Chapter 41: The Destined-to-be-Abandoned Good-for-Nothing (21)p2
There was no time like the present.
Gui Mian had originally planned to find an opportunity to feed Black Tortoise some delicious food and coax it back, but since there was a new plan, she temporarily put her beloved pet aside.
She and her master found a remote and secluded place in a deep mountain forest, setting up barriers and formations. Gui Mian brought out that body. At first, she felt uncomfortable looking at this face that resembled her own. But half an hour later, she couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise: “Eh?”
It was so strange.
In this body, she truly felt a strange sense of familiarity.
The grey mist could flow freely through the meridians of this body without taking away any spiritual energy. It was too strange.
Su Mingxiu, beside her, nibbled on her ear. “So, do you want to eat it?”
Eat myself?
This bizarre thought popped into Gui Mian’s mind. She shook her head. But in the next moment, the body, having been infused with chaotic energy, as if activated by something, suddenly sat up from the makeshift stone platform, startling them both.
Grey mist emanated from the body, connecting to Gui Mian’s fingertip. She seemed to have received a lot of information in that instant and couldn’t help but shake her head.
Seeing this, Su Mingxiu reinforced the surrounding barriers, preparing to protect her.
But the exchange between Gui Mian’s two bodies ended too quickly—
Two arms simultaneously wrapped around Su Mingxiu’s shoulders.
Two voices, one gentle, the other hoarse, called out from both sides: “Master.”
She abruptly retracted her divine sense, realizing that Gui Mian was playing tricks on her. So she pulled both arms towards her, and in the next second, she pinned down the two figures with identical faces but different clothing styles.
The one on the left was dressed in red, the alluring style adding a touch of charm to her innocent face. The one on the right was wearing a yin-yang daoist robe, her demeanor impeccably proper, only her bewitching golden eyes betraying her true nature.
“What game are you playing with me?”
The color in Su Mingxiu’s black eyes deepened. She asked casually, but the grip on their waists tightened.
They both leaned in towards her, as if offering her a choice. They said in unison: “Which one does Master like more?”
“Uh…” Again?
Su Mingxiu snorted, and in the next instant, a light flashed from her body, and an avatar with half her face separated from her. She raised an eyebrow, as if asking Gui Mian:
How many more can you transform into?
Gui Mian was stunned, looking at this strange avatar. Before she could react, the avatar released its spiritual energy, pressing it against her forehead—
The grey mist tumbled into Su Mingxiu’s sea of consciousness.
The person who had been mischievous just now was now incredibly well-behaved, trying her best to control her trembling. She looked at Su Mingxiu with her innocent eyes and asked seriously, “Is Master taking me to find the ‘answer’?”
The person approaching her smiled. As usual, she conjured the crimson room. As she reached Gui Mian, she replied unhurriedly: “Indeed, it’s time for you to find the answer.”
“Then are we…?”
Gui Mian’s eyes sparkled. If she really had a tail, it would be wagging excitedly by now.
Unfortunately, Su Mingxiu ignored her. A thin red string appeared in her hand at some point. As the little disciple froze, not daring to move, Su Mingxiu carefully tied her up.
“Hmm?” Gui Mian was still confused when, with a twist of the knot, five identical red string ends appeared in her hand, presented to her.
“But before we find the answer, let’s play a game.”
She said slowly, her eyes downcast, “Only one of the five strings in your hand is the key to undoing these knots. You have one chance. If you can untie them, you win.”
She couldn’t always let her disciple ask the questions.
A master also needed to test her disciple’s progress.
Gui Mian was tightly bound, her hands immobilized. If this were in reality, it would be fine. But in Su Mingxiu’s sea of consciousness, she didn’t even know how to walk, so she could only talk.
As expected—
The next moment.
Her head was pressed against the five red strings. “Choose.”
Gui Mian belatedly realized that her master was getting back at her for making her answer those questions earlier. She blinked her light-colored eyes and said in a soft voice: “Master…”
“Not choosing?” Su Mingxiu’s hand on the back of her neck didn’t loosen. “Should I choose for you?”
Gui Mian whined in refusal, making a last-ditch effort: “What happens if I choose wrong?”
The curve of Su Mingxiu’s lips widened. “If you choose wrong… well, it’s just like how I spent that night with you in the red-light district, playing games all night.”
Oh.
That wasn’t so bad.
Gui Mian couldn’t figure out how her master had tied these knots. She vaguely saw traces of the Eight Trigrams formation, but she didn’t bother thinking too hard. It was just a night of playing with Master, she wouldn’t lose anything.
So the little girl randomly picked a string with her mouth.
But she forgot.
The length of a night in the sea of consciousness wasn’t under her control.
Moreover, for her, who now understood love and desire, her master wouldn’t play those string figure games anymore. Instead…
The night in the sea of consciousness was long. No one knew how much time had passed.
Gui Mian whimpered, unable to form a complete sentence. Her lips, originally pale, had turned a deep, luscious red. The little girl, knowing that pleading was useless, was desperate to escape from her master.
The red silk quilt was a tangled mess, stained with dark and light marks.
A long knot was pressed beneath it.
But the master of this sea of consciousness didn’t stop her. Instead, she watched with amusement as Gui Mian shifted between her human form and the chaotic grey mist, her voice pleasant as she asked: “Trying to run?”
The person whose skin was rubbed raw by the quilt could only look back at her pitifully. She had barely managed to get some distance away when her ankle was caught.
Seeing the deep red mark on her ankle, Su Mingxiu slowly massaged it, seemingly considerate, but her grip wasn’t gentle. It almost left fingerprints on Gui Mian’s fair skin.
She chuckled softly. “You learn fast.”
She was referring to how Gui Mian, in her sea of consciousness, had gone from being too scared to move to being able to crawl out of her embrace.
So she set a new learning task for her good disciple: “Continue.”
“If you can escape tonight, I’ll let you off the hook.”
And if she couldn’t—
Gui Mian’s hoarse, tearful whimpers were the answer.
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