After My Paranoid Act to Woo My Cold Master Failed - Chapter 32

“What blood corpses?!” Chu Qingshui looked at them, their faces grave as if they had encountered something utterly terrifying.

She focused entirely on her sword training and cared little for other matters, which was why she didn’t know what they were.

“Explain as we go, there’s no time! Lead the way, quickly—we can’t worry about anything else now!” Shen Shuheng urged. “One step too late and we’ll all die here, turning into those disgusting things!”

Chu Qingshui realized the urgency and immediately summoned her sword. “Follow me.”

“No one expected City Lord Cui to defect at such a moment. While the Demon Race attacked the city, we were all occupied in battle and failed to notice that the formation plate had been destroyed,” Chu Qingshui said, her voice heavy with suppressed rage.

“Afterward, Gu Mian, myself, and the remaining survivors could only hide a portion of the people in the City Lord’s Estate. We set up another formation and have been bitterly holding out.”

“So many died… watching faces you were just laughing with die right in front of you…” Chu Qingshui’s voice trailed off, her expression dazed.

Shen Shuheng didn’t know how to respond. In the past, she had only witnessed war in books—cruelty outlined in black ink on white paper. She couldn’t smell the blood or see the fields of corpses; in her mind, it was just a vague concept of “many people dying.”

But now, it was completely different.

It wasn’t something that could be compared to a few lines of text. She had seen the blood flow like a sea and the corpses litter the land. Many people had transformed from abstract concepts into concrete existences—including her fellow disciples, members of allied sects, and the kind townspeople.

She had seen them vibrant and alive; now they were stiff, cold corpses lying in disarray.

Shen Shuheng felt a tightness in her chest, a breath trapped that she could neither inhale nor exhale. She remained silent the whole way, her eyelashes drooping, a layer of despondency veiling her usually spirited face.

Fu Xueke and Shen Shuheng rode the same sword. Standing behind her disciple, Fu Xueke caught Shen Shuheng’s low mood the moment the girl lowered her head.

She moved slightly, pressing closer to Shen Shuheng. The girl carried a faint scent of peach blossoms. Fu Xueke circled one arm around her from behind, while her other hand rested on the girl’s head, stroking it gently. Neither spoke, but a wordless understanding—unique to them—floated in the air.

“Senior Sister, don’t you think everything happening today is a bit too suspicious?” Yuebai spoke up.

“Yes. Every event seems unrelated, yet they occur with such perfect coincidence.”

“Evil entities feed on resentment; they were born from the continuous wars a thousand years ago,” Shen Shuheng suddenly realized a key point. “This conflict between humans and demons is the perfect way for the evil entity to absorb resentment and strengthen itself. Is someone behind the scenes orchestrating this specifically to empower it?”

“Could the fox demon’s ‘Lord’ be from the Demon Race?” Shen Shuheng asked.

“Likely not,” Ye Huanzhen replied. “This person’s cultivation is unfathomable. If they were of the Demon Race, the demons wouldn’t have been suppressed by the righteous path for over a hundred years due to being leaderless.”

“If that person is indeed orchestrating this, is their goal Ascension?”

“To be able to tear through space directly, their realm is likely above the Integration Stage. They wouldn’t need to do all this just to break through the boundary to ascend.” Ye Huanzhen looked down at the ground.

Shen Shuheng remembered that this person was never mentioned in the original book, nor did these events happen. She couldn’t find any clues from the original plot.

The Siege of the City Lord’s Estate

The group arrived at the City Lord’s Estate in a flurry. Inside the formation were mortals waiting for salvation, while outside, cultivators were still locked in combat with the Demon Race.

Just as Shen Shuheng was about to call for a truce, blood-red mist drifted in from nowhere. The crimson hue deepened, staining everything on the ground blood-red.

The combatants stopped abruptly. They instinctively looked up, their pupils shrinking as a chill rose in their hearts—a chill born from the metallic breath of accumulated death.

The evil entity had arrived so quickly. It followed right on their heels.

“The evil entity is here!” someone screamed. “Run!”

Without a word, everyone stopped fighting and fled in panic.

“What is that?” a booming voice rang out, though it now trembled like a flickering shadow in the wind.

Shen Shuheng looked where he pointed, and her heart sank. When did the blood corpses arrive? No—it was the corpses on the ground turning into blood corpses!

“Those are blood corpses! Quick, burn the bodies on the ground, or they’ll turn too!” Shen Shuheng blamed her own carelessness. If they had been more cautious, they would have burned every corpse on the way.

A Buddhist disciple in grey robes hurriedly tried to light a fire. Just as the bright yellow flame touched a body, the corpse snapped upright. Sharp nails pierced his heart, and spraying blood instantly soaked his robes.

Jagged fangs grew from the disciple; his eyes were swallowed by a hollow blackness. He had become a blood corpse.

Shen Shuheng’s scalp felt numb. A living person had turned into a monster before her eyes.

White sword light swept across the ground, turning the corpses into powder before they could complete their final transformation. They had to destroy the bodies first; it was the only way.

“Talisman cultivators, draw more Explosion Talismans! Use them to burn them!” Yuebai shouted, remembering how they killed them in the cave.

Ye Huanzhen drew the Purple Lightning Frost Sword. Pale purple currents sizzled in the air, making the blood corpses hesitate.

Talisman cultivators began drawing at their life’s fastest speed. Because there were enough of them, they formed a Talisman Array. Golden papers floated in the air, encircling the blood corpses. The cinnabar runes on the paper seemed to come alive, swimming like red tadpoles.

The Purple Lightning Frost Sword grew massive, hanging over the corpses and raining down purple sword light like heavenly tribulation lightning.

The Betrayal at the Gate

“You go into the formation first and put everyone into your pocket space. We need to leave the city,” Fu Xueke told her disciple.

Shen Shuheng nodded and quickly settled the mortals into her space before rushing back out. Everyone fled toward the west gate. The Demon Race, forgetting their mission, ran faster than anyone.

The city gate was within reach! But as the leaders reached it, their smiles vanished, replaced by despair.

“Why have we stopped? Get out!” those behind urged.

“We can’t get out! There’s a barrier!”

The disciples looked through the barrier to see the Great Sects of the righteous path gathered outside.

“Master, save me!” a young monk cried out.

An old monk looked up with pity. “Now is the time for you to sacrifice for the people of the world. We cannot let you out, for the evil entity and blood corpses would follow.”

“I spit on you! You old fogies don’t sacrifice yourselves, but you expect the juniors to do it?” the demons cursed.

Xu Wu, the Sect Leader of the Yuheng Sect, stood with his hands behind his back. “You will not die in vain. Thousands of years from now, your deeds will be recorded in history.”

Xiao Xiaoxiao stood beside him, her “white lotus” face twisted into a look of feigned grief. “I would rather die in your place if I could,” she sobbed, though inwardly she was delighted to see Shen Shuheng and Fu Xueke facing such a miserable end.

“If you’re so willing to die for us, why is the barrier only around the city?” a demon cultivator mocked. “You’re just afraid to die yourselves!”

“Don’t listen to the demons’ provocations,” Xiao Xiaoxiao tried to “comfort” them.

“Stop acting! If you’re so selfless, dig a tunnel and come in here with us!” Shen Shuheng didn’t miss the chance to spike the female lead’s hatred. “You’re standing out there where it doesn’t hurt, talking nonsense.”

The Descent of the Nine Heavens Thunder

“Elders of the Dao Sect, why haven’t you released the Evil-Suppressing Bell?” Xiao Xiaoxiao urged, a sinister glint in her eyes.

“The Evil-Suppressing Bell!” Yuebai whispered. “It dissolves every living being inside to suppress an unformed evil entity. We will die.”

“I shouldn’t have let you follow me,” Ye Huanzhen looked at Yuebai.

Shen Shuheng’s system spoke in her mind: “Host, I have a way. I can exchange your hatred points for Nine Heavens Divine Exorcism Thunder. But it will cost you; you might die at the heroine’s hands in the future plot. Is it worth it for these strangers?”

Shen Shuheng thought of the old woman who gave her osmanthus cake and the disciples fighting for the mortals. “I choose the second option. Let everyone live!”

“Wait! The Nine Heavens Thunder is coming!” Shen Shuheng shouted to the Dao Sect elders outside.

The elders paused. Xu Wu sneered, “My grand-niece is often delusional. Don’t listen to her!”

“My disciple is not delusional,” Fu Xueke’s gaze was sharp. “Why are you in such a hurry to see us die, Senior Brother?”

The sky turned dark. A thick purple bolt of lightning pierced the blood-red clouds.

Shen Shuheng raised her sword and caught the lightning. She swung it, and a purple dragon of thunder swept through the corpses, turning them to ash.

She entered a state of One with the World. All the thunder in the sky became like swords to her. She wasn’t just controlling lightning; she was commanding it. Thousands of thunder-swords rained down, piercing the blood corpses and negating their healing abilities.

The blood-red sky began to clear.

“We… we survived!” people cheered.

As her spiritual energy drained, Shen Shuheng began to fall from the sky. Fu Xueke stepped through the air and caught her firmly.

“Master,” Shen Shuheng whispered, smelling the familiar cold fragrance before falling into a deep sleep.

“I am here,” Fu Xueke said softly.