Fellow Daoist! That scoundrel has written a new book again.

Chapter 513 The Cicadas' Mournful Cry

Zhu Wuyao noticed the change in Shen Anzhi, but she didn't know what he had done.

They would never have imagined that he was the heretical cultivator mentioned in "Ten Thousand Book Reviews".

Before this, Shen Anzhi's actions and character were too gentle and upright, as if everyone else would change, but he would always be good. This laid a good foundation of trust for Zhu Wuyao.

He was one of Zhu Wuyao's most trusted people.

Even though she sensed that the visitor had ill intentions, Zhu Wuyao still believed that she trusted his character and that he would not do anything despicable.

But tonight.

When she saw Shen Anzhi and Mingzhu alone together.

The vigilance that surged in my heart in that instant.

She wanted Zhu Wuyao to know that she could no longer trust Shen Anzhi as she had before.

She suppressed the panic in her heart.

He casually walked into the courtyard and placed the banner against the wall.

Before she could speak, Mingzhu spoke first:

"I saw the courtyard gate was open..." She bit her lower lip, as if gathering her courage, and continued:

"Sister Wu, I'm so sorry. During the days you were away, I took your writing brush and ink to exchange for money to buy medicine!"

She kept her head down, and even though she knew that Sister Wu's eyes were covered by a strip of cloth, she still didn't dare to look up.

Mingzhu took the tattered cloth bag from her waist, her hands trembling slightly with nervousness, and stepped forward to stuff it into Zhu Wuyao's hands, stammering as she spoke:

"This is our home...our home supplies..."

Before she could finish speaking, she choked up, sobbing uncontrollably as tears streamed down her face. She turned and ran out the door, overwhelmed with shame.

Zhu Wuyao wanted to grab her.

I wanted to tell her "it's okay" and to encourage Mingzhu to continue learning to read in the future.

But then she thought of Shen Anzhi in the courtyard.

Her raised finger froze halfway, as Mingzhu ran crying out of the courtyard and into the cold, heavy night.

Zhu Wuyao stood there for a long time.

Then, he slowly turned around to face Shen Anzhi and asked:

Why is the courtyard gate open?

"She felt guilty for a long time and suffered a lot of torment in her heart. I couldn't bear to see her suffer."

"I can't bear it..."

Zhu Wuyao's tone seemed mocking as he slowly tightened his grip on the cloth bag in his hand. The copper coins inside were rough on his skin, making a sound as if someone was gritting their teeth.

Shen Anzhi raised his hand and pointed to the courtyard gate, in the direction where Mingzhu had left.

"Let's make a bet on her, how about it?"

Zhu Wuyao took a deep breath, waved his sleeve and closed the courtyard gate, as if trying to use this thin, fragile wooden door to block Shen Anzhi's gaze from Mingzhu.

But she knew that this bet was not something Shen Anzhi had decided on a whim.

There were even signs as early as when the endless phases unfolded.

Tonight, her conversation with Lingbi calmed her down. If she were to overturn the table now, she wasn't confident she could restrain Shen Anzhi.

Thinking of this, Zhu Wuyao gradually calmed down.

"I never imagined that one day, the most benevolent and gentle senior brother of the Star-Picking Pavilion would use mortals to set up a gambling game. If it were the Shen Anzhi of the past—"

At this point, Shen Anzhi smiled and shook his head, saying:

"Junior Sister Zhu, your words to disturb my peace of mind are useless. Now that I have entered the Nascent Soul stage, I have already abandoned my old body and achieved perfection."

"If one's character is flawed, how can one enter the Nascent Soul stage?"

Before Zhu Wuyao left the secret realm, she had thought that the Juque Sect and Qingyun Sect would come to hunt her down, that the Zhaixing Tower would abandon her as a pawn, and that she would face the world's enemy after her identity was exposed.

Unexpectedly, the first person to confront her and pressure her would be Shen Anzhi.

"Since it's a gamble, there must be stakes."

"Shen Anzhi, what do you want to bring in as collateral, and what do you want?"

Shen Anzhi picked up his brush and wrote a single character on the paper—

"life"

Seeing this, Zhu Wuyao smiled and said:

"If she steals again, you'll take my life? And if she doesn't steal again, are you going to risk your own life?"

That's fine too.

If she overturns the table today, she will be at a disadvantage and has little chance of winning anyway; if she can use the betting game to delay the inevitable for a few years, she can take her time to make her move, which is a good delaying tactic.

Even if she loses, she won't just wait to die.

The fate is here; it's up to Shen Anzhi to take it away.

Thinking of this, Zhu Wuyao was about to agree when Shen Anzhi shook his head and said:

"It's my fate, and her fate."

The moment the words fell, the Unsharp Sword suddenly appeared from the void.

In an instant, they transformed into hundreds and thousands of sword shadows, carrying a chilling killing intent as they attacked from all directions under the cold, gloomy moonlight, the wind whistling through the air.

Zhu Wuyao formed a hand seal, and an array rose around the courtyard, concealing the fighting fluctuations and confining all the pressure and potential repercussions to one side.

A precious cauldron, resembling a towering peak, presses down from above, like a mountain about to collapse.

Shen Anzhi, who was being photographed beneath the cauldron, gently closed his eyes.

Thick fog rose in the middle of the night, obscuring the sky and the moon.

The sword's shadow shattered into ashes, like a candle wick after it has burned out, gradually fading into ash, decaying in the gap between reality and its reflection.

May the unobstructed strip of cloth flutter in the wind.

Three steps away.

In the instant the sword shadows dissipated, he sheathed his sword, drew his sword, and raised it again. A cold glint flashed, pointing directly at Shen Anzhi's heart. However, a pair of strange eyes, with a smile at the corners, hovered high behind Zhu Wuyao.

Her consciousness wavered slightly, as if cause and effect had reversed, and she was stunned to find herself back at the moment she drew her sword.

Still three steps away, Zhu Wuyao did not hesitate for a moment and was about to strike forward with his sword again, but this time, he met Shen Anzhi's smiling eyes.

With the cause and effect shifting again, the two actions of "drawing the sword" and "the sword arriving" seem to be separated and no longer connected.

Zhu Wuyao stopped in his tracks.

I don’t know when.

Before the sword could be unleashed, it was already pressed against Shen Anzhi's chest, but he raised his finger and stopped it.

Shen Anzhi gently pushed the sword blade, which was held between his fingertips, forward.

The world is spinning.

Zhu Wuyao realized that he was about to unleash that sword strike.

Then—she fell to the ground.

The action of "falling to the ground" should follow "Shen Anzhi pushed the sword forward," but in the fog, cause and effect are confused, allowing Shen Anzhi to piece them together at will.

This is Shen Anzhi's Nascent Soul stage.

This is chaos and disorder.

In the deep darkness of the night, Zhu Wuyao heard the sound of his own heartbeat.

Shen Anzhi stood up, slowly walked towards Zhu Wuyao, bent down, extended his hand, and said:

"Junior Sister Zhu, do you want my life?"

The cicadas chirped mournfully in the cold.

The noise was making people restless.

The person who once saved her life at Jiangshuang Bridge now stands on the opposite side of her.

The cicadas' chirping, which had stopped at Jiangshuang Bridge, lingered in my ears again, incessantly noisy.

I can't figure it out.

"Did you come to find me so that Shen Xun would wake up, so that destiny would be restored?"

"Since this is a dispute between the three of us, why involve innocent people?"

Zhu Wuyao hadn't thought of an answer, but Shen Anzhi's voice came through the quiet night:

"You are innocent too."