Chapter 32 – Shi Congxin’s god
Shu Yanyan and Qiu Congxue had a simple reason for fighting. Qiu Congxue had reported to the main hall after dropping Baili Qingmiao off at the Hellfire Pavilion, where she bumped into Shu Yanyan. Shu Yanyan hadn’t known Qiu Congxue was still alive and stared at her for a time, unable to take her eyes away.
Now that Qiu Congxue was a wandering immortal, she had a full body under the black robe and had lost her eerie rack of white bones and the bloodthirsty ghosts she’d kept around, so she was a little self-conscious. She had avoided all her subordinates at the Hellfire Pavilion, afraid her reputation as a ghost cultivator would be damaged.
Seeing Shu Yanyan stare at her, she immediately assumed she was being mocked. “What right do you have to look at me?” she said in annoyance.
“Why can’t I look at you?” said Shu Yanyan, raising her head proudly. “It’s your honor to have this Protector look your way.”
Thus the two had started fighting. There was really nothing else to it.
When Wenren È arrived with Yin Hanjiang, Qiu Congxue was chasing Shu Yanyan around the mountainside, while Altar Master Ruan snuck in an attack every once in a while, yelling, “I’ll teach you to take in such disgusting subordinates! I’ll fuck— I’ll kill you!”
In this short time, Altar Master Ruan had learned to fix his language. Wenren È nodded in satisfaction. His Xuanyuan Sect was finally shaping up.
“Stop.” Wenren È raised his voice, the Seven Killing Halberd in one hand. The three felt a pressure far surpassing that of a Mahayana stage cultivator, and were unable to determine just what level Wenren È was at now. They immediately stopped fighting and knelt before him.
“Venerable, this subordinate—” Qiu Congxue blurted out first.
“This Venerable knows,” Wenren È said. “You can stay in the main hall for now. When the task is finished, bring Baili Qingmiao back to Shangqing Sect.”
“Venerable, how about my Hellfire Pavilion…” Qiu Congxue showed some rare hesitation. “Nevermind, Shi Congxin can have it.”
Her current position in Xuanyuan Sect was a bit awkward. Qiu Congxue had been beating Shu Yanyan handily in their battle, and was possibly the strongest person in Xuanyuan Sect aside from Wenren È. But the positions of the Altar Masters and the two Protectors were all filled. Qiu Congxue glanced over to Altar Masters Yuan and Ruan, racking her brains to consider who she should kill to steal their domain.
Altar Master Yuan felt his hair stand on end from her gaze and quickly said, “Venerable, the main hall must handle many different affairs and cooperate with the other Altar Masters. Altar Master Qiu’s brains, er, I mean temperament, isn’t suited to managing it. If you ask me, Altar Master Ruan’s Tortoise Shell Pavilion is more suitable.”
“You’re quite the schemer, aren’t you?” Altar Master Ruan spat.
“No need for concern,” Wenren È said. “This Venerable has already made a decision. Altar Master Qiu has offered great services and can be promoted to Sect Protector, ranking above the four Altar Masters.”
Shu Yanyan’s expression froze. She didn’t dare to defy Wenren È, and instead glanced over at Altar Master Yuan, her eyes venomous. If she couldn’t be Sect Protector, she could at least be the Main Hall Master.
Sweat dripped down Altar Master Yuan’s face. He could dodge Qiu Congxue by saying that she wasn’t smart enough, but how was he supposed to get past Shu Yanyan?
“This Venerable was referring to the position of Left Protector,” Wenren È said.
Shu Yanyan and the Altar Masters all let out a breath. Now that Qiu Congxue was raised to the same position as Shu Yanyan, she was pleased enough that her inferiority complex faded some.
Yin Hanjiang watched Wenren È, without a hint of concern at losing his position. Power and status never mattered to him. The things that Shu Yanyan and the Altar Masters fought over so viciously were things the Venerable would toss him without a thought.
Feeling Yin Hanjiang’s gaze, Wenren È said, “Former Left Protector Yin Hanjiang will now be the Deputy Sect Leader of Xuanyuan Sect. From now on, his words can be considered my words.”
Just as expected. Yin Hanjiang lowered his head calmly. This was the kind of person his Venerable was.
Shu Yanyan furrowed her brows, feeling that something was off. Only until Wenren È left for the Hellfire Pavilion with Sect Leader Yin and Altar Master Miao did she realize. Yin Hanjiang, who used to be at the same position as her, now stood higher, and Qiu Congxue was now equal to her, so her position in the sect had actually fallen.
She’d initially been happy to find out Qiu Congxue had survived, but now…
The Left and Right Protectors shared a glance, enmity obvious in each other’s eyes.
Wenren È didn’t care how well his new Protector got along with the old. Ditching Altar Master Miao, whose light flash was slower, he flew Yin Hanjiang to Hellfire Pavilion. Landing, he asked, “Protector Yin— no, Sect Leader Yin, you’ve seemed dispirited as of late. Are you unsatisfied with this Venerable’s arrangements?”
Shu Yanyan would’ve started picking apart what he could’ve meant by this line, whether or not he was dissatisfied with her, how she should reply. Yin Hanjiang didn’t consider any of that and answered honestly. “Now that he stands one step closer to the Venerable, this subordinate hardly knows how to express his joy, so how can he be unsatisfied?”
“Why do I feel like you’re further from me these days?” Wenren È looked closely at Yin Hanjiang, but he had his head bowed, not showing his face. With some displeasure, Wenren È said, “This Venerable doesn’t like it when you kneel, and doesn’t like it when you lower your head. This Venerable doesn’t like not being able to see your face.”
Obediently, Yin Hanjiang raised his head and looked directly at Wenren È. His eyes were filled with complicated emotions. It seemed to be admiration, but other things Wenren È couldn’t recognize were mixed in.
“That’s better,” he said. “You’re now the Deputy Sect Leader. Your words and actions represent this Venerable. Show some spirit.”
“Understood.” Yin Hanjiang’s expression gradually became more firm.
His feelings toward his Venerable would not affect their relationship. The fact that the most important person to Yin Hanjiang was Wenren È hadn’t changed. That alone was sufficient.
Wenren È was very concerned with what would happen between Baili Qingmiao and Zhongli Qian, so concealed himself and Yin Hanjiang, and headed to Baili Qingmiao’s cell.
Baili Qingmiao had been blindfolded and tied to a wooden bed. Sitting in a chair by the bed was Altar Master Shi.
The Hellfire Pavilion was constantly shrouded in yin energy and sunlight couldn’t shine directly in, so gloom filled it even at midday. Altar Master Shi placed an oil lamp on the desk, coughed lightly twice, and took out a needle, heating the point over the lamp’s flame.
“Who are you?” Baili Qingmiao said, her voice trembling slightly. Her chest heaved up and down in fear, but she still steadied her voice and said, “Where’s my master? What have you done to her? If you harm even a hair on her head, I’ll pay you back ten times! A hundred times!”
“Cough, cough, cough!” Shi Congxin broke into a fit of coughing before he could speak. After it subsided, he said, “No one dares to touch her. You should be worrying about yourself right now.”
With two needles in his hands, he pricked the tip of Baili Qingmiao’s middle finger with one, extracting two drops of blood. After setting it aside, he brought over the next one, with Zhongli Qian’s blood on it, and took off Baili Qingmiao’s blindfold.
Opening her eyes, Baili Qingmiao found herself in a shadowy room, a sickly man sitting beside her. He looked young, not more than his twenties, and his skin was so pale that his fingertips appeared a bit translucent in the lamp light.
He wore a thin white single robe with a black overcoat thrown over, its dark brown fur collar making his face look even paler by contrast. His long eyelashes were lowered as he focused on the needle in his hand. Mentally reciting a spell, he rapidly made several hand signs with his free hand, at a speed Baili Qingmiao had never seen before, such that his movements were just a blur.
“Set!” Shi Congxin barked, his index and middle finger pointing to the needle. The curse was now complete.
Now he would just need to drip both drops of blood into Baili Qingmiao’s eyes, and from then on, no matter where she was, the first thing in her sight would always be Zhongli Qian.
“Thinking about it, in all my years of laying down curses, I’ve never gotten such a strange curse request,” Shi Congxue said as he began dripping the blood. “The Venerable sure is a mysterious man.”
He first did her left eye. When moving to her right, his hand suddenly jolted, causing the second drop to miss her eye and slide down her nose.
“What’s this?” Altar Master Shi raised his emaciated hand, looking it over front and back. “Strange. Why did it shake?”
“What’d you do to me? What’d you put in my eye?!” Baili Qingmiao said through gritted teeth, just managing to hold back tears.
Her tears were for the people who loved her, not for her enemies to see her weakness. Baili Qingmiao might cry a lot, but she wouldn’t do something so pointless at a time like this.
“Something’s not right.” Altar Master Shi’s eyes fell on Baili Qingmiao’s face, and he suddenly froze.
Wenren È, watching from outside, also felt that something was wrong with Shi Congxin. He quickly flipped through Abusive Romance, finding that the words in it were changing furiously.
Originally, on the day of Hè Wenzhao’s marriage to the Violet Spirit Master, Baili Qingmiao had escaped with the help of Zhongli Qian, and separated from him after exchanging names. The night after the wedding, she also ran into Wenren È, who had been looking out for her. Wenren È had sat with her though that torturous night, and promised her he would bring the Cowherd and Weaver Girl stars together.
Today just happened to be the wedding of Hè Wenzhao and Liu Xinye. Love interest numbers two and three weren’t there for Baili Qingmiao. There was only Shi Congxin, who was busy cursing her.
Wenren È watched the words on the page become: “Shi Congxin looked at Baili Qingmiao’s tearstained face, captivated by her frail yet resolute expression. In the firelight, Baili Qingmiao’s body seemed to be shrouded in a thin layer of divine light. Shi Congxin’s heart was moved.”
Wenren È: …
The divine light again. Shi Congxin could also see the divine light? And this passage had clearly been intended for Wenren È, with just the name changed.
That passage had appeared in Shi Congxin’s mind too. He raised the lamp, closely examining Baili Qingmiao’s face, then felt her fingers to read her fortune. When he got his answer, he started coughing violently.
He coughed so hard it seemed he was about to hack up a lung. Even the sound chilled Baili Qingmiao’s blood. She thought the person next to her might drop dead at any second.
Wenren È frowned. Yin Hanjiang put on the ghost mask and flashed inside the room. He picked up Shi Congxin in one hand and hauled him out, leaving Baili Qingmiao alone and bewildered inside.
“Venerable, cough cough cough…” Shi Congxin coughed for ages before he managed to recover. Gasping for breath, he said, “It seems this subordinate can’t act against her.”
“Why?”
“This subordinate cultivates illness among the seven forms of human suffering—birth, old age, illness, death, resentment, parting, and desire. This is a principle that originates from Buddhism, and those who cultivate it must allow their body to be plagued by all kinds of illnesses and ailments, and experience the depths of human suffering in order to awaken to the greater Dao. Back then, when I looked at that girl, I felt the might of a god.
“It felt like she was meant to be this subordinate’s superior, higher than Altar Master Qiu or the Venerable— no no no, not higher than the Venerable. When this subordinate looked at her, it felt like… when Altar Master Miao’s gu insects look at their queen. It felt like I was possessed, wanting to live and die for her and give up everything for her.”
Wenren È: …
In Baili Qingmiao’s previous life, she had ruled disasters, plagues, and wars, and was the source of Shi Congxin’s Dao. Even if he ascended to godhood later, he would be one of her servants.