Qing Emperor’s Bedchamber.
It had already been half an hour since the Blood Body was taken away. If everything had gone as usual, Su Bai wouldn’t be worried—after all, they could always contact each other. But for some unknown reason, that little fiend had used some method to blur their connection. It was as if they’d gone from the internet to a local area network. Even with the mighty power of the Simulator, all Su Bai could determine was that the Blood Body was still alive, and… probably hadn’t been broken.
“Master, Master.”
A little boy in white robes darted out from the shadows, clutching a chessboard in his arms. He rushed straight up to Su Bai, his large, glistening eyes shining like the stars twinkling in the night sky.
“Let’s play chess together! Xiao Hei is really good at it!”
Su Bai reached out and pinched the boy’s soft, chubby cheeks hard, demanding with a fierce glare, “You little fiend, what did you do to my Blood Body?”
“Awooo~ It hurts, Master, be gentle, Xiao Hei’s going to die from the pain!” The little boy howled in agony. “Awoo~ I didn’t do anything to that Master, just asked a few questions.”
Only then did Su Bai let go. The little boy tossed the chessboard aside and rubbed his reddened cheeks with both hands, looking completely aggrieved.
Seeing this, Su Bai snorted coldly.
“How long are you going to keep pretending, Su Xiao Hei, Su Xuantian, Zhou Xuan?”
“You’ve been laying out your scheme from the very beginning, haven’t you?”
Then, as if replaying the events, or perhaps just sorting through all the questions that had plagued her over the past half hour, she spoke to herself.
“From the moment you stabbed me in the back, you started your plan. The Xuantian Imperial Palace, the [Heavenly Emperor Spirit-Locking Array], even the timing of my awakening—it was all within your calculations, wasn’t it?”
“No, you noticed my Blood Body long ago. Under the [Heavenly Emperor Spirit-Locking Array], how could the Blood Sea in the Northern Plains stay hidden?”
“Actually, I didn’t awaken naturally. I was awakened by you only after you’d made all your preparations, right?”
She looked up, her gaze deep and penetrating. “First you developed me into a ‘Furball,’ then deliberately left me hanging for a hundred years, fighting against [Extinguishing Sun]. You feigned serious injury, making me believe that my hope of being rescued was growing smaller and smaller, even forcing me, as I was tormented by desire, to repeatedly lower my psychological bottom line.”
“What exactly do you want?”
The little boy tilted his head. Having his centuries-old plan exposed didn’t bother him in the least; his face was full of innocent mischief. “Of course, I just want Master to face your own desires~”
“Master is at your most beautiful when you confront your desires. At that moment, you are the most beautiful Master in the whole world.”
As he spoke, he took out a stone and tapped it a few times. Instantly, it projected an image.
“Master, you…”
“Shut up! You little fiend!”
“Yes, I do care about face, I do desire power and lust after beauty, I am a hypocrite who says one thing and does another, hahaha… Do you know what it felt like the first time I ever really enjoyed pleasure? Damn it, it felt so good! How can it feel so wonderful to be a woman!!”
“I can’t allow myself to get addicted to pleasure. I carry my parents’ expectations, I have my own dreams to chase, and I care about the opinions of those I care about!”
“I must bear these responsibilities!!”
“So, I, Su Bai, cannot lose myself in this pleasure!!”
“But you’re different.”
“You’re just an NPC in the Simulator, you’re not real, and you’re about to die!”
“Once you die, who’ll know about my dark history!!”
In the projection, the Empress was wild and enchanting, bewitching yet terrifying, madness dancing in every move—both fearsome and addictive, drawing people helplessly in.
The little boy watched, drooling openly. Su Bai’s cheeks flushed red, and she turned away, thinking to herself that, at that time, she’d simply lost her mind with lust. That wasn’t her real self, absolutely not.
Wiping his mouth longingly, the little boy looked at Su Bai again, as if admitting or explaining, “Heaven makes those it wishes to destroy go mad first. I won’t let Master die, nor will I let Master go mad.”
“But I just wanted to see the real nature within Master, even if only for a moment.”
“Master once said: Absolute power brings absolute authority, absolute authority breeds absolute ambition, and absolute ambition produces absolute ‘evil.’”
“All this time it’s always been Xiao Hei strong, Master weak. If I want to see Master’s true nature, Xiao Hei must become weak, convincingly weak, so Master becomes relatively strong.”
“The [Heavenly Emperor Spirit-Locking Array] discovered the Blood Fetus beneath the Blood Sea. I guessed it was Master’s hidden move, so I didn’t touch it.”
“The [Divine Emperor Soldiers] found that talented children across the Five Domains were disappearing for no reason. I let them go.”
“Master’s Blood Body raided resource warehouses all over. I feigned a fit of rage, but only acted angry on the surface.”
“[Extinguishing Sun] stirred up chaos in the Five Domains. I allowed them to grow unchecked. Even when I had to act, I only killed a batch of their outer disciples.”
“[Extinguishing Sun]’s cultivators launched attacks, and I pretended my old wounds flared up and fled in defeat.”
“One thing after another, I grew weaker while Master grew stronger. And once Master was strong, what would you do to me, a weakling on the brink of death?”
Once again, the little boy tapped the projection stone, freezing the image: the Empress pushing Zhou Xuan down, straddling him and writhing with a look of rapturous pleasure and liberation.
He looked at Su Bai. “This is Master’s evil, this is Master’s desire, this is Master’s true nature.”
“Master, free from all worldly shackles, discarding self-restraint, breaking taboos, facing your desires and your heart head-on.”
Su Bai fell silent.
She closed her eyes, pain etched on her face.
“You’re wrong. A gentleman may admire beauty, but not indulge in lust. Desire is born from feeling, but must be stopped by propriety.
At that time, I was just blinded by desire. Everyone makes mistakes. When I woke up, I was full of guilt and regret.”
“Master still refuses to admit your true heart. Sigh~” The little boy looked up and sighed softly. “Why repress yourself? Why insist on being a Qian cultivator? Why care so much about the gaze of those common insects out there?”
“Just because of those laughable responsibilities, others’ expectations, and the eyes of friends, you keep suppressing and restraining yourself. I don’t know where Master truly comes from, but I can’t help feeling sorry for you.”
“If I ever find your mother’s house, I’ll definitely deal with those annoying insects….” Noticing Su Bai’s expression shift, the little boy shook his head, “Forget it, forget it, since Master cares, then I won’t kill them.”
He reached his hand out toward Su Bai.
“Master, since you care so much about these ridiculous things, let me bear them for you.”
Staring into Su Bai’s beautiful eyes, filled with complexity and endless struggle, the little fiend spoke calmly, “I don’t consider myself illusory. Someday, I’ll find the world where you live, and then I’ll shoulder everything for you. All Master has to do is live happily under my protection.”
“The only thing I need you to give me is your heart—completely open your heart, unleash your true nature, truly enjoy happiness, and truly love me once.”
Su Bai’s heart trembled, rippling… No, it was like a massive meteor crashing into the center of the Pacific Ocean, setting off towering waves. The little hand reaching out grew closer and closer in her sight, like vines spreading in the darkness, carrying a stubbornness that brooked no refusal.