Chapter 582 - 254: Luo Shuqing
Chapter 582: Chapter 254: Luo Shuqing
The man had been under the oppressive weight of the Killing Intent Technique for a long time. At last, he was free.
The faces of Saint Mother Chaoyin’s subordinates all turned pale with horror.
’This isn’t what we agreed to!’
’Didn’t they say the Demon Evil God had already joined forces with Saint Mother Chaoyin?’
’Could this Demon Evil God truly be so bloodthirsty that he’d even kill his own allies?’
Some wanted to fight to the death, and others tried to flee in terror... But once Fang Shuwen’s killing intent was aroused, none of them would be spared.
’Whatever plot the Four Saints of the East Sea hoped to accomplish through Black Island, their actions alone were a death sentence.’
’Since Saint Mother Chaoyin was also involved, their feud was established long ago.’
’Her scheme was to make the tiger devour the wolf—with me as the tiger, and Suhe Zhen as the wolf.’
’She dared to plot against me. If I let her people walk away unscathed, then I, Fang Shuwen, would be nothing more than a spineless coward.’
Soon, the plaza before the hall was once again a river of blood.
Stepping out from the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, Fang Shuwen finally had a moment to glance at Suhe Lan:
"Are things on your end settled?"
"Yes."
Suhe Lan nodded.
"Tingtiao Pavilion is now mine."
"Congratulations."
"Thank you."
It was a curious exchange. The ’congratulations’ held no warmth, and the ’thank you’ was devoid of joy.
Orders were given to continue clearing the corpses from the plaza—some to be thrown out, others to be burned.
As dawn broke in the east, the night’s uproar finally came to an end.
Leaving Tingtiao Pavilion today was out of the question. Suhe Lan had no time to mourn her father and brother; she had far too many matters to attend to.
Fang Shuwen, on the other hand, led Luo Shuqing, Zuo Xuan, Zuo Hong, Zhou Zhengze, and the others back to rest.
The great fire had destroyed many buildings, but the courtyard where Fang Shuwen and his group were staying was fortunately spared.
Zuo Xuan, Zuo Hong, and Zhou Zhengze had certainly proven their worth last night.
They were decisive and quick-thinking. Even Fang Shuwen had to admit, ’They did a good job.’
Receiving a word of praise from Fang Shuwen, the three of them couldn’t help but puff out their chests and walk with a swagger in their step.
Such a performance deserved a reward.
But rewarding them wasn’t Fang Shuwen’s responsibility.
Zuo Xuan and Zuo Hong were Luo Shuqing’s people, while Zhou Zhengze belonged to Chen Qi.
As a solitary figure, Fang Shuwen could offer nothing but praise.
Everyone returned to the courtyard. Aside from Luo Shuqing, they all went back to their respective rooms.
With less than a tenth of Tingtiao Pavilion’s disciples remaining, there was no one left to serve them.
Fang Shuwen had no choice but to go to the kitchen to boil water himself, and then he took a long, refreshing bath.
He had just changed his clothes and sat down on the bed when Luo Shuqing drifted in like a phantom, pushing the door open.
She glanced at Fang Shuwen and saw him sitting cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed, seemingly no different than before.
Luo Shuqing hesitated for a moment, then sat down in a chair.
After a brief pause, she finally spoke:
"Ever since I was a child, I’ve been cultivating Qingxiao Pavilion’s Upper Celestial Treasure Record."
"But... I learned it in secret."
"My cultivation method was flawed. This so-called birthmark on my face... it’s actually the result of cultivation deviation."
Fang Shuwen opened his eyes and glanced at her.
"Earlier, when I was examining the Blood Shadow Seven Extremes Sword manual, you tried to scare me by mentioning cultivation deviation. I asked if you had ever seen someone suffer from it."
"You said you had. So the person you’d seen... was yourself?"
"Yes."
Luo Shuqing nodded and took off the mask from her face.
On her otherwise lovely face, a red birthmark the size of a baby’s palm was indeed an eyesore.
She reached out a hand and gently stroked it.
"The ridiculous part is, even with such a drastic change to my face, my father... he never even noticed."
"That is indeed quite ridiculous."
Fang Shuwen nodded.
"I... I didn’t mean to hide it from you."
Luo Shuqing said softly.
"I guess I’m just... used to it..."
"Ever since I was little, my father forbade me from learning Martial Arts. Even when Zuo Xuan and Zuo Hong practiced, they had to do it away from me."
"I suppose he thought that as a woman, I should be more delicate."
"So, I’ve always been like this..."
"But deep down, I still felt resentful and wanted to try and change things."
"In the end... it seems nothing changed. Instead, I just turned myself into this... thing that’s neither human nor ghost."
Fang Shuwen glanced at her and shook his head slightly.
"That’s not entirely sincere."
Luo Shuqing was taken aback.
"I’m not lying to you."
"I believe you’re not lying to me. It’s just not the whole truth."
Fang Shuwen raised an eyebrow slightly.
"You secretly practiced the Upper Celestial Treasure Record and fell into cultivation deviation."
"Fearing your father would find out, you did everything you could to change yourself, to make yourself... less likable."
"Playing the part of a doormat might not make everyone hate you, but as the Pavilion Master of Qingxiao Pavilion, the daughter he wanted was certainly not some timid, submissive girl."
"Even if he wanted you to be a gentle woman, he’d expect a proper young lady from a great house, one with the bearing befitting the Young Mistress of Qingxiao Pavilion."
"You deliberately made yourself this way, because the more you acted like this, the more he would grow distant."
"And the more distant he became, the less likely he was to discover that you were practicing the Upper Celestial Treasure Record."
Luo Shuqing subconsciously bit her lip and turned her head away.
"Did you have to spell it out so clearly?"
"Aren’t we being completely honest today?"
Fang Shuwen smiled.
"However, I suspect your thoughts on the matter are a bit more complicated than that."
"You wanted him to keep his distance, yet you didn’t want him to stray too far."
"On one hand, you didn’t want him to find out your secret. On the other, you hoped he would discover that you possessed astonishing Martial Arts."