The Villainous Shizun Is As Beautiful As A Flower

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Xu Xingchen couldn’t accept the reality before him.

Despite all precautions, this situation had still occurred.

While he hadn’t been biased against the demon race due to his upbringing in the Emperor’s palace, witnessing Shen Liuxiang entangled with the Demon King made him feel uneasy.

Ignoring any potentially malicious intentions, the fact that the two of them had no official standing or title, yet were tangled up together in bed, doing things that only couples could… it just didn’t seem right.

How shameless!!!

On the bed, Shen Liuxiang covered his face with his hand.

He thought to himself that he was done for. Xu Xingchen already misunderstood his relationship with his disciple, and now, if he saw this scene, it would be impossible to clear things up.

At some point, Zhou Xuanlan had opened his eyes. His expression was calm, but probably sensing the killing intent radiating from Xu Xingchen’s eyes, he felt that continuing to hold Shen Liu Xiang like this wasn’t appropriate. Reluctantly, he released his grip.

Shen Liuxiang hesitated for a moment, feeling trapped. He attempted to sit up to salvage the situation.

“It’s all a misunderstanding, last night—”

“Put your clothes on before you speak!”

Before he could finish speaking, Xu Xingchen grabbed the clothes hanging on the screen and began to pummel him with them, looking furious.

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Shen Liuxiang, feeling unfairly treated, touched his nose and obediently put on his outer robe, then got out of bed like a guilty child.

Even though he had no idea what he had done wrong, seeing Xu Xingchen acting like an irate little lion, he couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Xu Xingchen held a jade slip with a bluish tint in his hand, resembling a mighty weapon. “I’ll give you both one last chance to explain. Otherwise, I’ll report this truthfully to Emperor Yunyu. If he finds out, he’ll surely punish you severely.”

He looked at the two of them and started listing a series of accusations.

“Shen Liuxiang, you’re captivated by his demonic charm and have abandoned your mission. I failed to notice it for a while, but you still went and ended up sharing a bed with him!”

“And you, Zhou Xuanlan. If Emperor Yuyun learns that you deceived Shen Liuxiang into doing such things, he’ll definitely flay you alive!”

“Both of you won’t escape punishment!”

Shen Liuxiang’s head was throbbing from listening to all this.

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However, he realized that if Emperor Yunyu knew about this, it would indeed become a troublesome affair. So he quickly tried to calm things down. “Calm down, don’t tell Emperor Yunyu.”

Xu Xingchen: “Then tell me honestly, have you engaged in dual cultivation?”

Shen Liuxiang hadn’t expected him to be so straightforward. He glanced at Zhou Xuanlan beside him, feeling a rush of heat that reached his cheeks.

“No! No!”

Xu Xingchen’s expression softened a bit as he asked again, “If that’s the case, do you have any intention of making him your Dao partner?”

Shen Liuxiang was taken aback by the question, and before he could respond, Zhou Xuanlan covered his mouth with his hand.

“Don’t speak.” Zhou Xuanlan’s eyes were downcast.

Surrounded by an aura of hostility, he glared at Xu Xingchen and spoke in a cold tone, “There’s no need to ask my master. I’ll answer for you. Nothing that you suspect has happened between us.”

Xu Xingchen: “Very well.”

He reached out his hand, intending to pull Shen Liuxiang over, but failing to move him, he walked over on his own, positioning himself between the two with a stern expression.

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“When I left the palace, Emperor Yunyu instructed that the two of you should not have any contact. I thought that being able to meet each other would be difficult and I, being soft-hearted, allowed you to stay in the Cloud Pavilion. But now it seems that it nearly led to a disaster.”

Shen Liuxiang was at a loss. “What disaster?”

Xu Xingchen glanced at him, hating iron for not being steel: “Then I suppose you bite your own lips, causing them to bleed?”

Shen Liuxiang smiled faintly, “Yes, I really did bite them myself, but not in my sleep.”

Xu Xingchen looked at him as if he were a lost lamb, realizing there was no saving the situation. He shifted his focus and turned to Zhou Xuanlan, asking, “Do you know why Emperor Yunyu doesn’t want you two to have contact? Any idea?”

Zhou Xuanlan’s expression turned slightly cold, and after a moment of silence, he replied, “I have a residence in Qilin City. I willl been staying there these days, so as not to disturb.”

With that, he turned and left.

Shen Liu Xiang hurriedly moved to stop him, but Xu Xingchen held him back. “It’s not like it’s a life-and-death separation. Don’t just pay attention to him. We still have a mission to accomplish. Let’s figure out a way to get the Illusory Pill.”

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Xuanlan disappeared. Shen Liuxiang sighed, giving up on stopping him. He turned and walked back into the room.

“Alright, let’s focus on the task.”

Shen Liuxiang spent the morning studying alchemical recipes. By noon, he was summoned by Jin Xiaojiu for lunch. He saw a table full of delicious dishes. “This boiled fish and spicy shrimp were specially retrieved from Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion by Young Master Xingchen.”

Shen Liu Xiang raised an eyebrow, quite surprised. He often ordered food from Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion and thought the best dishes were the boiled fish and spicy shrimp. He hadn’t expected Xu Xingchen to notice.

He moved a chair and sat down, picking up his chopsticks. “I can’t finish all of this by myself. You should sit too.”

Jin Xiaojiu replied, “Young Master will be here soon.”

Shen Liuxiang’s face showed a mix of surprise and disbelief. Xu Xingchen preferred light and simple food, eating very modestly. Shen Liuxiang was the opposite, and so they rarely ate together.

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Shen Liuxiang glanced at the dishes on the table, realizing there were two plates of vegetables. His suspicions grew.

When Xu Xingchen returned, there was a green bird perched on his arm. Once he entered the room, the bird flapped its wings and flew onto the table.

Shen Liu Xiang asked, “Why did you buy a messenger bird?”

Xu Xingchen sat at the dining table, glanced at the half-empty bowl of rice in front of Shen Liu Xiang, and answered, “To send a message to the Beilun Sword Sect in the cultivation realm.”

Shen Liuxiang looked puzzled. “Why?”

Xu Xingchen picked up a piece of vegetable and mixed it with rice before eating, then said, “Lan Linlang, the number one alchemist on the continent, specifically researched various lost alchemical recipes. I wonder if she might have information about Guidan. I plan to inquire.”

Shen Liu Xiang repeated the name “Lan Linlang” in his mind, feeling an inexplicable sensation. “She shares a surname with the Sect Master Lan of the Beilun Sword Sect. What’s their relationship?”

“Siblings,” Xu Xingchen explained. “Lan Linlang passed away early, and her belongings were entrusted to Lan Xiaosheng.”

“But if they are just belongings, there’s no guarantee they will give them to you,” Shen Liuxiang pointed out.

Xu Xingchen was momentarily taken aback. He hadn’t thought about whether they would give them or not. In his understanding, nobody would refuse the Emperor’s palace.

Seeing his thoughts, Shen Liuxiang rubbed his forehead in exasperation. “I’ll come up with the message later.”

Xu Xingchen pursed his lips, looking rather annoyed. As he finished eating one plate of vegetables, he noticed that Shen Liuxiang’s rice bowl was only half empty, and he hadn’t touched the fish and shrimp on the table. With lowered eyes, Shen Liuxiang appeared sulky.

Xu Xingchen scoffed.

Zhou Xuanlan had only been gone for a short time, and he was already losing his appetite.

Shen Liuxiang, preoccupied with alchemical formulas, planned to buy some spiritual herbs in the afternoon and concoct a semi-finished product. He poked his jade chopsticks into his bowl absentmindedly, sometimes touching the food, sometimes not.

Then, suddenly, a peeled shrimp dropped into his bowl.

Shen Liu Xiang widened his eyes and looked at Xu Xingchen in disbelief.

Flattered.

Xu Xingchen used a silk handkerchief to wipe his hands at a leisurely pace, noticing his gaze. Without any clear context, Xu Xingchen casually stated, “I’ll be going out for a while and will return later.”

Shen Liuxiang used his chopsticks to pick up a shrimp. “Oh, I’m going out as well, to buy some spiritual herbs.”

Xu Xingchen replied, “Then I’ll stay in the Cloud Pavilion.”

Seeing Shen Liuxiang’s puzzled expression, Xu Xingchen sighed internally, thinking, “Idiot, you can take advantage of the time when I’m not around to meet with the Ninth Demon King.”

He cleared his throat and reminded him, “Anyway, I won’t be leaving the Cloud Pavilion this afternoon.”

Shen Liuxiang: “?”

…

In the Seventh Demon King’s residence, Wenren Qin sat in a waterside pavilion with a chessboard in front of him. He held white and black chess pieces in his hands.

Standing by his side, Xiong You reported, “The batch for the end of the month is almost ready for delivery.”

A white chess piece fell with a crisp sound.

“Be more cautious. Zhou Xuanlan is in the city. He might notice,” Wen Ren Qin advised while surveying the chessboard. He casually asked, “You were in a fight last night in the Fragrance District. Who was it with?”

Xiong You’s eyes flickered slightly, and he replied in a deep voice, “An impolite little demon. I took care of it.”

Wenren Qin acknowledged with a grunt. A gust of wind blew, carrying the fragrance of flowers. He looked up and saw that the locust tree on the water’s edge was blooming. He stared at it for a while.

“It’s been a while since I visited my parents. The weather is nice today. I should go see them.”

In a dimly lit water cell, a man’s upper body was immersed in filthy water. With his red hair cascading over him, he raised his head upon hearing some movement. His lone eye glared with a ferocity akin to a hellish fiend.

“Wenren Qin…”

The man’s voice was hoarse and full of resentment, as if he wished to devour someone alive in the next moment.

“Half a month has passed, and you still look spirited, Father. I can rest easy.”

Wenren Qin took a piece of raw meat hanging nearby, tore off two bloody pieces, and threw them in front of Wenren Du. The meat fell into the filthy water with a “plop.”

“Eat more. Don’t die too early.”

Wenren Du, with his crimson, left eye wide open, asked, “Where is Lan?”

“With me looking after her, should you still be worried?”

Wenren Qin wiped the bloodstains from the meat onto his lips, then licked them with his tongue, tasting the metallic flavor of blood. A trace of a smile emerged in his eyes.

“Given that Lan has a loving partner taking care of her now, has children, and she’s leading a good life.”

Wenren Du’s face suddenly paled. “You… you let her go.”

“Father, I don’t understand your words,” Wen Ren Qin said with an enigmatic twist of his lips.

“There’s another piece of good news. Lan is pregnant again. I’ll make sure she’s well cared for. After this nephew is born, I’ll bring him here for you to see.”

Inside the cell, the sound of clanging iron chains echoed as the person inside struggled desperately and cursed with ferocity, “Wenren Qin, you bastard! I should have killed you with one blow back then!”

Wenren Qin raised his brows and suddenly burst into laughter, laughing so hard that he doubled over. The insane laughter reverberated through the entire cell.

“The sight of you, Father, in such a sorry state is truly laughable.”

Having had his fill of laughter, Wenren Qin finally left the water cell. His face radiated a deep sense of satisfaction, until he saw another woman in a neighboring cell.

Her cell was exceptionally clean, furnished with a bed, table, and chairs. Compared to the other dirty and shabby cells, hers was like night and day.

Wenren Qin stood outside the ebony iron door with a complex expression. “How is Mother faring?”

An Qin sat in a chair, her back turned to him, her expression hidden. Her voice sounded extremely cold as she said, “Not well at all. I want Wenren Du. Give him back to me.”

Wenren Qin sneered, “But he despises you so much now. If I were to bring him before you, he would kill you immediately. Have you forgotten that he nearly killed you the last time?”

“And it’s because you’ve upset him that he’s taking it out on me,” An Qin’s voice grew sharp. “He clearly loves me so much, and he can’t bear to hurt me in the slightest… It’s all your fault! You shouldn’t have been born in the first place!”

As she spoke, she became increasingly agitated, spewing a string of curses from her mouth. Her outburst abruptly ceased when she heard a low call of “Mother” from outside the cell.

“Today is my birthday,” Wen Ren Qin stated.

An Qin was taken aback. Her lips moved, but in the end, she said nothing.

“I still remember when I was four years old, you cooked me a bowl of longevity noodles.”

An Qin’s expression changed slightly, and she sneered for a moment. “Then you should also remember that when you were five years old, I had someone bury you alive outside the city.”

Wenren Qin’s expression twisted momentarily, and the warmth that had been in his eyes vanished completely. “Of course, I wouldn’t forget.”

the woman inside the cell chuckled lightly, refusing to respond further.

Wen Ren Qin’s gaze grew sinister, his spiritual energy becoming restless. It took a long while for him to regain his composure, suppressing his murderous intent. He raised his hand and twined a string of locust flowers, which he had collected earlier, around the ebony iron door before turning to leave.

Xiong You followed him in silence, his expression enigmatic and ever-changing.

…

In the afternoon, after Shen Liuxiang had finished buying the spiritual herbs and returned, Xu Xingchen tried various tactics to probe, only to find out that Shen Liuxiang had indeed only bought the herbs and hadn’t done anything else. He was left speechless for a moment.

If given an opportunity and not cherished, it wouldn’t be Xu Xingchen’s fault for being ruthless.

A room on the ground floor of the Cloud Pavilion had been specially set aside for Shen Liuxiang to practice alchemy. He carefully selected the spiritual herbs he had purchased, and before he knew it, it was already deep into the night.

As night fell, Xu Xingchen kept a close watch on him, remaining in the alchemy room. By now, he was finding it hard to persevere. He sat in a chair, his head nodding gently as if he were a sleepy chick pecking at grains.

Stretching his tired body, Shen Liuxiang was about to wake Xu Xingchen and tell him to go back to his room, when he heard a faint sound from outside the window.

His heart stirred, and he glanced at the drowsy Xu Xingchen. Limping quietly, he reached the window without making a sound.

He poked his head out and, as he expected, he spotted a familiar figure. Raindrops drizzled from the sky as Zhou Xuanlan, cloaked in black, stood outside the window. His dark, profound eyes were fixed on Shen Liuxiang, and he called out in a low voice, “Master.”

Shen Liuxiang’s eyes brightened slightly, and he asked in a hushed tone, “Why are you here?”

Zhou Xuanlan’s lips curled up slightly, and he extended his long hand. His voice, tinged with the rich colors of the night, was unusually deep and alluring.

“I’ve come to steal a glimpse of my master.”