Chapter 108: Demon Realm Soul Seizure (Part 1)

When news of Lu You’s death arrived, Xu Qianyu asked suspiciously, “Lu You is dead… can Lu You really die?”
The system replied, “If she dies in this world, she should have gone back, back to her original world.”

It seemed a bit downcast: “Woo, Lu You has returned; when can I go back?”
Xu Qianyu responded, “You’re possessing a mosquito. Should I try killing you too?”
The system immediately fell silent: “Let’s not.”
Xu Qianyu also received a letter from Xu Qianqian.

In the letter, Xu Qianqian thanked her for the rescue and said that she would soon begin seclusion for recuperation, so they might not meet for a while.
Lin Shuyue, sitting nearby, said, “Whether she secludes herself or not doesn’t make much of a difference. She was never one to interact with others much.”
Xu Qianyu continued reading aloud, “‘When I come out, I will join you.'”

Yu Chu said, “Joining us means she’ll visit us regularly while we’re cultivating? That sounds good.”
Xu Qianyu thought that if that were the case, she could have Xu Qianqian do some simple exercises, which might benefit her health. The handwriting on the letter was elegant, and when Xu Qianyu held it close to her nose, it had a faint fragrance typical of a lady’s boudoir.
Xu Qianyu had rarely interacted with ladies and cherished the letter, carefully placing it back into the envelope.

“Have we finalized the list for the flower pinning ceremony?”
Lin Shuyue answered, “Yes, it’s been decided. You, Senior Brother Shen, and Su Mingyu will be the sword cultivators; in the Magic Palace, it’s me and Yun Chu, who also practices medicine; as for the artifact cultivator, it’s Xiao Chu.”
Xu Qianyu asked, “Did Yun Lan not make it?”

Lin Shuyue replied, “She was eliminated earlier. Yun Lan is just Yun Chu’s follower, and Yun Chu’s strength is still considerable.”
Xu Qianyu turned to Yu Chu: “Was Ruan Zhuqing eliminated too?”
Yu Chu, fanning herself, whispered, “That’s why we called him today, but he didn’t come.” She froze when she saw the fan’s face.

Considering Yu Chu still didn’t have a personal magic tool, Xu Qianyu had earlier given her a red gemstone and suggested she try refining something with it. Yu Chu hadn’t decided what to refine, but she had put her only decent magic item, the Eight Immortals Fan, into the furnace.
When it came out, the previously smooth surface of the fan now bore a massive, upright blood-red eye.

Yu Chu was terrified upon seeing it, nearly dropping the fan.
“I’ve never seen such an ugly thing. If I see it, I’ll have nightmares.”
The Shura Eye: “…”
Xu Qianyu grabbed the fan with the open eye and stared at it for a moment: “It’s not so bad. I think it looks like a pattern on a peacock’s tail feather.”

After Xu Qianyu described it, Yu Chu felt less afraid. She began to tell herself it was just a single peacock feather.

Just as Yu Chu was about to take the fan, Xu Qianyu poked the fan’s surface with her finger, passing it back to her: “Alright, it’s closed now.”

Yu Chu was startled. The fan’s surface now only had a curved blood-red arc and three eyelash-like strands, with a single tear beneath them.
Xu Qianyu innocently said, “You shouldn’t have nightmares anymore, right?”
Yu Chu: !!
Lin Shuyue commented, “The charm of the Shura Eye is probably like this.”

As she spoke, she formed a seal and released a peach blossom formation. Instantly, countless petals spun toward Yu Chu’s back, attacking.
Yu Chu, unprepared, saw the eye on her Eight Immortals Fan suddenly open, its red light shooting along its outline. A massive, blood-red eye’s shadow appeared behind her.
The petals, now coldly watched, all stopped in mid-air.

After a moment, they seemed to lose all life, wilting and falling to the ground as dust.
Lin Shuyue said, “Xiao Chu needs to focus when refining artifacts and can’t defend herself. With this, we don’t need an extra person watching over you—you can fully protect yourself.”
Yu Chu, knowing she couldn’t defend herself while refining, felt it made sense. Her gaze toward the fan softened considerably.

Xu Qianyu glanced at the fan. The menacing blood-red eye that had been there earlier now gracefully closed.
“You know quite a bit about the Shura Eye.”
Lin Shuyue replied, “Of course. A potential Dao partner once gave me a birthday gift, claiming it was the ‘Shura Eye.’ They asked me to verify it, and sure enough, it was a fake. The eye was made using an illusion formation and had no combat power. I didn’t expect the real one would be with you.”

“And then?”
“Such a sly man, of course, I stopped contacting him.”

Lin Shuyue began to recount the origins of the artifact: “The Eye of Shura was originally made by Fu Shao from the Wanfu Sect to please his senior apprentice, Hua Liangyu. He had heard that Hua Liangyu had long desired a life-bound artifact that could serve both offensive and defensive purposes, so he planted the Shura Blood Curse in his own right eye. The curse slowly grew within his flesh, merging with it over time. When Hua Liangyu’s birthday came, it had fully developed, and he gouged it out to create the artifact, calling it the Eye of Shura.”

Yu Chu’s face turned pale, nearly falling off his chair. “He gave his own eyeball to his senior apprentice.”

He then looked at the fan in his hand. Was the fan she was holding made from a human eyeball?
“Hua Liangyu probably got used to it,” Lin Shuyue said. “It’s said that when Hua Liangyu found Fu Shao, he had been raised in the miasma forest, surrounded by leeches and worms, with serpents coiled around his wrists and ankles. He was skilled in using poison, curses, and gu, among other things.”
“But Hua Liangyu still refused it and didn’t accept it.”

Xu Qianyu, intrigued, asked, “Such a valuable gift—what happened after she rejected it? How did he react?”

“After she rejected it, he didn’t really do anything. He simply sold the item, making a small fortune. The Eye of Shura is now in your hands, so it’s likely passed through many hands in the market.”

Xu Qianyu listened silently, thinking that Fu Shao was indeed a man of strong character.
“Wait a minute, Fu Shao is the Lord of the Demon Domain. Does that mean he and Elder Hua were once fellow disciples?”

“Yes, do you recognize the method the Eye of Shura was made? It’s a kind of talismanic technique. After Fu Shao left the Wanfu Sect, he went alone to the Demon Domain. He probably wasn’t used to socializing with people,” Lin Shuyue said, twisting a small braid. “Fu Shao doesn’t understand human nature, so we should still be cautious.”

Xu Qianyu remembered that Hua Qingsan had once mentioned to her, while they were guarding the coffin together, that Hua Liangyu had taken her in when she was cultivating as a demon. Fu Shao had also been brought back by Hua Liangyu.
This senior apprentice really liked picking up children.

Xu Qianyu thought of something and asked Lin Shuyue, “Have you found a Dao partner yet?”
“No, none of the three from before were suitable,” Lin Shuyue replied, crossing her long legs and sitting comfortably, several butterfly messenger insects fluttering around her feet. She continued chatting with others and added, “Qianyu, how about those ten male attendants of yours?”

Xu Qianyu’s heart skipped a beat, her eyelashes fluttering, and she answered calmly, “Oh, we’re still in contact.”
“I need to learn from you. Actually, disciples from other sects aren’t out of the question either,” Lin Shuyue said. “I’ve heard that male cultivators from Mount Tianshan are particularly chaste and can only like one female cultivator at a time. For this upcoming hairpin flower conference, I’ll take my time and see.”

Yu Chu looked at Xu Qianyu in shock, unsure whether he understood fully. He didn’t dare to comment and just held the fan up to cover his face, revealing wide, round eyes.

*
A few days ago, Shen Suwei had returned to his own quarters and no longer stayed in the Zhaoyue Palace.
In fact, before Xu Qianyu’s injury, they had been getting along just like this, but Xu Qianyu felt that her senior brother had become more distant. Occasionally, when Shen Suwei combed his hair and his fingers brushed her cheek, she would immediately look into the mirror, but his face remained expressionless as he continued to pin a flower into his hair.

Today, he walked past without even glancing into the room.
Xu Qianyu couldn’t keep things to herself and quickly put on a robe, pushed open the door, and walked out to the shore. Across the water, she happened to see Shen Suwei standing by the window.

It seemed he noticed her. His gaze lingered for a moment, but afraid the night fog would obscure his view, Xu Qianyu picked up a stone and threw it into the water with a splash.
Then she watched as Shen Suwei lowered his gaze and closed the window.

Xu Qianyu:?
She stared at the coldly closed window with a strange feeling in her heart. She stepped onto the Golden Lotus and skimmed over the water, knocking twice on the window.
After a moment, a butterfly messenger squeezed through the gap in the window, flying to Shen Suwei’s bed curtains, where he caught it. The message on it read: “Let me in.”

Shen Suwei stared at the butterfly messenger in silence, then casually tucked it into his sleeve and continued sleeping.
Xu Qianyu knocked for a while, then pounded again, but received no response. Frost had formed on her eyelashes, and her mood soured. She struck the window with two swords, shattering it and climbing inside.

Shen Suwei seemed to be asleep but also appeared to be ignoring her. Xu Qianyu entered smoothly without any obstruction.
But the room was dark and eerily quiet, making her shiver. Fearing she might anger Shen Suwei, she quickly took off her shoes and walked barefoot, also removing the dew-soaked outer robe. Using a cleaning spell to freshen herself up, she carefully lifted the curtain and peeked in, calling softly, “Senior Brother.”

Shen Suwei, lying on the outer side, cast a shadow over his eyes with his lashes and said, “It’s late; you should go back to sleep.”
Xu Qianyu’s strange feeling grew stronger. Previously, whenever she looked at Shen Suwei, he would always come to sleep beside her. But now, his coldness made her feel unsettled and anxious. She stared at him for a while before suddenly crawling onto the bed.

Halfway there, a hand blocked her path.
Xu Qianyu struggled with all her might but couldn’t get through, feeling trapped, as though she were sitting on top of Shen Suwei. Looking down at his icy expression, she suddenly leaned down and cupped his face, kissing him chaotically on his cool lips.
She urgently wanted to see some kind of reaction.
She wanted him to look at her like he used to.