“Where is Gu Feng?”
Li Tiankuo gripped his sword tightly, his voice cold as he questioned the servant at the gate. The man was startled, but fortunately, the butler who was welcoming guests recognized him.
“What’s wrong, Immortal?”
“Where is Gu Feng?” Li Tiankuo repeated icily.
“The young master is in the backyard—”
Before the butler could finish, a group of people from the He residence came storming out angrily.
At the front were Master He and Gu Feng — the very person Li Tiankuo was looking for.
Li Tiankuo stepped forward immediately, blocking Gu Feng’s path. “You are not allowed to leave.”
Gu Feng recognized him and, suppressing his anger, said, “Immortal, do not stop me. Hui’er’s wedding has been ruined — I must capture the one responsible myself!”
“If you leave now, you’ll die without question.” Li Tiankuo remembered Bai Yuheng’s warning clearly: Gu Feng must not leave the He residence, or he would surely die.
“Don’t stop me! Even if it costs me my life, I will seek justice for Hui’er!” Gu Feng threw off his hand and leaped toward his horse.
Li Tiankuo grabbed his collar and refused to let him take even half a step out of the residence.
“Let go!” Gu Feng’s veins bulged on his forehead as he gritted his teeth. “Gu San, stop him!”
Gu San lunged forward. Li Tiankuo held Gu Feng with one hand and deflected Gu San’s attacks with his sword in the other.
“What are you standing there for?!” Gu Feng shouted to the armed servants behind him. “Hold him down!”
“Stop!” Master He snapped. He cast a sharp glance at Gu Feng, then turned to Li Tiankuo. “Immortal, why are you stopping him?”
“I’ve said it already — Gu Feng cannot leave the He residence. If he does, he will die.”
“…” Master He looked at Gu Feng, his tone calm but firm. “Then we shall follow the immortal’s advice. Gu San, take your master away.”
“Uncle!” Gu Feng cried out in shock. “Uncle! I’ll be fine! The immortals are here, aren’t they? Please let me go see Hui’er!”
Master He met Li Tiankuo’s cold, unyielding gaze. “Take him away!” he ordered decisively.
“Yes, sir.”
No matter what, the He family servants followed their master’s command.
Soon, Gu Feng was taken away and confined within the courtyard.
Li Tiankuo stood guard at the front gate, sword in hand, his expression icy — like a jailer watching a prisoner.
“Immortal, thank you for your hard work. The butler sent me to bring you food,” a young maid said timidly, trembling as she glanced at his sword.
“No need.”
The maid, frightened yet persistent, pulled him toward the stone table in the courtyard, her hands shaking.
“Please, you must eat something, or the butler will punish me…”
Li Tiankuo frowned and brushed her hand away, about to refuse —
When suddenly, a faint sound reached his ears. His face darkened instantly. He kicked open the door — only to find the window wide open, and Gu Feng already gone.
By the time he rushed to the back gate, all he saw were the silhouettes of Gu Feng and Gu San galloping away on horseback.
“How did you get out?” Master He frowned as Gu Feng rode up swiftly.
“Someone caused chaos at Hui’er’s wedding. As her cousin, I must bring that person to justice!” Gu Feng put on his mask — afraid that if Hui’er saw his face now, she would be frightened.
Master He nodded approvingly, feeling gratified that Gu Feng cared for Hui’er so deeply. He dismissed Li Tiankuo’s warning and rode off with Gu Feng and a group of armed servants toward the commotion.
By the time Li Tiankuo caught up, they had already arrived.
A vine shot through the air — Li Tiankuo hurled his sword, and together with the golden rope Bai Yuheng threw from her wrist, they severed the attacking vine.
The golden rope morphed into a wide net, blocking the incoming storm of razor-sharp flower blades.
“Master He, take everyone and retreat!” Bai Yuheng warned.
“Leave? You wish!”
Chuntao appeared, countless flower blades swirling behind her vines as they rushed toward the crowd. Bai Yuheng quickly cast a protective barrier around the defenseless members of the He family while moving toward Chuntao.
“Stay inside the circle. Don’t move.”
In one powerful leap, she transformed her golden snake into a gleaming sword, using the attacking vines as stepping points to draw closer to Chuntao, cutting down vines as she advanced.
“Cui Mingcan, how’s your formation practice coming?” Cen Ying dodged flying blades while shouting for him to deploy the array.
“Don’t worry, Sister Ying! This time it’ll work for sure!”
Cui Mingcan thumped his chest confidently. After his last failure, he’d practiced day and night, replaying every detail even in his dreams. This time, he would redeem himself!
“Good. I’ll cover you!”
Bai Yuheng turned and cast a spell, forming a glowing shield around Cui Mingcan. The flower blades that struck it softened instantly, falling harmlessly to the ground.
Chuntao saw their plan and sneered. “You think you can trap me?”
She lunged, her arm transforming into a vine that whipped straight toward Cui Mingcan.
“Watch out!” Cen Ying shouted from behind a wall. She wasn’t skilled in battle, so she stayed hidden, observing — not wanting to drag them down.
Li Tiankuo yanked his sword from the wall and flung it with precision. The blade pierced through the air, striking Chuntao, who let out a pained scream.
Amid the chaos, Peony — clutching Fang Linchun’s urn — tried to flee toward Bai Yuheng’s protective barrier. A stray flower blade, lodged in the ground, tripped her, and she fell hard.
“Peony!”
“Uncle, don’t go out!”
The vine Li Tiankuo had cut whipped toward Peony’s direction. She lay paralyzed, unable to move, watching in terror as it hurtled toward her.
Bang! — the sound of flesh slamming into a hard wall.
Squelch! — the sound of a blade tearing through flesh.
Bai Yuheng’s sword transformed into a rope in her hand. With lightning speed, she snared the vine and whipped it back toward Chuntao. But the distraction cost her — a flower blade grazed her arm, drawing blood.
Chuntao, distracted by Peony, was struck by the returning vine and thrown against a nearby wall.
Li Tiankuo pulled his sword free from a crack in the stone and leaped high, slashing down toward her.
“Chuntao!!!”
Suddenly, the air seemed to freeze — everyone’s movements slowed.
A wave of floral mist burst from Chuntao’s chest, spreading rapidly through the empty street.
Even those inside Bai Yuheng’s barrier weren’t spared.
Li Tiankuo steadied himself with his sword, his thoughts spinning. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a grand golden palace.
“Tiankuo, come to your father. From now on, Lady Shu will be your mother, all right?”
…
“A filthy maid’s bastard dares dream of the throne? Even Lady Shu is pitiable for taking in such a curse!”
“Get out of the palace! You’re not welcome here! I’m Father’s true heir!”
…
“Ming’er, I’ll leave all the family business to you. Take care of it well — don’t you dare squander it! Or I’ll crawl out of my coffin and beat you myself!”
…
“Ying’er, come here. Today, Father will teach you a new poison — colorless, tasteless, kills without a trace.”
…
Nothingness.
An empty void.
Chuntao couldn’t sense anything in her spiritual awareness — the emptiness was terrifying.
She glanced at the elegant woman in red who had opposed her — Bai Yuheng — and thought to herself that this woman was unlike any human she’d ever met: no emotions, no attachments, her spirit clean and barren like a void.
Recalling her purpose, Chuntao gathered her spiritual power, thickening the flower mist.
Gu Feng, already unstable from his inner torment, inhaled a trace of it — and lost control completely.
“Ah! Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!” he screamed, eyes bloodshot, face twisted. He was the only one still able to move, muttering incessantly, “I was wrong… I shouldn’t have bullied you… shouldn’t have insulted you… please… please forgive me…”
He burst through the barrier in a frenzy, slamming his head against the wall again and again until blood covered the ground.
Seeing her goal accomplished, Chuntao used all her remaining strength to strike.
But because she had used nearly all her thousand years of power to maintain the illusion, the mist began to fade. The others slowly regained consciousness.
Bai Yuheng’s eyes snapped open. She realized Chuntao had sacrificed all her cultivation just to kill Gu Feng — using her entire essence to trap them briefly in illusion.
Bai Yuheng had underestimated her. With only thirty percent of her own power, she couldn’t counter such a spell instantly.
Still, she recovered faster than the others.
Lifting her gaze, she saw Chuntao wrapping vines tightly around Gu Feng’s neck, arms, and legs. Chuntao smiled triumphantly — and pulled hard.
Rip—!
Blood sprayed, dyeing the street red.
Bai Yuheng’s eyes widened. The golden snake beneath her skin surged restlessly, then burst forth, jaws wide, biting into Chuntao’s spirit.
“Chuntao!”
“Peony,” Chuntao gasped weakly, “I’ve killed the one who hurt Linchun. You must live on well…”
“No! No! Chuntao, don’t leave me!” Peony rushed to Bai Yuheng, her long nails digging into her flesh. “Let her go! Kill me instead if you must!”
Bai Yuheng said nothing, her hands forming seals as the golden snake swelled in size, tightening around Chuntao’s fading spirit.
“Let her go! Let her go!” Peony screamed, beating her fists against Bai Yuheng.
Bai Yuheng turned her face away, silent.
Nearby, He Huilan saw the mutilated remains and fainted dead away.
“Hui’er! Hui’er?”
“Immortals! Kill that demon!” Master He roared, glaring at Peony and the disintegrating Chuntao.
“Cui Mingcan, take Peony away,” Bai Yuheng ordered coldly.
“Understood!” Cui Mingcan and Li Tiankuo restrained the hysterical Peony and dragged her far from the scene.
“You heartless monsters!” Peony screamed. “You call yourselves righteous immortals? You have no hearts! No sense of justice! Cold-blooded hypocrites! Disgraceful fiends!”
“Tai Xuan San Yi — guard the true form. Five Viscera Gods — protect the soul!”
Bai Yuheng’s voice was calm yet solemn as she formed the final seal. Wind roared, her robes billowing, golden light surging. The golden snake bound Chuntao’s spirit and drew it back into her body.
The bark-like, withered flesh slowly softened — like a dead tree revived by spring rain, regaining its former glow.