Looking Like a Ghost That Just Saw You
Shu Fu’s habit of going down the mountain to “uphold justice” after attaining a certain level of cultivation was not something that had begun only recently.
Of course, “upholding justice” was merely a figure of speech.
When it came to living life, the most important thing was to be happy. Shu Fu had no particular hobbies aside from chasing cats and teasing dogs around Yaoguang Peak, bickering with her master, and plucking her senior brothers’ fur. Whenever her hands got itchy, she would go down the mountain and hunt down a couple of demonic cultivators causing trouble in some remote corner of the world, then beat them senseless.
Depending on the severity of their crimes, she might even throw in additional services such as sashimi slicing, cremation, and turning them into a loot box.
As for the target of her latest campaign against crime—the “Ghost Face,” He Xiuwen, one of the Seven Great Demonic Fiends—there was no doubt that he was a standard-grade scumbag deserving of the full service, from pulverizing his bones to scattering his ashes.
In terms of strength, He Xiuwen was only middling among the Seven Fiends. He was widely regarded as the Shame of the Nascent Soul Realm. Whenever he got into a fight, he mainly relied on running away; whenever he cultivated, he mainly relied on hiding and surviving. He was also exceptionally ugly.
Rumor had it that the demonic cultivation technique he practiced damaged one’s appearance. It was rather like Voldemort’s soul-splitting magic in Harry Potter: practice it for long enough, and not only would your hair fall out, so would your nose. Even a beauty filter set to its maximum couldn’t save you. He had no choice but to wear a mask at all times, which was how he earned the title “Ghost Face.”
But the man did possess one special talent: he was quick-witted and had a real head for business. Through his own efforts, he had made the underground black market flourish.
In Shu Fu’s eyes, the man’s business consisted of only two things: human trafficking and the illegal trade in protected wildlife.
All right, enough said. He could be shot.
Ever since learning about his deeds, one of the great pleasures of Shu Fu’s mountain excursions had been messing with He Xiuwen.
Smash his bases! Burn down his shops! Rob him of his wealth! Kill his people!
Over the past year, if He Xiuwen had kept a little notebook titled “Grudges.jpg,” then roughly ninety-nine of its hundred pages would have been filled, line after line, with Shu Fu’s name.
Shu Fu was so enthusiastic about taking down He Xiuwen for two reasons. First, she hated human traffickers and poachers with every fiber of her being. Second, she had learned that her senior brother, Qi Yexin, had once been sold to the black market by his parents to pay off a debt and had nearly been used for human transmutation.
If Qi Yexin had not been clever and quick-witted enough to escape by sheer luck, then the senior brother standing before her today might have been replaced by a certain Big Brother—the childhood nightmare of an entire generation.
New hatred and old grudges together meant that, whether for public or personal reasons, she absolutely had to scatter He Xiuwen’s ashes to the winds.
But for all her careful planning, she had still overlooked one thing.
And that was—
“Fufu, you’ve destroyed yet another black-market hideout. Second Young Master Ling is definitely going to like you even more now. You’d better think carefully about how you’re going to deal with his confession at this year’s Flower Festival.”
“…”
Shu Fu stared blankly into space, her face numb as she let out a long, weary sigh.
The Central Plains Flower Festival was a harmonious grand gathering that took place once every ten years in the cultivation world. Most young disciples would go and join in the fun, making friends with people from other sects.
Liu Ruyi and Zhao Yun were naturally eager to attend. Even Si Fei, a complete shut-in, planned to break with tradition and go down the mountain this time to see the world in the great city of the Central Plains.
…Actually, Jiang Xuesheng had forced him to go.
Three out of four disciples were off having fun, while only one stayed home surfing the web. However one looked at it, something seemed wrong.
As the number-one sect in the cultivation world, Lingxiao City naturally would not miss such an excellent opportunity to show off. According to rumor, the city lord Ling Shanhai’s three adopted sons—Ling Fengqing, Ling Xiyue, and Ling Fengming—would all appear at this year’s Flower Festival.
The Flower Festival had always been jointly hosted by Yao City and Wei City. Ever since Yao City had placed itself under the Ling family’s command, the hot-tempered Wei Tianjiao had severed ties with Yao City and drawn a clear line between them. From then on, even the Flower Festival was held separately by the two cities, with no contact between them.
In theory, the three brothers of the Ling family should all attend the festival in Yao City, while sects on less-than-friendly terms with Lingxiao City would go to Wei City. The two sides kept out of one another’s way, maintaining a delicate sort of peace.
And yet…
“That Second Young Master Ling will most likely follow you there again and try to arrange a ‘chance encounter’ in Wei City. Over the past two years, he’s managed to ‘run into’ you seventeen or eighteen times, hasn’t he?”
“Ugh…”
Shu Fu’s eyes grew solemn as she once again let out a long sigh filled with the air of someone who had seen through the world.
As for this whole mess, well, not even her father could have anticipated it.
Back then, she had given him a thorough round of socialist therapy, speaking with such passion and eloquence that even now she felt proud whenever she thought about it. She had been certain that she could verbally smash the worldview of Ling Xiyue, the darkened male supporting character, leaving him to retreat in disgrace and never harbor another improper thought about her.
Just like the male lead, Qi Yuxuan. After one of her verbal barrages, his favorability toward her had plunged from zero straight down to negative one hundred. From then on, the male and female leads had become sworn enemies, and their romance had gone completely cold, with not the slightest chance of reconciliation.
But Shu Fu had never expected Ling Xiyue’s character to appear so clichéd on the surface while actually being a complex and ever-changing treasure of a man.
If he had a principle when it came to love, it would probably be this: when you advance, I retreat; when you retreat, I pursue. If you’re a white lotus, I’ll turn black. If you’re the hot-tempered Lu Zhishen, strong enough to pull a willow tree out of the ground, then I’m perfectly willing to be your Zheng Tu, beaten until a water-and-land memorial service could be held at my temples—and I’d still shout, “Well hit!”
Shu Fu had only two things to say about that.
The first was for him: “Kid, what’s wrong with you?”
The second was for herself—
“Little friend, do you have a lot of question marks floating around in your head?????”
Over the past three years, apart from the times when Shu Fu was cultivating at Yaoguang Peak, whenever she went down the mountain to train, Ling Xiyue always found some way to track her down. He would then manufacture some blatantly obvious “chance encounter” and contrive one method after another to come over and strike up a conversation.
At first, he had been fairly reserved. He would recite a line of poetry, say a few flowery words, or pretend not to notice as he displayed his youthful, handsome appearance—and a round, adorable Pomeranian.
However, Shu Fu had spent years honing her skills on Yaoguang Peak. She had heard more cheesy pick-up lines than most people had eaten meals, and she faced the stunning beauty of Jiang Xuesheng and all her senior brothers and sisters every day. Her hands had practically gone numb from petting fur alone. To her, the word “flirt” was no more effective than scratching a wall. There was not a single spot where anyone could get under her skin.
Of course, the dog was quite adorable.
As long as Ling Xiyue’s words did not come attached.
Originally, Ling Xiyue had merely fallen in love with her at first sight. After running into a wall time and again, he had begun to find it somewhat pointless and developed the urge to give up.
Unfortunately, right at that moment, Shu Fu’s cultivation advanced, and she set her sights on He Xiuwen, the “Ghost Face”—that magnificent prize. From then on, wrecking black-market operations became one of the great joys of her life.
Only later did she learn that, when he was young, Ling Xiyue had been abducted by demonic cultivators and sold to the black market, where the blood of the yuanchu was stripped from his body, turning him into an ordinary human.
From that moment onward, in Ling Shanhai’s eyes, this “son” of his had completely ceased to exist.
That was also why, among the Ling family’s three brothers, the eldest was named Fengqing and the youngest Fengming, while only he had no “Feng” in his name.
In the eyes of the Yuanchu Patriarch, he was no longer a descendant of the Five Phoenixes.
With such a history between them, and given Ling Xiyue’s vicious, sharp-tongued, and vindictive personality, there was no way he would not hate He Xiuwen and the black market to the bone.
On the other hand, Eldest Young Master Ling Fengqing had secretly joined forces with the Ghost Market, making enormous profits while both sides got exactly what they wanted. The partnership was a resounding success.
That was why Ling Xiyue hated He Xiuwen to the bone, yet could never lay a finger on him. All he could do was capture a few of He Xiuwen’s underlings and amuse himself by carving them up.
If you do not explode in silence, you will go insane in silence.
So, under these circumstances, what would he think of Shu Fu, who had descended from the heavens like an act of fate and turned the Ghost Market upside down?
The answer to that question was exactly what Shu Fu had predicted all those years ago.
“I… suddenly have a feeling that Second Young Master Ling is going to fall madly in love with me someday. How terrifying.”
And so, her words became prophecy.
Even Liu Ruyi was greatly surprised. She could not help asking, “Junior Sister, you couldn’t be clairvoyant, could you?”
Shu Fu: “…”
Like hell I knew anything. Right now, I just want to go back three years and murder the version of myself who said that.
Over the past three years, the longest road she had ever traveled was the tortuous labyrinth of Second Young Master Ling’s train of thought.
And she still hadn’t reached the end.
Because the depths of his imagination were so unfathomable that they might not have a bottom at all.
……
“Second Young Master Ling may not be a very good person, but he does have a bit of genuine affection for Fufu. In my opinion, if you find him acceptable, your senior sister can drag him back here and keep him on the mountain as a male concubine. What do you think?”
Just as Shu Fu was gazing up at the sky and sighing, Zhao Yun’s train of thought had already leaped several miles ahead, and the conversation had advanced to an utterly preposterous stage.
Shu Fu: “…No, thank you.”
Come to think of it, why does even a little white rabbit like you know the term “male concubine”? What kind of extravagant and dissolute life does the Jade Rabbit clan lead???
As Shu Fu and Zhao Yun chatted, they did not neglect their actual business. They tied up the scar-faced cultivator and the two Tianyan Sect disciples who had fainted from terror. Zhao Yun stayed behind to keep watch, while Shu Fu entered the underground black market alone to investigate.
With the Solitary Light Sword in hand, Shu Fu’s strength was already on par with that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator. Common riffraff were no match for her, and her courage had naturally swelled along with her power.
She had always been recklessly bold. Now, she could probably wrap her arms around the entire galaxy.
After slicing up every demonic cultivator who stood in her way, Shu Fu charged straight down to the lowest level. Sure enough, she found the precious “cargo” delivered by the scar-faced cultivator: merfolk scales, merfolk tears, and a nine-colored deer whose antlers had been sawed off. Its hind legs were covered in blood; no one knew how much skin and flesh had been cut away, but the pale bones were already exposed.
Shu Fu clicked her tongue. “Good grief. I’m going to rip his head off and set it off like fireworks, then sing ‘Good Days’ at his grave.”
Unfortunately, her plan never came to fruition. By the time she returned to the surface with the dying fawn in her arms, Zhao Yun had already rounded up several of the “prey” who had escaped earlier. Pointing with one hand at the terrified scar-faced cultivator sprawled on the ground, she smiled sweetly and said:
“Go. Give him two slashes on the balls.”
“Remember to slice them thin. Two cuts per person, no more. There are still people waiting in line.”
Shu Fu: “…”
Fine. You’re stronger than I am now.
“Weren’t we supposed to take him back and let Third Senior Brother flay him?”
Over the scar-faced cultivator’s heart-rending screams, Shu Fu walked forward and asked Zhao Yun, as though she couldn’t hear a thing, “He abused the merfolk and is guilty of every imaginable crime. He should be dealt with personally by Third Senior Brother.”
Zhao Yun waved her hand dismissively. “It’s fine. Let everyone here enjoy themselves first. We’ll save a couple of pieces for Third Junior Brother later. Everyone gets a share.”
Shu Fu: “…………”
What is this, a butcher’s market? You take a pound, I take two pounds. Whoever gets a cut profits. By the time you’re done, the whole pig has been carved up, and all that’s left is the pig’s head to take back to Si Fei?
That said, the scar-faced cultivator was powerfully built. It would take quite some time to slice up his balls, and he certainly wouldn’t die right away. It was only a matter of fleshly pain; if they wanted to slice him, then so be it. If he fell into the hands of Zhao Yun’s rabbit horde, they might even use their iron teeth to bite the whole thing to pieces, leaving not a scrap of meat behind.
Shu Fu simply gave up trying to dissuade her senior sister. Turning around, she put her arms around the deer’s neck and comforted it gently.
“Little fawn, do you still remember where your home is? Don’t be scared. Big Sister will take you home and help you find your mommy and daddy.”
“I…”
The nine-colored deer raised a pair of clear, gentle eyes to look at her. After remaining silent for a long while, it suddenly began shedding tears.
“I am three hundred and seventy-six years old. Both my parents have already passed away, so there is no need to trouble yourself. Thank you, little girl. You truly are a kind and good child.”
Shu Fu: “…It’s nothing. This is what I should do. I came too late and let you suffer, Elder.”
Damn. In this cultivation world, where ancient old-timers were everywhere, even a deer had finally become my senior.
