Chapter 363: The Empress's Question
The Empress found herself wavering between chaos and clarity.
To be fair, she could understand why things had spiraled the way they did just moments ago. The reasons were countless—she is the Empress of the Immortal Nation, possessing unparalleled beauty, unmatched power, and talents that far exceeded any ordinary cultivator. Her public image was flawless, nearly divine.
And today, she had even taken the time to dress herself meticulously.
Given all that, it was perfectly reasonable that the Holy Saint of the Demon Sect would develop… certain desires.
(Yes… Even if I were in his position, seeing myself like this, affected by the Dao Spirit Immortal Tea… I'd probably have the same thoughts. If I knew as much about those things as he did, I could probably recreate what just happened…)
It wasn't strange at all.
With a detached, rational mindset, the Empress analyzed things from Luo Wusheng's perspective.
Beyond that, there were other factors at play—their engagement, their respective statuses, and various other reasons. Together, it all made this beautiful "accident" entirely explainable.
Even so…
She still really wanted to catch him and beat him senseless.
With her Nascent Soul Realm memory, she couldn't help but vividly recall everything that had just happened.
(Hmph. That Holy Saint of the Demon Sect… How dare he…)
(On the surface, he acts all respectful and obedient toward me, yet deep down, he dares to think about pressing me down beneath him…)
"What a shame. He's not officially joined the Six Gate Bureau yet. Otherwise…"
She paused.
"…Well, no matter. I can just let my Mortal Alter Ego follow him to resolve the Netherkin issue. That's the more pressing matter now."
(And since he's harboring such thoughts, that matter should be more or less as I previously deduced…)
Thinking this way, she didn't feel like her effort back at the first stage of the Heart Mirror had gone to waste.
Yes, it's not a loss at all.
As though successfully convincing herself, the tightness on her expression eased, the chaotic swirl of her emotions settling down. Her gaze turned to the water figure slowly forming in front of her.
(Come to think of it, in that chaotic moment earlier, I forgot to sync my memories to the Mortal Alter Ego and Daoist Alter Ego… Damn. Now that I've stabilized, if I share this memory with them, they won't be able to empathize with what I felt back then.)
As the Imperial Alter Ego of the Empress, she felt an inexplicable sense of imbalance.
Memory syncing only took an instant, but that one moment couldn't compare to the impact of personally experiencing something.
She thought for a moment but temporarily suppressed the feeling.
Before her, the shattered water curtain had now reassembled itself into the form of a man.
The water figure—indistinguishable from Luo Wusheng as he looked during their tea ceremony in the Imperial Pool—stood silently behind an ethereal doorway, locking eyes with the her.
(Hmm?)
(Why does the image this time feel clearer than before? Is it because the method I used to gather mental energy this time was different?)
As the young Empress stared at the water-formed figure of the handsome youth, her eyes subconsciously drifted downward. Realizing where they had wandered, she quickly averted her gaze, her face tinged with a faint blush.
Chanting the Dao Scripture in her heart to regain composure, she opened her mouth, her voice calm yet carrying an air of authority.
"…First question. The courtesan Yao Ji of the Red Blossom Pavilion is actually the Netherqueen, and the one who rescued her from Ascending Immortality Lake during the Netherkin Extermination Operation… was you. Am I correct?"
. . . . . . . . . . .
At that very moment, Luo Wusheng, who was resting completely unguarded in his Junior Sister's lap, trembled violently.
"Hiss—!"
He gasped sharply, wincing as his left eye suddenly shut tight. One hand instinctively clutched at the spot, as though he were experiencing some intense pain.
"Senior Brother?"
Bai Xiaoyao blinked in surprise.
She stared at the strange markings at the corner of his eye as they slowly faded away. The unexpected turn of events left her momentarily at a loss.
Luo Wusheng didn't respond right away. Instead, he gently rubbed at his left eyelid a couple of times. Once the pain on his face faded, he slowly raised his hand.
His left eye opened once more—not the empty void it had just been.
But there was a hint of daze within those eyes.
It passed quickly. He exhaled in relief.
"…It's nothing. Just a little backlash from trying to use one of my spatial artifacts," he said with a strained smile. "Looks like I won't be using it for a while."
He gestured toward his left eye.
It wasn't obvious, but the depth of its darkness was no longer the same.
There was something wrong with the Antediluvian Nether Eye
(I originally thought that a new ability had emerged because of the incident yesterday… that it helped me refine the eye further.)
Apparently, he'd been wrong.
When he first woke up, he had instinctively examined the Netherkin Artifact after recalling yesterday's events—but back then, he hadn't sensed anything resembling that "enhanced Ephemeral Tether Nexus."
Which meant…
The real cause was the Imperial Pool.
(If I'm not mistaken, that place seems to reflect one's innermost thoughts. The condition? That "Heart-force" the Empress mentioned?)
(So that explains why she dressed like that today… and why she brewed that tea that kept filling my mind with all sorts of… thoughts…)
No wonder the vision that appeared was of the two of them… making out.
That must have been his bloated thoughts leaking out.
(But then, why did the water curtain transform into a water figure?)
(It even caused my shadow to momentarily lose intelligence… Or rather, it seemed like the Antediluvian Nether Eye was being pulled into the water…)
Thinking back to what happened just moments ago in the Imperial Pool, Luo Wusheng couldn't help but feel strange.
He had originally thought that once the Empress finished watching her "heart reflection", she might finally get down to real business—whatever that might be.
Instead, the moment the water figure appeared, the shadow of his right arm, which had been stationed at the pavilion by the pool, started acting up.
It broke away from the darkness under the eaves and began slithering toward the pool—drawn to it as if compelled.
When his shadow was fully exposed under the open light, Luo Wusheng had felt his heart leap into his throat.
That posture, that behavior—so obvious! All it would've taken was one glance back from the Empress, and he'd be done for!
Thankfully, the Imperial Alter Ego of Her Majesty had still been engrossed in her first porn exposure, dazed enough not to notice his shadow crawling away.
Once the shadow entered the pool along with the Antediluvian Nether Eye, Luo Wusheng finally understood.
That Imperial Pool… shared the same origin as the Antediluvian Nether Eye.
Reflection of the heart—on some level, it was the same as the Mind-Reading Bullet Screen his eye had used long ago.
(But that's absurd. The Empress is human, and this pool clearly belongs to the human domain. The Antediluvian Nether Eye, on the other hand, is a Netherkin Artifact…)
Before he could sort through the confusion, that had happened.
His body had been overtaken by the backlash from the strange interaction.
(Thankfully, the bond between the Antediluvian Nether Eye and me hasn't been severed. But... it seems to be undergoing some kind of chemical reaction with the pool. And it even dragged the shadow of my right pinky finger along with it…)
(Its return will be delayed. It's fuzzy… I can't tell how long it'll take.)
(At least my eye isn't hollow again, or I'd have to go around with a literal hole in my face…)
Luo Wusheng stretched out his right hand, frowning as he noticed that under the sunlight, its shadow was visibly missing a chunk—right where the pinky should've been.
His feelings were… complicated.
He still didn't know what the Empress was truly trying to do. Why end things this way?
And more importantly…
Was the Antediluvian Nether Eye going to be okay?
If that thing leaked any secrets, wouldn't that mean he's going to be hunted down by the Empress the moment he walked out the door?
<+>
Note: Link to the character Illustration:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lkIcPnCxeyuyZA4Kkb621dPC05UvWjhD[1]
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[1] https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lkIcPnCxeyuyZA4Kkb621dPC05UvWjhD
[2] https://www.patreon.com/user?u=93297024
[3] https://www.patreon.com/user?u=93297024
[4] https://www.patreon.com/posts/chapter-487-cry-149583539
[5] https://www.patreon.com/posts/chapter-487-cry-149583539