Chapter 31: Life’s a Stage, It’s All About the Act. Making it Public.

Chapter 31: Life's a Stage, It's All About the Act. Making it Public.

Venerable Yunshang was a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

As the name suggests, she possessed a nascent soul.

Killing her too early wasn't an option.

If you struck before Venerable Yunshang's spirit had fully returned, she might abandon her physical form and have her nascent soul flee.

That was unacceptable.

As any seasoned killer knows: if you don't uproot the grass, it will grow again with the spring breeze.

Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. Fu Yu would not let her guard down just because her opponent was merely a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

She patiently waited until Venerable Yunshang regained consciousness before making her move, precisely to ensure her opponent's complete annihilation—both body and soul.

As Fu Yu swung the Shoushan Stone Paperweight, her other hand pressed firmly down on the top of Venerable Yunshang's head.

To the onlookers, it seemed Fu Yu was merely bludgeoning with the stone paperweight repeatedly.

In reality, every time Venerable Yunshang's nascent soul attempted to flee, Fu Yu ruthlessly intercepted it.

Venerable Yunshang died twice in a row.

In that sunless courtyard, decaying, terrifying corpses surged like a tide, completely engulfing her.

At first, their attacks weren't fatal, biting into her like ants on an elephant.

The terror and revulsion outweighed the pain itself.

She even found a moment to worry whether her jade-snow skin would be left with marks.

If it left ugly scars, her husband would surely be seduced by that vixen—something she absolutely could not tolerate.

She struggled desperately, unleashing wave after wave of spiritual energy, shaking off the corpses biting her.

But there were simply too many of them.

She had always hated cultivation—bitter, tiring, and boring, and it couldn't help her win her husband's heart either.

Today, the price for her shallow cultivation came due.

Due to panic, fear, and inexperience, her spiritual energy was consumed at a terrifying rate, squandered in the blink of an eye.

Without the protection of spiritual energy, her deliberately pampered body became completely defenseless on this terrifying night.

Enough ants can kill an elephant.

The smell of blood, rot, damp earth, scorched flesh...

Sharp pain, dull pain, tearing pain, piercing heartache, the cold ache of blood loss...

She struggled in agony within this purgatory.

She broke down, went mad, was filled with seething resentment—where was her husband? Why didn't he appear? He had clearly promised he would cherish and protect her forever!

On the brink of death, she finally realized: he wasn't coming.

He had changed his heart, he had someone else, he no longer cared for her.

If she wanted to live, she could only rely on herself.

But... her body was already riddled with holes, her spiritual energy was completely exhausted...

Right! She had her nascent soul.

Her nascent soul could escape, go find her husband—he was so powerful, surely he could help her rebuild her body!

But she soon learned the true meaning of despair.

It was all too late.

Her meticulously cared-for, jade-like hands were already gnawed to pieces. Her throat was already bitten through, whistling with air, unable to make a sound. She couldn't even gather her will to silently recite an incantation in her mind.

Despair? Utter despair.

Regret? Profound regret!

Until death arrived, sudden as a new life.

Like a drowning person surfacing, Venerable Yunshang took a sharp, deep breath, startled to realize everything she had just experienced was an illusion woven from memories!

So she had fallen into an illusion woven from her own memories?

Before Venerable Yunshang could feel joy, a heavy blow landed squarely on her head.

Her mind buzzed, and she instinctively cried out in pain: "Husband, save..."

A cold palm pressed against the crown of her head.

Before Venerable Yunshang could regain her senses, her face was struck heavily again—*thud*!

In her swaying, darkening vision, a Shoushan Stone Paperweight rose and fell.

Amidst the terror, Venerable Yunshang recognized it.

It was the token the Saintess had personally handed to her, the one that could help her enter the Fish-Dragon City secret realm.

Venerable Yunshang clearly remembered what happened that day.

She felt no gratitude towards the Saintess; in fact, she downright loathed her.

Although her husband repeatedly assured her he had absolutely no interest in that hypocritical woman, the Saintess, Venerable Yunshang never dared to let her guard down.

She knew many men in the Divine Court were infatuated with that Saintess.

Men's minds are the most childish; if everyone else is fighting over something, even dung smells fragrant.

When her husband said he would go to the Saintess to get a token for her, she pretended to be happy, but her heart was clenched tight.

She was afraid, afraid he would use her name as an excuse to deliberately find an opportunity to see the Saintess. So she wheedled and pestered him, insisting on going with him.

She was infinitely grateful she had made the right decision.

That Saintess was indeed seductive, intentionally or not. Her husband's playful gaze fell upon the Saintess several times, but fortunately, she was there to interrupt in time.

With her present, the Saintess had to restrain herself considerably, putting on an act as she handed over the token.

She snatched it before her husband had a chance, muttered a hurried thanks, and pulled him away from there.

How could she possibly forget this paperweight?

She would recognize it even if it turned to ashes.

And now, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was actually using it to attack her!

Venerable Yunshang was reeling with shock, pain, and confusion.

Stunned, she suffered several more heavy blows. Her vision blurred into crimson, her soul nearly shaken loose from her body.

—How dare they?!

—These commoners, these lowly cultivators, how dare they?!

—But dare they did!

She had just "died" once, that icy, underworld fear still lingering in her heart.

Venerable Yunshang's body was limp, her will shattered, couldn't muster a single thought of resistance.

Escape... escape...

She was already struggling to distinguish illusion from reality, her instinct screaming: 'This body is already disfigured anyway, let my Nascent Soul escape, go find my husband! My husband will surely avenge me, I will make you beg for death! Beg for death!'

Gritting through the excruciating pain, her hands trembled as she formed a hand seal.

But—

The icy hand pressed against the crown of her head suddenly forced something into her mind...

Venerable Yunshang's vision swam.

She saw... saw... saw images.

It was that woman.

The woman her husband was hiding in his room.

The woman's figure was silhouetted on the window paper, her form graceful, her waist soft as a snake, posing seductively.

In an instant, rage seared through Venerable Yunshang. The hand seal, half-formed, slowed of its own accord.

This was the bitterest hatred of her life!

Before this woman appeared, her husband had always been faithful to her, with no other woman in his life.

Most hateful of all, he protected that woman extremely well. To this day, she had never seen that woman's true face.

He clearly promised to be with only her for a lifetime...

"Thud. Thud."

The dull pain from the heavy blows briefly brought Venerable Yunshang back to her senses.

The shadow of death drew closer. Terrified, she hurriedly continued forming the hand seal, attempting to escape with her Nascent Soul.

"Creak."

In the chaotic, crimson scene before her, two doors suddenly swung open.

Venerable Yunshang's breath caught.

She saw it, that figure, swaying gracefully in her husband's room!

It was a... opera performer.

She had her back to her, her body arched seductively. Her water sleeves, soft yet firm, swept out, deliberately soul-ensnaring.

The mantra Venerable Yunshang was silently reciting was interrupted again.

If not for this woman... if not for this woman... her husband wouldn't have strayed.

Everything was fine for so many years, he never had a wandering eye. It's all because this woman deliberately seduced him!

To think she was a performer. Performers are heartless, performers are faithless. How could her husband not understand such a simple truth?

Venerable Yunshang seethed with fury and resentment.

If this woman hadn't appeared, she wouldn't have worried about being abandoned, wouldn't have worried about not being beautiful enough, wouldn't have gone to kill those people...

Those people, so terrifying, returned as corpses to haunt her.

Everything, everything, was because of this woman!

Extreme pain gives way to numbness. Venerable Yunshang could still feel the dull thuds from her body, but now the figure of that woman in the room was like a poisonous mandala, seizing her gaze, squeezing out the venom from the depths of her heart.

She hated.

She knew her body's condition was already very bad, but she hated.

In her blood-red vision, that woman flicked her sleeves, twisted her waist, every gesture dripping with seduction.

She had to see her face clearly, she must see her face clearly!

Almost there, just a little more...

That woman only showed a sliver of her profile each time. She had to go closer to see clearly.

Everything before her eyes shook more violently.

Two scenes overlapped: one was the expressionless face of the Foundation Establishment Cultivator in the secret realm raising and lowering his hand; the other was the truth that drew closer and closer—the truth of her husband's betrayal.

There's still time, there must be still time...

She dragged her leaden feet with difficulty, staggering up the steps, crossing the threshold.

The performer's dance steps were light and graceful, like a butterfly flitting through flowers, floating lightly past the drapes.

The drapes lifted and swayed down, slender, one after another, each casting the other's shadow.

Venerable Yunshang strode after her, waving her hand to push aside these soft cloth strips.

Her fingertips touched the graceful shadow the performer left on them. She shook her hand in disgust, afraid of being tainted.

"Swish—"

The crimson red before her eyes grew increasingly blinding.

Red as the wedding chamber's candles.

In this crimson glow, the brazen performer continued to sing with graceful charm.

Venerable Yunshang's thoughts were no longer coherent.

The scene began to fragment, flickering between light and darkness.

She advanced step by step, reaching out to grab, to seize...

The other moved with light steps, a mere tap of their toes sending them gliding far. With a few swift flashes, they reached the side of the canopy bed.

"Swish—"

The other turned around!

Venerable Yunshang strained to open her eyes—

No, no, the darkness in her vision spread like ink, clouding her sight. She couldn't see clearly.

In desperation, with all her might, she completely released the hand seal she had been forming, frantically, near-madly raising her hands to rub her eyes.

She still couldn't see the other's face clearly.

But her heartbeat froze completely in an instant.

In her fragmented vision, she saw the performer raise a hand to discard the colorful stage costume, casually draping a black night robe over their shoulders and covering their face with that all-too-familiar white ghost mask.

A strange buzzing sound echoed in her mind.

She... no, it was him. The performer hiding in the room was him. He was Ghost Lingjun.

He hadn't been unfaithful.

He was just... he was just...

He just didn't want anyone to know he wore women's clothing, that he played the seductress...

Venerable Yunshang felt the world spin around her.

He hadn't lied to her.

He never had any other woman!

But now, regret was already too late. Venerable Yunshang's vision had narrowed to an extremely thin slit. Apart from barely managing to look at him, she could do nothing else.

Her Nascent Soul could no longer escape. Today was the day her body and soul would be utterly destroyed.

Regret! Regret! Regret!

A thousand wrongs, ten thousand wrongs—she shouldn't have misunderstood him, shouldn't have been so obsessed with becoming beautiful.

"I was wrong... I was wrong..."

A faint, thread-like sound escaped Venerable Yunshang's throat.

Fu Yu pressed down the final paperweight.

"Bang!"

She stood up, looking down as the threads of karma on Venerable Yunshang's head and face turned to ash and vanished.

The Foxtail Grass Spirit choked up with emotion: "Master..."

Fu Yu glanced sideways: "Go finish her off, and while you're at it, help me retrieve the reward from the third trial."

The Foxtail Grass Spirit trembled: "Yes!"

It pounced forward, pulling a small knife from its Cosmic Bag, fiercely and earnestly plunging it straight into Venerable Yunshang's heart.

Its hands tightly gripped the small knife, its shoulders trembling slightly.

It stabbed with great effort, refusing to look up for a long time.

In truth, Venerable Yunshang had long been dead.

When the final paperweight fell, Fu Yu felt a long-absent, surging warmth.

She had a secret no one else knew.

The remaining power of those she killed with her own hands would be taken by her. 🙂

"Um, excuse me..." Li Xueke cautiously spoke up to remind her, "Shouldn't we be running for our lives now?"

Fu Yu raised an eyebrow: "No rush."

The fingers in her sleeve closed slightly as she felt the chaotic power from Venerable Yunshang, and was quite dissatisfied.

This person claimed to be a Nascent Soul cultivator, but was actually incredibly weak. Compared to a proper cultivator, she was only at the mid-to-late Golden Core stage.

She carelessly absorbed this mass of spiritual energy into her dantian, feeling as if she had eaten a mouthful of leftover rice.

Though not tasty, it could stave off hunger.

The Foxtail Grass Spirit finally stood up. It slowly pulled out the small knife and put it away, shuffling over to Fu Yu's side, sneakily stealing glances at her expression.

It knew time was tight and it had taken too long: "Master, I'm done killing."

Fu Yu: "It's fine, you could have kept going."

The Foxtail Grass Spirit blushed: "...Hey." It decisively changed the subject. "Master, she was awake just now. Why didn't she move when you hit her?"

Fu Yu smiled and opened her left hand.

Everyone focused their attention, seeing a glowing orb floating in her palm.

The Foxtail Grass Spirit asked: "Is this the reward from the fourth trial?"

Fu Yu first shook her head, then nodded.

After so many years as an old married couple, she knew Jun Bu Du all too well.

Just as she had guessed, he hadn't preserved the memory scenes from this trial.

Having gone through the first three trials, she had already figured out his methods.

So, within the Illusion Array, she conveniently used the blank orb Jun Bu Du had left behind to record the scene. It was a reward of sorts, but this time, she was awarding it to herself.

"I used a 'woman' to disturb her mind." Fu Yu said with a sly smile, closing her fingers to grasp the orb.

The other scenes could still be useful later.

Fu Yu signaled for the others to wait where they were, then stepped into the bedroom by herself.

Back then, inside the Illusion Array, she had witnessed Jun Bu Du's past.

After emerging from the array, whenever she looked at his cool, serene face again, her feelings felt... a little different.

Ever since they'd met, she had always been the more talkative one—after all, as a Diviner, it was a professional habit.

That day, for the first time, she fell silent.

She didn't speak, and he didn't either. The two of them wordlessly entered the bedroom, a moment of perfect, unspoken understanding.

She remembered him forming a hand seal to resist her just before entering the array.

But inside the array, she hadn't felt any loss of control.

She didn't ask, and naturally, he didn't volunteer an explanation.

And so, the two of them... wordlessly, as if of one mind, climbed onto the bed together.

Once they were lying down, Fu Yu was stunned.

She truly hadn't expected this usually passive, aloof iceberg to take the initiative and get into *her* bed.

All the various "traps" she had set up in the bedroom were completely bypassed by him, as he went straight for the main event.

Fu Yu, for once, was left utterly at a loss.

She could only lie stiffly beside him.

Well... inside the Illusion Array, she had gotten used to lying next to him and sleeping like a log anyway.

She didn't look at Jun Bu Du, nor did she speak. She lay as flat and proper as possible, as prim and proper as could be.

And so, the two of them lay quietly like that until dawn.

Recalling the past, Fu Yu stepped onto the bed and lay down in the spot she had once occupied.

Staring at the ceiling, she questioned her life choices.

Suddenly, a familiar sensation washed over her.

The ink-wash house, the bedroom, the bed—everything began to transform, inch by inch, into a painted scroll.

Fu Yu didn't turn back to look at the scene of the two of them "lying like corpses." She stepped over the melting threshold and casually caught the "fifth-level reward" floating out from the painted door.

Apart from the Illusion Array, Jun Bu Du had recorded every moment of their interaction here.

"Such a boring night, what's there to see."

Fu Yu placed the glowing orb into her sea of consciousness.

"I can't even be bothered to look."

The two maidservants were still trapped in the Illusion Array.

Fu Yu tilted her head, exited the room, and signaled for the others to follow.

Hua Lang scurried up to her, asking nervously, "Boss, what do we do next?"

Everyone stared at her eagerly, waiting for her instructions.

Killing was easy; disposing of the body was hard.

Even now, everyone was still a bit dazed—had they really just killed a Nascent Soul Cultivator? Had they really just killed Ghost Lingjun's wife, avenging the Patriarch in part?

Although they had stirred up a colossal mess, thinking about it carefully, it actually felt a bit thrilling.

Fu Yu walked out nonchalantly. "Follow me. Don't speak."

Everyone immediately fell silent and nodded.

Arriving at the painted door, Fu Yu looked down and gave a slight smile. She raised her hand and sealed the orb containing the Illusion Array scenes back into the door.

"Ghost Lingjun, let me see just how capable you are."

Everyone exchanged glances.

They didn't understand, but it sure seemed impressive.

Led by Fu Yu, the group stepped through the painted door. Their vision blurred, and they found themselves back in Fish-Dragon City.

Outside the secret realm, that team of Yellow-robed Cultivators was still trying.

"Observe." "Observe!"

Seeing Fu Yu's group emerge, the leading elder's eyes flashed with a sharp light. He stepped forward and asked, "Young friend from the Azure Cloud Sect, why have you come out so quickly?"

Fu Yu wore an extremely sour expression, replying with biting sarcasm, "Just what you'd expect from a Nascent Soul mighty one, even the maidservants by your side are so imposing."

The Yellow-robed Cultivators exchanged glances, thinking to themselves that these people must have been driven out by the Supreme One's maidservants.

Not surprising in the slightest.

Fu Yu, looking thoroughly aggrieved, led her group outward, radiating as much displeasure as possible.

Passing by the golden chi-dragons, she vented her anger by kicking them several times.

The two guardian dragons slowly turned their heads.

The Yellow-robed Cultivators: "Hiss..."

They had all witnessed the power of these two Dharma Protectors before. A chill ran down their spines, and they instinctively backed away repeatedly.

If these dragon deities went on a rampage, it would be disastrous.

In an instant, a large empty space cleared in front of the secret realm entrance.

Fu Yu shot a glance. Li Xueke understood immediately and raised his hand, summoning the flying boat.

Fu Yu, boiling with rage, stomped up onto the boat.

Behind her, the string of low-level cultivators all hung their heads, held their breath, and hurried aboard with quick steps.

By the time the Yellow-robed Cultivators confirmed the dragon deities hadn't moved and cautiously gathered closer, the flying boat was long gone.

Ghost Lingjun descended before the secret realm, cloaked in a storm of violent fury.

"My Lord!"

A sinister crack appeared on his white ghost mask. "My wife, where is she?"

The yellow-robed elder hurriedly reported, "Your wife is in the secret realm."

Ghost Lingjun's voice was hoarse. "Who did you let in?"

The Yellow-robed Cultivators exchanged glances. One stepped forward to reply, "Only a few Foundation Establishment Cultivators entered..."

"Boom!"

The cultivator who spoke was blasted into the ground with a single palm strike.

Everyone was horrified and knelt down. "Lord, please calm your anger!"

Ghost Lingjun's mask seemed to gnash its teeth, his eyes red to the point of bleeding. "A few Foundation Establishment Cultivators... how could they sever my Dao Companion Bond with my wife?!"

The crowd was aghast. The yellow-robed elder hastily replied, "My Lord, those Foundation Establishment Cultivators were only inside for a moment before they were driven out by your wife's attendants. It is absolutely impossible they could have done anything to her!"

Ghost Lingjun stopped listening to their explanations.

With a sweep of his wide sleeve, he charged forward, raising his palm to strike the two black-and-white painted doors.

"Boom!"

The violent aura around him triggered celestial phenomena. Between heaven and earth, thunder rumbled and rolled.

The two golden chi dragons were successfully enraged, attacking him from left and right. In an instant, the earth shook and mountains trembled, the deafening clang of metal collision echoing throughout Yulong City.

They fought from the ground to the mid-air, then fell back down again.

The Yellow-robed Cultivators retreated to a distance, their hearts trembling as they felt the muffled, undulating tremors beneath their feet.

Someone whispered, "That female cultivator sure had guts... and some serious luck!"

Remembering Fu Yu's actions, kicking them like little dogs, the Yellow-robed Cultivators couldn't help but twitch at the corners of their eyes and mouths.

They didn't believe Venerable Yunshang could truly be in any real danger.

This couple just loved to stir up trouble sometimes. Venerable Yunshang had unilaterally severed the Dao Companion Bond before, vowing to have nothing to do with the Lord until death. The Lord had been driven to desperation, frantically pursuing his wife.

Everyone looked up at the sky.

Seeing Ghost Lingjun's frenzied state, once he catches his wife back... tsk tsk, it's not a sight for the eyes!

"Clang! Boom!"

Ghost Lingjun's figure flickered continuously. He summoned his life-bound Artifact, temporarily trapping the two dragons in place.

He swooped down, his five fingers forming a claw, gathering thunderous spiritual energy as he blasted it towards the two ink-painted doors!

The spiritual energy around him poured out recklessly!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Suddenly.

The black-and-white painted doors dissolved into a mist of ink.

Ghost Lingjun's strike landed on empty air.

Beneath the mask, his pupils constricted sharply. The scene before him slowed to an extreme crawl—

He saw his own wide sleeve inch by inch tracing a half-arc, piercing into the dispersing ink mist.

Within the ink mist, a mass of black-and-white light floated. Under his relentless, fierce attacks, it absorbed spiritual energy until saturated, slowly drifting into the mid-air, then suddenly—it erupted with brilliant light!

Vivid, lifelike scenes of light and shadow projected onto the clouds in the sky.

Clear, realistic, dazzlingly conspicuous.

It faithfully recorded every evil deed from Venerable Yunshang's memories.

The ruins of a fire, the mud of a riverbed, the chaotic burial grounds in the outskirts.

One "accident" after another, one "missing" person after another.

Scene after scene, announced to the world, like divine punishment!