551, 552

551: Rumors Spreading

Ai Lin watched Zi Cheng contact the Demon Ancestor knowing full well she couldn’t do anything about it.

It was impossible for her to expose Zi Cheng because she had no way to explain how she knew. She couldn’t say she travelled into the world by accident and that it was all a story. The master of Star Marshall hall and the principal of the Xingguang Holy academy would surely have a chat with her if she dared.

She didn’t want to be treated like a monster or be thrown into some deep, dark prison awaiting execution.

In order to prevent Zicheng from getting in touch with the Demon Ancestor, Ai Lin tried her best to prevent Zicheng from accepting the task related to the Demon Ancestor. Unfortunately, fate sometimes cannot be reversed. For example, the Demon Ancestor coming into the world was something she could not change.

If the world’s consciousness wanted the Demon Ancestor to come out, he would come out and no one would be able to stop it.

In the original novel, Zi Cheng didn’t know the identity of the Demon Ancestor and had thought he was an old senior stuck in the virtual world. She wanted to build good relations with him so had accepted the reward he offered without hesitation.

A pity, the Demon Ancestor wasn’t extra muscle given to her by the world’s consciousness, but was deliberately released by the world’s consciousness to cause chaos.

Ai Lin’s internal conflict had nothing to do with Feng Wu though.

Xiao Chun[notes] woke up after the three-day off-campus excursion. His strength increased so Feng Wu practiced swordsmanship every day with him.

Xiao Chun’s spiritual intelligence had also evolved so now he knew better than to say random, silly things. He had the ability to consider Feng Wu’s situation and upon doing so decided he wouldn’t rush to act if he didn’t need to. If Feng Wu couldn’t use his full strength, it would be difficult for him to continue to evolve and rise in rank.

What was a sword? Wasn’t a sword a weapon meant to be used? If a sword rushed out to kill the enemies in front by itself, then what was the purpose of the sword master?

A sword’s qualifications were extremely important but a good sword master was the most important thing. If a sword couldn’t partner with a compatible master, then it would be impossible for it to evolve to the highest level.

All divine swords had immense power that were just waiting for their masters to unlock. Xiao Chun could do more than purify demonic and evil energies, but he needed Feng Wu to unlock them. Xiao Chun couldn’t go over his master and use the locked abilities even with his spiritual intelligence.

Xiao Chun being awake put Feng Wu in a good mood. Ming Xi smiled and congratulated her during their nightly chat when she told him about it.

Unfortunately, Feng Wu’s peaceful days didn’t last long; soon enough trouble hit.

Feng Wu and Ink were surprised to learn Jia Moore was a seventh year at Xingguang Holy academy.

Despite being a senior, he went to the second-year's classroom every day to pester Feng Wu, a girl who didn’t have a stellar reputation to begin with.

Jia Moore was a handsome boy who ranked in the top twenty in looks, but most importantly, he came from a good family and was a noble from the Leyang kingdom. According to gossip, he had a good relationship with the royal family of Leyang too.

For someone with such a good background to fall in love with a girl who already had a child was really shocking. All kinds of gossip that had previously died out about Feng Wu came back to life louder and fiercer than before.

Feng Wu’s dark history was rehashed and people began to say Feng Wu was hooking up with Jia Moore because Ming Xi wasn’t around. Clearly, they both had the same colored eyes and hair.

Many girls felt sorry for Jia Moore because they didn’t think he knew. It was unbearable to watch him be cheated on by such a bad woman.

Their attitude towards Feng Wu became worse and worse. The girls who chased after Jia Moore were the worse, often going to the second-year classroom and scolding Feng Wu. They told her to have some self-awareness. It didn’t matter whether it was Ming Xi or Jia Moore, she needed to stop.

Feng Wu would blink her big eyes in silence, not understanding them at all.

From their perspective it looked like Feng Wu was frightened and confused and was too afraid to even talk back. Satisfied, they left.

Jia Moore went to Feng Wu’s class every day regardless of the weather or if Feng Wu paid him any attention.

Jier and Ink were disliking the guy more and more. It was all that guy’s fault. If not for him, why would Feng Wu get so much hostility all of a sudden?

“There’s something fishy about that guy.” Jier said seriously.

“I think so too. On the surface it looks like he’s pursuing Xiao Wu, but really what he’s doing is pushing Xiao Wu deeper in the whirlpool.”

“As a seventh-year student, how could he not know his attention on Xiao Wu is making her more and more unpopular. He goes to see her every day and draws attention to her. This guy, his intentions are definitely not good. Also, don’t you think the rumors about Xiao Wu are spreading too fast?” It had only taken a day for rumors about Feng Wu to spread. Jier was sure there had to be someone behind it.

“You mean there are people behind Jia Moore, or that Jia Moore is hastening the rumors himself and is the one leading public opinion? He’s purposefully trying to isolate Xiao Wu and make the whole school hate her!”

This was what Ink came up with after thinking about it.

“No, I don’t think it’s him behind the scenes; it’s more likely he’s working for someone. Whoever he’s working for must really hate Xiao Wu and wants her to suffer.”

“Who could it be? There are only two people who hate her that much. One is Yifu and the other is Jasmine. Those two have never hidden their dislike of Xiao Wu. Do you think it’s them?” They were the only two names Ink could come up with.

Unexpectedly, Jier shook his head. “It’s not them. You think with their abilities they can move a seventh year like Jia Moore to frame Xiao Wu?”

After thinking about it, Ink realized this was true. The girls had motive but they didn’t have the ability. Someone who could set the whole school on fire and move a seventh year couldn’t be an ordinary noble. Neither Yifu nor Jasmine had enough status. Besides with how much they hated Feng Wu, if they had the ability, they wouldn’t have waited so long to act.

552: Jasmine’s Troubles

If they had wanted to make a move, they would have already moved. Those two weren’t the patient type.

“Then who do you think it could be?” Ink asked. He couldn’t think of anyone else who would hate Feng Wu so much.

“Did you forget about Hua Jin? Who could hate Xiao Wu more?” Jier had never let his guard down around Hua Jin. Though the girl hadn’t attacked Feng Wu yet, Jier felt the she was definitely working on something.

The things happening with Jia Moore only made him more suspicious.

“Hua Jin! That’s right. How could I have forgotten her? She is a good suspect, but she’s never made contact with Xiao Wu. Is it really her?”

“I’m 90% sure it’s her. Unless there are other enemies I don’t know about, no one has the means other than her.”

Ink nodded in agreement with Jier’s assessment. They would keep an eye on Hua Jin in the future. Sooner or later she was sure to slip up.

Jia Moore went to look for Feng Wu to express his affections for her every day. Feng Wu ignored him but he didn’t care. He was diligent and never complained or showed any kind of regret. At this point, he was in the second-year division more than in the seventh-year division.

“I don’t understand how some people can be so good at scheming. They can even hook up with a seventh year.” Jasmine looked at Feng Wu strangely as they sat in the living room of their dorm.

“Jasmine, there has to be some kind of misunderstanding. Xiao Wu never even pays attention to Senior Jia Moore.” Annika said helplessly.

Annika had drifted apart from Jasmine when Zi Cheng and the others entered the picture. The two girls didn’t have a relationship other than attending the same classes and sharing the same dorm.

Feng Wu blinked her eyes. People at school were strange recently. She didn’t understand what was happening but she recognized it had something to do with of Jia Moore. She had disliked him on sight when they first met. Because she didn’t like him, she hadn’t paid him any attention. Although his hair and eyes were similar to Ming Xi’s, Ming Xi was far better looking. Feng Wu preferred the original version and had no interest pirated copies.

Feng Wu ignored him, but he still showed up every day to her class. She was unhappy to be entangled by an annoying person.

Feng Wu told Ming Xi everything about Jia Moore, about how he looked like Ming Xi, how he came to her classroom every day and how he waited for her to leave school.

Feng Wu retold it all verbatim. Hua Jin never dreamed she would do so, after all, who would dare tell their boyfriend she was involved in a scandal with another boy? But Feng Wu did exactly that. She not only told Ming Xi, but she told him about it every day. She also said she didn’t like Jia Moore coming to see her every day either.

Ming Xi listened patiently to Feng Wu talk about her day. He had been wary of Jia Moore, not because he was afraid Jia Moore would steal Feng Wu, but that Jia Moore might hurt Feng Wu.

Feng Wu had always been slow to respond to the stares of people and never cared about the gossip around her.

Jier and Ink could see that Feng Wu didn’t know her reputation was black again. They could block people’s verbal attacks in the halls and in the classroom, but they couldn’t do anything about the dorms.

Jasmine had been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time. She wanted to teach Feng Wu a lesson. It was impossible for her not to hate Feng Wu when she thought about the humiliation she suffered under Jier’s attack.

It was hatred mixed with envy and jealousy. Yes, she was jealous that Feng Wu had people who didn’t want to see her be wronged, who would protect her.

Jasmine never had friends who would do that for her. The friendship between noble ladies and young masters was superficial at best. It was the kind for of friendship that was beneficial for both families. As long as the families didn’t fail, then they would be friends for life. But once a family fell, never mind friendship, it would be considered good if the former friends didn’t use it as an opportunity to profit.

Because of this and because Jasmine knew she wasn’t Jier’s opponent, she could only channel her hate at Feng Wu.

It made her happy to see Feng Wu unhappy.

“Jasmine! We live in the same dorm. Can you stop making trouble like this?” Xi never liked Jasmine’s personality. The girl put on airs like she was some big shot lady even though her family was only a small aristocratic one.

Did she forget Feng Wu was the daughter of Feng house? In terms of status, Feng Wu had the highest one in the dorm.

In the past, Jasmine used to look down on Feng Wu because of her noble arrogance over commoners, but everyone knew Feng Wu’s background now, so there was no reason for Jasmine’s insistence on making trouble for Feng Wu.

Had too much time passed since Jasmine suffered from Jier’s lesson? She never stopped wanting to get revenge from Feng Wu even though it wasn’t even Feng Wu who did it. If Jasmine was angry and needed to vent, then she could find Jier and vent on him. But instead of doing that, she went and troubled Feng Wu. This was calling bullying the weak!

“What’s wrong that? I just can’t stand watching her act all nonchalant. Everyone in school knows her bad history. She’s even seducing Senior Jia Moore now! Before it was Senior Ming Xi. She even proposed to him in public. A woman like her, it’s better to stay away from. Don’t be burdened by her reputation.”

Jasmine didn’t think she said anything wrong. Staying in a dorm with someone whose reputation was that foul was bad for everyone. It was best if they kicked Feng Wu out.

Unfortunately for Jasmine, even though she wanted to drive Feng Wu out, she needed the other two roommates to request it as well, otherwise, Feng Wu would not be kicked out of their suite.

“Speaking of this, are you the one spreading the rumors about Xiao Wu out there? Are you the one making up these rumors? Are you doing this to drive Xiao Wu out?”

553, 554

553: Jasmine Being Blamed

The rumors outside were too specific. It wasn’t the first time rumors had spread about Feng Wu, but this time they were too fierce. Feng Wu became public enemy number one because of a certain seventh-year senior’s attention.

Xi refused to believe there wasn’t someone behind the rumors, not with how rampant they were spreading. Jasmine and Yifu were the most likely suspects. The fact that they didn’t get along wasn’t a secret amongst the second-years.

Xi’s menacing barrage of questions stunned Jasmine for a moment, but then her expression quickly changed to anger.

“Don’t pour you dirty water on me! I admit I don’t like her and if I had the opportunity, I wouldn’t mind using tricks behind her back. But this thing now has nothing to do with me. I didn’t do it, so don’t try to pin the blame on me!” Jasmine yelled back.

“If it’s not you, then it’s Yifu. The two of you get together every few days. The two of you are definitely scheming.” There was no way Xi was going to believe they didn’t have something to do with it.

“It wasn’t me or Yifu. This doesn’t have anything to do with either of us.” Jasmine gritted through angry teeth. It would have been fine if they were criticized for something they did, but they were being blamed for something they didn’t do!

“Can you find another person in the entire school who hates Xiao Wu as much as you the two of you?”

Never mind Xi, even Annika didn’t believe there was anyone else.

“You can’t be sure. How do you know no one else in school hates her?” Jasmine sneered.

“Of course, I’m sure! Except for narrow-minded girls like you two, no one else would hate Xiao Wu so much.”

“Stop arguing! We’re all roommates. There’s no reason to make such a fuss!” Annika saw they didn’t intend to stop bickering even after arguing for so long. She tried to get them to stop.

“This is on her! She was the one who wronged me first!” Jasmine yelled angrily.

Xi snorted coldly. “I think you’re just faking.”

Just as Jasmine was about to retort, she looked to the side and noticed Feng Wu was gone. “Where’s Feng Wu? Where’d she go?” They were quarreling so badly because of her but she ran away without even saying anything. How absolutely shameless!

Now that Jasmine mentioned it, Xi realized Feng Wu was gone. She looked, but saw no sign of Feng Wu anywhere, so she turned to Annika in a daze with a questioning look on her face.

“Feng Wu went upstairs before you guys even started quarreling.” Annika wanted to say something earlier but she couldn’t get a word in edgewise before. She immediately backed away after saying her piece to avoid any stray bullets.

“What?!” Jasmine yelled. She was so excited to see Feng Wu be a joke, but she never expected the other party to not feel anything. Instead here she was feeling all stuffy from arguing with Xi.

What was this?!

Xi rubbed her nose. The protagonist left so there was no reason to continue fighting. It was a rare opportunity to teach Jasmine a lesson.

Jasmine would have spit out blood if she knew what Xi was thinking.

Back in her room, Feng Wu was chatting with Ming Xi about her day. Her conversation was all ordinary every day things and the gossip she heard through out the day.

Ink and Jier had been suppressing the gossip about her so she wouldn’t hear so she didn’t have much gossip to share with Ming Xi. This was fine. Ming Xi wasn’t interested in gossip; he was only interested in listening to her talk. It didn’t matter what she talked about.

“Today, Jia Moore came and waited for me outside the classroom again. I told him I didn’t like him; why does he still show up every day? Jier and Ink accompanied me to eat fried meat skewers. They were very good. We can eat them together when you come back.

These days, Xiao Ye loves to run around. He went into the woods and was sent back today by the teacher. The teacher guarding the woods told me to keep an eye on him and to not let him run around so much.

I’ve told him to not run around, but Xiao Ye is so disobedient. Master said good children should be obedient and listen to adults. Why isn’t Xiao Ye a good boy?

Bad children who don’t listen will be spirited away. I’ll have to keep an eye on Xiao Ye so he doesn’t get spirited away.

When I came back to the dorm just now, Jasmine stopped me and said some words to me. I didn’t understand her. Then she and Xi got into a fight so I went upstairs by myself.

Xi says the rumors outside are being spread by Jasmine to drive me away. Why does Jasmine want to drive me away? This isn’t her home is it? Aren’t you only qualified to drive people away if they are in your home. . . ?”

Feng Wu tended to jump around when she talked but fortunately it was still understandable.

This silly girl, people were trying to make things difficult for her but she didn’t even recognize it.

Ming Xi felt helpless. Based on what Feng Wu told him every day, it sounded like the rumors were becoming more intense. If it wasn’t resolved soon, he was afraid her reputation would take a lot of damage.

Unfortunately, Jier’s group was unable to find any useful information. Ming Xi knew they were investigating Jia Moore, but unfortunately they were unable to find any useful information. What they found was too perfect and surely embellished.

Checking his interpersonal relationships was easy, but alas, none of the people he interacted with had such deep malice towards Feng Wu. What they really wanted to find out was his interaction with Hua Jin, but this was even harder to dig up.

Ming Xi wasn’t surprised. Hua Jin was their grandmother’s favorite grandchild. Although she acted innocent and was well-behaved in front of his parents, she was actually very careful, and under their grandmother’s tutelage, her scheming and means were pretty good.

It wasn’t that odd for them to fail to find any clues or witnesses. Hua Jin wouldn’t leave behind evidence for anyone to use against her.

They couldn’t find any proof of Hua Jin and Jia Moore’s collusion so they would have to change their strategy. They couldn’t remain passive and wait for something to come up.

554: The Threat

Jia Moore was doing really well. He didn’t understand why Hua Jin, daughter of Hua house and niece of the Moon empress, would go to such lengths to mess with a second-year girl, even if the girl in question was the first-born daughter of the main wife from Feng house. It wasn’t worth it.

But in the end, it didn’t have anything to do with him. The important thing was the benefit he would get out of it.

Besides, Hua Jin was going to be the next Moon empress. This could be considered building future relations. Being on good terms now would really boost his standing in the family.

“Xiao Jin, I’ve done everything you asked me. That girl, Feng Wu, looks stupid. How did she provoke you to make you expend so much effort to torment her?” Hua Jin’s image appeared in Jia Moore’s room through the communication crystal.

“You don’t have to worry about that. You just have to worry about shredding her reputation. It would be best to have her drop out of school as soon as possible.” Hua Jin’s face was stern.

“That’s a bit difficult. Feng Wu is cute, but she’s not the kind of little girl to cry because of rumors. If you want her to drop out of school of her own initiative, it will be difficult.” After angling around Feng Wu for so long, Jia Moore had a good understanding of her personality.

There were so many rumors around school about her, but she was completely unaffected. She ate and drank like normal and didn’t care about the pursuit of a handsome man like him. He didn’t understand how such a girl could exist – completely unaffected by other people’s opinions.

There was a lot of resentment in Hua Jin’s face as she said, “You have to do it. If what you’re doing now doesn’t work, then find a way to draw her out. You can use a few men, let them have fun with her. Then publicize it loudly. I don’t believe she’ll have the courage to stay in school after that.”

She would do anything to marry Ming Xi, driving a lowly nobody like Feng Wu out of school was nothing.

“That’s too much! We agreed we’d destroy her reputation. Right now, her reputation is completely ruined, so hasn’t your goal been achieved?!” Jia Moore asked hesitantly. Though hugging the future Moon empress’s thigh[notes] would be helpful in his fight to be the heir; he didn’t want to use such a vicious method against a little girl like Feng Wu, who was clearly an unaware little airhead.

“Excessive? So, what you did to that girl before wasn’t excessive? I remember there was a girl who got pregnant with your child. Didn’t you order her to be dealt with? Now you tell me I’m too much? Yeah, that’s really funny.” Hua Jin responded with a meaningful snort.

The matter she referred to was a black mark in his history; it was the last thing he wanted people to know. Hua Jin actually dared use it to shut him up.

“You don’t want this matter to be made public to your family or to the big families, do you? If you don’t want that to happen, then help me finish this matter well. When I become the Moon empress in the future, I will definitely give you benefits. But consider the consequences if you don’t help.”

Hua Jin sneered and closed their communication line.

Jia Moore squeezed the communication crystal in his hand. His face was gloomy and it looked like a storm was brewing in his eyes.

Ten years ago, he had met a daughter of a minor nobleman. She was smart and had a gentle and pleasing manner about her. They casually dated for a while, but her ambition was too much. She actually wanted to marry him and have a family, so she secretly tried to get pregnant.

It wasn’t up to him to decide who his future wife would be. But even if it was, he wouldn’t choose a wife from a minor noble house. Marrying her would be good for her family, but it gave his family no benefits whatsoever. Jia Moore was ambitious. He wanted to stand out and be the number young master amongst his brothers in the family. To do that, he would need a wife with a strong background.

To have a bastard child before having a son with the main wife was taboo in major families. What family would torment their daughter and marry her to him if he did that?

Jia Moore hadn’t wanted to kill the woman at first, but she was too ambitious and too ignorant of her position. She threatened to go to his school and make a scene in front of his classmates when he refused to marry her.

The two of them had agreed that they would date and break up. He thought she understood he didn’t want to get entangled too much. He had made it clear if they dated, it would be a casual relationship.

The girl understood, but she had her own plans and ambitions.

In the end, they couldn’t reach an agreement and Jia Moore had to kill her and all the people who knew about it. The woman was long dead so there was no way for his brothers to exploit his weak spot.

He never expected Hua Jin to know about the matter, or that she would use it against him.

Him meeting Hua Jin was a complete accident. He had gone with his parents to the ancient eastern countries to visit friends and had met her at a wedding party. He tried to befriend her because she was the Moon empress’s niece. Hua Jin wasn’t offended and they had made a good connection.

Jia Moore had wanted to deepen the relationship but never found the opportunity. This opportunity came along out of the blue and all he had to do was bully a girl. It was such a trivial matter that he agreed immediately.

Unexpectedly, what he thought was a prank in poor taste intensified. Since Hua Jin hated Feng Wu so much, why didn’t she just have someone kill Feng Wu? How powerful could a second-year student, even if she was a tenth chair, be? Killing a little girl, with Hua Jin’s identity, it would have been beyond easy.

555, 556

555: Who Found It?

Feng Wu didn’t know Hua Jin had concocted a cruel method, one far more superior to anything Yifu or Jasmine could have come up with, to deal with her.

There were new developments in the rumor about Feng Wu. In the past few days, several people claiming to be Feng Wu’s suitors rushed to the second-year sword master division and proclaimed to be her suitors. Some of were tall, some were short, but despite the different body shapes, all of them had a nice face.

They claimed to have fallen in love with her at first sight after having a romantic encounter with her, thus, they chased her to school.

So now there were six guys pursuing Feng Wu; all of them declaring their undying love.

Now how could a normal person not see something fishy going on?

Feng Wu never had a suitor in all the two years she had been at school. Now all of a sudden, after coming back from a class excursion, a bunch of guys were after her? On top of that, the guys ranged from fourth years to seventh years. One of them was even the tenth seat in the seventh years! How could such a strong lineup not be shocking?

Some of them were extremely talented commoners, while others were children of nobility who came from good backgrounds. All of them expressed deep affection for Feng Wu.

Now the second years were even more conflicted. One seventh year coming to pursue Feng Wu could be feasible, but so many falling for her at the same time? Not so much.

There was never a shortage of smart people at the academy. Those who weren’t as smart got input from their elders and friends at home.

They said this girl, Feng Wu, probably offended someone she shouldn’t have. Whoever it was, came up with the suitor trick to harm her reputation. The mastermind was unknown, but to avoid being implicated, it was better to just stay out of it and not get involved in the matter.

It didn’t take long before most students at school figured out it was all a result of Feng Wu offending someone she should not have offended.

Now that people began thinking about it, when one person pursued another person of the opposite gender, it could be because they were charmed by the other person.

Once they thought about it some more, they realized Feng Wu’s dark past resurfaced because Jia Moore pursued her.

Feng Wu had a hot temper since she was young. She had low self-esteem but she it didn’t stop her from bullying people, even her own cousins were bullied merciless by her, so much so, they couldn’t even raise their heads. She was disrespectful of elders and her private life was a mess. She even had an improper relationship with a man.

As for the child, Xiao Ye, rumors said his birth wasn’t because of the Mother fruit but because Feng Wu had an affair with some wild man whose identity no one even knew.

The reason the school came forward to protect Feng Wu and offered the explanation about the Motherhood fruit for Feng Ye was because the patriarch of the Feng house and the vice principal had an agreement.

Would the school have helped a student like that if any of them were caught in the same predicament?

Obviously, the answer was no. The school would never issue such an announcement for a single student, but when it came to Feng Wu, they suddenly did.

Who would believe there wasn’t some kind of under the table transaction? Feng Wu might even be the illegitimate daughter of the vice principal, or maybe even the principal!

On top of that, Feng Wu’s interaction with Jier and Ming Xi was obvious proof of her indiscretions and her love of seducing men. Even in class, her number one supporter was Ink. He had been protecting her from day one.

These rumors had spread before, but they never spread so fast or so pervasively.

Feng Wu wasn’t a big shot; she was just a second-year student in the Sword division. Some seniors didn’t even know whose spring onion[notes] she was.

This time the gossip even spread to the upper classes. Before this, the upper classes weren’t familiar with the gossip of the lower classes, but with Jia Moore being involved, the upper classes couldn’t avoid it even if they tried.

Whoever it was that wanted to punish Feng Wu had a lot of energy and resources. Only a few people in school could dispatch a seventh year to do something like this.

However, despite being asked, no one who had the ability to do it owned up to it. So, this begged the question, if they didn’t do it, then who did?

Gossip in school subtly shifted from Feng Wu to the identity of the person targeting Feng Wu.

In Hua Jin’s room:

Bang! A flower vase smashed against the floor. Despite the loud crash, the sound didn’t pass through the door and no one outside was disturbed. Though Hua Jin was really angry, she still remembered to use a sound barrier spell.

After breaking several more vases and destroying several paintings, Hua Jin contacted Jia Moore through the communication crystal.

For his part, Jia Moore’s mood wasn’t any better. When he saw Hua Jin was trying to contact him through the communication crystal, he immediately went to his room to answer it.

“What’s the matter with you! Why did you have so many people pursue Feng Wu?! Don’t you realize when there are that many people it will look fake?! Do you think the people who study here are idiots who’ll fall for such a stupid trick?!

There are so many seventh years curious about who’s behind it! They want to know who did it! Fortunately, they’re only curious and don’t intend to interfere. Can’t you think things through before acting?!”

Jia Moore was mad as well. The seventh years were looking at him like he was something strange. All the curious gazes aimed at him were really annoying!

“I didn’t invite them! This is your fault!” Jia Moore was not going to take the blame for something she did!

It was all Hua Jin’s fault. Did he choose the wrong thigh to hug? Could a ruthless woman like Hua Jin really be the next Moon empress?

It was said that the Moon emperor had a very pure aura because he received the light of the moon’s splendor every night. Because of this, he only liked people with clean, pure minds, who were good and honest. He could easily sense the good and evil in people.

Would the Moon emperor, this kind person, like a vicious woman like Hua Jin?

Jia Moore hadn’t given it much thought before, but now that he did, he really regretted banking on the wrong ship. It was so hard to get off now!

“What did you say? You weren’t the one who invited those people?” Hua Jin’s expression changed. She didn’t even bother paying attention to Jia Moore’s insolent tone.

Hua Jin, because of her relationship with her aunt, had felt she was the proper future queen of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom since she was young. She didn’t feel the noble boys and girls outside were eligible to even be friends with her.

Normally Hua Jin would have been angry, but she was distracted and didn’t bother replying to Jia Moore’s complaints.

“Me, invite? I thought it was you!” After he finished venting, Jia Moore realized something was wrong. Hua Jin said she hadn’t invited the extra guys. He, for sure, didn’t invite them. Since neither of them did, where did all those extra people come from?

Was Feng Wu really that popular?

556: Resisting Threats

Jia Moore rejected the idea as soon as he thought of it. In the time he spent with Feng Wu, he didn’t see any idol potential in her.

“How could it be me?! I'm not so stupid!” Hua Jin blasted back. She felt unsteady. Who was sabotaging her plans?

Neither Hua Jin nor Jia Moore could figure out who was helping Feng Wu behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, in Jier’s dorm, Jier and Ink were toasting themselves for a job well done.

“That Hua Jin can’t do anything about it now. Didn’t she find someone to pursue Xiao Wu? We’ll help her get even more! Haha! Let’s see what she can do now!” Ink laughed happily before taking a big gulp of his drink.

Once they agreed Hua Jin was the person behind it, they tried to find evidence of collusion between Hua Jin and Jia Moore.

When that failed, they decided to change their strategy. If they couldn’t get evidence to clear Feng Wu’s name, then they could do the opposite and blacken her name as much as they could! They just had to make it as exaggerated as possible so it would be obvious there was something fishy about her admirers.

The students in Xingguang Holy academy weren’t stupid. Such a high number of admirers after Feng Wu, it was blatantly clear someone was directing behind the scenes. No way Feng Wu wasn’t being set up.

Sure enough, their plan succeeded. Now it was Hua Jin and Jia Moore’s turn to worry.

“Don’t be too happy. That woman won’t give up so easily. She’s so good at pretending; her skills are almost on par with Zi Cheng from our division.”

Jier didn’t like Zi Cheng. He felt she planned too much and she wasn’t as innocent or kind-hearted as she pretended to be.

Her interactions with people had purpose and her brainwashing ability was top notch. Who knew how many people had their IQ’s plummet after being friends with her?

He had ignored her the few times she tried to get close to him. Luckily, she had enough self-awareness to see he didn’t want anything to do with her, so she didn’t bother him after that.

His division had a fake white lotus and Virgin Mary[notes] like Zi Cheng while the Sword division had a fake future Moon empress like Hua Jin. And this fake queen had tricks up her sleeve. After entering school, she managed to collect a useful group of people.

He knew a setback like this wouldn’t make Hua Jin quiet.

“Zi Cheng? What’s wrong with her? Do you think Zi Cheng is more formidable than Hua Jin?” Even Ink knew Zi Cheng was the most eye-catching number one goddess in the first, second, and third years.

So many people waited outside the second-year Magic division just to get a glimpse of her. Needless to say, she was very popular.

“Formidable? Hardly. It’s just that woman has some strange means. You better avoid contact with her.” Jier frowned before speaking.

“She’s a goddess-level person. I’m such a small fry; how could I have interactions with her?” Ink laughed at himself. He didn’t understand why Jier gave him such a warning, but he decided to keep his distance from Zi Cheng in the future.

“But Jier, since when have you been on such good terms with the seniors? They’re even willing to help you do this kind of thing that’s damaging to their image.” Ink asked. How did Jier do it? He was just a second year like him.

He never saw Jier close to any senior; how was he able to get so many to help?

“I’m not friends with any seniors. It was Senior Ming Xi who asked the other seniors for help. They all came thanks to Senior Sister Elena and her group.”

After Jier discussed the plan with Ming Xi, Ming Xi was put in charge of contacting Elena and the other team members[notes]

Elena liked Feng Wu very much. She immediately took Luis and the others to help. The people they invited were all individuals on good terms with her and her group and were all big shots who weren’t concerned about public opinion.

“It turned out Senior Ming Xi asked Senior Sister Elena and the others for help.” Ink understood. After thinking about it, other than Senior Ming Xi, there wasn’t anyone else.

Hua Jin couldn’t figure out who was destroying her plan. After being angry for a few days, she directed Jia Moore to go ahead with the plan they talked about last time.

Jia Moore didn’t want to do it. Ever since people suspected his motives for pursuing Feng Wu, he became the subject of curious gazes. Some people even blatantly stared at him. They wanted to know why he wanted to harm Feng Wu and who ordered him to do it.

If he dared make a move in this kind of climate, he would be the number suspect guaranteed! This kind of thing, it wasn’t worth the risk. He refused.

Hua Jin raged at him for trying to back out. She yelled and screamed, threatened and intimidated, but he refused to budge. He had made up his mind and refused to change it no matter what.

Hua Jin knew Jia Moore was ambitious and an alliance with a strong family would be beneficial for him. She knew no family that cared about their daughters would accept a marriage from a man who already got another girl pregnant.

In the aristocracy, men were allowed to dally with women, but they couldn’t have a baby before marrying a proper wife first. Those who did would be looked upon as unruly individuals and would never be a suitable marriage candidate.

Hua Jin thought Jia Moore would cave in. Instead, he sneered at her.

“You can say it if you want, but know this, I can just as easily go to your future Moon emperor and tell him everything you’ve done. I’m certain His Highness will be interested.” Jia Moore decisively shut down the communication line after saying this.

How hateful! To dare threaten her! Hua Jin’s expression was grim. It never even occurred to her; she wouldn’t have been threatened if she hadn’t threatened other people first.

557, 558

557: The Wedding Invitation from Blue Moon Castle

Jia Moore was betting on how much Hua Jin cared about her position in the future Moon emperor’s heart and whether he would stand up for her or not.

She wasn’t an ordinary noble lady because behind her was the Moon empress. Jia Moore could go to the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom to reveal what Hua Jin had done, but he knew perfectly well that before Hua Jin faced any kind of punishment, there was a possibility he would be silenced first.

As a young master from an ordinary family, his life and reputation weren’t as important as the reputation of the Moon emperor’s niece.

But it became clear to him after seeing Hua Jin’s reaction that the future Moon emperor didn’t have feelings for her and that the Moon empress didn’t love her as much as she advertised, because if she was confident of their love then, she should have known they would protect her to the end. She wouldn’t have panicked like she did.

He won the bet this time. The “future Moon empress” wouldn’t be finding him to work for her anytime soon.

As for whether Hua Jin would turn to someone else for help, that was none of his business. He was just glad he extricated himself from the situation cleanly.

Hua Jin was so mad after the call that she smashed all kinds of things in her room. Two hours later, after she was done venting her anger, she contacted someone. . . 

“Help me with something and I’ll help you get that thing you want. . . ”

The person at the other line didn't know what to say, but in the end, Hua Jin had a smile on her face when she closed the communication down.

Feng Wu didn't know new troubles were headed her way. Currently she was staring in a daze at the wedding invitation card in her hand.

It had her name on it and the sentence "Please be sure to attend the wedding." was written inside.

“Is someone in your family getting married soon?” Xi snatched the card from Feng Wu’s hand and opened it curiously.

"Miss Feng Wu, On the twelfth day of this month, there will be a grand wedding at Blue Moon Castle, please be sure to attend the ceremony."

"What the hell is this? Just those two sentences? There’s no information about the bride and groom. What kind of wedding invitation is this? It's my first time seeing such a casual wedding invitation." Xi said.

Annika agreed. There was something wrong with the wedding invitation. Under normal circumstances, the bride and groom’s name would be on it. Who would only put an address but no name? It would be strange if anyone did attend.

"Xiao Wu, don't go there. What is this Blue Moon Castle? I've never heard of this place. Maybe this is a trap set by someone to lure you out and harm you." Xi thought about the storm around Feng Wu that only died down a month ago.

Feng Wu nodded obediently, agreeing not to go. The wedding invitation exuded an uncomfortable aura and she didn’t like it.

Feng Wu didn't know two other girls at school also received the invitation.

“The Ancient Blue Moon castle arc is finally starting. I can’t believe I was selected for the dungeon this time. Hopefully, with heaven’s blessing, I won’t be favored by the pervert and can get out alive.”

Ai Lin was worried. Blue Moon castle was the most dangerous dungeon the heroine entered. Before this, all the dungeons were designed to give the heroine good things like experience, men, and artifacts. However, Blue Moon castle wasn’t designed to give her any benefits, but was in fact, designed to be her biggest crisis.

There was nothing inside the castle but a pervert and bunch of brides. The heroine’s charm was always strong around men. There wasn’t anyone she couldn’t seduce if she put her mind to it.

The pervert in Blue Moon castle was an exception. He was one of the few men in the novel who wasn't impressed by the heroine.

He was also lethal. There wasn’t a grading rubric of his strength in the novel, but from Ai Lin’s estimation based on the language description, the pervert was on par with the principal of Xingguang Holy academy and the master of Star Marshall hall.

All told, this guy was the same level as the Demon Ancestor.

Even the heroine had to exhaust all her efforts to escape.

“Ooph.” Ai Lin exhaled. This was a lot of pressure.

"Blue Moon Castle!" Jier had come over to take Feng Wu out to eat in celebration of their victory over Hua Jin’s treacherous scheme. He didn't expect to hear news that nearly made him vomit half his blood!

Other people didn’t know about Blue Moon castle, but he knew. It was a hidden place no one could find. Some said it was somewhere in the juédì. Others said it was in the underworld. While some said it was in the Demon realm.

The Duke of Blue Moon, the master of the castle, was a terrifying existence. Even the master of Star Marshall hall and the principal of the academy would have a hard time defeating him in a fight.

The duke never stepped foot on the continent, and few knew his name. Those who knew were tightlipped and refused to talk. Although to be honest, it wasn’t like anyone had anything new or different to say about him. They all knew the same things.

In regards to power, he was comparable to the Demon Ancestor. If he had the ambition, he could have made a decent bid to dominate the world, but the only thing he did was hold a wedding every one hundred years in his castle.

The girls who received his invitation were all bride candidates who would be transported to the mysterious Blue Moon castle, whether they were willing or not. The girl chosen by the duke would become his bride.

Don’t be fooled into thinking marrying such a powerful man is a good thing. At the wedding, the selected bride will transformed into a doll, which would permanently encase her soul. Afterwards she will be placed in the duke’s collection of dolls.

Those who fail to be selected as a bride don’t get a good end either. Somewhere along the way, they all end up dying. At the end of the selection, their corpses are teleported back to the place they came from. The only female allowed to remain in the castle is the bride.

The duke’s existence was kept a secret to prevent the public from panicking. Except for high-level officials of Xingguang Holy academy and Star Marshall hall, the four emperors, and some of the oldest families, no one knew about his existence.

558: Ming Xi Returns to School

It wasn’t that the powers didn’t want to destroy the duke, it was just that the castle’s location was too secret – no one knew how to reach it. They couldn’t fight despite wanting to.

None of the rejected bride candidates ever escaped alive.

There was once a noble lady who tried really hard to not be abducted by the duke. She put her invitation on her personal maid, hoping that when the time came, her maid would take her place.

A pity, it didn’t work. The lady was still transported to the castle. It had not mattered where she put the invitation or who she put it on, she, as the invited guest, was still taken away to the castle.

Others tried destroying the invitation, but who knew what kind of material it was made out of, it would not disintegrate.

Getting the duke’s wedding invitation was the same thing as getting a death notice from the god of death. People turned pale and were frightened when they heard.

Some girls couldn’t accept this fate; they couldn’t stand the pressure and chose to commit suicide over going to Blue Moon castle.

Jier’s entire body felt unwell upon learning of Feng Wu’s invitation. It was basically a symbol of death. How could Jier not be alarmed?

Even if he wasn’t afraid of anything, he had to admit his own strength was nothing compared to the monstrous duke who had lived for so long.

“What’s the matter?” Feng Wu blinked suspiciously at Jier’s expression. His sudden outburst had startled her and she stared seriously at him.

“Xiao Wu, you’ve got a big problem.” Jier knew it was better not to keep this kind of thing secret. Telling her now would help her mentally prepare, besides, as an involved party, she had a right to know. He only paused for three seconds before telling her everything.

While Jier was telling Feng Wu about Blue Moon castle, Zi Cheng had a puzzled look on her face as she read the wedding invitation in her hand. She didn’t have friends at Blue Moon castle so who could have sent her the invitation? After thinking about it and not coming up with an answer, she didn’t take it seriously and casually put it on a table nearby. She left her dorm, chatting and laughing with Yifu and the other girls as they walked to get something to eat.

Blue Moon castle was such a big thing, Jier immediately shared the news with Ming Xi.

Ming Xi would have forgotten it was the century for the Duke of Blue Moon to choose a bride again if Jier hadn’t mentioned it. It was a heavy blow and his eyes turned serious. His girlfriend had been picked as a bride candidate.

As the heir to the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom, Ming Xi knew what kind of person the duke was, and he was even more acutely aware what the invitation meant.

It was too late to stop Feng Wu from being abducted the moment she received the invitation. Even the current Moon emperor would be powerless to stop it.

However, it didn’t mean Ming Xi couldn’t go to the castle. As long as there was a moon, he would be able to go. And it didn’t matter whether it was the Demon realm, the underworld, or the High God realm, Ming Xi would go and he would bring Feng Wu back.

When Ming Xi returned to school that day, the first thing he did was to bring Feng Wu to his dorm room.

"Ming Xi?" Feng Wu blinked her big eyes, a little confused.

"Hey, close your eyes and don't ask anything." Ming Xi said.

"OK." Feng Wu closed her eyes obediently.

The moment she did, Ming Xi nicked the tip of one of his fingers with a small knife he pulled from his chest.

He dripped the drop of blood directly onto the center of Feng Wu’s brow. When the golden drop of blood touched her, instead of falling off, they were absorbed directly into her skin.

Feng Wu didn’t feel any discomfort, only a sense of lightness and comfort. It was as if her entire consciousness was surrounded by a comfortable shroud.

Ming Xi twitched his lips in satisfaction when he saw that the drop of blood had melted into her skin.

When Feng Wu opened her eyes, Ming Xi had already put the knife away, and even the small wound had disappeared.

"Xiao Wu, in the future, no matter where you go, I’ll be able to find you." Ming Xi hugged Feng Wu.

"OK." Feng Wu nodded a little stupidly, her eyes were somewhat puzzled.

Only a few people knew about Feng Wu receiving the wedding invitation, and of those, the only people who knew the true meaning behind the wedding invitation were Jier and Ming Xi. Everyone else thought it was just an ordinary invitation.

Hua Jin, having no idea Feng Wu was in the middle of a huge crisis, went ahead with her plans to remove Feng Wu from Ming Xi’s heart. If she was lucky, Feng Wu would be trapped in the castle and never be able to return home.

Three days before the wedding date on the invitation, Feng Wu, Annika and Xi went shopping for clothes together.

As the saying went, there was always something missing from a girl’s wardrobe. It was different for Xi because she was tomboy, but Annika was a normal girly kind of girl. Her favorite hobby was to shop for clothes, cosmetics, and skin care products.

Since Zi Cheng came to the world, she had incorporated food culture from earth and combined modern clothing concepts into the standard fashion on the continent. The dresses she designed were immensely popular, but her most profitable ventures were in cosmetics and skin care products.

559, 560

559: You’re Penmanship is Not Good

Zi Cheng even dabbled in jewelry design. She was in fact wealthier than most of the minor nobles at school; it was just that only a few of Zi Cheng’s confidants knew she owned so many businesses. One of the clothing stores she opened in the capital was called Value Clothing Rack, a well-appointed and tastefully decorated shop with uniformed assistants who smiled pleasantly as they helped customers shop. It was a welcoming and bustling atmosphere and there were many customers browsing inside. This was where Feng Wu and the girls were shopping.

As soon as Annika entered, she ran to the clothing section. Xi, though she didn’t care about clothes, was still worried about her skin, so she made a beeline for the skin care section.. Then she went next door to get some sunscreen items as well. Sword masters practiced in the outdoors every day, so their skin tended to be a healthier wheat color. Few female sword masters had truly fair skin.

Feng Wu’s lily-white skin was a rarity in the Sword division at school. She couldn’t tan no matter how much sun exposure she got.

If you were the type who didn’t want to get dark, then skin maintenance that included sunscreen was vital. The sunscreen products in Zi Cheng’s store were smash success the moment they went on the shelves because they were so good at protecting skin from sun damage.

Don’t think the sunscreen products she sold were similar to the sunscreen found on earth. These were an advanced formula Zi Cheng purchased from the system with her favorability points. The sunscreen products were amazing and extremely popular.

There was no market for expensive skin care products that didn’t have immediate effects. It was a world of magic after all. People wouldn’t bother buying an item that didn’t provide instant gratification.

In short, because of her cheat system, Zi Cheng got along like a fish in water and was making lots of money on the continent.

Feng Wu, suddenly left alone, stood stock still for a minute before she decisively turned around and went straight for the stall selling stinky tofu.

Stinky tofu was another item introduced by Zi Cheng. It sold very well so the lines were always long. Feng Wu waited for twenty minutes before she was able to buy an order of stinky tofu. She sat opposite Value Rack and ate her stinky tofu with relish.

Feng Wu was thinking about whether or not to buy a big meat bun as she ate the last piece. Before she could make up her mind, someone interrupted her.

The one that interrupted her wasn’t a bully or a handsome guy trying to strike up a conversation, but a pipsqueak who was only as tall as her thigh.

“Sister, there’s a brother who asked me to send this to you.” The little guy spoke in a childish lilt as he pulled out an envelope.

He turned around and trotted away ffter Feng Wu took it.

Feng Wu opened the envelope suspiciously. Inside was a letter written on plain paper, signed by Ink saying he wanted to meet her outside the city. There was something important he wanted to tell her.

Feng Wu. . .  decisively pulled out her communication crystal and called up Ink.

Ink had just finished his daily training and was returning to his dorm to shower and eat when he received Feng Wu’s call.

“Xiao Wu, what’s the matter?” Ink asked weakly. He was so tired he could barely lift his legs to climb the stairs.

He was doing extra training every day to improve his strength. The training regiment he did today was one his teacher prepared for him.

Ink wondered if his teacher was deliberately messing with him, but he had no evidence.

“You’re looking for me?” Feng Wu asked.

“No.” Why would he want to find her? Didn’t they just see each other in morning class? Ink blinked in bewilderment, wondering why she asked such a weird question.

“You wrote this?” With a blank expression on her face, Feng Wu held up the folded letter so Ink could see it.

“What? What is that? Open it up and let me take a closer look!” Ink’s expression changed as he realized something was wrong. Was someone trying to use his name to trick Feng Wu?!

Feng Wu opened the letter obediently so he could see the writing inside.

After reading the letter, Ink suddenly had a bad taste in his mouth. Some asshole really was trying to use his name to lie to Feng Wu!

“That was not written by me. Xiao Wu, in the future, if there is a letter from me asking to see you in private, don’t believe it willy nilly. Contact me directly through the communication crystal. How can I write a letter like that? The penmanship is so ugly. It’s not my writing.” This was unforgiveable. Whoever it was that was using his name, if he ever discovered their identity, he was going to beat them to a pulp! Ink was so angry!

No matter how bloody the thoughts in his heart were, he was quick to advise Feng Wu, afraid she would ignorantly be deceived by those unknown vicious liars.

“I know you didn’t write it,” said Feng Wu.

“What?! How?!” Did Feng Wu get smarter without him knowing? She could even tell when a letter was written by him or not? Incredible.

“You’re handwriting isn’t as good.” Feng Wu spoke seriously and nodded her head.

Ink instantly received 10,000 points of damage. Was his writing that bad? In Feng Wu’s mind, his words were no better than a fraudster with vicious intentions?

“Since you already know, then why did you contact me?” Ink asked helplessly as he swallowed a mouthful of bitterness.

“I wanted to make sure.”

Ink: . . . 

Half and hour later, Annika and Xi finally finished shopping and came out of the building with their purchases stored away in their space rings. Feng Wu wasn’t interested and didn’t ask them to take their things out to show.

After meeting up, the girls went to a restaurant to eat. They requested a private booth and ordered a table full of food. The service was fast and the food came out shortly after they placed their order.

Annika only took a few bites before her head spun. There was something wrong with the food! Annika wanted to open her mouth and warn the other girls, but Xi’s head had already dropped onto the table. Annika followed immediately after.

560: Was This Mad People Disease?

Movement sounded from outside the door and two tall men walked in.

“Why is she still awake?!” Uttered one of the men who was shocked to see Feng Wu still conscious. Not only that, but she was eating and drinking very naturally like nothing was wrong.

Since you’re unaffected, why didn’t you run away? Go and ask for help? Instead, you’re sitting there and eating like everything is normal.

The men were flabbergasted.

Feng Wu swallowed a mouthful of food calmly. She didn’t display any kind of reaction at the two men who just entered the private booth. She only looked at them after she was done with her bite.

“This booth is occupied.” Feng Wu said seriously.

Girl, your reaction is all wrong! Ah bah humbug! What they thinking? They weren’t there to chat. They were there to do bad things.

“Boss, what should we do now?” One guy turned around to look at the other, apparently the one in charge.

“Idiot, do I have to teach you this? Just knock her out and kidnap her!” The one called the boss said bitterly, hating his subordinate for not living up to expectations.

The other man responded by nodding and taking out a big knife. He stepped forward to make his move.

“Put it away. You’ll have to pay compensation if you break anything in here. Do you have money to pay?” The boss said angrily.

The knife guy put his knife away with a smirk. Of course he couldn’t pay. The furniture was too expensive; besides, it wasn’t like he had money to lose. He would use his giant fists then.

The little girl was cute, but he was being paid to mess her up and he couldn’t afford to have pity. He was just about to punch Feng Wu and take her away when his boss grabbed his arm and signaled him to stop for a minute.

The fist guy obediently and stood aside. He looked at Feng Wu up and down but didn’t say anything.

Feng Wu: What were they here for?

Annika and Xi’s habit of falling asleep while eating was curious. . . 

“Little girl, follow us and we won’t make things difficult for your friends. If you refuse, don’t blame us for taking all three of you together.” The boss sneered, trying to persuade Feng Wu to take the initiative and leave with them peacefully.

The two men were members of a ten-man mercenary group that specialized in stealing and cheating. It was a small group but each member was strong and each person had a dirty background. The two men, who had been brothers since they were kids living in the city, were never shy about committing crimes.

Their mission was to kidnap Feng Wu. Abducting a little girl, it wasn’t a difficult task so they were the only two to take the job.

Originally, when they learned about the girl’s circle of friends from the client, they had wanted to lure her out of the city by pretending to be one of her friends, and then ambush her at the right moment.

But the girl fouled their plans by not following the script. Instead of following the letter, she directly contacted her friend and exposed their deception.

They had to find another way. Out of desperation, they bribed a waiter in the restaurant and put a special drug in the dishes the girls ordered. The plan was to wait for the drug to take effect then enter and abduct the target out of the city. No one would be the wiser.

Their client didn’t say they wanted the target dead; they only wanted to compromise her and damage her reputation.

The two men had never done this before, but it wasn’t difficult: abduct, rape, attract attention. Done. It was a simple task worth 500 gold.

And they didn’t even have to set any fires or kill anyone. Instead, they got to have fun with a girl in an open and honest manner according to their profession. It couldn’t have been a more perfect mission. If it weren’t for their talent and skill, how could they have scooped such a cushy mission?

The plan was good and the two girls had passed out, but the intended target was fine.

What the hell was going on? When they came in, the girl was definitely eating, so how could she still be conscious?!

The men didn’t understand. The boss felt there was something strange with the girl; it was better to be careful and avoid force. Instead they would try to outsmart her.

“Why would I want to go with you?” These guys were so strange. They said some nonsensical things after walking in on people eating. Was this the Mad People disease Ai Lin talked about?! Feng Wu’s eyes sparkled.

Mad People disease was a word Feng Wu learned from Ai Lin. Ai Lin quarreled with Yifu every day. She said Yifu had Mad People disease.

People with Mad People disease had problems with their brains and it was impossible to reason with them. The best thing to do was to ignore them or suppress them with force.

The two guys in the room must have problems with their brains, therefore, they had to have Mad People disease!

The two men: ". . . " Why do I feel something is wrong?

“Why? Well if you don’t want anything to happen to your two classmates here, you’ll come with us.” The boss shook off the apprehension in his heart and threatened Feng Wu with a gloomy face.

Why did this little girl give him such a weird feeling?! The intel clearly said she was a normal, ordinary little girl!

Illusion, it had to be an illusion!

“What will happen to them?” Feng Wu tilted her head as she became more and more puzzled. Sure enough, Ai Lin was right. You couldn’t communicate with people who had Mad People disease.

“M, this girl is just trying to stall for time. Let’s just knock her out and take her away.” The boss felt the girl’s question was stupid. She was messing with them and trying to buy time for rescue to arrive. How could he, a professional villain, let her scheme succeed?

“. . . ” So just punch her like he wanted to earlier? So much nonsense and they still went back to his punching people in the end. He rushed forward with his fist raised again and aimed for the back of Feng Wu’s head.

He didn’t want to kill her, just knock her out with a concussion.

561, 562

561: Hound Dog Mercenary Group

The two assailants thought Feng Wu would be an easy target to take down.

Who would have thought she would catch the punch, and more shocking still, squeeze M’s hand in a death grip so hard he couldn’t free himself.

“Let go!” His face was flushed red from the exertion.

The boss rushed over and tried to kick Feng Wu away, but ended up being kicked back by Feng Wu instead. The impact of her kick on his chest forced him several steps back and made him hit the door.

M took the opportunity to kick Feng Wu as well. In forcing her to avoid his kick by stepping back, he was able to free his hand.

“This stinky girl is not easy to deal with.” He said in a deep voice.

“Let’s attack together.” The boss spat out and rushed forward.

The three started fighting in the small booth. Feng Wu landed more than a dozen blows and kicked the men hard into the mural of the wall. They, who had entered thinking they were invincible against a little girl, were finally forced to quit and run away.

The sound barrier the men set up earlier before entering the booth muffled the sounds inside, so no one outside heard them fighting despite the ruckus they were causing. But they attracted a lot of attention when they burst out in a wild run.

Only then did someone realize something was happening in one of the booths.

The person in charge sent a waiter to investigate. When the story came out about what happened, the staff could only apologize.

The food had been drugged. If it wasn’t for the one girl not succumbing to the drug, all three of them would have been abducted while in the restaurant. It was a big deal.

The person in charge comped their meal and gave them a VIP card as compensation to settle the matter.

The person that colluded with the kidnappers was caught and dealt with by the person in charge.

The person in charge also got some medicine for Xi and Annika so the two girls woke up.

The girls returned to the dorm but their faces weren’t good. Xi and Annika were nearly ruined by scoundrels so their hearts were still uneasy. They scolded the villains as they walked out of the restaurant, scolded them as they walked to the dorms, and didn’t stop scolding even after they reached the dorms.

Feng Wu was unphased and called Ming Xi the moment she returned to her room.

Although Ming Xi was back at school, the two still kept the habit of calling each other every night. Their night time calls were always long and lasted through the wee hours.

Ming Xi’s expression wasn’t good when he learned about the near abduction. He didn’t know who was behind it, but the list of suspects was very short. The most being suspicious person was his cousin, Hua Jin.

If it was her, then he was going to have to settle their debts, old and new. Hua Jin wasn’t going to get away with doing whatever she wanted.

Hua Jin had no idea her impression in Ming Xi’s hearts plummeted beyond repair. She was oblivious and still intent on taking over Feng Wu’s position.

At that moment, in a room inside Xingguang Holy academy, a beautiful man with auburn hair elegantly held a glass of red wine in his hand. In front of him one woman was singing a song, to the side another woman waited to refill his glass in between feeding him grapes, while another massaged his thighs with her slender hands. It was a hedonistic image.

Suddenly the man frowned and ordered, “Leave.”

“Yes.” All three women saluted and left. They went downstairs and with neutral expressions on their faces, greeted his roommates. They put on their cloaks and left amicably.

The three men left behind in the living room sighed and shook their heads.

“How is he so attractive to these women? This time it’s three at once. It’s amazing they didn’t have a cat fight.”

“If you had a family and money like him, you can have lots of women like that too. The girls around him are just there for money and power.” The person who answered had a lot of disdain in his voice.

“Aye, you’re just hateful about it because you’re jealous!”

“There’s nothing to be jealous over. All those women are just doing it for money. I don’t want women like that.”

“Let’s talk about something else.”

The three men stopped talking about other people’s girlfriends and changed topics.

Upstairs, the auburn-haired man had displeasure in his eyes.

“You failed.” His voice was calm without a hint of anger.

Despite this, the person on the other end of the line knew the man was angry. His face paled as he shrank his neck.

“Please give us another chance. This time we’ll succeed,” assured the man on the line.

“This is your last chance. If you fail again, you know my rules. I don’t keep useless people under me.” The auburn hair said casually.

The man on the other end only dared to wipe the cold sweat from his brow after hanging up the communication line. He was head of the mercenary group.

The people in his group were the bottom dregs of society who had done shameful things to live.

He was no exception, but he was lucky five years ago when a man he met gave him a large sum of money to form a mercenary group to handle shady business.

There were two ways for mercenary groups to get business. One was to go to the mercenary guild and pick up a task. Tasks were issued by families and individuals and varied in content.

Their group did not accept missions this way. The missions they accepted were from special underground channels that listed private tasks ordinary people would reject. The missions posted were always shady and never for anything good, but they paid well.

In the mercenary guild, a small task could pay a dozen gold coins, but in the underground, a small task could pay out several hundred gold coins. The bigger the task, the more the pay. It wasn’t impossible to earn several hundred million gold on a single big task.

It was easy to make good money if you didn’t have a conscience.

The only ones who knew their mercenary group was formed specifically to serve a special demonic and cruel young master were him, the head and deputy head. Every one else just thought they were a small mercenary group of ten.

562: Working with a Tiger

The auburn-haired man raised his cold eyes. It looked like he was in deep thought. Who knew what he was thinking.

“Why did you fail? Didn’t you say you would succeed?” Hua Jin yelled angrily at the other party on the end of the communication crystal.

The auburn-haired man frowned slightly and a hint of displeasure colored his eyes.

“I will help you get rid of that woman; you don’t have to be so anxious.” This disgusting girl. If he didn’t need the things she could get him, he would have already had her killed.

A pity he couldn’t kill her yet, not without getting what he wanted first. He had to endure a little longer.

“But you failed, didn’t you? What kind of trash do you have under your command? They couldn’t even beat a single second-year girl. . . ” Hua Jin complained loudly in her room to the person on the other end of the line. She was really fed up with Feng Wu.

Ming Xi returned to school suddenly but he hadn’t visited her. She only knew about him returning second hand from other people.

Most people at school didn’t know Ming Xi’s true identity, so in their eyes it wasn’t strange he wasn’t cozy with her. But in the eyes of those who did know, it was telling. They could see she wasn’t going to sit on the throne in the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom.

In their eyes, Hua Jin instantly became a joke and was no longer a coveted friend. What was she going to do once Ming Xi’s identity came out in the future? She had to resolve the whole Feng Wu thing soon or she would be a laughingstock!

She refused to be ridiculed! Her wish, ever since she was a little girl, was to be the most noble woman in the entire Ancient Silver Moon kingdom. She wanted all the women to bow down and kneel at her feet. Anyone who stood in the way of her dream had to be destroyed.

Before she knew it, Hua Jin’s descent to corruption was irreversible.

“When will Miss Hua Jin get me that item I wanted? I’ve already sent people to help you do what you requested, but I do not see the slightest movement on your end.” The auburn-haired man sneered slightly, murderous intent filled his cold eyes.

Hua Jin’s cursing mouth had no reply. She didn’t have high magical or martial strength, but even she could feel the killing intent in his eyes. If she didn’t give him what he wanted, she was afraid he would silently kill her. She had known when they first agreed to work together that he was perverted. But after Jia Moore backed down, she had no choice but to get involved with this guy, even though he was dangerous.

She took a deep breath to suppress the restlessness and uneasiness in her heart. “What are you worried about? That I’d lie to you? I will do as I promised; don’t worry about it.” Hua Jin hurriedly responded and ended the communication.

She let out an involuntary breath after she did so. This guys was too dangerous. Was she going to regret teaming up with him?

She didn’t know, but regardless whether she would regret it or not, she couldn’t turn back. If she failed to deliver on her promise to him, he would kill her.

Ming Xi was worried something would happen to Feng Wu, so for the next three days he wouldn’t allow her to leave campus willy nilly. The mercenary group trying to abduct her waited outside the school in vain. They couldn’t leave even though they wasted three days waiting.

It was the strangest thing. The task should have been a really easy one to complete. All they had to do was kidnap a little girl. How did things end up like this?

The stormy depression in their hearts spiraled more as the days passed. They had to complete the task, otherwise they had to repay the commission several times over. People willing to complete such shady tasks loved money like their own lives. Ask them to pay back the money? Hell no!

So even though they didn’t want to, they continued to wait outside the school gate.

The two brothers who were beaten by Feng Wu were really motivated. They had been scolded like dogs earlier when they went back empty handed.

Feng Wu didn’t know she was being targeted by the entire Hound Dog Mercenary group. Three days passed in the blink of an eye and the date for the wedding arrived.

Ming Xi helped Feng Wu ask for a leave of absence and took her back to a private villa outside the school where he normally stayed when he wanted a moment of peace and quiet. Only the people he trusted knew about it. Hua Jin obviously didn’t know.

The leave would prevent unnecessary confusion. No one knew how the duke took the girls away, so if a student suddenly disappeared, it was certain people would panic.

In order not to cause panic, Star Marshall hall kept the entire issue about the Duke of Blue Moon secret. Even the families with members who were previous victims of the duke kept their mouths shut.

The duke was too powerful for ordinary people to deal with.

Ming Xi taking Feng Wu out of school was a good move to keep the calm. What he didn’t account for, what he didn’t know, was that Feng Wu wasn’t the only girl in school who received an invitation.

Including Feng Wu, there were three girls.

It was impossible for Ming Xi to hide such a big event from the vice principal. Feng Ye was sent to the vice principal’s house for care. The vice principal reported the matter to the principal but the principal said he couldn’t do anything about the duke.

It wasn’t the first time the Duke of Blue Moon called for brides. He possessed powerful dimensional space magic and could teleport people instantly.

The principal and everyone else in the know had wondered whether the duke was a dimensional space god.[notes]

But since none of them had ever seen the duke in person, it was impossible to test the theory.

Feng Wu was sleeping in bed soundly, but once the clock struck midnight, her body transformed into small dots of lights and she disappeared.

Ming Xi was sitting beside her the entire time and watched as she disappeared. None of the barriers he set up around the premise did any good.

563, 564

563: Ten Bride Candidates

He wasn’t idle while recuperating from his hand injuries. He used the time to work on improving his strength and had trained using the cultivation methods passed down through the generations.

His strength now was considerably stronger compared to a few months ago, especially when it came to his barriers. He was confident even the blood princes of the demon realm wouldn’t be able to break through without expending a great deal of effort.

But the duke apparently broke through all of his barriers like child’s play.

Ming Xi clenched his fists tightly. He didn’t even realize his nails were digging into his flesh.

“Xiao Wu, I will find you. Wait for me. . . ” Ming Xi’s eyes were firm and clear. He looked toward the moon hanging high in the sky with determination.

Soft brilliant light shone down like layered light curtains as they spread toward the surrounding area. No one noticed the moonlight changing. . . 

Feng Wu was awakened by loud bursts of crying. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a deep, black sky. There wasn’t a single star, only a big blue moon. The moon seemed to hold some kind of magic that forced a deep sense of fear into the gazer’s heart.

“Why am I here? Wasn’t I asleep at home? What’s going on?” cried out a woman.

“Is there anyone here? Is there anyone here?!” Someone else shouted in panic hoping someone familiar to her would reply back. She was destined to be disappointed though.

“Stop yelling. There has to be a reason why we’re all here. Let’s think about it calmly. Did anything strange happen before everyone arrived here?” One girl was still calm enough to think things clearly. She interrupted the wailing and yelling to rally everyone together.

“Where is this place? Why am I here?” Another girl woke up dazed.

"What's going on? Who are you? What do you want to do to me?" A stern voice came, obviously it was a girl who was quite favored at home.

Ai Lin and Zi Cheng were among the group as well, but the two of them didn't say much, they just stood in silence. Ai Lin was the first person who noticed Feng Wu was there as well. She walked over in a few steps and helped her up from the grass.

"Did you also receive the wedding invitation from Blue Moon castle?" Ai Lin asked in surprise.

Ai Lin never expected Feng Wu to receive an invitation. Obviously, because there was no Feng Wu in the original text, there shouldn’t have been a Feng Wu in the bride selection.

Ai Lin had suspected Feng Wu’s identity for a long time, but she failed every time she tried to verify it. Feng Wu didn’t seem to understand modern knowledge. It wasn’t until she had more contact with Feng Wu that Ai Lin realized she had been looking at it all wrong.

Feng Wu didn’t come from modern Earth like her and Zi Cheng, nor was she a reborn person like Zo, instead she was a time traveler from ancient times.

It took Ai Lin a long time to make this discovery. Once she did, she really wondered about her life. What was up with this world? The heroine from the original text was a time traveler. She and Feng Wu were both transmigrators from different times, and Zo was a reborn.

Zo’s rebirth could be considered a natural evolution of the world and Zi Cheng’s traveling through time was a requirement as the heroine of the novel and necessary to move the plot along. So, then what was the reason for her and Feng Wu’s addition to the world? Why were they here?

She was sure Feng Wu had never read the original novel nor did she have anything to do with the original world. Ai Lin didn’t understand why Feng Wu travelled through time to the current world.

She couldn’t ask Feng Wu directly because Feng Wu had Ming Xi guarding her. And who was Ming Xi? A big boss who was the future emperor of the Moon kingdom was what! It was best not to make waves with him.

Ai Lin kept her identity a secret from Feng Wu because of this. Feng Wu would never have come up with such a wild scenario on her own.

Seeing Feng Wu now, someone who shouldn’t appear in the duke’s castle, really shocked Ai Lin. She didn’t know if the Duke of Blue Moon brought the three of them there on purpose. If the duke could marry a man, would he have also brought Zo?

Ai Lin complained bitterly about the villain in the small theater of her mind.

After taking Ai Lin’s hand and standing up, Feng Wu realized something was wrong with her clothes – they weren’t hers.

She blinked and looked around at everyone suspiciously only to realize it wasn’t just her. They were all wearing wedding dresses as well.

All ten girls were wearing the same blue gown, the same tiaras, and even the little leather slippers on their feet were the same.

How weird. No wonder the one girl was crying so much. No normal person, when faced with such a strange situation where all their clothes were changed after waking up in an unknown place, wouldn’t feel put off. Who wouldn’t be disoriented?

“Yes.” Feng Wu replied.

“The wedding invitation from Blue Moon castle!” The other girls were close enough to overhear. Plus, Ai Lin hadn’t lowered her voice so it was easy to be overheard.

“Could our being here be related to that invitation?!” There were many smart girls in the group. After confirming everyone had received an invitation, they guessed it was what that brought them here.

“What the hell is going on? How did I end up here after getting an invitation? Why?” A delicate and weak girl cried pitifully, her pear blossom eyes rained tears down her pale cheeks. A pity they were all girls and there weren’t any guys around to appreciate her beautiful crying.

“Who brought us here? What’s the purpose?!” Another girl voiced her anxiety as she wrung her hands.

What purpose could there be? To chose a bride-made doll, thought Ai Lin secretly as she complained in her heart.

That was the only thing she could do. She couldn’t very well say her thoughts out loud. They weren’t things the main daughter of a small house should know.

Besides, it wasn’t good to share too much information. What if the girls couldn’t stand it and committed suicide? What would she do then? Dare destroy the duke’s game, that kind of felony would earn her a miserable death.

564: Mo Yan

Ai Lin was afraid of the mysterious and unpredictable Duke of Blue Moon. No, it was more accurate to say she was very afraid of the Duke of Blue Moon.

The other girls were worried as well, but for a different reason. They were dazed after just waking up and still confused. They didn’t feel desperate yet, probably because they didn’t know the duke’s methods.

“Distinguished ladies, welcome to Blue Moon. I am Mo Yan, head steward of Blue Moon castle. Allow me to sincerely welcome all of you on behalf of His Grace.

Somehow, without any of them noticing, a man in a black robe appeared close by.

He had black hair and looked in his forties. His steps were completely silent and none of them knew how long he had been standing there. They only detected his presence after he spoke.

“Ah! Who are you? What do you want? Money? I can give you lots of money, just let me go home quickly. My father will not let you off easily if you keep me here any longer!” The girl who spoke clearly didn’t understand how dangerous their situation was. She acted superior, like a spoiled young lady.

Head Steward Mo Yan didn’t even frown. “Miss Simia is such a jokester. That you can be here means you’ve already earned the opportunity to be His Grace’s bride. It is a great honor. Please do not speak such disrespectful words again.”

Mo Yan’s eyes were full of reverence and admiration as he spoke about the duke. There was also a hint of madness lurking on his face.

When Ai Lin saw him, the three words “rabid brainless fan” popped to mind.

Honor my foot. What honor? Be killed and turned into a doll? Ai Lin didn’t want any of it. She slandered the duke and the steward mercilessly in her heart. She didn’t have any good feelings toward the duke or the steward who worshipped him like a mad lunatic.

The steward was most definitely a lunatic. To a certain extent, his craziness was comparable to the Duke of Blue Moon.

“The duke’s bride? What nonsense are you spouting? When did this young miss agree to be his bride? You trapped this young miss here just to force her and commit a crime? Let me tell you, you can keep dreaming!

This young miss is the granddaughter of the vice president of the dignified Pharmacist guild. Not everyone can be worthy of me. If you are sensible, you should release me. Otherwise, when Grandfather hears about this and leads people to find me, none of you will have a good end. . . ”

Simia was blind to reality. She still thought they were in the regular world, where people wouldn’t dare slap the Pharmacist guild.

In the outside world, Simia was a cherished child, but here in Blue Moon, she was less than nothing.

The Duke of Blue Moon didn’t give anyone face. A mere vice president of the Pharmacist guild? Please, that was beneath him.

Ai Lin could see it all clearly.

Feng Wu stood silent to the side as she watched Simia and the man named Mo Yan interact.

Zi Cheng also remained silent. Normally someone like Simia was exactly the kind of person she would have wanted to build favor points with. But this time she chose not to jump in. An ominous premonition had dogged her ever since she woke up.

She knew she wouldn’t feel so strongly without a reason, so it was best to avoid confronting her captors until she understood the danger level and who the owner of the castle was.

By the sheer fact that the other party was able to bring her out of school to this place without disturbing anyone showed they had ability. Their strength was probably more than twice her own.

The others were not as calm. When Simia revealed her identity and wanted to force a release, two more girls joined in and made the same demands.

The two girls were from good backgrounds as well. Their identities, had they been on the continent, would have carried considerable weight.

A pity, none of the girls knew they had encountered a pervert, two perverts in fact. Two abnormally strong perverts.

Other than the three young ladies, no one else stood up to speak. The rest of the girls began to calm down as they studied their surroundings closer. They guessed the strength of their host was not something they could trifle with.

Ai Lin looked at these smart girls with approvingly. If they hadn’t been selected by the duke, they would have led good lives and married into aristocratic families.

They had excellent temperaments and strong hearts, but unfortunately it was useless. There was no escaping other than with the cheat item from the heroine. They were all going to be cannon fodder.

Ai Lin wasn’t going to die without a fight, however. She hoped the preparations she made wouldn’t be in vain and that she would be able to escape.

What about Feng Wu though? They were both fellow transmigrators, even if they were from different places. They got along really well too.

Would Feng Wu be able to escape? Ai Lin was so worried about her. But wait, she didn’t have time to worry about someone else! She couldn’t even protect herself; she needed think about herself more!

Ai Lin was just done thinking it over when Mo Yan finished answering their questions.

The end result, of course, was they didn’t get sent back. Mo Yan led them through the castle.

They weren’t stupid. Mo Yan’s attitude was good, but there wasn’t any respect in his eyes. He looked at them with a calmness that was unnerving.

No matter how harshly Simia and the others spoke, he remained unaffected. The other girls felt his thoughts were unpredictable and profound.

Ai Lin knew better. She knew it was because Mo Yan didn’t have the motivation to bother with people who were going to die soon.

They were all dead things in his eyes. How could an old monster like him, who lived for who knows how long, get angry at dead things?

Mo Yan led the ten girls, all dressed in beautiful blue wedding dresses, through a meadow to a splendidly enormous and majestic castle.

All the girls who entered before either had something extraordinary in themselves or something extraordinary in their identities, and every one of them had extraordinary knowledge about something.

565, 566

565: Centennial Bride

None of them had ever seen such a big castle before.

Not everyone was willing to go with Mo Yan, but after he released a wisp of qi, no one dared continue refusing.

The pressure from that tiny wisp had nearly torn them apart. If a mere head steward was this strong, then how powerful must the master be?!

With trepidation in their hearts, the ten girls properly entered Blue Moon castle.

Despite its size, not a single servant was present. A castle so big should have needed an army of servants for maintain, and yet there wasn’t a single servant in sight!

Despite this, everything inside the brightly lit castle was well cared for. The furniture and various decorations stood without a trace of dust.

“Ladies, this is the castle of the Duke of Blue Moon. His Grace is unable to meet you in person. Among the ten of you, one will pass and become his true bride. Only then will you qualify to meet His Grace the honorable Duke of Blue Moon castle.”

Mo Yan’s eyes shimmered with mad admiration when speaking about his master. Ai Lin secretly slandered him in her heart. Yep, birds of a feather flock together.

“What are you trying to do? When are you going to release us?” Simia, having seen a trickle of Mo Yan’s power, didn’t dare yell, but she still dared question even if her questions were voiced in a depressed and aggrieved manner.

“Release you? This is the home of the future duchess.” The faint smile Mo Yan gave them didn’t reach his eyes.

Ai Lin noticed he wasn’t referring to everyone, only the future duchess.

The others didn’t notice. They had grabbed onto the only part that was important to them – the insinuation that the other party didn’t intend to release them.

Among the ten girls, other than Feng Wu, who never thought too much anyway, Ai Lin and Zi Cheng were the only ones who weren’t terrified. Ai Lin and Zi Cheng had aces up their sleeve. The other seven girls were incredibly scared; they hoped their families would find and rescue them from such a terrible place soon.

“Ladies, you must be hungry. Please take a seat and enjoy the meal we have carefully prepared for you.” Mo Yan said.

The moment he finished speaking, silver plates floated in from outside. It was a magical world, so the girls weren't shocked or scared by the floating plates. They just assumed it was done through magic.

It was a castle with no servants, but Feng Wu saw things differently.

In her eyes, there were many people in the castle, and they were all young girls.

The girls had vacant eyes and were intent on their tasks. They came in one by one carrying dinner trays. They respectfully left after setting everything on the table appropriately. They moved as though they were trying hard not to disturb anyone.

It was easy to guess the girls were rejected brides. Though their physical bodies were destroyed, some of them were lucky enough to keep their souls. These souls became the current maids in the castle.

The girls who were unlucky couldn’t save their souls and no longer existed.[notes]

Feng Wu was the only one who could see them. Even Ai Lin wasn’t aware the castle was being maintained by a bunch of ghosts.

The original novel was written from Zi Cheng’s perspective, and since Zi Cheng wasn’t a necromancer, she couldn’t see the ghosts. The existence of so many remained a secret.

Even the master of Star Marshall hall and the principal of Xingguang Holy academy thought all the abducted girls no longer existed.

Mo Yan stood to the side waiting for them to eat the exquisite dishes laid on the table.

The girls were frightened and hungry but they didn’t dare eat what Mo Yan prepared. What if it was poisoned?

Ai Lin wasn’t worried about that. Having already read the novel, she knew the food was safe.

Zi Cheng used her items from her cheat system to test the food and found they were safe. She picked up her cutlery and began to eat.

Her unperturbed and natural attitude impressed Mo Yan. He couldn’t remember how many brides he had seen over the years, but of all the women who came the castle, she was the most calm and elegant.

Perhaps she would have the honor of being the next centennial bride.

The reason it was a centennial bride was because the duke had to replace his wives every one hundred years.

The previous bride had been a duchess for a hundred years and now it was time to replace her. Every century saw a new beautiful bride. These girls were the candidates.

Head Steward Mo Yan hoped someone among them would be able to satisfy the duke. He didn’t want the duke to lose interest in playing with his duchess too quickly.

Though they were superior to humans in the human world, they couldn’t visit too often because of the world’s consciousness. It prevented them from visiting too frequently. Plus, the temple’s Star Marshall hall and Xingguang Holy academy probably didn’t want them to visit either.

The duke said it was best not to confront the world’s consciousness of this world; it wouldn’t be good for outsiders like them.

As for the masters of Star Marshall hall and Xingguang Holy academy, the duke didn’t want to fight with them either. It was best to avoid them.

Mo Yan knew both organizations had been trying to capture his master for some time. But no matter what they tried, they couldn’t enter Blue Moon.

No one entered Blue Moon without his master’s permission.

How could the super powers of this world fight His Grace if they couldn’t find him? Haha. Blue Moon realm was safe.

He didn’t know how long their peace would last, but as long as the super powers couldn’t reach Blue Moon, there was nothing to worry about.

When His Grace tired of playing with his bride, they would leave the current world and go somewhere else. At that time, the affairs of this world would have nothing to do with them.

Hopefully the new bride would keep His Grace’s interest a for a while. The new duchess had to give his master some fun...

566: The Card

The girls ate their meal mechanically in silence.

The food was wonderful; they were rare and delicious dishes that none of them would have been able to eat every day even if they were born into a big family.

Unfortunately, nine of the ten girls couldn’t appreciate any of it. Feng Wu was the only one who gorged happily, smacking her lips in satisfaction.

The meat was tender with a fruity fragrance. After eating a few pieces, her body warmed and the qi she used earlier was replenished.

Feng Wu nodded in satisfaction, appreciating the food very much. A pity, there was so little. Why were the people here so stingy? This wasn’t enough to fill her belly!

Feng Wu was a little resentful. She seldom felt hungry since starting classes at Xingguang Holy academy.

Contrary to Feng Wu, who wasn’t satisfied with the quantity, the other girls could barely eat.

It was impossible for them to eat and drink in such a weird environment. Even if there was the most delicious meat in front of them, they couldn’t bare to stomach much.

Feng Wu looked brightly at the girl sitting opposite her. “Are you going to eat that?” Much of the meal on her plate remained untouched.

“I can’t eat.” The girl’s expression froze and she muttered. Who in their right mind could eat and drink so heartily?

“I’ll help you eat!” Feng Wu squinted her eyes as a bit of drool began to pool in her mouth.

The girl pushed her barely touched plate over to Feng Wu. “You can have it if you want it.”

Feng Wu took it with a blank expression. Then she turned her head to the other girls around the table who hadn’t touched their food.

Three black lines appeared on their foreheads. Who was this glutton? You can really eat in this kind of environment? You are too amazing!

They didn’t wait for Feng Wu to speak, but voluntarily pushed their plates over. They couldn’t eat it anyway, might as well just share it with her and let her eat as much as she wanted.

Two of the girls muttered quietly something about ignorant country bumpkins. Their situation was too dangerous so the normally unruly and willful girls didn’t have the courage to ridicule Feng Wu loudly.

It only took a few minutes for Feng Wu to polish off the plates.

Zi Cheng and Ai Lin involuntarily twitched their lips at the sight. It was impressive, her speed.

After the meal, Head Steward Mo Yan brought them to another room. The new room was ornately decorated and filled with so much sparkling crystal accessories that the entire room was filled with refracted rainbow lights. It was so dazzling it was hard not to squint.

The girls shielded their eyes with their hands. What kind of room was this? Why so dazzling?

The head steward must have been used it as he appeared completely unphased.

“Ladies, please sit down. You will receive the first round of tests here. Among the ten of you, only one can survive to the end. Those who fail to become the duchess shall die. So please try to survive to the end so that you may be privileged to see His Grace and be the Duchess of Blue Moon castle.”

The girls looked at each other with fear and trepidation in their hearts. Did this guy want them to kill each other?

As they were thinking about whether or not Mo Yan had the ability to force them, the room suddenly changed into a forest. A blue moon hung above.

Feng Wu was standing alone in a corner of the forest when a white card materialized in her hand. It read, “You must kill one of the ten people here within two hours. Failure to do so will result in your immediate destruction.”

The other girls held the same cards in their hands as they stood in different parts of the forest. They would die if they didn’t want to kill and they would die if they weren’t strong enough to kill someone else.

It was clear the selection would be bloody. The final winner had to be superior in both mind and body with means and ability.

It was just that the winner would also die in the end. Although they would have an intact body, they would be mute and frozen, with their soul forever sealed inside their corpse.

The girls who won and were turned into dolls probably regretted winning. It would have been better to die a clean death then live as a corpse doll.

Ai Lin sighed. The duke was really perverted. She squeezed the card in her hand as determination flashed in her eyes. She had to live to the end.

Feng Wu glanced at the card before casually throwing it away and walking deeper in the forest.

Some girls tore their cards up and some cried inconsolably. But after crying, a thread of cruelty flashed in their eyes. A girl who can survive in a big family would never be so weak that she would choose to wait for death. Which of them would actually give up the chance to live?

None of them questioned the authenticity of the information on the card. They knew in their hearts if they failed to follow the instructions, they really would die a tragic death.

As the girls were getting ready to kill each other, Ming Xi was busy using the divine blood he left on Feng Wu to find her location. As long as the moon shone where she was, he would be able to find her.

Though the principal and vice principal knew Feng Wu had been chosen by the duke, there was nothing they could do.

The duke’s methods were so mysterious that neither the master of Star Marshall hall nor the principal of Xingguang Holy academy could interfere.

Ai Lin and Zi Cheng were also missing. Their disappearances were concealed by the school to prevent panic.

The school deduced the identities of the other girls who received a wedding invitation from the Duke of Blue Moon, but kept the reason behind their disappearances secret. If the existence of the Duke of Blue Moon was made public, panic would erupt amongst the girls. It was better not to reveal the matter until there was a solution.

The families of the victims were kept in the dark. Most thought it was a simple kidnapping so they were searching like crazy. No one would have guessed the girls were no longer on the continent, that they were in the gap between worlds, hidden away in the Blue Moon realm.

Feng Wu’s friends were hiding the truth from the Feng family as well. It would have been useless to tell them about it. Though the Feng family was powerful, there was nothing they could do against the behemoth that was the Duke of Blue Moon.

Everyone who knew the truth of the matter was worried about Feng Wu.

Before Ai Lin was abducted to Blue Moon castle, she told Zo about it, so he was worried about Ai Lin as well.

567, 568

567: Five Out of Ten Live

Zo wanted to use the opportunity to create issues for Zi Cheng and possibly force her to stay in Blue Moon forever, however, Ai Lin vetoed the idea.

Zi Cheng was the heroine and was blessed by the world’s consciousness. It was possible to make her suffer and lose opportunities here and there, but doing something like killing her was off limits. If Ai Lin dared, she would be punished and the world’s consciousness may even obliterate her.

Without Ai Lin’s cooperation, there was nothing Zo could do but scrap the plan.

He was really worried about Ai Lin being in Blue Moon. There was only the two of them fighting against Zi Cheng. If something happened to Ai Lin, Zo would be left to fight alone.

Yifu was suspicious about Zi Cheng’s disappearance. The school said Zi Cheng had left on a secret mission and would not be back for a while. Zi Cheng never mentioned a secret mission even though they had a date to go shopping the next day, and Zi Cheng wasn’t the kind of person to disappear without saying anything.

Yifu suspected the teachers were lying, but she had no proof. Even though she was unhappy, she couldn’t fight them by herself. There was nothing she could do other than stew in her own anxiety.

Feng Wu and the other girls couldn’t know how worried everyone in the outside world was for them.

At that moment, Feng Wu was using Xiao Chun to slit a girl’s throat.

Feng Wu felt deep malice and strong killing intent earlier, so she knew the person truly wanted to kill her. The thought of showing mercy never crossed her mind. Her master said kindness to the enemy was cruelty to oneself, and that letting an enemy go would only come back to bite you.

Those who failed once would learn from their experience, so letting them learn how to make your life more difficult was foolish. It was better to directly kill them from the beginning.

Feng Wu was an obedient child; she always listened to her master. Like the last time when Yifu tried to kill her, if Ming Xi and the others hadn’t stopped her, she would never have let Yifu live.

But this time in the forest, there was no one to stop her, so Feng Wu easily killed the girl intent on killing her.

The moment she finished, she was transported back to the room from earlier. Head Steward Mo Yan was smiling at her and the other three girls standing nearby.

Another girl materialized after Feng Wu. She was not as calm and was clearly rattled. Her fight must have been fierce because her hands and clothes were covered in blood. She burst into tears when she realized she was no longer in the forest.

She didn’t forget where she was and stopped crying after a few hiccups. This was not the time or place.

“Ladies, you are doing very well. Today’s test is over. A maid will take you to your rooms to rest.” Mo Yan nodded in satisfaction.

The girls breathed a sigh of relief upon learning they would not have to fight any more for the night. Ai Lin and Zi Cheng were both strong fighters but that didn’t mean they wanted to fight for no reason. The girls were just innocents who wanted to survive.

If they could live well, why would they think about killing and suffering?

Rows of maids dressed in white appeared to take the girls to their respective rooms. On the way, they passed by many maids working in the hall. Their eyes and faces were devoid of all expression.

They were like corpses whose intent was only work.

The sight of the doll-like lifeless girls was horrifying and inexplicable to the four girls. Feng Wu wasn’t bothered.

Why were there so many maids suddenly? There weren’t any when they were dining earlier.

Feng Wu: “...” They were always there; you just couldn’t see them.

Feng Wu laid down on the bed in her room. The bed was big and the room beautiful but was cold and unwelcoming.

No matter how big her courage was, Feng Wu knew better than to fall asleep in such a place. She sat up cross legged on the bed to practice her qi.

The laws in this world allowed energy to exist in two forms: one was magic and the other was martial qi. The internal force she cultivated from her original world had been transformed into this world’s martial qi long ago.

After circulating the qi in her body for a bit, her fatigue disappeared. Her mood improved but her stomach grumbled so she took out some food from her space ring and proceeded to stuff her mouth.

Feng Wu looked at the blue wedding dress she was wearing. It was gorgeous, though difficult to move in. She wanted to change but found it impossible to pull the dress off. She frowned and gave up.

Ai Lin had also been practicing qi for a while. After her body recovered, she began to think about her next move. There would be another test tomorrow and another person would die.

Thereafter, one more person would die each day until only one girl remained. After thinking about the plot, Ai Lin thought she knew what the task for tomorrow would be.

If everything in the woods was an appetizer, then everything tomorrow would be the main course.

Tomorrow the five of them would drop to four. She had enough information to survive. Zi Cheng would also be fine. Feng Wu had an unusual sword, so she should also be fine. Thinking about it like that, the one likely to die would be one of the other remaining two girls.

While Ai Lin was thinking about who would die, Zi Cheng was communicating with her system. Her system had evolved and developed and could communicate more.

568: Four Out of Five Left

After talking to the system, Zi Cheng concluded they were in an unknown side world owned by the Duke of Blue Moon. The only way to leave was to redeem a preposterous number of points for an item.

Zi Cheng was relieved to know there was a way out even if it was grossly expensive. She was determined to leave. She didn’t want to stay in the morbid castle and be the duke’s wife.

The other two girls were too terrified to sleep. They tried meditating but couldn’t calm down. Their minds were a mess and their chests felt heavy.

Early next morning, the Blue Moon castle maids appeared and invited them to the front hall for breakfast.

The girls walked over wearing their rumpled wedding dress.

The dining table was already filled with delicious and rare food that filled the room with a wonderfully, delightful and appetizing aroma.

Head Steward Mo Yan quietly waited at the side, watching them finish their breakfast.

Breakfast was a tasteless affair for everyone but Feng Wu. The other girls were preoccupied and couldn’t taste the food at all.

After the meal, Mo Yan led them out of the castle and into the Blue forest. Today’s task was for one of the four to die. They would not be teleported out until the task was complete. They were, however, not allowed to kill each other.

After Mo Yan explained the rules, he disappeared and a barrier materialized around the forest, locking them inside.

Strange blue monsters appeared stealthily. The monsters in the forest were unique to the Blue Moon realm. They were powerful, bloodthirsty monsters with thick hide and sharp teeth.

“No... don’t come here...” cried out a girl. She had red eyes and was holding a staff.

“What kind of monsters are those?” Another girl was so frightened that her hands and feet turned cold and her heart beat wildly. The monsters looked too powerful for them to deal with.

Ai Lin took out her staff and prepared for battle. Something flashed in Zi Cheng’s eyes and her lips pursed slightly.

Feng Wu held Xiao Chun in hand with her normal expressionless face. Xiao Chun was puzzled. What were these monsters? Why did they feel so strange?

They didn’t look like creatures from the human world, demon world, ascended god realm, or the underworld.

It was impossible for Xiao Chun to know they were creatures created by the duke. They were non-sentient monsters designed to kill and were completely subservient to their master, the Duke of Blue Moon.

The duke didn’t have to order them to attack, their killing instincts caused them to surround the girls intruding in the forest immediately.

“Roar!”

Thunderous roars burst through the forest. The girls raised their weapons to defend the oncoming onslaught.

The alien monsters were so ferocious that within a short period of time someone was injured. The sweet scent of blood made them even crazier.

Relying on her good position and extraordinary swordsmanship, Feng Wu moved among the monsters without being injured.

Ai Lin struggled with the strange beasts, but her life wasn’t in danger. This was because of all the good things she had, such as the inheritance from the god tomb, all the things she managed to snatch away from Zi Cheng, and all the secret knowledge she had from having read the novel. These were all trump cards she used to stay safe.

As for Zi Cheng, she was the heroine of the original novel so her luck was naturally good and nothing bad happened to her.

The only people in a truly precarious position were the other two girls. They were bloodstained and getting weak from blood loss. They did not look good.

Just then, probably because she thought the girls were too relaxed, one of the endangered girls rushed toward Feng Wu, Ai Lin and Zi Cheng. Being next to them had to be safer!

The other girl saw this and did the same.

Feng Wu frowned and moved away. After being plotted against so many times, she was on guard and finally understood the meaning behind her master’s teachings.

Ai Lin backed away slightly but Zi Cheng stayed in place, intentionally remaining in the same spot fighting the monsters.

Zi Cheng knew she couldn’t save both of them, nor did she intend to. She wasn’t actually a Mother Theresa; she was just pretending to be good to get favorability points. There was no reason for her to go to the effort of moving – it was impossible for the girls to plot against her.

The two injured girls hid beside Zi Cheng and stayed safe under her protection. They breathed a lot easier.

One of the girls had cold killing intent and determination in her eyes as she faced the monsters.

Five people entered and only four would leave. She had to be one of the survivors.

The other girl obviously had the same idea. Both of them set their sights on Zi Cheng at the same time. Zi Cheng was powerful and carried a lot of high-level scrolls and potions. She would be a formidable competitor in the future.

Instead of attacking the person with the same strength, it was better to join forces and kill the stronger person to increase their own odds of survival.

The two injured girls communicated with their eyes. They attacked with powerful magic at the same time intending to kill Zi Cheng.

Ai Lin was amazed as she watched to two cannon fodder girls attempt to kill Zi Cheng.

They were so going to die.

And indeed attacking Zi Cheng was the same thing as committing suicide. Zi Cheng wasn’t someone who would die that easily. Such a dangerous situation where living and dying was perilous, how could she leave her back unprotected?

The moment the girls made their move, the magic wand in Zi Cheng’s hand condensed powerful magic and struck them both. It was a high-level fire elemental attack.

569, 570

569: Transmigrated Women Don’t Die That Easily

As the heroine, Zi Cheng’s spells were of course much more powerful than the two girls, so it was inevitable when the three magic spells collided, that the spells from the other girls would collapse.

The expressions on their faces changed drastically.

One of the girls reacted quickly enough and she was able to use a scroll to protect herself. The other girl was too slow. The moment Zi Cheng’s spell hit her body, she felt hot all over then nothing at all.

It was instant death.[notes]

Ai Lin glanced at the pile of ashes that used to be the girl. Wasn’t she the granddaughter of the vice president of the Pharmacist guild? Simia?

Background didn’t matter when confronted by the heroine.

Once Simia died, all the girls were teleported out and the task ended.

As soon as they returned to Blue Moon castle, the other girl dropped to the ground like a rock and laid there weakly as though all her strength was gone. She would occasionally glance at Zi Cheng as though she was looking at a demon.

Zi Cheng didn’t care what the girl thought of her. The girl survived this time, but she would definitely die in the next round. Among the four of them who survived, she was the weakest.

Toward someone who was destined to die, it was only natural Zi Cheng would be too lazy to care.

Once she returned to her room, Zi Cheng immediately exchanged her points for a boundary break orb.

The orb had the ability to create cracks in mini worlds like Blue Moon. It was more advanced than the boundary breaking talisman she used before; the cost was accordingly astronomical.

Zi Cheng just had enough points by selling her sacred artifact.

Before using the orb, Zi Cheng asked the system to observe whether there was any type of surveillance around her. She made sure no one noticed her, then she activated the orb according to the instructions for a single person passage.

The moment the orb created a crack in Blue Moon, Zi Cheng stepped through and rushed forward. Ai Lin, who had been paying attention to Zi Cheng the entire time, was not detected because she used a special method to avoid the system’s detection. She jumped into the passage after Zi Cheng a second later.

Just as Ai Lin cleared the crack, a beautiful and indifferent man with waist length blue hair and entirely dressed in blue clothes appeared in front of the crack.

He looked at the crack with interest. It was the first time anyone dared escape from his territory. Did the little mice think they could really leave?

He sneered, and with a light wave of his hand, an incredibly destructive force rose up to immediately destroy the crack. The passage created by the crack dissipated into thin air after crumbling apart.

With the realm repaired, it was like the passage never even existed.

“My deepest apologies, Your Grace. This subordinate neglected his duties.” Mo Yan spoke respectfully from behind the man.

“Forget it, there are only two little mice. The passage is already broken. They must have perished inside it.” The man was of course the master of Blue Moon realm, the Duke of Blue Moon.

Mo Yan stood aside silently. Letting two bride candidates escape under his watch was a dereliction of duty.

“Keep an eye on the other two and don’t let anything happen again.” The duke spoke coldly as his figure gradually disappeared.

After the duke left, Mo Yan’s face changed. It was the first time he had ever failed to do what His Grace asked him to do and it was all because of women who didn’t know what was good.

It was a great honor to be the duchess of Blue Moon castle and yet the girls dared run away. If the remaining two dared to learn from the these two, then he would teach them that death was better than living. Mo Yan secretly swore in his heart.

He sent a maid to guard Feng Wu and the other girl carefully.

From his perspective, since the duke personally moved, it was impossible for Zi Cheng and Ai Lin to be alive. They had to have died in the dimensional crack.

They were no longer viable candidates, but their deaths were too easy. They should have suffered nine levels of torture before dying slowly for daring to run away.

Contrary to what Mo Yan believed, the people he thought were dead, were in fact alive and well. It wasn’t easy for the heroine and female villain to die.

In a certain valley on the continent, a woman wearing a blue wedding gown fell from the sky and landed on a tree branch.

The woman’s once beautiful gown was in tatters and her body was covered with wounds of varying degrees. Even her face was sliced open in several places.

She was bleeding so excessively that a trail of blood flowed from her body down to the trunk of the tree.

As she lay slowly dying, a man on a Pegasus passed through the area and flew under the tree. A drop of blood dripped on the top of his head.

Strange. He looked up and before he could clearly make out the image above him, another drop of blood dripped onto his face.

He frowned once he located the figure in blue. Upon recognizing the person, he jumped up onto the tree and picked up the bleeding woman.

“Ai Lin!” It was actually someone he knew!

Feng Juntian had some impressions of this girl who was his sister’s classmate. She had lived in the Feng estate for a few days.

Ai Lin was lucky. Juntian was on a mission in the area and rescued her.

If she hadn’t met him, with her injuries and her location being so deserted, grass would have already grown over her grave by the time anyone found her.

It was the luck of a transmigrated woman.

Ai Lin laid in bed groggily while a gray-haired light magician stood beside her. Under his ministrations, her wounds healed visibly.

570: What a Waste of Time

When Ai Lin woke up in a strange room no longer wearing the blue wedding gown, she knew she had been rescued.

She breathed a sigh of relief. When the passage leading out of Blue Moon was attacked, the entire space became unstable and she fell out of the shattered passage before she had time to react.

Considering how she didn’t even have the strength to enter the passage, she thought it was the end for her. There was no way for her to survive on her own, so it was good she was rescued.

No matter who it was that saved her, she had to thank them well. . . 

Feng Wu didn’t know both Ai Lin and Zi Cheng were gone. She sat on the bed and practiced, combing the muscles and veins in her body with qi. The fatigue and tension from the day soon melted away.

It was a lifeless place and Feng Wu didn’t like it at all. She wanted to leave but unfortunately there was no way out. She was disappointed when Xiao Chun said he couldn’t take her away, but she didn’t complain or cry.

She accepted the result calmly and waited for Ming Xi to pick her up. She believed Ming Xi when he said he would always find her and bring her back no matter where she went. She just had to wait for him to find her.

Early next morning, Feng Wu and the only other girl left were escorted to the dining hall for breakfast.

Neither Ai Lin nor Zi Cheng were at the table, and this puzzled the girl. She was scared but she asked anyway.

Mo Yan smiled coldly when he heard her question. “The two ladies tried in vain to escape. His Grace has personally put an end to them.”

Feng Wu frowned. They were dead?

The other girl, Mei Luo, clenched her fists when she heard this. Since the other two were dead, then, didn’t that mean she and this Feng Wu girl were the only ones left?

Mei Luo was the granddaughter of an elder in the Adventurers’ guild. She had lived a pampered childhood and was a beauty with a one in a million body that was naturally inclined toward water spirits, so despite her age, her water magic cultivation speed was insanely fast.

Water magic wasn’t normally considered an attack type magic, but because of her amazing control of it, she was able to kill with it. Her ability to control water was heads and shoulders above any of her water magician peers. In short, she was incredible.

She would not have outlasted the girls and stayed to the end if her magic wasn’t powerful.

Mei Luo had a strong family background, strength and cunning. She was the stereotypical winner in life. If the duke had not abducted her, she would have become a powerful force on the continent and had a bright future.

Unfortunately, she was selected as a bride candidate by the duke, and among her competitors were three abnormally strong girls.

There was Feng Wu, a time-traveling passerby, Ai Lin, a time-traveling female villain, and Zi Cheng, a time-traveling heroine favored by the world’s consciousness.

Feng Wu was a girl genius born with a pure mind and an absolute advantage in cultivation practice. Combined with her possession of Xiao Chun and naturally powerful abilities, she was in no way an ordinary girl.

As for Ai Lin, she had so many good things. There was the god-level artifact from the god’s tomb, all the items and opportunities she snatched from Zi Cheng, and all the things she acquired on her own. Every item was better in quality than anything Mei Luo had.

Then there was Zi Cheng. In the original text, the girl heroine had a favorability system, countless treasures, and incredible cultivation speed.

Even Ai Lin had to practice desperately in order to keep up.

It didn’t matter which of the three Mei Luo faced against, it was impossible for her to have an advantage. Even if she defeated most of the geniuses on the continent, it was still impossible for her to defeat the three girls with their outrageous cheats.

Mei Luo knew she had no chance against them. When she heard the news about Ai Lin and Zi Cheng, she was both surprised and pleased.

Her chance of winning was that much greater with the two strongest girls gone!

A pity Mei Luo didn’t know anything about the end. She was only thinking of ways to kill Feng Wu and be the last one standing.

Mei Luo was confident in her appearance and believed the Duke of Blue Moon would fall in love with her if he saw her. He was just a man. She only needed to find a way to make him desperate for her.

Mei Luo thought the Duke of Blue Moon could be charmed like other men. Because of her family background and her body, which was naturally inclined towards water spirits, Mei Luo had countless suitors. In front of her admirers, Mei Luo was always noble and elegant. She never showed her savage and willful side.

The girls who bore witness to her teeth and claws and schemes were disgusted by her admirers.

Mei Luo, who had been sought after by countless men since she was a child, was full of confidence. As long as the duke saw her, she was certain she’d be able trick him into falling in love with her.

Ai Lin would definitely have told Mei Luo she was overthinking it if she knew. They were talking about the super big pervert, Duke of Blue Moon. Conquering that kind of man. . .  it was a waste of time!

After dinner, the two girls were taken out of the castle. This time, instead of the woods or the illusion, they were brought to the grassland where they first woke up.

Mei Luo was worried and uneasy. She had planned more than a hundred different ways to kill Feng Wu, but she was afraid something unexpected would ruin her plans.

Mo Yan didn’t bother to think about Mei Luo’s schemes. He had seen girls like her before too many times. It was the girl named Feng Wu that caught his attention. This girl obviously didn’t meet his master’s criteria for a wife so why did His Grace bring her to Blue Moon?

571, 572

571: Ming Xi Is Here

He knew that the girl, despite being young, had already given birth. He wondered why his master crossed out another girl he had carefully selected in favor of this one.

Mo Yan didn’t understand. He didn’t know everything even though he was the duke’s confidant.

“Congratulations to the two ladies who have survived to now. The one who survives this round will be the mistress of Blue Moon caste. The final winner will be the one who kills her opponent. The round starts now.”

After Mo Yan announced this, he stepped back and looked at the two girls standing on either side with a smile on his face.

Neither of them started fighting immediately. Feng Wu wasn’t interested in the fight. She already had someone she wanted to marry, nor did she want to be the wife of the Duke of Blue Moon.

Feng Wu pursed her lips but remained silent. This man felt too dangerous. Relying on her keen animal intuition, she felt that if she said this, she would die immediately. She decided to remain silent.

Feng Wu’s intuition wasn’t wrong. If she had dared say she didn’t want to compete, as a crazy supporter of the duke, the head steward would have killed her immediately.

Even if Feng Wu was specially brought over by the duke, there were still rules to follow. If she didn’t follow those rules then she would be killed.

Feng Wu and Mei Luo remained where they were. Mei Luo was thinking about how to kill Feng Wu, while Feng Wu was wondering when Ming Xi would arrive. She didn’t want to marry someone else.

Feng Wu was fine with Mei Luo winning. But this didn’t seem to work out either. She would die if Mei Luo won. Mo Yan said they could only win if one of them killed the other.

Feng Wu didn’t want to die. She had to live so Ming Xi could come and pick her up. It looked like the only way to survive was to beat the girl across from her.

But if she won, then she would have to marry the Duke of Blue Moon. A rare emotion called entanglement appeared on Feng Wu’s normally expressionless face.

The girls stood facing each other for a quarter of an hour with neither of them showing any indication of moving.

Mo Yan was just about to remind them they needed to start attacking each other when the moonlight in the sky grew extraordinarily dazzling.

The single blue moon shone no matter the time; there wasn’t a difference between night and day in Blue Moon. It gave off the same chilly blue light without fluctuations. No warmth came from it.

But the light suddenly changed, becoming brighter and taking on a dreamlike haze.

“Why is the Moon emperor here in my Blue Moon realm?” A majestic figure with a hint of malicious aura walked from the sky to suddenly appear above the girls and Mo Yan.

At the same time, a figure as beautiful as a dream appeared under the light of the moon.

The astonishingly beautiful man had long blond hair, icy blue eyes, and a slight smile on his lips that was as warm as the spring breeze and filled with the tenderness of moonlight.

“Prince Ming Xi!” The Duke of Blue Moon was a little surprised when he saw the person coming. He originally thought it was the Moon emperor and had not expected it to be the Crown Prince Ming Xi.

“Duke of Blue Moon.” Ming Xi slightly nodded in the direction of the duke.

“I wonder why Prince Ming Xi is here in my Blue Moon realm.”

The duke was polite towards Ming Xi, the future Moon Emperor. The Moon emperor was not easy to deal with and the duke did not want to confront any of the current world’s top powers for the time being.

“I came for my fiancée, Feng Wu. She was invited by Your Grace and I miss her very much. Is it possible for me to being my fiancée back?” Ming Xi smiled lightly. He didn’t show the slightest timidity in front of the old pervert.

Fiancée? The people the duke brought were all thoroughly investigated and it was impossible for them to have direct connections to the royal families of the four great empires, let alone the be the future Moon emperor’s fiancée.

He knew Ming Xi was lying but he chose not to reveal the matter. Instead, he cast a questioning look at Mo Yan.

“Your Highness, Prince Ming Xi’s fiancée is indeed here. It is this subordinate's fault for not investigating properly. . . ” Mo Yan immediately took the blame.

It was the responsibility of a subordinate to take the blame for the master, not to mention Mo Yan was a rabid supporter of the Duke of Blue Moon, so taking the blame for his master was nothing at all.

For a die-hard fan, it was an honor.

“Go down and receive punishment later.” The duke finished speaking without emotion, then glanced at Feng Wu again. “She is Prince Ming Xi’s fiancée, so naturally she will return with Prince Ming Xi.”

Had it been any of the other three emperors, he wouldn’t have been so accommodating, but a pity it was someone from the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom.

As long as there was a moon, the Moon emperor could be regarded as an invincible existence. Although Ming Xi was not the Moon emperor yet, he had the blood of previous Moon emperors before him. Otherwise the duke’s powers would have blocked Ming Xi from entering Blue Moon.

Feng Wu’s eyes were bright as she looked eagerly at Ming Xi like a puppy wronged by its owner. Ming Xi was finally here to pick her up!

Ming Xi, for his part, appeared calm but was in reality quite relieved. He was betting on the duke giving him face to make the gambit succeed. If the duke didn’t give him face, they would have had to fight a vicious battle.

In order to increase the odds in his favor, he even brought the divine sword from home. He had hoped he would have the strength to wield it against the Duke of Blue Moon.

The duke acquiesced after such a short conversation. Ming Xi was surprised things went smoothly and that there would be no earth-shattering battle. With the duke’s personality, he really had expected a fight.

Ming Xi stretched out his hand toward Feng Wu and the moonlight lifted her up to his side.

Mei Luo, who had been neglected by everyone, rushed up and hugged Feng Wu.

“No! You can’t leave like this! Take me with you! You can’t leave me here alone!” Mei Luo screamed. She was jealous and resentful of Feng Wu. Jealous because Feng Wu had such an outstanding fiancé who cared so much for her he even came to such a dangerous place to rescue her. Resentful because Feng Wu was selfish and escaping alone. Clearly the girl didn’t care if Mei Luo lived or died!

~Well duh.

572: Transforming into a Demon

Mei Luo held firmly onto Feng Wu, determined not to let Feng Wu get away without her. She didn’t want to die in such a terrible place by herself. If Feng Wu didn’t take her along, then she would rather they both die together!

Feng Wu frowned unhappily as she looked at Mei Luo pulling her down.

Ming Xi frowned as well. Being able to take Feng Wu away was already the duke giving him face. It was impossible for him to take another person. Besides, he had nothing to do with the girl. There was no reason for him to displease the duke for her. If this went on, none of them may be able to leave.

“What a naughty girl.” The duke smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.

Mo Yan immediately waved his hand and Mei Luo, who was holding onto Feng Wu, flew off like a kite with a broken string.

Without Mei Luo’s burden, the soft moonlight floated Feng Wu through the sky to Ming Xi’s side.

Ming Xi took Feng Wu’s hand and said farewell to the duke before disappearing into the moonlight.

“No. . . ” Mei Luo moaned in despair at the sight of them leaving.

Why wouldn’t they take her away with them?! Why?! The resentment in Mei Luo’s heart almost overwhelmed her. Layers of black mist appeared on her body, growing thicker and thicker until Mei Luo was completely shrouded in black mist.

“This. . . ” Mo Yan was a little surprised. He didn’t expect the girl to be possessed!

In all the centuries they had held the bride contest, not a single girl had ever become a demon. This girl was the first. Her hatred was truly deep!

“Interesting, really interesting. Mo Yan, let her go back.” The Duke of Blue Moon looked at the demonized Mei Luo and smiled.

“Yes, Your Grace.” Mo Yan lightly waved his hand and a black hole immediately appeared below Mei Luo.

Mei Luo fell straight down and disappeared.

“Your Grace, why did you let those two go just now? Didn’t Your Grace personally choose the one called Feng Wu? This subordinate thought Your Grace attached great importance to that girl.”

Mo Yan cautiously asked his master after the last two candidates left.

“Feng Wu interests me deeply. Despite being an ordinary person, she successfully gave birth to the reincarnation of the elf king. You must understand, it is simply impossible for an ordinary person to give birth to a god, and yet she did. Not only that, but she is also living a good life without any physical problems. Don’t you think that is very interesting?”

The duke turned around and disappeared into the sky, returning to his study with Mo Yan following closely behind.

Once in the study, Mo Yan poured the duke a glass of wine. The duke took the glass and sat down in his seat to leisurely sip it. Mo Yan’s heart was a turbulent sea as he quietly waited at the side. Outwardly he looked as calm as ever.

The girl had given birth to the elf king! Moreover, she was still alive and living well. It was incredible that she wasn’t exhausted to death by the elf king.

Even the goddesses of the God realm weren’t qualified to give birth to the elf king. How did an ordinary human do it?

Also, what was the elf king thinking?! Even if he was reborn, he shouldn’t have chosen a human being as his mother! Mo Yan couldn’t understand the logic.

How could he know the elf king didn’t have a choice in the matter at all? The original Feng Wu had bad luck and unintentionally asked for death by eating the life fruit that the elf king had turned into. As a result, she expended all her energy and died in labor. Feng Wu transmigrated into her body, took up the baton and completed the process.

“I didn’t expect her to be the future Moon emperor’s fiancée. This surprised me. Now that Prince Ming Xi has taken her away, I won’t be able to investigate her body and find out what is so different about her. Why was her labor so easy? A pity.” The duke sighed regretfully before drinking the wine in his glass.

Mo Yan poured more. “It is truly a pity. But why did Your Grace let the other girl go as well? Your Grace could have had some fun with her. Her body is a natural water spirit vessel and would have made a beautiful doll.”

“She would have been one more doll to the collection. What was the point in that? Her hatred for Prince Ming Xi and Feng Wu is so deep that now that she’s a demon, she will surely cause trouble for them. I gave her back to Prince Ming Xi, but I’m not sure he’ll be able to handle the present. . . ”

The Duke of Blue Moon smiled meaningfully. Mo Yan, as his confidant, understood his meaning immediately.

The duke was upset at Ming Xi for entering Blue Moon and taking Feng Wu away. This was his way of paying Ming Xi back.

Mei Luo had turned into a human demon, so as long as she didn’t show her demonic aura, no one would know what she was.

With such an enemy, the girl named Feng Wu and that Prince Ming Xi would be in danger, thought Mo Yan. Very good.

Feng Wu and Ming Xi didn’t know the duke had given them such an enormous present. They were currently in the palace inside the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom.

Ming Xi wasn’t the emperor yet. He was still young and only in his twenties. His strength wasn't at its peak so he shouldn’t have been able to use the power of moonlight the same way his father did.

The only way to find Feng Wu was to return to the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom and borrow the power of the twin moons to trigger the divine blood in his body. He knew he would be able to find Feng Wu by using the connection in the divine blood and bring her back with him.

It only looked like it was easy for him to bring Feng Wu back, but in fact, it was a lot of wear on his body. His face was deathly pale, and he blacked out as soon as they returned to the palace.

Ming Xi blacking out caused the entire palace to panic. Not long after he was sent to his room, an old, white-bearded man ran into the palace and directly to Ming Xi’s room at a speed that belied his age. He began treating Ming Xi as soon as he stepped in.

The Moon emperor and empress arrived shortly after. They were both anxious. The empress sat on the edge of the bed and cried pear blossom tears. Even crying, she was astonishingly beautiful. It was no wonder the Moon emperor loved the empress so much and couldn’t wait to marry her.

“High Priest, I don’t understand, what is wrong with Ming Xi? How can a good person suddenly faint like that? His vitality is so weak; what serious injury did he suffer? Does he need any precious elixirs?” The empress wiped tears off her cheeks as she looked at the white-bearded old man who had just finished taking Ming Xi’s pulse.

The old man frowned as he thought about the illness in Ming Xi.

573, 574

573: Feng Wu’s First Meeting with Her Future In-Laws

“Prince Ming Xi overdrew his strength and his foundation suffered. There are no other problems. There is no need for anything like special elixirs. Prince Ming Xi will slowly recover after bathing in the Imperial Moon ointment.” The high priest stroked his beard.

“What?! Isn't his foundation being damaged a serious problem?! How could Ming Xi have overdrawn to the point of damaging his foundation? How could this happen? My poor son!” The empress held a handkerchief to her eyes. Her crying was so pitiful, you would have thought Ming Xi was on his deathbed.

The high priest looked at the empress speechlessly while the corners of his mouth twitched feebly.

For ordinary people, damage to the foundation was indeed a serious issue, but this was Prince Ming Xi. He grew up bathed in the Imperial Moon ointment and had the protection of divine blood in his body. How was he an ordinary person? This latest injury wasn’t even as serious as the arm injury from last time!

The high priest complained in his heart, but he didn’t dare say it out loud. He was afraid if he did, Her Royal Highness would drag him away and cry endlessly, complaining that he wasn’t taking her son’s injury seriously.

The Moon emperor wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders and tried to soothe and comfort her. Even though his schedule was busy, he needed to find time for someone to prepare medicinal soups for Ming Xi.

It didn’t alleviate the Moon empress’s tears. She was still crying like a waterfall. But as she cried, she saw a beautiful girl with black hair walk up. The girl held Ming Xi’s hand and touched his head. She looked at Ming Xi expressionlessly, but her concern for Ming Xi was clear in her eyes.

“You are...?” Just now the empress was solely focused on her Ming Xi and had failed to notice there was another person in the room. The empress suddenly had a good guess who the girl was.

“You are Feng Wu, right? Ming Xi often talks about you.” The emperor had noticed the little girl a long time ago, but his wife had been so good at crying, and he had been so preoccupied with comforting her that he just didn’t have the time to consider the girl.

The Moon emperor looked at the girl whom his son loved, and he could tell from a glance that she was pure and clean. It turned out his son liked this type of girl! No wonder he didn’t like Hua Jin. But what about Diane? The youngest daughter of the Dai house was also lovely and pure, plus they had grown up together. Why didn’t Ming Xi fall in love with her but fell in love with this girl named Feng Wu instead?

He felt both girls belonged in the same clean-minded people category. Why his son took a fancy to one but not the other the emperor couldn’t figure it out.

“I am Feng Wu and I will marry Ming Xi in the future. Are you Ming Xi’s parents?” Feng Wu blinked her big eyes and asked. With her completely blank expression, she exuded cuteness to the extreme.

What kind of introduction was this? Was this what young people say when meeting their boyfriend’s parents for the first time?

The Moon emperor and empress were both confused. Young people these days, what a mystery. Or maybe this girl was a special case?

“I am Ming Xi’s father. I did not expect us to meet so soon.” The emperor sighed. He had asked Ming Xi to bring his future daughter-in-law back so they could meet, but Ming Xi only said he would naturally do so when the time was right.

Unexpectedly, they met in such a way.

“Hello, I heard that you need to prepare a gift when you visit someone’s house for the first time. This fruit is for you.” Feng Wu took out the fruits she thought were the most delicious from her dimensional space ring and handed them to the emperor and empress.

Back when Sister Tian Yue[notes] found out she and Ming Xi were dating, Sister Tian Yue told her she needed to prepare a gift because it wouldn’t look good to visit empty handed. Bringing a gift would leave a good impression on the elders and the elders would be less likely to oppose her marriage to Ming Xi.

Feng Wu had firmly remembered the advice, but she wondered what to do if she had no gift prepared. Feeling uneasy, she decided to use her favorite fruit and hoped Ming Xi’s parents would like her gifts and agree to let her marry Ming Xi.

She didn’t understand why she needed their consent since she was the one marrying Ming Xi, but Sister Tian Yue had to have a reason for saying what she did, so Feng Wu followed her words obediently.

Feng Wu handed the gift over with some trepidation. These were her favorite kinds of spiritual fruits and were a gift from the beasts she met in the god tombs.

Jier told her the fruits were rare, high-level type of treasures that would attract people to fight for them.

In short, Jier was telling her the fruits were precious and she should not casually give them away.

Feng Wu thought about it seriously. Since these were Ming Xi’s parents, then it was not casually, and therefore was OK.

The Moon empress was at a loss. The fruits seemed to be eighth-order spiritual fruits. There were many exceptional and rare things in the Moon kingdom so it was natural she wouldn’t be shocked to see them. She was just speechless because Feng Wu’s way of presenting it caught her off guard.

Was there anyone who gave away things in such a manner? Although the gifts were good, why did it feel so awkward?

“Don’t you like them?” Feng Wu blinked her big eyes, her expectation clear and easy to see.

Neither the emperor nor the empress wanted to disappoint Feng Wu. They nodded their heads like they were pounding garlic and expressed their pleasure at receiving the fruits.

“Of course, we like them very much.”

“Yes, these are lovely.”

“Then why aren’t you eating them?” Feng Wu asked suspiciously.

Eat?! You want us to eat these on the spot? When did this become a rule? The emperor and empress widened their eyes in astonishment.

“Eat, eat! We’ll eat them right now.” The couple had no choice but to hold the fruits up and bite into them.

The high priest watched the entire show gleefully. It was rare to see the emperor and empress be so helpless. If he had some melon seeds, he would have definitely grabbed a stool and sat down munching.

The husband and wife chewed away on the fruit helplessly but they had no ill will towards Feng Wu. She was so innocent and touching; it was almost certain their son was going to suffer a lot of heartache in the future.

“Ming Xi! Ming Xi! Auntie and Grandmother have come to see you. Why did my poor child get hurt so badly! What happened? Who would be so cruel to hurt him like this?!”

Before the people in the room could react, two gorgeously dressed women rushed in and threw themselves on Ming Xi’s bed while crying loudly. Those who didn’t know would have thought Ming Xi was about to die...

574: The Moon Empress’s Extremely Annoying Maiden Family

“Mother! Elder Sister! Why are you here?!” The Moon empress was startled by the two of them rushing in and was only able to awkwardly ask them this after recovering from the surprise.

The Moon empress understood she wouldn’t be able to satisfy the desires of her mother and elder sister, so she had given up on trying. She avoided them as much as she could while maintaining a firm stance on Ming Xi's marriage. She never expected to be caught up with them now of all times. Helplessness overwhelmed her again.

She had been taking care of her maiden family all these years. She even loved her niece, Hua Jin, like her own daughter. She never expected her considerations for her maiden family would raise their expectations so much. Perhaps she had done it wrong from the beginning.

“Why? Are we not allowed here? Something happened to my precious grandson. Is it that I, his grandmother, is not allowed to see him?! The two of you are too shameful! My grandson is lying here and all you care about is eating fruit!” The Moon empress’s mother, Old Madam Cuiya, pointed at the Moon emperor and empress with an incredulous and disappointed expression, as though she was talking to two cruel parents who didn’t care about the lives of their children.

The corners of the emperor’s mouth twitched. He didn’t know what to say to this old lady who had nothing to do every day other than try and make her presence known.

“That’s right, little sister and brother-in-law. While Ming Xi isn’t your only son, he is the successor to the throne. He is precious and you must take care of him so that there are no accidents.” Madam Hua, the Moon empress’s eldest sister rebuked the husband and wife team.

The emperor sneered in his heart. This woman didn’t regard herself as an outsider at all. She was his wife’s elder sister, but he was the emperor, and as such, it was impossible for him to refer to her as elder-sister-in-law.

But she seemed to forget his identity as emperor. Every day it was brother-in-law this or brother-in-law that. She behaved too familiarly with him and rarely addressed him with the proper respectful address as emperor.

Don’t think he didn’t know. Madam Hua relied on her status as his wife’s elder sister and never showed the proper respects to the empress or his children. He remembered every faux pas Madam Hua made against them. Unfortunately, instead of being grateful for his patience and forbearance, the other party took it for granted and became even more entitled.

They became greedier and more ambitious, wanting Hua Jin to be the next empress. Ha! Don’t even think about it. Even if Ming Xi hadn’t fallen in love with anyone, he would never approve a marriage between Ming Xi and Hua Jin. That girl was never going to be the next Moon empress.

“Who is this? Why did the person serving Ming Xi change? This court lady is too unruly. She does not even know to properly salute when she sees Mother and me come in. How can someone who doesn’t know proper etiquette have the right to serve Ming Xi? She looks dishonest. Little Sister, you should replace her as soon as possible so Ming Xi doesn’t have to be troubled with this kind of lax behavior.”

Madam Hua stared at Feng Wu vigilantly and with disdain, wishing that her little sister would immediately send her away out of the palace.

She had already dismissed all the other more attractive court ladies around Ming Xi. How did another one sneak in? Her own daughter had not won Ming Xi’s heart yet, and the little vixen who seduced Ming Xi hadn’t been taken cared of either. They couldn’t allow more problems in.

“What did elder sister say? This is the girl Ming Xi likes. Her name is Feng Wu and she is the daughter of Feng house from the ancient eastern countries. The emperor and I have already agreed to the marriage. We only need to wait for Xiao Wu to graduate from Xingguang Holy academy to hold the wedding ceremony.”

The Moon empress took a deep breath. Her elder sister was getting more and more bold. Her elder sister didn’t have to salute her, she didn’t care, but the emperor was a different story.

He was the most noble and honorable person in the empire. Her mother and sister actually relied on their relationship to her to disregard proper etiquette and disrespect him.

One had to know, even the emperor’s own uncles had to salute when they met, never mind his in-laws! How could her mother and sister be so bold?!

The Moon empress had a headache trying to understand her relatives. How did they become so entitled? Maybe they were like this before and she just never noticed?

Thinking about this, she couldn’t help but turn to look at the emperor with an apologetic face. It was because of her ambition to raise up her maiden family.

The Moon empress felt guilty so it was hard for her to meet the emperor’s eyes.

The emperor’s expression looking back at her said it was nothing. He didn’t bother to deal with women like Old Madam Cuiya and Madam Hua, so he tolerated their rudeness and let things be.

He hadn’t reprimanded them before because it would have impacted his wife. They were her maiden family and if he reprimanded them, then rumors about him and his wife not getting along would start. The emperor didn’t want to damage his wife’s reputation so he had refrained.

But now, the emperor felt that he may have approached it wrong. He should have communicated with his wife properly instead of enduring the entire time.

They were trivial matters, but if it weren’t for his repeated concessions in such matters, how could the Hua family dare think they had a say in the next Moon emperor’s marriage?

Fortunately, though he didn’t care about trivial things, he never gave in on larger matters, and hadn’t let the Hua family take advantage.

“She is that Feng Wu girl? I have heard a lot about her. Little Sister, don’t let her deceive you. She has already given birth to a child, and at such a young age too! The father is unknown as well. It can be seen that this girl is wild and unruly, to already have intimate relations with men at her age. Her private life is too complicated. How can she be empress of the illustrious Ancient Silver Moon kingdom? Such a shameless woman can not marry Ming Xi. I won’t allow it,” said Madam Hua decisively and sharply.

The emperor and empress exchanged a look. When did they say they needed her to agree to Ming Xi’s marriage?

“Your sister is right. This marriage is unacceptable. I can not agree to it either. As Ming Xi’s grandmother, I can not watch my precious grandson marry such a dishonorable woman. Our Ancient Silver Moon kingdom will be a laughingstock.”

Old Madam Cuiya spoke indignantly to the emperor and the empress. She knew her status was because of her relationship with her daughter. She dared be presumptuous in front of her daughter but she didn’t dare confront the emperor. . . yet anyway.

“Your name is Feng Wu, right? If you really want what’s best for Ming Xi, you should leave him. How can a woman like you, with a ruined reputation, be the next empress of our Ancient Silver Moon kingdom? For your own good, and for Ming Xi’s sake, you should leave.”