Venerated Venomous Consort

Gu Xijiu was infuriated by how he looked. “Why do you look so shabby?”

Fan Qianshi was no longer in clean clothes and his usual grace. Instead, he looked like a complete mess. His robes were all crumbled and even torn. Furthermore, the coarse texture of his hair was unbearable to the eye. He must have left his hair unwashed for a long time. Drawn and pale, he had obviously lost a lot of weight since she last saw him.

Gu Xijiu was never one who cared about beauty. Nonetheless, she was annoyed by his shabbiness.

Fan Qianshi finally understood Gu Xijiu’s concern. Abruptly, he stopped walking toward her and gave an apologetic bow. “Master, I will be back soon.” He then left.

His sudden change surprised Gu Xijiu, to say the least. It did not take him long to come back. Only this time, he came back as a new person. His robes were neat and tidy, which finally matched his effortless grace.

“Master, you have finally come back! I have been looking for you for long enough!” Fan Qianshi seemed relieved by the sight of her. His eyes lingered on her suggestively, as he took a step closer to her. Needless to say, he was too fearful to do anything inappropriate. “Master, where have you been? People from all six worlds have been looking for you. I was worried that something bad happened, so I kept looking everywhere for you.”

“Have they been looking for me? What for?” Gu Xijiu was confused.

She was not surprised by her disciple’s effort to locate her, as she had never been away from him for so long. However, her lack of involvement in the six worlds had never caused any problems before. She hardly even showed herself in front of the common people throughout the course of her life. Hence, her month-long disappearance should not be a big deal at all to them.

“Monster… the Monster King visited almost a month ago, stating that he needed to apologize to you personally. I was away, pondering over my mistake in isolation, so Qianyan was the one who stopped him. She told him that you were away and asked him to come back some other time, but he said there was something urgent that he needed to talk to you about. Qianyan did not know what to do, so she came to see me. I was concerned, too, that it could be a matter of urgency, so I tried to contact you, but failed. Leaving him no choice, he then left. However, he did not give up. He came back the next day, along with the Emperor Immortal, and stormed their way in. Qianyan and I watched helplessly as they turned Fanyin Valley inside out. They could not find you anywhere, so they accused us of having an ulterior motive behind your disappearance, saying that we must have harmed the creator of the universe. Qianyan was held hostage while I was told to locate you in a month. If I failed, they would put Qianyan to death by dismembering her body as a warning. The news came as a shock to all six worlds, so everyone started looking for you.”

Gu Xijiu clenched her fist in frustration. This was revenge. It was revenge for bringing death upon the Monster King’s beloved sister.

The Monster King was suspicious of her power and wanted to test her strength, but was interrupted by the people who Di Fuyi had invited over. After the Monster King left, Di Fuyi also took Gu Xijiu away in a hasty departure.

The Monster King must have returned to the same place to look for her, but could not find her anywhere in the Monster Kingdom. Unable to accept his defeat, he decided to make his way to Fanyin Valley to find out the truth. In Gu Xijiu’s absence, he dared to take her servant away as a hostage.

“Where did they keep Qianyan? Have you heard any news from the Monster Kingdom?”

With a pause, Fan Qianshi finally uttered, “I have been busy trying to locate you.” In other words, he had never tried to find out more about Wu Qianyan’s whereabouts. Perhaps, he did not care much about her life.

Wu Qianyan was his childhood friend, someone whom he grew up with. Wu Qianyan had never disobeyed his words. She had implicit faith in him. Many times, she had risked her life just to keep him safe, but the connection did not necessarily imply a deep friendship. Now that Wu Qianyan was suffering in agony, Fan Qianshi did not seem to be bothered at all.

Gu Xijiu gave Fan Qianshi a judgmental look. The boy was a little cold-blooded. However, if he ever became the creator of the universe, it would be good for him to have no personal entanglements so that he could be clear and unbiased in his executions. Perhaps his lack of emotions was a bonus.

Either way, Gu Xijiu shook her head to dismiss the problem as it was not her first priority at the moment. She did some calculations and realized that there were two days left until the deadline given by the Monster King. Hence, she sent Fan Qianshi away to the Monster Kingdom to collect as much information as he could about Wu Qianyan’s whereabouts.

Fan Qianshi could no longer keep his eyes open as he swayed and tumbled forward into Gu Xijiu’s arms. Gu Xijiu quickly held him up and asked, “What is wrong?”

Fan Qianshi had to lean on Gu Xijiu to keep his balance. His entire forehead was drenched in cold sweats. “I… I am too tired.”

Troubled, Gu Xijiu quickly read his pulse and was surprised by his lack of vitality, which was attributable to overwork and his lack of proper rest.

“When did you last sleep?” Gu Xijiu asked.

“I have not had any rest since the day of your disappearance, but don’t worry, I am still holding on. I will now go and find out more about Qianyan,” he reassured. He tried to steady himself, but his stubbornness only worsened his condition. He could not even keep his body straight. At this point, he was already sweating uncontrollably.

Gu Xijiu could not bear to see him in such a condition. Fan Qianshi turned to look at her. His eyes glimpsed with delight. “Is there anything else that you need, master?”

Gu Xijiu did not look at him but raised her hand and tossed him a bottle of pills. “Take two pills to help revitalize your body. All right, now go.”

Fan Qianshi took a look at the bottle in his hand and became slightly disappointed. “Yes, master.” He then left.

Gu Xijiu watched as Fan Qianshi slowly disappeared and gave an expression of disapproval. She knew what Fan Qianshi was thinking. He was clearly hoping that he could stay by her side. He was actually very reluctant to go. However, the more he wanted to stay, the more she had to make him go.

Gu Xijiu did not stay for long before returning to Fanyin Valley. The place had been completely ransacked. Many things were lost, including the herbs and magical items that remained unknown even to her closest disciple.

Luckily, she had kept away some of the most important herbs and magical items in her personal storage bag. Otherwise, the theft would have totally cleared her out.

She took a look at the signs on her palm and let out an expression of contempt. With the recovery of her spiritual power, perhaps she could finally teach the Monster King a lesson.

The most interesting news that had been circulating in the Monster Kingdom was about Wu Qianyan, the female servant of the Creator Deity, who was accused of murdering her master and would be punished by dismemberment on a full-moon night.

The Monster Princess was supposed to be punished first, but according to the law of the Monster Kingdom, only one criminal could be punished by dismemberment in a month. Since they agreed to punish Wu Qianyan first, the death penalty of the Monster Princess, Yao Tingting, was postponed until a month later.

Gu Xijiu heard about the news when she first arrived in the capital of the Monster Kingdom, Lanyue City. She had her face disguised before meeting up with Fan Qianshi, who had arrived a day before. Together, they entered a restaurant.

The restaurant was a place where gossips were widespread. She heard about the news from the people around her while she was eating.