Chapter 177: Protagonist (15)

Gongxi Yue was famous across the Cultivation World. Whether it was her unparalleled swordsmanship or her breathtaking beauty, both were subjects of endless admiration.

Even though Wen Xunzhen had spent years trapped in Medical Valley, seldom seeing outsiders, she had still heard countless tales of Gongxi Yue’s exploits.

Such a powerful, free-spirited woman was everything she had longed to be—perhaps even envied.

After meeting Xiao Shou, though he never spoke of it, Wen Xunzhen had pieced together from countless small details that there was some hidden history between him and Gongxi Yue.

That would explain why, after helping her escape from Medical Valley, he had taken her to Xiling Gongxi City—and why he harbored a faint, lingering disgust toward the Gongxi Family.

“Be careful, A-Shou!” As the deadly sword strike came down, Wen Xunzhen instinctively threw herself toward Xiao Shou, desperate to protect the man she loved.

Xiao Shou, already rattled by Gongxi Yue’s sudden appearance and the terror it awakened in him, heard her cry and instantly retreated, giving Wen Xunzhen time to activate her magic treasure and block the thunderous blow.

As he fell back, his gaze landed on the dazed child huddled in the corner. Malice flared in his eyes as he lunged toward her.

With this child as leverage, even Gongxi Yue would have to hesitate!

Wen Xunzhen’s artifact shattered, and the veil on her face was torn apart by the fierce sword aura, revealing features both androgynous and coldly exquisite, like moonlit frost.

Blood blossomed across her chest. She gave a muffled groan but clenched her teeth and forced herself to endure, blood trailing from the corner of her lips as she turned anxiously to search for Xiao Shou.

But as she did, her pupils suddenly contracted.

A white-clad figure had appeared behind Xiao Shou—her blade poised to pierce through him.

It was Gongxi Yue’s split consciousness. Though she had managed to hold back the main body momentarily, she hadn’t stopped this.

Sensing the murderous intent at his back, Xiao Shou whirled around at the last possible second, intercepting the fatal strike. Reluctantly, his gaze flicked to the child within reach—so close! Just a little more!

Noticing his look, Gongxi Yue’s expression grew even colder. Her sword drove through Xiao Shou’s shoulder blade, sending a spray of blood.

For the first time, Gongxi Yue had drawn her own sword against Xiao Shou. She loathed this despicable man, unwilling even to stain her blade with his blood—but this time, she was truly enraged.

She might not have been the most competent or nurturing mother, but anyone who dared harm her daughter would face her fury.

For the first time, Xiao Shou felt an oppressive force unlike anything before. Unlike the last two times she struck him with mere annoyance or disdain, this time her killing intent was palpable and deadly.

She really wanted to kill him!

Under that suffocating pressure, Xiao Shou fought back in fury.

Two years of hiding and scrambling for survival had not been wasted—his cultivation had grown, he had experienced unexpected fortunes, and even acquired a renowned inherited sword. He refused to believe he was completely powerless against Gongxi Yue.

Gongxi Yue let out a cold laugh. “This is your first time fighting back. And yet… you’re still too weak.”

Her sword pierced through Xiao Shou’s right hand—the one holding his sword—shattering the meridians within.

“Despicable vermin like you are unworthy of wielding a sword!”

As his sword slipped from his failing grasp, Xiao Shou caught it in his left hand, launching a desperate, ragged counterattack—his blade lunging straight for Gongxi Yue’s face.

The dreamlike face before him dissolved into misty white frost as the sword struck, dispersing into vapor. In the next instant, an excruciating pain tore through his dantian. Gongxi Yue’s sword had pierced through him from behind, twisting and crushing his core with its sword intent.

“Ahhhhhh!!!” Xiao Shou let out a scream more beast than human, pure agony and despair crashing over him. Gongxi Yue loomed before him like an immovable mountain—no matter how he struggled, death awaited him beneath her blade.

Yet he still fought to escape. He still had his System. As long as he didn’t die, there would come a day when he would repay this humiliation a hundredfold.

Gongxi Yue’s fury burned no less than his desperation—but like a snow-covered mountain, she buried it all beneath icy indifference.

Suddenly, she reached out and gripped Xiao Shou’s throat. Her slender, calloused fingers dug in with such force that they nearly crushed his neck.

Xiao Shou clawed frantically at her hand, choking and writhing, forcing broken, wheezing words from his contorted throat.

“I… didn’t hurt… her… just… taught… please… spare me…”

“I won’t make the same mistake twice,” Gongxi Yue said coldly.

She should have locked this man away—never just assigned someone to watch him, never given him the chance to escape and bring disaster upon innocents.

It had all happened too fast. All around them, colossal blades of ice still hummed with residual cold and sword intent. Wen Xunzhen coughed up blood and, seeing her beloved at death’s door, suddenly threw herself at Gongxi Yue.

She was a medical cultivator, not a warrior; her attack didn’t even register as a threat to Gongxi Yue.

Facing this woman—misled and manipulated by Xiao Shou—lunging at her with suicidal recklessness, Gongxi Yue’s brows furrowed slightly. She dodged the strike without much thought.

That brief lapse gave Wen Xunzhen the opening she needed to unleash a Teleportation Jade Talisman.

This single-use talisman, capable of transporting one person tens of thousands of miles in an instant, was a rare treasure—Wen Xunzhen had only one, and she used it now to save Xiao Shou.

Reacting instantly, Gongxi Yue slashed her sword through the swirling vortex of Spiritual Energy summoned by the talisman, trying to sever the teleportation—but Wen Xunzhen threw herself at her, fighting with all she had to block her.

Delayed for only a moment, Gongxi Yue flung Wen Xunzhen aside, but by then, Xiao Shou had already vanished.

Gongxi Yue stood in place for a long moment before finally sheathing her sword. Saying nothing, she turned and walked to the corner where Lizhu sat slumped, cradling Qian.

Still groggy from Wen Xunzhen’s drug, Qian stirred faintly, sensing her mother’s familiar presence. She cracked open her eyes, giving a soft little yawn.

“Thank you.” Gongxi Yue gave a brief nod to Lizhu, who was struggling to her feet, then carried her daughter over to where Wen Xunzhen lay collapsed.

On the way, her gaze fell on Gongxi Jianchen, who was grinning nervously nearby.

Catching her glance, her brother instantly lowered his head, not daring to utter a word. Sneaking his niece out for some fun only to run into this mess—he knew a beating was inevitable.

Standing over Wen Xunzhen, Gongxi Yue lifted her head with the hilt of her sword, her voice ice-cold. “Wen Xunzhen, daughter of the Valley Master of Medical Valley?”

Blood bright against her lips, Wen Xunzhen’s eyes shimmered with complicated emotion as she looked up at her. Her lips trembled as she answered, “…Yes.”

In the future Gongxi Yue had seen, there had been no connection between Xiao Shou and Wen Xunzhen. By the time Xiao Shou was entangled with several other women, the daughter of the Medical Valley Master had already died—Gongxi Yue had never even met her.

But she had heard the name Wen Xunzhen. In that future, it had become one of the great scandals of the Cultivation World.

Valley Master Wen Bailian of Medical Valley spent his entire life in pursuit of Ascension, devoting himself to the study of the Ascension Pill. For this, he married a woman with a rare and special constitution, then slowly transformed her into a living medicinal vessel with all manner of spirit herbs and elixirs.

To outsiders, it was said that his wife was frail and required constant, precious spiritual medicines to survive. Wen Bailian’s reputation as a devoted and loving husband was widely known.

But in truth, both his treatments for his wife and even the birth of his daughter, Wen Xunzhen, were all part of Wen Bailian’s long cultivation of a single “spiritual medicine.”

In the end, he descended into madness. He murdered his own daughter, secretly refining her flesh and bones into a pill, hoping it would propel him to Ascension.

But the truth was exposed by one of his disciples, sending shockwaves through the entire cultivation world. The final pill he crafted ended up in Xiao Shou’s hands, enabling him to break through to the Great Ascension stage overnight.

This time, Wen Xunzhen hadn’t yet been refined into her father’s Ascension Pill, but she had still been deceived by Xiao Shou, giving him her heart.

This woman’s entire life seemed destined to be summed up in two words: pitiful and tragic.

Wen Xunzhen panted faintly, tilting her head back to gaze at Gongxi Yue standing before her. She couldn’t read the look in Gongxi Yue’s eyes. With a bitter smile, she asked, “Are you going to kill me?”

She thought to herself, with the Yunyin Immortal Sect and the Gongxi Family behind Gongxi Yue, not to mention the Lingzhao Sword Immortal, her status as the daughter of Medical Valley’s Valley Master probably meant nothing.

Gongxi Yue, holding the child in one arm, reached out and grabbed Wen Xunzhen’s wrist, hauling her up from the ground.

“No. From today on, you can only stay by my side.”

Wen Xunzhen froze. The medicine worms she had secretly prepared in her sleeves stalled at that unexpected statement.

What… did she mean by that?

“Big Sister… should we head back now?” Gongxi Jianchen asked, forcing himself to approach.

Gongxi Yue glanced at the tears and slashes on his robe. “You never take cultivation seriously. If I hadn’t come today, what would you have relied on to survive?”

Gongxi Jianchen’s scalp tingled. His mouth tasted bitter. He had a feeling tough days were ahead.

At that moment, Lizhu and Tongying, the two maidservants, stepped forward and said, “It was our negligence in guarding Golden Radiance City that nearly put our honored guests in danger. Why not move next door and change into clean clothes first? Going back like this will only worry your family.”

Not to mention Gongxi Jianchen’s torn robe—even Gongxi Yue’s garments were stained with Xiao Shou’s blood. In her fury, she hadn’t bothered to dodge the splatter.

“Fine. Sorry to trouble you.” Still gripping the silent and downcast Wen Xunzhen, Gongxi Yue added, “Also, bring some wound medicine.”

The Spring Pool behind a screen of folding panels was shrouded in mist. Gongxi Yue didn’t release Wen Xunzhen until they reached the water’s edge.

“Tend to your wounds yourself.”

Without another word, she began undressing, moving aside to wash away the blood on her body. After cleaning the blood from her hands, she gently patted her dazed child’s face.

“Qian, wake up. No sleeping now.”

Wen Xunzhen shrank into a corner, lowering her gaze to avoid looking at Gongxi Yue. She listened to her talk with the child. For once, that perpetually cold voice seemed to carry a trace of warmth.

“Your uncle sneaked you out to play? Didn’t Mama tell you not to run around?”

“…Mm.” The child’s voice was hesitant.

“And the assignments I gave you? Have you done them?”

“Grandfather said there’s no homework during the New Year.”

“So you listen to him and not me?”

“Well… if Mama doesn’t listen to Grandfather, then I don’t have to listen to Mama either?”

That… was surprisingly reasonable? Gongxi Yue paused for a beat, then let out a cold chuckle.

What kind of mother needs to argue logic with her own child?

Hearing the playful ruckus, Wen Xunzhen found herself distracted. So this… this was how a mother and child interacted? She had lost her own mother at birth, and it had never crossed her mind that even someone like Gongxi Yue would act so differently when facing her child.

No… the fact that a woman like Gongxi Yue had a child at all was already shocking enough.

When the medicine arrived, Wen Xunzhen didn’t touch it. She sat there still wearing her bloodstained clothes.

Gongxi Yue shot her a glance. “Why aren’t you using it?”

In a hoarse voice, Wen Xunzhen replied, “I don’t need it.”

Gongxi Yue didn’t press her. After tending to herself, she began washing the child.

Petals scattered atop the Spring Pool, their fragrance dense and cloying, making the air thick and dizzying.

Something’s wrong. Gongxi Yue suddenly noticed something amiss. The flow of spiritual energy within her body slowed, unable to gather.

Her gaze snapped toward Wen Xunzhen, who sat quietly nearby. Her expression turned sharp and cold.

“What did you do?”

Realizing she’d been caught, Wen Xunzhen dropped the pretense of docility, lifting her head. “What else? Trying to escape, of course.”

Gongxi Yue was dressed only in her underclothes, damp and clinging to her body. Wen Xunzhen glanced over and quickly averted her eyes.

“Looks like I really can’t let my guard down around you.” Gongxi Yue had pitied this woman for her suffering and hadn’t wanted to make things difficult for her—but clearly, Wen Xunzhen’s skill with poisons was more formidable than she’d anticipated.

Gongxi Yue seized her by the neck, pressing her down at the edge of the Spring Pool. Wen Xunzhen froze at the sight of Gongxi Yue’s long, wet black hair cascading like a waterfall, and then suddenly began struggling violently.

Just then, Qian came running over, flopping onto Wen Xunzhen’s thrashing legs. “Mama, I’ll help you hold her down!”

Gongxi Yue: “…”

“Stop making a mess. Get off her. Don’t touch her,” Gongxi Yue scolded, worried Wen Xunzhen might still have tricks hidden on her.

“Sorry about this, Lonely Moon Sword Monarch.” Seizing Gongxi Yue’s moment of distraction, Wen Xunzhen lifted her sleeve and brushed it across Gongxi Yue’s face. A strange, sweet fragrance surged into the air.

Gongxi Yue’s vision darkened instantly. She couldn’t see.

Sensing the shift in Gongxi Yue’s eyes, Wen Xunzhen secretly let out a breath of relief and immediately tried to break free.

With Gongxi Yue unable to see and her spiritual energy suppressed, this was Wen Xunzhen’s best chance to escape.

“Do you really think I’m that easy to fool?” Gongxi Yue shoved her straight into the water.

“What?!” Wen Xunzhen panicked. Gongxi Yue should have lost her strength by now!

“What did you use? Give me the antidote. Now!” Gongxi Yue’s voice was like steel, her grip tightening.

Unable to see clearly, she leaned in even closer, worried that Wen Xunzhen might still pull something. She pinned her down completely.

The sudden closeness made Wen Xunzhen’s entire body stiffen. She began struggling frantically.

“Let me go! Let me go!”

Her reaction was so intense that Gongxi Yue instinctively grabbed her wrists tighter, pressing her leg down as well to keep her from escaping.

At that moment, Gongxi Yue suddenly felt something… off beneath her knee.

In the water, Wen Xunzhen froze as though someone had grabbed her most vulnerable point.

She gritted her teeth, her whole body trembling, fighting with everything she had to break free from Gongxi Yue’s hold.

But Gongxi Yue, sensing something was wrong, actually reached out and touched to confirm.

“…You’re not a woman?” she withdrew her hand and asked.

Wen Xunzhen’s face flushed with shame and fury, especially when she caught sight of Gongxi Yue’s daughter squatting nearby, chin propped in her hands, watching them with wide, innocent, and curious eyes.

A crushing sense of humiliation and the terror of having her deepest secret exposed surged through her. Her trembling gaze nearly shattered.

Yet Gongxi Yue remained perfectly calm, pressing against her again to double-check, then speculated aloud, “Hermaphrodite?”