She felt more and more that this was the truth.
Shen Jianxi's gaze towards Bai Hua became complicated.
He wanted to kill her, yet he depended on her?
Could it be understood this way...
How could her feelings not be complex?
Perhaps amused by her expression, he was about to say something when his brow suddenly furrowed, his breathing becoming rapid.
When he looked up again, he had returned to his daytime appearance.
Bai Hua showed no reaction to his secret being discovered. His icy eyes fell upon her, "Behave yourself, and I will leave you with your whole body."
This statement shattered Shen Jianxi's impression of Lian Hua.
Was this the true face of the world's renowned aloof and noble Lian Hua Immortal Lord, who cared for the realm?
Although she didn't know what he intended to do with her, it was clear from the current situation that the initial selection of concubines was not straightforward.
Seeing Bai Hua produce a蛊盅 (gu zong, a container for蛊虫), a long, slender golden蛊虫 (gu chong, a type of parasitic worm) crawled out.
Bai Hua made a small cut on her collarbone with a small knife, and a bead of blood emerged.
Sniffing the fresh blood, the蛊虫 became visibly agitated, wriggling its body towards the wound.
Unable to move, Shen Jianxi could only watch as it crawled into her body.
After about half an hour, Bai Hua produced a whistle and gently blew into it.
Shen Jianxi heard no sound, but the蛊虫 within her became frantic.
She felt her internal organs being gnawed at, and then everything around her began to distort.
However, at this moment, Bai Hua's expression changed drastically, and the two began to constantly fight for control of the body.
Without the guiding force, the蛊虫 began to lose control, charging wildly within her body at an extremely fast pace. In just a few minutes, Shen Jianxi bled from all seven orifices and completely lost her life.
Watching the experimental subject destroyed, Bai Hua's expression became distorted. In his rage, he temporarily suppressed the other self within him.
Shen Jianxi discovered that she had died, yet not entirely.
She followed Bai Hua in the form of a soul.
She was shocked to discover that Bai Hua had long since become a demon.
Watching woman after woman die under his experiments, the servants of the Bai Yi tribe seemed accustomed to it, expressionlessly cleaning up the aftermath.
She watched as the other him continuously tried to stop and save those women, but to no avail.
Finally, he perfected the蛊虫 he desired.
On this day, he silenced everyone in the entire Bai Yi tribe who knew of this matter.
Then, he took out the already prepared Li Quan Yan Giant Python. Disregarding the woman writhing in pain on the bed, he frantically placed the蛊虫 into his own body, enduring the pain of his soul being torn apart, and transferred half of his soul into the giant python. The demonic energy also continuously transferred out of his body.
The giant python writhed on the ground in pain.
Lian Hua watched coldly. After Fu Zi fainted, he released it.
All of this required someone to take the blame.
Bai Hua, no, Fu Zi now, woke up amidst the curses of the crowd and blazing flames.
Before he could even rejoice at having a body, he found the people below shouting "Murderer."
At the back of the crowd, Lian Hua watched indifferently. Seeing Fu Zi look over, he slightly curved his lips and then turned and left, much to Fu Zi's disbelief.
Behind him, Fu Zi roared and argued, but none of it mattered to him anymore.
From this day forward, there would only be Immortal Lord Lian Hua in this world.
...
Shen Jianxi thought she would continue to follow, but unexpectedly, there was a sudden dizziness, and when she opened her eyes again, she was in the valley bottom, with Fu Zi, who had transformed into human form, and the white cat Lin Xinglan by her side.
Concurrently, system 77's voice rang out, "Congratulations to the host for completing the hidden mission: The Truth of Fu Zi. Reward: 20 points."
"Current total points for host Shen Jianxi: 416."
She could guess the subsequent outcome without looking. Lian Hua had stripped all the demonic energy into Fu Zi's body, causing his cultivation to regress. Consequently, Fu Zi, who had obtained a large amount of demonic energy, was no match for the Bai Yi tribe.
However, due to the蛊虫, these two could not kill each other.
They could only rely on others.
But this person could not be just anyone; it had to be someone whom one of them genuinely cared for to be able to extract the蛊虫.
And she happened to appear beside Fu Zi, and their relationship was so close, which made her a thorn in Lian Hua's side.
The soul connection could not be severed. Lian Hua had likely known of Fu Zi's existence since her first trip up the mountain.
Fu Zi's countdown for another mission had not passed, remaining 20 minutes as before, meaning time outside had been paused while she was there for so long.
Shen Jianxi helped Fu Zi up, began to guide the demonic energy out of his body, and asked in her mind:
"77, why did I suddenly trigger this hidden mission?"
77: "Just now, during the fall from the cliff, Fu Zi suddenly transformed into human form and shielded you with all his demonic energy. As a result, he was severely injured and pulled you into his memories."
Shen Jianxi: ...Understood, yet not entirely.
No wonder she had discovered his severe internal injuries just now.
Anyone else would have likely lost their life, but due to the system's automatic life-protection mechanism for the host, she had no fear. Unless she chose to leave this plane after completing her mission, she would not die.
Seeing the last trace of demonic energy cleared from Fu Zi's body, Shen Jianxi slumped, her exhaustion making her unable to catch Fu Zi as he fell, and she could only watch as he hit his head with a loud thud.
77: "Beep! Random mission: Heal Fu Zi's injuries completed!"
Seriously, this person wouldn't be傻 (sha, stupid) again, would he?
Such a handsome man, now with a bump on his head.
"...You have horns on your head, horns!"
"77, you're off-key..."
77 retorted, "Then you try!"
"I'll try!" Shen Jianxi cleared her throat and sang, "You have horns on your head..."
"Who has horns on their head?"
A male voice suddenly came from the side.
Shen Jianxi's expression froze. She mechanically turned her neck and met Fu Zi's smiling eyes.
As she didn't receive an answer, he asked again, "Who has horns on their head? Hmm?"
77: "Beep! Fu Zi's favorability rating is 61."
Glancing at his forehead, Shen Jianxi felt guilty and didn't know how to answer.
She had heard that the Demon Lord was a ruthless murderer, cruel, and cunning...
All the evaluations flooded her mind.
With this 61 favorability, she wondered if she could at least be left with her whole body.
Seeing her standing there silent and stunned, Fu Zi flicked her forehead with his finger, "It's over, not only are you ugly, but you've gone stupid too."