Dreamscape
Xu Shulou lay flat on a stone bed, her gaze eerily calm.
Shen Zhuang stood to the right of the bed, speaking softly to this rare volunteer as if afraid she might back out at the last moment: "Don’t be afraid. I’m going to tie you down now—just to keep you from moving during the leg replacement. Nothing more."
"I understand. I trust you completely, Master Shen. Please proceed as you see fit."
"If you feel anything during the procedure, speak up. It might help me refine the process."
"Of course."
Pleased by her compliance, Shen Zhuang softened further and made a promise: "Right now, I can only merge human and beast limbs. Merging human to human always fails. But once I figure it out, I’ll replace this with a proper human leg. As long as you cooperate today, in the future, you can pick any woman’s leg you fancy on the street, and I’ll take it fresh for you."
"Thank you, Master Shen."
"Then let’s begin." Without further delay, Shen Zhuang pressed his left hand against Xu Shulou’s thigh and raised the blade in his right.
He carefully avoided the meridians, slicing a deep gash into her flesh. The sound of the blade parting skin and muscle was enough to make one’s scalp crawl. He glanced at Xu Shulou, but her expression remained unchanged. His excitement grew. Once she had the new leg, she could help him refine his craft—pointing out where the meridians were blocked or the connections flawed. Unlike the unwilling subjects, who, if they ever regained consciousness, would sooner tear him apart than speak a word.
He couldn’t resist the temptation. He knew Lu Beichen would be furious when he found out, but what could he really do besides rage? The risk was worth taking.
Another cut. Just as his excitement peaked, the door burst open with a crash, revealing Lu Beichen’s livid face. He stormed in, took one look at the blood on Xu Shulou’s leg, and roared, "Stop! Now!"
Shen Zhuang’s expression darkened, but he obeyed.
Lu Beichen’s voice was sharp with fury. "Shen Zhuang, do my words mean nothing to you? If word gets out that my concubine has a beast’s leg, how am I supposed to maintain face?"
Interrupted at the height of his work, Shen Zhuang couldn’t hide his irritation. His tone turned mocking. "Oh? The great Sect Leader Lu, who welcomed demonic concubines into his harem, draws the line at a single beast’s limb?"
"You—!"
"Husband," Xu Shulou interjected quickly, "this is my fault. I begged Master Shen repeatedly until he agreed. He’s a man of great talent—please don’t quarrel with him over me."
"Quarrel? Foolish woman! Do you have any idea how this would tarnish my reputation? How many heroes follow me because of my righteous virtue? What would they think if they heard of this?" Lu Beichen scoffed. "Great talent? What kind of talent is this?"
Shen Zhuang’s face twisted into something ugly.
Of course. Lu Beichen was happy to use his wealth and creations in secret but still looked down on him. Who wouldn’t resent that?
His words dripped with venom. "Righteous virtue? Have you forgotten, Sect Leader Lu, who bankrolled your reputation during the mortal realm’s drought?"
No one liked having their past thrown in their face. Lu Beichen glared. "We had a mutually beneficial arrangement. I used your money, and I gave you shelter. That was so you could focus on your little experiments—not so you could give my concubine a beast’s leg behind my back!"
Shen Zhuang knew he was in the wrong, but his tone remained stiff. "I was going to give her a deer’s leg. The height matches. With my skill, no one would notice unless she lifted her skirts."
Lu Beichen stared at him, incredulous. "And what about me? She’s my concubine. How am I supposed to enjoy her with a deer’s leg in the way?"
Enough. As if he didn’t know Xu Shulou was neglected. Shen Zhuang sneered. "You have two demonic concubines. I thought you had a taste for the exotic."
"You—!" Lu Beichen choked on his rage. He hadn’t noticed before, but Shen Zhuang had always been this sharp-tongued. Back when he needed Shen Zhuang’s silver, he’d endured it with a smile. Now that Shen Zhuang’s resources were no longer indispensable, his patience had worn thin. The change was in him, not Shen Zhuang.
Xu Shulou quickly stepped in, stroking his arm to calm him. "Husband, weren’t you leading the charge against the Demon Lord’s remnants to avenge Elder Fanyang and uphold the Lingxiao Sect’s honor? How did you return so soon?"
"Stay out of this." But the mention only worsened his mood. "No wonder you two were so bold. You thought I’d be away long enough for you to act first and explain later."
Shen Zhuang smirked. "Ah, so that’s why you’re in such a foul mood. Lost to the demons and taking it out on me?"
Lu Beichen kicked over the table holding Shen Zhuang’s tools. "Listen well. As long as you’re in the Lingxiao Sect, you follow my rules. If this happens again, don’t expect mercy!"
He seized Xu Shulou’s wrist and dragged her out, indifferent to whether her bleeding leg could keep up. She glanced back at Shen Zhuang with an apologetic look.
The latter stared at his scattered tools, his face unreadable.
Back in the sect, Xu Shulou was punished as expected—kneeling in the courtyard, enduring the whispers of passing maids and disciples. She was used to it. Shame no longer touched her.
Flowers in brocade, fire under oil.
Lu Beichen’s glory seemed unshakable, but like a towering wall on a fragile foundation, the slightest misstep could bring it all crashing down.
Beside Xu Shulou knelt Ling Yuechan, the demon girl, her face gaunt and weary. Isolated in her own courtyard, excluded from everything—even the news of Lu Beichen’s campaign against her own kin. She hadn’t known until his return.
"Such a delicate, lively face once," Xu Shulou remarked lightly. "How has the demon saintess fallen so low?"
Ling Yuechan’s tears fell freely. "Spare me your mockery. You’re hardly living in comfort either."
Xu Shulou studied her. "They tell you nothing, do they?"
"And you will?"
"Call it pity for a fellow sufferer." Xu Shulou sighed. "The Lingxiao Sect suffered heavy losses. The Demon Lord self-destructed, taking many with him. Lu Beichen brought back only his head, now hanging above the sect gates as a warning."
Ling Yuechan shuddered violently, collapsing into wracking sobs. She tried to rush into the main hall, but the attendants stopped her—Sect Leader Lu was occupied and couldn’t see her.
Xu Shulou listened as Ling Yuechan's intermittent wails of grief went on for a long, long time.
Xu Shulou knelt beside her for hours, until the sky darkened, waiting until Ling Yuechan cried herself unconscious and then woke again.
Ling Yuechan had barely calmed down, murmuring, "He promised me back then... he wouldn’t wipe us out completely..."
Xu Shulou raised an eyebrow. "You truly loved him once, didn’t you?"
"I did. The first time I came to the cultivation realm, I met him," Ling Yuechan’s eyes were clear as she recalled the past. "Back then, he was exactly the kind of elegant, white-robed young master I had dreamed of. He helped me, smiled at me, spoke softly to comfort me, and told me there was no real difference between demons and cultivators—that the two realms could coexist in harmony. How foolish I was to believe him..."
"..."
"Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you laughing at me in your heart for being so stupid?"
Xu Shulou tilted her head to look at her. "Fu, Gao Ning'er, Bai Roushuang, and even I—when we married him, we all had ulterior motives to some degree. You were the only one who loved him with pure, unfeeling devotion. What a pity."
Ling Yuechan slumped half-sitting, half-lying on the ground. "I dragged my father into this."
"Don’t blame yourself too much," Xu Shulou comforted her. "Everyone dies sooner or later."
Ling Yuechan no longer had the energy for anger, only staring at her strangely. "Is this how you comfort people?"
"It’s just the truth," Xu Shulou glanced around. "Everyone... will die eventually."
Ling Yuechan studied her. "You’ve gone mad... Then again, after all these years, it’s no wonder you’ve been driven to insanity."
"Maybe madness is better," Xu Shulou said seriously. "Reason can only restrain oneself, not others. So what’s the point of it?"
"..."
"Oh, by the way," Xu Shulou mentioned casually, "I heard your demon kind has a particularly potent curse?"
"I know what you’re referring to, but that’s just a misconception spread by outsiders. It’s not a curse—it’s a poison," Ling Yuechan shook her head. "My father despised it and never let us touch it. I don’t have any."
"..."
Ling Yuechan looked at her, as if suddenly realizing something, and added, "I don’t have it, but I know someone who once defected from the Demon Palace—he definitely has it."
"Aren’t you going to ask me what I plan to do with it?"
"It’s time I lost my mind too," Ling Yuechan replied indifferently. "Whoever you plan to kill, I’ll be happy to see it happen."
"..."
Some time later, Demon Lord Xuanyang arrived to seize the head of the Demon Lord, triggering a battle. The Lingxiao Sect was caught off guard, and he managed to escape. Just as things had barely settled, with Lu Beichen scrambling to salvage the sect’s reputation, news broke of an epidemic in Ruzhou City.
Ruzhou City, where the Black Tortoise Tower stood, was one of the few cities where cultivators and mortals lived side by side. This time, even many cultivators had reportedly fallen ill. A few days later, the reports changed—it wasn’t an epidemic after all, but someone had poisoned the well water.
Now that the Black Tortoise Tower was nominally under the Lingxiao Sect’s control, Lu Beichen couldn’t avoid making a trip for appearances’ sake. Though he suspected this was the demons’ revenge and feared being caught in it himself, he reluctantly led a group to Ruzhou City.
To his surprise, his goodwill was met with hostility. Upon arrival, the master of the Black Tortoise Tower accused him—was this poison his doing? How else could it bypass the cultivators’ poison-detecting pearls and enter their systems?
The two parted on bad terms, and Lu Beichen secretly resolved that this man could no longer be left alive. He might as well take advantage of this opportunity to eliminate him.
Later investigations revealed the poison had originated from a brothel run by demons. A butterfly demon had been the first to be poisoned, and when he transformed and flew, the toxic scales from his wings spread the poison to others.
Lu Beichen simply ordered all the demons in the area executed and the brothel burned to the ground.
In the end, Ruzhou City suffered heavy casualties, with most survivors being cultivators. As for the master of the Black Tortoise Tower—perhaps because he had visited the brothel too often in recent days—his poisoning was too severe, and he couldn’t be saved.
The members of the Black Tortoise Tower listened to this explanation with sorrow in their hearts but had no choice but to accept this "truth" for now.
To make matters worse, the royal family of the Xiao Kingdom began causing trouble. Ruzhou was under their jurisdiction, and they believed Lu Beichen’s actions in the city had gone too far. Lu Beichen, however, insisted he had only ordered the execution of demons, not commoners, and thus had not overstepped. He concluded that the Xiao Kingdom was merely using Xiao Ya’s death as an excuse to harass him, which left him deeply displeased.
During this time, Lu Beichen was practically running himself ragged, with one crisis after another demanding his attention, until he gradually began to feel overwhelmed.
Upon returning to the Lingxiao Sect, Xu Shulou promptly presented him with a bowl of calming tea. Lu Beichen eyed her suspiciously. "How did you know I’d return at this time?"
Xu Shulou shook her head. "I didn’t. I simply prepare a bowl of calming tea every day, waiting for my husband’s return."
Lu Beichen’s expression softened slightly. "You’re quite thoughtful."
Pleased by the praise, Xu Shulou smiled brightly. "Indeed. I believe that with enough determination, no matter how difficult the task, one can accomplish it."
Lu Beichen nodded absently. "You’ve certainly gone to great lengths for me."
Xu Shulou lowered her eyes demurely. "Fortunately, my husband is worth it."
