs.
He followed Zou Li in silence, his heart once again filled with regret for a name:
—Zhou Fuling.
Believing he had a kind-hearted celestial official surnamed Yuan, he silently recited that name.
...
Something's not right, something's not right. This Dongzhou and Yintian Village... they got in way too easily.
The protective barrier around the mountain has vanished, leaving only the ancient trees and the cries of crows, a deathly silence.
Zou Li frowned on the way, seemingly a little hesitant.
Mr. Qing: "Young Master, did you see any traces of foxfire on the road?"
"Sir, you mean..."
“Just now I saw that the fire was in the south. There are always fire foxes on the border of the Eastern Continent. It must be that the cultivator encountered a wild fox, activated the valley's protective array, and hid there.”
"They've gone inside..." Zou Li said angrily, opening his eyes wide.
Mr. Qing shook his head and sneered, "Young Master, we have brought the 'Troublesome Water Pearl'. This pearl can unleash a flood carrying deadly poison. It is a malevolent artifact left behind by the 'Evil Prince' Xia Yuyongzhang. It is said that back then, when this pearl flooded the barrier, it directly led to the 'Evil Prince' slaughtering the entire Shanzong lineage of the Xia family. With this object, even if Qingning comes in person, there is no way to escape it."
"Hmph, sir, you're right. We'll just use the Muddy Water Pearl to lure these Tianji Sect members out!" Zou Li also drew his sword menacingly.
The sword was extremely sharp. The moment it was drawn, a dragon-like blue light rose from the tip of the sword, reflecting the sunlight in the sky. It was like starlight exploding. The pressure was so great that Yuan Zhong, who was standing behind, almost lost his footing.
...Zou Li is not a good person, but his swordsmanship and skills are excellent.
Yuan Zhong suddenly shouted, "Look! Look, there's someone over there!"
But then they saw a bright little girl running frantically through the snow. She seemed to have only just noticed them after she came out, and she ducked around a tree.
When the snake guards saw her, they surrounded her and attacked again, but the amulet on her body blew them away.
"Oh dear!" Upon seeing this, Yuan Zhong took a deep breath and turned to shout to Zou Li, "Young Master, I recognize this talisman; it belongs to Nasu Qingning!"
"This is Zhou Fuling!"
The crowd surrounded her, and the protective charms on Zhou Fuling's body seemed to be limited, as they were quickly exhausted.
She fell to the ground looking disheveled.
Zou Li laughed and said, "It's like finding a needle in a haystack! Sir, we don't need the muddy water pearl anymore!"
Mr. Qing did not express his opinion, and Zhou Fuling was carried and thrown in front of Zou Li.
Mr. Qing observed her and saw that many items had fallen from her skirt. In addition to amulets, there were many exquisite magical artifacts, such as the Seven Green Bracelets, the Small Mustard Seed Cabinet, the High-Grade Spring Elixir, and the Feng Shui Plate inlaid with jewels.
"Ha." He relaxed and concluded, "She came back to get these things. I've heard that Junior Sister Xu Qingning is willful, and it seems it's true."
Zhou Fuling lay on the ground, her face a mess of light blue-green, her pretty little face covered in mud, a sight that evoked pity in me.
She seemed very nervous, stiffly protecting the ritual implement with her fingers.
"You...you're from Longtan! You...you're also Young Master Zou of Longtan!" Zhou Fuling cried out, her lips trembling. "What are you doing here?"
"I...I'm going to tell my senior brother!"
...
Inside the room, Xu Qingning suddenly raised her head, her cold eyes fixed on the window.
In fact, he had been observing the movements outside the window while trying to break the restriction that Zhou Fuling had placed on him.
At this moment, seeing Zhou Fuling and Zou Li collide and hearing her cry out in pain, Xu Qingning's hands involuntarily clenched into fists.
Then... the young man suddenly lowered his head, concealing the expression in his eyes.
"I'm going crazy," he thought to himself.
In this situation...
He even cared about her safety.
"What are you going to do?" Zhou Fuling shouted.
She took out the jade tablet as if to send a message, but they knocked it away violently.
She was surrounded by people from all sides.
“Miss Zhou,” Zou Li said, squatting down, “I want to perform the ‘Immortal-Fixing Technique’ with you.”
Xu Qingning also suddenly opened her eyes, still tense.
Then, he gritted his teeth and lowered his head.
He is clearly in greater danger now.
Why think about her?
Outside, Zhou Fuling was being held up while Zou Li was ordering people around, finding someone to write the duel agreement for the Immortal Decree, and also having people feed the sword with spirit stones.
Xu Qingning lowered his eyes as he tried to break the restrictions Zhou Fuling had placed on the jade pendant and the Immortal Binding Rope.
Little did they know how Zhou Fuling cultivated. Her spiritual power was like a monster's; if one were to break through it... it would be extremely difficult. The spiritual veins would suffer pain almost equivalent to being slowly sliced to death, and the price would be too high.
Even if you manage to break through, you'll still be no match for her.
As Xu Qingning explored her strange and cold spiritual power, he belatedly realized that the strange demonic energy he encountered when he was attacked at Kanghuangzhai half a month ago was actually Zhou Fuling's!
At that time, Kang Huangzhai unleashed a level-one demonic calamity, requiring Qingning to go and quell it. Unexpectedly, he encountered Zhou Fuling, whom he mistook for a capricious woman who had come seeking a partner. He set up an array to lead her out, but they were attacked and blocked by demonic energy. That demonic energy was treacherous, like hooks and thorns, leaving a lasting impression.
At this moment, as Xu Qingning recalled the events, an overwhelming anger welled up within him.
In Kanghuangzhai, he was anxious and worried about her appearance, but all she did was hurt him.
She must be laughing at him in her heart.
He looked pale with worry for her.
He was furious because he was afraid she would get hurt.
He was... played like a joke by her.
He lowered his eyes, his eyelashes like damp raven feathers, and his chest heaved with a hint of embarrassment.
Suddenly, a cold sound came from within his mind.
[Host, due to extremely low favorability, a forced mission has been issued. Failure to complete it will result in your elimination... Wait, what do you look like?!]
Xu Qingning suddenly raised her eyes, her cold face pale, her knuckles bound behind her waist bloodless, only her wrists marked with red marks from the binding rope.
His long hair was disheveled, he was biting on a delicate jade, and there were red marks on the corners of his mouth from Zhou Fuling's rough treatment.
This only made him appear even more handsome and exceptionally beautiful, capable of captivating anyone's heart in an instant.
What happened to the villain...?
The system quickly shut up.
The villain would indeed treat Xu Qingning this way.
In its previous life, the system had the good fortune to meet Xu Qingning, who was not yet its host.
Back then, it heard that after that person took power, Xu Qingning, as her lover, would always stubbornly argue with her and anger her, and that would result in him being treated like this, being thrown into her room by that person to make him reflect on his actions.
...According to the information found by the system in this life, Xu Qingning was also treated like this by the villain when he was young.
The system then observed Xu Qingning.
Xu Qingning lowered her head, as if she was enduring something with all her might.
Perhaps because he had been seen in this situation, a faint red tinged with anger and resentment rose at the corners of his eyes, making him appear even more beautiful.
[Elimination?]
Xu Qingning frowned, but the voice in her mind was cold and clear.
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