Chapter 43

Lin Mengxian mimicked the sounds from the room two doors down, and she mimicked them with astonishing accuracy.

After crying out for a long time until her throat was dry, she covered her mouth and coughed quietly. She walked to the table and poured herself a cup of cold water, took out a pill from her Storage Ring and swallowed it, and checked along the way to make sure the door was tightly shut.

Bi He, whom she and Ye Zhenzhen had ambushed together, lay on the bed in only her undergarments, eyes closed.

The muffled sounds of explosions drifted in from outside. Lin Mengxian quietly cracked the door open and saw many faces full of panic. Something major seemed to have happened in the Black Lotus Sect.

After a while, there was another knock on the door. Lin Mengxian thought for a moment, then removed her outer robe, pulled the collar of her inner shirt wider to reveal a patch of fair, delicate skin, took down her hair and mussed it with her fingers, rubbed her lips and cheeks red, and only then, with a bashful and alluring air, went to the door and opened it.

Her hand clutched her sash, as if in the middle of tying it. She asked softly, “Is something the matter?”

“How many people in the room?”

“Two.”

The guard only glanced in hastily. Without even seriously checking who was who, he clicked the door shut and placed a restriction lock on it from outside.

It seemed the chaos was quite significant—significant enough to leave the guards here flustered.

Hopefully, Liuli and Ye Zhenzhen would make it out safely…

Lin Mengxian started coughing again.

…

Liuli and Ye Zhenzhen’s auras had vanished into thin air—so abruptly that Tang Shikou couldn’t help but find it strange.

But soon, the auras reappeared, fleeing into the distance at an odd, erratic frequency.

Tang Shikou walked thoughtfully toward the spot where their auras had disappeared earlier.

…

Liuli and Ye Zhenzhen were huddled inside a pit hidden by withered grass and vines, with a large tree at its edge. But beside them was someone neither had ever expected to see—Qingmei.

She was the one who had pulled them both into this place.

“Shh…”

Qingmei pointed at the thorny vines overhead. “Don’t dismiss them as ordinary weeds. Their cores are purple. This plant is called Rabbit Grass. It’s a natural half-demonic plant, timid as a rabbit. It’s particularly weak but loves flesh and blood that carries spiritual energy. The moment it senses a powerful presence, it reflexively conceals the auras of all living things within its territory. That’s why many weak Demonic Beasts form symbiotic relationships with it.”

Qingmei paused, then added, “I have a Wood Spiritual Root. I have some talent in communicating with plants, though not as much as my little sister.”

What kind of grass this was didn’t matter. Which of the two sisters was more talented didn’t matter either. What mattered was—

“Why are you here?” Liuli grabbed her cheeks and shook them. “Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? Are you looking to die, you little brat?”

Qingmei smacked Liuli’s hand away with a “pap” and snorted lightly. “I just don’t want to owe you anything.”

Seeing that Liuli was still pinching her cheeks without letting go, Qingmei had no choice but to say, “Who exactly was that woman who took you away?”

“The Hierarch of the Black Lotus Sect.” Liuli spat out those five words without a change in expression.

Qingmei sucked in a breath of cold air. “She… Don’t you know? She was the one who initially proposed that the Ghost Market people control us to set traps and ambush female cultivators. She was also the one who chose you and passed the word.”

Liuli: “…She’s sick.”

What kind of sickness? Rebirth sickness!

No wonder everything had seemed so coincidental. It had been deliberately orchestrated by someone with an agenda.

Qingmei pursed her lips, turned her head, and her little braid smacked Liuli in the face. “After she took you away, I felt something was wrong. I went to investigate nearby and heard the Ghost Market Auction suffered catastrophic casualties… Later, we split up to search and finally found some clues. I came to take a look, and what a coincidence—you two had already escaped.”

“Right, where’s the other older sister?” Qingmei asked.

At the mention of Lin Mengxian, a flash of worry crossed both Liuli and Ye Zhenzhen’s faces. Ye Zhenzhen’s tone was heavy. “She sacrificed herself…”

Liuli hurriedly covered Ye Zhenzhen’s mouth. “Let’s not use the word ‘sacrificed’! It’s ominous!”

Right now, the most urgent thing was to escape from Tang Shikou’s grasp and find someone to rescue her as quickly as possible. That was the only way not to betray everything Lin Mengxian had done!

Liuli secretly gritted her teeth.

After thinking for a moment, Liuli added, “Just hiding here won’t work. What if she just waits for us? We need to make her think we’ve fled somewhere else.”

“What do you want to do?”

Liuli considered this, then took out a box of Little Cloth Dolls from her Storage Ring—one for herself and one for Ye Zhenzhen.

“Put a drop of Essence Blood on it.”

Then they affixed Puppet Illusion Talismans. The two dolls undulated like waves, stretching and growing until they transformed into “Liuli” and “Ye Zhenzhen.” These Puppet Illusion Talismans were one of the treasures Liuli had picked up at the auction. The appearances were very realistic, but anyone with higher cultivation than Liuli could see through the illusion at close range.

So Liuli also stuck Divine Movement Talismans and an Earth Shrinking Technique onto the legs of the two puppets.

It took only a few breaths to send these two decoys on their way.

“Shh!” Ye Zhenzhen tugged at Liuli and Qingmei, her anxiety laced with a forcibly suppressed fear. “She’s getting close.”

Ye Zhenzhen knew Tang Shikou was strong. The massacre at the auction—hundreds of cultivators had their lives snatched away in a single instant. But it had all happened so fast that she hadn’t even had time to feel fear before being plunged into other predicaments.

Without a sense of reality, there was no sense of terror. She had even dared to ambush her—until Tang Shikou, holding nothing back, launched a lethal strike at Liuli.

Only then did Ye Zhenzhen suddenly, viscerally realize: This woman was a genuine, bloodthirsty devil. With a casual wave of her hand, she could indifferently, carelessly take her fragile life.

The only stroke of luck was that Tang Shikou’s eyes were currently fixed solely on Liuli. One little bug wasn’t even worth her notice.

With a strange mix of unwillingness and humiliation, Ye Zhenzhen hated this devil woman who could so casually torment them to the extreme.

All three simultaneously held their breath and stilled their qi, peering through the tiny gaps in the grass and vines.

Liuli’s heart pounded frantically. She dug her nails into her palm; before she knew it, cold sweat had soaked through her clothing.

Tang Shikou arrived nearby. From Liuli’s angle, she could only see the hem of her robe, embroidered with purple butterflies.

She seemed somewhat suspicious, slowly walking two circles around the area.

Finally, just as Liuli was so tense she was about to suffocate, Tang Shikou let out an unreadable light laugh and turned to leave in the direction the two puppet decoys had gone.

Though she had headed that way, the three still dared not relax. They continued crouching in the Rabbit Grass, trembling and hiding alongside the grass.

Based on Tang Shikou’s speed, it wouldn’t take her long to catch up to the two decoys. So they waited until her presence had completely vanished from the area, and then hid for another half a quarter-hour.

Liuli quietly let out a breath of relief.

“She should be far enough away now. Let’s run—if she figures out those two are fakes and comes back, we’re doomed!”

“Alright.”

Three people—Golden Core Stage, Foundation Establishment Stage, and Qi Condensation Stage. Liuli, with the highest cultivation, naturally climbed out of the pit first, followed by Ye Zhenzhen and Qingmei.

Liuli reached out a hand to pull Qingmei up.

A graceful yet terrifying voice rang out at that very moment.

“My good little sister, was it cool down there?”

Liuli felt as though she’d been struck by lightning.

Tang Shikou walked out from behind a tree, smiling.

Like a good older sister instructing her younger sister, she offered gentle, meticulous teachings—while mercilessly unfurling a mountain-like pressure!

“You see, you’re so very weak. How can you place your hopes of protection on those even weaker than yourself?”

Liuli flung out her arms, shielding Qingmei and Ye Zhenzhen behind her. She was at the Golden Core Stage now—at least stronger than the two of them. She barked in a low voice, “You two go first! I’m the only one she wants!”

Ye Zhenzhen braced herself on her sword. Both sword and knees trembled as they slowly bent downward. Purely by physiological reflex, she stared fixedly at Tang Shikou, not daring to shift her gaze even a fraction. She ground out between clenched teeth, “You think… I don’t want to…”

Liuli gave a bitter smile and glanced down at Qingmei.

Qingmei was already sprawled on the ground. Faint threads of blood seeped from her facial features. At least, mercifully, she was still alive.

Tang Shikou extended a hand toward Liuli. “Good little sister, come here to your older sister, and she’ll let them go. How about that?”

In the Cultivation World, the strong prey on the weak. As long as you’re strong enough, you make the rules.

And the weak have no right to refuse.

Liuli’s lively, bouncing heart felt as heavy as death. But no matter how unbearable it was, she couldn’t ignore Ye Zhenzhen and Qingmei.

Liuli tried to break the rigid tension with a smile. “Older Sister, if you agree to also release the one still inside your sect, I’ll willingly accompany you in Dual Cultivation. We’ll ignore all this righteous and demonic path nonsense and just focus on cultivating toward immortality. How about it?”

“That’s actually a good idea.” Tang Shikou narrowed her eyes.

Liuli forced down the terror that made her hairs stand on end and the suffocating pressure, and slowly walked toward Tang Shikou.

Tang Shikou suddenly reached out and grasped Liuli’s wrist. “Good little sister, Older Sister has suddenly changed her mind.”

Liuli gave a slight smile and grasped Tang Shikou’s wrist in return. “What a coincidence. So have I.”

In the next second, seventeen Water Walls burst into existence, layer upon layer, enclosing herself and Tang Shikou together. The starch slurry stored inside the Water of Supreme Goodness Pot surged forth, forming a snow-white Water Dragon Twister. At the same time, three Prison Earth Talismans and a bell-shaped magic treasure activated simultaneously, trapping Liuli and Tang Shikou completely.

“Run!”

Tang Shikou curiously extended a fingertip to touch the cage and white slurry. She suddenly smiled. “Good little sister, you truly haven’t disappointed me. But why does my little sister still not understand—”

Her seductive voice suddenly dropped, thick with cruel malice. The stunning woman stared directly into Liuli’s eyes, the corners of her lips curved to a deliberate, exaggerated height.

She reached out, passing through the starch slurry, the talisman cage, and the bell-shaped treasure, passing through every barrier Liuli had erected with all her strength… and dragged back a small girl with a terrified expression.

“—You’re simply too weak.”

Just like crushing a little bird, Tang Shikou easily and casually snapped Qingmei’s neck.

This little brat who had disregarded danger, come alone, trying to atone for the bad deeds she had been forced to commit—just like that, without leaving behind any last words, without even uttering a cry, she had thrown away her life, a life that had already endured so much suffering!

Liuli’s mouth fell slightly open. For a moment, her mind was utterly stunned by what had happened before her. Except for Qingmei’s terrified, wide-open eyes, threaded with blood, and her twisted neck, nothing from the outside world could be processed or understood in her brain.

Qingmei was dead.

Qingmei… was dead.

Liuli suddenly felt nauseous in her stomach, and at the same time felt as though she couldn’t breathe. The air around her seemed to have been stripped away. Clutching her stomach, she stumbled two steps back in a daze.

She wanted something to lean on, but there was nothing. The only thing supporting her was the cage she had created herself.

These could not trap Tang Shikou. They could only trap herself.

By the time Liuli came back to herself, she reached up and touched her face. Somehow, without her knowing when, her cheeks were already wet with tears.

Qingmei’s corpse lay before her, collapsed crookedly on the dirt, neck twisted, staring blankly at the narrow space overhead.

Liuli reached out and touched her dirty hand. It was cold and thin, so bony it hurt even when gripped lightly. The little braid tied on her head had come loose, and she’d never had the chance to tie it properly again. Her clothes were ragged too—they’d been clean originally, but after searching for Liuli in this area for several days, scraping against grass and who knows what else, they’d become filthy.

Now she lay on the ground, mud and water everywhere. She looked even more wretchedly dirty.

Liuli half-knelt, half-sat beside her. She washed Qingmei’s face and hands clean. Cleaned up, she was quite a pretty little girl, really.

She lifted her head and looked calmly at Tang Shikou. “You killed her to teach me a lesson?”

A lesson that she was truly too weak. That the weak should obediently submit to the strong!

“Yes.” Tang Shikou, full of interest, also crouched down in front of Liuli. She extended two long, slender fingers to lift Liuli’s chin, carefully studying the expression on her face.

“Does my little sister feel this lesson was profound enough?”