Chapter 450 - 232: "Whisper

Chapter 450: Chapter 232: "Whisper

"The Dan Demon is more like... a cannon."

When he was in his Dan Demon form, Zheng Xiu had been extremely cautious, constantly feeling as if something was about to spray out of his mouth. If not for the fear of accidentally killing Gu Qiutang with a single blast, he would have been itching to test the power of his "Breath."

"But why are they all only halves?"

Thinking back on it now, Zheng Xiu still couldn’t figure it out. The Caged Sparrow’s form had a single wing, and the Dan Demon, which should have had six arms, was left with only three. Everything was "half."

Strange.

But no matter how he mulled it over, he couldn’t find an answer. After a moment’s hesitation, Zheng Xiu returned to the matter at hand. Inside his Heart Prison, he looked at the three Incarnations, eyeing the handsome youth with the lotus mark on his brow, and prepared to dive in.

Just as he was about to deploy the "Evil Child" Incarnation after a long time, Zheng Xiu’s gaze happened to fall upon the cute, miniature "Feng Bei Post Station." A playful impulse seized him, and after poking Feng Bei’s soft, doughy cheek, he decisively dove in.

A mass of black mist swirled into a vortex. A small black door opened within it, sucking in Zheng Xiu’s consciousness.

「At the same time.」

「In Feng Bei’s room.」

Folding screens, decorated with flocks of birds and blooming flowers, stood all around. Steam swirled and rose, morphing into all sorts of illusory shapes.

Fresh flower petals were scattered in the spacious wooden tub. Feng Bei tested the water temperature, nodded in satisfaction, slipped off her shoes and socks, and stood before the Copper Mirror.

The Copper Mirror reflected her cold, exquisite face. She stared blankly at her reflection when suddenly, the image in the mirror revealed a playful smile. The hazy steam fogged the surface of the Copper Mirror, blurring her reflection.

Feng Bei couldn’t see clearly. She walked to the mirror on her pale tiptoes, hesitated, and reached out her hand. After a moment’s pause, she finally wiped away the condensation.

After she wiped away the mist, the mirror reflected a tear-streaked face. The her in the mirror was dressed in a bright red wedding gown, complete with a phoenix crown and wedding cape. She wore light makeup, her brows as fine as kingfisher feathers, her skin as smooth as jade, and her lips as red as blood.

The her in the mirror giggled, laughing and crying at the same time. "I have become an eternal enigma in your hearts. You can never guess me, never figure me out, never solve me. This is a riddle that will haunt you for all eternity! Hee hee hee!"

THUMP!

Expressionless, Feng Bei lashed out with a fist. A clear fist-shaped indentation was left in the center of the Copper Mirror. The reflection distorted, and she saw herself again.

RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE...

Her black combat attire slid off with a soft rustle. Feng Bei let out a faint sigh and straightened the Copper Mirror. She hesitated for a moment, then, with a smile, she pinned up her hair for the first time in a long while, looking like a newlywed. She submerged herself in the wooden tub, lapping water over her skin and toying with the petals, enjoying a rare moment of peace and delight.

As she bathed, Feng Bei’s brow suddenly furrowed.

The large wooden tub, meant for one person to scrub-a-dub-dub in, seemed to contain something... else.

SPLASH!

A bewildered-looking youth burst from the water, soaked to the skin. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw an expressionless Feng Bei.

He looked down.

Then he looked up.

Zheng Xiu stared openly, without so much as a blink. ’After all, I’m already here.’

The youth slicked his wet hair back with his hands, then pointed to Feng Bei’s hair and praised her generously. "You look good with your hair pinned up."

Feng Bei nodded blankly.

The youth then put on a bashful expression. "When I was in the painting, I always wanted to try ’mandarin ducks playing in the water.’ I never imagined it would actually happen by accident today."

Feng Bei’s fist clenched.

Zheng Xiu watched as Feng Bei’s expression grew darker and darker. He asked earnestly, "If I said this was really an accident, would you believe me?"

"I wouldn’t."

Feng Bei gave a slight smile and struck the youth with her palm.

BOOM!

The wooden tub instantly exploded into splinters. The youth let out a wretched scream, spinning and tumbling as he crashed through the wall and went flying out of the room.

「The next day.」

Zheng Xiu’s "poison bath" from the previous night was still a success. Before dawn, he had used his Evil Child Incarnation to soak in the poison. There was no reaction at first, but then, tiny, gnat-like text would occasionally pop up before his eyes:

[You have disregarded mortal danger to test poison with your own body. Your Constitution has been tempered by a minuscule amount.]

[You have disregarded mortal danger to drink a mouthful of deadly poison. Your Constitution has been tempered by a minuscule amount.]

[You have bathed in deadly poison while remaining poised and cheerful. Your Will has been tempered by a truly infinitesimal amount.]

’So I really can grind for EXP.’

’This really is a surefire path to success.’

’It’s just a little slow.’

Zheng Xiu soaked his Incarnation for about an hour. A prompt popped up every few minutes on average, for a total of eighteen notifications.

After recalling the Incarnation, Zheng Xiu opened his eyes, returned to his room to get dressed, and walked out the door rubbing his cheek with a pained expression. Although Feng Bei’s palm had struck the "Evil Child," he shared its senses. Even now, Zheng Xiu’s face still stung sharply. If Feng Bei hadn’t held back, that one palm strike probably would have sent the Evil Child straight to a respawn point.

’We were like an old married couple for ten years in that dream, so why is she so uptight about this?’

Zheng Xiu walked gloomily toward the dining hall. The atmosphere in the Red King Mansion was tense, with Brotherhood Assassins standing guard on rooftops everywhere.

The Brotherhood Assassins communicated with whistles:

"Find the Assassin?"

"Not yet!"

"Son of a bitch. Daring to break into the Red King Mansion in the middle of the night, and into the Madam’s own quarters, no less. He must have a death wish."

"But didn’t the Madam say to let it go?"

"Let it go? How can we let it go? What kind of place do you think the Red King Mansion is? Breaking in here in the middle of the night is like slapping our Prince right in the face, over and over! Can you stand for that? Because I sure as hell can’t!"

The brothers muttered amongst themselves.

From their high vantage point, they could see that in the East Wing Courtyard where Feng Bei lived, there was a large, person-shaped hole in the side of the house. The courtyard wall also had a huge gap in it. Farther out, a deep trench had been plowed through the flowerbeds. One could only imagine that the so-called "Assassin" had been sent flying by the Madam’s slap, crashed through several walls, and then skidded a long distance after hitting the ground.