Chapter 0045

Chapter 45: Zhou Tong’s Token, the Terrifying Xia Hong Xiu!

Xia Hong Xiu asked in a low voice: “Master, are you sure about this?”

Her face looked unpleasant, and a flash of killing intent passed through her eyes, though she hid it well.

Mo Liu Su’s tone cooled: “Is there a problem?”

Xia Hong Xiu smiled faintly and replied: “No problem. Master is blessed by heaven. Even if sixth junior brother is not here for the moment, you can still keep yourself safe.”

She drew a small incense burner from her robe and lit it.

Mo Liu Su asked without thinking: “What is that? Part of the Heavenly Fate Art?”

Xia Hong Xiu answered: “Yes. This is Spirit-Summoning Incense. It will help Master enter a Prophetic Trance more easily.”

Mo Liu Su said: “Then begin.”

She sat inside the array. As the Array Arts began to turn, the familiar dream rose again. Seas overturned, space shattered, and heaven and earth cracked. It was a battle of terrible scale. Yet Mo Liu Su could not see the process, only the known end.

There was a soft pop. Blood stained the sky. It was the blood of one close to the Dao, warning that the scene would repeat. Zhou Tong hung in midair with a sword through his heart. The fog around the swordbearer faded, and the face beneath was revealed.

Mo Liu Su held her breath. She felt sure it would be Mu Rong Ya, though she still wanted to be certain. She thought she was about to see Mu Rong Ya’s ugly face.

Her expression froze. She gasped: “Impossible. This cannot be!”

Her hair came loose as she screamed, struck by a heavy blow. The killer was not Mu Rong Ya. It was herself. Mo Liu Su killed Zhou Tong. The dream foretold a past life’s future with perfect clarity.

She shook her head and cried: “This is fake. Something is wrong. How could I kill him? I never would.”

Rage and grief boiled up. Twin lines of blood-tears slid down her cheeks. In that moment, the Zhou Tong in the dream turned his head and met her eyes.

She whispered without thinking: “Tong’er…”

Facing that gentle gaze, a small, wild hope lifted in her chest.

Zhou Tong spoke: “The thing I regret most in my life… is becoming your disciple.”

The light in Mo Liu Su’s eyes went empty. Pain like ten thousand snakes bit her heart. She shrieked: “No. Do not leave me!”

She spat blood and woke in the real world.

Xia Hong Xiu hurried to her: “Master, what happened?”

Mo Liu Su forced a bitter smile: “I am fine.”

She had thought she would catch Mu Rong Ya’s weakness, but the killer was herself.

Xia Hong Xiu’s voice turned grave: “Your condition is serious. The three disasters and four tribulations have begun to stir.”

Fear showed on Mo Liu Su’s face. Every cultivator might face them, but the chance varied. For the very gifted, heaven’s punishment came stronger. A tiny few were fated to suffer seven great hardships. Mo Liu Su was one of them.

Xia Hong Xiu explained: “The three disasters are the Body-Ending Disaster that destroys the flesh, the Mind-Warping Disaster that turns the soul, and the Path-Severing Disaster that ruins one’s cultivation. The four tribulations are the Unwarranted Tribulation that breeds nightmares, the Fate-Shackling Tribulation that blocks growth, the Lonely Tribulation that makes everyone turn against you, and the Forgetting-Home Tribulation that erases your past.”

She concluded: “What you show now are the Unwarranted Tribulation and the Forgetting-Home Tribulation.”

Mo Liu Su struggled with the choice: [Do I really have to apologize to that rebel and bring him back?]

She said aloud with resistance: “Must I bow my head and invite him home?”

Xia Hong Xiu answered at once: “No. Your bond is already cut, and he has found a new backer. Forcing a reunion will only harm you.”

Mo Liu Su asked: “Then what should I do?”

Xia Hong Xiu said calmly: “Simple. Make him lose his backer. Press him until he has nowhere to go. Then take him in again. You will fit together as perfectly as before.”

Mo Liu Su’s eyes lit up. This way she did not have to lower her head, and she could safely pass her Tribulation. It was two birds with one stone. The price was letting Zhou Tong suffer more for now. She would repay him later.

Mo Liu Su nodded: “That is exactly what I had in mind.”

Xia Hong Xiu bowed: “Then please rest. Disciple will take her leave.”

She turned to go, but Mo Liu Su called after her: “Girl, you are the one who treats me best.”

Xia Hong Xiu smiled sweetly: “Of course. Our fates are linked. The better your fortune, the more I gain.”

She left the cave, and her face turned dark. She hissed: “Idiot. Useless. Wretch.”

She snarled to herself: [I gave you a grand road to walk, and you refused. Do not blame me for being ruthless.]

Her path of divination required riding on the luck of someone with great fortune. She had chosen Mo Liu Su for that role. Mo Liu Su was about to pass the three disasters and four tribulations, and Xia Hong Xiu was ready to rise with her. But at the last step, Mo Liu Su ruined it, destroying Xia Hong Xiu’s layout.

So Xia Hong Xiu changed her plan. She would no longer rely on Mo Liu Su. She would devour Mo Liu Su’s luck instead and use it to speed toward the Dao. From now on, the worse Mo Liu Su’s life became, the more Xia Hong Xiu would gain.

That was why she lied to block any peace between Zhou Tong and Mo Liu Su. In truth, it was needless. No matter what, Zhou Tong would never forgive Mo Liu Su.

She smirked: “My dear master must be feeling very pleased right now. I wish her joy.”

When she heard Zhou Tong had been expelled, she had already wanted him dead, so she lit that incense. Mo Liu Su would never guess that it was the long-lost Calamity-Drawing Incense, which magnified the disasters on her.

Inside the immortal cave, things went just as Xia Hong Xiu hoped. Mo Liu Su knelt on the floor, clutching her head, shaking without stop.

She cried: “My head is splitting. Someone save me. Anyone, help me.”

She was no longer a lofty immortal, but a helpless woman anyone could push around. Before her plea ended, a sharper pain surged and nearly broke her.

She screamed. Sweat poured like rain. Her body jerked and twisted, lashing out at everything around her without control.

With a boom, a blast of force toppled a cabinet. Treasures spilled out. A plain wooden ball rolled to her feet and stopped.

At once, Mo Liu Su went quiet. The pain vanished as if it had never been. She picked up the wooden ball and her pupils shrank. She remembered where it came from. It was Zhou Tong’s token, the gift he gave her when he became her disciple.

She whispered with a sour heart: “His presence calms disasters, and his token suppresses tribulations. The saying is true after all.”