After My Paranoid Act to Woo My Cold Master Failed - Chapter 24

In the blink of an eye, everyone around Shen Shuheng vanished.

The vengeful spirits that had been surging toward her like a tide also disappeared. Now, she stood alone upon a vast expanse of snow. The dark red moonlight flowed over the crystalline white ground, adding a touch of bewitching allure to the pristine coldness.

Shen Shuheng’s mind went blank. Why had she come here? She couldn’t remember at all. She began to walk aimlessly, the soft snow crunching beneath her feet as she left a trail of footprints behind her.

She reached a pair of vermilion doors. Pushing them open, she was met with the drifting scent of agarwood. White smoke rose continuously from an incense burner, veiling the room in a thin mist that blurred her vision. Red candles burned steadily; a bead of wax fell onto the table with a soft thud, causing the flame to flicker and send dim yellow shadows dancing across the room.

By the candlelight, Shen Shuheng could just make out her surroundings. A person sat upon a large red bed, their head covered by a bright red bridal veil. The figure sat perfectly still, hands resting on knees, silent.

Who was that? Shen Shuheng had no recollection. Who was this bride, and why was she here?

“A-Heng, come here…” the woman on the bed spoke.

It was Master calling her. Her Master’s voice, usually as cool as an autumn spring, now carried a hint of seductive softness. Shen Shuheng’s heart felt a sudden itch, like tender willow branches brushing against a lake, stirring ripple after ripple.

Shen Shuheng walked straight toward her Master. She realized she, too, was wearing a grand red wedding robe. Was today the day of her wedding to Master? How could she have forgotten something so important? A sliver of guilt welled up in her heart. Standing before her Master, she hesitated, not daring to lift the red veil.

“Why have you stopped?” the person beneath the veil asked.

Shen Shuheng slowly reached out. With a trembling hand, she lifted the red cloth. The familiar face was revealed, and her heart beat faster with every passing second.

“Master,” Shen Shuheng whispered.

The dim yellow candlelight reflected in her pupils, looking like a fire burning within. Her expression was one of infatuation as she stared fixedly at her Master. A crimson floral mark was painted between her Master’s brows; her clearly defined eyes no longer looked like obsidian dipped in snow, but like the alluring charm of a spring mountain.

Master reached out to her. The wide red sleeve slipped back slightly, revealing a length of snowy-white wrist. The contrast between the intense red and the pure white created a powerful impact in Shen Shuheng’s eyes.

“Sit,” Master said, pulling her down.

Shen Shuheng felt something strange and looked down to see she was sitting on her Master’s robes. Startled, she stood up, clumsily moved the edge of the robe aside, and sat back down.

“Do you like your Master?” Fu Xueke stared directly at her, her smile breathtakingly beautiful.

“I do,” Shen Shuheng nodded vigorously, her soul completely stolen by that smile.

“How much do you like me? If I wanted your heart, would you give it to me without hesitation?”

“Yes.”

A dagger appeared in Master’s hand, the bright blade glinting with a cold light that made Shen Shuheng’s eyes ache. “Use this blade to carve out your heart and prove it to me,” Master said, handing her the weapon.

The moment Shen Shuheng took the dagger, a bone-chilling cold raced from her palm through her entire body, yet her heart erupted with a surging heat. She gripped the dagger tightly, her eyes filled with a grim resolve. She lunged the blade toward her chest, only to be stopped by a cool hand pressing against her own.

She looked up. The red candles and soft curtains had vanished. They were in a desolate forest. A white hem entered her sight. “Master, when did you change your clothes?”

“I have been wearing this all along. Why were you trying to harm yourself? What did you see?” Fu Xueke took the dagger from Shen Shuheng’s hand.

Shen Shuheng blinked, her curled lashes fluttering like butterflies. She gazed at her Master, dazed. “Master told me to carve out my heart to prove…”

To prove that I love Master, Shen Shuheng finished the sentence in her mind, not daring to say it aloud.

Seeing her disciple’s head bowed, Fu Xueke spoke softly, “I would never ask you to do anything to harm yourself. You need not prove anything; I already know.”

Hearing the words “I know,” a flash of panic crossed Shen Shuheng’s heart. What does Master know? She wanted to ask, but didn’t dare.

“You were caught in an illusion array created by the Evil Entity. It rouses the deepest desires within a person’s heart and creates a dream to kill them within it,” Fu Xueke explained, looking at her thoughtfully.

Shen Shuheng remained silent, her head still low. She had seen Master in the illusion; it turned out her deepest desire was about her Master. The Master in that dream was unlike any she had seen—her gaze was seductive and full of affection, like a begonia blooming to its peak.

“In the future, if you encounter this again, just remember: I would rather be injured myself than let you suffer the slightest harm. I certainly wouldn’t let you do something to hurt yourself.”

Shen Shuheng slowly raised her head. Her Master’s voice sounded like melting snow striking mountain stones, making it impossible to harbor any improper thoughts. If only Master spoke to me like she did in the dream, she thought, her face flushing with heat at the memory.

Fu Xueke caught the crimson flush on her disciple’s face, and the corners of her lips curved slightly.

Shen Shuheng sat on a piece of withered wood, her feet resting on the dark soil.

“Get up,” Fu Xueke said, reaching out to pull her up.

“Master, what did you see in your illusion?” Shen Shuheng looked at her with watery eyes, her face full of anticipation.

“You want to know?”

“I do!” Shen Shuheng tugged at Fu Xueke’s sleeve.

A faint smile appeared in Fu Xueke’s eyes. She looked at the girl’s wide eyes. “If you tell your Master everything you saw, I will tell you what I saw.”

The tips of Shen Shuheng’s ears turned bright red. She instinctively turned her face away. If Master knew what she had seen, it would be a disaster! She didn’t even know why she saw those things,did she truly harbor such “rebellious” thoughts of betraying her Master?

The smile on Fu Xueke’s face deepened. Shen Shuheng kept her face turned away, showing only her profile. A lock of soft dark hair hung by her porcelain cheek, swaying in the wind to reveal an ear that was red enough to bleed.

“I… I forgot what I saw just now. Can’t Master just tell me?” Shen Shuheng stammered. She felt guilty for lying, but she was desperate to know what her Master had seen. In her nervousness, her left hand kept twisting her clothes.

“Is that so? How unfortunate, your Master has forgotten as well,” Fu Xueke said with a hint of feigned regret, looking innocently at her disciple.

Shen Shuheng stopped twisting her clothes. She stared at her Master in disbelief. Master had truly changed; in the past, she would have told her easily. Her little tricks were no longer working; instead, Master was intentionally teasing her back.

Master’s expression was calm, her eyes showing no ripples. Her skill at lying was clearly much higher than Shen Shuheng’s. Shen Shuheng made a mental note: she had to become like Master lying without a change in expression or heart rate so she could win the next time they spoke.

“We must find the others first,” Fu Xueke said. “We were separated by the illusion when we stepped in. I used this to find you.” A lock of dark hair appeared in Fu Xueke’s snowy palm.

Shen Shuheng was stunned. Where did that hair come from? “Is that mine? When did Master get it?”

“During the sect’s disciple recruitment ceremony,” Fu Xueke said calmly.

Shen Shuheng remembered. During her match with the female lead, a lock of her hair had been sliced off. She hadn’t even noticed where it went. “So Master kept a lock of A-Heng’s hair,” she murmured.

Master took her hand, and they moved through the woods. Ahead, two figures appeared—Yue Bai and Ye Changzhen.

“Senior Sister, you know my heart! You know it!” Yue Bai’s clothes were disheveled, her collar pulled open slightly. Her eyes were blood-red, even the corners flushed. “Senior Sister, you have feelings for me too, don’t you?” She looked dazed, trying to grab Ye Changzhen, only to be pushed away. She stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.

Ye Changzhen’s hair was a mess and her face held a flush, yet her expression was one of absolute calm. “What happened in the illusion does not count,” she said coldly, her lips barely moving.

Yue Bai looked manic, lunging forward regardless to grab Ye Changzhen’s shoulders. “I don’t believe it! Actions in the illusion follow the heart’s desires! You shouldn’t deceive yourself, Senior Sister. Why can’t you follow your heart? Is pursuing the Great Dao truly that important? Have you ever been happy all these years?”

Ye Changzhen’s hands, hidden in her sleeves, were trembling. She fought to control them. “My path lies in the restraint of desire and the severing of emotion. Great joy and great sorrow are of no benefit to cultivation.”

Yue Bai let out a cold laugh. “Senior Sister restrains her desires so very well.” Her finger slowly brushed across her own exposed collarbone.

Ye Changzhen’s hand moved within her sleeve; she wanted to pull her sister’s collar closed, but ultimately did not raise her hand.

Shen Shuheng and Fu Xueke walked over to them. As Shen Shuheng was about to speak, her Master’s soft palm covered her lips. She looked up, her gaze falling into her Master’s clearly defined eyes, and her soul seemed to sink into them, a warmth rising in her heart. Fu Xueke shook her head and lightly squeezed the girl’s fingers, signaling her to remain silent.

Shen Shuheng didn’t know what had happened between the sisters, but the atmosphere between them had become very strange.

“Senior Sister, don’t you regret this,” Yue Bai said, fixing her collar.

“I will not,” Ye Changzhen replied, looking at the sky with an indifferent expression.

“Where did the dog go?” Shen Shuheng scanned the area but couldn’t see the curly white puppy. Ye Changzhen took out her coins and calculated. “To the southwest.”

They headed southwest. There was no doubt this mountain was problematic; that dog might be the key to solving the puzzle. Suddenly, a cold wind carrying withered leaves swept toward them, kicking up a thick cloud of dust. Shen Shuheng choked on the dust and couldn’t help but cough. Fu Xueke gently patted her back and raised a barrier to block the onslaught of grime.

“Master, what is that?”

Following the direction of Shen Shuheng’s finger, Fu Xueke saw a humanoid mass lunging toward them. As it drew closer, Shen Shuheng finally saw its appearance. It was massive, with eyes like blood-red lanterns. Its torso was actually formed by a pile of human bodies, with numerous distorted human faces hanging from it. Looking at it for too long brought a wave of nausea.

A silver light flared as her sword unsheathed itself. Fu Xueke stood before Shen Shuheng. “Master, it’s so disgusting,” Shen Shuheng said from behind her, poking her head out to cast a disdainful look at the monster.

“These are vengeful souls controlled by the Evil Entity. It has condensed them into a physical form. Its cultivation is at least at the Soul Transformation stage, or perhaps higher,” Ye Changzhen said, holding her peach-wood sword. The amber blade was engraved with dense runes that glowed with a faint purple light. This sword had been tempered by the Nine Heavens’ Evil-Slaying Thunder and carried a righteous aura, making it highly effective against evil beings.

The monster was shrouded in a black mist of resentment. With a swing of its dark claws, the mist turned into a rain of arrows. Each arrow carried the full force of a Soul Transformation expert. Shen Shuheng’s Golden Core cultivation was like an ant trying to stop a carriage in its presence.

Fu Xueke swung her sword with a casual grace, but the power behind the strike was immense. The snowy-white sword light split into thousands of blades, clashing with the arrows in a blinding flash of white light. The light scattered like spring snow, landing on Shen Shuheng’s brow and melting into her skin, cleansing her mind and giving her a sudden realization regarding swordsmanship.

Shen Shuheng stepped out from behind her Master, sword in hand. “A-Heng does not want to keep hiding behind you. I hope that one day, Master can stand behind me, and I can block all the wind and rain for you.”

Fu Xueke’s eyes rippled for a moment before settling. “But I wish to protect you forever.”

“Then I shall fight alongside you.”

“Alright,” Fu Xueke agreed. “Just do not stray too far from me.” Her gaze softened as she looked at her disciple.

The monster engaged them in close combat. It seemed to have intelligence, avoiding the strongest, Fu Xueke, and targeting the weakest, Yue Bai. Shen Shuheng slashed at the monster, causing the faces on its body to let out a piercing, long shriek. The sound tore at Shen Shuheng’s mind, giving her a splitting headache. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.

Fu Xueke sliced through the screaming face. Black liquid splattered out, corroding the grass and emitting thick black smoke with a foul stench. “Get back! Don’t touch that liquid!” Shen Shuheng grabbed her Master and used her Star-Shifting Step to retreat. She didn’t let go even after they were safe, savoring the fragrance and the closeness.

“Have you held me long enough?” Fu Xueke asked softly.

Shen Shuheng hurriedly let go, fearing her Master had noticed her little scheme. She peeking at her; Master was focused on the monster and didn’t seem to notice her blushing face.

Ye Changzhen’s peach-wood sword erupted with a brilliant purple light. She formed a seal, and the light condensed into a disk covered in lightning runes, crackling with electricity. “Go!” The disk flew toward the monster, expanding upon contact to envelop its massive frame. But the monster laughed, as if the lightning were merely an itch.

“The lightning drawn from techniques is not enough. This mountain has an array continuously supplying power to the monster. If we don’t find a way to kill it, it will exhaust us to death,” Ye Changzhen said, her eyes glowing purple as she saw things the others could not. She coughed up more blood, wiping it away with her sleeve.

Suddenly, spiritual energy began to churn within Shen Shuheng. She was about to break through. Fu Xueke sensed the energy surging into her disciple. “Break through with a calm mind. I am here; there is no need to worry.”

Shen Shuheng sat down. She was at the early Golden Core stage; if successful, she would reach the middle stage. Master was here, so she feared nothing. As the five elemental energies swam in her sea of consciousness, she remembered the method from the ancient alchemy book: fusing the elements into their primal state—Qi.

Because she had a Heaven-grade Five-Element Root, she was able to use her vast sea of consciousness to fuse the elements together, a feat nearly impossible for others. Her cultivation efficiency skyrocketed. Thunder rolled in the clouds above as purple lightning struck her body. For others, this was a trial of life and death, but for Shen Shuheng, the lightning merely tempered her physique, making her body as strong as a physical cultivator’s.

She opened her eyes to see the white-robed figure still fighting. “You reached the late Golden Core stage,” Fu Xueke said, still focused on the monster but having kept a constant watch on her.

Shen Shuheng stood up, her spine straight. “One day, A-Heng wants to protect Master, just as Master has always protected me.”

Fu Xueke didn’t speak. She walked over and rubbed the girl’s soft hair, her lashes casting a shadow on the bridge of her nose. Thousands of sword shadows flew toward the monster, riddling it with holes, but the wounds healed instantly.

“Have you not grasped the Law of Space yet?” a familiar voice—her own voice—rang in Shen Shuheng’s head. It was the System. “Once you master it, you can move things from one place to another. This monster is invincible because of the mountain’s array. If you move it elsewhere, you cut off its power.”

Following the System’s lead, Shen Shuheng felt a sudden epiphany. Pale blue runes lit up in her mind, and she captured the essence of the Law of Space as naturally as breathing.

“Master, I will move the monster elsewhere to cut off its link to the array, then we kill it together.”

In the blink of an eye, they were at the foot of the mountain, and the monster was teleported there too.

“Master, am I capable? I really moved it!” Shen Shuheng said excitedly, like a child seeking praise.

“A-Heng is very capable,” Fu Xueke smiled, her icy eyes melting into a tender gaze.

“Today, I will teach you to combine all your sword moves into one,” Fu Xueke said. Her white-robed figure and the peerless sword light were etched into Shen Shuheng’s heart. Together, they unleashed a strike that combined thousands of blades into one of extreme power. The sword rain turned the monster into a sieve, and it collapsed, its body dissolving into black smoke.

Vengeful souls rose from the smoke, letting out deafening, agonized howls. Shen Shuheng reached up to cover her ears, but cool hands reached her first. She turned to find her Master’s hands over her ears. Looking into her Master’s eyes, she remembered the illusion, and her own ears began to burn with heat.

She tried to control it, but the more she tried, the redder they became. She tried to duck away to hide her embarrassment, but her foot caught on a mound of earth. She stumbled and fell into a soft embrace, her neck brushed by silken dark hair.

“What is it?” Fu Xueke asked, holding her close and leaning her face in.

Shen Shuheng tried to stay calm. “I lost my footing,” she said, trying to act normal.

“I wasn’t asking about that,” Fu Xueke said. “I meant… your ears.”