Chapter 44
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Chapter 44: Changing Appearances
Cheng Yuyan was bursting with words today, ready to spill them all out.
“I hate it! My father, to please the National Master, makes me serve him like a dog. But that guy is not even human; he takes pleasure in torturing people. Think of me, Cheng Yuyan, with my beauty and status! Just because he is more powerful, he can carve one wound after another on the face of a princess and sprinkle all sorts of poisons, commanding that the poison must not be cured. For these past years, you have no idea how I have endured. Every midnight, I wished I could just die! If it weren’t for seeing hope in you, I would have preferred to end it all!”
“Qianyun! Thank the heavens for giving you this beautiful face! If it weren’t for your beauty, how could I have schemed to bring your whole family to ruin just to make you marry a dead man I’ve only met twice?”
“Haha, don’t be surprised. The prince has died, but there’s still a chance for resurrection. When he awakens, he will be able to command the winds and rain, and I will replace you as his princess.”
“I was supposed to wait another six months, but the infuriating little brat from the Jade Symbol Sect ruined my flawless plan. He… he lured the sect’s law elder out and traced things back to the water prison. I didn’t just get scolded; I was ordered back to the sect to face the wall in shame.”
“Bullcrap, it’s all nonsense! What’s a sect if it can’t protect its own disciples?”
“A decree from the National Master means no one in the sect dares to cure my poison, and the poison keeps getting deeper. If I don’t cut out the flesh and scrape the bones, I’ll become a poisoned person.”
“Qianyun, do you want to see my current appearance?”
Cheng Yuyan chuckled madly, “Don’t be angry; once you see my face, you’ll feel a sense of relief! Of course, it’s better not to see it. After all, you’re a loyal girl sent to the wilderness, some will die, some will escape; what’s left for you to live for?”
Her gaze was wild, her words frantic.
Cheng Yuyan admitted she had gone mad; there was no way to avoid it. The poison had tormented her for years. She used to be kind and gentle, but good people were not rewarded, and those who were the most hateful, the cruelest, lived well. She wanted to be one of them.
Mu Qianyun bit her lip, slowly backing away.
In such a moment, the only comfort she felt was having someone stand behind her.
With the atmosphere so tense, an unexpected guest barged in, trotting up the stairs, calling out, “Master, I’m back! What are we having for lunch?”
“Bilu!” Mu Qianyun felt a surge of panic, fearing Bilu would run into Li Hui or that Cheng Yuyan might silence Bilu.
Cheng Yuyan smiled slightly at Bilu, who entered the room, saying, “Good timing! Have you mastered the knife techniques I taught you? There’s only one chance, and you must not ruin the texture of Qianyun’s beautiful face; otherwise, you know the consequences.”
Bilu didn’t seem surprised by Cheng Yuyan’s appearance. Hearing this, she quickly knelt and vowed, “I, Bilu, swear to perfectly remove my master’s face. For two years, I practiced on those people, come rain or shine, with two medical knives now at my command.”
“You…” Mu Qianyun trembled, feeling a wave of cold wash over her. She couldn’t imagine what Cheng Yuyan had done or understand who her maid had practiced on.
“Good, move quickly. I will anesthetize myself. My cultivation may be blocked, but it will only take a moment to kill you.” This statement made Bilu shudder, trying to dispel the cold but not daring to.
“That won’t happen. Bilu only has one master, which is you, and Mu Qianyun is merely a substitute sent by heaven for you.” Bilu said quickly, pressing hard under the imperial concubine chair.
With a “click,” the chair quickly flattened, wide enough for two people to lay upon.
Mu Qianyun couldn’t believe that the chair she lounged in daily was actually a guillotine prepared for her.
Cheng Yuyan nodded, “Right, you’re quite a little girl who knows how to win favor. Mu Qianyun is indeed a gift from heaven for me.”
Bilu moved closer, holding Mu Qianyun’s fragile neck, her face twisted with malice. She drew out a long silver needle from her sleeve and gently stabbed it under Mu Qianyun’s jaw.
Mu Qianyun felt as if she was falling into a cloud; her legs turned weak and unsteady. She had no time to ponder why Li Hui wasn’t coming out or to reflect on past moments. Before losing consciousness, she gazed at Cheng Yuyan, hoping to find even a glimpse of past kindness in her eyes. But disappointment was certain—those eyes held only madness and hatred. “Some people are so cold-blooded that even their lowliness has no limits!” This was Mu Qianyun’s last words to Bilu.
Bilu, Cold Smile, didn’t take her words to heart. She only thought Mu Qianyun was being pretentious, having been a young lady for too long, unaware of how cruel the world truly was.
Cheng Yuyan lay back, pulling out a pack of silver needles. With meticulous care, she inserted them around her mask, then took a deep breath and murmured, “Only by perfectly removing my face can I recover. Afterwards, I can abandon the identity of Cheng Yuyan and use Mu Qianyun’s phoenix blood to revive the corpse underground. Haha, with the dragon vein and phoenix blood combined with that cursed dragon robe, I will surely create a Corpse Emperor, and then I will be the master of Haofu. It won’t be impossible to lead an army into other regions in the future, but the ancestor King of the White Sea lurks in the shadows…”
“Master, we must first scrape your face.” Bilu, wearing thin, gauzy gloves, glanced nervously at Cheng Yuyan.
“Don’t worry, I will use the Decaying Insect. You only need to maintain the blood vessels and carve the facial bones. Be steady. I swear on my heart of Dao that once this is accomplished, I will grant you endless glory and wealth for life.”
“Thank you for fulfilling this, Master!” Bilu was moved. She, though limited in knowledge, understood that a vow made with the heart of Dao was not to be taken lightly.
“Get ready…” Cheng Yuyan removed her mask to reveal a face seeping with pus, then took a bamboo tube from her waist, releasing twenty-eight bizarre insects, no larger than jujube pits, with white stripes on their backs onto her face.
These insects, driven by command, began to devour her flesh ravenously. Each one swallowed toxic flesh, swelling to the size of peach pits before falling dead to the ground.
All twenty-eight Decaying Insects died, perfectly consuming the poisonous flesh from Cheng Yuyan’s face. Just then, Bilu fell to the ground with a thud.
“You…” Cheng Yuyan was deeply shocked. Although she had prepared for emergencies, the drunkenness seemed to have taken deep root in Bilu; she fell asleep before she could do anything.
Li Hui stepped out, holding a jade tablet, which was the drunken talisman he had repaired. Wiping cold sweat from his brow, he muttered, “This jade tablet really activates too slowly. If there’s a benefit, it’s that it’s subtle enough. Perhaps it would work wonders when combined with an infatuation talisman. I wonder where the Hidden Sky Sect got this jade tablet.”
He approached the imperial concubine chair, looking at the unconscious Mu Qianyun and then at Cheng Yuyan, whose bones were exposed. He sighed, “Those who do more evil must bring about their own demise! Since you want to become Mu Qianyun so desperately, I’ll let you replace her.”
