The one from Jiaoyun Tower, whose vines were promptly severed by Shen Chunyi, had distinct facial features yet resembled the acupuncture point demonstration figures in medical texts—utterly unremarkable. It had a nose and eyes, but to call it ugly wouldn’t be entirely accurate.
However, the one from the Zhao residence, having drained the flesh and blood of the entire household, had gained considerable spiritual energy and could already transform its appearance.
Having grown up in Jiaoyun Tower, it naturally assumed the face of a beauty with captivating eyes and a tall, elegant nose. Even in death, with eyes wide open, it couldn’t be described as ugly, especially since Shen Chunyi was never one for harsh or sarcastic remarks.
These twin flower demons shared identical forms and demonic auras, yet their faces bore no resemblance whatsoever—a fact even a five-year-old child could discern. When most people speak of beauty or ugliness, they typically refer to the face. However, Shen Chunyi’s remark about them being “equally ugly” was based on observing the two flower demons lying face-up.
What he found identically ugly was, of course, their bodies. But under what circumstances would someone overlook the most objective feature—the face—to judge the beauty or ugliness of the body?
Unless that person couldn’t distinguish human faces at all!
Shortly after, Xuan Shuangxu spoke up:
“They are indeed quite ugly. I’ll dispose of them by burning them right away.”
But Shen Chunyi suddenly interjected, “Wait.”
“What’s the matter?”
Shen Chunyi said, “Casting the Rain of Life Curse consumes a great deal of spiritual energy. Check if there’s any residual spiritual energy on these two corpses. Perhaps we can trace the direction of its dissipation to locate the caster.”
Xuan Shuangxu nodded, knelt beside the flower demon’s head, and with a flick of his right hand, formed a seal in the air. Faint, fragmented green spiritual lights emerged from the corpses, drifting like scattered threads in the wind toward a specific direction until they vanished.
He said slowly, “Northeast direction. Distance uncertain.”
The three of them left the inn, found a secluded corner, and piled the two flower demons side by side before setting them ablaze.
The fierce flames roared, nearly illuminating half the sky. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t due to the intensity of the fire but rather the faint hint of dawn breaking at the horizon—daybreak was imminent.
Although the night had been filled with one mystery after another, things had become somewhat clearer, no longer entirely without leads.
Shi Yun stared at the faint glow of dawn on the horizon, lost in thought.
Shen Chunyi sheathed the long sword he had earlier thrown on the ground, slung it over his back again, and called out to Shi Yun, “Are you going back?”
Shi Yun snapped out of her reverie, let out a long sigh, and said,
“If I go back now, I’ll still be a suspect. If I run, I’ll only be seen as fleeing from guilt.”
Shen Chunyi nodded and said, “If you firmly deny everything, it remains merely a suspicion. Most likely, you’ll be placed under house arrest for a thorough investigation. After all, this curse is ancient and exceedingly rare—no one has used it for centuries. They probably won’t find any evidence that you could have learned it.”
Shi Yun grumbled, “After all these years of hard work, just as I’ve settled into a peaceful life, fate throws such a huge obstacle in my path.”
Shen Chunyi patted her shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry, as your senior brother, I’ll do my best to help you.”
Shi Yun grew even more frustrated. “Could you please rein in your precious disciple? If he hadn’t stunned that flower demon with a single move, none of this would have happened later.”
Shen Chunyi withdrew his hand and said gently, “He has his own ideas.”
Whether in the past or now, whenever the topic of Shen Chunyi’s educational philosophy came up among them, it always gave them headaches and toothaches—literally. Eventually, they simply chose to ignore it altogether. Shi Yun, too, now had the good sense to cut her losses and steer clear of this topic that pained both her head and teeth. Instead, she switched to one that would give Shen Chunyi a headache: “What about you? Are you going back?”
“Me?” Shen Chunyi indeed felt a headache coming on. He really didn’t want to answer this question. “I won’t be going back.”
Shi Yun stood quietly in place, watching him for a long moment before finally saying, “Then, Senior Brother, may we meet again if fate allows.”
Shen Chunyi didn’t look at her again, his gaze fixed on the faint glimmer of daylight in the distance. He merely said, “Don’t be so pessimistic. Who knows, I might come to rescue you in less than a month.”
“I wasn’t talking about that.”
Shen Chunyi didn’t respond further. Shi Yun bowed respectfully, turned, and left.
Only when her figure had finally shrunk to a tiny dot on the long street did Shen Chunyi turn to look. Seeing that she hadn’t glanced back, he smiled faintly and said,
“She really has grown up. She even remembered to bow to her senior brother when leaving.”
Xuan Shuangxu stood beside him, also silently watching Shi Yun depart.
Only when her figure had completely vanished from sight did he speak:
“It wasn’t me who shattered that flower demon’s consciousness.”
Shen Chunyi seemed to have anticipated this: “Mm.”
Xuan Shuangxu said seriously, “Someone tampered with its spiritual root. That cluster of consciousness was as fragile as paste. I really only touched it lightly.”
Shen Chunyi sighed. “I suspected as much. The flower demon I fought was unbelievably foolish. Logically, having taken human form, it shouldn’t have been that stupid. The person who tampered with it might have been afraid we’d trace it back to them through the flower demon.”
He paused, then suddenly asked, “Why didn’t you say this earlier when Shi Yun was here?”
Xuan Shuangxu replied slowly, “Because I suddenly thought of another possibility.”
Shen Chunyi understood instantly. If the person’s goal was merely to frame Shi Yun or seek revenge against the Zhao family, simply letting the flower demon feed would have been enough. They could have completely destroyed the part of the spiritual root controlling the consciousness. Yet, they chose this half-hearted, barely concealed method, leaving it partially intact.
It was as if they had anticipated that someone would attack the consciousness during the fight. So, it wasn’t until Xuan Shuangxu, almost out of habit, touched the flower demon’s consciousness that it shattered completely.
This was far too targeted. After all, whether dealing with the living or the dead, the primary method of combat was physical attack! How many races were capable of controlling others mentally?
This was tantamount to telling them that all their identities and actions had been anticipated and planned for! Shen Chunyi clenched his fist tightly.
Xuan Shuangxu, however, shrugged and said,
“Maybe it was just a coincidence, and they didn’t destroy it completely.”
After a long silence, Shen Chunyi could only sigh. “Let’s go.”
They first went to Jiaoyun Tower, where the pond had been blasted beyond recognition, its foundation smashed to pieces. The tangled vines had yet to be cleared away, but what remained were dead vines, which would be easier to deal with. Shen Chunyi returned to the second-floor room to retrieve his folding fan and noticed that all the windows were wide open. He strolled along the corridor, hearing snores from within, and knew there was no serious harm done. He left the pile of dead vines for them to clean up themselves.
The two then proceeded to the Zhao residence. Shen Chunyi had hoped to search for additional clues, but upon returning to the spot where he had previously severed the vines, he discovered that the hunched, shriveled bodies he had unearthed earlier had all vanished without a trace!
Shen Chunyi frowned and remarked, “Someone has been here.”
But what could anyone possibly want with those desiccated corpses?
Surely they couldn’t be so consumed by hatred as to take them back for posthumous flogging!
Yet, in a way, it made sense. After all, the Rain-Born Curse was an exceptionally cruel thing. The newly sprouted vines would crawl into a person through their mouth and nose, churning and devouring their internal organs and flesh. Though they did not consume living souls, the process was so brutal that it reduced the soul to a pulp, hardly different from being devoured alive.
Hatred that ran so deep—even digging up corpses for posthumous flogging—would not be surprising. After pondering for a moment, Shen Chunyi let out a long sigh and said, “Forget it.”
With no leads whatsoever, he truly had no desire to dwell on these matters any longer. By the time the two returned to the inn, dawn was breaking. The same attendant as before was in the main hall, wearing an open-fronted robe, absently flicking an abacus while scratching his head. Seeing guests at the door, he quickly set aside the abacus and hurried over to greet them, beaming as he said,
“Esteemed guests, this way—?!”
Shen Chunyi had discarded his outer robe, wearing only a middle garment. Xuan Shuangxu insisted on taking off his own outer robe to give to him. Unable to refuse, Shen Chunyi draped it over himself, but through the loosely fastened openings, streaks of bloodstains on his middle garment were still faintly visible, looking quite ghastly.
The attendant’s hand paused briefly, but he still asked, “Will you be staying or—”
Upon taking a closer look and recognizing the guest from a few days prior, he immediately changed his tone, “Is there anything you require, young master?”
Shen Chunyi waved his hand dismissively. “Heat some water and bring it up.”
Though the attendant didn’t fully understand the situation, a guest’s request was like an imperial decree—not to be neglected. He nodded repeatedly in acknowledgment. During this time of day, the inn did not typically provide hot water, but if a guest specifically requested it, especially someone as generous as Shen Chunyi, it was no trouble to heat some water while the stove fire was still burning.
As soon as Shen Chunyi entered the room, he tossed his sword onto the floor. He intended to collapse onto the bed but remembered he was covered in demon blood and slime, so he stopped himself. Instead, he rolled onto a coarse mat, picked up a cushion, and sat down, waiting for the inn to deliver the hot water.
Xuan Shuangxu followed closely behind, dutifully hanging up the sword and neatly folding the outer robe Shen Chunyi had just removed. Watching his diligent and obedient figure, Shen Chunyi was about to head over to make his own bed—truly a picture of domestic virtue—when he couldn’t help but call out to him.
Xuan Shuangxu turned around and asked, “What is it?”
Shen Chunyi held a folding fan in his hand, gripping it until it creaked softly. After hesitating for a moment, as if finally making up his mind, he took a deep breath and smiled faintly. “Let’s talk.”
Xuan Shuangxu also smiled slightly, realizing that making the bed would have to wait. He turned around, picked up a cushion, and sat opposite Shen Chunyi, maintaining a distance that was neither too distant nor too intimate. Calmly, he asked,
“What would you like to discuss, Master?”
Shen Chunyi tapped the folded fan in his hand and said,
“I was just reminded of a principle someone once told me long ago.”
“What principle?”
Shen Chunyi spoke softly, “In this world, nothing is inherently right or wrong—only perspectives.”
Xuan Shuangxu smiled and said, “Master means to say that these two flower spirits never intended to harm anyone, yet they ended up utterly destroyed. If a person has a large appetite and eats a few more cows or sheep, it certainly isn’t a crime worthy of death. But if two flowers have a large appetite and eat a few more people, that is considered utterly wicked.”
Shen Chunyi smiled faintly and replied, “Indeed. Because I am human, not a spirit, I must always consider things from a human perspective.”
Xuan Shuangxu simply said, “Some matters, some judgments of right and wrong, are not for anyone to decide.”
Shen Chunyi laughed, “Then wouldn’t that mean there is no right or wrong in all the world?”
Xuan Shuangxu also laughed, “From that perspective, it seems so?”
Shen Chunyi shook his head, smiling with a sigh, “You truly understand me inside and out, Xuan Shuangxu.”