Chapter 21: Rice Dumplings

Liu Shuang hadn’t expected that before Kongsang could even settle down, she would have to go to the Kunlun Immortal Realm for the Phantom Beauty Pearl. Before departing, she specifically sought out Fuliu to learn how to properly interact with the two young masters of the Bai family.

The original owner was a bit naive, so acting naive in front of familiar people would be fine. On the second day, Bai Zhuixu came early to Liu Shuang’s palace to pick her up.

When Liu Shuang came out, Bai Zhuixu was stunned by her attire.

Liu Shuang tugged at her clothes: “Is it very strange? Fuliu insisted I dress like this.”

She was wearing layers upon layers of immortal robes, wrapping her originally slender figure into a dumpling shape. Early that morning, Fuliu had forced these protective immortal robes onto Liu Shuang, worried the young mistress would get beaten in Kunlun.

Liu Shuang couldn’t refuse the little maid’s protective intentions, and wasn’t allowed to wear even one layer less.

Finally, Fuliu found a veil and put it on Liu Shuang, saying the Kunlun young master was also a man. If the young mistress covered her face and looked pitiful, perhaps the Kunlun young master would soften. Her appearance after taking the Phantom Beauty Pearl was truly eye-catching, so it was better to cover up to avoid reigniting the Kunlun young master’s anger.

As a result, when Liu Shuang dawdled out, she had become a pink dumpling wearing a veil.

Bai Zhuixu clenched his fist to hide the laughter in his eyes, and coughed: “It’s fine. When traveling, young mistress’s attire is… not bad.”

Liu Shuang could tell he was comforting her and said quietly: “Then don’t laugh.”

Bai Zhuixu indeed stopped laughing, though some mirth remained in his eyes: “Young mistress, Yuxiao is already waiting for us outside. Let’s go.”

Sure enough, when Liu Shuang followed Bai Zhuixu out, she immediately saw Bai Yuxiao waiting at the edge of the immortal realm, playing with a jade-topped fire dragon colt. When Bai Yu saw Liu Shuang, unlike Bai Zhuixu’s restraint, he laughed loudly and rudely.

“Chishui Liu Shuang, have you given up completely? Planning to be steamed in a pot?”

Bai Zhuixu: “Yuxiao, don’t be disrespectful to the young mistress.”

Bai Yuxiao laughed for a while, then seeing Liu Shuang standing next to his brother with no intention of rushing over to fight him, both looking at him like he was an idiot, he immediately stopped laughing and put on a serious face: “Let’s go. The sooner we set out, the sooner we’ll return. I’ve heard the people in the Kunlun Immortal Realm are all stiff as boards, not fun at all.”

With that, Bai Yuxiao took out a few copper coins, tossed them in his palm, and as they fell to the ground, they grew larger and larger, finally transforming into a dazzling golden ship that nearly blinded Liu Shuang.

Bai Yuxiao smiled smugly: “Kunlun is in the far north, a long journey. I got these Seven Treasures Copper Coins from father early on. Let’s go, we can sleep comfortably inside all the way to Kunlun.”

Liu Shuang stared unblinkingly at the golden ship formed by the Seven Treasures Copper Coins, with tassels swaying, looking magnificent and luxurious enough to make one’s eyes pop.

It was truly impressive. Living a second life, she could gain so much new knowledge.

Bai Zhuixu helped her aboard, and before Liu Shuang’s eyes was a golden chamber.

Liu Shuang had never seen such a luxurious immortal artifact before. In her previous life, the Azure Blue Immortal Realm was very simple, lacking almost everything. Later when living in the Ghost Realm, Yan Chaosheng was fond of battle and didn’t care for ostentation. He had many practical things, but rarely used such ornate and enjoyable items. Kongsang was indeed an ancient immortal realm with deep heritage and many wonderful treasures.

Bai Yuxiao sat down at the table, and seeing Liu Shuang looking around, felt somewhat proud: “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Liu Shuang nodded, still figuring out how to interact with each person, and affirmed: “It’s beautiful.”

She didn’t argue anymore. Seeing her seemingly inexperienced demeanor, Bai Yuxiao snorted with laughter: “So unsophisticated.”

However, both young masters of the Bai family knew that due to her missing soul fragments and the divination of her life-and-death tribulation, the realm master had raised his daughter very strictly. Chishui Liu Shuang had grown to 300 years old in Kongsang without ever stepping foot outside the realm. The outside world only knew Kongsang had a young mistress, but didn’t know her cultivation level or appearance.

Because of this, when Chishui Liu Shuang went to Kunlun on her own before, it made Chishui Chong anxious with anger and worry.

Just as Bai Yuxiao was about to activate the immortal artifact, Bai Zhuixu said: “Wait, there’s one more person.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a young man in black appeared.

Yan Chaosheng walked out of Kongsang’s morning mist, coming from the immortal pool, and bowed: “Elder Young Master Bai, Second Young Master.”

Finally his gaze fell on Liu Shuang, and he calmly called out: “Young Mistress.”

Liu Shuang instinctively glanced at Bai Yuxiao. Bai Yuxiao had privately destroyed Yan Chaosheng’s spiritual power and severed his meridians. In the Eight Wildernesses, crippling someone’s cultivation was considered even worse than killing them – a deep grudge indeed.

Sure enough, when Bai Yuxiao saw Yan Chaosheng, his expression changed slightly.

But Yan Chaosheng remained expressionless, as if the previous torture had never happened. His ability to remain so calm actually made Liu Shuang look at him a few more times. Based on her understanding of Yan Chaosheng, she felt he must be up to no good.

Liu Shuang examined him, trying to find where the Ten Commandments Ring given by Chishui Chong was. What exactly had the realm master father given Yan Chaosheng? Was it convenient for her to secretly get rid of him on the road?

Sensing her gaze, Yan Chaosheng turned his head and gave her a bland look: “What is the young mistress looking at? Is something wrong?”

Liu Shuang of course wouldn’t bring up the Ten Commandments Ring on her own, and denied: “Nothing.”

Yan Chaosheng’s lips curled slightly, and he said no more.

Completely unaware of the tension between them, Bai Zhuixu said: “Let’s depart.”

Bai Yuxiao drove the Seven Treasures Copper Coins through the clouds and mist. Liu Shuang casually found a room, intending to continue cultivating.

The journey to the Kunlun Immortal Realm, even if smooth, would take at least ten days at the speed of the Seven Treasures Copper Coins.

Of the four people going to Kunlun together, Liu Shuang felt most favorable towards Bai Zhuixu. Bai Yuxiao was like an irritable porcupine, while as for Yan Chaosheng, she harbored ill intentions but couldn’t think of a way to deal with him without exposing herself, especially under the watchful eyes of the two Bai young masters.

As for how to apologize once they reached Kunlun, Liu Shuang had even less idea. When she was a little immortal grass, her temperament was gentle and soft. She had never caused trouble like Chishui Liu Shuang, and truly lacked experience in apologizing.

Liu Shuang didn’t know what Chishui Liu Shuang had said or done to humiliate the Kunlun young master that day, and felt somewhat uneasy.

She hoped the Kunlun young master had a better temper and wouldn’t make things too difficult for her.

After three days of flying on the Seven Treasures Copper Coins, Bai Yuxiao was the first to lose patience. He knocked on Liu Shuang’s door.

“Chishui Liu Shuang, don’t tell me you’re cultivating! You haven’t run away, have you?”

Liu Shuang was disturbed by him, but before she could respond, there was a sudden violent tremor beneath her.

Outside, Bai Yuxiao was also stunned by the intense shaking. What was happening? Before anyone could react, the Seven Treasures Copper Coins immortal artifact suddenly scattered, turning back into coins and falling. Liu Shuang, who had been inside the artifact, lost her support and fell out of control.

Liu Shuang tried to fly up and stabilize herself, but unexpectedly couldn’t use her spiritual power at all. Below, it seemed there was something terrifying, and a huge suction force pulled her in.

In the chaos, she heard Bai Zhuixu’s still relatively calm voice: “I don’t know what’s happening. Don’t be afraid, young mistress. Don’t get separated. Young mistress, give me your hand.”

Liu Shuang quickly reached out her hand to him.

However, before she could touch Bai Zhuixu’s hand, an icy cold bracelet suddenly clasped around her wrist.

Then everything spun, and Liu Shuang fell.

At this moment, Fuliu’s foresight was fully proven. Her pink dumpling outfit served its purpose well – falling from the sea of clouds, the six layers of immortal robes protected her body, and she wasn’t hurt at all!

Instead, there was a muffled groan beside her. Liu Shuang looked over and saw Yan Chaosheng had fallen next to her, with a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.

The bracelet on her wrist was somehow linked to Yan Chaosheng’s wrist.

The silver bracelet emitted a faint glow, like surging dark tides.

Liu Shuang looked around and saw that besides her and Yan Chaosheng, the Bai brothers were nowhere to be seen. She felt somewhat angry: “What are you up to?”

Yan Chaosheng got up from the ground, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and seeing her immediately assume it was his doing without asking, his eyes grew colder: “I’m not up to anything.”

Liu Shuang originally didn’t believe him, but looking up, she also felt something was off. The sky above was gloomy, and behind them was a jade plaque that read “Taichuan City”.

They hadn’t noticed in the sky before, but now that they had landed, the heavy demonic aura around them was chilling. Did Yan Chaosheng have such great abilities now?

Liu Shuang looked up at the city and saw the streets were desolate without a single person, yet houses were densely packed, with red lanterns hanging under every eave, very festive as if preparing for some joyous occasion.

A bad premonition arose in her heart.

This feeling of falling into a place of filth was all too familiar to Liu Shuang. The first time she went to the deathly silent ghost realm, the scene was just like this.

It felt as if the immortal energy in her body was being drawn away by some invisible force. She tried to gather spiritual power, but as soon as it reached her fingertips, it dissipated.

Suddenly a hand grabbed her from behind and pulled her into a small alley. Yan Chaosheng tightly covered Liu Shuang’s mouth and whispered in her ear: “Something’s wrong. If you don’t want to die, don’t make a sound.”

His tone was very unpleasant, his eyes narrowed as he stared outside the alley.

Liu Shuang instinctively struggled in his arms, but noticing Yan Chaosheng’s expression, she also turned to look outside. It turned out that at some point, all the tightly closed houses had opened up.

People carrying red lanterns, with blank stares, walked out of the houses.

One household did so, then every household did the same.

Before long, hundreds of people were walking on the streets. They moved in perfect unison, heads bowed, like puppets being controlled, all heading in one direction.

After they had completely left, Yan Chaosheng released her.

His gaze took on a strange quality, surprisingly bright under the gloomy sky: “Young mistress, let’s follow them and take a look.”

“I’m not going.” Liu Shuang shook her head firmly. This place clearly wasn’t good, with eeriness everywhere. Immortal power would gradually dissipate here, making her feel very insecure. Naturally she wouldn’t put herself in danger again – she had just gotten her life back! This time she would survive to the very end. “You unlock this. If you want to go, go by yourself. I’m going to find Bai Zhuixu and Bai Yuxiao.”

Liu Shuang gestured for him to unlock the silver bracelets binding them together. Her expression was calm as she put on the dignity and aura of the Kongsang young mistress, afraid Yan Chaosheng would notice she couldn’t use her immortal power.

Yan Chaosheng had a demon body and seemed unaffected here. He also had the Ten Commandments Ring. If he knew of her powerlessness, he might take revenge for losing his cultivation.

Yan Chaosheng lowered his eyes to look at her, seeing her cold face truly unwilling to go with him.

But something in the city strongly attracted him. A voice told Yan Chaosheng he must go investigate.

Yan Chaosheng only pondered for a moment before unlocking the Ten Commandments Ring.

Liu Shuang let out a sigh of relief and turned to walk towards the city gate. The plaque was not far, convenient for her to leave.

Survival first, she could deal with Yan Chaosheng next time.

Liu Shuang was delighted to see the plaque and immediately went to walk out, but as soon as she stepped out, her consciousness shook and she was suddenly back where she started.

Liu Shuang stubbornly tried several more times, but each time she left the city, she would return to the starting point!

The dissipation of her immortal power became even more severe. Liu Shuang raised her hand and could visibly see the ice-blue immortal energy dispersing from her body.

“So in this place, the young mistress’s immortal power dissipates.”

Liu Shuang looked towards the voice and saw Yan Chaosheng holding two red lanterns, looking at her with an indecipherable expression.

He stepped closer, and Liu Shuang thought “This is bad” – he had seen it. She kept backing away until he cornered her under the plaque.

As one advanced and one retreated, Liu Shuang’s mind was full of “It’s over, it’s over”.

She knew Yan Chaosheng’s arrogance and vindictiveness better than anyone. Now that he had discovered this, her identity as young mistress wouldn’t intimidate him at all.

She recalled the incident at the lotus platform and felt deeply troubled.

Yan Chaosheng looked down at her, his tone light with a hint of mockery: “Is the young mistress afraid?”

Liu Shuang tried to stay calm: “No. Stay away from me.”

Liu Shuang reached out to push him away. The young man looked thin, but when she pushed, he didn’t budge at all.

Yan Chaosheng’s gaze was dark and unreadable as he vaguely grasped at the dissipating immortal power around Liu Shuang, lost in thought.

Liu Shuang’s whole body was tense. If Yan Chaosheng really tried anything, she wouldn’t sit idly by, but would fight him to the end.

After a while, a red lantern was placed in her hand. Yan Chaosheng said to Liu Shuang: “Take this and follow me.”

The lantern she was given was exquisite, with mandarin ducks painted on it. Liu Shuang didn’t move.

Yan Chaosheng walked a few steps, then seeing no one following, grew somewhat impatient. But when he turned back, the gloomy look in his eyes dissipated, becoming gentle: “Young mistress, I won’t harm you. You can’t get out like this. I have a feeling the exit is in the city. Will you trust me?”

The little pink dumpling stood under the plaque, holding the red lantern. Her veil covered her face, but her eyes were round as she looked at him suspiciously.

At this moment, both of them felt contempt for the other.

Yan Chaosheng thought: With such a cowardly appearance, how is she the young mistress of an immortal realm?

Liu Shuang thought: It’s enough that you want to court death, but you want to drag me along too?

Seeing her not moving, Yan Chaosheng’s voice grew even softer, as if coaxing her, and he reached out his hand: “Young mistress, trust me.”

Trust him – if there was any danger, he could devour her to gain enough power to handle any situation. And if they safely got out, saving the Kongsang young mistress would be a good merit. Exploiting gratitude was what he did best.