They had heard of bringing celebratory fortune to the living, but never to the dead.
—If they hadn’t personally killed him, they might have believed Su Liuyun was really about to come back to life.
Before long, Monk Guangping, who had gone out to investigate, also returned.
“In recent days, quite a number of people have died in Yuanyang City, all young men. This poor monk examined them one by one—they died after having their yang energy drained.”
—Clearly, this monk had lifted open people’s coffin lids.
And apparently more than one.
Noticing her strange gaze, Guangping brought his palms together and smiled:
“Miss need not worry. After opening their coffins, this poor monk recited a passage of the Rebirth Sutra for them.”
Chao Jinsui: ……
The manner of death of these men all very much matched what Guangping had said—they had their yang energy drained by love gu.
“It seems that in this Yuanyang City, the ones who have been planted with love gu are not just Miss Chao alone.”
Draining yang energy with love gu, and bringing celebratory fortune—
Just what medicine was the Su family selling in their gourd?
Could the dead really be revived through celebratory fortune?
Yan Xueyi thought of that remnant soul and suddenly narrowed his eyes.
That’s right—Su Liuyun was selfish and self-serving, yet even after his soul suffered such torment, he refused to reveal who held the gu.
—Unless Su Liuyun believed he could still live!
As long as he bit down and refused to be discovered, he still had a chance of survival!
The Demon almost let out a cold laugh:
Even if there were some secret method or forbidden technique, it could only retrieve a soul that had entered reincarnation but Su Liuyun likely did not know that Yan Xueyi had already destroyed his path to reincarnation!
Chao Xiaotu stepped into the Su family residence.
At that time, when the Kunlun Sword emerged, half of the forbidden grounds had collapsed as well. Chao Xiaotu had narrowly escaped with her life.
After finally being rescued from the sword formation, she saw her own father being coerced by the Su family, forced to sever one of his arms as compensation, and even ruthlessly extorted.
When Chao Xiaotu saw the severed arm, she felt as though the sky had collapsed. She cried for several days.
Chao Taichu hated them to the bone, but his injuries had not yet healed. This time his misfortune was purely a stumble in the gutter. Once he recovered, he would turn around and fall out with the Su family.
Yet the Su family pressed aggressively, showing not the slightest bit of mercy! They immediately demanded that the Chao family fulfill their promise and deliver the spirit stones and sword manuals.
Soon, Chao Xiaotu heard that the Su family was selecting someone to bring celebratory fortune, so she volunteered to go to Yuanyang City alone as a condition of exchange.
When Su Baishan heard that Chao Xiaotu was willing to personally go and bring celebratory fortune, he temporarily stopped making things difficult for Chao Taichu and agreed to leave the Kunlun Sword Sect.
Chao Taichu was very moved that Chao Xiaotu would take the initiative to bear this responsibility, so he agreed, and also sent several disciples to accompany her for protection.
Chao Xiaotu stayed in Yuanyang City for several days, only to discover that she was not the only one who wanted to come and bring celebratory fortune!
Her mood was already gloomy, and because of this matter, the Kunlun Sword Sect’s reputation had plummeted again—how could she bear it? Recently, she had been going more and more frequently and attentively to Madam Zi’s courtyard.
Chao Xiaotu saw Madam Zi, who was in the middle of dressing herself, and stepped forward, calling out, “Godmother.”
She carefully asked, “Godmother, do you really have a way to find Brother Su?”
Madam Zi spoke gently and softly: “Child, what are you so anxious for?”
Chao Xiaotu had personally seen that Su Liuyun’s soul lamp had gone out, but then she thought—Su Liuyun was the male lead—so she immediately felt reassured.
She thought for a moment. “Godmother, I think I saw my elder sister.”
Later, when Chao Xiaotu recalled that white-robed sword cultivator, she felt an indescribable sense of similarity.
She said somewhat urgently, “Godmother, if my elder sister really is here, could she ruin things? You know she hates Brother Su to the bone now!”
Madam Zi’s hand paused.
The maids around them all trembled in fright.
Ever since the day they heard that Chao Jinsui had stabbed the eldest young master, Madam Zi’s face had never shown a smile again. Day by day, her expression had grown colder than frost.
In the past, the maids knew that Madam liked Chao Jinsui, far more than she liked Chao Xiaotu—after all, her cultivation was higher, her talent better, and the eldest young master liked her more as well.
Madam Zi loved the crow and thus loved the roof it perched on, greatly fond of that girl who appeared cold on the outside. She helped the eldest young master choose gifts and often spoke of her fondly.
However, ever since that day, whenever this name was mentioned, the maid who spoke it would be dragged out of the courtyard and disappear underground.
Now, hearing Chao Xiaotu mention Chao Jinsui, the maids around them fell silent as cicadas in winter.
But today, Madam Zi did not fly into a rage. She naturally heard the clumsy provocation in Chao Xiaotu’s words, and instead smiled:
“It doesn’t matter.”
Just in time.
After Chao Xiaotu left, Su Baishan walked out.
Chao Xiaotu only thought the couple shared deep affection, but did not notice that within the entire Su family, there was faintly an air of Madam Zi being at the helm. Even Su Baishan was extremely gentle and careful before his wife.
Su Baishan said, “Madam, should we send people to search for her? The love gu has absorbed the yang energy of more than two hundred people. It should be enough for our son’s soul to return. If that Chao Jinsui appears, there may be unforeseen changes.”
Madam Zi’s beautiful smile twisted for a moment:
“Perfect timing! I was afraid she was too far away—that drawing her with the love gu would be too slow, and she would not arrive in time for my son’s soul to return!”
The love gu itself had a pulling effect. If she did not come, Madam Zi had already planned to lure her here with the love gu!
“Before, I blamed Liuyun for using such a gu on a little girl—so incompetent. Who would have thought my son would die so miserably? If not for this gu, I wouldn’t even know how to deal with her!”
“She stabbed my son once, I will stab her ten thousand times!”
Su Baishan looked at his wife’s face in the mirror, gentle to the point of eeriness, and his entire body stiffened.
Thinking of the terrifying Gu King beneath the Su family grounds, covered in barbs all over its body, even a dignified Nascent Soul cultivator like him broke out in a layer of cold sweat across his back.
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
That night.
Perhaps because of the distance, the closer she drew to Yuanyang City, the more clearly Chao Jinsui could feel the love gu inside her body slowly growing stronger, as though its power was gradually increasing with proximity.
For safety’s sake, Yan Xueyi directly suggested sharing a room with her, and Xiao Yanjing coiled around her wrist to protect her.
Chao Jinsui did not refuse.
After discovering the unusual happenings in Yuanyang City, Chao Jinsui did not intend to sleep. She did not rest that night, but instead closed her eyes and directly entered the second page of the Kunlun Sword Art.
It was the second level—the State of Following the Heart.
Earlier that day, when she used a chopstick to intimidate Chao Xiaotu, she had used this very technique.
But this time, the little golden figure of the Grandmaster did not immediately start attacking—
Within her sea of consciousness, the little golden figure came to the place where the solidified Kunlun Sword stood, and sat cross-legged opposite the Kunlun Sword.
The little golden figure closed its eyes. A moment later, the golden Kunlun Sword in her sea of consciousness actually moved, even tracing an extremely beautiful sword flourish in midair!
This was the State of Following the Heart—merely with a single thought, without even needing to mobilize spiritual energy, the sword could resonate with your intent!
Chao Jinsui focused her attention and, imitating the little figure, sat down in front of the sword.
However, on the first attempt, she nearly exhausted all her strength, yet the Kunlun Sword did not move at all.
She stared again at the golden figure’s movements, gathering all her divine sense into a single point, concentrating completely as she imagined the sword shifting.
Though she was within her sea of consciousness, being in Yuanyang City—Madam Zi’s stronghold—she had never relaxed her vigilance.
At that moment, with a shift of thought, she realized the gu had stirred.
Madam Zi’s voice seemed to come from the edge of the heavens, calling her, urging her—but this time not to make her absorb yang energy. Instead, it murmured softly, guiding her consciousness slowly toward sleep.
She was using the gu to hypnotize her consciousness!
Within her sea of consciousness, Chao Jinsui could clearly feel that control over her body was gradually being replaced by the gu worm.
Her heart sank.
She wanted to warn Yan Xueyi, or touch Xiao Yanjing but she could not speak, could not move.
It was somewhat like being pressed down by a ghost in one’s sleep.
In her mind, there was only Madam Zi’s voice, gentle to the point of eeriness.
Chao Jinsui could clearly feel her control over her body being seized.
She almost had the illusion—that once the gu worm completely controlled her body, even if Madam Zi ordered her to harm herself, her body, under the gu’s control, would stab herself without the slightest hesitation.
“System!”
The system panicked too, trying to jab her: “Host, no use—the gu worm has no sense of pain!”
Her heart sank.
No—she could not let the gu worm completely take control of her body. Otherwise, things would become extremely troublesome. She had to interrupt Madam Zi’s hypnosis!
Within her sea of consciousness, she looked toward the Kunlun Sword.
—What the Grandmaster had just taught her: move that Kunlun Sword with all her strength!
Feeling a sharp pain in her sea of consciousness, she heard a buzzing sound outside, and suddenly the Kunlun Sword moved!
The heart moved, and the sword followed—she had done it.
The sensation was extremely wondrous. Before, the Kunlun Sword would obey her commands, but the sword was the sword, and the person was the person. Without spiritual energy, it was impossible to wield the Kunlun Sword.
But now, the Kunlun Sword seemed to have become her hand, a part of her body. She did not need spiritual energy, she only needed a single thought.
Hearing the movement, the Demon suddenly opened his eyes.
The Kunlun Sword wrote the character “gu” on the table.
She was still somewhat unskilled—this lack of skill was like writing with her left hand.
But it was enough.
That Demon would certainly already know what had happened.
Sure enough, before long, a fierce and overbearing demonic aura surged into her body.
Chao Jinsui thought he was going to repeat his old method—
She had just been about to tell him it was useless.
Suddenly, another voice sounded in her mind.
Chao Jinsui had a bad premonition.
Madam Zi’s voice seemed to carry an echo, eerily repeating: “Sleep, sleep, sleep…”
Heart demon: “Get up, damn it! Kill her for me!”
Madam Zi: “You’re sleepy, relax, leave everything to me—”
The heart demon was furious: “Shut the hell up!”
Madam Zi: sleep sleep sleep.
Heart demon: kill kill kill.
Chao Jinsui: “……”
Right—how could she forget, there was still a heart demon inside her body.
One telling her to sleep, one telling her to kill.
Poison against poison.
But it actually worked wonders. Under this interference, control of her body slowly returned to her.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she met the Demon’s beautiful phoenix eyes.
His expression was cold to the point of near cruelty, completely different from the irritable, foul-mouthed heart demon just now.
At this moment, neither of them spoke. They shared an unspoken understanding, carefully listening to Madam Zi’s voice.
Madam Zi’s voice remained gentle, unaffected in the slightest by the raging heart demon.
Clearly, this gu was not targeting her alone. Madam Zi could issue commands, but could not hear the voices on the other side of the gu.
At this time, far on the other side of the city, Madam Zi felt the delighted responses of countless gu worms and curled her lips in satisfaction.
But she did not know—
One extremely, extremely important gu had already slipped beyond her control.
Along with Madam Zi’s gentle call: “Child, come.”
Under the deep night, the entire Yuanyang City lay in deathly silence. No cultivators would travel at such an hour, so the streets were completely empty.
Yet precisely because they were empty, the sight of one young, beautiful woman after another stepping out of their homes, expressionless, almost unconsciously walking toward the outskirts of the city, appeared especially eerie.
Like children yearning to return to their mother’s embrace, the gu worms also urgently urged Chao Jinsui to walk outward.
So Chao Jinsui cooperatively sat up, opened the window, and walked toward the direction the gu kept urging her toward.
The Demon did not stop her.
His form turned into a mass of black mist, blending into the night as he followed behind her.
They both knew—tonight, Madam Zi was going to make her move!
