Shushan's Three Evils - Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader "Blockbusters Can't Be Watched at Night"

There had always been a saying within the Shushan Sect about Shushan's Three Evils—the three things everyone in Shushan most wanted to beat up... mahjong, hotpot, and Empress Feng.

People across the southwestern lands loved playing mahjong, and Shushan was naturally no exception.

Back when the Shushan Sect's fondness for mahjong had become famous throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, during the glorious era when Shushan led the cultivation world, people had even begun discussing whether playing mahjong might somehow benefit cultivation. It was utterly absurd.

Only after Shushan began declining did it start vigorously banning this form of entertainment that could so easily waste one's cultivation. Yet... it had been banned time and again, without ever truly being stopped.

Even today, mahjong remained one of the Shushan Sect's most popular pastimes, only now it had to be kept within reasonable limits.

At the once-in-ten-years Shushan Summit, aside from formal events such as the contests between peaks, there would also be entertainment events like the Shushan Mahjong Tournament, the Flying Sword Speed Race, and the Spirit Pet Fighting Tournament. Among them, the mahjong competition had always been the fiercest of all recreational events.

As for hotpot, it too was popular throughout the southwestern lands, and Shushan could hardly escape the common custom.

But why had eating hotpot become one of the evils?

It was because this way of eating was simply too all-encompassing. A famous saying circulated through Shushan: anything under heaven could go into a hotpot. At one point, Shushan hotpot had developed two defining traits—"no spice, no pleasure" and "nothing too strange to include."

If you could think of it, there was nothing Shushan could not throw in. Birds and beasts, demons and monsters... there had even once been vicious competition, with Shushan disciples scrambling to capture rare demon beasts just to taste them fresh from the pot.

Today you tossed in dragon liver; tomorrow I tossed in phoenix marrow. In one tiny pot, the competition was terrifyingly fierce. As they competed and competed, they dragged countless demon beasts right into the pot.

In those years, the martial world widely claimed that Shushan people ate everything.

When other sects saw demon beasts, they thought of trading them or killing them; when Shushan disciples saw demon beasts, they thought of chili oil or clear broth.

Only when the current Sect Leader personally ordered such vile behavior forbidden did that crooked trend finally come to a stop.

The first two evils had existed for ages. The final evil, Empress Feng, had only been added in her early years.

When Empress Feng was young, she had truly been Shushan's tyrant, running rampant and throwing her weight around. Worse still, she was monstrously good at fighting. Few disciples of her generation had escaped her bullying.

Later, when the masters of the various peaks were being chosen, no one supported her. But she possessed Dao Questioning Realm cultivation, leaving everyone helpless.

Among the thirty-six peak masters of Shushan, most were still only at the sixth realm, the Dharma Body Realm. Only around ten possessed Dao Questioning Realm cultivation. Yet in terms of combat strength alone, Empress Feng was not merely among the top ten peak masters—she was at least in the top three!

In truth, no peak master had ever dared declare that he could defeat Empress Feng.

Fortunately, ever since becoming a peak master, she had restrained herself considerably. In recent years, there had rarely been news of Empress Feng causing trouble, to the point that some younger disciples barely even knew the origin of this evil.

Today, several young Shushan disciples were gathered here, talking about Empress Feng after playing mahjong and eating hotpot.

"Boss, you want to do this the hard way? That absolutely won't do!" Lackey A shouted.

Inside a wooden house on Cloud Distant Peak, a pot of red chili oil boiled furiously. Slices of meat and fish balls bobbed up and down, filling the room with fragrance.

Lackey B held a spoonful of beef tripe, dipping it seven times and lifting it eight before swiftly pulling it out and placing it in his bowl.

Shang Ziliang sat upright, his face full of worry. "What won't do? Didn't you finish investigating? That Chu Liang is only at the early Divine Intent Realm. I'm already at the peak of the Divine Intent Realm and forging my golden core. I'll break through soon enough. If I deal with him the hard way, isn't victory guaranteed?"

Earlier, in the Sword Transmission Hall, he had seen Xu Ziqing and Chu Liang acting intimately, accompanied by a strange smell, and suspicion had taken root in his heart.

After some investigation, he discovered that the two had indeed just completed a mission together, and had grown rather close during it... Shang Ziliang immediately flew into a rage and wanted to go warn Chu Liang to stay away from Xu Ziqing.

"Boss..." Lackey A advised, "You only know that Chu Liang is at the Divine Intent Realm, but his master is Empress Feng!"

Lackey B scooped up a huge chopstickful of fatty beef, swished it through sesame sauce, and happily swallowed it.

"His master is Empress Feng, but my father is a peak master too," Shang Ziliang said. "Would I really be afraid of her?"

Lackey A fell silent for a moment, but the meaning in his eyes was unmistakable... he probably would be afraid.

Shang Shuwen, the master of Cloud Distant Peak, was not known among the peak masters for his cultivation. He had always been refined and gentle, mild in his dealings. Compared to Empress Feng, he was practically her antonym...

"If it were another peak master, they might consider your father's face and let it go, Boss. But Empress Feng... she has never given anyone face. If we really anger her, who can say what might happen?" Lackey A earnestly persuaded him.

Lackey B scooped out several more pieces of fried tofu puff and yellow throat.

"Then what do you think we should do?" Shang Ziliang asked.

"Boss, it's not like we're entirely afraid of his master. But if you suddenly go to his door, tell him to stay away from Junior Sister Ziqing, and beat him up if he refuses... no matter how you put it, we'd have no justification." Lackey A analyzed calmly. "I say we act in the shadows. That would be much safer."

Lackey B picked up a long strip of leafy greens.

Shang Ziliang furrowed his brow and pondered. "Act in the shadows? But I want to warn him. How do you warn someone in secret?"

"We could use a scheme to make him suffer a little first, then leave behind a letter warning him..." Lackey A said. "If he gets close to Junior Sister Ziqing again, there will be more hardship waiting for him... But we won't reveal our identities. That way, even if his master wants to stand up for him, she won't be able to trace it back to us. What do you think?"

Lackey B stood up and fished around for scraps of meat at the bottom of the pot.

Shang Ziliang chuckled. "That works. Then tell me, how do we make him suffer?"

Lackey A smiled as well. "I thought of that earlier, Boss. Do you still remember Bai Ze?"

Shang Ziliang looked at the crafty gleam in Lackey A's eyes, froze for a moment, then revealed a knowing smile. "Not bad. You've got some brains."

The two settled their plan in just a few words. Shang Ziliang's worry turned to joy, and his appetite immediately returned. He picked up his chopsticks, ready to eat something.

Then he saw that the pot was completely empty.

"Hm? Where are the ingredients?" he asked.

"Yeah, where are the ingredients?" Lackey A had not noticed either.

"I don't know." Lackey B shook his head blankly. "It feels like we ran out before we even started eating."

Chu Liang returned to his little cabin and sat in meditation, circulating his cultivation for a while. Though he now had the big-headed doll, whenever he had free time, he could not slack off on genuine cultivation.

After roughly two hours, he took out the Soul-Seizing Token and checked it again. There were no new messages inside.

It seemed that whenever that Baleful Intent did not speak, the Soul Domain remained rather quiet.

Thinking about it, that made sense. These demonic cultivators usually moved through the shadows. They were all cold and ruthless people, occupied with matters of life and death. How could they have so much idle leisure to chat in the group?

When he looked at the stone table outside, he found an extra letter on top of it. It had likely been delivered while he was cultivating.

With a raised hand, he drew the letter over and opened it. Two lines of small writing were inside.

"Senior Brother Chu, at the third quarter of the hour of the Rooster, I will be waiting for you at Pagoda Peak... Xu Ziqing."

"Hm?" Chu Liang was puzzled when he saw the letter.

Was this letter written by Xu Ziqing?

"If this letter really was written by Junior Sister Xu, then she..." Chu Liang mused. "Her handwriting is ugly enough."

Thanks to "Blockbusters Can't Be Watched at Night" for becoming this book's fourth Alliance Leader. An old brother too—thank you.