Saint Aunt suddenly realized she had made a mistake.
Xu Yuan couldn't possibly be invulnerable to blades and bullets all over his body. Yesterday, in the battle by Meihua Pool, he hadn't shown any such ability.
Saint Aunt cursed herself for missing a "golden opportunity."
The instant her maid died, Saint Aunt's fury shot from her heels straight to the crown of her head. Her whole body tensed, and without the slightest hesitation, she lunged at Xu Yuan.
A small knife in her right hand, an iron hammer in her left!
Xu Yuan sneered and flicked out a small bamboo cage.
"You're an Artisan Cultivator too. Let's see what you're made of. Can you break this Artisan Cultivator creation?"
Xu Yuan said that, but he knew perfectly well that Saint Aunt didn't have what it took to break his stepmother's Bamboo Cage.
A competitive spirit rose in Saint Aunt at once. The small knife and iron hammer in her hands happened to be her "Artisan Cultivator tools." These were the tools Artisan Cultivators used to create other creations.
Normally, Artisan Cultivator tools were exceptionally precious and had to be kept "precise," so they weren't brought out for battle.
But Saint Aunt had nothing else left.
Armed with both tools, Saint Aunt's confidence soared. She charged straight at the Bamboo Cage.
The Bamboo Cage rapidly expanded. Saint Aunt's hands flew, moving so quickly they left afterimages as she began to break it.
Her talent as an Artisan Cultivator was truly impressive. She fought the Bamboo Cage for a long time, and it had only managed to cover her upper body.
It hadn't closed around her or locked her in, either.
But beads of sweat, big as beans, rolled down Saint Aunt's forehead.
She had been trying to break it for ages, yet hadn't managed to damage the Bamboo Cage at all.
Saint Aunt knew she wasn't up to the task. A gust of mountain wind swept past, and her cold sweat steamed away. In an instant, she calmed down.
"Why was I foolishly trying to break some Artisan Cultivator creation?"
"How absurdly stupid!"
"Just as stupid as when I inexplicably got scared off because he grabbed a crossbow bolt!"
Saint Aunt sensed something was wrong. She had clearly set up her "stall," where she made all the rules within its bounds and was practically invincible. So why had she charged out to break some Artisan Cultivator creation?
Some invisible force had been influencing her, making her choose one wrong course of action after another.
Once Saint Aunt came to her senses, she wanted to return to her "stall." But as soon as she moved, she stepped into a trap.
A real trap.
At some point, Xu Yuan had laid a loop of rope around her foot. Saint Aunt stepped right into it—and when choosing whether to step with her left foot or her right, she had made the wrong choice again!
Xu Yuan yanked the rope, binding one of Saint Aunt's feet.
Saint Aunt planted her feet and held fast, refusing to be dragged away. The rope tightened, but Xu Yuan couldn't pull her off, and she couldn't get back to her stall.
As the two of them struggled in a stalemate, a short sword whirled around Saint Aunt. She had to spare some of her attention to guard against Xu Yuan suddenly stabbing her.
She held out for half an incense stick's time before her defenses failed both above and below.
The Bamboo Cage dropped over her head, and Xu Yuan pulled her away from the stall by the rope.
Bamboo slats pierced her body, pinning both her hands in place. She could no longer wield the knife or hammer.
Xu Yuan eagerly reached out with his gloved hand, seized the small knife, and snatched it from Saint Aunt.
Xu Yuan had never had a suitable weapon. This small knife looked like a treasure this exalted one had lost somewhere.
Blood gushed from the wounds all over Saint Aunt's body. Her face was deathly pale, and she looked so weak and pitiful that anyone would feel for her.
She gazed at Xu Yuan with wide, shimmering, tear-damp eyes, like a little deer that had accidentally fallen into a trap.
"Please, don't kill me, okay?"
"You have a rope. You can tie me up. I won't fight back again."
"You can do whatever you want."
"I'll be good. I'll do whatever you say."
The only means she had left was the City-Toppling Method.
She had paid an exorbitant price in Merchant Law to buy it from another Law Cultivator who specialized in the City-Toppling Method.
Law Cultivators generally practiced only one Law, but Merchant Cultivators could learn several by "buying" them.
However, after that Law Cultivator sold the City-Toppling Method, he became an ordinary person. Hunted by enemies on all sides, his entire family was wiped out.
Xu Yuan gave a disdainful "Tch." "I'd be better off going to Widow Yang on South Street."
Saint Aunt's blood surged and fury blazed in her chest. That lowly brat had actually said she was inferior to a brothel woman!
What a disgrace!
She was the only one allowed to look down on him. How dare he despise her!
But she couldn't lose her temper now. Not only could she not get angry, she had to please him. As long as she stayed alive, she could soon swallow this brat, skin and bones!
Within the City-Toppling Method was a great-pleasure art that could melt bones and dissolve gold.
"Big brother..." Saint Aunt's voice turned coquettish. She swayed her waist, and her robe slid from her shoulders against the bamboo slats. Her eyes looked as though they might drip with water. "Whatever tricks Widow Yang knows, I can learn them all for you..."
The short blade in Xu Yuan's hand had already pierced her throat.
The rest of Saint Aunt's unfinished words caught in her throat.
Blood poured straight into her windpipe. She convulsed in agony a few times, but could only make a string of resentful "uh, uh" sounds. Then, glaring with wide eyes, she stiffened and died.
The instant she breathed her last, some force withdrew, and her beautiful, alluring body puffed up like a balloon.
Her slender waist, small enough to encircle with two hands, grew as wide as a water vat.
Her slim, shapely legs became two round elephant legs.
Her fingers grew as thick as carrots, and her feet were as big as pig's trotters.
Yellow, withered hair, a flat nose, a plate-sized face, thick, protruding lips, and a face covered in liver spots...
Obese and hideous!
All that beauty had been the effect of the City-Toppling Method.
She had been a glutton who knew no restraint. This was her true face—the one she had deceived outsiders with, and even Saint Aunt herself.
In Qihetan Town, at Liu's Village Wine, Ah Guang had returned the previous afternoon. As soon as he walked in, he noticed that something was off with his master, Old Man Liu, and his wife.
From yesterday through today, his master had been constantly teaching him the secret recipe for brewing liquor, as if he wanted to cram a lifetime of experience into Ah Guang's head all at once.
His mistress had said nothing, but last night she had made him plain white rice without a bit of bran, then stayed up all night sewing him a new outfit. This morning, she had insisted that he try it on, then steamed rice cakes for breakfast.
Lunch had been even more extravagant: braised pork with wine lees!
Not long after lunch, his master gave him the final trick and let out a long breath. "We made it in time, at least..."
After Old Man Liu finished speaking, two jets of blood shot from his eyes. His eyeballs burst out seven feet, and he let out a scream before passing out from the pain.
Ah Guang was terrified. "Master!"
A moment later, something crashed in the inner room. Ah Guang hurried in to look, only to find that his mistress, just like his master, had nothing left but two bloody eye sockets!
Ah Guang stared in horror and bewilderment. "W-what in the world is going on?"
Before you continue