Chapter 133: Chapter 115: Surprise Cage
Four figures chattered away as they walked toward the Zheng Residence.
They were none other than Zizi, Lily, Pingping, and Bobo.
Two of them wore black clothes, and two wore white clothes.
No one knew that "Black and White Impermanence" were actually two pairs of young women.
As they walked, the four began to strip off their outfits. It turned out the black and white clothes they wore on the outside were just a thin layer of paper, with other clothes worn underneath.
Shortly after the paper clothes hit the ground, they bizarrely burst into green flames. In the blink of an eye, they were burned to nothing, not even leaving ash behind.
Someone let them into the city. The four of them returned to the Zheng Residence as if nothing had happened.
"Lily, next time, can you please not make my voice sound so creepy and weird?" Zizi complained. "What if the Master hears it and thinks we’re bad girls?"
"If it’s not creepy, how are we supposed to scare him? Stop talking nonsense. Hurry up, we don’t have much time."
Jing Xuemei’s expression was calm, unruffled by the events unfolding. In fact, this wasn’t their first job. By day, they’d find the Master to have a "party" and cultivate in the dungeon. Once they had a target, they would play the part of the "Soul Detaining Envoys" and lure out a Human Soul. Their days were simple yet fulfilling.
Pingping sighed with emotion. "I never thought Grandpa Gui from the papercraft shop was hiding such incredible skills."
Lily covered her mouth and chuckled. "The Gui Family has been Paper Mache Craftsmen for generations. It’s not surprising."
They entered the second basement level through a hidden door behind the rockery.
The first thing that greeted their eyes was a terrifying, bare-chested man wearing a black iron mask.
"Heheheh—"
The man playing his part in the Eternal Purgatory was, naturally, Scarface Liu.
"Quick, quick! My four concubines, Sixth Brother can’t wait any longer!"
Scarface Liu was clever enough to call the four women "concubines." He could tell from a single glance that the way they looked at Master Zheng wasn’t quite right. Adding that to the rumors he’d heard around the Zheng Residence, calling them concubines was definitely the right move.
Sure enough, the first time he called them concubines, the four shy girls blushed and told Scarface Liu to stop talking nonsense. The second time, they still shyly told him not to be ridiculous. By the third time, they just blushed, smiled, and answered with a cheerful, "Okay!"
Inside the second basement level, the atmosphere was grim. Narrow, damp cages were filled with all sorts of paper mache figures.
The paper mache figures were life-sized. A single glance revealed a dungeon full of deathly pale "paper people." Anyone who walked in would feel their skin crawl.
Scarface Liu, however, was like a fish back in water, completely in his element. His voice was filled with excitement.
Scarface Liu rubbed his palms together. "How~ should~ we~ prepare~ him?"
His voice trembled, drawing out each word.
Zizi smiled. "This guy’s a menace, a real piece of scum. He’s got four lives on his hands." Zizi started counting on her fingers. "According to the ’rules,’ we need the bronze Pillar, the oil cauldron, and the grindstone. For the rest, Sixth Brother, you can improvise. Grandpa Gui sent over plenty of paper mache props this morning."
Master Rong Si felt like he was having a dream.
He groggily opened his eyes.
He couldn’t move.
He couldn’t speak.
He looked down and his soul nearly flew from his body in terror—he was submerged in a cauldron of boiling oil.
The searing pain instantly snapped him awake. The agony coursing through his entire body was so real it made him realize the oil cauldron before him was no dream.
"AHHHH—"
Master Rong Si let out a bloodcurdling scream, but the sound that came out was in a different tone.
What he couldn’t see was that the facial features of the paper mache figure were twisted in agony, shockingly lifelike.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG.
A bare-chested man with an iron mask walked in, a sinister grin on his face, carrying a large ladle.
"Welcome to... Eternal Purgatory! Gyeheheheh—"
"Time for a dip in the oil!"
"AHHHHHHH—"
...
「Earlier that day.」
Once the arrangements were made, Zheng Xiu didn’t need to get his own hands dirty.
He set the rules and he provided the money. He was like a diligent farmer sowing seeds, paying others to till the fields. All he had to do was wait for the autumn harvest.
The people in charge of each step had each conveniently received a few "rules." Zheng Xiu was eager to see if new Miracle Techniques would be derived when these were finally integrated with the original rules.
He now understood that rules weren’t rigid. Different rules could lead different people to the same Path, and the same rules could allow one person to develop a completely different style.
’The same goes for Restrictions.’
After bathing and changing his clothes, Zheng Xiu felt refreshed, the fatigue on his face completely gone.
He took some time to let the "young master" make an appearance and copied two books.
Then he spent a little more time in the dungeon painting a piece called *Feng Bei’s Dazed Map*.
[You have expressed your feelings freely, full of emotion. Your brushstrokes are poetic, and the beauty is lifelike. Your Danqing Painting Skill experience has received a thin increase.]
All done. Time to clock out.
Zheng Xiu put down his brush and let out a long sigh. ’I’m so busy,’ he thought.
He had originally planned to have "Zheng Baimei" make his debut, acknowledge his "grandson," and then openly practice his swordsmanship in the Zheng Residence courtyard. But his date with Feng Bei, on the other hand, made him realize he simply didn’t have time to grind a third alt account.
Just then, Zheng Xiu noticed the Sculptor’s Engraving Knife on his desk and froze.
’Wait a minute. The Mighty Painter can still get Experience Value from painting Feng Bei, which means I can keep farming this EXP pack. But the progress is a bit slow. Maybe it’s not that the Treasure Queen is lacking, but that my method is wrong? I need to come up with something new?’ Zheng Xiu looked at the Engraving Knife from the Knife Seller, and inspiration struck. He slapped his forehead. ’Why not try a different position? For example... carving a "Feng Bei"?’
’It’s all art, so it should be... more or less the same, right?’
No sooner said than done. He had someone urgently purchase a batch of high-quality boxwood blanks, and then Zheng Xiu hurried into the dungeon.
You have to be well-prepared for things to be twice as effective. The idea of "carving Feng Bei" would have to wait until the next time he did his Painter daily quests.
