Given Zhao Er’s level of education, it was absolutely impossible for him to have written such profound words. It was highly likely that his elderly parents were still scheming alongside him, hoping to exert their final efforts to secure a bright future for their son.
Human greed is a bottomless pit. If you compromise today under coercion, you’ll compromise tomorrow, and the day after that, until one day you’re utterly dragged down. Shi Yun later pondered many things. She didn’t know how Dongfang Zhen would view her, whether he would understand the hardships she faced at the time, or if her background was already criticized, and adding the identity of a murderer would only make things worse.
Even if everything before could be explained away as unavoidable, there was still one thing she worried about the most— Her entry into Taiwu Mountain was no accident. It was deliberately orchestrated by her, a calculated act of poisoning her fellow disciples to seize the opportunity.
If Zhao Er could track her down at Jiaoyun Pavilion, what about this matter? Could it also be discovered? With all these things combined, how would others see her? What punishment would she face? She truly despised this feeling of being at the mercy of fate.
Later, Shi Yun disguised herself and went down the mountain to Jiaoyun Pavilion to inquire. Unexpectedly, even though she concealed her appearance, her voice remained unchanged, and Hongyun recognized her.
Hongyun smiled and said,
“It’s been so long since you last visited?”
Shi Yun also smiled.
“I’ve been busy lately.”
At that time, Shi Yun had just entered Taiwu Mountain and couldn’t take on assignments herself. With no other source of income, she could only save up her monthly allowance. After saving bit by bit for a long time, the first thing she did was redeem Hongyun.
Back then, she was still young. She filled a cloth bag with broken silver, huffing and puffing as she carried it down the mountain. She rushed to the hall, dropped it with a thud, and declared she wanted to redeem Hongyun.
In Jiaoyun Pavilion, there were many kind-hearted souls who rescued fallen women, and wealthy young men who spent lavishly were not uncommon. But a woman redeeming another woman was a rare sight.
Hongyun cried, “You’re so young, saving up so much—how many meals did you skip? I haven’t done anything for you. Why save money to redeem me?”
Shi Yun didn’t want to answer that question. She simply asked Hongyun if she wanted to leave with her and go to Taiwu Mountain. Hongyun adamantly refused, no matter what. She said that Shi Yun, being so young and venturing out on her own, must have faced plenty of gossip for coming from Jiaoyun Pavilion. If she brought along an “impure” woman like her, she didn’t know how much more criticism Shi Yun would endure.
She absolutely refused to go with Shi Yun, saying she had no skills, unlike Shi Yun, who had talent. In a prestigious sect like Taiwu Mountain, she would only be laughed at, and she couldn’t bear the thought of relying on a younger person for food, clothing, and shelter for the rest of her life. But here, she was already free—she didn’t have to stand in the hall. Like a server, she could sweep and clean in the back, earning her keep through hard work, self-reliant and unashamed.
Shi Yun couldn’t persuade her, so she let her be, only visiting occasionally. She never expected that even with a veil, she would still be recognized this time. And it was during this visit that her gaze drifted past the rockery and landed on the twin lotus flowers.
They were alive, capable of becoming spiritual roots for a demon, though it would take some time. From the moment she saw the twin lotus flowers to devising a solution, Shi Yun took only half an incense stick’s worth of time.
She asked, “Can those twin lotus flowers be picked?”
Hongyun followed her gaze and hesitated. “Probably?”
After all, this rockery pond has been here for so long, and only one twin lotus has grown. The owner definitely wouldn’t want it to be picked. But if it’s already been picked, what can the owner say? Just pay compensation, that’s all.
After saying this, Shi Yun smiled and didn’t continue further.
“Wait a moment.” Shen Chunyi tapped the table twice and said, “There’s something I must tell you. I’ve known about your nail-planting scheme from the very beginning. I entered Taiwu Mountain so many years before you—it’s not something I’d fail to notice.”
Shi Yun’s eyes widened slightly. “You knew? Then why…”
“Why didn’t I tell Master, right?” Shen Chunyi finished for her. “Who knows? Maybe I was just being kind.”
“So,” Shen Chunyi continued, “you don’t need to worry about that. You know how ruthless I can be. You should be thankful that you were genuinely capable back then. That was your own skill, not my charity. Otherwise, I would have taken you down with me long ago.”
Shi Yun felt a flicker of gratitude, but it was quickly replaced by frustration.
“Why do perfectly good words always come out of your mouth sounding so different?”
Shen Chunyi laughed.
“No need for formalities. Bowing and kneeling aren’t necessary, but if you really want to thank me, I won’t refuse a bow. Once you’ve bowed, let’s consider the matter settled. No need to dwell on it.”
Meanwhile, Xuan Shuangxu finished wiping the bloodstains from Shen Chunyi’s face, pulled over a chair, and sat down beside him. After listening to their back-and-forth for a while, he finally couldn’t hold back. “Master.”
Shen Chunyi hummed in acknowledgment, then reached into the boy’s robe. He rummaged around for a while, making Shi Yun, who sat across from them, feel somewhat awkward, before finally pulling out a piece of paper. He shook it open, unfolded it, and pushed it toward Shi Yun.
He said, “Let’s talk about something serious. Take a look at this—it’s a prescription.”
Shi Yun took it and glanced at it. “What we were just discussing wasn’t serious?”
Shen Chunyi replied, “This is more serious.”
Though she didn’t understand why this was considered more serious, given that Shen Chunyi’s behavior had always defied logic since childhood, she took the paper without comment and examined it carefully.
After a while, Shen Chunyi asked, “Well?”
Shi Yun pushed the paper back and said, “Nothing much. No hidden schemes like poisoning or anything—you can tell, right? Even though you… you wouldn’t fail to notice something like this, would you?”
Shen Chunyi said,
“Nonsense, of course I can tell if it’s poisonous or not. I’m asking you how well this prescription is written.”
Shi Yun asked, “Who is it for?”
Shen Chunyi replied, “Likely an elderly person.”
Shi Yun said, “This prescription is too risky. If it were me, I wouldn’t use aconitine.”
Shen Chunyi folded the prescription twice and tucked it back into the boy’s robe. With a slight smile, he said,
“So you think so too? Alright.”
After a pause, he added, “Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. Now, let’s sort out exactly what you’ve done.”
Shi Yun offered no opinion on Shen Chunyi’s abrupt change of topic, but after hiding the truth for several days, she felt a sense of relief now that it had been exposed. After a moment, she gave a slight nod. Shen Chunyi began to piece things together:
“The first thing that happened was Zhao Er coming to your door. I suspect you had to appease him to prevent him from causing trouble, and he likely extorted quite a bit from you. That’s why, when we visited, the Zhao residence had that unmistakable, newly built, upstart appearance.”
Shi Yun closed her eyes briefly and replied, “Yes.”
“The second thing was that you selected a lotus flower at Jiaoyun Tower capable of becoming a demon and cast a curse on it. Zhao Er demanded both money and goods from you, so slipping this tampered lotus into their household would have been incredibly easy.”
“Correct.”
But Shen Chunyi didn’t continue. Instead, she said,
“As for the rest, you tell us.”
Because there was a glaring contradiction here. The brutality of the Rain-Birth Curse was truly appalling. As seen earlier, once the curse took effect, the entire Zhao residence was entangled in death vines. Such a situation couldn’t possibly be concealed for even a day—it would be discovered by early risers the next morning and reported immediately.
Anything related to demons and monsters would inevitably involve cultivators, and the matter would be thoroughly investigated by various sects. The nearest sect to the Zhao residence was the Taiwu Mountain Sect, so they would be the first to investigate.
According to Zhao Er’s petition submitted a few days ago regarding his mother’s sudden death, the case didn’t seem particularly complicated. In principle, it shouldn’t have required a medical cultivator of Shi Yun’s level to handle it. Yet, Shi Yun was the one who took it on. This was the most puzzling aspect of the whole affair: if Shi Yun had indeed cast the Rain-Birth Curse, once the curse was triggered and the investigation began with the Taiwu Mountain Sect, everyone involved in handling Zhao Er’s petition would be scrutinized. As the one who accepted the petition, Shi Yun would undoubtedly be the first to come under suspicion.
Shi Yun originally had the right to refuse this petition—and the cleaner the break, the better. But not only did she not refuse, she accepted it alone. This was practically walking into a trap, a glaring contradiction.
Yet Shi Yun said,
“But the old woman’s death truly had nothing to do with me. When Zhao Er submitted the petition, I didn’t expect it either. I’m not very familiar with this type of curse and thought something had gone wrong with the one I cast. I didn’t dare let anyone else know, so I intercepted it alone and didn’t involve anyone else.”
She added, “The coroner has already confirmed that the old woman died accidentally, which further proves it had nothing to do with me. Although I intended harm, you two disrupted my plans, so it’s fair to say I didn’t actually do anything.”
Shen Chunyi suddenly asked,
“You only wanted to kill Zhao Er?”
Shi Yun sensed something off in Shen Chunyi’s tone but still replied, “Yes.”
The young man sitting nearby, who had been idly tapping the table corner with his knuckles, stopped and asked,
“What curse did you cast on that lotus?”
She hesitated, finally realizing something was wrong. Shi Yun straightened up abruptly and saw the serious expressions on the faces of the two across from her. Doubt crept into her voice as she asked,
“The Nourishing-Life Curse…?”
At this point, everything became clear! The Nourishing-Life Curse was the final version of the Rain-Birth Curse after multiple revisions, far gentler than the original. The creator, Yun Jiyan, also felt the Rain-Birth Curse was too sinister and carefully revised it repeatedly before releasing it under the new name “Nourishing-Life Curse,” meaning “to nourish things silently and imperceptibly.”
The Life-Nourishing Curse and the Rain-Life Curse share the same purpose—both shorten the time required for non-human beings to transform into demons—but their processes differ greatly. The Life-Nourishing Curse takes a long time to take effect, as the target absorbs the yang energy of heaven and earth. Therefore, this technique is typically used in open fields; in simpler terms, more daily exposure to sunlight speeds up the demon transformation process.
However, the Life-Nourishing Curse is also relatively rare, not because it is as brutal as the Rain-Life Curse, but because it has little practical use. It merely shortens the time needed for demon transformation without any commanding effect. Unlike those who raise ghostly servants that can be utilized, the Life-Nourishing Curse is essentially raising someone else’s child, and that child won’t obey you. Moreover, while the relationship between humans and demons isn’t exactly hostile, it’s far from friendly, so few would bother with such a curse.
Yet, this curse has another purpose.
The Life-Nourishing Curse absorbs yang energy. In open fields, sunlight suffices, but what about indoors? Where does the yang energy come from?
From the living. And between Zhao Er, a man in his prime, and the elderly Madam Zhao, who is nearing the end of her life, whose yang energy is more abundant?
Thus, Shi Yun cleverly anchored the curse to an expensive indoor desk, knowing full well that Zhao Er, given his nature, would surely keep it in his own room. As the flower demon gradually grew, it absorbed Zhao Er’s yang energy, causing him to wither away, his complexion turning sallow and dark, until he eventually died of exhaustion without any apparent warning.
The demon under the Life-Nourishing Curse grows gradually, naturally accompanied by the yin energy typical of demons. However, since it never fully transforms into a demon, detection talismans are ineffective against it.
Therefore, the wreaths in the Zhao residence, heavy with eerie yin energy, were undoubtedly Shi Yun’s doing.
Madam Zhao’s death was entirely unexpected. Unsure if her curse had malfunctioned, Shi Yun quickly devised a plan: to send a batch of flowers laden with intense yin energy to muddy the waters.
If this logic holds, all her unusual actions would be explained. Yet, the oddity lies in the fact that Xuan Shuangxu had previously inspected the lotus flowers in the Zhao residence and found no yin energy from the Life-Nourishing Curse.
And why was there no yin energy?
Because the lotus flowers had been subjected to the Rain-Life Curse, a hundred times more potent!