Chapter 0: 29. Outsmarting the Plague God
Chi Yuchao quickly touched the stubble on his face, his voice filled with doubt and surprise. “Brother Qin, what do you mean? What will she do to me? And after your disguise, even with my slender build, people wouldn’t normally suspect I’m actually a woman.”
“You said it yourself, *normally*. And that girl is not part of the ‘normal’ crowd.” Qin Gou looked at Chi Yuchao with a hint of pity, patting his shoulder firmly. “Hurry up and go. Just remember my advice.”
Chi Yuchao, half-believing, stepped into the Falling Immortal Dense Forest.
After a cup of tea’s worth of time.
“Time’s up,” Old Ghost Jiuyu’s sharp and unpleasant voice boomed.
A giant, blood-red character ‘始’ (Start) glowed brilliantly in the sky.
Substitute members like Qin Gou waited outside the Falling Immortal Dense Forest, yet they could imagine the tense and terrifying atmosphere that had descended within from this moment on. With the addition of Qiu Qianyue, that jinx, the originally evenly matched battle would likely transform into a one-sided slaughter, like a fierce tiger bursting into a flock of sheep.
However, to everyone’s surprise, the first to return to the group were not disciples from the Mystic Maiden Palace, but two disciples from the Nine Prisons Mansion, walking together. Their expressions were grim, heads hung low, their identity tokens at their waists shattered, clearly having been defeated.
“What happened?” Old Ghost Jiuyu demanded immediately.
One of the disciples grit his teeth and said, “A damn red-haired dwarf suddenly appeared from nowhere and used some strange techniques, possibly poison. In an instant, we lost our ability to resist.”
“Two useless pieces of trash,” Old Ghost Jiuyu roared, his expression darkening.
Ye Qishuang smiled charmingly. “How interesting. If my Fourth Junior Sister hadn’t appeared as an unexpected variable, the Nine Prisons Mansion disciples would have had no chance to fight back at all.”
“Unfortunately, there are no ‘ifs’,” Old Ghost Jiuyu shot Ye Qishuang a cold glance, then, without hesitation, waved his hand. Two substitute disciples immediately rushed into the Falling Immortal Dense Forest.
…
Within the dense forest, Qiu Qianyue appeared quite leisurely, strolling through the scenery and breathing in the fragrant air mixed with floral scents. After all, she was only facing a group of trash she didn’t take seriously. It would be too much of an overreaction to treat them with full force.
“Bastard!”
A furious roar echoed. A Nine Prisons Mansion disciple, whose identity token had already been destroyed, still attempted to attack. Qiu Qianyue immediately lunged forward and with a single finger, froze the disciple in place. She said coldly, “Victory should be won beautifully. Don’t break the rules and make this Female Hero lose face.”
The Nine Prisons Mansion disciple’s face instantly turned pale. He pleaded, “Di-disciple admits his mistake. I beg the Heroine for mercy.”
“Scram,” Qiu Qianyue said, showing no mercy.
The Nine Prisons Mansion disciple, terrified, scrambled away with his hands covering his head. Qiu Qianyue then turned her gaze to the short, red-haired figure not far away. She blinked her peach blossom eyes and smiled charmingly, “Little Sister, what did you think of my performance just now? Did it have a touch of hero saving the damsel?”
Chi Yuchao’s breath hitched, his eyes filled with shock. During his time in the Mystic Maiden Raksha Palace, everyone had only considered him a boy with a naturally short stature and a peculiar personality. Yet, this woman before him, just as Brother Qin had said, had seen through his true form without using any spiritual detection arts.
“What a joke…” Chi Yuchao gritted his teeth. “I hate it the most when people treat me like a woman!” As he spoke, an arm suddenly emerged from Chi Yuchao’s palm, lunging towards Qiu Qianyue with lightning speed.
However, Qiu Qianyue easily grabbed his wrist, unaffected by his Natal Spirit Tool. “What kind of weird thing is this? You’re clearly a woman, but suddenly you grow a man’s arm. This is truly annoying.” Qiu Qianyue frowned. With a gentle squeeze, the arm transformed from Chi Yuchao’s spirit tool shattered into pieces.
“Damn it.”
Chi Yuchao cursed, retreating rapidly. Remembering Qin Gou’s previous instructions, he fled without looking back. But directly in his path, he saw Qiu Qianyue standing there with a smile.
Qiu Qianyue shrugged helplessly. “Trying to outrun me? In this world, no one is better at running than this Female Hero. Just like my Second Senior Sister, she was so angry just now that she wanted to hang me up and beat me, but she couldn’t. Even a Dharma Aspect True Person can’t catch me.”
“So, Little Sister, why don’t you stay and have some fun with me?” As she spoke, Qiu Qianyue’s eyes became more fervent, and she let out an evil smile.
Chi Yuchao was dumbfounded. At this moment, he finally understood the true meaning of Qin Gou’s words. From the smile of this beautiful woman, he felt a hint of lecherousness. This sent chills down the spine of Chi Yuchao, who had always considered himself a tough guy from Blood Drinking Slope.
“I surrender!” Chi Yuchao crushed his identity token.
Simultaneously, outside the Falling Immortal Dense Forest.
“Ding. New mission ‘Outsmarting the Plague God’ has been published. Host must, without revealing the identity of the Celestial Master of Arc-Moon Mountain and without using their authority to pressure the opponent, force ‘Perfume Stealing Demoness’ Qiu Qianyue to retreat. Reward: 300 Merit points, one lottery draw. Time limit: two hours. Failure to complete the mission will result in a penalty of 1000 Merit points and a reduction in height by ten centimeters.”
Upon hearing this, Qin Gou’s expression remained unchanged, and he calmly stated, “I accept the challenge!”
If it were another target, Qin Gou might have to rack his brains for a strategy. But dealing with ‘Qian Yue’ was a piece of cake. It was just that he couldn’t use his Master’s identity to scare her? What was so difficult about that? As a man who had once cut Qiu Qianyue’s long hair, causing her to cherish that short-haired image to this day, he, Qin Gou, naturally had a hundred ways to turn ‘Qian Yue’ back into that pitiful little crybaby.
Although Qiu Qianyue had listened to her Master this time and didn’t repeat her foolish act of forcibly abducting girls, she had inadvertently blocked her Master’s path again. It seemed he would have to use all the new magical methods he had learned to settle both old and new scores.
