Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 150: Reversal of Offense and Defense

Countless chains snapped in succession, and countless strands of power returned to Bai Shuangying’s hands.

For every bit of power he reclaimed, the false god’s corruption weakened in equal measure. The twisted pollution that had once seemed insurmountable now looked more like a fly clinging to food.

In Bai Shuangying’s consciousness, the black figure false god struggled in confusion, only to be harshly pressed down into the depths of his mind.

Three hundred thousand chains.

Nearly three hundred thousand chains were severed, and most of his body regained freedom. As long as Bai Shuangying wished it, he could now leave Fang Xiu’s body, tear through all restraints at the cost of quaking the heavens and the earth.

…Yet Bai Shuangying didn’t move.

He pretended nothing had happened and continued hiding in Fang Xiu’s flesh. He even deliberately restrained his presence to minimize the erosion caused by the “possession state”.

It was pretty nice here. He would stay a while longer. Fang Xiu’s flesh was soft and warm. If he left, he would have to face A’Shou, which would be quite annoying.

Might as well “have fun together”.

After failing to land an attack on Fang Xiu, the immortals grew serious.

As Xushan trembled, hundreds of celestial artifacts rose into the air. From bronze celestial cauldrons to lightning-struck sacred woods, every weapon aimed at Fang Xiu.

Yet since Fang Xiu made no further moves, the immortals could only follow the path of benevolence. They displayed a posture of utter destruction but didn’t actually strike.

Before the immortals could act, Zhuang Guiqu stepped forward, moving a few steps closer to Fang Xiu. From Fang Xiu’s perspective, it was as if Zhuang Guiqu now stood at the very front, while the immortals lined up behind him like soldiers.

“May I ask your name?” Zhuang Guiqu gave a polite bow despite the tense standoff.

“I’d rather ask you,” Fang Xiu replied with a cheerful smile, as blunt as could be. “Are you Zhuang Guiqu, or the version of ‘Zhuang Guiqu’ that represents the Immortal Encounter E?”

“I don’t understand what you mean,” Zhuang Guiqu replied courteously. “But the matter of the sealing is already decided. Even if you are somehow connected to that Corner of Heaven’s Will, it is too late now.”

His tone was calm and polite, but his eyes scrutinized Fang Xiu from head to toe, seemingly trying to determine what kind of being he was. He subtly shifted his stance, one hand drifting behind his back, fully alert.

That wariness wasn’t an act, but genuine. Fang Xiu relaxed slightly inside.

The Corner of Heaven’s Will had been sealed, and the story should have ended perfectly. Now, with his sudden intervention and the black figure false god bound by Bai Shuangying, the Immortal Encounter E could no longer freely spin its tale, lacking the influence it once had through Zhuang Guiqu a thousand years ago.

To those within the story, someone constantly speaking of “ink illusions” and “Immortal Encounter E” came off as a madman.

Absolutely perfect.

Opposite Fang Xiu, Zhuang Guiqu continued the narrative. “I assure you, that Corner of Heaven’s Will won’t be harmed by the seal. Opposing the gods brings you no benefit.”

Fang Xiu replied, “Then let’s pretend I’m just mentally unstable.”

Zhuang Guiqu fell silent.

“Your plan went too smoothly.” Fang Xiu spread his arms; his eyes curved into a crescent as if they were grinning. “Setting a trap, dragging the gods into it, sealing the ‘final boss’ successfully. Don’t you think that makes for a dull story?”

“After sealing one threat, a more terrifying opponent should appear. That’s what you call a ‘twist’.”

He slid his fingertips down his chest and abdomen, gently tracing the outline. He could feel Bai Shuangying moving within his flesh, the touch slick, cool, and faintly aching, sending tingling excitement up his spine.

It felt like a seamless, ever-present embrace.

Within this numb and secure sensation, Fang Xiu curled his index finger slightly—

Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock.

A distant knocking echoed, prompting the immortals to look around instinctively. There were no doors here, and the sound came from all directions, sometimes near, sometimes far.

A’Shou, hiding behind Fang Xiu, flinched slightly as a strange chill swept over the back of her neck.

Fang Xiu’s hair stirred without wind, tips swaying like mountain mist. Xushan trembled again, creating a strange resonance with the knocking.

Sensing Bai Shuangying’s pulse synchronizing within him, Fang Xiu smiled more warmly. He stepped lightly forward, his figure casting a shadow over the childlike Zhuang Guiqu.

“What I care more about is, why this story isn’t moving forward. I’ve been provoking you for so long. Clearly, you could just give the order, and everyone would gang up on me.”

“In previous times too, your attempts to lure me to death always had the same flair—choosing a roundabout death, whispering sweet words in my mind. Why?”

Fang Xiu bent over, his features distorted by his grin.

His mismatched eyes brimmed with mirth. The black pupil locked on Zhuang Guiqu, while the white one spun independently. His pale red lips parted slightly, revealing a mouth of pitch black, as if something were surging inside.

Behind the immortals blazed celestial artifacts and immortal E’s bright as daylight. Behind Fang Xiu stretched a long shadow, pointing toward an abyss of utter darkness.

“Incomprehensible!” Zhuang Guiqu took half a step back and growled.

[Zhuang Guiqu’s mind swirled with doubt. When this person first arrived, he had thought him just another half-baked black Taoist. After all, these cultivators were merely fuel to ignite the divine descent. They could stir no great storm before true immortals.]

[But he had misjudged.]

[Worse, within the madman’s ramblings lay fragments of truth. What exactly was he? What did he want? If he wished to protect that Corner of Heaven’s Will, why join the team, only to reveal himself now?]

[The man in red defied all logic, and Zhuang Guiqu couldn’t figure him out.]

[Still, he was so close to success. He could not let this inexplicable menace disrupt things now.]

[With gods and ghosts all present, the only reason they hadn’t attacked was to maintain righteousness and avoid acting without cause. He had to come up with a way to justify a strike.]

[Wait—]

[Why couldn’t he think straight?]

Zhuang Guiqu clutched his forehead, face twisted with pain and confusion.

Fang Xiu smiled gently and whispered, “The Immortal Encounter E seems to like granting wishes. And since you plan to corrupt the God of Xushan’s karma, you must also be stealing its ‘wish-granting’ stories… That means the Immortal Encounter E’s taboo must be tied to ‘wishes’.”

“Given the timing, you should feel some urgency. Stop trying to bait me into making a wish.”

Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock.

As Fang Xiu finished speaking, the mysterious knocking sounded again. For some reason, it seemed even closer now, sending shivers down their spines.

The floating celestial artifacts trembled violently. Scorched black spots bloomed on their surfaces like burning paper. The immortals stirred, divine energy pressing lower as their weapons descended.

Hidden nearby, A’Shou watched Fang Xiu, her expression growing more solemn.

[This man was truly insane. Though his words were wild, Zhuang Guiqu still felt a chill listening to them. The immortals needed a reason to act. They could figure out their plan one step at a time.]

[Suddenly, his thoughts cleared. Zhuang Guiqu was startled.]

[Though he didn’t know what trick the opponent had used, he could act freely now. That was perfect. The man in red had triggered a clear anomaly in Xushan. It was the perfect justification for battle—hand-delivered, almost.]

[Moments ago, he had set this trap for the gods. Now, he seemed caught in the same pattern himself. The sense of déjà vu unsettled him, but there was only one path forward—]

Zhuang Guiqu swiped both hands, raising a circle of yellow talismans. They shook violently and were quickly stained red.

“So that’s it. You are karmically bound to that Corner of Heaven’s Will. Disrupting hearts and threatening the seal—you deserve death.”

The fortune immortal and weeping immortal ghost exchanged a glance and made a restraining gesture behind them. The two divine beings attacked first, radiant spells cascading down toward Fang Xiu.

“It’s a karma-verifying spell.”

Bai Shuangying’s voice rang in Fang Xiu’s mind. It was more intimate than a whisper, like a tongue licking his brain, itch spreading to the bone.

Fang Xiu stifled a moan and quickly adjusted, accepting the attack without resistance.

Under the light, a column of black energy burst behind him. Countless spectral chains writhed like shadows, responding to the distant sealing formation.

[Is he a subordinate of the Corner of Heaven’s Will fragment? An incarnation?]

[It no longer mattered. What mattered was that this terrifying unknown was a vulnerability. He must be sealed. Zhuang Guiqu regretted it—perhaps the gods would not kill but getting them to attack was already a win.]

A giant peachwood sword flashed out, moving faster than lightning. Fang Xiu twisted, but his left shoulder was completely severed. The sword’s aura left dozens of deep gashes in his body, blood instantly drenching his face.

But in the next moment, countless pale fingers reached from his wounds. They fused into flesh, restoring his body almost instantly—even the torn red robe was whole again.

Fang Xiu: “…Oh dear.”

It was Bai Shuangying’s power.

Not healing, but invasion. Bai Shuangying’s body plugged the wounds and reconstructed him. Even the pain was gone.

Beneath him, Xushan rose and fell gently, like breathing.

The gods’ next wave of attacks struck A’Shou’s protective spell. Missing the first strike, she barely blocked the second.

She raised her sword at the immortals, and a rain of blood materialized around her, forming countless blood shields in front of Fang Xiu.

Divine and yin energies clashed. The blood shields quaked, struggling to hold. Cracks formed, but somehow they held for a moment longer.

“As expected, the Immortal Encounter E’s imitations do not reach the level of real immortals.”

Fang Xiu muttered as he raised his hand. “A’Shou Jie, you really are strong.”

While she bought time, Fang Xiu waved his hand, summoning countless ghost flames from the sky.

With Bai Shuangying’s power behind them, the flames fell like meteors, as if they were a catastrophe from the heavens. Now it was the gods’ turn to defend, raising barriers over the seal.

As their offense faltered, Fang Xiu slipped past A’Shou’s guard and charged forward.

Zhuang Guiqu’s yellow talismans were blasted aside. He recoiled sharply, drawing a green jade dagger with his left hand. Facing Fang Xiu’s full-on charge, Zhuang Guiqu used his childlike body to dodge and drove the blade upward into Fang Xiu’s abdomen.

The green jade shimmered with poisonous light, and the inscriptions on its blade flickered. Fang Xiu’s flesh was instantly torn open—but what spilled from his body wasn’t organs or entrails. Inside his abdomen was the writhing body of the Corner of Heaven’s Will.

It curled tightly within him, wrapping around his innards, slithering like a living creature. As Fang Xiu’s flesh split open, countless fingers emerged from the entity’s surface and pulled the wound closed again.

“How rude,” Fang Xiu muttered. “We were in the middle of being intimate.”

He casually grabbed the stunned Zhuang Guiqu and lifted him up. His fingers twitched slightly.

Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock.

[Zhuang Guiqu was horrified to realize the knocking this time was coming from inside his own body. Even so, he still didn’t know what it was.]

[He felt a tearing pain, like his body was being shattered. The strange man in red stood there, eviscerated, under a barrage of divine attacks, smiling gently at him.]

“You can’t possibly think this is good writing. There’s no need to hold back your power anymore,” Fang Xiu said, eyes drifting past Zhuang Guiqu to a point in the air. “Once we return to Weishan Village, you won’t have such a convenient backstory.”

[Even now, the man continued to speak madness.]

[But Zhuang Guiqu knew that he was just a mortal. If he died here, killed by this inexplicable thing, his plan would fall apart.]

[He had to survive. To survive, he needed to buy time and goad the immortals into unleashing their full power… Yes, for now he would have to go along with this lunatic’s script.]

[And for some reason, just as he tried to come up with something suitably insane to say, words spilled from his mouth on their own.]

“Your… state is excellent,” Zhuang Guiqu said hoarsely. “I can help you. I can bind you to the Corner of Heaven’s Will forever. That way, you’ll always have this immense power. You won’t need to separate again…”

“If you agree… I can rewrite this story for you… make you the true protagonist…”

For a brief moment, Zhuang Guiqu’s expression turned vacant. Under the glow of spell lights, his eyes looked like deep, lightless wells.

“You’re really trying hard. I should give you some praise.” Fang Xiu used the childlike Zhuang Guiqu as a human shield and dodged another wave of divine attacks. “Now that the black figure false god is gone, you’re breaking character to say this stuff.”

“In the past and now, you’ve always been desperate to fulfill my wish.”

Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock.

Zhuang Guiqu’s body gradually stiffened and became coarse like wood. Strange hinges began sprouting along his limbs, like the joints of a door.

The next moment, a golden sash wrapped around his waist and yanked him back into the immortals’ zone.

“Not good!” A’Shou’s pupils shrank.

Without Zhuang Guiqu as a meat shield, a massive golden bell hammer followed behind the sash. Covered in golden talismans, it shot forward like a missile, slamming toward Fang Xiu’s slender frame.

A’Shou twisted to intercept, but the strike was too fast. She barely deflected it off course.

The bell hammer slammed into Fang Xiu’s side. With a loud crack, his recently healed abdomen tore open again. He flew back a dozen paces, light as a leaf, blood spurting from his mouth.

Fang Xiu’s bones were shattered. His limbs bent at impossible angles. Yet moments later, he stood up as if nothing had happened.

Blood streamed from his mouth. As he parted his lips, several long, pale fingers extended from within, bending slightly like the legs of a strange insect.

He even reached up and gently touched the fingers with his own, caressing them tenderly.

Watching this eerie display, A’Shou didn’t know which side she was supposed to protect anymore. No matter how she looked at him, Fang Xiu had nothing to do with the word “normal”. His aura was more unholy than any evil.

Is it really safe to let this creature loose in the world?

…Still, a teammate is a teammate. She took a deep breath, steeled herself, and quickly assessed the battlefield.

The immortals were no fools. Realizing Fang Xiu’s danger, the ghost immortals in the back summoned even more immortal E’s. During the battle, they had been secretly preparing their formation again, clearly intending to repeat their sealing attempt.

Back within the formation, Zhuang Guiqu stood trembling, his body still deformed in terrifying ways. That knocking Fang Xiu had summoned, whatever it was, had clearly left him gravely injured.

He glared at Fang Xiu with hatred. He seemed to try to speak, but when he opened his mouth, all that came out was more knocking.

“How disappointing.”

Fang Xiu met his chaotic gaze and taunted him with delight. “No wonder they say ‘E’s’ have no brains. Even their tricks are all repeats.”

At the same time, Bai Shuangying stirred within Fang Xiu.

He was surprised to find that the black figure false god he had been suppressing was no longer trying to erode him. Instead, it was desperately trying to break away. It must have sensed something was wrong and now wanted to return to control the Immortal Encounter E.

Well, it needed to stay suppressed.

“How about we return this ‘false god’ to you?” Fang Xiu said calmly. “Compared to a soulless lump, that thing might still have a bit of imagination.”

As he spoke, he suggestively pressed a hand to his abdomen, fingertips gliding over the freshly healed wound—still tinged with soft pink, pulsing from within.

Fang Xiu was thin enough that he could feel Bai Shuangying’s body beneath his skin.

Well, whatever. As long as Fang Xiu was happy.

Bai Shuangying rubbed against the bulge, catching on quickly. He immediately released the suppression. The black figure false god vanished from his consciousness in an instant. It fled so completely, it was as if a great burden had been lifted. Bai Shuangying almost lost control of the power rushing out of him.

…That thing fled in panic, severing itself completely.

…So that was it. His human likely had no idea how much power he had just reclaimed. Fang Xiu’s “test” had been aimed at forcing the false god out, keeping him far from danger.

His human really was amazing. Bai Shuangying suddenly found that even the gods across from him looked a bit less annoying.

Meanwhile, among the immortals, Zhuang Guiqu’s body convulsed violently.

He no longer maintained his childlike appearance. His frame stretched tall and strong. His simple robes transformed into black garments, long hair cascading down his back.

His face no longer was covered in blood. Instead, his features twisted and reformed, aging and youth blending into one. The end result was a handsome and seemingly harmless visage. Based on looks alone, this “Zhuang Guiqu” could be called a gentleman of jade-like elegance.

His features didn’t resemble Fang Xiu, but his aura bore a strange similarity. Unfortunately, with one side glowing gold and the other covered in bloody fingers, Fang Xiu looked far more like the evil cultist everyone wanted to eliminate.

I am finally free. I can once more control the Immortal Encounter E.

If I don’t act now, this story will end. Not to mention Bai Shuangying’s terrifying power, even Fang Xiu alone can escape. His condition is far too strange. I cannot analyze the source of that knocking, but it fills me with dread.

Too dangerous. Far too dangerous.

I must use the character of Zhuang Guiqu. He is a role karmically entangled with me.

Yes, Zhuang Guiqu burning his vitality to enter a state of omniscience and peak power can be justified within the story.

Personally taking the stage is risky, but I cannot continue to sit on the sidelines. I must steer this story and trap Fang Xiu and Bai Shuangying here.

At all costs. 

At all costs. 

At all costs.

……

In Fang Xiu’s vision, “Zhuang Guiqu” rose slowly.

“You’re an interesting human. Confident enough to treat ‘victory’ as your definite goal rather than a vague wish… that kind of ‘wish’ buried deep within the soul, something yearned for yet believed impossible.”

He spoke softly, yet his words carried far. “You’re right. I do want to grant your wish. Even if you refuse, I will make it come true.”

He raised his hand. The earth of Xushan trembled in response. The karmic chains within the seal quaked violently. The immortals looked toward “Zhuang Guiqu” in astonishment.

I know they have doubts. But this is not the time.

The powerful gods must understand who the enemy is and deal with the one who endangers the world first.

As for Zhuang Guiqu’s odd state, that can be explained in later arcs, with reasonable narrative continuation.

The rustling of chains filled the air. The astonishment on the immortals’ faces shifted to grim resolve.

“Your wish is ‘to be with Bai Shuangying forever’.”

“Zhuang Guiqu” said soft.

“I will sew you and Bai Shuangying together completely and bury you here forever.”

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The author has something to say:

Xiao Hei* has entered the stage, and Xiao Bai is gathering strength.

*Black (note [Bai] means white)

A surprise is on the way—

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