Chapter 38
Fnag Chaozhu paused and looked at the enchanting woman in front of him. He moved his body slightly to the side, freeing himself from her hand on his shoulder. “Let’s not continue with the candle dripping. I have always had good sleep and no trouble with insomnia.”
Upon hearing this, Song Lianyi’s eyebrows furrowed lightly. “Insomnia?”
“Isn’t your candle supposed to aid sleep?” Fang Chaozhu innocently retorted.
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Nypv vkxl bl oyp eakrrle okvb kv, bl qlzv tasttu qsa plhlayz eyup yde nswzed’v tlv ldswtb pzllr yv yzz.
“Ebs vsze usw kv oyp qsa ykekdt pzllr?” Fsdt Nkyduk qkdyzzu wdelapvsse yde bla tygl vwadle qklanl. “Wydt Ubysgbw, kq usw eyal vs rzyu okvb xl, R okzz pbso usw xu yckzkvklp vseyu.”
Gp pssd yp Wydt Ubysgbw pyo vbl nbydtl kd bla lulp, bl jdlo vbyv Fsdt Nkyduk oyp ycswv vs yvvynj. Tl kxxlekyvlzu vakle vs calyj bla cyaakla. Tsolhla, obkzl kd vbl xkeezl sq calyjkdt vbl cyaakla, bl dsvknle y hltlvyczl hldesa ryppkdt cu swvpkel, nyaaukdt y zsye sd bkp pbswzela.
Fsdt Nkyduk bye yzalyeu nypv bla prlzz. Tlal, vbl nsxxsd rlsrzl olal xsavyzp okvb rbupknyz cseklp yde nswzed’v okvbpvyde vbl kxrynv sq prlzzp. Mblalqsal, Wydt Ubysgbw alqaykdle qasx calyjkdt vbl cyaakla yde kdpvlye nypv y cyaakla yaswde vbl pbsr, pokqvzu lhyekdt Fsdt Nkyduk’p prlzz.
Seeing him evade, Song Lianyi cast another spell, but Fang Chaozhu managed to evade all of her spells.
Last time, when Fang Chaozhu was captured by Song Lianyi, it was because his cultivation was restricted by the formidable Li Yiyue, that big devil. During this period, he had undergone some intense training and had no problem defeating Song Lianyi.
Though he didn’t fight back this time, he managed to dodge everything. He had initially intended to calm the situation, but unexpectedly, he completely infuriated Song Lianyi and she brought out her ultimate treasure.
Song Lianyi’s ultimate treasure was an incense burner. The burner was copper-red in color, about the size of a palm, and half the length of a forearm. The craftsmanship was extremely delicate, with two beautifully dressed women vividly depicted on it, as if they could come alive from the incense burner.
Upon seeing the incense burner, Fang Chaozhu sensed trouble. He immediately wanted to use his spells to knock over the copper-red incense burner in Song Lianyi’s hand. However, he forgot that there had always been someone observing the battle.
The girl who had opened the curtain and stepped out threw something at Fang Chaozhu’s face. Instantly, he couldn’t see anything clearly, and his spells naturally went awry.
When Fang Chaozhu’s eyes finally regained their clarity, he realized that he was no longer in the rouge shop.
Hmm.
It seems like Fang Chaozhu has been trapped inside the incense burner.
Song Lianyi’s incense burner was a treasure that her mother searched for all over the world and had the best craftsmen forge it. This incense burner had made an appearance in the original work, leaving a deep impression on almost all readers.
Because in that significant chapter featuring the incense burner, Xue Danrong’s thoughts were revealed for the first time.
In the original story, Song Lianyi sucked Xue Danrong into the incense burner, creating five illusions inside. Each illusion would present a person, someone who had left the deepest impression on Xue Danrong, whether it was someone he disliked or liked. As long as they ranked among the top five most memorable people in his mind, they would appear in the illusions.
The order of the illusions was arranged based on the least impressionable person occupying the first place, and so on. The last illusion would feature the person who had left the most profound impression on the trapped individual.
Although the original host wasn’t as popular, in the incense burner scene, he unexpectedly became a minor character, appearing in the fourth place. The last person was Zhongli Yueshui.
The five individuals appearing in the illusions would simulate their personalities based on the original host and even recreate the scenes they were in at that time.
Trapped in the illusions, Xue Danrong was also influenced by the incense burner. In the illusions, he lost his cultivation, and the only way to break through was for him to realize that everything was fake.
Song Lianyi trapped Xue Danrong in the incense burner for two purposes. Firstly, she wanted to see if Xue Danrong would encounter her in the illusions. Secondly, these illusions needed to be broken one by one in order to return to the real world.
She wanted to crush Xue Danrong’s dao heart within the illusions and then release him as a savior. However, to her surprise, Song Lianyi didn’t see herself even in the fifth illusion. Moreover, she saw that Zhongli Yueshui in the illusion was about to suppress him. Feeling restless, she quickly released Xue Danrong.
The time inside the illusions was not the same as the outside world. One day in the illusions was only equivalent to a quarter of an hour outside.
Fang Chaozhu surveyed the surrounding environment, feeling a sense of familiarity.
“Customer, you’re here again. What kind of books would you like to buy this time?” a sudden voice sounded, causing Fang Chaozhu to turn around. When he saw the person’s face clearly, he was momentarily stunned.
“Aren’t you the owner of the bookstore at the foot of our sect’s mountain, Mr. Zeng? I…” Fang Chaozhu paused halfway through his sentence, getting stuck. What was he going to say?
He couldn’t remember.
The person didn’t answer Fang Chaozhu’s question. Instead, they said, “We’ve added many new books this month. Would you like to take a look, customer?”
Fang Chaozhu was momentarily stunned but quickly nodded vigorously. “Sure.”
Yanzhi Emporium.
When Song Lianyi saw that the first person Fang Chaozhu encountered in the illusion was a small bookstore owner, her face froze. The girl who had leaned over to see inside couldn’t help but laugh.
“Young Master, this person is interesting. Usually, when ordinary people encounter illusions in the Young Master’s incense burner, they would see their parents or loved ones at the very least, or even their enemies. But he, on the other hand, encounters a bookseller.”
When Song Lianyi saw Fang Chaozhu genuinely sitting down to read a book, the smile on her lips became even harder to hide.
Song Lianyi glared at the girl beside her and then cast a spell towards the incense burner, directly sending Fang Chaozhu to the second illusion.
Originally, she intended to see who Fang Chaozhu admired and who his enemies were. But to her surprise, he showed no interest in the first illusion, which was truly disappointing.
While Fang Chaozhu was still holding the book in the incense burner, it disappeared before he could even warm it up. He let out a confused sound and wanted to ask the shopkeeper what was going on. But as he raised his head, he realized he was no longer in the bookstore.
Where is this…?
“The best pastry shop in the cultivation world! If it’s not delicious, it’s free! Sir, would you like to try some? It can enhance your spiritual power!” The waiter from the shop across the street waved at Fang Chaozhu and picked up a piece of the sample pastry from the table beside him. “Sir, come and try our new product. It’s absolutely delicious!”
Fang Chaozhu caught a whiff of the aroma in the air and didn’t even hesitate. He walked over, shyly smiled at the waiter, and reached out to pick up the smallest piece to put in his mouth. However, before the pastry even touched his tongue, it vanished, along with the waiter in front of him.
Fang Chaozhu looked around, puzzled. Where did everyone go? He hadn’t even made a purchase yet. This shop was located at the foot of their sect’s mountain, and it was usually crowded with people. People would line up for hours. Finally, he had the chance to sample something, and there was no one to compete with him. How did they all disappear?
At this moment, outside the incense burner, Song Lianyi’s expression turned even worse.
He had expended a considerable amount of spiritual power to trap someone inside the incense burner, only for this person to waste two illusions in an instant, encountering useless individuals.
The third illusion wasn’t any better. Song Lianyi saw the person in the incense burner selecting a bunch of preserved fruits, and in frustration, she destroyed the current illusion, directly sending Fang Chaozhu to the fourth illusion.
He refused to believe that Fang Chaozhu would encounter salespeople in all five illusions.
In the fourth illusion, it finally wasn’t a merchant selling something. However, when Song Lianyi saw the old man in the illusion, he paused for a moment. The old man was peculiar. His face appeared relatively young, but his skin, apart from his face, was covered in wrinkles and dark brown spots, indicating his age.
When Fang Chaozhu called the old man “Father Emperor,” Song Lianyi instantly realized the truth.
So, Fang Chaozhu was a prince.
Fengyue Brothel itself was a cultivation sect, but they also conducted business. Aside from Song Lianyi, who was known for cross-dressing, the other members of the temple were all women. Their business extended not only throughout the cultivation world but also to places where mortals gathered. The only difference was the type of goods they sold.
Song Lianyi had come to the capital city this time to review the accounts of several shops. There had been issues with the financial records of these shops over the past year, so he had personally come to investigate and see if there were any problems, such as rats in the rice jar.
He had some understanding of the affairs in the capital city. The current emperor of the dynasty was already very old, and most of his children and grandchildren had died. The older sons would only live until their forties or fifties at most, passing away earlier than their father. As for the emperor’s grandsons, the oldest of them had only lived into his twenties before meeting his demise.
It was said that the old emperor was seriously ill and only had one son who had gone to cultivate. Song Lianyi didn’t expect Fang Chaozhu to be that son.
Lacking interest in watching Fang Chaozhu’s display of filial piety in the illusion, Song Lianyi furrowed his brows and destroyed the fourth illusion. Consequently, Fang Chaozhu found himself in the fifth illusion.
Fang Chaozhu was momentarily stunned when the medicine bowl in his hand suddenly vanished. However, he didn’t stay stunned for long because he heard a familiar voice behind him.
“Second Senior Brother.”
Fang Chaozhu hesitated for a moment before turning around and seeing the snow-clothed young man not far away. He instinctively greeted him, “Junior Martial Brother, you…”
He didn’t finish his sentence because he realized that this place wasn’t Tian Shui Sect but somewhere he had never seen before.
This place was covered in endless ice and snow, stretching as far as the eye could see. Apart from the young man in front of him, there was no one else around, not even a shelter from the wind and snow.
“Second Senior Brother.” In the blink of an eye, the young man had already approached Fang Chaozhu. “This is the Northern Territory. Our cultivation is completely restricted here. We can’t even fly on our swords.”
Fang Chaozhu hadn’t expected the situation to be so dire. He sighed, “Then we can only strive to find a way out.”
Finding an exit proved to be much more difficult than Fang Chaozhu had imagined. After walking for a while, snow started to fall, covering their footprints. They couldn’t even discern the direction they came from. They continued to move forward, but it felt like there was no end in sight.
After walking for several hours without his cultivation, Fang Chaozhou gave up when he couldn’t find a way to leave the northern region. He stopped and decided to wait until the snow stopped falling because he couldn’t discern the direction anymore.
The young man next to him obediently stopped walking upon seeing Fang Chaozhou’s halt.
Observing the continuing snowfall, which had escalated from light snow to heavy snowflakes, Fang Chaozhou realized that although he had lost his cultivation, he still had his storage ring. He rummaged through it but found only an umbrella.
He opened the umbrella and asked the young man to stand beneath it.
The young man complied.
The two squeezed under the small umbrella.
As snowflakes continued to fall, Fang Chaozhou couldn’t help but reach out to catch them. After a short while, he had accumulated a handful of snow in his hand.
He molded the snow into a ball and smiled at the young man with phoenix-like eyes beside him. The young man seemed momentarily surprised by Fang Chaozhou’s smile. Then he lowered his gaze slightly, but before his smile could fully form, Fang Chaozhou playfully stuffed the snowball under the collar of the young man’s clothes.
Outside the incense burner, Song Lianyi remained silent. “…”
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Translators: Cliffhanger! What will happen?
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Thanks for the update
You're welcome.