Shu Fu had lived long enough to truly understand the meaning of "narrow roads for enemies to meet."
Especially when it came to Qi Xinlei—whether she was listening to a storyteller, buying jewelry, or even now, when she had come with the intention of raiding a house and killing someone, she still ran into her!
Fate brings people together across a thousand miles, and life ensures they cross paths everywhere.
Between the female lead and the villainess, there was indeed a strange magnetic pull.
Qi Xinlei was foolish and shallow, her brain smaller than a walnut, clearly unaware of her father's schemes and even less knowledgeable about the origins of this stone chamber. In contrast, her younger sister—who was all smiles and flattery on the surface, seemingly spineless—had a cunning glint in her eyes, marking her as anything but simple.
As Shu Fu's thoughts raced, the young men behind her erupted into chaos, their voices rising in shock, heartbreak, and disbelief.
"No way! My Lady Yuwei could never be so cruel, I refuse to believe it! This must be an illusion!"
That was the fan in denial.
"This... Miss Qi Xinlei has a fiery temper, but I never thought she'd lay hands on a dying mortal..."
That was the disillusioned fan.
"Ah, truly, 'you may know a person's face, but not their heart.' In noble circles, the Qi family's young ladies have always been graceful and dignified. Who knew they had such a side to them?"
That was the rational fan.
"What are you all on about? They're just mortals—lowly as ants. If Miss Qi wants to hit them, so what?"
That was the brain-dead fan.
Without a word, Shu Fu flipped her sword, Gu Guang, and drove its hilt straight into the brain-dead fan's front teeth, sending him to his knees with a howl, clutching his mouth.
"Brat who hasn't even lost all his baby teeth, and you dare look down on mortals?"
She scoffed, ignoring the venomous glare behind her, and quickly approached Jiang Xuesheng and Liu Ruyi, who had been standing idly by. Lowering her voice, she said, "Something's off."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
Liu Ruyi arched an eyebrow with interest.
Shu Fu gathered her thoughts and explained as concisely as possible: "From what Qi Xinlei said, she's never seen this secret chamber before and likely never heard her father—Third Master Qi—mention anything about the Qiongqi. My guess is, Third Master Qi thinks his daughter is too stupid to be of any use, so he excluded her from his schemes to avoid messing things up."
At this, Liu Ruyi couldn't help but chuckle, while Jiang Xuesheng remained as expressionless as ever, only the faintest flicker in his lowered lashes. "Go on, Fellow Daoist."
Shu Fu gave him a slight nod and continued: "As for this Qi Yuwei, she knows about the chamber and mentioned these people being used for 'drug trials,' so she must have some idea of Third Master Qi's actions. If that's the case, she should also know her sister is an idiot—bringing her here does more harm than good."
"So why did she bring her sister in? Just to help her vent anger? If you ask me, their sisterly bond doesn’t seem that deep."
"If I recall correctly, whether it was in the teahouse or now, Qi Xinlei has always been domineering, while Qi Yuwei follows her lead, flattering and accommodating her at every turn. On the surface, they’re sisters, but in reality, the elder sister acts like a young mistress, and the younger one is more like a... well, a maid. But now it seems Qi Yuwei is actually the one their father trusts more. Why would she need to fawn over her sister?"
"I know about that."
Bai Tian, finally recovering from the earlier shock, instinctively chimed in. "I heard Third Master Qi was quite the libertine in his youth. Qi Yuwei was born from his affair with a mortal woman. After the woman passed away, Third Madam took Qi Yuwei in and raised her alongside Qi Xinlei. But Third Madam has a violent temper, and they say she treated Qi Yuwei... rather harshly."
"..."
Shu Fu was at a loss for words. In this world, does every successful middle-aged man have to have a few illegitimate children?
Both were illegitimate, yet Jiang Baozhu was the apple of her parents’ eyes, while Qi Yuwei was a thorn in Third Madam’s side—their circumstances couldn’t be more different. Even the two "young mistresses," Jiang Ruoshui and Qi Xinlei, were raised into completely opposite personalities.
A child without a mother is like a blade of grass—the songs don’t lie.
Shu Fu didn’t care whether Miss Qi was a jewel or a weed. Her attention was elsewhere: "So, if Qi Yuwei harbors resentment toward her sister, it wouldn’t be surprising, right?"
Bai Tian’s worldview had already been shattered and rebuilt, so he no longer avoided the truth. "Exactly. In fact, I believe she does resent her sister."
The ghost Tian Xin nodded in agreement. "I think so too!"
Shu Fu turned to Jiang Xuesheng. "Fellow Daoist."
"You’re right."
Jiang Xuesheng nodded, confirming her speculation. "The moment those two entered the stone chamber, I detected a very peculiar fragrance."
"Fragrance?"
"The scent of an aphrodisiac."
"Wait, what?!"
This time, Shu Fu nearly choked on her own spit, her breath catching in her chest. "She—Qi Yuwei? She wants her sister to... with these kidnapped commoners???"
Good heavens, the original Weak Waters Three Thousand might have been a thunderstorm of absurdity, but at least it was a clean, wholesome story without even a whiff of scandal!
Now that she’s transmigrated into it, what’s with all the talk of dual cultivation, primordial yang, and now aphrodisiacs? The entire tone of the novel has shifted! At this rate, it’s going to get banned!
Could it be—
Because her own mind is a little too... colorful, the original novel’s style has been corrupted by her, the female lead???
No way!!!
"Miss Shu, there’s no need to panic."
Liu Ruyi had been silently doubled over in laughter before finally straightening up to explain. "This incense does induce desire, but it’s the ‘desire’ of the seven emotions and six passions. For example, these commoners, who already despise their captors, would be driven by the scent to act on their hatred, attacking Qi Xinlei without restraint—until they tear her apart."
Shu Fu: "Uh... isn’t that even worse?"
At least it’s not the other kind of indecent.
"Ah!!"
As if to underscore their discussion, a terrified shriek suddenly rang out from the stone chamber beyond the barrier. Qi Xinlei’s voice was laced with panic: "You—what are you doing?!"
She gripped her whip tightly, its other end held by a gaunt, emaciated man. The tip of the whip was lined with sharp barbs, and blood trickled down the man’s bony wrist, yet he seemed indifferent, as if he no longer felt pain.
Around them, the townsfolk who had been lying limp like corpses began to rise slowly, as though invigorated by some unnatural force. A flicker of red light passed through their hollow, lifeless eyes.
"What are you doing?! Stay back!! Don’t come any closer!!"
Qi Xinlei’s face paled in terror as she yanked the whip free from the man’s grasp. With a swift motion, she lashed it across the forehead of a wrinkled old man, leaving a bloody gash.
Yet the old man showed no reaction, letting the blood drip as he mechanically stepped forward, like a puppet on strings.
The "experimental drugs" had shattered their minds but reshaped their bodies, leaving them skeletal in appearance yet unnaturally resilient—immune to pain, relentless as the undead.
Qi Xinlei turned to flee, only to find her younger sister, who had always obeyed her without question, standing calmly by the door, pressing a mechanism to seal the stone gate shut.
She stared in disbelief. "Xiao… Xiao Wei? What are you—?"
"I’m closing the door," Qi Yuwei replied, lifting her head with a smile as sweet as a crape myrtle blossom. But to Qi Xinlei, it was the grin of a demon.
Unable to suppress her terror, Qi Xinlei shrieked, "Xiao Wei, what is the meaning of this?! Stop joking around!!"
"Sister, I never joke."
Qi Yuwei remained composed, raising a delicate hand to blow lightly on her fingertips. "I’ve always known my talent and beauty are no less than yours, and my intellect surpasses yours a thousandfold. Yet Father is biased—he wants to marry you off to Lingxiao City for a life of luxury, while I’m left to do his dirty work forever."
"So, I must trouble you to stay here overnight. Once you’re dead, I’ll make sure everything is cleaned up nicely. Father will believe you sneaked after me into the cave and were tragically killed by these frenzied test subjects."
"Qi Yuwei!!!!"
......
"This is too much."
Shu Fu clenched her teeth, repeating her earlier judgment with quiet fury.
"It is indeed excessive," Liu Ruyi remarked, glancing sideways. "Miss Shu, do you believe Qi Xinlei doesn’t deserve death? Do you intend to save her?"
"That’s not what I meant."
Shu Fu shook her head. "I’m saying these people are already weak, yet they’re being forced to expend their last shred of vitality to fight Qi Xinlei. After this, they’ll either die or be left crippled. Isn’t that cruel?"
She steadied herself, suppressing the icy edge in her voice. "Common folk are not ants, nor are they pawns in power struggles. Instead of debating which of these two sisters is right or wrong, who deserves to die and who doesn’t, we should ask—what crime have these innocent people committed?"
"—I have to stop this."
Without waiting for further discussion, she leapt through the barrier. Her sword, Guāng, flew from her hand, barely propping up the massive stone gate before it could seal shut.
"Who’s there?! Help—"
Before Qi Xinlei could finish her plea, Shu Fu struck her wrist, snatched the whip, and snapped it in two, then swiftly confiscated her sword.
Miss Qi was utterly inept, her cultivation as meager as her intellect. The sword hanging from her waist served no purpose other than being an oversized, elongated ornament.
"Get lost."
Shu Fu didn’t even glance up as she spoke. "If you harm the common folk again, next time I’ll break your arm."
"Have you lost your mind?!" Qi Xinlei’s eyes bulged as she shrieked in fury. "Are you blind? It was these reckless fools who attacked me first— Wait, you’re that little bitch from earlier!!"
Shu Fu: "..."
Crack.
The next moment, Qi Xinlei let out an indescribable scream.
"AHHHHH—MY ARM!!! You lunatic! Savage! I didn’t even hurt anyone, why did you dislocate my arm?!!"
Shu Fu held her limp arm, blinking innocently. "You called me a ‘bitch,’ which hurt my feelings. Am I not one of the common folk?"
"You—"
"Considering it was only emotional damage, I went easy on you—just a dislocated arm. Don’t worry, find a bonesetter later, and it’ll be fixed in no time."
Shu Fu had no interest in dragging this out. Qi Xinlei was too low-level to be a satisfying opponent. After smoothly finishing her business, she tossed the shrieking girl toward Liu Ruyi with a glance, then darted forward like a fish slipping through the gap of light. In one swift motion, she seized Qi Yuwei, who was trying to retreat.
"Miss Qi, stay put. Your incense is too harmful—undo it first."
Qi Yuwei was no pushover either. Her expression darkened as she drew a slender silver sword and thrust it straight at Shu Fu’s face. "Meddling fool, you’re asking for death!"
Shu Fu parried with Qi Xinlei’s sword, the clash sending sparks flying with a sharp clang.
Without the enhancement of the light, Jiang Ruoshui’s original cultivation and skills were on par with Qi Yuwei’s—neither could overpower the other. They exchanged over a dozen blows, locked in a stalemate.
Meanwhile, Liu Ruyi held Qi Xinlei by the collar, his face twisted in disgust, while the girl flailed wildly with her dislocated arm. "Let me go! You freak, you half-man, half-woman abomination! You make me sick! I’d rather die than owe you anything—!"
The young man who had earlier insulted Liu Ruyi mustered his courage and stepped forward. "What kind of man bullies a girl? Let her go!"
Liu Ruyi sneered, about to retort, when Jiang Xuesheng—who had been watching idly—finally spoke. "Shu Fu and Ruyi saved Miss Qi. If you want them to release her, does that mean you’ll protect her instead?"
The youth puffed out his chest. "Of course!"
Before the emphatic "course" even finished echoing, Jiang Xuesheng flicked his sleeve. A sudden gust of wind swept the boy and Qi Xinlei off their feet, hurling them straight back into the frenzied crowd in the stone chamber, where they landed in a tangled heap.
Jiang Xuesheng’s lips curved into a chillingly serene smile.
He said gently, "Good. Now you can protect her."
