But the influence wielded by these spoiled young heirs alone probably wouldn’t be enough.
The influence Wu Guanyue wanted was enough to make the Meishan She clan swallow their anger and let the matter go—perhaps even treat them with courtesy. To achieve that level of influence, they needed to involve enough immortal sects and aristocratic clans.
If only Wu Guanyue and Wenren Ying took part in the encirclement and slaughter of the Blood Demon Ancestor, then the authority to define what had happened would rest entirely with the Meishan She clan.
But if all these second-generation heirs joined in, then the power to determine the nature of the incident would be divided among several parties. Even if none of those sects possessed influence equal to the She clan’s, Verdant Cloud Adept would not be able to take proper control of Verdant Cloud Grotto-Heaven while making enemies of every one of them.
In that case, events would naturally develop in the direction Wu Guanyue wanted.
Of course, it was also possible that all these sects might reach an agreement and dump all the blame on the powerless and pitiful Little Wu and poor A-Ying. So Wu Guanyue still had to invite a few people who didn’t get along particularly well with the Meishan She clan.
For example, the young mistress of the Hundred Flowers Palace—the very same Baili Yuling who had once come to play Cat Mario at her place for ages.
And then there was…
Wu Guanyue glanced sideways and asked with deep disdain, “…Why did you get here so fast?”
Standing beside her was Bai Yunsheng, grinning so broadly that all his teeth were showing.
If one carefully reviewed the low points of Bai Yunsheng’s life, it wasn’t difficult to discover that the original culprit had been She Wenjie.
If She Wenjie hadn’t told him that Wu Guanyue was suspected of killing the Seven-Treasure Pine, Bai Yunsheng would never have had the bright idea to go looking for trouble.
If Bai Yunsheng hadn’t gone looking for trouble, Wu Guanyue would never have stripped him down until he didn’t even have a pair of underpants left.
And if Wu Guanyue hadn’t stripped him down until he didn’t even have a pair of underpants left, he would never have actually destroyed the Seven-Treasure Pine’s primordial spirit!
So, in the end, everything was She Wenjie’s fault!
Seeing She Wenjie suffer misfortune made Bai Yunsheng happier than anyone else. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Wu Guanyue, he folded his arms and laughed with unconcealed delight.
For someone with such a strong sense of self-respect, Bai Yunsheng showed remarkable restraint after hearing Wu Guanyue’s disdainful remark. He merely said, “You called me, so of course I came. Is that still not good enough? Ha-ha… Hey, She Wenjie, haven’t you eaten? Hurry up! Otherwise, Little Shopkeeper Wu is going to whip you!”
Wu Guanyue: “…”
Wu Guanyue: “……”
This guy had really let himself go…
When she’d first met Bai Yunsheng, she’d thought he was such a show-off. But apparently, his self-respect had been stripped away along with his spider-silk shorts. Now he had the unhinged air of someone who had simply decided to give up on everything.
Er…
Whatever. At least he was here to support her!
Wu Guanyue rose onto her tiptoes so she could look him straight in the eye, patted him on the shoulder, and said solemnly, “Bai Yunsheng, you’re wonderful!”
Bai Yunsheng: “…”
Bai Yunsheng: “……”
Judging from the ellipsis bubbles floating above Bai Yunsheng’s head, he didn’t seem to think Wu Guanyue was complimenting him.
Tch… He didn’t appreciate her kindness.
Brother Ying was still the best. She and Brother Ying were the true friends destined to achieve greatness together!
Wu Guanyue couldn’t be bothered with Bai Yunsheng anymore. She skipped off to find Wenren Ying.
The second person to arrive was Baili Yuling. After all, someone still kept an eye on the young mistress of the Baili clan, so she was nothing like the free-spirited Bai Yunsheng.
However, when she heard that Wu Guanyue wanted to show her something amazing, her curiosity ignited with a whoosh.
This was the Little Shopkeeper Wu, after all—the very creator of the high-class game Cat Mario!
Thus, not long after Bai Yunsheng arrived, Baili Yuling hurried over as well.
And She Wenjie experienced his second bout of social death that day.
Baili Yuling stared in astonishment at She Wenjie, who had been locked in the rear courtyard and put to work turning a millstone. She stood there dazed for quite some time before bursting into laughter and saying without the slightest mercy, “She Wenjie, you’re finally getting what you deserve!”
The Hundred Flowers Palace was also one of the most prestigious powers in Meishan. Its current head was Master Lingbo, the sword elder of Verdant Cloud Grotto-Heaven, whose strength was formidable.
Therefore, She Wenjie’s list of victims had never included Miss Baili. Still, no respectable person could possibly have a favorable impression of someone like She Wenjie.
Because of She Wenjie, Baili Yuling had even come to believe that Master Chongxu was an affected hypocrite. Otherwise, why would he allow his younger brother to behave like this?
That judgment wasn’t entirely wrong… The problem was that Master Chongxu had spent all these years being tormented by blood poison. He barely had the strength to take care of himself, let alone play the part of a strict father to She Wenjie.
Baili Yuling mocked She Wenjie without restraint, while a plainly venomous glint flashed through his eyes.
Damn them… Damn them… Damn them all!
Wu Guanyue, Wenren Ying… Wu Guanyue and Wenren Ying!
If he didn’t avenge this grudge, he swore he would no longer consider himself a man!
A powerful sense of humiliation churned inside She Wenjie, making his entire body tremble. Never before had he so desperately wanted to kill someone. Never before had he felt such an intense thirst for revenge!
However… his thoughts no longer mattered.
His final purpose had already been fulfilled.
Not long ago, She Wenjie’s fellow young heirs had all received the same voice-transmission talisman:
“I’m at the Aaaah-Ohhh-Uhhh Inn, missing you terribly. Hurry over!”
“……”
What the hell…?
Question marks popped up over the heads of all the spoiled heirs.
But the voice coming through the transmission talisman was unmistakably that of Senior Brother She…
If they didn’t go, then the next person to be kicked into the freezing pool and held underwater by the others might very well be them!
At the thought, the young heirs immediately felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar. One after another, they scrambled to their feet and hurried over from all directions to—er, that inn with the ridiculously long name.
At the same time, Master Chongxu also set out for the inn.
For the past few days, his task had been to put on an act—to keep the Blood Demon Ancestor under control through sheer performance.
The Blood Demon Ancestor had briefly seized control of Master Chongxu’s body at the inn and confronted Wu Guanyue. But because he had remained in primordial-spirit form for so long, he couldn’t endure the physical pain. As a result, he quickly returned control of the body to Master Chongxu and fell into a deep sleep.
Of course, he didn’t remain asleep for long. He soon woke up again.
By the time the Blood Demon Ancestor awoke, Master Chongxu had already returned to Verdant Cloud Grotto-Heaven.
Naturally, the two of them had a heated argument.
Master Chongxu was both furious and terrified that the Blood Demon Ancestor could seize control of his body. The Blood Demon Ancestor, meanwhile, put on an entirely different act. With tears and mucus streaming down his face, he sobbed that he was merely a lonely old demon abandoned by the world… and that he only wanted to stay alive!
Naturally, they couldn’t truly fall out.
If Master Chongxu fell out with the Blood Demon Ancestor, the Blood Demon Ancestor would immediately possess him, and Master Chongxu’s own primordial spirit would quickly dissipate.
As for the Blood Demon Ancestor… Why hadn’t he possessed Master Chongxu after hiding in his sea of consciousness for so many years? Was it because he didn’t want to?
Of course not.
He had cultivated the Blood Poison Demonic Art, which placed extremely high demands on the physical body. The host had to be infected with blood poison, and the infection had to be deep. Otherwise, after possession, the physical body and primordial spirit would repel each other, creating an exceedingly dangerous situation.
That was why, back then, he had used viper blood to taint Master Chongxu.
Who could have guessed that Master Chongxu’s will would prove so steadfast? He had stubbornly refused to kill anyone, and as a result, the blood poison had yet to spread to a critical stage.
Although Master Chongxu often believed that his own willpower was weak, the truth was that he had survived to this day precisely because he had resisted those impulses.
Thus, while each remained wary of the other, the two of them soon reached a new balance.
The Blood Demon Ancestor spun all sorts of honeyed promises, declaring that if he ever got the chance to obtain someone else’s body, he would immediately leave Master Chongxu’s body. In return, he asked Master Chongxu to find him a suitable vessel.
Master Chongxu remained silent for a long time before finally agreeing.
The Blood Demon Ancestor sneered inwardly. What a hypocrite!
Then indignation began to rise in his heart again. If Master Chongxu weren’t so wishy-washy, and would only let go of his moral scruples a little sooner, his body would have been fully transformed long ago, and the Blood Demon Ancestor would already have moved into his new home!
Afterward, Master Chongxu brought up another matter with him: Wu Guanyue and Wenren Ying.
Master Chongxu said that although he had found an excuse to fob them off that day… given Wenren Ying’s perceptiveness, what if he realized the truth? If that happened, everything Master Chongxu possessed now would be reduced to ashes!
He absolutely could not allow anyone to expose his secret!
In short—in the final analysis—as long as Wenren Ying and Wu Guanyue remained alive, he would never be able to rest easy!
The Blood Demon Ancestor felt exactly the same way.
Rarely in agreement, the two immediately began discussing how to sabotage Wenren Ying and Wu Guanyue.
That was when Master Chongxu began to bait the Blood Demon Ancestor.
He simply said that he already had a perfect plan.
His younger brother, She Wenjie, had clashed with those two before. All he needed to do was lure his brother to the inn, and another conflict between them would inevitably break out.
When that happened, She Wenjie would certainly call for reinforcements, and Master Chongxu would also send some disciples from Verdant Cloud Adept’s paradise to lend support.
None of these people could afford to be killed. Even the “Meishan’s Number One Blade” would probably be constrained by scruples and driven into a panic. If he killed even one of them, all the better—their masters and parents would be alerted, and Wenren Ying would have no hope of escaping unscathed!
As for Master Chongxu… all he needed to do was disguise himself and hide among the crowd, watching the situation unfold. Then, once chaos broke out, he could launch a sneak attack on Wenren Ying. A man without protective qi—how could he possibly survive?
The simple country demon was utterly shocked after hearing the plan. It took him a long while before he finally said indignantly, “You people with power and influence really are all rotten to the core!”
Master Chongxu: “…………”
Master Chongxu said coldly, “How ignorant.”
The Blood Demon Ancestor: “…………”
The Blood Demon Ancestor fell silent.
Naturally, he had no objections to the plan. After all, he had watched Master Chongxu desperately conceal his secret for who knew how many years. He considered himself to understand Master Chongxu far too well.
And so, that day, Master Chongxu changed his appearance and mingled among the spoiled young heirs heading out to find She Wenjie. Together, they made their way to the inn.
