“To erase your cultivation and start over just to form a second Nascent Soul, it’s way too troublesome, way too troublesome. With my talent, if I really started over, who knows how many lifetimes I’d have to wait.”
“Forget it, forget it. Anyway, a pair of sisters is more than enough for Ah Xuan to enjoy.”
“This Gong Qianxue’s lectures are actually quite a sleep aid. I’ll have to come more often.”
Humming a cheerful little tune, the Blood Princess sang her way along the corridors, swaying as she headed back to her own quarters.
At that moment, a hidden gaze silently withdrew from the palace. Gong Qianxue played with the gray-white formation disk in her hand, while the dark treasure mirror beside her seemed completely oblivious, resting quietly like any ordinary ornament.
“What’s the diagnosis?” The Second Nascent Soul was the first to ask.
Gong Qianxue shook her head slightly, a hint of regret in her tone. “I haven’t found any traces of soul-bewitching evil arts yet. Maybe my studies of this heretical art haven’t reached mastery.”
“No matter, we just need to be patient and wait.” The Second Nascent Soul said with a gentle smile. “Where there’s a first time, there will be a second. Maybe next time we can see what exactly is sealed by that Absolute Immortal Stone Needle driven into the Heavenly Wisdom Acupoint.”
“Very well.”
“Next, it’s time for me to use the soul-bewitching art on you. You are ‘Gong Qianxue.’”
“So it must be.”
Gong Qianxue nodded in agreement, but her jaw clenched and her voice was laced with a hatred that pierced to the bone.
“A life-saving grace, a debt of nurture, a fateful encounter on the path of Dao—yet this unfilial child turns against me! This hatred, this enmity, will never be forgotten, not for ten thousand lifetimes!”
At a certain city where Central Province and the Northern Plains met, people came and went, the bustle never ceasing. In the thronging streets, a pair of figures—a woman and a child—didn’t stand out at all.
The tall woman’s figure was graceful and slender, a long robe of moon-white fluttering gently in the breeze. Her face was pale and refined, brows like distant ink, eyes like the stars, long jet-black hair simply tied back, lending her an aura of otherworldly elegance.
And the little boy holding her hand had a round, rosy face, big bright eyes that sparkled, and a stick of candied hawthorn in his grip.
“Mommy, I want a sugar figurine.”
“Mommy, I want that toy.”
“Mommy…”
“If you want it, go buy it yourself. Stop pestering me.” Su Bai gave the little rascal at her side a flick to the forehead without mercy, making the little boy clutch his head and whine in pain.
Rubbing his sore forehead, the little Su sulked and pouted. “Mommy wasn’t like this before. You used to buy whatever Xiao Hei wanted.”
“That was then. Besides, you’re already a thousand-year-old old fox, what are you doing pretending to be a cute little kid?”
Su Bai swept her gaze across the street. The crowds surged, shopfronts on both sides bustled, snacks and toys of every kind dazzled the eye, and the air was thick with the scent of the world.
Once upon a time, back in the first cycle, when Su Xiaohei was little, Su Bai would bring him down the mountain every New Year, shopping up a storm in mortal towns, stocking up on everything, and picking out new trinkets for her little pet.
Back then, Su Xiaohei was so obedient, so filial, so clingy—compared to this rebellious little brat now, Su Bai could only grit her teeth! She might as well have been possessed—at least then she could still claim her teaching was working.
“Mommy’s cursing Xiao Hei in her heart again.” Suddenly, while munching on the candied hawthorn, the little Su looked up, his eyes clear as a spring, as if he could see through all pretense in the world.
“You’re reading my mind?” Su Bai frowned.
“Of course not. But Xiao Hei can smell the flavors of emotion in mommy’s heart—memories, happiness, disgust, sighs, complexity. If you’re not cursing me in your heart, what else could it be?”
“Oh? At least you’re self-aware.”
Su Bai shrugged, admitting it—what could this little rascal do to her, after all?
The little Su pouted and kept gnawing on the candied hawthorn. “Actually, sometimes I think mommy is pretty double-standard. I learned that word from the other mommy.”
“Mommy thinks this world and Xiao Hei are fake, but you still go to all this trouble to stop me. If it weren’t for mommy’s seed, both Heavens and the Five Realms would be mine by now.”
“A real man knows what to do, and what not to do. That’s what my dad taught me.”
“Your mother’s father? I’d really like to meet him.”
“You never will. Not ever.”
“Really? Xiao Hei doesn’t believe it. Xiao Hei hates these things—these things bind mommy down.”
The little Su bit down another candied hawthorn, chewed, and swallowed. “Useless responsibility, the rules of ants, ridiculous expectations. Compared to all that, I believe more in what mommy said when you used to spank me…”
He raised his tiny fist and waved it with force right in front of Su Bai. His once innocent eyes suddenly turned sharp as knives, as if a lion lurked within.
“Fists are the only truth!!” Su Bai fell silent.
After a long time, she sighed softly. “I really did raise you wrong. If there’s a next life…”
“There won’t be a next life.” The little Su cut her off, gripping Su Bai’s hand tightly, a note of childish determination in his voice. “Mommy is mine! Shizun is mine too! Xiao Hei will make mommy and shizun love me! In this life!”
Hearing this, Su Bai suddenly stopped, turned, and looked down at the little boy. “Love is mutual. You don’t understand love at all…”
Su Xiaohei cut her off again without hesitation. “That’s right, Xiao Hei doesn’t understand, because mommy never taught me what love is. You only treated me as a pet, as an insignificant NPC, a mere cutout in your simulation. No matter how hard I try, I only ever occupy that tiny bit of space in mommy’s heart.”
“So, Xiao Hei will make mommy love me in my own way!”
Su Bai shook her head. “I will never fall in love with you.”
“Mommy won’t love Xiao Hei, but mommy will always stay by Xiao Hei’s side because of my power!”
The little Su’s gaze was blazing. “That’s what power is! The power to keep mommy with me!”
“Now, let mommy see the power Xiao Hei possesses!!”
Pa.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the little Su suddenly snapped his fingers.
In the next instant, Su Bai’s beautiful eyes widened, her mouth opening wide enough to swallow a whole egg. She stared in utter shock as the entire street—and the entire city—fell utterly still.
“Immobilization? Spatial freeze? Or time stop?” These thoughts flashed instantly through Su Bai’s mind. At this moment, little Su—no, Zhou Xuan, now grown in an instant and dressed in a gold-patterned white robe—no longer cared what she was thinking.
He raised a hand with a flourish. The clothes on Su Bai’s body instantly changed to a gorgeous palace dress. Then he released the pause, strode forward, one arm pulling Su Bai close by the waist, the other hand brazenly caressing her soft, supple skin, strolling leisurely with his beauty in his arms.
It was a sensation unlike anything she’d ever experienced.
They passed right by a couple in the midst of a heated argument—who, without even noticing, made way for them as if by instinct. When passing a shop, the owner fawned and offered up his wares. When they passed a dragon dance troupe, Zhou Xuan deliberately snatched the dragon pearl, causing a flurry of chaos, then tossed it aside carelessly.
Everyone went about their business as usual, yet no one sensed anything amiss. It was as if clearing the way, serving them, and attending to them was the most normal thing in the world.
“Shizun, this is power—the power to make all people bow down. If I wish, I can become the god of all.” Zhou Xuan turned to look at Su Bai, tightening his grip, his tone growing heavier, as if trying to prove his point.
“And of course, that includes you, Shizun.”
“I’ve never truly forced Shizun to become my plaything. That’s because I respect you, Shizun. That’s a rule I set for myself. But if one day, my patience runs out, if I decide to break that rule, or if Shizun truly angers me…”
“Disciple promises, Shizun won’t be so relaxed then—you’ll only become my—”
He leaned in close to Su Bai’s ear and whispered a few words, sending an involuntary shiver down her spine.
Zhou Xuan picked a teahouse by the street, flicked away imaginary dust, and sat down lazily, pulling Su Bai into his lap.
Su Bai stumbled, landing squarely on his thigh. Zhou Xuan’s arm encircled her waist as he tilted his head, his gaze drifting toward the northwest.
“Oh, right. Shizun, do you know why I brought you to this city?”
The man muttered to himself, “I’ve set the board, swept away all the pests, and this will be the best spot for watching the show.”