Chapter 203
Chapter 203
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 203
Chapter Title: Hidden Beauties in the Courtyard
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In the grand courtyard, one old hag after another bellowed in fury. Some channeled their golden cores and charged at Chen Shi, while others flipped to their feet with surprising agility, old but vigorous, intent on scaling the walls to escape.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
The hairpin streaked through the air, jingling as it pierced through one hag after another, its speed so blinding it was impossible to follow.
The charging hags collapsed to the ground, tumbling until they lay still as corpses.
The wall-scaling hags had just leaped up when a streak of blood appeared on the wall. Their hearts had been run through multiple times by the hairpin; all their strength vanished in an instant, leaving their corpses dangling from the wall.
Others rushed into the houses. With a jingle of the copper beads, a thud echoed from inside, followed by a scream.
"Plop!"
One hag fell into the water, face-down on the surface, struggling with a few splashes before going still.
Soon, the pool was dyed red with her blood.
The deep manor fell silent, save for the jingling of the hairpin in flight.
The sound came from the street outside, moving swiftly, accompanied by cries of agony.
The girls in the grand courtyard halted their training, each tilting her head to listen to the bells outside.
The sound seemed to stir their long-numbed souls.
They had been trained for so long that it was etched into their very bones.
They had endured so many beatings that they dared not resist these hags.
The jingling was the death knell for the hags of Rouge Alley, but for them, it was heavenly salvation.
Just then, the jingling abruptly stopped.
Panic flickered across the girls' faces, but it quickly faded to calm.
They resumed their actions: the pipa girl leaned against the railing and played her pipa; the dancer by the water continued barefoot, heedless of the blood-red pool; the girl tuning her qin kept at it, with a hag's corpse sprawled at her feet.
They made every motion as alluring as possible, designed to stir any man's heart.
At that moment, the hairpin flew back, landing lightly in Chen Shi's palm.
The girls in the courtyard all stopped, staring at the hairpin in his hand.
The hairpin was bloodied, dripping onto the grass with soft patters.
""
"I'll fight you to the death!"
One dying hag staggered to the manor entrance, stumbling forward into the yard before tripping flat.
Blood holes riddled her body. She twisted forward on her belly, gnashing her teeth—not in fear of Chen Shi anymore, but in rage born of utter terror.
She wanted to kill Chen Shi!
Earlier, terror had gripped her; she thought she'd die like the others at the hands of this murderous demon with his hairpin. But incredibly, everyone else perished while she survived.
Life, however, was worse than death.
Chen Shi drove the hairpin through her body again and again, leaving wounds but sparing vital spots.
He shattered her upper, middle, and lower dantian, crippling her cultivation, then inflicted these injuries—like a cat toying with a mouse, until it killed her.
Knowing escape was impossible, she turned back to the manor for a desperate fight.
Failing that, she'd enrage Chen Shi into granting her a swift end!
She crawled toward him, muttering curses in the vilest language.
Chen Shi stood unmoved, cradling the bloodied hairpin, his gaze on the pipa girl as he waited quietly.
The pipa girl panicked slightly, quickly steadying her breath to focus on her playing.
The other girls strove at their tasks too. Trained so long, they brimmed with seductive charm, yet resembled tamed beasts more than humans.
The hag kept cursing Chen Shi, her face twisted in savage fury, as if she'd devour him bite by bite once she reached him.
""
"I'll butcher you!"
The hag crawled closer.
The pipa girl's eyes fell on her, and she forgot her playing.
Chen Shi's hand was steady, still holding the bloodied hairpin. He looked at the pipa girl with encouragement, as if saying: "You blow on it too.
Just one breath.
It'll fly up and kill those who tormented you.
One breath, and it'll slay those who treated you like beasts.
One breath, and you'll be human again.
A living, breathing human!
Come on, one more breath."
The girl seemed enchanted. She dropped her pipa and staggered toward him. Without the hairpin, her coiled hair cascaded like a waterfall.
The habitual seductive smile vanished from her face, replaced by cold resolve and hatred in her eyes. She snatched the hairpin from Chen Shi's hand and charged at the hag, half-running, half-leaping.
"Schi!"
The hairpin plunged into the hag's back. The girl cried out, yanked it free, and stabbed again.
The hag, shocked and enraged, yelled: "
"You damned wretch, what are you doing? You've rebelled! You're just livestock Big Sis bought—you dare stab me? I'll slaughter you!"
She'd rather die by Chen Shi's hand than be humiliated by this girl.
To her, these girls were purchased livestock for profit. To be killed by livestock—what utter disgrace?
The girl wept as she pulled the hairpin free and stabbed again, her white clothes staining red with blood.
"
"You vile bitch!"
The hag, furious beyond measure, was about to muster her last strength when a second girl rushed over, yanked out her own hairpin, pounced, and stabbed down.
The hag raged even more: "You filthy spawn, I'll kill you all! I'll rip off your clothes, hang you up, and douse you with cold water..."
Before she finished, another girl pounced, hairpin plunging in.
The other girls, inspired, flocked over.
The hag screamed: "Rip out your nails, crush your fingers... You bitches! Give me a quick death, I beg you!"
The girls pinned her down, hairpins rising and falling. After a long while, the hag breathed her last.
The girls burst into sobs.
Chen Shi glanced at his bloodied palm and said to the approaching Hu Feifei, "Sister Feifei, only now do they seem human.
When I first saw them, they were numb, soulless shells, puppets for others' whims.
Now, their souls have returned."
Hu Feifei listened quietly, gazing at his profile. Suddenly, she thought the little scholar wasn't bad-looking after all. He'd grown so fast—now as tall as her, maybe even a touch taller.
"
"Brother Chen's a scholar too. Could he be the golden husband fox spirits dream of?"
Her heart fluttered.
But he was too familiar.
And Brother Chen was iron-willed, solid-hearted, still just twelve. Fox girls might fancy scholars, but not a twelve-year-old boy, right?
Hu Feifei covered her flushed face—it burned hot. She inwardly cursed herself: "I'm such a beast!"
Black Pot's bark snapped her out of it. She looked over; the dog sat beside a little girl who stared blankly, seemingly stunned by the fight between Chen Shi and Big Sis. She trailed long snot, then slurped it back up.
This little girl was still alive?!
Hu Feifei was stunned. She hurried over, murmuring, "What a tough life!"
Nascent Soul experts clashing desperately unleashed terrifying power. The shockwaves demolished doors and shattered bricks and tiles.
When Big Sis's Ruyi Wheel collided with Chen Shi's fist, scorching heat billowed; the ground beneath them had melted into a glassy sheen.
Three paces out, seven paces in, the earth crumbled to powder—footprints sank deep!
Such force would injure even Golden Core experts, let alone a four- or five-year-old girl!
Chen Shi approached too. Hu Feifei whispered, "Brother Chen, you're too kind. Even fighting Big Sis, you spared power to protect her."
Admiration shone in her eyes. "I knew you were bluffing about next-life reincarnation to fool Big Sis.
Your heart's far softer than your hands."
Chen Shi found today's Hu Feifei odd but dismissed it. Staring at the unscathed girl, he shook his head. "Big Sis was Nascent Soul Realm, her infant a foot tall. Facing her, I held nothing back."
Hu Feifei puzzled: "You mean..."
Chen Shi earnestly: "I meant every word about her reincarnating well—no lies.
I went all out."
Hu Feifei gaped, eyeing the girl by Black Pot, murmuring: "Then how'd she survive?"
"I want that answer too."
Chen Shi crouched, pinched the girl's nose, twisted off the booger, and wiped it on a corpse. He grinned. "Little bastard's an insult—don't call yourself that. From now on, you're Nuonuo."
Snot trickled from her nose again. Puzzled, she asked: "What's Nuonuo mean?"
"Little girl."
Chen Shi stood, smiling. "Up you go. I'll take you away."
Black Pot rose, gripped her under the arms, and lifted her onto the cart.
Standing in it, she barely reached the seated dog's height. She eyed Chen Shi doubtfully: "
"I'm not a little bastard? I'm Nuonuo?"
Chen Shi nodded with a smile. "No one's a little bastard—it's just a curse. You're Nuonuo, were before, will be after."
Nuonuo nodded solemnly, pointing at Black Pot. "Then is that a spirit?"
Chen Shi gravely: "It's a doggy."
Nuonuo argued: "It's a spirit!"
"
"It's a doggy!"
"It's a spirit!"
...
Chen Shi couldn't win, so he dropped it.
Black Pot eyed him pleadingly, hoping he'd argue more.
Hu Feifei pursed her lips. "What about these girls? If we leave, officials will arrest them for murder.
Even without charges, their master will turn them back into whores for clients."
Chen Shi pondered. "Your fox clan are demons, yet you study and marry among humans.
Mind a few more human sisters joining fox life?"
Hu Feifei's eyes lit up. She giggled. "These girls are foxier than foxes—perfect for our cultivation methods.
Yudu has a fox village; I can settle them there.
But the fight was so loud—officials will swarm soon. How do we leave the city?"
Chen Shi headed out. "Leave it to Black Pot."
Any issue for Black Pot?
Black Pot woofed.
Hu Feifei understood.
Chen Shi rummaged in the cart, pulling out a wooden model house—a tiny courtyard, one foot square, with pavilions, towers, gardens, pools, fake mountains, corridors, bridges—exquisite.
"
"Girls, come here."
He called the still-sobbing girls, holding the wooden courtyard.
The pipa girl approached first. Chen Shi smiled: "
"Touch this."
Trusting him utterly, she reached out. Before her palm touched, she shrank rapidly, landing inside!
Hu Feifei gawked, leaning in. Chen Shi pushed her back: "Don't get too close."
One by one, the girls approached and tumbled in.
Hu Feifei marveled. Inside, the girls wandered bridges and corridors, gaping around—shrunken to mere specks.
"
"Did they shrink?"
Hu Feifei asked.
Chen Shi shook his head: "
"No.
The courtyard's interior space expanded, but outside it's unchanged."
Hu Feifei admired deeply. "Brother Chen, you've got top-scholar talent!"
Alertness stirred in her. Fox spirits entered the world not for romance, but to temper their Dao heart through love, ascending higher.
Don't fall for him, Hu Feifei—especially not an iron-willed man.
Chen Shi stowed the model back in the cart and walked out. Black Pot tucked the hairpin behind his ear and followed.
Hu Feifei hurried after. Outside, crowds peered into the yard but seemed blind to them.
Runners rushed up, shoving people: "
"Make way, clear out!"
They ignored Chen Shi's group too.
"Doggy's amazing!"
Hu Feifei admired silently.
Chen Shi headed to the opposite manor. Hu Feifei: "
"What're you doing? Experts will come soon—we'll be trapped!"
Chen Shi: "Those silver needles—one thousand taels each."
Hu Feifei pulled out a needle case, grinning: "Picked 'em up! Cost's one thousand; sell for two!"
Chen Shi beamed.
They skipped Prince Zheng's mansion, strolling down Rouge Alley's back street.
News of the killings spread like wildfire, drawing crowds, but Black Pot cleared a path effortlessly.
"Sun Zheng!"
Hu Feifei gritted her teeth, grabbed a scholar, and kicked his knee, toppling him.
Before he reacted, she pummeled him. He curled up, wailing: "
"Heroine, spare me!"
Satisfied, Hu Feifei caught up to the cart, spat back at Sun Zheng.
Chen Shi sneaked in a couple kicks amid the chaos.
Sun Zheng shielded his face. When blows stopped, he rose, aggrieved: "What'd I do?"
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