Chapter 2382 - Refusing to Give Up

The one who’d tumbled to the ground was a battered remnant of soul. He was elderly, hunchbacked, and dwarflike.

This was none other than the old hunchback!

He was an old-timer of the same age as Gu Huaxian, an existence who’d touched the threshold of the River of Destiny. He was even mightier than Nine-Tribulation Master Gods!

Everyone knew that the old hunchback had died a brutal death beneath Su Yi’s rusted sword sheath. This incident had shaken the entire God Domain, striking fear into the hearts of countless old-timers.

Who could have imagined that the old hunchback would appear again today? He... was still alive!

This came as an enormous shock to Gu Huaxian. She could no longer stay calm as she had before.

“Old Hunchback, were you the one who sold me out?” she said icily.

The old hunchback was in terrible condition. All that remained of him was a wisp of his soul, and Su Yi had obviously sealed him. He had none of the power and influence he’d had at his peak.

He glared resentfully at Gu Huaxian. “You didn’t come save me, so I had to save myself! Who’s the blame for that?”

Gu Huaxian’s expression shifted erratically.

Su Yi, meanwhile, glanced down at the old hunchback. “I hope you didn’t deceive me. If you did, you’ll lose even this last remaining wisp of soul.”

The old hunchback sighed. “Rest assured, Fellow Daoist. I’ve always believed in sharing both fortune and adversity, but after I was defeated, my allies are enjoying themselves without me. How could I possibly bear that?”

In other words, “I suffered, so I’m going to drag the rest of them down with me!”

“...” Everyone was at a loss for words.

Gu Huaxian scowled. “We had no idea that you were still alive.”

The old hunchback sneered. “Then why not try to avenge me?”

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Gu Huaxian’s brow furrowed.

“This

is why you betrayed me?”

The old hunchback sighed. “You couldn’t help me bear my misfortunes, so what right do you have to criticize me for selling you out?”

Gu Huaxian’s expression was increasingly unsightly.

Su Yi, meanwhile, grabbed the old hunchback’s soul and sealed it again.

“Now, it’s time you made your choice,” said Su Yi, looking at Gu Huaxian.

Lu Qingmei had been frantic with despair, but as she watched this exchange, she gradually calmed down.

When she gazed at Su Yi standing calmly in the distance with his hands behind his back, she couldn’t help but sigh to herself.

That man hasn’t changed. Even when the skies fall, he has means of propping them back up.

Every inch of him is full of contemptuous pride, like a ruler presiding over everything around him.

Yi Chen watched this all in a daze. His heart churned with emotion, too.

Gu Huaxian’s terrifyingness had filled both him and his mother with helplessness and despair, leaving them on the brink of mental collapse.

Gu Huaxian was heartless, indifferent, and mighty, like an unshakeable sovereign of the nine heavens.

But her cruelty was even more extraordinary! She had no humanity left whatsoever!

Prior to this, Yi Chen would never have imagined that someone capable of fighting a terrifying woman like her existed in this world.

Yet now, his stranger of a father had shaken Gu Huaxian with mere words, creating ripples of emotion in her previous unflappable calm. He’d obviously had an effect!

How could Yi Chen not be astonished? He suddenly realized on a visceral level that even after returning through the cycle of reincarnation, his father’s methods were far stronger than he could have imagined!

“That secret is the only thing you’re offering me, but you think that’s enough to make a deal with me?” said Gu Huaxian, her expression regaining its usual cold indifference. “Yi Daoxuan, don’t even try to scare me. Show me what you’ve got. Let’s see if you’re capable of forcing me to agree to your terms or not.”

She gripped Yi Chen, holding him aloft like a little chicken. “Why not see if you can save this son of yours first?”

“Your Excellency, that bitch is in need of a beating! I really want to slap her to death!” the River Child said with seething murderous intent. Gu Huaxian’s domineering attitude made him decidedly uncomfortable.

Su Yi laughed. “That old woman pursues the Dao of true heartlessness. She has no humanity left. When dealing with her, you can’t afford to lose your head.”

Old woman! A description like that would have been enough to infuriate most women.

But not Gu Huaxian. She just stood there calmly, entirely unmoved.

Su Yi didn’t waste time, either. He flipped his palm, and a talisman floated into the air. It erupted with dazzling divine radiance, which condensed into a scene——

A densely populated, prosperous city with streets so packed that the pedestrians’ shoulders rubbed together as they walked.

A thin man with graying temples and purple robes stood in front of a brothel. The brothel was called Spring in the Jade Tower, and women of all shapes and sizes stood by the railings.

Everyone who saw this was stunned.

A brothel?

In the eyes of those present, brothels were vulgar places common amidst the corruption of the world of red dust.

Who among those who’d achieved divinity was interested in prostitutes?

“Ee? That man with the sword on his back looks like Wan Zitian!” exclaimed Yu Xun. “Surely he isn’t trying to hire a hooker?”

Su Yi said calmly, “In this brothel, you can buy a night with your master for just ten silvers. Anyone who leaves might well have just ‘embraced’ your master.”

Yu Xun’s eyes bulged in astonishment.

Everyone had a strange look in their eyes as they glanced at Gu Huaxian.

Gu Huaxian remained as calm as ever, but her brow furrowed slightly. She said calmly, “Wan Zitian alone cannot possibly kill my Grand Dao Clone.”

Everyone was astonished. There was no doubt about it; Gu Huaxian was admitting it! One of her clones really did work in the brothel, Spring in the Jade Tower!

This was truly unbelievable. What kind of existence was Gu Huaxian? She’d reached the pinnacle of the God Domain and touched the threshold of the River of Destiny. She was even mightier than Nine-Tribulation Master Gods!

Who could have imagined that one of her clones was actually living in a mortal brothel?

And... according to Su Yi, her clone frequently accepted customers...

If word got out, who in the God Domain would believe it?

As her disciple, Yu Xun’s eyes widened, and his jaw hung slack. He couldn’t accept this so easily, let alone the others.

“I wouldn’t have asked Wan Zitian to locate your clone if I didn’t have means of destroying it,” said Su Yi. “Care to watch?”

“Why not?” Gu Huaxian’s eyes flashed.

Su Yi activated the secret talisman, then said, “Ol’ Wan, kill her!”

The Wan Zitian reflected on the curtain of light nodded, then strode into the brothel.

But then, Su Yi put the talisman away, and the curtain of light vanished.

“We’ll know what happened soon enough,” said Su Yi. He took a sip of wine. “We’ve still got plenty of time. No harm in waiting a bit.”

The River Child grinned. “So, the old woman’s actually a prostitute! Haha! She’s been ridden by a thousand, embraced by ten thousand, and kissed by multitudes!”

His words were barbed to the extreme. Yu Xun couldn’t help but be furious, his expression unsightly.

Gu Huaxian glanced at the River Child, then said, “The first of the five aggregates is the aggregate of form. It encompasses the senses, and manifests the ties of the six desires. Just as a bodhisattva cannot become a buddha without first entering hell, and I cannot sever the aggregate of form without entering the red dust of mundanity.”

She shook her head. “You’re a spirit of the natural order, not a person. You naturally have no way of understanding such things.

“Lowering yourself is lowering yourself, but you’re talking like it’s cultivating the Dao. Feh! Shameless!” sneered the River Child.

Gu Huaxian wasn’t upset. She just ignored him and looked at Su Yi. “That’s just one of my clones. Have you found any others?”

Su Yi could tell that she hadn’t given up yet!

“I have,” said Su Yi. He swung his sleeves, and three more curtains of light floated into view.

The first displayed an ancient sect.

The second, an imperial palace of the mundane world.

The third, a blood-soaked, tumultuous battlefield.

Three starkly different scenes, all of them far apart.

The onlookers’ expressions filled with bewilderment, while Gu Huaxian’s expression frosted over.

“In this world, two places are filthier than all the rest: imperial palaces and brothels,” said Su Yi. “And tempering oneself amidst life and death is best done on the battlefield.

“In the world of cultivation, you leave the world to cultivate, and enter it to temper ourselves amidst red dust.

“I’ve got to say, your hiding places were really hard to find, and entirely unexpected. No one would ever have imagined that you’d go to places like that in your pursuit of the Grand Dao.” Su Yi put away the talismans, then looked at Gu Huaxian. “What do you think of my offer now?”

The onlookers’ hearts churned.

Lu Qingmei’s expression was the most complicated: excitement, ruefulness, and grief...

All different, and all in abundance.

There was no doubt about it. After meeting his son, Yi Chen, Su Yi had begun preparing to defeat Gu Huaxian.

And now, he was revealing his hidden cards!

Gu Huaxian’s clones were hidden all over the God Domain. Anyone else would have struggled to find them all so quickly even if they knew their locations.

But Su Yi had done it, and moreover, he’d requested the aid of several experts. With their help, he was targeting all four at once!

Even if you searched the entire God Domain, you could count the people capable of this on your fingers.

Yi Chen was surprised too, to the point that he couldn’t find words to describe what he was feeling.

Yu Xun inwardly cried out in alarm. He realized how severe the situation was.

When he next looked at Gu Huaxian, he saw that her typical calm demeanor had broken down completely. Her expression was now extraordinarily dark and unsightly.

“Impressive! I wouldn’t have guessed it, but after all these years and your journey through the cycle of reincarnation, you really have changed! Sighed Gu Huaxian.

“I once told a junior that if you want to defeat the wicked, you have to be even more ruthless and evil than the evildoers,” Su Yi said calmly. “I’ll get even for everything you did to me back then. I won’t let a single one of you escape.”

Gu Huaxian laughed coldly. “But for now, you’re still just a Greater God, you still can only contend with me by relying on external power, and you still care about your son’s life. You have no choice but to make concessions and make an exchange with me!”

These three “stills” were all direct attacks against Su Yi. They also proved that, even after Su Yi had revealed all his hidden cards, Gu Huaxian wasn’t truly helpless.

Su Yi didn’t argue. His lips parted, and he said simply, “Let them go.”

Yu Xun instantly felt intense pressure bearing down on him. He couldn’t help but look at Gu Huaxian.

It wasn’t just him. Actually, the others were looking at her, too.