CPS Chapter 4:Jingzhe

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Looking down on me because I'm virgin?!

Xia Qing stared at him, confused.

Luo Guanxue chuckled quietly and then suddenly pointed at the table, changing the topic. "What’s the date today?"

Xia Qing: "March 4th."

Luo Guanxue nodded, as expected, and murmured softly, then turned his head to look out the window at the rumored pagoda that suppressed demons, saying, "Then tomorrow is March 5th."

Xia Qing rolled his eyes. "Isn't that obvious?"

Luo Guanxue said, "Do you know what March 5th is?"

Xia Qing snapped, "How much do you look down on me? It's just the Jingzhe (Awakening of Insects), the 24 solar terms. I memorized them when I was eight!"

Luo Guanxue smiled. "Oh, that's impressive."

Xia Qing nearly exploded with anger, coldly replying, "What, is tomorrow your birthday or something?"

Luo Guanxue shook his head. "No, but tomorrow is an important day."

Xia Qing: "What?"

Luo Guanxue lightly asked, "I have a question: do you evil ghost, apart from occupying other people's palaces and absorbing Yang energy, have any other thoughts?"

It sounded like he was calling Xia Qing a "ghost's shame."

Xia Qing was not fooled by his provocation. "I have plenty of thoughts, just don’t feel like using them to you"

Luo Guanxue nodded. "Oh, I see. So, I don't have the honor."

Xia Qing looked at him suspiciously. "What do you actually want to do?"

Luo Guanxue, dressed in a white robe as pure as snow, his black hair flowing, smiled, his brows and eyes becoming especially lively and beautiful. "Nothing, I'm just curious about you."

Xia Qing sneered. "Your curiosity is quite unusual."

Luo Guanxue slowly said, "I thought you were interested in the mermaid people, so I wanted you to see them with your own eyes tomorrow."

Xia Qing was stunned. "See them with my own eyes?"

Luo Guanxue’s eyes were beautiful, a pure black, and his smile was calm. "Yes, see them with your own eyes, or touch them."

Xia Qing rolled his eyes. "I can’t touch living creatures."

Luo Guanxue: "But I can."

Xia Qing’s mind went blank in an instant. His thoughts were paralyzed as he stared at him in shock.

The candlelight reflected on the plum blossom painting on the screen, and under the white plum flowers, Luo Guanxue smiled gently, looking like a jade tree in the wind.

"What do you mean?" Xia Qing finally found his voice after a long pause.

Luo Guanxue said calmly, "I’ve recently found a formation that can allow you to enter my body."

Xia Qing was dumbfounded. "Are you crazy?"

He had never seen someone willingly ask to be possessed by a ghost.

He was at a loss for words, full of questions. This person’s actions were so unconventional.

Xia Qing’s confusion was evident on his face.

Luo Guanxue smiled knowingly. "No need to overthink it. You’re just a wandering soul with no attachments, so I’m not after anything from you."

Xia Qing slowly glanced at him. "That’s not certain."

He had a gut feeling that something was wrong, like an instinct warning of danger. Apart from being indifferent to desires, Xia Qing’s instincts were always sharp. Although Luo Guanxue had been gentle and vulnerable recently, Xia Qing never truly trusted or sympathized with him.

Luo Guanxue stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled and said, "Well, forget it."

....................

March 5th, the day of Jingzhe. Spring thunder rumbles, and all things grow.

Since Xia Qing came here, he had been stuck beside Luo Guanxue, never leaving the Star-gathering Tower.

That day, dark clouds loomed over the Nine Heaven Palace.

Through the ten-mile-long Xiaoxiang bamboo forest, the pagoda looked strange, radiating an ominous blood-red light, obscuring the auspicious purple aura, and giving off an evil feeling.

Luo Guanxue had changed into a pure white robe, and he looked slightly unwell.

Xia Qing sat cross-legged at the edge of the top floor, shocked as he watched the blood-red light shoot up from the pagoda.

Curiously, he asked, "Is a great demon about to emerge?"

Luo Guanxue leaned against a large red pillar, his black hair like satin, his robe flowing. The crimson paint made his brows and eyes look even paler, exuding a strange, cold aura. "No, it won't come out."

Xia Qing: "Then what’s going on?"

Luo Guanxue smiled. "Spring thunder awakens all things, except for insects, beasts, demons and evils also stir."

Xia Qing was enlightened.

Luo Guanxue continued, "I gave orders yesterday. Tonight, they should bring a group of mermaid people up."

Xia Qing froze, then quickly turned to look at Luo Guanxue, whose eyes held a shallow smile.

"Let you see live mermaid," Luo Guanxue paused, then added, "You don’t have to touch them."

Xia Qing was speechless and didn’t know how to respond.

Luo Guanxue truly kept his word.

That night, Xia Qing saw an entire room of mermaid. They weren’t pure, but they were rare, with unique appearances.

The mermaids had a very distinct feature: their ears, sharp and with skin so thin it seemed like translucent jade. There were both males and females, around fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing intricate, gorgeous red clothes. Their hands and feet were delicate and pale, as if they could break with a gentle touch.

They all knelt in the middle of the hall, uneasy and breathing lightly.

Xia Qing, seeing mermaids for the first time, couldn’t help but stare. He noticed that each of them wore a small tag around their necks with their names, like merchandise.

"Your Majesty, do these meet the requirements?"

It was still the old eunuch, suppressing his fear, asking respectfully.

Luo Guanxue sat on a couch, smiling faintly, but said nothing. His gaze shifted from the crowd to Xia Qing.

Xia Qing felt his scalp tingle under Luo Guanxue's gaze.

Luo Guanxue moved his lips, silently mouthing, "Come here."

This scene was truly bizarre.

Outside, the spring thunder rumbled in the distance, hidden in black-purple clouds, hot and humid.

After a moment of hesitation, Xia Qing finally floated over to Luo Guanxue’s side, wearing an expression of impatience, like "What do you want?"

Luo Guanxue picked up a golden cup, his sleeve brushing as he lowered his voice, laughing softly, "I asked you to come closer to see clearly."

Xia Qing coldly responded, "I told you, I’m not interested."

Luo Guanxue: "You will be interested."

Xia Qing had a bad premonition.

Sure enough, the next moment, that feeling proved correct.

Luo Guanxue continued in that slow, deliberate voice, "Xia Qing, can you guess how the formation to summon an evil ghost into the body works?"

Xia Qing’s expression froze, staring at him, nearly cursing.

Luo Guanxue smiled faintly: "The book says to use the blood of a virgin boy or girl for the sacrifice; I guess the young mermaids will do."

Xia Qing’s brain seemed to explode in an instant. He became agitated: "I don't want to possess you! I’ll say it again—I don't want to possess you! Luo Guanyue, when will you stop? Let them go!"

Luo Guanxue leaned back on the bed, turning his head and chuckling quietly, as though he had just heard an amusing joke.

At his laugh, the mermaids kneeling in the hall immediately lost all color in their faces.

Xia Qing was stunned with rage.

This lunatic. This pervert.

Luo Guanxue emptied his wine cup and placed it aside, then turned to the old eunuch. "Bring that snow wolf I obtained the other day."

The old eunuch smiled thinly, trying to appease him: "As you wish, Your Majesty."

Xia Qing gritted his teeth, fuming, "Luo Guanxue!"

Bang!

Without warning, Luo Guanxue suddenly threw the wine cup—its sharp edge narrowly missing the forehead of the front-most young mermaid.

The wine cup hit the floor with a loud crash, causing everyone’s scalp to tingle.

The young mermaid shuddered, its blood spilling across its face. It tried to scream, but its throat had been slit, and no sound came out. Its docile eyes, now filled with terror and fear, showed no signs of defiance.

Xia Qing was taken aback, words caught in his throat.

Luo Guanxue lowered his gaze, locking eyes with the young mermaid, his lips curling into a slow, almost imperceptible smile.

"I've heard that the mermaid tribe used to be the ocean’s overlords, savage and cruel, dominating the seas and feeding on snow wolves. Just so happens, I acquired a snow wolf recently, and I’ve decided to share it with you tonight. Don’t disappoint me."

He spoke in a tone that seemed to carry no emotion, as though it were a casual observation.

At this point, the old eunuch had already ordered a few guards to bring in a massive cage, nearly three meters tall.

Inside the black iron cage was a snow wolf, its fur stained with blood and filth. Its enormous body was as large as a small mountain, its feral eyes glowing red with hunger, as it growled lowly, gnashing its teeth against the bars. It looked as though it could tear anyone apart the moment the cage was opened.

The old eunuch smiled, his face wrinkling with satisfaction as he said, "Your Majesty, as you instructed, this wolf has been starved for ten days."

Luo Guanxue nodded and coldly replied, "Open the cage."

The old eunuch quickly obeyed, his expression full of obsequiousness.

Xia Qing stood to the side, face grim, his anger barely contained. The last time he came here, he had only witnessed a dancer jumping from a building. He hadn’t seen what had happened earlier. But now, watching Luo Guanxue kill without any care, a deep revulsion filled him. The coldness of his actions was matched only by the inexplicable frustration that surged from deep within.

When the cage was opened, the snow wolf instantly leaped out, its red eyes filled with a ferocious hunger as it focused on the mermaids kneeling on the ground. However, it was chained, unable to escape the cage, and it began to furiously scratch the ground, its body trembling with violent energy.

The mermaids, sensing the imminent danger, turned pale, huddling together in fear, unable to even scream.

"Let them in," Luo Guanxue commanded from his seat on the divan, his voice remaining languid but chillingly cruel.

"Yes," the old eunuch quickly answered.

With a sneer, he turned to the guards and barked, "Throw these filthy slaves into the cage!"

The guards, towering and robust, easily grabbed the weak arms of the young mermaids.

Fear reached its peak, and the mermaids, losing all rationality, began to struggle desperately. They were caught, and although their legs flailed helplessly, their mouths could only produce broken sounds. Tears streamed from their eyes, hot and heavy, splashing onto the floor.

The guards grew furious.

"Still trying to run? It's an honor to die before His Majesty!"

"You filthy beasts! Ungrateful!"

"Animals!"

The hall erupted into chaos, filled with the sounds of screams and curses.

The humid, oppressive spring air outside, mixed with the faint sounds of bells ringing in the breeze, heightened the tension in the room.

The first mermaid to be thrown into the cage was the one Luo Guanxue had injured with the wine cup. Blood and pain clouded its senses, and it was slower to escape than the others. From the moment of its birth, the mermaids were trained and conditioned by humans, slowly losing their survival instincts.

Before Xia Qing could react, the snow wolf sank its teeth into the young mermaid’s leg, tearing away a large chunk of flesh.

The young mermaid howled in agony, the sound almost human in its desperation.

The snow wolf continued to chew, savoring the meal, while blood dripped steadily onto the ground, forming a small stream that slowly flowed to the base of the stairs.

The young mermaid covered in blood, its eyes wild and desperate, clung to the bars of the cage, dragging its broken body upward, as though fighting for its life.

But the snow wolf, already satiated by a single bite, lunged again, furious at the prey’s resistance.

At that moment, Luo Guanxue’s voice rang out, soft but filled with a strange amusement: "How interesting."

He looked on as the mermaid struggled, recognizing that their brutal upbringing, the very thing that had once made them beasts, was now lost to them. The hunter had become the hunted.

The scene fell silent, and the old eunuch, trembling, asked, "Your Majesty, what should we do?"

Luo Guanyue lazily stretched out his hand, saying softly, "Bring me the bow and arrows."

The old eunuch immediately nodded, eager to please.

Xia Qing, his fury barely contained, muttered, "Luo Guanxue, haven’t you done enough evil already? You’re going straight to hell for this!"

Luo Guanxue, however, did not seem to care about the others in the room. He looked at the scene before him with a calm, almost detached expression and responded slowly, "Is that so?"

Xia Qing's mind was filled with curses. He could only do what he could, running to the cage, but his hands couldn't even touch the creature. He tried to pull at the chain, wanting to restrain the snow wolf.

Meanwhile, Lou Guanxue had already taken the bow handed to him by the old eunuch and walked down from the high couch.

He stepped barefoot over the flowing blood, his white robes untouched.

The huge black cage, the frenzied snow wolf, and the trembling juvenile mermaids at the top of the cage.

In the center of the hall stood the new emperor, tall and elegant like a slender bamboo, yet his bowing action was that of a bloodthirsty demon.

The first arrow.

Lou Guanxue smiled slightly, aiming at the damaged young mermaid.

But, unexpectedly, just as he released the arrow, it skillfully veered off target and hit the iron chain instead.

Everyone in the hall froze, too stunned to move. The old eunuch was even more baffled—who didn’t know the emperor’s superb archery skills? The bow was never wrong, always hitting the target from a hundred steps away. What was this?

No one could see that the arrow had pierced Xia Qing’s hand.

The suppressed anger inside Xia Qing ignited like wildfire, and he raised his head sharply, his hazel eyes burning with rage, as if they could burn through the very soul.

Lou Guanxue, seemingly unaware, took another three arrows, reloaded his bow, and squinted.

This time, the cold arrow tip was aimed at the terrified, tearful young shark.

“Ugh... ugh…” The  young mermaid still bleeding from a torn leg, shook his head, seemingly begging for mercy. But all he could manage were hoarse, broken words. Tears fell, his fingers spasming as he clung to the iron bars. He was too small to know what to do.

Looking into Lou Guanxue’s eyes, he realized that in addition to fear, there was an overwhelming sense of reverence and... almost a devout dependency.

Outside, the clouds pressed down heavily, and occasionally, lightning split the sky, like silver snakes illuminating the black heavens.

Yet, the thunder, which had been building up for so long, still didn’t strike.

The old eunuch, ecstatic, ordered others around him, “Hurry, don’t let these filthy beasts disturb His Majesty’s pleasure.”

He then proudly added, “To die at His Majesty’s hands is an honor your ancestors could never have dreamed of.”

Some of the young mermaids terrified, wet themselves, and the guards were instantly enraged. They rushed over, slapping them repeatedly. “Beasts! How dare you act so insolently!”

Xia Qing, a soul, could touch things, but others couldn’t harm him with external objects. The arrow landed beside his feet.

He didn’t even understand why, as a mere ghost, he had to face this situation.

So, what exactly was Lou Guanxue doing that night?

...“I thought you were interested in the mermaid. I wanted you to see it with your own eyes tomorrow.”

...“Xia Qing, do you know how to set up the ritual to summon evil spirits?”

Lou Guanyue’s long fingers slowly drew the bow.

Xia Qing, stunned, suddenly had an idea... He could save that little shark.

Xia Qing stared blankly at the young man in white in the center of the hall.

Yes, he could save this juvenile shark, maybe even save everyone in the hall.

As long as he... as long as he...

The bow was drawn tighter and tighter.

The snow wolf, driven mad by hunger, slammed its massive body against the cage, shaking the young mermaid violently.

Theyoung mermaid could only clutch the bars harder, making itself an even easier target.

Lou Guanxue, his face cold, looked like a god sitting in the heavens, his white robes untouched, his expression emotionless.

“Ugh... ugh.”

The young mermaid's grip was slipping, and if he let go, he would fall straight into the snow wolf’s jaws, torn apart. But if he didn’t, the three arrows would pierce his skull.

The old eunuch, his excitement growing as he watched the bloodshed, raised his head.

The guards around him were equally eager for the spectacle. To them, the sharks were just toys.

The captured juvenile sharks, pale as paper, abandoned all hope as they watched their comrades’ fate unfold.

The arrow was on the string, ready to be fired. In the final moment—

“Stop!”

Xia Qing gritted his teeth and couldn’t hold back any longer.

His soul passed through the bloodied floor of the Star Picking Hall, his chest burning with anger. His gaze was so fiery that it seemed to want to reduce Lou Guanxue to ashes. He rushed forward and grabbed Lou Guanxue’s bow arm.

Xia Qing was completely lost in his fury, but this time, his hand didn’t pass through Lou Guanxue’s body. He gripped the cold wrist.

“You—!”

When Xia Qing suddenly looked up in surprise, Lou Guanxue started laughing.

In the next second, Xia Qing felt the world spinning as something sucked him forward. The moment his soul entered Lou Guanxue’s body, it felt like slamming into the ground.

The pain that assaulted him was unbearable, as though his soul was being torn apart.

It hurt so much.

It hurt to the point that Xia Qing’s arms went limp, and the bow fell to the ground.

His face twisted in agony as he half-kneeled, sweat pouring into his eyes.

“Your... Your Majesty?!” The old eunuch was so startled that he almost wet himself.

The crowd surged forward, cries of alarm ringing out, but it was all a blur of noise.

The cold wind carried the faint sound of raindrops, blowing across the floor, and the bronze bells at the eaves shook, ringing “ding ding ding.”

Meanwhile, Xia Qing could hear Lou Guanxue’s low, mocking laughter. At first, it was quiet, but then it grew louder and more unrestrained.

“Ha... hahaha—”

Cold, distant, and eerie.

Boom! Thunder rumbled outside the Star Picking Hall!

The thunderclap that had been waiting in the depths of the dark clouds finally struck.

The air was stifling, but the sound was deafening.

The world awoke from its winter slumber, and insects began to crawl out of their holes.

The rain began to fall heavily, as though washing away the stifling heat and frustration.

Xia Qing, in pain, curled up on the ground.

In his blurry vision, it seemed like the Pagoda of Immortality was glowing with a red light, casting an eerie glow over the bamboo forest ten miles away.

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