Isn't This a Game? Why Are You All Cultivating for Real!

Chapter 177: Chapter 177: Misconception

The main courtyard wasn’t very large.

As she moved away from the battlefield, blurry images began to appear before her eyes.

It was the scorpion’s point of view. Through its eyes, she saw a woman swinging a large hammer, smashing things over and over.

The first-person perspective through the scorpion was incredibly immersive. If not for her Cultivation, the constantly shaking viewpoint alone would have made a normal person throw up by now.

As the scorpion flew toward a secluded courtyard near the main one, the image in Song Jiulai’s mind grew clearer.

She could finally see the woman in her vision clearly.

It was really Little Cui.

Gone was the gentle, calm demeanor she’d shown the guests two days prior. Instead, her face was contorted with rage as she swung a large hammer, smashing everything in sight.

It was obvious what she was trying to smash.

Strangely, aside from Little Cui, Song Jiulai didn’t see any other servants.

She remembered the Qin Mansion having plenty of staff. ’Are they really just NPCs? Did they all just despawn once the battle started?’

As Song Jiulai rushed into Little Cui’s courtyard and was about to land, Little Cui, who had been on the ground chasing the scorpion, seemed to sense something. She looked up. The moment she saw Song Jiulai, a trace of terror flickered in her ferocious eyes.

"You... How did you...?"

Clearly, even she found Song Jiulai’s appearance here unbelievable.

At that very moment, the scorpion seized the opportunity and lunged for Little Cui’s wrist.

Its tail jabbed forward, and Little Cui shrieked again.

As her hand swatted down, the scorpion knew to quit while it was ahead. Stinging her just once, it didn’t linger for a second, immediately darting back to Song Jiulai’s side.

Its speed was astonishingly fast, no slower than that of cultivators like Song Jiulai.

But the moment it landed back on Song Jiulai’s wrist, it plopped down and stayed perfectly still.

Song Jiulai heard its thoughts.

’Hehehehe... so tasty...’

Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought it had just tasted some exquisite delicacy.

"..."

Little Cui stared at Song Jiulai, her eyes wide.

"This wretched beast! I knew you were the one who brought it in!"

After landing, Song Jiulai hesitated for a moment. "This is hard to explain, but I don’t really have much to do with it. If you’re really that angry, I suppose I could hand it over for you to deal with..."

The system chose that moment to pop up and act like a meddlesome parent. "How could you treat your child like that? It’s just a baby!"

Song Jiulai gritted her teeth. "When I’m in a fight, you keep your mouth shut!"

System: "Fine."

Little Cui stared at Song Jiulai for two seconds, the ferocious look in her eyes gradually subsiding.

But her expression slowly turned grim. "How did you get in here?"

"Huh?"

Song Jiulai realized that she, just like Xu Qingchuan, was fixated on the same question.

The thing was, Song Jiulai didn’t understand the mechanics of this little world either.

In fact, she had no idea how she’d gotten in herself.

’Was I supposed to be on the outside?’

Song Jiulai blinked. "Would you believe me if I said I didn’t know?"

Little Cui’s lips curved into a strange smile. "I never thought you’d find a way in. You’re much smarter than the others before you."

Song Jiulai: "Huh? Wha? I... well, no... I mean, yes! I am just that smart!"

System: "Tsk."

Although Little Cui was smiling, Song Jiulai could clearly feel a sinister energy stirring in the air.

Little Cui’s once-delicate face suddenly contorted. Her normal eyes transformed in an instant—the black of her pupils vanished, leaving them pure white.

Song Jiulai paled in shock. "A Pupil Skill! Fire Shadow Ninja!"

System: "..."

Unfortunately, Little Cui was clearly not of that school. The moment her eyes changed, the environment warped, and in a flash, the sun and moon disappeared.

Song Jiulai felt as if she had been dragged into some sort of Illusion Realm, where only black and white remained.

The world had lost all its color; only Song Jiulai herself remained vibrant.

She saw a black-and-white Little Cui walking slowly before her, murmuring, "I once hated him, but he also raised me. I revered him as a father, and he treated me like his own daughter. I wanted him to have a peaceful death, but I couldn’t bring myself to be cruel."

"I did all sorts of evil for him, but when I saw those women crying in despair before me, my heart would soften. I don’t know if I am right or wrong..."

"CRACKLE..."

Before she could finish, a bolt of Palm Thunder struck her from above.

It was a direct hit.

She didn’t even react, only stuttering for a moment before looking at Song Jiulai in disbelief.

Song Jiulai muttered, "I was just testing to see if I still could... Besides, were you planning on not attacking me after you finished your monologue?"

Little Cui gave a sinister smile.

With a single lift of her hand, a fierce gale instantly swept through the courtyard.

The scenery in her courtyard had been lovely; it was originally a yard brimming with clusters of flowers.

A unique beauty.

Now that it was black and white, with a wave of her hand, Song Jiulai saw several flowers suddenly regain their original colors.

But after their rich colors returned, the flowers rapidly swelled. Their petals flew out in swarms, forming a flowery path that shot toward Song Jiulai.

Normally, Song Jiulai wouldn’t mind walking down a path of flowers.

But not this one.

She had a feeling that if this path of flowers so much as touched her, she’d be dead.

She immediately flew into the sky to evade it.

She hadn’t expected the path of flowers to follow her into the sky, latching onto her like a serpent, refusing to let go.

Song Jiulai unleashed Palm Thunder to scatter the path of flowers, but it had little effect.

The petals would scatter and then quickly regroup, so she changed tactics, using the Ice Blade technique she had learned from Jin Shu.

She hadn’t been practicing Ice Blade for long, but she was proficient enough.

Five Ice Blades shot down, and nearly all the petals they touched were frozen solid.

Following up with a bolt of Palm Thunder, she shattered them to pieces.

This combo move was somewhat effective; at least it could truly destroy the petals.

Little Cui’s figure remained on the ground. Her black-and-white form drifted through the equally monochrome world, flickering in and out of sight like a specter.

She gave a cold smile and, with a flick of her fingers, dozens more flowers instantly burst into brilliant color.

This time, a pear blossom tree in the courtyard was included.

The pear blossoms were in full bloom. Upon regaining their color, the tree swelled, and dozens of branches whipped toward her in a dense, overwhelming barrage that made Song Jiulai’s eyelids twitch.

She began to unleash Palm Thunder even more frequently.

Fire overcomes wood.

This time, Song Jiulai also interspersed her attacks with the Fireball Technique. Although her forcibly raised Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation felt a bit clumsy, its power was undeniably greater.

At the very least, the results were decent, inflicting considerable damage on the pear tree.

Over here, she was unleashing a spectacular barrage of lightning, Ice Blades, and Fireball Techniques in an incredible battle.

Meanwhile, Xu Qingchuan, who was fighting Qin Yongkang, noticed the commotion and was momentarily stunned.

That... that was the servant girls’ quarters.

’Who is she fighting?’

’Didn’t everyone but Qin Yongkang disappear?’

’Isn’t Qin Yongkang the only one we’re supposed to deal with in this little world?’

Of course, they had suspected there was something wrong with Little Cui. After all, she was the only person in this little world who was so intimately connected to Qin Yongkang and who constantly appeared in public.

For the first three days, they couldn’t enter the main courtyards of the Qin Mansion, so they couldn’t see Qin Yongkang.

With that restriction hanging over them, their attention was naturally focused solely on Qin Yongkang.

And on the final day, everyone else would disappear. The fellow disciples from his sect who had cleared this little world before told him that in the end, they only ever faced Qin Yongkang...

No, that’s not right!

In a flash, Xu Qingchuan’s expression suddenly changed!

They had fallen into a trap!