Chapter 90
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Pei Yunshu hid in the treetops, watching as the people below ran into the distance under his gaze.
The barrier concealed between the fluttering leaves, Pei Yunshu waited until those people had completely disappeared before releasing the scroll leaning against the tree trunk.
The painting showed an empty spot where he had been standing. Pei Yunshu examined the three cracks, realizing that Zhuyou and Bai Lige could come out, it would take some time.
Pei Yunshu smelled blood on the painting but didn’t see any drops. If he remembered correctly, the Sect Master of Flower Brocade Sect, whom he saw when he came out, was wiping away fresh blood.
Could it be that he used his blood to release him?
Pei Yunshu pondered. He rolled up the painting and heard footsteps below. Looking down, he saw a group of people wearing clothes with bold peony embroidery.
“Hurry!”
“Inform all hall masters. The Sect Master orders not to harm anyone.”
Pei Yunshu rubbed his forehead, extending some spiritual awareness to follow them in various directions.
Since he entered the lair of Flower Brocade Sect, even though he knew Young Master Qingfeng wasn’t that kind of person, Pei Yunshu couldn’t help but suspect that he led the three of them into Flower Brocade Sect.
Zhuyou, Bai Lige, and he were in the painting, and only Hua Yue and Young Master Qingfeng were outside. How could he not be suspicious?
His spiritual awareness transmitted various pieces of information amid the noise. Suddenly, he heard a voice that was extremely familiar.
“Who do you say escaped?”
Pei Yunshu’s expression turned cold, and he tightly gripped Qingyue Sword.
It was Zouyu.
Another voice sounded, “Report to Hall Master Zou, the person is unknown. The Sect Master instructed that if you see anyone suspicious, do not harm them; just send them to the Sect Master.”
Zouyu: “This Lord knows. You may leave.”
Pei Yunshu silently jumped down from the tree, following this spiritual awareness like a gust of wind. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at a courtyard.
He stepped on the treetop branches, looking into the room from among the layered leaves.
The messenger was leaving, but Pei Yunshu’s spiritual awareness did not leave. Instead, it stayed in Zouyu’s room.
That spiritual awareness turned into Pei Yunshu’s eyes and ears, becoming his invisible weapon.
Pei Yunshu wanted to kill Zouyu. He had sworn to kill him since the Fox Clan secret realm, and Zouyu knew nothing about it.
Zouyu was frowning, showing a strange expression as he spaced out, thinking about something. Zouyu’s expression gradually became gloomy, and his hand holding the porcelain cup made an unbearable cracking sound.
Taking advantage of this moment, Pei Yunshu’s spiritual awareness turned into an invisible blade, charging toward Zouyu from behind.
Zouyu suddenly felt a sense of unease. His scalp tingled, an intuition honed in countless life and death crises making him instinctively roll to the side.
After rolling away, Zouyu looked at the place where he had just sat, only to hear a loud noise. A beautifully patterned stone table was cut deeply out of nowhere.
Zouyu’s face turned extremely ugly. He immediately took out a defensive magical treasure, scanning the surroundings without showing any change. “What’s wrong? Which senior wants to kill me? You don’t even dare to show your face?”
Pei Yunshu’s voice came from behind him, “It’s me who wants to kill you.”
His voice was as cold as winter, with no intention of concealing the killing intent.
Zouyu was stunned, revealing an unmistakable expression of surprise. He turned around to look, only to see Pei Yunshu standing behind him with a raised sword.
Qingyue Sword in Pei Yunshu’s hand emitted an urgent hum, and spiritual energy rippled through the room like water ripples. Every movement was a threat to Zouyu.
“Pei Yunshu,” Zouyu frowned, the gloominess in his eyes deepening, “Do you want to kill me?”
Pei Yunshu’s gaze was piercing, fixedly looking at Zouyu. The killing intent in his eyes was no longer concealed but openly displayed. “Shouldn’t I kill you?”
After saying this, Pei Yunshu didn’t want to talk more with him. He released an immortal binding rope, a long and thin red rope that aggressively attacked Zouyu.
Zouyu dodged the immortal binding rope but couldn’t escape Pei Yunshu’s spiritual awareness. He was slightly slower, firmly trapped and awkwardly falling to the ground.
In the past, he used the immortal binding rope to bind Pei Yunshu. Now, the situation had completely reversed.
Pei Yunshu approached with his sword, and Zouyu’s face showed a fine layer of sweat, but his lips curled into a smile.
“It indeed turns out to be you who escaped from the sect master,” he shifted his body into a more comfortable position, “to make you want to kill me like this, that’s my skill. I just didn’t expect your cultivation to become so profound.”
He raised an eyebrow, insinuation rolling off his tongue, “Did you sleep with that flood dragon?”
“How was his thing?” Zouyu opened his legs nonchalantly, “Does it compare to my prowess?”
Pei Yunshu’s brows furrowed fiercely.
Zouyu’s smile deepened. Licking his lips, he was about to say more when his eyes suddenly widened, disbelief settling on his face as he lowered his head, staring at the sword that had pierced through his chest.
Pei Yunshu withdrew the sword, and crimson blood dripped from the blade, forming a small pool on the ground shortly after.
He lowered his gaze to Zouyu, his features gradually relaxing.
Zouyu seemed to have not expected Pei Yunshu to be so swift. He stared at the wound, then raised his head to look at Pei Yunshu.
He knew that Pei Yunshu wanted to kill him, but he didn’t expect Pei Yunshu to kill him so decisively.
Zouyu thought that Pei Yunshu would slowly torture him.
Blood trickled from his mouth, and Zouyu’s eyes gradually showed the last trace of madness. “Even if I die, I’ll drag you down with me!”
The spiritual power in the room began to surge, and Pei Yunshu’s eyebrows jumped. He leaped backward, rushing out of the door towards the distance.
As far as he could go, the Qingyue Sword enlarged and flew to his feet, carrying him away at an unprecedented speed.
It seemed like a long time had passed, but it also felt like just an instant. Suddenly, a loud noise came from behind him. The surging spiritual energy, wrapped in a murderous intent, pushed out like an avalanche, leveling everything in its path.
Countless screams vanished in an instant, and another round of screams followed. Pei Yunshu’s speed was extremely fast; he didn’t even have time to look back at the situation behind him. He only knew to go forward, to quickly escape from this area.
Zouyu self-destructed.
The self-destruction of a nascent soul stage cultivator could reduce an area to rubble.
He really wants to die but also drag Pei Yunshu to death.
Not knowing how long he flew, the commotion behind gradually subsided. Qingyue Sword turned in the air, and Pei Yunshu stood on the sword, looking at the devastation in front of him.
Dust floated in the air, where there were collapses, there were deaths. The cries for help and the struggles of despair echoed from all directions. They did not die from the movement of rocks but from the explosive spiritual energy similar to Zouyu’s sharp knife.
Pei Yunshu also breathed slightly. He sat cross-legged on Qingyue Sword, creating a barrier to calm his breath.
He probed into the sea of consciousness and communicated with the little Nascent Soul, “I didn’t expect you to be so small, but your self-destruction is so powerful.”
The little Nascent Soul covered its eyes with the leaves, plugging its ears, saying, “I’m not powerful at all. Don’t self-destruct me.”
“Why would I self-destruct you?” Pei Yunshu found his Nascent Soul quite silly. “Stop covering yourself with leaves.”
The Nascent Soul let go of the leaves, now trying to pull the branches of the April Snow Tree on its head. It had a childlike appearance similar to Pei Yunshu’s, pouting, “I know you call me silly in your heart. I know it.”
Pei Yunshu smiled and exhaled a breath. Opening his eyes, he touched the Qingyue Sword beneath him. “In one go, Zouyu caused such a big commotion. Their sect master can’t just sit idly. Let’s take advantage of the chaos and borrow some of his blood.”
Qingyue Sword swayed left and right, carrying him away from the area.
***
In the mortal realm, there is a saying that misfortunes never come singly. The sect master had not received news of Zouyu’s incident yet, and someone came to report that Yuan Er had been captured.
The sect master was curious, “Captured by whom?”
“Two righteous cultivators,” the subordinate reported, “judging by their attire, they are disciples of the Shanshui Sect.”
“Isn’t Pei Yunshu also a disciple of the Shanshui Sect?” The sect master pondered and asked those around him.
The puppet’s voice hidden in the darkness was emotionless, “Yes, master. He used to be a disciple of the Shanshui Sect, but he has left the sect now.”
“Interesting,” the sect master said with a hint of amusement. “They captured Yuan Er, what do they want to do? Perhaps they still want to exchange Yuan Er for their fellow disciple?”
The sect master’s tone contained a playful note.
“I don’t know,” the subordinate reported, “but the two of them are holding Yuan Er and heading towards Flower Brocade Sect.”
“The belongings of a traitor,” the sect master said, “when they arrive at the sect, take Yuan Er to the punishment hall and execute him. As for the two righteous cultivators, let them follow.”
“Understood.”
After dealing with Yuan Er’s matter, the sect master had just sat down when he seemed to sense something. He looked towards the south, squinting his eyes.
The people around him were puzzled and followed his gaze to the south but didn’t perceive anything. After a short while, a loud noise suddenly came from the south.
The surging spiritual energy fluctuations began to flow towards them. The sect master shook his head and said, “Useless things.”
He raised his clean, pale hand, lightly tapped the table, and enveloped the area in a barrier. When everything settled down, a report came, “Master, Hall Master Zou self-destructed!”
The room fell silent, everyone held their breath, afraid of touching the master’s anger.
The sect master raised his eyes to look at the one reporting, “You may enter, but why did you bring someone else’s spiritual sense in with you?”
Pei Yunshu was shocked outside the room.
His lips were tightly pressed, and his heart was pounding.
His cultivation was at the Nascent Soul stage, and his spiritual sense was much more advanced than his cultivation. He estimated that even in the Foundation Establishment stage, he could already possess the ability to separate a portion of his spiritual sense. From the moment he left the Dragon God’s Secret Realm until now, his spiritual sense had never been detected by anyone.
Pei Yunshu did not dare to act recklessly. He treated that strand of spiritual sense as his own and concealed it even more carefully.
Turning real into illusion, turning illusion into nothingness.
Pei Yunshu tried to recall the feeling from the Demonic Heart Trial. His breath became shallow, as if he had merged with the natural aura around him.
“Eyes” saw many things, “ears” heard many things.
Pei Yunshu saw the master of Flower Brocade Sect sitting behind the desk, with a somewhat surprised expression. “Huh? He actually hid it.”
Among his subordinates, there was some commotion. Someone couldn’t help but ask, “Master, is a powerful enemy attacking?”
The master said, “Indeed, for you guys, it’s a powerful enemy.”
Pei Yunshu wondered how he could hurt him.
If the master of Flower Brocade Sect, who could sense spiritual senses, noticed him, then what was the cultivation level of the master?
Why had he never heard of such a figure in Flower Brocade Sect before?
Pei Yunshu dared not act recklessly. His breaths became slower and slower as he intended to stay close to the sect master, waiting for the right moment to draw some blood.
Having made up his mind, he followed through. After the sect master returned to his room, Pei Yunshu positioned himself on a tall tree outside the room, patiently waiting in the cold, windy night.
The sect master leisurely enjoyed reading in the warm room, a smile lingering on his lips. It seemed that there was something amusing in the book, keeping him engrossed in its intriguing content.
After a moment, when the crescent moon hung high in the sky, someone carrying a box covered with a black cloth arrived at the sect master’s door. After glancing around, the person spoke in a low voice, “Sect Master.”
Pei Yunshu sharpened his focus. It seemed they were up to something he wasn’t supposed to see. He concentrated, hoping that if he was fortunate, he might use this as leverage to threaten the sect master of the Flower Brocade Sect.
This move was tried and true in the books.
The person inside the house opened the door for the group, and Pei Yunshu’s spiritual sense quietly followed behind them.
Remaining cautious of the sect master, he didn’t dare to get too close. He did his best to conceal himself. As expected, the sect master didn’t detect his presence, only asking the leader of the group who entered, “What brings you here?”
The leader respectfully bowed, “This is something found in Lord Zou’s secret chamber. I didn’t know how to handle it, so I brought it to report to you.”
The sect master said, “Show it to me.”
The box covered in black cloth was brought before the sect master. He reached out to unwrap it, and Pei Yunshu held his breath, staring intently.
Inside the box were several exquisitely vibrant peonies. Seeing this, Pei Yunshu suddenly felt a sense of familiarity. This box and these flowers seemed to ring a bell.
Where had he seen them before?
The sect master took out a peony. The peony, the size of a face, was incredibly bright in color. As Pei Yunshu pondered, the sect master gently blew a breath at the peony.
The peony suddenly flew into the air, continuously rotating until it transformed into a figure dressed in thin gauze. The person’s lips curled up, eyes seemingly carrying the fragrance of peonies, with red corners reminiscent of blooming flowers, quietly and delicately unfurling before everyone’s eyes.
The person formed by the flower bore a striking resemblance to Pei Yunshu.
A dark expression crossed Pei Yunshu’s face. He forcibly kept his emotions in check, staring at the peony, resisting the urge to take out his sword and strike.
He recalled what this was about. Zouyu had also given him a similar box, inside which was a thick book, containing explicit spring paintings.
Now, he regretted letting Zouyu die too easily.
The sect master looked at the peony and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Zouyu’s ingenuity in this aspect is unmatched by others.”
The person who brought the gift stared blankly at the flower and said, “Sect Master, is this really a face that can only be created by a peony?”
However, the sect master shook his head, “Too gorgeous, the floral essence is too strong, not beautiful.”
In his words, the peony beauty transformed back into a flower, and the floating petals scattered on the ground.
“Quite extraordinary,” the sect master said, “I don’t find Pei Yunshu beautiful, but I can discern the lack of beauty in the peony.”
His subordinate ventured, “How does Sect Master distinguish the lack of beauty in the peony?”
The sect master nonchalantly replied, “Naturally, I use Pei Yunshu as the standard.”
He threw all the peonies from the box aside. Under Pei Yunshu’s gaze, the sect master took out a book from the box.
Pei Yunshu suspected that this book was, in all likelihood, another erotic depiction with him as the protagonist.
To kill one is to prevent humiliation, but even with Zouyu dead, they could still insult him.
A faint killing intent emanated from Pei Yunshu.
He must destroy this thing.
As the sect master was about to open the first page of the book, the next second, flames of red and yellow suddenly ignited from the book in his hand.
The flames burned fiercely, swiftly consuming the entire book. However, the sect master remained calm. With a turn, the flames on the book vanished, leaving behind almost half of the pages intact.
“The more you resist, the more I want to see what’s inside,” the sect master casually flipped through the burnt pages, “You have half a book’s time to escape.”
Pei Yunshu knew he had been discovered. He gritted his teeth but made a choice opposite to what was expected.
As the sect master lowered his head to read, Pei Yunshu’s massive spiritual awareness suddenly surged towards him. After inflicting several wounds, it abruptly withdrew, carrying blood. Even in his mind, Pei Yunshu could sense the intense pounding of his heart.
“Escape,” Qingyue Sword suddenly moved.
However, the master didn’t chase after him.
He focused on reading his book, ignoring the injuries on his body.
When the people chasing Pei Yunshu came back empty-handed, they knelt down and apologized, “We lost his trail.”
“If you had caught up, I would have found it strange,” the master said, opening his hands to let someone change his clothes, squinting at the book he had placed on the table. “Zouyu does have some artistic talent.”
He regretted, “It’s a pity he’s dead.”
The puppet remembered the time he gave him for half a book, and had been chasing after Pei Yunshu, but returned empty-handed half an hour later.
On top of Flower Brocade Sect, within the master’s territory, Pei Yunshu, a Nascent Soul cultivator, had disappeared without a trace.
All the people who investigated Pei Yunshu were punished in the punishment hall.
Young Master Qingfeng, who had already suffered torment in the punishment hall, only now learned that Pei Yunshu had escaped from the Bestowal Divine Painting.
Upon hearing this news, he was also brought to the master.
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