Bai Shou was confused and not in the way she had tried to suppress since Bai Ning Bing's death. Say what you will about Bai Shou, call her crazy, evil, sadistic, depraved, wanton, and more if you must, but she was painfully self-aware. The faint suffocation and tightness of chest in her originated from one of the most disastrous losses of her life. It was her second such loss, if anyone was keeping a count.
It took time.
All she needed was more time.
With her growth, Bai Shou expected herself to emerge better and meaner than ever from her current condition.
However, this…
It confused her in a way a caveman looked at the first birth of fire before feeding its arm into the blaze and screeching in shock that fire burned shit.
"Isn't that a little extreme?" Shen Cui tilted her head, smiling widely. There was a blaze of curiosity in her untouched eye.
"No," Bai Shou sighed and massaged her forehead. Though she did not communicate verbally, Shen Cui appeared conscious of the former's intent.
"Oh…" Shen Cui blinked before turning around. "Did you find out why Mistress Mo and I got summoned like this? Not that I dislike being alive. I just hoped to be looking less… morbid."
"What do you think?" Bai Shou retorted. She took stock of Shen Cui. Unlike Mo Yan, who was mauled to death by the lightning wolves, the wounds on Bai Shou's former lover spoke a different story.
Starting from her ankles, Shen Cui's body was littered with small bites. Some spots had deeper gashes and massive tears in her clothes as if a creature burrowed past her flesh into her thigh. Her abdomen was almost torn through, leaving a bloody pit with tattered robe dangling from the edges. Her left breast was half-eaten, and a longer scar like a blade's gash ran up her right breast. Lastly, the right side of Shen Cui's face was also filled with bite marks. Her scalp was torn from several spots, and her once lush brown hair tied into two buns were disheveled in uneven clumps. On one such clump stuck was a familiar red jade hair clip with flower carvings on its surface.
Shen Cui suffered an ill-fated end at the mouths of a group of bladewing blood bats when Gu Yue Clan's Ancestor emerged from his rest.
Still, for a glimpse, Bai Shou couldn't help but recall the more daring and threatening Shen Cui lying naked on his bed after Mo Yan's death. It overlapped with Shen Cui looking around. The movement brought Bai Shou's attention to the further disastrous state of her ass.
"You look fine." Bai Shou assured after a moment.
"Do I?" Shen Cui quickly turned. "You don't need to lie."
"I don't. I've just experienced too much. External beauty is useless without internal qualities, like loyalty."
Shen Cui stared at Bai Shou for a few breaths before questioning.
"You're not unnerved. Mistress… I'm just going to call her name. We're all dead, after all. Anyway, Sister Mo said you tried pushing her away. She's concerned for you, Lo Jik."
"You said Mo Yan sent you? How?"
Shen Cui shrugged.
"For some reason, I gained consciousness again. While I couldn't see others, I did sense Mo Yan before she felt more… proper. Then she could suddenly speak. I also sensed someone else there."
Bai Shou's gaze flickered.
"So, Mo Yan is still… does she still exist?"
Shen Cui nodded.
"And there are just three of you? Two of you are the individuals I've slept with. Do you have any idea who is the third one?"
Shen Cui shrugged again.
"I see. You can leave."
Bai Shou commanded calmly. She wasn't as shaken after already experiencing Mo Yan's brief arrival. Furthermore, she was better off without dealing with more mystery without sufficient strength and ability. Whatever was the cause of Mo Yan's and Shen Cui's arrival, it wasn't malicious presently.
However, Shen Cui did not disappear. Her smile instead turned the slightest bit eerie and haunting when coupled with her current appearance.
"I refuse. Hehe… I know all about you—the delicious bits, at least."
Her untouched eye narrowed, betraying something illicit.
"And I don't mean your secrets, Master~!" She cooed. "You don't remember, do you?"
Bai Shou furrowed her brows before recollecting her composure.
"So? You don't want to leave? You did grow the slightest bit more disobedient for a plaything right before your end." She sneered.
Surprisingly, Shen Cui did not show any reaction to the insult or the implication of Bai Shou never possessing any sincere affection for the former.
Bai Shou exhaled after a moment.
"Look. Isn't it better for you to return to wherever you exist and keep track of my actions from there? Mo Yan didn't have any issues with that. Why are you being so difficult?"
"Oh, I don't know." Shen Cui commented sarcastically. "How about the horse shit of you not wanting me because I had to sleep with Fang Zhen to pacify him after months of withdrawal? You knew I couldn't have avoided that and purposely left that as a condition to toss me away!"
She snorted, crossing her arms.
"You're lucky I took pity on you and decided against haunting you. Soul path methods are your weakness, right?"
Bai Shou picked up on that.
"So, you know about different dao methods? What about the soul path? How is it that it's my weakness?"
Shen Cui's answer was a flat glare.
"Sister Mo was right. You're tiresome in your head. So many schemes!" She stuck her tongue out, allowing Bai Shou to observe how the tip of her tongue was bitten through.
'But her lips aren't touched…'
Shen Cui suddenly blushed.
"I… I tried fighting back and bit a bat's head." She coughed. "It bit me back."
"Pfft!" Bai Shou tried her best to restrain her chuckle.
"Hey! That was a painful experience!"
Having experienced worse things than that, Bai Shou shrugged.
"Welcome to the club, Cui'er. I've had my eye chewed out, skin and flesh boiled and burned from inside out. You… you should stay for as long as you want."
Bai Shou did not deny the weight of emotions she held for Mo Yan. However, Shen Cui was slightly different. Though sincere about the lass at their end moments together, Bai Shou also couldn't overlook the playfulness she held for the girl. It was light and simultaneously heartfelt.
Yet, the sect leader's consort failed to observe a flash of thoughtfulness in Shen Cui's eye.
"Oh, and what was it that I didn't remember?" Bai Shou asked suddenly.
Shen Cui shook her head.
"It's a stupid thing." She muttered under her breath, blushing softly. Since she looked ghostly white, her cheeks flushed a prominent grey instead of the healthy pink and red.
"If it skipped your mind then it's probably useless to you."
Bai Shou narrowed her eyes at such a response but didn't pursue any further.
For all she knew, it could be Shen Cui trying to create confusion to vent her frustrations.
"How smart."
Shen Cui scoffed.
'Or she knows exactly what I'm thinking and playing me.'
Fang Zheng's dead wife let out a groan of exhaustion.
"That's just overly complicated. This line of thinking will never end!"
'She's right. But what if—'
"You're tiresome!" She accused.
<<<>>>
Jirou Na snorted coldly and refused Shu Zhe's demands.
"You want the two Rank 5 gu worms?! Impossible!" The middle stage rank 5 elder declared. The two rank 5 gu worms didn't hold a candle for her desire to free her two sons and their families. However, recently allied with Le Tao's camp, Jirou Na was aware about Shu Zhe's attempt of forking out Di Qing's inheritance.
Di Qing's inheritance was truly very desirable. So, the couple refused Shu Zhe and demanded the rest of rank 5 gu worms Jirou Na planned to compensate Wang Nan with had he successfully killed Bai Shou.
So, things elevated into a three-way trade. Jirou Na wanted her children. Shu Zhe sought Di Qing's inheritance. And Le Tao wanted the complete Wang Nan inheritance coupled with the additional demands and other gu worms Shu Zhe offered alongside the inheritance.
Meanwhile, Le Tao's side was also in contact with Jirou Na with their own needs and demands.
Jirou Na couldn't possibly hand over the two gu worms Shu Zhe wanted to exchange for Di Qing's inheritance.
Shu Zhe already had a new consort and was sexually active. What if Shu Zhe's descendant acquired all the sect leader's talents and aptitude, becoming a new thorn to Jirou Na's side?
The best way to deal with Shu Zhe was now, when she did not have enough time to scheme and was suppressed from each side, including the supreme elders!
Sitting across Jirou Na, Shu Zhe did not lose her composure and nodded. They exchanged a few more words, each trying to test the other's bottom line.
"Consider things carefully, Elder Jirou." Shu Zhe persuaded Jirou Na again. The more she spoke, the more Jirou Na felt convinced in her position and grew obstinate. The mother of four was also alert. She was up against a wisdom path gu master and used what few methods she sought and stored over decades to conceal such weaknesses. Like Bai Shou was plagued with a disadvantage against soul path, more out of how little time she had to cultivate and the inability to acquire a method to swiftly reinforce her soul, Jirou Na was similarly troubled by her inability to compete with a wisdom path gu master due to it being a very rare path.
Shu Zhe becoming a proper wisdom path gu master despite her grandmother's lacking support and active obstacles was taken into consideration when appointing her as the sect leader due to the limitations of following such a path.
As such, the means in Jirou Na's arsenal were lacking.
"I see." Shu Zhe nodded. Her eyes searched Jirou Na for any change in expression as she spoke in her usual rigidity.
"I'm satisfied, Elder Jirou. I knew you were like me, a woman of just heart. Even if they are your family, you cannot tolerate injustices of the world. With such solid proof against your two sons, they deserve the harshest punishment. The sect nurtured and raised them, not to get bitten on the hands which fed those inconsiderate and foolish juniors."
Jirou Na had perfected her mask. She did not reveal any change against such a formidable opponent. Their first battle for the sect leader's position had already begun!
"Please do not mock me, Sect Leader." Jirou Na shook her head. "You have yet to endure the trials of motherhood and cannot understand my emotions. The evidence against my children is proper and unmistakable. But to detain their children is nothing short of tyranny."
"Ah. I see. You misunderstood, Elder Jirou. Your grandchildren are dead."
It took everything—every ounce of strength she had stored and refined—for Jirou Na to show restraint and maintain her mask.
"I don't understand, Sect Leader Shu."
Jirou Na narrowed her eyes. An unforgiving wave of tension flooded the room and weighed on their shoulders.
"I soul searched your children, their spouses and your grandchildren. It's a sad day, Elder Jirou."
Shu Zhe sighed softly.
"Some demons replaced your grandchildren and used this moment to infiltrate the sect. I wouldn't have kept such young juniors in the Disciplinary Hall without a reason."
Jirou Na's jaw slowly clenched.
"You searched their souls?" She questioned in a low, threatening voice.
Exposing their privacy aside, soul searching was a very invasive method of extracting information. It could easily harm the target's soul or permanently disable them! While there were a few specialized methods of searching one's mind without hurting the target using wisdom path gu, all these were rare enough. Shu Zhe herself might not have such polished methods yet.
The thought of her grandchildren suffering such hardship almost made Jirou Na crazy. Red steadily seeped into her gentle eyes.
"Very good, Shu Zhe," uttered Jirou Na. "You want me to hand over two precious sword path rank 5 gu worms after you harmed my family? Only your injuries surpass the depravity of your soul!"
"You misunderstood my intentions again, Elder Jirou," Shu Zhe spoke softly, her tone soothing.
"I'm not demanding a ransom. By searching through your grandchildren's souls, I discovered a hidden plot. Those demons want to use these sword path gu worm to complete an inheritance. The responsibility of not letting that happen rests on our shoulders."
"I'm perfectly capable of safeguarding these gu worms." Jirou Na hissed, her temper building and growing like a dormant volcano resurging with life.
"There's also the issue of sect's security, Elder Jirou. While soul searching, I uncovered another aspect of your relationship with your family. You all are extraordinarily close. I have reasons to suspect your loyalty. Asking you here, privately, was a way to respect your contributions towards the sect and the loyalty you displayed the last few decades."
"As the sect leader, it was soon expressed to me that with great powers come great responsibility. I must consider all options. If you do not hand over these gu worms for inspection—which will be returned to you after the sect is satisfied—I will be forced to set another meeting with elders and shed light on these discoveries."
Jirou Na's eyes were bloodshot by the end of it. Shu Zhe had a perfect story to twist everything in her favor. With her children taken captive, the sect leader possessed all the initiative, and the story could become 'permanent' with the sudden deaths of her children and grandchildren. There would be no way to refute these claims aside from going the basic path of 'might makes right.'
Furthermore, Jirou Na wanted to prevent her family from experiencing such cruel treatment any longer or be defined as collateral damage.
However, giving the assets Shu Zhe desired was also not a wise decision. How could Jirou Na arm her enemy right before the battle?
'And if she presents things in such a way to other elders…'
Jirou Na felt restless, her instincts screaming to attack Shu Zhe right away.
How much could the sect leader have prepared? Perhaps Jirou Na stood a chance!
But reason overcame her base instincts.
"That is to say, you are willing to let me deal with my familial matters if the object of those demons' desires, the two sword path gu worms, are handed over to you."
Shu Zhe nodded.
"Very perceptive, Elder Jirou. Other elders stand to learn a lot from you. Given your contributions and loyalty, I will be very confident in delegating this matter to you as long as I'm satisfied. As I stated before, the sect is not snatching those gu worms. I will merely borrow it to inspect it. Of course, the demons can have many unorthodox methods. I'm a living example of that."
"My aperture is forever ruined."
She sighed deeply.
"So, I insist you let me refine those gu worms. I will return them to you soon enough."
She added a few more reasons, lacing her theories and reason with a mask of righteousness so thick it would make her consort feel lacking in his girth.
'This shameless slut!'
Jirou Na seethed.
Giving Shu Zhe these two gu worms without any considerable wealth implied losing in this trade battle. Le Tao and Di Qing will successfully conduct business with Shu Zhe and both parties would be satisfied.
"I'm willing to help the sect." Jirou Na declared grimly. "I'm also touched by your confidence in letting me deal with this matter, Sect Leader Shu. However, I lack your awe-inspiring methods. Fret not. It's as if heaven smiles on us righteous gu masters. I came across a gu recipe and seek to borrow a few materials from the sect treasury."
The sect treasury wasn't too different from the same treasury afforded to other super sects and clan's mortal higher-ups, like Shang Clan's elders and clan leader.
Needless to say, whatever Shu Zhe could acquire was of better quality than the options afforded to Jirou Na.
They two women stepped into another round of negotiations, their arguments and reasoning becoming more sophisticated and more challenging to keep track of by the end of it.
Jirou Na soon left, albeit evidently unsatisfied.
Meanwhile, Shu Zhe didn't waste time and completed her trade with Le Tao.
<<<>>>
Unbeknownst to Shu Zhe, there was a third wheel during the meal as she calmly revealed her recent trade.
"Dong Fanzhi Inheritance…"
Bai Shou let the name sit on her tongue for a moment.
It was the inheritance Di Qing's family used to maintain their prominence. However, the terms of trade Shu Zhe offered were truly too lucrative to look the other way. Di Qing and Le Tao also did not have to supplant the inheritance with gu worms, so they earned massive profits!
"Are you…"
Bai Shou smiled knowingly. Pregnancy was very challenging between them not only due to medications Shu Zhe adopted but also due to how the dao mark conflict only worsened many aspects of one's life as they grew.
While it was still very possible to have children, the more Bai Shou and Shu Zhe invested in their body refinement, the harder it would become for them to get pregnant.
It was even more desolate for the gu immortals!
"I'm not." Shu Zhe chuckled.
"Oh? I just sensed disappointment!" Shen Cui suddenly squeaked like an excited kid. "I knew it! Under all that mean spirited act is a big softy! Do you miss your son?"
'I don't.' Bai Shou replied without glancing at Shen Cui. However, she could feel the latter's meaningful—annoying—smirk.
"I procured it for you." Shu Zhe revealed.
"Oh, so I'm up with a baby." Bai Shou clicked her tongue. "I told you I needed that tea, too!"
"Would you be up for it?" Shen Cui asked hopefully before clearing her throat. "Ehm. I was just asking for Sister Mo."
"I remembered you saying something about learning things from this inheritance." Shu Zhe ate calmly.
Bai Shou paused at that.
Sure, the giant remembered that.
She had vaguely implied that the inheritance held by Di Qing might inspire her with some aspects of human path. Even then, it was a big if.
"I… I should return the primeval stones you used to procure other gu worms during the auction."
Bai Shou chuckled wryly.
"Nonsense. I did all this so that you can learn more about apertures and help me heal." Shu Zhe smiled and grew quiet for a moment.
She added with a meaningful look.
"I'll ask you if I need anything."
"Naturally." Bai Shou smirked. "Everything except a kid. I'll leave that privilege to you."
Shu Zhe scoffed a chuckle and stood from the table.
"Thank you for cooking. I'm slightly tired and will be cultivating for a few days. Oh, and I set a few things in motion today. Just say you trust my judgment if someone asks you about it."
"I do trust your judgment."
Bai Shou grinned.
Shu Zhe paused at that before turning on her heels with a nod and leaving.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Shen Cui suddenly raised an eyebrow.
Bai Shou frowned before looking at the…
"Hey! The dishes!" She shouted.
"I left early. It's your privilege today." Shu Zhe's voice drifted over as Bai Shou grunted.
'Oh, and wipe that smirk off your face!' She shot Shen Cui a glare. She couldn't even set the minx straight.
"Heh. You acted the same way back then… when you…" Shen Cui blushed a prominent grey.
'When I trained you.'
Bai Shou supplanted with an illicit smirk as she tidied things up.
"Hey!" Shen Cui whined.
***
Alternate Title: Shen Cui's Grim Fate; Chewed and Tossed; Shen Cui's the Kind of Girl to Bite the Mosquito Back; She Made Goku Proud; Bai Shou Forgot What?; Shen Cui Promotes Herself to Sisterhood; The Third One?; Bai Shou Confused AF: How Many Did I Sleep With in this Life?; Agreeing; Slowly Coming to Be; Understanding the Self; Shu Zhe's Shamelessness; Shu Zhe Suffering Like Spider Man; With Great Power Comes— *Jirou Na: GET OUT*; Righteous Negotiations; Initiative; Ransom? No; Inspection? Yes; Bai Shou Truly Should Feel Ashamed of Girth and Pump it Up More; Shu Zhe: You Will Do What I Say and Then Thank Me; Limited; Jirou Na's Mind: Take This Bitch Out Now; Dong Fanzhi Inheritance; Bai Shou: Did I Get Pregnant; Every Former Lover Seeing Bai Shou's Booty AF: Get Pregnant, Get Pregnant, Get Pregnant, Plap, Plap, Plap, RAAAAHHHHHHH
***
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