In the end, she only felt that since this was her first time in a place like this, it was only natural that she would be a little unaccustomed to it.
However, He Changsong, who had been secretly peeping through the barrier all along, wore an extremely displeased expression.
"Tsk, you little girl, why aren't you taking off the rest?"
This old bastard He Changsong had already been prepared to feast his eyes on the springtime scenery.
Yet Gu Youwei stopped undressing halfway through and climbed straight into the wooden tub!
This made He Changsong anxious beyond measure. He wished he could barge into the room right now and personally help Gu Youwei take off her clothes!
But He Changsong knew well that hot tofu could not be eaten in haste.
The time was not yet ripe. If he wanted to properly savor this delicious feast,
he still had to wait patiently a little longer.
As Gu Youwei immersed her entire body in the warm water, she felt a relaxation unlike anything she had ever experienced.
It was the first time Gu Youwei had ever felt this way.
Even in her previous life, after she had become the Empress and visited the Heavenly Mountain hot springs, she had never felt anything like this.
"How strange. Why does a hot bath at the Cangshan Sword Sect feel even more comfortable than the Heavenly Mountain hot springs?"
"It even feels so good... that I almost want to fall asleep right here."
A flush had already appeared on Gu Youwei's delicate face.
But after thinking it over, Gu Youwei found a reason to convince herself.
"Although the Heavenly Mountain hot springs are rare spiritual springs in the Three Realms, the Cangshan Sword Sect is still one of the great sects under heaven."
"Besides, Father personally entrusted me to Sect Master He. It is only normal for me to receive a few special privileges."
At that thought, Gu Youwei felt that she was simply the happiest little girl in the world.
If she did not still need to kill Gu Chen and avenge herself, Gu Youwei truly wanted to remain with the Gu family for the rest of her life, forever accompanying her father and mother.
As she thought, Gu Youwei felt all the strength in her body gradually drain away.
The sensation was strange, hazy.
It made Gu Youwei feel as though she were floating toward immortality, her whole body reaching a state of supreme bliss.
"Wow, this feels so good."
"It is clearly just ordinary hot water. Even if this tub is made of rosewood and there are flower petals in the water, it should not feel this comfortable, right?"
Gu Youwei's cheeks immediately became even rosier.
Her eyes were already filled with a dazed haze. Slowly extending her right hand, she picked up a rose-red petal from the water's surface.
Staring at the petal before her, Gu Youwei felt as though her entire body no longer belonged to her.
Especially since the petal was such an exquisitely tender shade of red.
The longer she looked, the more an utterly indescribable scene appeared in Gu Youwei's mind.
In that scene was a woman whose face could not be seen, who was...
At that thought, Gu Youwei's mind instantly cleared.
The haze in her eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold, killing gaze.
"Something's wrong!"
"What just happened to me?"
Gu Youwei could not help muttering to herself. She stared at the petal in her hand, her gaze gradually turning colder.
For some reason, the unease in Gu Youwei's heart was growing stronger and stronger.
All of a sudden, she no longer wanted to keep bathing.
She had been very clean back at the Gu family anyway. A quick soak should have been enough.
With that thought, Gu Youwei wanted to climb straight out of the tub.
But at that very moment, Gu Youwei discovered something to her great shock.
She could not summon any strength at all!
Her arms could still move slightly, but her legs seemed to have lost all sensation. She could not exert any force whatsoever!
"Could it be that I sat too long and my legs went numb?"
Gu Youwei tried her best to calm down and began attempting to circulate the inner strength and power in her lower body.
Yet no matter how Gu Youwei exerted herself, she still could not stand. She could not even feel the existence of her legs.
Not only that, Gu Youwei felt that hazy, muddled sensation wash over her again.
Even though she had realized something was wrong and desperately wanted to remain calm, she simply could not resist that overwhelming drowsiness.
In her daze, Gu Youwei glanced at the rose-red petals floating on the water's surface.
The petals then seemed to transform into red tentacles, rushing toward her from all directions.
At the critical moment, Gu Youwei vigorously shook her head.
The hallucinations vanished again, and the petals before her were still perfectly ordinary.
"No, I can't stay in here any longer."
By then, Gu Youwei had keenly sensed that something was seriously wrong.
She felt that the longer she soaked in this tub of hot water, the worse her condition became!
An intense wave of sleepiness struck again, nearly making Gu Youwei close her eyes outright.
But Gu Youwei had been the Empress in her previous life. Even though she had lost all her Cultivation Level after being reborn,
the willpower ingrained in her bones still remained.
Gu Youwei could no longer worry about anything else. She hurriedly mobilized all the inner strength in her body.
Using her only two movable hands, she tightly gripped the edge of the tub.
"Gu Youwei, you can do this!"
"You were the Empress in your previous life! Can't you even climb out of a wooden tub?"
"You still have to kill Gu Chen. Your vengeance remains unfulfilled!"
"Father and Mother are still waiting for you to come home!"
At that moment, unprecedented strength erupted from Gu Youwei's heart.
She clung tightly to the edge of the tub, and in the end, she only managed to crawl out after nearly exhausting every last ounce of strength.
But Gu Youwei fell heavily to the floor, warm water and petals scattering all around her body.
Together with the faint flush on Gu Youwei's cheeks, it made her look like a delectable dish.
"I... what is happening to me?"
As Gu Youwei lay on the floor, still wondering what exactly had happened to her,
the tightly shut door was suddenly pushed open.
The cold wind from outside swept in at once, allowing Gu Youwei's drowsy mind to clear a little for once.
With great difficulty, she turned her head and saw someone with the bearing of an immortal standing in the doorway.
And that person was He Changsong...
East Desolation Commandery, at the entrance to the Lingxu Secret Realm.
Lush trees spread into an unbroken expanse, blocking most of the moonlight.
Yet a scant few frigid rays of moonlight still poured down through the shadows of the trees.
They draped the already gloomy, terrifying forest in an additional layer of cold and eerie color.
Beneath an ancient towering tree whose bark had peeled away, Shi Mengying lay sprawled on the ground like a dead dog.
When Gu Chen's inner strength had sent Shi Mengying flying at the start, her internal organs had already ruptured and her ribs had been shattered.
Then Gu Chen had kicked her away once more.
That had nearly cost Shi Mengying her life, leaving her barely clinging on with a single breath.
"No... I... I can't die yet!"
"My clansmen haven't been found yet..."
"And I haven't killed Gu Chen yet!"
Before you continue