Chapter 44

Chapter 44: You Brought This on Yourself

A cultivator’s flesh-and-blood body was nothing like a mortal’s anymore. Even though Fifth Lady Wang was only at Qi Refining Stage, Level Seven, a single drop of blood condensed from her essence—used on a mortal—was enough to drive out sickness and strengthen the body.

She was only pleased for a moment. Gu Shi Yi’s lower belly swelled like she was four or five months pregnant, but after that it never changed again. The thing still wouldn’t come out. By now, Fifth Lady Wang was stuck riding a tiger, unable to get off, and regret gnawed at her in secret.

“If I’d known, why did I have to treat this girl like this?” she thought bitterly. “I could’ve tossed her a few pills, or some gold and silver, coaxed her into handing it over herself. Wouldn’t that be far better than forcing it out of her?”

It looked like the treasure had already grown a bit of spirit. It had been in Gu Shi Yi’s body for so long that it had fused with her flesh and blood. Trying to rip it out by force… with Fifth Lady Wang’s current strength, she truly wasn’t enough. From the look of things, only a late Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator could easily seize it.

But regret was useless now.

With no other choice, Fifth Lady Wang hammered her own chest three more times. Those three blows truly injured her true essence. After the three drops of blood fell, her face turned pale as paper. A faint black haze crept between her brows, her breath went chaotic, and cold sweat streamed down her forehead. She looked like someone struck by a sudden deadly illness—like she might collapse and die on the spot.

“Go!”

Three drops of blood landed.

“Hummm…”

The thing in Gu Shi Yi’s belly finally moved again. Light flared, and the entire hall under the formation began to tremble. Fifth Lady Wang lifted her head, uneasy, and glanced at the green barrier overhead.

“This treasure is making such a huge disturbance. Can my formation even hold?”

She had underestimated what Gu Shi Yi carried inside her. At first she’d assumed it was some astonishing magic tool. Now, it looked like it might be a spirit treasure.

Fifth Lady Wang grit her teeth, formed a hand seal, and squeezed out the last thread of power in her body. A streak of white light shot into Gu Shi Yi’s belly. Her legs gave out and she dropped to her knees.

At the same time—

“Hummm…”

It was as if a bright moon had risen inside the hall. Vast, heavy moonlight flooded the air. Fifth Lady Wang stared up in shock. Even as a cultivator, she didn’t dare look directly. She turned her head and waited until the glare eased, then looked again.

“Ah…!”

She shrieked, disbelief lacing the sound.

“The Mystic Profundity Bright Mirror!”

It was actually it.

In this world’s cultivation circles, the treasure had a name. Some busybody had once ranked the continent’s magic tools and treasures, and the Mystic Profundity Bright Mirror sat at the very bottom of the top hundred. It wasn’t because it was weak—this was an immortal artifact left behind by immortals.

The problem was the Mystic Profundity Sect’s mere mortal. Relying on being that immortal’s descendant, he’d used bloodline power on his deathbed to place a restriction on the treasure, making it unusable by anyone else. That was why its ranking had plummeted.

Fifth Lady Wang’s face fell. She’d never imagined she’d drain herself dry and burn through ten whole bottles of pills, only to drag out this thing. She couldn’t use it. Even if she offered it to the elders, who would be willing to take it?

This… wasn’t it a chicken rib? Too good to throw away, too useless to chew.

Her chest roiled.

“Wah…!”

She spat a mouthful of blood, her vitality truly damaged.

And her bad luck still wasn’t finished.

The palm-sized mirror above her slowly gathered its glow, then drifted toward Gu Shi Yi’s lower belly again. It had stayed inside Gu Shi Yi for twenty-five years and had long fused with her flesh and blood. If Fifth Lady Wang still had strength, she could have forced it to submit. But her power was already exhausted. She couldn’t even cast a simple Object-Seizing Art. She could only watch as the mirror was pulled by Gu Shi Yi’s body, trying to sink back where it belonged.

She was furious enough to vomit blood, but how could she accept watching the treasure—one that had cost her so much vitality she wouldn’t recover for three to five years—return to its original owner? She might have no power left, but she still had arms.

Her eyes snapped to the small porcelain bottle she’d thrown on the floor. She grabbed it and hurled it at the mirror.

Clang—clatter!

The bottle knocked the mirror off course. It scraped along Gu Shi Yi’s thigh and dropped to the floor.

Fifth Lady Wang knelt there, watching the light fade until it became an ordinary-looking little mirror lying quietly on the ground. She let out a cold laugh.

“Fine. Even if the elders don’t want it, I’ll offer it to a Nascent Soul Stage great cultivator. With their divine powers, they can surely break the restriction on the mirror!”

The restriction on the Mystic Profundity Bright Mirror wasn’t something anyone could casually undo. A Nascent Soul Stage great cultivator could break it, sure—but anyone who reached that realm already had countless treasures, all refined until they moved like an extension of their own will. The mirror was good, but breaking the seal would take effort, and refining it would take time. Most Nascent Soul Stage great cultivators lived in seclusion; who had the patience? Cultivators below Nascent Soul would only see a chicken rib and refuse the hassle. That was how the Mystic Profundity Sect had coasted in safety for years—until later, a disciple stole it from within the sect.

Fifth Lady Wang braced herself on the table and staggered to her feet. She took a few unsteady steps to the mirror, bent down, and picked it up. She turned it over and over in her hand. Aside from looking old-fashioned, it didn’t seem different from any ordinary mirror.

But she was a cultivator. She wasn’t going to treat it like a piece of junk.

She pressed two fingers together, dabbed them in blood at her lips, then touched her brow. She opened her Three-Eyed Sight. If she had power, she wouldn’t need such a stupid method, but her meridians were empty. Blood was the only trigger she had left.

When the faint outline of an eye appeared between her brows, she lowered her gaze to the mirror.

And then the change hit.

As her third eye looked into the mirror’s surface, it seemed to activate a hidden formation inside. The little mirror flared bright again—then a beam of white light shot straight into her third eye.

“Ah!”

She screamed and threw the mirror to the floor, clutching her brow as she shrieked. Black smoke curled up through her fingers. Caught completely off guard, she was badly wounded.

She had already spent every shred of power. That strike had slammed directly into her Three-Eyed Sight and destroyed it in an instant.

“Ah—ah—ah…!”

She rolled on the ground, screaming.

Right then, beneath the flower stand in the corner, a tiny figure appeared. It moved as nimbly as a monkey, darting to the mirror in a few steps. It bent down, hugged the mirror tight, and turned the shining face toward the woman.

“Ah…!”

Fifth Lady Wang shrieked again. A hole the size of the mirror burned straight through her chest. Before she could even grit her teeth and see what was holding the mirror, a second beam struck.

“Ah…!”

Her screams echoed through the sealed space. The formation she had set up smothered every sound—nothing escaped. Beam after beam hit her body until she looked like she’d been roasted by wildfire. Her skin burst and sloughed away, and her once-delicate features were burned beyond recognition. There was no beauty left to speak of.

At first she still had strength to roll and flail, trying to dodge. In the end, she lay limp like a dead dog, not moving at all.

Only then did the small shadow stop.

Still hugging the mirror, it crept closer, wary. Seeing Fifth Lady Wang truly on her last breath—breathing out, but not breathing in—it finally relaxed.

That tiny shadow was Li Yan Er. Once she was sure Fifth Lady Wang couldn’t harm anyone anymore, she climbed onto the tabletop with the little mirror in her arms.

“Shi Yi… Shi Yi, are you okay?”

She hadn’t even finished when the little mirror suddenly turned into a streak of white light. It plunged into Gu Shi Yi’s lower belly in a blink and vanished.

“Shi Yi!”

Li Yan Er shoved Gu Shi Yi again. When she still didn’t move, Li Yan Er lifted her foot high and kicked her hard in the ear.

“Ah!”

Gu Shi Yi yelped and shot upright. She stared blankly for a moment, then snapped fully awake. Turning toward the clay doll beside her, she shouted in panic.

“Yan Er, why aren’t you running? Run—now!”

She knew nothing about what happened while she was out. In her mind, Fifth Lady Wang was still trying to kill her. Then she noticed the woman on the floor, burned beyond recognition, and froze.

“Yan Er… what happened to her?”

Li Yan Er rattled off what had happened in a few quick lines. Gu Shi Yi listened, stunned, then suddenly burst out laughing. She slapped her thigh, delighted.

“Ha! Served her right. That old man said it—this mirror followed me for twenty-five years. Unless I hand it over willingly, even a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator can’t force it away!”

As for why the mirror suddenly shot out light and burned Fifth Lady Wang… Gu Shi Yi couldn’t make sense of it. But now wasn’t the time to sit and ponder.

She flexed her hands and feet. Aside from some weakness, she felt fine. She hopped down from the table and crept closer to Fifth Lady Wang. The woman was burned terribly, but she still clung to one breath. When she saw Gu Shi Yi awake, her lips worked, muttering soundlessly.

Gu Shi Yi didn’t dare get close. She watched from a distance. After staring for a while, she finally understood the mouth-shapes.

“You have pills upstairs that can save you?”

The woman’s lips moved again.

Gu Shi Yi’s expression went cold.

“You tried to take my life. Why would you think I’d save you?”

The woman’s lips fluttered urgently.

Gu Shi Yi gave a short, sharp laugh. “You think I’d believe you? You’re a cultivator. I’m just a little mortal. Today it’s your bad luck—you did this to yourself. If I give you pills and you recover your power, then I’m the one who’s doomed.”

The woman’s lips moved faster, pleading.

Gu Shi Yi shook her head. “You say you’ll swear to your heart demon, and that makes it true? I can’t even tell whether you swore or not. And besides…”

[Even if you really swore, so what?]

[Once you recover, all it takes is one look from you, and even your maidservant could kill me. You could swear the nastiest oath in the world and still fear nothing!]

Gu Shi Yi looked away. She stopped watching the woman’s mouth, turned back, and picked up the clay doll from the tabletop.

“Yan Er. We’re leaving.”

The clay doll nodded and pointed to the corner. “The jade token is still there.”

Gu Shi Yi went to pick it up, then marched to the door with Li Yan Er—only to be blocked by the hazy green barrier.

“Shi Yi…” Li Yan Er pointed at the formation flag in the corner. “She set this formation. If we don’t pull out the formation flag, we can’t leave!”

Gu Shi Yi nodded and went over at once. She yanked the formation flag free with all her strength. The green barrier hummed once, then disappeared.

Gu Shi Yi glanced at Fifth Lady Wang on the floor.

“Don’t blame me. Blame your own greed. I’m only protecting myself.”

Fifth Lady Wang’s mouth opened and closed desperately, but Gu Shi Yi refused to look any longer. She stepped out, crossed the garden, and headed toward the back hall. Luckily, when Fifth Lady Wang had brought her in earlier, she’d removed the front formation—otherwise, Gu Shi Yi would’ve been helpless even if she wanted to leave.

Gu Shi Yi pushed open the doors of Hundred Herbs Pavilion and hurried out with Li Yan Er. She left the street in a rush and returned to the wall she’d come through. That wall was supposed to be one-way—only in, never out—but she slipped through it without the slightest trouble and returned to the mortal street.

Seeing mortals coming and going, no different from herself, Gu Shi Yi finally let out a breath.

“Yan Er, we need to leave this place as fast as possible.”

Cultivators had endless tricks. Fifth Lady Wang looked miserable, but she still wasn’t dead. Who knew what method she might have to recover? If she came looking for revenge later, Gu Shi Yi would be finished.

So Gu Shi Yi didn’t waste a word. She hurried to the waiting carriage.

“Move!”

Huang Liu’s carriage driver had waited the whole afternoon. When his honored guest finally returned, he answered at once, snapped the whip, and drove the carriage hard toward the Huang residence.

By the time Gu Shi Yi arrived, night had fallen. Huang Liu had gotten the news and came to greet her personally at the gate. Seeing her, he smiled.

“Miss Gu, did you finish what you needed to do?”

Gu Shi Yi nodded. On the ride back, she’d already calmed herself and thought everything through. Now, facing Huang Liu again, her expression was steady—no trace of the life-and-death danger she’d just survived.

“Haha. Thanks to Sixth Master, everything went smoothly. It’s done.”

She clasped her hands toward him.

And she wasn’t wrong. The item had been delivered into that woman’s hands. That counted as completing Shang’s order. As for whether Fifth Lady Wang could deliver it to Shang afterward… that wasn’t Gu Shi Yi’s business.

Huang Liu didn’t know the details. He only grew happier.

“Since that’s the case, Young Lady, please come inside. Let’s talk in detail!”