Chapter 566 - 276: Holy Decree

Chapter 566: Chapter 276: Holy Decree

Zheng Xiu felt the bones in his palm.

Wei Chen had said the bones in his palm were of a remarkable structure, a one-in-a-million specimen—ever-changing and unfathomable to both gods and ghosts.

Zheng Xiu didn’t see it.

Could Wei Chen’s words be trusted?

To be honest, his relationship with Wei Chen wasn’t one where they’d bare their souls to each other.

They were more like partners of convenience, each with their own agenda, who had simply found common ground.

That was why Zheng Xiu remained skeptical of Wei Chen’s words.

It was just that, at the moment, Wei Chen seemed to have no reason to lie to him.

A partnership, aligned interests, nothing more. Zheng Xiu liked maintaining this kind of pure relationship, one tinged with a healthy dose of pragmatism.

What was fate?

What was an ordeal?

What was preordained? And what was variable?

The Knife Seller, Sun Erming, had given Zheng Xiu a prophecy, but it had yet to come to pass.

Now Wei Chen had divined an ordeal for him.

Zheng Xiu smiled. He really wanted to tell Wei Chen that he had once lived for twenty years in a world where "Wei Chen was dead."

If even "established history" could be changed, then this so-called fate and these ordeals seemed rather laughable.

As for whether the "Bei" Wei Chen mentioned referred to Feng Bei or the Northern Barbarians, there was no point in overthinking it. Zheng Xiu made a mental note of it, thanked Wei Chen, and after finishing the meal in a pleasant atmosphere, he walked out of Fragrant Pavilion.

After sneaking back into Red King Mansion, Zheng Xiu mulled over Wei Chen’s Bone Divination. He activated his Projection, Zheng Er, opened the porcelain vial, and took a lick of the deadly snake venom to calm his nerves.

His Resistance increased slightly.

The vial contained Intertwined Snake Venom, which could only be extracted from the humanoid beauty, Snake, when she was convulsing from a fierce prodding of her vital point. A normal person would die instantly upon contact. Zheng Xiu, however, only smelled a sweet and sour fragrance. It tasted a bit like strawberry yogurt, leaving his tongue slightly numb afterward. That was all.

’My Glazed Pure Body is related to Resistance. I can still farm some more points from Snake.’

After putting the vial away and silently digesting the Intertwined Snake Venom on his tongue, Zheng Xiu found himself with nothing to do. For the first time in a while, he retreated to his study and began to paint.

In the painting, a valiant Feng Bei held a saber in her left hand and a curved bow in her right. Behind her, mountains and rivers crumbled, yet she stood unrivaled.

In the painting, Feng Bei’s face was distorted. The left side was as placid as still water, while the right side was flippant and cynical. Yet, the two starkly different expressions didn’t seem contradictory at all; it was as if they belonged to the same face.

Zheng Xiu finished the painting in one fluid motion with an ordinary brush. When he was done, he looked at the face and gave a bitter smile. "A painting reflects its subject, a subject reflects their heart, and a chaotic heart creates a chaotic painting."

He then went into the courtyard to practice his swordsmanship for a while.

This time, he used his Projection, Zheng Baimei.

Many people heard that the master was practicing his sword, so they climbed onto the rooftops, cracking melon seeds as they secretly watched the show.

The master’s training method was different from others. He scattered swords all over the ground like a handful of beans, then planted himself in the middle of the courtyard and stood motionless.

He stood there for the entire afternoon.

The assassins hiding in the shadows watched for a while, grew bored, and left one after another.

Few people noticed that when Zheng Xiu finally left, all the swords on the ground began to turn simultaneously. Over a hundred longswords eerily stood upright, then their tips all fell in the direction he had walked. From a high vantage point, the scene resembled a row of wheat being harvested.

Some time later, Snake came to visit again.

This time, Zheng Xiu didn’t drive her away. Instead, he feigned ignorance and had Zheng Er make an appearance.

The two of them, a single man and woman, were alone together in the study. With practiced ease, Zheng Xiu launched his assault on Snake’s critical weak spots. She was instantly defeated, spurting out another full vial of venom. Snake’s face was beet red, but her words were as sharp as ever. "I’m only letting you extract this venom for my sister’s and brother’s sake. Don’t get any other ideas." She finally left, looking utterly content and a bit weak in the knees.

’So... for a Snake, detoxing is such a happy occasion!?’

Awkward the first time, an expert the second. Zheng Xiu realized Snake seemed to be enjoying herself. It turned out that it wasn’t good for her to let too much venom accumulate; expelling the Intertwined Snake Venom was beneficial to her health. Zheng Xiu finally got it. This ’fleecing’ was mutual. While he was getting what he wanted, the ’sheep’ was also experiencing a unique sort of pleasure. He was just being a good Samaritan!

Later, Ye paid a visit.

She asked quizzically if Snake had been visiting often, remarking that something about her seemed off.

After the Red King vaguely explained that the young master had been helping Snake ’detoxify,’ Ye gave a knowing smile. She played a short tune before departing from Red King Mansion, a faint smile still on her lips.

「A few more days passed, and November was approaching.」

The arrival of the Northern Barbarian Envoys seemed like it was only yesterday, but since they were housed in the Ministry of Rites’ guest quarters, they were out of public sight. The common folk gradually forgot about them, and the markets returned to their usual bustling state.

A few minor incidents occurred during this time.

Not long after he had cooked up the Abyss Walker, Zheng Xiu had a sudden whim. Wanting to test the effects of his Dark Cooking Skill, he went to the kitchen, personally gathered firewood, started a fire, and put on a pot of water to boil.

Just pure water, without even a pinch of salt.

Later, the kitchen caught on fire and the large pot exploded.

Qing Shisan personally inspected the kitchen but found no trace of any "assassin." He knew, of course, that the master had been boiling water that day, but he refused to believe that simply boiling water could burn down a kitchen. He preferred to think that a Miracle Master was causing trouble.

In the end, the kitchen explosion incident was left unresolved. An embarrassed Zheng Xiu told Qing Shisan not to worry about it, and the next day, he had Yan Jiji work overtime to rebuild the kitchen.

A few days later, Zheng Xiu went to visit Situ Yong. The man’s injuries had finally healed, but the incident in Lu Town seemed to have left a deep scar on him. He grumbled and cursed all day long and had even picked up two new catchphrases.

The first was "Damn Actors!" The second was "Actors deserve to die a horrible death!"

Standing in Situ Yong’s clinic, Zheng Xiu looked at a wall pockmarked with countless tiny holes left by flying sabers. They were so densely packed they almost looked like a painting. He was beginning to understand why the Elder Divine Doctor held such a massive grudge against Actors.