Judgment

Ever since Xu Ya opened her fried chicken shop, it had been a long time since she felt the malice of Yunmeng Immortal Marsh.

Though she was still doing business with cultivators, running her shop here gave her a genuine sense of freedom and equality.

On top of that, she had once accidentally saved a few high-level cultivators and now coexisted peacefully with them.

It made Xu Ya feel like she could finally catch her breath in this world inside a book.

She was even starting to forget her desire to return to the real world. The cultivators who had eaten her fried chicken and improved their cultivation would come back to buy more, and their attitudes toward Xu Ya—once considered the trash of the Immortal Marsh—had completely changed.

Xu Ya could feel that she was gradually earning respect.

But now, including Shen Qi, only one of her three shop assistants was a low-level cultivator, and one was just an innocent child. Yet they were dragged out of the shop like animals, a hand reaching in and yanking them away.

The group stumbled as they were pulled out. The high-level cultivators didn’t care how they struggled. All that mattered was taking them away for processing.

It gave Xu Ya a suffocating sense of being dragged back into the mire.

But she knew for certain that the fried chicken she made could not have caused any problems. She had confirmed this with the system multiple times!

Still, An Jiaze probably wouldn’t give her a chance to explain…

The three of them were thrown into the dungeon within the Immortal Marsh.

Even so, there was still a formal process for handling internal matters in the Immortal Marsh. Even if they were to be executed, it had to go through a series of procedures, all of which required the approval of the chief officer, An Jiaze.

Right now, An Jiaze was in the critical stage of advancing his immortal arts and had no time to deal with them. But he had a bit of a cruel streak. Rather than simply executing these so-called “trash” with one sword stroke, he preferred to wait until after his breakthrough and then slowly torment them. Watching low-level cultivators tremble in fear as they awaited death was, to him, one of the few amusements worth savoring.

So, he only ordered that Xu Ya and the others be thrown into the dungeon. No immediate execution.

That at least gave them a moment to breathe.

Shi Yuzhen spent several weeks regulating his qi before he finally calmed down. He could feel the inner demon locked inside him was about to break free.

This was a serious matter. Shi Yuzhen was always cautious and didn’t dare speak of it to anyone.

Zhan Zhengzhen hesitated to speak. Looking around, he saw everyone wearing the same expression—words stuck in their throats, afraid to voice them. After holding back, he finally said what he was thinking: “I don’t think this is just about Junior Sister.”

“I’m afraid it’s because of you, Great Senior Brother.” Zhan Zhengzhen looked at the bloodshot whites of Shi Yuzhen’s eyes and continued, “Everyone in the Immortal Marsh knows how close you are to Junior Sister. He might be testing you, trying to drive you into madness. They probably have more tricks up their sleeve to deal with you, which is why they’re being so ruthless. Honestly, if the Immortal Marsh wanted to get rid of them, it could’ve been done in an instant. You have to hold it together, Great Senior Brother.”

After returning, they had already been investigating in secret for some time. They had gathered some clues and were in the middle of discussion. Remaining hidden and waiting for the right moment had always been their top priority. But now, the enemy in the shadows seemed unwilling to let them stay passive, deliberately stirring things up to provoke them.

Cai Wenle descended from the sky with good news: “As soon as An Jiaze returned to the Immortal Marsh, he went into seclusion. He probably won’t deal with them so soon. The ones handling cases here pride themselves on procedural justice, so Junior Sister should still have a window of reprieve!”

Everyone’s furrowed brows relaxed slightly upon hearing this.

Rong Aoqing, always the calm one, suggested, “We’ve made some progress with our investigation too. The people in the shadows probably want to see you lose your mind over Junior Sister, Senior Brother Shi. Think back to when you were ambushed at a critical moment—wasn’t the method similar? I also don’t believe Junior Sister has the ability to cause someone with higher cultivation to die on the spot. There’s still room to turn this around.”

When the incident first happened, Zhan Zhengzhen had secretly collected some of the blood and flesh from the scene and preserved it. He doubted An Jiaze would truly investigate the case thoroughly, so he prepared just in case. Now, that foresight was proving useful.

They tidied up the wrecked shop and packed all the unsold fried chicken into a treasure pouch, handing it to Zhan Zhengzhen for safekeeping.

Zhan Zhengzhen took on the task of investigating why the cultivator had died so suddenly. He said to the others, “I won’t let you down. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

After thinking for a moment, Yu Manjing proposed, “Maybe we can use this. Isn’t he hoping Senior Brother Shi will lose his mind over this? Then you can pretend to do just that. Invite him into your cave residence and trap him.”

All five of them loathed the person who had set the Soul Snatching Talisman that day. They all wanted to catch him and tear him to pieces. Though the plan was dangerous, Shi Yuzhen had just broken through to a new realm, thanks in no small part to Xu Ya’s fried chicken.

The enemy had made a move out of fear that Shi Yuzhen would advance again and become even harder to deal with.

Shi Yuzhen didn’t hesitate to agree to Yu Manjing’s proposal.

Once everyone was ready, they split up and dispersed throughout the Immortal Marsh.

Soon, rumors spread: “Shi Yuzhen, furious over Xu Ya’s arrest, flew into a rage and suffered a qi deviation. He’s now gone into seclusion at his residence to recover.”

At the same time, a figure dressed as a low-level cultivator flickered behind a rock formation near a certain residence. If one saw the faint movement behind the rocks, they might think it was just a trick of the eye.

Only that person knew the secret of the disappearing low-level cultivator.

A talisman painted with thick black lines shot out from behind the rock and slipped through a tightly shut door, taking advantage of its small size to sneak inside unnoticed.

The talisman, seemingly sentient, hesitated as it explored the room, then finally chose to hide beneath a meditation cushion.

Moments later, someone pushed open the door.

Shi Yuzhen deliberately released his spiritual energy to mimic the state of someone suffering from qi deviation.

Rong Aoqing and the others quietly spread the rumor throughout the Immortal Marsh.

They were certain the person in the shadows would act upon hearing it. Now, all they had to do was wait for the right moment to strike.

Shi Yuzhen wasn’t unprepared. Ever since the last ambush, he had imbued every object in his room with a faint trace of spiritual energy, subtle enough to go unnoticed. That way, any disturbance would alert him immediately.

Now, the meditation cushion he often used felt slightly different.

Shi Yuzhen took a few steps toward it and sat down in a meditative posture.

He continued to leak spiritual energy. Due to gravity, the energy pooled beneath him, and the talisman, thin as cicada wings, began to crack under the pressure.

Shi Yuzhen waited patiently. He didn’t believe the enemy would rely on just one ridiculous and untested talisman to deal with him. He had to stay vigilant.

Someone came to visit. Shi Yuzhen sensed it was Master Chen.

He activated his spiritual energy to open the door—he still owed his master a measure of respect.

Master Chen entered, and Shi Yuzhen rose from the cushion and bowed respectfully.

Master Chen said, “I heard you suffered another qi deviation. Just now, I could sense your spiritual energy leaking from outside the door. How are you feeling? Can you manage it on your own?”

As he spoke, Master Chen reached out like he used to when Shi Yuzhen was a child, intending to check his qi and dantian.

For a brief moment, Shi Yuzhen hesitated. He didn’t raise his hand to meet Master Chen’s comforting gesture.

Instead, he quietly extended a tendril of spiritual energy toward Master Chen’s neck, trying to probe his authenticity.

Shi Yuzhen was far too cautious. He would not stumble in the same place a third time.

Master Chen’s expression shifted, but even faster than him was the talisman hidden beneath the meditation cushion.

The talisman exploded, sending the lightweight cushion hurtling into a pillar within the hall with a loud crash.

Shi Yuzhen remained cautious, discreetly releasing a signal to alert those hidden in the shadows.

The move was subtle, nearly imperceptible, yet Master Chen suddenly seemed to regain the vitality of youth. A strange smile spread across his face as he lightly gathered the surrounding spiritual energy into his palm.

Then the talisman transformed into a humanoid figure and launched an attack at Shi Yuzhen.

The two joined forces, encircling Shi Yuzhen completely.

But Shi Yuzhen was no longer the same as before. Her cultivation had made a significant breakthrough, and in an instant, the paper figure assisting Master Chen was nearly torn apart at the center. Its power was far weaker than when it first appeared.

Shi Yuzhen smiled. “Is that all you’ve got?”

Master Chen didn’t respond. Instead, he suddenly bared his ghastly white teeth, revealing a twisted expression he had never shown Shi Yuzhen before.

His attacks were ruthless, each one aimed to kill.

Yet despite their deadly appearance, the strikes felt hollow, unable to unleash their full power.

She spoke to Master Chen, but it was as if her words weren’t meant for him. Watching the talisman-turned-human’s movements, she immediately sensed where that strange, unnatural feeling was coming from.

After a few probing exchanges, Shi Yuzhen confirmed it: this Master Chen was also made of talisman paper!

Sending two talisman constructs to test her—did they really think so little of her?

Still, this did remind Shi Yuzhen of someone.

The moment the talisman figure appeared, she thought of Shen Qi. That same demeanor, that same pale face, and the densely packed runes etched into the exposed skin of its arm.

At that thought, Shi Yuzhen suddenly remembered: Xu Ya and Shen Qi were currently locked up together. This was bad! The person behind all this might be targeting her right now!

Damn it—was this a diversion?

Shi Yuzhen had no time to waste dealing with two paper puppets. With a single command, she summoned the Ink Sword and incinerated both talisman figures with True Fire.

Other cultivators’ True Fire might not have been effective, but now that Shi Yuzhen had entered the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, the True Fire she released together with her Nascent Soul could reduce all things in the world to ash in an instant.

With that, Shi Yuzhen no longer cared to hide the fact that she had advanced. Xu Ya was in danger!

She didn’t look back at the grotesque faces being consumed by True Fire, already turning to drive the Ink Sword toward the Yunmeng Immortal Marsh’s dungeon.

Though their tasks had been divided—Zhan Zhengzhen was investigating the truth behind the incident, Cai Wenle was lying in wait within the Immortal Marsh, and Rong Aoqing and Yu Manjing were monitoring An Jiaze’s movements near the dungeon—Shi Yuzhen still raced to the dungeon’s hidden depths at full speed.

After facing the two talisman figures, Shi Yuzhen finally understood who the rat was that most desired her body within Yunmeng Immortal Marsh.

The answer had been in plain sight all along—Master Xu.

— Translator’s Notes —

– dragged back into the mire: A metaphor for being pulled back into a difficult, unpleasant, or degrading situation after having escaped it.