CHAPTER 139: CHAPTER 139 OUTER WORLD TOWN

No matter how the palace attendants swore, Daji was unafraid.

If there were truly such things as karmic retribution, she would have died eight hundred times already.

She thought to herself, these mere mortals, facing their deaths yet still making arrogant claims, don’t they see under whose authority they stand and whose orders they follow here?

King Zhou saw the palace attendants fall into the pit, where hungry snakes coiled around them, biting at their skin, burrowing into their bellies, causing immense pain.

Daji watched, laughing joyfully, and softly said: "These rebels dare to insult Your Majesty. Without such harsh punishments, how could the palace walls be intimidated?"

King Zhou, having witnessed the venomous basin, felt delighted and said with a laugh, "The method of my beloved wife is ineffable."

Laughter echoed from the Star Pick Building, but the palace attendants watching were utterly terrified.

Standing close by, Mo Lishou was peeking at Daji’s exposed fragrant shoulder earlier.

Daji noticed but merely cast him an alluring glance, causing even his deeply trained self to feel his large body grow soft for a moment, awkwardly stepping a few paces toward the balcony’s edge.

Lowering his head, he saw the bloody, brutal scene in the venomous basin below the Star Pick Building, and his amorous impulses vanished instantly.

Mo Lishou was trained by the Buddhist sect, yet he had been fighting in the formations for years, a warrior who emerged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, having seen scenes ten times more brutal than this.

But whether killing on the battlefield or feeding human flesh to the Flower Fox Mink in his hand, it was never for amusement.

Now looking at Daji and King Zhou, Mo Lishou felt a chill in his heart, silently thinking: "Truly heartless like snakes and scorpions, worse than beasts."

At this time, he heard Daji say again: "Your Majesty, you could issue another decree, digging a pond on the left of the venomous basin and a marsh on the right. In the pond, pile up wine dregs into a mountain, and fill the marsh with wine. Adorn the wine dreg mountain with branches, hanging thin slices of meat on them, this is called a ’Meat Forest.’ Fill the right with wine, and it’s called the ’Wine Sea.’ The Emperor, being wealthy enough to rule the Four Seas, should enjoy boundless riches. This Meat Forest and Wine Sea are not for those who are not of imperial status to enjoy casually."

King Zhou and Daji devised all means for pleasure and merriment.

Over at Nezha’s end, he was already exhausted and drenched in sweat along with seventy-two palace maids.

Qiu Chuyao panted, those delicate, jade-like hands soaking a towel in a bucket of cold water, wringing it dry with effort before handing it up to Nezha.

She glanced again at the five fairies moving earth and leveling the ground in the distance, her cute face blooming with a smile.

"I already said, while we may not have your strength, we’re not those pampered young ladies who can’t carry or lift anything, we can certainly do the work."

Nezha took the towel, wiped his sweaty face, and with one hand, he smashed a column weighing thousands of pounds into the ground with a punch.

The powerful force under his precise control transferred through the wood into the soil, without damaging the wood, while turning the dirt into finer dust.

"Of course, women hold up half the sky."

He turned to see girls weaving and embroidering while cooking, and suddenly felt that as long as the house was built, in such a blessed and sacred place, they could live well by themselves.

Nezha’s punch on the wood also struck a chord in Qiu Chuyao’s heart.

She trembled slightly as she watched the young, elegant boy above on the ladder, dripping with sweat, his body strong and dragon-like, and who would know that this was merely an eight-year-old child, as her heart had long been entangled with him.

"Women hold up half the sky?"

Qiu Chuyao repeated Nezha’s words, covering her mouth with a laugh, and said, "That won’t do, if the sky truly falls one day, it will still be up to you tall ones to hold it up, and we’ll just wait to cook for you when you come back."

Not just cooking, but warming the bed too.

A gentle breeze carried the scent of flowers, and bird songs reached his ears, and Nezha sighed, saying with a smile: "Don’t underestimate yourself, I met a little girl determined to be a female general at Sanshan Pass not long ago."

"Yes, indeed, there are a few formidable female generals in the court, but I know that’s not my destiny. Though I can’t fight, my mind is quite sharp, very adept at managing households."

At these words, Nezha suddenly recalled a saying: When a woman starts to boast about her wisdom to you, it’s a sign she’s taken a liking to you.

He was slightly taken aback, glanced sideways at Qiu Chuyao.

She was seventeen this year, grown into a young lady, her beauty even among these fair palace maids was exceptional.

Nezha chuckled, shaking his head, thinking it must be his overthinking, what right did he have.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, just remembered something happy."

"Come on, tell me."

"Did you see that little Lv Zhu’er teaching the girls how to cook fish soup over there?"

"I saw her." Qiu Chuyao turned her head, seeing the little girl running around among the older girls, appearing even more sensible than palace maids ten years her senior, "She’s such an adorable little girl, what’s up with her?"

"Oh, this morning she wet the bed."

Nezha mused to himself, yes, the beauty of new life, to have a little girl still wetting the bed undergo monotonous cultivation, becoming a stern, humorless Daoist, how utterly cruel.

So Qiu Chuyao laughed too, her laughter sounded much more pleasing than Nezha’s.

Though Nezha had immense strength, when it came to building houses, he was not as skilled as the five fairies.

Extracting stone and felling trees from the mountains, transporting them here, toiling day and night, Nezha did as they suggested, spending money to buy a great deal of bricks and tiles from far away from Zhaoge.

In less than half a month, an antique-style small town had sprung up on the vast grassland.

Not far from the town was a riverside flatland.

The girls led the cattle, pulling plows, rolling their pants up to their thighs, working barefoot in the soil, sweating and tilling.

They were more exhausted than before, yet happier than ever.

As palace maids who grew up in the Imperial Palace, each and every one of them was meticulously selected from head to toe, from appearance to deportment.

In her kindness, Empress Jiang ensured their days with her were happy, but they had never experienced such freedom as now.

The small world now buzzed with the girls’ bell-like laughter, making it even more vibrant.

"What do you wish to name this town?"

Nezha thought for a moment, mischievously said, "Let’s call it Outer World Town, as they say: A secluded paradise is hard to find, laughter rings often in the Outer World."

It took half a month to build Outer World Town.

However, it took only ten days to construct the Wine Pond Meat Forest.

Thus, having left the Star Pick Building, the palace’s feasting venue changed to here.

In the palace, Mo Lishou released the Flower Fox Mink, man and beast, holding beauties, drinking and eating meat.

Though life was good, it also bred ennui, causing him to again yearn for his days of cultivation at Jiameng Pass with his three senior brothers.

Not far away, King Zhou was drinking.

Daji suddenly said: "The sounds of music are too mundane, the singing is mediocre, truly unfit for this opulent place. I have an idea, why not issue a decree, having the palace maids and eunuchs strip and wrestle here, rewarding the winner with fine wine from the Wine Pond, and labeling the loser as a useless waste, disgracing the Emperor’s presence, thus deserving to be crushed under the Golden Gourd and thrown into the stone trough."

At those words, Mo Lishou nearly spat out his drink.

He thought, how could King Zhou possibly agree to such an outrageous demand, and this Fox Demon had become too rampant, as Empress, being above everyone isn’t enough, yet still desires to cultivate demonic power to the heavens?

It turns out Daji used her demonic power to bewitch King Zhou every day, gradually weakening his cultivation.

She planned that every night around the third watch, she would reveal her true form to consume the deceased palace attendants in the stone trough, using their blood to nourish her Demon Qi.

But King Zhou, at this point, had already drunk heavily, and even if not intoxicated, he was lost in the realms of sensuality, agreeing to whatever Daji said.

...

It is said that Spirit Pearl had already formed a Golden Core and was summoned back to Qianyuan Mountain Golden Light Cave to pay respects to his master.

Taiyi Zhenren saw his displeased expression, calculated with his fingers, and instantly understood the cause.

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