Washing Brush and Rinsing the Heart

Shu Wanjuan had been struck by Speaking with Utmost Certainty, leaving him to take several slashes from Li Qi for nothing. He was thoroughly astonished by Li Qi's abilities. Ever since his covenant deed had been quietly snatched away the last time, Shu Wanjuan had gnashed his teeth in secret, vowing that the next time he encountered Li Qi, he would never let him escape. Yet here he was, repeatedly ambushed by Li Qi, still utterly unable to detect him. Li Qi was equally amazed by the Blood Tooth Monster's capabilities. Murong Gui had heavily wounded her, reducing everything above her neck to a single written character—"Shatter"—yet she had actually managed to restore herself. And having restored herself, she could still pinpoint Li Banfeng's whereabouts. The reasons behind it would have to wait for later. Li Banfeng's figure vanished, and Shu Wanjuan immediately readied his Skill of Heavenly Harmony. Murong Gui snapped the tip off his writing brush, sending its bristles flying toward the Blood Tooth Monster like needles. The Blood Tooth Monster scrambled to dodge, muttering complaints as she moved. "Why doesn't a refined scholar like you have any tenderness for a fair lady? A grandmaster like him is standing right there, yet you ignore him and single me out to pick on—" Bang! The Blood Tooth Monster shuddered as a hole blasted open in her chest. "You're using Viewing Flowers from Horseback on me too?" The Blood Tooth Monster looked at Li Qi with deep grievance. Li Banfeng consoled her, "Shu Wanjuan has the Skill of Heavenly Harmony, so using it on him doesn't hurt. That leaves only you to use it on. I'm not singling you out on purpose." Bang! Before his words had even settled, the Blood Tooth Monster exploded once more, spilling heart, liver, and intestines across the ground. The Blood Tooth Monster burst into tears. "Second King! They're bullying me like this and you don't even care! Just wait until Old Shan gets his hands on the covenant deed—we'll keep the territory for ourselves and won't share a scrap with you!" Shu Wanjuan was stunned. Why did this woman blabber about everything? Li Banfeng glanced at Murong Gui. Murong Gui wore an impassive face, but sweat was pouring down him like rain. He could sense that his covenant deed was in danger, but he dared not show it. Both Shu Wanjuan and the Blood Tooth Monster were formidable foes; under no circumstances could he afford to be distracted now. Li Banfeng suddenly manifested, unleashing Five Horses Dismembering the Body upon the Blood Tooth Monster. "Was what you just said true?" Li Banfeng tore away everything from her right shoulder down to her right leg. Drawing her dying breaths, she wheezed, "Fake... I was talking nonsense just now. You must never take it seriously. Shan Chengjun didn't go get the deed. He doesn't know the covenant deed is hidden in the Willow Garden, nor does he know there isn't actually a local deity guarding it, just a spiritual writing brush keeping watch—" Shu Wanjuan truly felt an urge to lend a hand and just put the Blood Tooth Monster out of her misery. For a moment, Li Banfeng could not determine what the Blood Tooth Monster was planning, so he prepared to toss her into his companion dwelling for a proper interrogation. A wave of grave danger suddenly struck him. Whether an illusion or something else, Li Banfeng seemed to see the Blood Tooth Monster flash a faint grin at him. Her body was already mangled to this degree, and she could still smile? Could his eyes be playing tricks on him? He could not bring her into the companion dwelling; otherwise, a catastrophe might ensue. The safest course of action was to kill her outright. Li Banfeng stomped down with Treading Through Ten Thousand Streams, trampling the Blood Tooth Monster into minced meat. Shu Wanjuan stood watching the entire time, harboring no intention of rescuing the Blood Tooth Monster. Li Banfeng hurled his sickle at Shu Wanjuan. This move was virtually meaningless; among magical treasures, the sickle's combat power was hardly remarkable, so how could it possibly harm Shu Wanjuan? Shu Wanjuan ignored the sickle entirely and prepared to strike back at Li Banfeng. Murong Gui wielded his Judge's Brush, brandishing it toward Shu Wanjuan with a shout: "Dodge!" Shu Wanjuan's feet left the ground as he leapt aside, avoiding the sickle. Leaving the ground spelled trouble—it was equivalent to accepting Murong Gui's aid. Murong Gui bellowed, "Return my capital!" Shu Wanjuan's gaze went slack, an indolent drowsiness creeping over him. Li Banfeng dashed in close, about to execute Five Horses Dismembering the Household, only to find that Shu Wanjuan had dissolved into black ink, splattering across the ground. The ink flowed sluggishly across the stone floor. Once Shu Wanjuan shed the sloth cultivator technique, he quietly watched from the sidelines once more. Today's Shu Wanjuan was drastically different from his former self; the grievous injuries he had sustained earlier appeared to have completely healed. The reason he held back from rash attacks was to buy time for Shan Chengjun. Li Qi swiftly closed in. Characters covered Shu Wanjuan's body. No matter what technique Li Qi employed, Shu Wanjuan stuck to his tactic: defend first, then await an opportunity to strike back. As long as the Skill of Heavenly Harmony remained active, Shu Wanjuan could ensure his life was safe. Whether a counterattack would succeed depended on luck. Li Banfeng's figure vanished in an instant. Shu Wanjuan stood his ground without flinching. He deduced that Li Qi was going to use Viewing Flowers from Horseback. Li Qi's Viewing Flowers from Horseback was indeed peculiar. A single activation triggered two successive strikes with unpredictable intervals, demanding meticulous defense without the slightest lapse in vigilance. After waiting a moment, Shu Wanjuan did not explode. Directing the characters to sense his surroundings carefully, he found that Li Qi did not seem to be nearby. Had he left? Where did he go? Could he have gone to the Willow Garden? Shan Chengjun was currently searching for the covenant deed in the Ink Fragrance Shop's Willow Garden. If Li Qi went there, it would ruin Shan Chengjun's errand. The Blood Tooth Monster shouted, "Why aren't you chasing him?!" Why hadn't this wench died yet? Hadn't Li Qi just trampled her into paste? Shu Wanjuan was furious; the Blood Tooth Monster had spoiled everything. With no leisure to settle scores with her now, Shu Wanjuan was about to set off in pursuit of Li Qi when a figure suddenly appeared before his eyes, flashing past accompanied by the faint scent of rouge. Bang! Shu Wanjuan blew apart. This was Viewing Flowers from Horseback. Had Li Qi returned? No, the quality of this Viewing Flowers from Horseback was entirely different. Even though it had detonated only once, Shu Wanjuan's textual stand-in had been pulverized into fine powder—not a single intact trace of ink remained. Whose technique was so ferocious? Had he just been plowed into by the Little Train? While Shu Wanjuan was still pondering, the figure materialized before him once again. This time, he caught a clear look at her face. She was a woman of athletic build, with lean cheeks, exquisite and sharply defined features, and hair piled into a high coiffure atop her head. She looked somewhat familiar, yet for a moment, he could not recall who she was. Shu Wanjuan had no time to think; the woman stamped down with Treading Through Ten Thousand Streams. Boom! Shu Wanjuan's body was pulverized, but he rose back to his feet by virtue of the Skill of Heavenly Harmony. Boom! The woman stomped down yet again. Shu Wanjuan barely fended it off. When he rose, he was covered in blood; her strikes were so swift that his Skill of Heavenly Harmony could not transition in time. Boom! She delivered a third stomp. Shu Wanjuan threw out two whole books at once, pushing the Skill of Heavenly Harmony to its absolute limit, and managed to withstand the blow with immense difficulty. Staggering, Shu Wanjuan tried to get up, but the lingering force of Treading Through Ten Thousand Streams had not dissipated. Losing his balance, he tumbled back to the ground. Not only did he fail to keep his footing, but the Blood Tooth Monster also collapsed to the ground. Even Murong Gui, far off upon the pavilion, was shaken by the shockwave, nearly tumbling from the railings. Treading Through Ten Thousand Streams could actually be used like this?! The Blood Tooth Monster cried out in shock, "What kind of monster is this?!" "Monster?" The woman turned her face toward the Blood Tooth Monster. The Blood Tooth Monster trembled all over. "Miss, I didn't say anything! I was calling Shu Wanjuan a monster! Look at that old bastard—doesn't he look just like a monster? I truly meant him..." Though her tongue yielded, the Blood Tooth Monster didn't budge an inch. She knew full well that the person before her was a top-tier Travel Cultivator; trying to run would not be so easy. Shu Wanjuan also noticed the telltale signs. Treading Through Ten Thousand Streams consumed an extraordinary amount of physical stamina; an ordinary cultivator had to rest for a long time after using it just once. Yet this woman had unleashed it three times in rapid succession. In Shu Wanjuan's memory, there was only one person capable of wielding Treading Through Ten Thousand Streams in such a manner. Hong Ying! How many years had she been dead? When had she come back to life? Why had she come to Cloud Zenith Mountain? Hong Ying flashed to the Blood Tooth Monster's side. The monster tried to stammer an excuse, but Hong Ying tore her clean in half with Sever Path to Open a Road. Hong Ying's successful blow, however, afforded Shu Wanjuan an opening to retaliate. The pools of black ink scattered across the flagstones surged into the air, hurtling toward Hong Ying from every direction. Repeatedly employing the Skill of Heavenly Harmony took a heavy toll on Shu Wanjuan as well; these scattered droplets of ink represented a bit of compensation he had stockpiled for himself. Hong Ying was a premier Travel Cultivator. Anticipating that she might employ Carefree and Unfettered, Shu Wanjuan deliberately avoided clustering the ink into a single mass. Some streaks flew fast and others slow; some sped in straight lines while others curved in sweeping arcs. An erratic, chaotic encirclement—he would see how Hong Ying evaded this! Sensing the imminent danger, Hong Ying prepared to respond with Unimpeded Passage. Yet the ink was so dense that Unimpeded Passage would inevitably leave gaps, and if even a single drop struck her, she could suffer grave injury. Neither steps nor Carefree and Unfettered felt entirely secure. Using Sever Path to Open a Road to cleave all the ink apart appeared to be the best option. Yet if she truly resorted to Sever Path to Open a Road, Shu Wanjuan would immediately deduce her line of movement, and vicious countermeasures would be lying in wait for her. Without dwelling on it, Hong Ying was just about to execute Sever Path to Open a Road when a low hum echoed out. The ink flying midair shuddered violently, and in the blink of an eye, completely slipped from control. Someone had neutralized the ink array for Hong Ying. The humming persisted, sending a sharp pang through Shu Wanjuan's chest, reminding him of a famed general from years past whose name struck terror into the hearts of all who heard it. "General Zhao, you are here as well!" Shu Wanjuan scanned his surroundings, the characters across the ground shifting along with his gaze. Zhao Xiaowan did not show herself, but her voice resonated right beside Shu Wanjuan's ears. "Senior Shu, it has been many years. I trust you've been well." Hong Ying raised the spear in her hand and pointed it at Shu Wanjuan. "Old scoundrel, do you intend to let me take your head, or will you surrender without a fight?" Shu Wanjuan chuckled. "General Hong, aren't those words a bit too grand? Back then, we crossed paths many a time, and the two of you racked your brains trying to kill me, yet you never managed to take this old man's life. Why, let us speak of the battle at Huicao Valley—" Clang-clang-screeech! "Let us not bring up old history," Zhao Xiaowan cut Shu Wanjuan off. "Yingying, chat with Senior Shu a little longer, and he'll have his entire battle array set up." Shu Wanjuan had indeed been laying an array in secret, and thirty percent of it was already in place. Spear in hand, Hong Ying charged at Shu Wanjuan. Shu Wanjuan shouted in fury, "Ganging up on one! A victory won without honor!" Shu Wanjuan invoked Shared Script and Common Rules. Li Banfeng's previous conjecture had been correct. Recuperating on Blood Tooth Mountain for so long had fully healed Shu Wanjuan's injuries; fighting Hong Ying one-on-one, he was truly confident of victory. Zhao Xiaowan was in no rush to break Shared Script and Common Rules. Shu Wanjuan's prowess was plain to see, and forcibly disrupting his technique would come at considerable cost. "Yingying, go ahead and fight him one-on-one. We wouldn't want to bully him." Zhao Xiaowan had a clear plan. Engaging under the set rules, so long as they took no heavy losses, would soon yield an opportunity. Shared Script and Common Rules had a time limit; dealing with Hong Ying while maintaining the technique would surely exhaust Shu Wanjuan before long. Shu Wanjuan tossed out two books. Their pages scattered through the air, fluttering up and down as they swarmed around Hong Ying. Hong Ying used Sever Path to Open a Road, parting the book pages to either side as she continued barreling toward Shu Wanjuan. Shu Wanjuan had been waiting for precisely this. Characters detached from the pages, lining up densely along the path carved by Sever Path to Open a Road. Hong Ying poured more strength into Sever Path to Open a Road to keep the characters at bay. Yet after charging for a few moments, she felt her legs growing weak. The technique's drain was unusually severe—an exceptionally rare occurrence for Hong Ying—and the sweat drenching her face proved that her physical reserves were indeed running low. Observing from the shadows, Zhao Xiaowan saw it clearly: of the characters flanking Hong Ying, thirty percent read "Seize," fifty percent read "Take," and twenty percent read "Borrow." Shu Wanjuan had seized upon Hong Ying's weakness. Hong Ying was straightforward; she treated characters merely as bladed weapons and never paid attention to what they actually meant. Meanwhile, those characters were sapping strength directly from her technique. Moreover, Hong Ying was never one to back down; even as her legs gave out, she kept charging forward. Shu Wanjuan was full of confidence. He calculated that Hong Ying's stamina would be completely spent before she could reach him; once she was dead, he could focus entirely on Zhao Xiaowan and Murong Gui. Zhao Xiaowan shouted, "Stand still!" Whoosh—a gale blew in as Zhao Xiaowan sucked all the characters swarming Hong Ying into the mouth of her trumpet horn. With this, Zhao Xiaowan's position was exposed. Shu Wanjuan roared toward the courtyard, "You're ganging up on one!" Zhao Xiaowan emerged directly from hiding in the courtyard. "Senior Shu, Hong Ying fighting you counts as one-on-one, and my fighting you counts as one-on-one. When I made my move, Hong Ying stood completely motionless. How could that possibly be considered ganging up?" Hong Ying had indeed stood frozen in place. If Zhao Xiaowan told her not to move, she wouldn't move; military orders could not be disobeyed. Shu Wanjuan sneered. "General Zhao, you swept across the battlefields with scarcely a defeat to your name, yet now you stoop to such underhanded tricks. Aren't you afraid of sullying your reputation?" Zhao Xiaowan chuckled. "Senior flatters me. Whatever little fame I earned was built entirely upon such underhanded tricks." Shu Wanjuan nodded. "General Zhao, fighting one-on-one is fine by me. General Hong won't intervene again, will she?" Zhao Xiaowan shook her head. "Hard to say. Yingying, take a good rest. When I get tired, you can take over again. A'bi, don't just sit idle either—gather your strength and present a grand gift to your grandmaster!" "That is improper—" Shu Wanjuan wanted to establish a new rule with Shared Script and Common Rules, but Zhao Xiaowan, setting the tempo to a swift Xipi Liushui beat, beat him to the punch and began to sing. "Banners flutter high, blotting out the light of the sun! Birds act strangely, refusing to roost in the woods! These mountain crags lurk treacherous as a tiger's den, That ravine's deep waters churn like a dragon's pool! Gleaming blades and spears shimmer through the wild grass, Rebel troops lie in ambush upon the ridges high!" Zhao Xiaowan's operatic singing was piercing and brimming with murderous intent, drowning out Shu Wanjuan's voice completely. Amid the shifting tones, the soldiers concealed along the hillside and in the woods lost control one after another, rushing toward Zhao Xiaowan in battle formation. These soldiers were all characters deployed by Shu Wanjuan—sabers, axes, bows and arrows, pikes, spears, and war chariots. Shu Wanjuan had just been locked in a contest of wills with Zhao Xiaowan. Zhao Xiaowan wanted her operatic verse to make the soldiers collapse immediately, while Shu Wanjuan struggled to keep them in check, waiting for an opportune moment. In the end, neither achieved their full goal: the soldiers did not disperse, but neither did they strike at the ideal time. Fortunately, they could still distinguish friend from foe and charged blindly to battle Zhao Xiaowan. For Shu Wanjuan, this outcome was decent enough. Facing this converging horde, Zhao Xiaowan showed no panic. First, she took a whiff with Exquisite Hundred Flavors. These soldiers emanated a pungent smell of fresh ink, proving that these characters had been written recently. Across the thirteen newlands, Shu Wanjuan had arrayed numerous books; those characters had steeped over many years and were combat-ready the moment they were brought out. Having arrived at Heroes Mountain, Shu Wanjuan hadn't had the time for such thorough preparation. He kept his books on his person for self-preservation, while these soldiers were merely ink he had dashed onto boulders and tree bark not long ago. Zhao Xiaowan spat out her large trumpet horn, adopting the clapper rhythm of Xipi Erliu, and continued to sing: "You have laid a celestial net and earthly snare, Yet I am determined to break through your lair! Behold as my steed tramples the ranks and sweeps the flat ridge, My eighteen-foot serpent spear impaling the setting sun! Rebel villain, come meet your death—wah-ya-ya-ya!" Her singing surged outward along with billowing steam, cloaked in dense mist, each word and phrase striking terror into the heart of any listener. Shu Wanjuan guarded vigilantly against every line of Zhao Xiaowan's operatic verses. In their past clashes, he had suffered far too many losses at her hands. He had to watch not only for changes in melodic phrasing, but also for the meaning of the verses themselves. Shu Wanjuan had started out as a storyteller and regularly listened to opera, yet why had he never heard this particular passage? What was she going to sing next? Could she have composed this opera herself? He had guessed correctly—this passage was indeed composed by Zhao Xiaowan on the spot. This was precisely what Shu Wanjuan dreaded, terrified that she would suddenly invent some new twist and catch him completely off guard. After waiting a moment, Shu Wanjuan realized something was amiss. Although the opera shook the spirit to its core, it seemed to carry very little lethal force. Then why was she singing an opera? Shu Wanjuan noticed that the surrounding mist was growing thicker and thicker, to the point where he could no longer discern Zhao Xiaowan's location, nor could he see the soldiers charging in to attack her. He pulled out a folding fan and tossed it into the air. The folding fan fluttered back and forth, dispersing a wisp of the mist. But upon seeing the troops charging toward Zhao Xiaowan, Shu Wanjuan's expression turned grave. The war chariots crept forward sluggishly through the fog because their wheels were already deformed. The archers pulled their bowstrings taut, but the fletched arrows nocked upon the strings were dripping wet. Shieldbearers advanced holding up their shields, but everything below their knees had dissolved into ink, dragging two long, dark streaks across the flagstones. Zhao Xiaowan's real trick did not lie in the operatic libretto; the opera was merely meant to intimidate Shu Wanjuan. Her true technique lay in the steam. Under the scorching condensation of the steam, the newly written characters were gradually turning back into ink. These soldiers could no longer be counted on; Shu Wanjuan had to take action himself. Shielding his body with characters, he stepped forward, aiming straight for Zhao Xiaowan. He knew well that in a duel with Zhao Xiaowan, one could not rely purely on defense; otherwise, she would toy with him until his death. Yet this strike met only empty air; using the mist, Zhao Xiaowan had already slipped elsewhere. Shu Wanjuan released characters to sweep around and pinpoint Zhao Xiaowan's whereabouts. After wheeling about for a brief moment, Zhao Xiaowan sensed a weakening in his technique. Disrupted by both the operatic singing and the scalding steam, Shu Wanjuan's Shared Script and Common Rules was on the verge of collapsing. At that moment, Zhao Xiaowan was right beside Hong Ying. Grasping Hong Ying's wrist, she lightly traced several strokes onto her palm. What she drew was military shorthand; Hong Ying instantly understood Zhao Xiaowan's plan. Zhao Xiaowan activated Discerning Spiritual Sound, gauging Shu Wanjuan's condition from the rhythm of his breathing. Once she determined the timing was ripe, Hong Ying charged at Shu Wanjuan with Zhao Xiaowan on her back. Sensing someone closing in, Shu Wanjuan immediately mounted a defense with the Skill of Heavenly Harmony. Zhao Xiaowan shifted her singing style, modulating through more than a dozen pitches in rapid succession. Every key change struck as a fierce assault, forcing Shu Wanjuan to fend each one off with the Skill of Heavenly Harmony. After withstanding the onslaught, Shu Wanjuan found it hard to recover. Zhao Xiaowan was too close to him, the steam endlessly scalding and boiling him, granting him no opening to recalibrate his technique. At the same time, Hong Ying unleashed a flurry of strikes, targeting the exact intervals between transitions in his Skill of Heavenly Harmony. Shu Wanjuan took a hit from Treading Through Ten Thousand Streams, followed by one from Sever Path to Open a Road. He tried to open up distance from Hong Ying, only to fail in guarding against Zhao Xiaowan and end up half-cooked by the steam. While struggling against the steam, his will flagged for an instant; Zhao Xiaowan let out a roar, and the soundwave fractured Shu Wanjuan's skull. Dazed and reeling, Shu Wanjuan took more than a dozen spear thrusts from Hong Ying in quick succession. "No... ganging up on one..." Battered and wounded, Shu Wanjuan lacked even the strength to speak, let alone sustain Shared Script and Common Rules. He still held a life-saving book in hand and wished to bring it out now, but Zhao Xiaowan gave him no quarter. Her vocal variations quickened, and following the rhythm of her song, Hong Ying's strikes became increasingly rapid. Several times Shu Wanjuan took out the book, but he could not flip to the page he needed. When he finally turned to the right page with great effort, he had no chance to activate the technique before Hong Ying knocked the book from his grasp to the ground. This was what made Zhao Xiaowan so formidable to face: once she gained the upper hand, her offensive never ceased, leaving the opponent no chance to fight back. Zhao Xiaowan traced characters on Hong Ying's back, signaling her to finish Shu Wanjuan off with Treading Through Ten Thousand Streams. Her haste was hardly uncalled for. Zhao Xiaowan had realized that the Blood Tooth Monster was a most peculiar adversary; if she and Shu Wanjuan mounted a pincer attack, the battle's trajectory would be exceedingly hard to predict. She continuously ramped up the intensity of her sound cultivator skill, forcing Shu Wanjuan to switch his Skill of Heavenly Harmony. Hong Ying waited for the opening; the moment Shu Wanjuan switched his Skill of Heavenly Harmony, Treading Through Ten Thousand Streams would land instantly. Pushed to the brink of doom, Shu Wanjuan flicked a brush washer out from his sleeve. The washer contained black water stained with ink, which splashed right over Hong Ying. Hong Ying flared up in disgust. "How revolting!" Shu Wanjuan went limp and collapsed to the ground. Hong Ying took a step forward, but instead of executing Treading Through Ten Thousand Streams, she flung Zhao Xiaowan away. After hurling Zhao Xiaowan off, Hong Ying herself retreated at blinding speed, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye. Shu Wanjuan sat on the ground panting for a long time, then laughed. Literature Cultivator skill: Washing Brush and Rinsing the Heart. Though its drain was immense, its effect was astonishing. The water in a brush washer was meant for cleansing brushes; water that had washed brushes could wash away an opponent's wits in an instant. Hong Ying had intended to kill Shu Wanjuan with Treading Through Ten Thousand Streams, but under Shu Wanjuan's interference, she had unleashed Parting by Ten Thousand Li instead, casting both Zhao Xiaowan and herself far away. Zhao Xiaowan had been completely unprepared, for she had never seen this technique before. Not only had she never seen it, but no one in this world had ever witnessed it, Shan Chengjun included. This was the formidable might of a Star Cultivator: Shu Wanjuan had created the technique himself. He had devised it during his recuperation on Blood Tooth Mountain, testing it only on text-formed simulacra of his own creation, never upon a living person. Washing Brush and Rinsing the Heart was not yet perfected; Shu Wanjuan could not perform it on his own and had to rely on the brush washer in his sleeve. Had the washer water splashed onto Zhao Xiaowan just now, the chances of success would have been minuscule; Zhao Xiaowan was far too sharp, and washing away her mind would have been exceedingly difficult. Hong Ying's case, however, was entirely different; altering her mind was vastly simpler. Shu Wanjuan counted himself fortunate that not a single calculation or move had gone awry. But for now, another troublesome enemy remained to be dealt with. Murong Gui was still inside the courtyard. Shu Wanjuan picked up that life-saving book from the ground and brushed a hand over its illustrations. A man and a woman walked out of the pages. The man was Ai Yeqing, and the woman was Mu Yuejuan. Both had wooden expressions and vacant eyes, having already been reduced to Shu Wanjuan's tools. Utterly exhausted, Shu Wanjuan drove Ai Yeqing and Mu Yuejuan toward the Wisdom-Karmic Scholar's courtyard, where he saw Murong Gui, teeth clenched, still standing on the pavilion. Murong Gui's soul had only just returned to his flesh. His cultivation might remain intact, but how much combat power could he muster? Not to mention fighting Shu Wanjuan, could he even hold his own against Ai Yeqing and Mu Yuejuan? Shu Wanjuan believed he could not. "Child, I will ask you once more: will you come with me?" After a long wait, Murong Gui offered no reply from the pavilion. Ai Yeqing grabbed a handful of copper coins and flung them at Murong Gui. The coins passed right through Murong Gui's body, without a single drop of blood spilling. Was this Murong Gui? Mu Yuejuan turned her head and said expressionlessly, "This is a painting." Shu Wanjuan stood blank for a long time. He was a master of both calligraphy and painting, yet he had actually failed to recognize this as an artwork. When had it been painted? Murong Gui had been standing on the pavilion the whole time, and no one had seen him move a brush. Mu Yuejuan retrieved the "painting." Shu Wanjuan examined it for a moment, then slapped it onto Mu Yuejuan's face. "This is called a photograph! Haven't you ever seen one before?!" This was a photograph taken of Murong Gui by the movie projector. In the photo, Murong Gui looked lifelike—he could blink and open his mouth, but he could not speak. Shu Wanjuan felt somewhat puzzled. Could Mu Yuejuan not even distinguish a photograph? Had her intellect deteriorated to such a point? Now was not the time to investigate such things. Where on earth had Murong Gui gone? On the ground lay the two halves of the Blood Tooth Monster's corpse. Shu Wanjuan asked, "Can you stand up?" The two halves of the corpse fused back together, and the Blood Tooth Monster stood up. "Do you plan on searching for Murong Gui, or going to help Shan Chengjun?" "Do you know where Murong Gui went?" The Blood Tooth Monster replied, "When that fellow fled, I saw that his footing was a bit unsteady. He shouldn't have gotten far; he's definitely still on Heroes Mountain." Shu Wanjuan nodded. "I will take my people to pursue him at once." The Blood Tooth Monster pressed further, "Second King, in capturing the Wisdom-Karmic Scholar, are you doing it to talk business with Qiao Yi, or to make yourself a fine puppet?" This was not Blood Tooth Mountain, so Shu Wanjuan had no qualms about speaking freely. "I conduct my affairs with utter openness. I have no such selfish designs." The Blood Tooth Monster said, "I trust you. Since you have no selfish designs, let's not look for Murong Gui. Let's go find Shan Chengjun instead." Shu Wanjuan made no direct reply. Instead, he asked in return, "Just what cultivation level do you have? Why do you seem a bit familiar to me?" The Blood Tooth Monster gave a grin. "My cultivation is definitely not low. Otherwise, would I dare be Shan Chengjun's wife?"