The setting sun slanted gently as the Honglian Saintess raised her hand and blasted open Gu Shenzhi’s door. Wood splinters flew, dust billowed, and the orange sunset cast its light on the scene, imbuing it with a unique charm.
Inside, only Gu Shenzhi remained; Taoyao had long since disappeared without a trace.
Girls who fall in love are always unreasonable. Compared to comforting words, knocking someone out is much more efficient.
Just a few moments ago, Gu Shenzhi had already returned Taoyao—who had “passed out from unbearable pain”—to her quarters and hurried back to Qihuang Courtyard before the Honglian Saintess could arrive.
For Gu Shenzhi’s sword-riding skills, this was no small challenge.
“That maid actually didn’t take the chance to flirt with you?” Su Linghuang looked coldly at the black-clad youth sitting cross-legged in the room and asked.
Gu Shenzhi calmed his mind, focused his energy, and only after circulating his spiritual power through a full cycle did he reply at a measured pace, “What, seeing your husband almost swept away by another woman, even the Honglian Saintess finally gets anxious?”
“You!” Su Linghuang’s face flushed bright red, making her even more stunning. When it came to bickering, she feared she would never surpass Gu Shenzhi in this lifetime.
Frustrated, Su Linghuang drew [Xiehuang] from its sheath and pressed the blade to his neck in a flash. The coldness in her Blood Eye was piercing, but it was only coldness, not killing intent.
“You won’t do it.” Gu Shenzhi sipped his tea calmly and said lightly. As a disciple of Bai Qi, his grasp of human nature was truly not in vain.
“Don’t think I really can’t do it. Over the years, the people I’ve killed could almost fill half a Chengshi.”
With that, Su Linghuang pressed the spiritual sword closer, easily slicing his skin. Blood began to seep out, staining the blade red.
“The color of the blood flowing in my veins matches the color of your eyes, Saintess. What a coincidence.”
The numb and stinging pain at the wound was intense, but Gu Shenzhi didn’t mind it at all, nor did he worry that [Xiehuang] would go any further. In the eyes of others, the Honglian Saintess was unattainable, but in truth, she was pure as a blank page in many ways, making one want to wrap an arm around her slender waist and cherish her dearly.
“What do you mean?”
Even with [Xiehuang] at his throat, Gu Shenzhi remained calm, and even offered his tea cup to the beauty before him. Unfortunately, she did not accept it; Taoyao’s tea-making skills were truly not bad.
Gu Shenzhi sighed and answered, “Of course I’m complimenting the Saintess’s beautiful eyes. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that before?”
“Blood Eye is a symbol of disaster and death. Those who possess Blood Eye often have exceptional talent in cultivation, but are typically afflicted by the Heavenly Dao’s Curse. Not only themselves, but even those around them suffer to varying degrees.”
Afterwards, Su Linghuang said a few more biting remarks, mostly mocking someone’s fickleness, though she was just being stubborn.
Gu Shenzhi listened quietly, still smiling, and said, “It’s just a rumor. It doesn’t diminish that breathtaking beauty. At the very least, I like it very much.”
“Hmph, my Master picked me up from a pile of corpses. That means those people all died because of me. Can you really still like someone like me?” Su Linghuang snorted softly, her voice gentle as she asked.
This was likely the first time in eight hours that she spoke to the youth in such a soft tone.
Without any hesitation, Gu Shenzhi replied earnestly, “Liking someone isn’t about reason. I like your Blood Eye, and I like you even more, Huang’er.”
Hearing such embarrassing words of affection, Su Linghuang’s cheeks flushed red. The crimson dress accentuated her graceful and alluring figure; her proud, snow-white curves and slender, supple waist were like a fresh lychee, tempting one to peel away the shell and savor the sweetness inside.
“Shameless!” Su Linghuang cursed softly, sheathed her sword, smoothed her skirt, and sat down beside the black-clad youth.
“If I’m a shameless scoundrel, then isn’t it even more shameless for you to sit next to me?” Gu Shenzhi retorted.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Honglian Saintess shot him a displeased glance, but she wasn’t angry. Instead, she gently cupped Gu Shenzhi’s cheek, forcing the Mystic Eyes beneath his scarf to meet her gaze.
“Didn’t you say my eyes are beautiful? Then this Saintess will graciously let you look as much as you want.”
The two were so close that they could feel each other’s breath on their necks. Unconsciously, their foreheads pressed together, like two rams butting heads.
“You should be able to see, right?” Su Linghuang asked softly. She longed to know the truth, but didn’t want to strain their relationship, so she only probed gently rather than interrogating.
“Mm.”
Gu Shenzhi nodded. Since Mu Zhonghua already knew the secret of his Chongtong, there was little point in hiding it from Huang’er now. In fact, keeping it from her might only make her angry again, so it was better to tell the truth.
Whether out of emotion or calculation, telling Su Linghuang the secret of the Eye of Dual Pupils was the best choice now.
“Is it a Mystic Eye?”
“Yes.”
“Which kind of Mystic Eye?”
“Based on my usual performance, why don’t you, the clever and knowledgeable Honglian Saintess, try to guess?” Gu Shenzhi joked.
“Jingchen Eye.”
“No.”
“Kuimi Eye?”
“No.”
……
“Xuanji Zhenfa Tong.”
Gu Shenzhi shook his head slightly and answered, “Still not right.”
“Then what else could it be?” Su Linghuang muttered to herself. Irritated, she slapped the bedding twice, then lay down in front of Gu Shenzhi, rolling around like an earthworm, making her seem especially endearing.
Only before Gu Shenzhi could the usually lofty Honglian Saintess let down all her defenses and reveal the softest, most girlish side of her heart—a side not even Mu Zhonghua had ever seen.
After all, compared to disciple and master, the bond between husband and wife was much closer—unless it was the twisted relationship between Gu Shenzhi and Bai Qi.
“Then let Su Saintess see for herself!” Gu Shenzhi leaned down, bracing his arms on either side of Su Linghuang and trapping her in the middle, quietly lowering his head.
She only needed to untie the thin ribbon, and the question that had troubled her for months would be answered.
Su Linghuang carefully reached out both hands, moving toward the knot of the scarf. She had already made up her mind—after learning the type of Mystic Eye he possessed, she would also confess the secret of the Divine Phoenix Bloodline within her.
She hated when Gu Shenzhi hid things from her, and she didn’t want to become someone she herself despised, so she would be honest with him.
But just as the Honglian Saintess’s delicate fingertips touched the scarf, a terrifying thought suddenly surfaced in her mind. To gaze upon everything, to see through the truth—such a king among Mystic Eyes seemed to match Gu Shenzhi’s ability to see through all things.
If that was really the case… she truly shouldn’t know.
At this thought, Su Linghuang abruptly stopped her hand and said seriously, “I suddenly don’t want to know anymore. Until I guess the type of your Mystic Eye, you’re not allowed to tell anyone.”
The Divine Phoenix Bloodline was merely Sacred Grade above Heavenly Grade, but Chongtong was a once-in-a-millennium Xian Fate. If a Sacred Grade could cause great upheaval in Mu Yunzhou, then Xian Fate would undoubtedly bring about a Jiuzhou Cataclysm.
The fewer people who knew about this, the better.