Fu Shouci and Xu You exchanged a glance, each seeing the dangerous chill frozen into ice in the other's eyes.
Dangerous glints flashed through the eyes of the other Peak Masters.
They clenched their fists and looked back at the Shadow Prison with hatred.
Hmph! If Xu Zhenzhen weren't still of great use, they would have gone straight back and blasted that witch to death!
The Ten Thousand Swords Sect had raised and taught her. How dared she drain its spirit vein!
Senior Brother Xu had doted on her since childhood, yet she had even entertained thoughts of murdering her father!
Tang Yan failed to notice the murderous coldness in the Peak Masters' eyes.
Recalling his own ending in the book, he was busy silently cursing the little anti-fan who had written him into it.
[Fuck! My ending in the book wasn't much better. My eyes were gouged out, my Nascent Soul was ripped out, I had to block lightning tribulations and donate my blood essence and all that, and in the end, my soul was annihilated. Tsk, "tragic" doesn't begin to cover it.]
As he thought this, Tang Yan looked at Xiao Jixue beside him.
He felt deeply relieved. [Thank goodness Xiao Jixue was the one who saved me in the Divine Seclusion Mountains. If Xu Zhenzhen had saved me, I'd really have had to give everything to that damned witch.]
[Anyway, Xu Zhenzhen is one enormous black hole. Anyone who gets involved with her is doomed.]
Xiao Jixue's gaze trembled, and immense relief filled his heart as well.
He was glad that when he had seen Tang Yan's wretched condition aboard the spirit boat, he had saved him without hesitation.
Li Mo, Feng Sheng, and Cui Yishu also frowned imperceptibly.
Their junior brother's fate was that horrific?!
Having his eyes gouged out and his Nascent Soul ripped out—all to benefit Xu Zhenzhen? And in the end, his soul had even been annihilated because of her?
Their expressions chilled, and fierce killing intent toward Xu Zhenzhen rose in their hearts.
Their junior brother was so adorable. How dared Xu Zhenzhen treat him like that!!
Then they remembered that Tang Yan currently had no cultivation at all, and their worry deepened.
Li Mo planned to refine some pills that could save his life in a crisis as soon as he returned.
Feng Sheng intended to inscribe some sword talismans that could block attacks.
Cui Yishu planned to make more formation plates—defensive ones, offensive ones, spirit-gathering ones... a little of everything.
Supporting Xu You, Wei Lianyi glanced at Tang Yan, worry showing in her eyes.
She, too, secretly resolved to wrangle some lifesaving items from her father once she returned, then give them to Tang Yan when an opportunity arose, adding another layer of protection for him.
With a sweep of his hand, Fu Shouci ordered everyone to return to their respective places.
Then, carrying the Divine Incarnation old monster and the middle-aged woman, he called the Peak Masters over and hurried away.
Tang Yan followed behind Xiao Jixue and was just about to leave.
Suddenly, he heard a Pill Peak disciple speaking to an exceptionally handsome male cultivator in blue-green robes.
"Senior Brother Gu, I'd like to ask you about something concerning the Pill Dao."
The man in blue-green robes nodded. "Come back to the peak with me."
Tang Yan glanced at the two of them, and amusement immediately surfaced in his eyes.
[Asking about the Pill Dao, surname Gu, and wearing blue-green robes... could he be Gu Qingling, one of Xu Zhenzhen's three great simps?]
Gu Qingling froze. Simp? What does that mean?
He looked toward Tang Yan, making sure to give him an extremely friendly nod.
Tang Yan smiled back. The next instant, his gleeful inner voice exploded in the disciples' ears.
*[Gu Qingling always adored Xu Zhenzhen. Even after they broke up, he couldn't forget her for years.
Later, when Xu Zhenzhen returned to the Demon Clan, she brought both her great simps, Gu Qingling and Qiu Ziyuan, there too.]*
[To control them better, Xu Zhenzhen used a secret technique to erase Gu Qingling's and Qiu Ziyuan's self-awareness, turning Pill Peak's two great prodigies into dogs she could order around at will.]
As Tang Yan continued recalling the story, his expression suddenly became exceedingly strange.
Seeing this, Gu Qingling's and Qiu Ziyuan's hearts lurched, and intense unease rose in both of them.
A moment later, their unease became reality.
[Later on, the Demon Saint took a fancy to Gu Qingling too, and even...]
"??!!" ⊙﹏⊙∥
What the hell??
Th-that damned Demon Saint was actually that depraved!!!
Gu Qingling's eyes went wide, terror filling them.
Everyone else clenched their fists in excitement. Holy... holy fucking shit! This gossip is absolutely explosive!!
The female cultivators who fancied Gu Qingling silently felt their idealized image of him shatter to pieces.
Their Senior Brother Gu had been fancied by a member of the Demon Clan. Whatever else one might say, he certainly had plenty of charm.
One ethereal-looking female cultivator stared at Gu Qingling and sighed.
Feeling the burning looks directed at him, both openly and discreetly, Gu Qingling was utterly miserable.
Bitterness filled him, and he wailed inwardly.
Fuck! Oh, heavens! Why is the gossip about me again!!
Are you just going to keep picking on me? Can't you spare me?!
Yet Tang Yan, the culprit behind it all, remained completely oblivious and continued airing Gu Qingling's juicy secrets.
[Honestly, Gu Qingling really had it worse. Haha.]
[Sure, my soul was annihilated, but at least Xu Zhenzhen and the Demon Saint never had their way with me. Ah, happiness really is all about comparison.]
But the next instant, the system mercilessly shattered Tang Yan's little sense of superiority.
[Host, actually... the Demon Saint and Xu Zhenzhen really did covet you. Hehe~~]
The smile on Tang Yan's lips instantly froze. "???"
[After all, your looks were acknowledged as exceptional in the book, host. You were breathtakingly handsome, so beautiful it should've been illegal~~ There were two peerlessly beautiful men in the book: Xiao Jixue and you.]
*[When the author was writing this book, they originally wrote a storyline involving Xu Zhenzhen, the Demon Saint, and you.
But halfway through, they suddenly saw your latest endorsement ad. Your good looks got to them, their conscience kicked in, and they deleted the half-finished draft. That's why neither Xu Zhenzhen nor the Demon Saint defiled you, host.]*
Tang Yan: "..." So? Am I supposed to thank that little anti-fan for sparing me?
After brooding for a while, Tang Yan shifted his gaze to the white-robed Qiu Ziyuan beside Gu Qingling.
Qiu Ziyuan: "..."
His little heart shuddered several times, and he felt an almost fated sense of Finally, it's my turn.
[System, is this Xu Zhenzhen's second simp, Qiu Ziyuan?]
The system's mechanical voice remained perfectly level. [Yes.]
Tang Yan's eyes lit up.
[What happened to him was every bit as bad as what happened to Gu Qingling.]
[As the poem goes, "Picking chrysanthemums beneath the eastern fence, leisurely I behold the mountain of men."]
[The Demon Saint took a fancy to him too, and Xu Zhenzhen ordered him to commit plenty of murders.]
[In the end, burdened with heinous sins, he was slapped to death by the male lead, Nangong Lin, and died alongside the Demon Saint.]
Everyone else: Holy shit!!! Does this Demon Saint specifically like human male cultivators?
Qiu Ziyuan: "..." What, what the hell?
His vision went black, and that bolt from the blue nearly knocked him unconscious.
Fortunately, Gu Qingling "kindly" supported him from beside him, even remembering to stuff a pill into his mouth.
Tang Yan continued.
[Hahaha.]
[I could laugh about this for centuries.]
"Ahem..." Tang Yan was laughing uproariously inside and nearly laughed aloud. He hastily coughed twice in a rather obvious attempt to cover it up.
Qiu Ziyuan: "..."
[Thank goodness I'm the only one who knows. Otherwise, Gu Qingling and Qiu Ziyuan's reputations would be ruined, and they'd want to run themselves through with a sword and start life over.]
Everyone else: ...Sorryyy, we accidentally heard it. Hahaha...
Gu Qingling: Phew... thank goodness Brother Ziyuan is here with me. I instantly feel less miserable~
The system: [Hahaha.] This sweet, clueless host was so entertaining~
Tang Yan looked baffled. [What are you laughing at?]
The system replied leisurely, [Nothing, just having a laugh. Go on, host.]
Suddenly, the weak and drained Qiu Ziyuan's face turned so dark that one could have scraped a layer of soot off it.
He gripped the hilt of his Lifebound Sword tightly, mortified enough to die.
Boohoo~~ I really fucking want to die!!!
Profound sorrow radiated from his entire body, and tears welled in his downcast eyes.
I'm never daring to fall for another female cultivator again, damn it!
All I did was fall for Xu Zhenzhen, and now not only has every embarrassing secret been exposed...
My lifelong reputation is gone too. Everything is gone!!
Having enjoyed his fill of gossip, Tang Yan waved his sleeve and followed Xiao Jixue away, taking not a single cloud with him.
He left Gu Qingling and Qiu Ziyuan standing there as though struck by lightning, holding each other's hands, their eyes brimming with tears.
"Brother Ziyuan~"
"Brother Qingling~"
"Hahaha..." Seeing the two looking like frost-wilted plants, everyone else burst into shameless laughter.
A devilishly alluring man from Artifact Peak, dressed in red, walked up to them and gave each of them a flirtatious glance.
"Looking at you today, senior brothers, you're both very much my type."
With that, the handsome, alluring man patted Gu Qingling and Qiu Ziyuan on the shoulders, then strode away laughing.
Wisps of a refined, cool fragrance drifted through the air.
Gu Qingling: "..."
Qiu Ziyuan: "..."
Mommy, save us!! The men out here are terrifying!! We want to go home!
Before you continue