Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 331 Tong Xu (Part 1)

While on Dapan Mountain, Tong Xu told Li Wuxiang that she had once been a wandering cultivator in Lizuo City. Most of what she said was true, except for one thing—the person in question was not her, but her husband.

Tong Xu was born in Qingpu Mountain. At the age of nineteen, he achieved the Qi Refining Realm and descended the mountain to gain experience. Li Zuo City is located four hundred miles away from Qingpu Mountain and is a large, scenic city. When Tong Xu arrived in Li Zuo City, he was still an ordinary cultivator from one of the Thirty-Six Sects—he felt that he was different from ordinary people in the world, and even different from the rogue cultivators in the world.

As a result, she became arrogant and proud, which made her prone to making enemies. However, these enemies were not ones she actively sought out, but rather similar to what Li Wuxiang experienced after leaving Jinshui Town.

Before ascending Mount Shangran, Li Wuxiang encountered two wandering martial artists plotting to steal his wealth, and Tong Xu suffered a similar fate. The difference was that Li Wuxiang was experienced, and both men met their end at his hands. Tong Xu, on the other hand, had almost no experience in the martial world and was taken advantage of when he was ambushed.

However, the cultivation level of the Qi Refining cultivators from the Qingpu Sect was far beyond that of the two rogue cultivators. Tong Xu eventually killed them both, but it took a long time, and the matter wasn't handled cleanly enough, so the trouble never ended—one of the rogue cultivators still had family and friends who came one by one seeking revenge. Ambushes, poisoning, and sneak attacks—their cultivation level might not be as high as hers, but their cunning and scheming were beyond her ability to handle.

She should have sought help from the Taoist temple in Lizuo City, but there was none. This was because of a bit of pride in her heart; she felt that as an outstanding young disciple among her peers, it would be too shameful to ask for help from fellow disciples after only a month of being down the mountain. If the other party were anyone else, it wouldn't matter, but they were just a few wandering cultivators. She was afraid that if this matter got back to the mountain, she would become a laughing stock among her peers.

Many serious consequences often begin with something seemingly insignificant. A wound on her body, two hours of being partially conscious due to poison, coupled with a mindset like "it's nothing, I'll take care of it soon"—by the time she realized the seriousness of the situation far exceeded her concern for saving face, it was already too late.

She was trapped in a dilapidated temple on a rainy night. She had external injuries, internal injuries, and was also poisoned. Lightning bolts flashed across the sky, and the torrential rain made it almost impossible for her to hear anything outside the temple.

So she finally revealed her identity to the four people guarding outside the temple—she was a disciple of the Qingpu Sect of the Thirty-Six Sects.

Later, she realized that things had come to that point, and saying those words would only hasten her death. The two sides had been fighting for several days, and the enmity was irreconcilable. Knowing that she was from one of the Thirty-Six Sects, if the other side wanted to live, they couldn't afford to leave her alive.

After hesitating for about half an hour, the four men stormed in. Tong Xu was almost killed, and then her future husband appeared.

Her husband's name was Shen Xinsheng, also a wandering cultivator. In Tong Xu's opinion, Shen Xinsheng's appearance wasn't outstanding. In fact, even if he were, she probably wouldn't feel anything special—the Thirty-Six Sects had been passed down for over three thousand years, and their disciples were all considered exceptional individuals. They lacked nothing in terms of food and clothing, and had elixirs and cultivation methods for nourishing their lives. Generation after generation, while not everyone possessed celestial beauty, the vast majority were certainly handsome men and beautiful women.

Therefore, Tong Xu had seen many handsome men before. So when she first saw Shen Xinsheng, she wasn't focused on his appearance, but rather on his disheveled state—

Shen Xinsheng was only at the Qi Refining stage, and he struggled greatly when fighting those four people. But at that moment, Tong Xu felt that he was like a wild beast rolling in the mud, covered in blood and wounds, yet his eyes shone with a frightening light. Every time she thought he was about to die, he would find a way to live again. His extremely tenacious fighting spirit and will to survive were something she had never seen before.

In the end, the four people died, and Tong Xu and Shen Xin survived—Tong Xu was seriously injured, while Shen Xin was on the verge of death.

At that time, Tong Xu felt no gratitude towards Shen Xinsheng; instead, he got up and wanted to kill him. Looking back now, it was probably because of the hatred and fear that had slowly accumulated in his heart from being hunted by wandering martial arts practitioners for over a month, and these two emotions were transferred onto Shen Xinsheng—none of these people were good.

If she had delayed the time by another year, she would have acted without hesitation. But back then, she asked a few more questions. Those questions were an attempt to find a reason for herself—the look in his eyes, the tone of his voice, the motive—all seemed off, so she acted immediately.

Shen Xinsheng's answer was exactly what she expected—he hadn't acted out of any chivalrous code, nor to help the weak and punish the strong. He said he stormed into the temple to take advantage of the chaos and seek wealth amidst the danger. He just hadn't anticipated that the rain would be so heavy and the humidity so high that the medicine he released hadn't worked.

But another sentence caught her off guard—why did he fight those four people to the death and save her? Because, "You are so beautiful."

If Li Wuxiang knew Tong Xu's past, he would tell her that surviving a life-or-death battle causes a person's heart to race, hormones to surge, and a feeling of ease and joy. This feeling is almost identical to the physiological reaction of falling in love. In the world he came from, many seasoned lovers used this to create the illusion that girls were in love.

But Tong Xu didn't understand this principle; she was stunned by Shen Xinsheng's words.

When she was little, she was praised for being "sensible". When she got a little older, she was praised for being "obedient". When she got even older, she was praised for being "intelligent" and "calm". But she was never praised for being "so beautiful".

These words inexplicably made her murderous intent vanish, and she even felt that this person was slightly different from other wandering martial arts practitioners—he wasn't a great hero, but he was very frank.

As the irrational fear and hatred gradually subsided, nineteen years of moral cultivation regained its advantage. Kill the person who saved her life? That was no good; she was even a little alarmed at why she had even entertained such a thought.

She felt that she had only done what was right in the end. She stayed to take care of Shen Xinsheng for three days, and after he recovered from his injuries, she would leave some money and medicine before returning to the Taoist temple in Lizuo City.

Over these three days, she discovered that Shen Xinsheng was indeed different from other rogue cultivators. He was a man of genuine feelings and did not hide his admiration for her appearance. He would look at her and praise her, but not by stealing glances or with any lewd intent; it was simply the purest appreciation and praise for a woman whose appearance was like that of a fairy.

But he had no ulterior motives. Shen Xinsheng was a very sensible person. He said that he knew there would be no outcome between the wandering cultivators and the disciples of the Thirty-Six Sects, and he did not expect too much. He was content to just talk to them more in these three days.

Tong Xu was well aware that there was no possibility between them. However, a subtle emotion slowly began to stir within her, an emotion akin to that of a billionaire facing a beggar who wasn't unpleasant—the beggar asked for little, perhaps even very little. Giving him even the smallest favor could elicit tears of gratitude, a feeling that was actually quite comforting.

Now, her beauty, which she had previously paid little attention to, seemed to be a tremendous asset. While experiencing a novel sense of satisfaction from Shen Xinsheng's infatuation with her looks, she also felt a pang of pity for him. She gradually learned that he had come from a poor background, had worked hard to achieve his current level of cultivation, and was not inherently bad; in fact, he could even be described as kind-hearted.

What is love? It is actually a collection of many emotions. Pity, appreciation, guilt, and habit—when these feelings ferment to an extreme intensity, they can all be mistaken for love, or they may actually be love.

So three days later, then seven days later, and then a month later, Tong Xu did not return to his original Taoist temple in Lizuo City. Instead, he traveled the world with Shen Xinsheng, who had recovered from his injuries. Through Shen Xinsheng's perspective, Tong Xu truly saw this vast world—dark, complex, and dangerous, but more real and boundless than Qingpu Mountain.

A month later, the two became husband and wife. In the following few weeks, Tong Xu felt that her previous thoughts might be wrong—as a disciple of the Thirty-Six Sects, she might not be any more noble than anyone else in the world. She could love and hate just like everyone else, and she could do many things that ordinary people in this world would do. The more she saw and experienced, the more boring Qingpu Mountain seemed to her, and she even thought that she would never go back to it again.

The moment this thought arose in her mind, she felt truly alive again. She severed ties with her sect, deliberately avoided thinking about the events on Qingpu Mountain, and instead considered herself a wandering cultivator.

Then, she encountered the matter she had mentioned to Li Wuxiang—

She and Shen Xinsheng acquired a treasure. It wasn't particularly important to her, but Shen Xinsheng valued it highly. Then, as she had predicted, word got out, and both a rogue sect in Lizuo City and a secluded family outside the city wanted it.

Slightly different from her account, Shen Xinsheng wasn't the only one who wanted to protect the treasure; she did too. However, after many twists and turns, they still couldn't keep it, and Shen Xinsheng had no choice but to hand the treasure over to a rogue sect in Lizuo City.

Looking back now, almost at the very moment Shen Xinsheng handed over the item, Tong Xu felt as if the whole world had made a soft, snapping sound—as if something covering the world, or just something covering his eyes, had shattered.

In that instant, she suddenly felt as if she had woken up from a dream—when people are asleep, they take many illogical and unreasonable things for granted. But after that moment, a thought suddenly popped into Tong Xu's mind: What am I doing?
It's like someone coming home and realizing they don't have their keys, so they keep struggling with the lock, trying all sorts of ways to open the door. But after a while, they suddenly realize that the window next to the door is open, and they've seen it all along, but they just didn't think of jumping in through the window.

Tong Xu felt she had finally broken free from that state. Looking at Shen Xinsheng again, countless thoughts flooded her mind—

She discovered that this man was actually quite short and unattractive. His spiritual cultivation was low, and his lifestyle was poor. He was unclean, lacked social skills and manners, and only knew a few hundred characters. What she had previously perceived as frankness and sincerity was more like a raw revelation of human nature, a helpless acceptance of one's own powerlessness.

As for her idea of ​​"truly coming back to life," it doesn't seem to be true. She left Qingpu Mountain and no longer had to be restrained by the teachers and elders there, but now and in the future, she will be subject to even more restraint.

She suddenly began to miss the clean, shiny stone path on the mountain, her own clean and tidy house, the wisps of smoke rising from the gilded incense burner, and the rooftop gleaming in the afterglow of the setting sun.

So she left the next day and returned to the Qingpu sect's monastery in Lizuo City. Shen Xinsheng visited the monastery several times afterward, but didn't explain his relationship with Tong Xu, only saying he had found something she had dropped. When the gatekeeper asked if she wanted to see this person, she immediately refused.

After three visits, Shen Xinsheng stopped coming, and Tong Xu felt a little sorry for him. She knew he had several enemies in Lizuo City, so she planned to settle those scores for him before returning to the mountain, so that she could have no more worries.

But it was because of this incident, when she came into contact with those people, that she learned what really happened the night Shen Xinsheng saved her.

In fact, Shen Xinsheng also came to kill her that night, but he was a helper invited by one of the four people. He arrived a little late and just as he arrived, he heard Tong Xu say that he was a disciple of the Qingpu Sect.

Shen Xinsheng didn't show himself. He only rushed in when the four men couldn't wait for him and had no choice but to attack. He immediately killed the person who recognized him. And when he fought the other three, he was indeed as Tong Xu had seen, truly risking his life. Tong Xu just didn't know whether it was because "you are too beautiful" or because of his identity as a "disciple of the Qingpu Sect".

The day after she learned of this, she returned to Qingpu Mountain and never saw Shen Xinsheng again. In fact, by now, she only had a vague impression of him and had even forgotten what he looked like—he must have been dead for many years.

She stayed on Qingpu Mountain for another year, and then that matter finally came—she had to go to the Juque Sect.

Before she left the mountain, her masters had already told her about this, that they would send her to the Juque Sect for cultivation. This kind of cultivation was not ordinary cultivation; in layman's terms, it was like Qingpu Mountain paying tribute to the Juque Sect, and she was one of the tributes.

It wasn't that she was going to the Juque Sect to become someone's furnace vessel; she was indeed going to arrange a marriage and have children. And it wasn't just her and two other female disciples who went; several male disciples from the same sect also went.

Large sects like the Juque Sect would select someone with exceptional talent, like her, from among their vassal sects each year to marry a disciple of their own sect, hoping to produce outstanding cultivation seeds.

However, since the union of yin and yang gives birth to new life, it will inevitably affect cultivation. Therefore, although small sects like the Qingpu Sect have their own traditions, they will definitely not choose those with exceptional aptitude.

The Juque Sect has many members, including many talented disciples, so selecting some to take on the task of carrying on the family line isn't too detrimental. However, for someone like Tong Xu, once he joins the Juque Sect, he'll have to stay there forever and can never return to Qingpu Mountain.

That year, she had hoped things would change so she could be spared this assignment, and even considered telling her teachers that she had already married someone down the mountain. But nothing changed, and she didn't speak up. So, in the summer of her twentieth year, she and seven other fellow disciples were sent to Luyu Cave Heaven, where she gave birth to Mu Tieshan.

(End of this chapter)