Zhongshan Shenzhu Chi

He casually tossed down two gold ingots as payment for driving the carriage.

Tu Die showed her token to the city's protective array, leaped out, and floated gracefully into the city.

They headed straight for the pleasure boat.

Upon landing on the third floor of the pleasure boat, before I could even give any instructions, I suddenly heard faint sobs coming from downstairs.

Tu Die frowned and walked towards the bottom floor.

The ground was a mess, with broken bowls and plates everywhere, as well as many broken tables, chairs and benches, and even a large pillar had been slashed several times.

Her upturned lips still smiled, but beneath the smile, her eyes held a murderous glint.

"Can anyone tell me what's going on?" Tu Die demanded.

"Sister Butterfly is back?"

"Sister Butterfly—"

The women who were tidying up looked up when they heard this, as if they had seen their pillar of support. They put down what they were doing and ran to her.

They stood in front of Tu Die, wanting to speak, but were choked by tears.

"Xiao Nuan, tell me, what happened here?" Tu Die's phoenix eyes swept across the area, her gaze landing on a thin little girl.

A red handprint can be clearly seen on the girl's face.

"Sister Butterfly..." Xiao Nuan looked up and saw that her fair eyes were surrounded by bruises and tears were welling up in her eyes. "The people from the Four Dharma Gates and the City Lord's Mansion came over to drink. They drank too much and insisted that Miss Luan Ming go up and drink with them."

"But Miss Luan Ming had her period and was in so much pain that she couldn't even walk... They got angry and rushed out of the room to fight and smash things. The guards were no match for them, and many of them were injured."

"Miss Luan Ming had no choice but to come out, hoping they would take a break, but they immediately pinned her against the railing..."

"Where is he?" Tu Die asked in a low voice.

"In the room, my body is about to be stabbed through by the hilt of a knife..." Xiao Nuan didn't dare to look into Sister Die's eyes, and said softly with her head down.

"After you finish cleaning this place, each of you go to the accounting office to collect ten taels of silver, then go back to your rooms to rest. The pleasure boat will be closed for three days."

Tu Die chewed on a piece of firewood, her voice calm to the point of indifference.

She set a rule that people were not allowed to receive guests during their menstrual period, and she punished a large number of people to enforce this rule.

The Four Dharma Gates colluded with the City Lord's Mansion, thinking that with more people they could rely on the city's defensive formation to resist them.

Tu Die took a step forward and landed in front of Luan Ming's room.

A heavy, gloomy atmosphere hung in the air, and the red snake's eyes gleamed.

Push open the door.

A voluptuous woman lay naked on the bed, her chest and lower abdomen covered in blood.

The white cloth was soaked red.

"Sister Butterfly..." Luan Ming murmured, his lips dry, "I've finally seen you."

"You are still as beautiful and charming as you were twenty years ago. I can never learn to be like you."

Tu Die pursed her extremely thin lips, which were almost stuck together.

She walked to the bedside, disregarding the blood, and said softly, "Little sister, rest well, I will heal you."

"No need to trouble yourself." Luan Ming dodged Tu Die's hand, turned his head, and met the red snake's dark eyes.

Suddenly, she seemed to see a hint of gold and silver.

The color slowly drifted along Tu Die's neck, finally meeting her own gaze.

"Butterfly, on your neck—" Luan Ming cried out, his heart pounding with rage.

"It's alright, it's alright." Tu Die placed her hand on her forehead, her voice still gentle. "I know what's on my neck; I left the city to bring it here."

"That's good, that's good..." The sudden surge of emotion subsided, and Luan Ming's eyes dimmed again, his heart as dead as ever.

"Mountain God...can you help me rekindle her will to live?" Tu Die reached out and covered Luan Ming's eyes.

She was at her wit's end, but if a deity were to persuade him, Luan Ming might be willing to live on.

Upon hearing this, the Red Serpent did not respond, but simply withdrew its gaze from Luan Ming.

The answer hidden in her eyes just now was very clear: she only wanted to die, with no thought whatsoever of living.

"Didn't you look after the Lin family caravan outside the city? Why aren't you saying anything now? Is her life inferior to others?" Tu Die said sadly.

"You've saved her heart, and I promise that from now on, in both autumn and winter, there will only be one deity to worship in both cities!"

"Offering incense and prayers is useless to me," the red snake shook its head.

"Then I can—"

"You can pay such a high price for this person, but with so many people on this pleasure boat, could you pay that price for everyone?"

"Can you afford it?"

The red snake spoke, interrupting Tu Die's words, which seemed to be a trade for life.

To it, life and nature are equal; if something can be saved, it will do its best to save it, regardless of its status or worth.

But the girl was already dead; she was just clinging to life, wanting to see Tu Die one last time.

"I—" Tu Die was speechless, looking down into the eyes of the red snake.

Now, in her eyes, the red snake suddenly looked different.

The snake is no longer a snake.

Its continuous body resembles a mountain range, winding along a surging red river.

Suddenly, the faint heartbeat in my palm stopped.

Tu Die let go of his hand and looked at Luan Ming, who had already closed his eyes. She bit her thin lips with her pearly teeth, and it hurt a lot.

"You really are heartless..." she murmured to herself.

The red snake flicked its tongue, also looking at Luan Ming, who had already stopped breathing.

I thought of that white fox, and my mother.

I empathize, but remain silent inside.

Empathy and gratitude are human qualities that it can never erase.

But respecting nature is its core principle and belief that it has always upheld.

A mother knows her child best.

She saw the red serpent's inner struggle and worried about its future. It had the ability to reverse time and revive itself, yet due to its own nature, it fell into a vortex of choices.

So he spoke up directly, revealing the Red Serpent's thoughts and making things clear on the table.

This directly extinguished the Red Serpent's idea of ​​reversing the order of time and reviving itself.

She might take even more extreme actions to truly prevent her future children from going down the wrong path.

Perhaps one's whole being merges with Zhongshan, becoming one with it, existing yet not existing in this world.

"I'll give you some time to properly arrange her funeral." Red Serpent's mind was filled with thoughts, but they eventually subsided and he returned to reality.

It is now going to destroy the dam on the Majian River.

"No need." Tu Die, who had been sitting sideways, raised her hand and wiped her eyes.

"The woman on the pleasure boat has no funeral; she only has the thought of returning to her parents' embrace. Luan Minghui will be burned to ashes by the flames and fall back into the earth and water."

"So what are your thoughts now?" Red Serpent asked.

"A feast, then beheading." Tu Die turned around, her smile still on her face, but her crimson eyes were turning black.

"The people from the City Lord's Mansion and the Four Dharma Gates have long had their eyes on my pleasure boat and my men."

"At that time, the whole city will know that a grand banquet will be held on the pleasure boat, and many of them will gather here with me."

"If you make another move, destroy the city's protective formation."