Chapter 17: The Rules Within Fangcun |
“Bitch!” Fang Xun’s eyes turned bloodshot, an uncontrollable killing intent surging within them.
“Why aren’t you taking her down immediately?!”
“This…” Wu Kuang hesitated, his expression troubled as if he wanted to speak but didn’t dare.
He glanced at Fang Xun, who was on the verge of erupting, swallowed hard, and replied shakily, “Sir, ever since Yu Niang entered the city, she’s been telling everyone she’s carrying your child. By now, this matter has probably spread throughout the entire county.”
Fang Xun felt his mind buzz violently as darkness crept into his vision. Furious and humiliated, he raised his hand and slapped Wu Kuang hard across the face.
The force of the blow sent the unprepared Wu Kuang staggering, nearly collapsing to the ground.
“You useless fool! Why didn’t you stop her?!”
Clutching his face, Wu Kuang replied bitterly, “This… who would dare use force? She’s heavily pregnant. If the men were even slightly rough and harmed your bloodline…”
Bang!
“What nonsense about my bloodline! When I saw that woman last month, her stomach was still flat. It’s only been a few days. How could she possibly be showing already?!”
At this point, Fang Xun’s voice suddenly halted.
As if realizing something, he abruptly calmed down.
After a long pause, he ground his teeth and forced out a few words, “A Yin-Yang secret technique… concealing essence within the body, waiting for the right moment to manifest.”
“I’ve truly underestimated that woman!”
Fang Xun took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
He suddenly realized that ever since he had achieved great merit in suppressing the recent rebellion and was about to be transferred back to the Sacred Capital for promotion, he had grown somewhat complacent.
The calm and steady mindset he had honed while struggling through the lower ranks of officialdom had quietly vanished. His emotions had become volatile, easily swayed. Worse still, he had even let lust cloud his judgment and dared to set his sights on the exalted Marquis of Changle.
Now, Yu Niang’s sudden appearance was like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, jolting him awake and dragging him back to reality.
At this moment, he could no longer afford to think about currying favor with the Marquis or seeking greater advancement.
“Before the transfer order is issued next spring, my reputation must remain flawless. There cannot be even the slightest mistake in my promotion. Otherwise…”
“Twenty-seven years of waiting will shatter in an instant.”
“Not only will my promotion be lost, but even my master will never forgive me.”
…
After a long while, Fang Xun opened his eyes again. The aura around him had completely returned to its usual cold and composed state.
Gritting his teeth, he enunciated each word clearly, “Go and invite Yu Niang into the residence at once… and treat her well.”
Wu Kuang endured the pain wracking his body, lowered his head, and withdrew to carry out the order.
Yu Niang’s sudden appearance in Lengshan County, visibly pregnant, stirred quite a commotion.
Naturally, Li Shun also took notice.
“That woman is still alive? She’s been missing for over half a month. I thought Fang Xun had already silenced her.”
“Now she shows up so brazenly, even deliberately causing such a stir. What exactly is she trying to do?”
“She can’t seriously think that just because of the child in her belly, Fang Xun wouldn’t dare touch her, right?”
After pondering it repeatedly, Li Shun still couldn’t make sense of her intentions.
Since he couldn’t figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it.
He gathered his thoughts and shifted his full attention back to the nearly completed new region within the [Fangcun] space inside his body.
After days of relentless, tireless effort, this brand-new area had gradually shed its illusory nature and was now almost fully formed.
Li Shun also noticed that the white mist at the edges of the space, which had once churned like a raging sea, was now growing increasingly calm. When he tried to push it with his divine sense, it became more and more difficult.
“The expansion… is nearing its current limit,” Li Shun realized inwardly.
“I just don’t know what exactly governs these changes in the white mist…”
When the final region was opened, the boundless white mist surrounding it completely solidified, turning once more into an impenetrable barrier. It forcibly repelled Li Shun’s probing consciousness, preventing him from exploring any further.
His awareness hovered in midair as he silently observed the newly formed fourth region within the Fangcun space.
It stood alone, suspended along the outer perimeter of the three central core regions.
Although all four regions were connected, this newly opened one was clearly of a lower tier.
Fortunately, in terms of sheer size, it was nearly identical to the first three.
As Li Shun’s divine sense slowly flowed through the area, a flood of ancient and obscure information surfaced within his mind.
“Now that Fangcun has expanded, from this day forward, this new land may, like the previous three regions, house both people and objects.”
“The rules for taking in living beings and refining them into puppets are divided into two methods: ‘Active’ and ‘Passive.’”
“The so-called Active method requires the target to willingly accept, without the slightest resistance, being drawn into this Fangcun space and turned into a puppet. Moreover, the process is not instantaneous. It is as slow and despairing as watching oneself gradually sink from the surface into a bottomless ocean. During this time, the target must not resist in the slightest. Otherwise, all efforts will be for nothing.”
Li Shun frowned deeply. “These conditions are far too harsh. In reality, it’s almost impossible to achieve.”
“The Passive method, however, is much simpler.”
“As long as I personally kill someone in the real world, at the very moment their body dies and their soul dissipates, I can forcibly draw their remains and lingering will into Fangcun and refine them into a puppet.”
After sorting through this information, Li Shun’s gaze swept slowly across the three existing puppets within the space, and understanding dawned on him.
In truth, Li Shun had long been puzzled by the origins of the three puppets already present within this space.
The two mysterious, damaged stone statues aside, why was there a puppet of ‘Li Shun himself’, identical to his current physical body?
He had always harbored a vague suspicion, but lacked confirmation.
Only today, after personally opening this new region and comprehending the rules of puppet assimilation, was that suspicion finally verified.
“I transmigrated here and took over this body. That is no different from killing its original owner. That must be why this ‘Li Shun’ exists here as a puppet. In that sense, he is the first and only person I have ever killed.”
Li Shun stared at the puppet figure before him, currently frozen in place due to being sent out to dig tunnels. Yet there was little emotional turbulence in his heart.
“As for those other two mysterious statues…”
“Perhaps they entered Fangcun through the Active method.”
A glint flickered in his eyes.
“If that’s the case, then I must have possessed this Fangcun space long before I ever took over Li Shun’s body. As for what exactly happened after my transmigration, how I came to carry such a treasure, and how I encountered those two statues…”
No matter how much he searched his memories, he found nothing.
In the end, he could only set the matter aside.
“Additionally, since the first two cycles of Threefold Self-Reflection are illusory, even if I kill someone during that time, I cannot successfully collect them as a puppet. Only in the third cycle can the conditions truly be fulfilled.”
This was something Li Shun had already anticipated.
From past experience, nothing tangible from the first two cycles could be retained within Fangcun.
Only intangible “information” could persist.
“The new region has been opened, but I still haven’t found a suitable target for a new puppet.”
“First, the choice must be made with extreme caution. After all, I only have this one available slot. Ideally, the puppet should greatly improve my current situation.”
“Second, persuading someone to willingly become my puppet is nearly impossible. As for the passive method…”
“In reality, I lack even the strength to truss a chicken. Those I can kill are useless to me. Those useful to me, I cannot kill.”
“I’m afraid the only option… is something like seizing the opportunity with Lengshan Venerable…”
“To fish in troubled waters and snatch victory from the flames.”
Li Shun’s thoughts surged endlessly, refusing to settle for a long time.