Chapter 108: Feigning Sleep
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As Chu Youcai expanded her meridians for her, Shangguan Wanru felt an even greater warmth well up within her. Her master had once done the same for her, but defying heaven and altering fate was impossibly difficult—how could it ever succeed? The fact that he possessed such intentions alone was enough to move her deeply.
There was something wonderfully comforting about it.
At that moment, the old madam saw that Shangguan Wanru had awakened and said with a smile, “Come, have some bird’s nest soup. Juxue cooked it for you.”
“Mm.” Supported by the old madam, Shangguan Wanru sat up and took a few mouthfuls. Its sweetness filled her mouth.
“Drink it properly. Take care of your health first, and then think about those matters,” the old madam said kindly.
“Those matters?” A blush suddenly spread across Shangguan Wanru’s face. “Mother! What are you talking about?”
“I understand. I was young once too.” Feeling the tremor in Shangguan Wanru’s fingertips, the old madam smiled faintly. “Wanru, let me tell you about your father.”
Shangguan Wanru was taken aback and listened attentively.
“Your father was a very taciturn man.”
“He devoted himself entirely to guarding our family and country, and to studying the sages’ teachings. In his world, he understood nothing of affection. So even though we had grown up together from childhood, he never once confessed his feelings to me.”
“He was busy with military affairs, and in time he gradually came to understand the struggles of the imperial court. But there were many things lovers say to one another that he never said to me.”
“In the end, I was the one who confessed first—and at first, he did not even know how to react.” The old madam sank into her memories, a trace of a smile at the corners of her lips.
A warm feeling rose in Shangguan Wanru’s heart. “Do you mean that if one finds the love meant for them, they should take the initiative?”
As she spoke, her face grew hotter and hotter. She had never experienced love before, but at this moment, she had indeed been moved by Chu Youcai and had fallen for him.
The old madam smiled and shook her head. “You have misunderstood me.”
“Ah?” Shangguan Wanru stared blankly.
“What I mean is that a person must devote himself wholeheartedly to a single goal and strive forward with all his strength, disregarding every minor detail around him. Only such a man is worthy of being entrusted with one’s life. It was precisely that foolish determination of your father’s—the way he desperately pressed onward—that touched my heart.”
Shangguan Wanru fell silent. Suddenly, she seemed to understand.
The old madam continued, “As for love, it is something that should come naturally. If there is no affection between two people, no amount of matchmaking will help. Is that not so?”
Shangguan Wanru could not help nodding.
The moment she understood her own heart, everything suddenly became clear.
Yet now, when she heard Chu Youcai approaching the room, she suddenly had no idea how to speak to him.
How could she conceal the emotions in her heart?
In the end, she chose the simplest method: pretending to be asleep.
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At that moment, Chu Youcai entered cautiously. Seeing that Shangguan Wanru was already fast asleep, he came over and felt her pulse. When he found that it had stabilized, he quickly withdrew.
For some reason, however, he had the distinct feeling that Shangguan Wanru’s hand was unusually hot.
After Chu Youcai left, Shangguan Wanru opened her eyes, a trace of bewilderment showing in her gaze.
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Chu Youcai reclined on his bed, his mind entering the inner world of the Tuo Dragon Mountains-and-Rivers Pearl.
Now that he possessed demonic arts, he finally qualified to enter the pearl’s trial space.
In an instant, he found himself standing above endless waves. Upon a massive stone rising from the sea, a line of words appeared:
“Would you like to begin the Locust Demon’s trial?”
Chu Youcai’s heart burned with anticipation.
But beneath the stone, another line soon emerged:
“The Locust Demon’s trial space is a special trial space of extreme difficulty, but its rewards are equally immense. Accordingly, the threshold for entering this trial has been raised. Each entry will consume ten years of yang essence. Within the trial space, one may gain the equivalent of ten years of cultivation.”
Chu Youcai was stunned when he read this.
Ten years of yang essence in a single attempt? That was far too much!
He had accumulated his lifespan for so long, yet possessed only fourteen years of life remaining. The Locust Demon was extraordinarily powerful. If he lost the trial, would he not lose ten years of his life in one stroke?
At that moment, another line appeared upon the stone:
“This is a one-time trial mission. It will disappear automatically after three days. Once completed, it will grant abundant rewards.”
“The trial may be attempted only once.”
Chu Youcai was startled. So this trial was merely temporary, and he had to enter it within three days.
Moreover, this was the first time the stone had mentioned that the rewards would be exceptionally generous. What kind of reward could it be?
In the end, however, he shook his head. The Locust Demon possessed fifty years of demonic cultivation—how terrifyingly powerful must it be? Even if its strength were cut in half, it would still possess nearly thirty years of demonic cultivation. He was absolutely no match for it.
The risk far outweighed the opportunity.
He quickly left the inner world of the Tuo Dragon Mountains-and-Rivers Pearl.
What he did not know was that after he departed, the stone tablet seemed about to reveal a great many more words. In the end, however, it fell silent. Endless waves washed over the tablet, lending it a desolate air.
After withdrawing his mind from the trial space, Chu Youcai lay upon the bed. Fatigue overcame both body and spirit, and he soon sank into a deep sleep.
At almost the very same moment, in a dark underground cavern, Chu Yuwang threw back his head and laughed. His voice brimmed with indescribable arrogance.
He swept his gaze across the surroundings, looking at the many corpses strewn about him, and laughed wildly. “This feeling is simply wonderful!”
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Beneath his feet lay not only the corpses of cavern insects, but also those of numerous human beings. Blood had pooled across the ground, creating a scene of unspeakable brutality.
A cold smile touched Chu Yuwang’s lips. “But this is still not enough. I need more corpses, more blood. I have now successfully increased my Daoist cultivation by two years. Within ten days, I will certainly raise it to ten years. When that time comes, the world will be mine to roam. Even Chu Yuwei will be unable to stop me!”
The many black-clad men knelt beside him. “Our lord is wise!”
Chu Yuwang said coldly, “Why are you still standing around? Go search for corpses! I want them all, no matter whose they are—men or women, young or old!”
“Yes.”
The black-clad men flashed away and vanished without a trace.
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Chu Youcai awoke after a full night’s sleep. It was already dawn, and his mind felt exceptionally clear.
The fatigue throughout his body had vanished, replaced by a vigorous vitality.
That vitality seemed to originate from within him.
Suddenly moved by an impulse, Chu Youcai took a pill from his robes. It was the Luo River Scripture Demonic Frost Pill. At that moment, the divine pill radiated dazzling power, resonating with the rosy dawn in the sky and releasing countless streams of energy.
Those currents of power made Chu Youcai feel his cultivation rising like water under a rising tide.
“Could this pill resonate with the morning glow? But if so, will its power be depleted?”
Chu Youcai studied the divine pill carefully and discovered that the aura within it was absorbing the dawn light, growing denser rather than weaker. He could not help feeling delighted.
He had heard of the gestation of pills. When a human body frequently resonated with a pill, it was much like carrying a child for ten months. In time, certain pills could develop a trace of spiritual awareness, and might even gestate a new life.
That, however, belonged only to the ancient era. In the present age, pills possessing such spirituality no longer existed.
He stepped outside and entered the courtyard, then began swinging the fish-scale saber in his hand.
As the treasured blade swept through the air, it left no trace upon heaven or earth, while countless currents of dragon-and-serpent energy spread in every direction.
After his journey through hell, his saber technique had become even more fierce and incisive. It had already reached the realm of perfect mastery. A single stroke could shatter ten thousand blades; with every slash, power radiated in all directions, like a host of dragons in motion, invincible before anything in their path.
But he still felt that it was not enough.
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