Deep within the Drifting Brow Garden.
Inside the dungeon.
Yu Konghou, who had not been seen for days, sat on the ground covered in spiderwebs, motionless as a wooden statue. Dozens of venomous spiders, each the size of a pea, crawled across the webs like droplets of water hanging from the poisonous strands.
The webs shimmered with a faint iridescence, appearing strangely elegant rather than terrifying.
With a soft "tap," the small opening of the dungeon slid open again. Qingyan pushed in a wooden tray from outside, carrying a bottle of water and a piece of flatbread. The opening closed immediately. She didn’t speak, nor did she retrieve the tray, as if she had already forgotten.
The faint sound of footsteps faded into the distance.
Around Yu Konghou lay numerous empty water bottles and bowls, but it wasn’t him who had been consuming the contents. The glowing venomous spiders gathered around the vessels, feeding incessantly.
Yu Konghou had grown noticeably thinner, his skin taking on a faint bluish-gold hue like that of the spiders, making him appear no longer among the living.
Suddenly, the webs covering him trembled slightly, as if sensing something, rippling in delicate waves. Yu Konghou shuddered violently, his eyes snapping open—devoid of any light. As the ripples subsided, his eyelids slowly closed again.
The spiders continued crawling over him, weaving more webs.
Gradually, he became encased in a massive cocoon spun by the venomous spiders.
Under the candlelight, the silk threads of the cocoon glimmered faintly.
After delivering today’s meal, Qingyan wandered back in a daze.
Several white-robed attendants called her name, but she didn’t respond. For the past three days, she hadn’t tended to the red-robed attendants either, merely drifting along in a haze. Though Wenhui had returned from the capital with the Ghost Revered Master’s party, Qingyan rarely spoke to her senior sister.
Fine strands of spider silk glimmered behind her ears, and tiny creatures moved imperceptibly within her hair.
Yet she remained completely unaware.
Qingyan entered the grand hall.
This place had once been where Yu Konghou held council. In his absence, Bai Suche now stood there. Yu Konghou’s golden silk recliner remained beside her, adorned with a silk cushion embroidered with cranes. On the wooden table next to it sat a flask of strong liquor and an empty cup.
She never sat in Yu Konghou’s usual high seat, often standing beside it instead, as if his presence—or absence—made no difference to her. Nor did she display the anxious or elated demeanor typical of those in power.
Qingyan entered, still dazed.
Bai Suche studied her for a moment, frowning. "Tired?"
Qingyan shook her head. "No."
Bai Suche asked again, "How is the Revered Master Yu?"
Qingyan replied, "He’s eating."
Bai Suche clasped her hands behind her back, scrutinizing her. "Then why do you seem so lost?"
Qingyan shook her head again. "I’m just... a little scared."
Bai Suche said coolly, "Of me?"
Qingyan vehemently shook her head. "No! Sister Su Su has always been the kindest to me. Qingyan knows there’s no one else in this world... no one else..." Her voice trailed off into a whisper. "No one else who cares..."
Bai Suche stared at her. Qingyan swayed unsteadily, her pallid face tinged with an eerie glow. Something stirred within her hair. In an instant, something burst forth from behind Qingyan’s head—Bai Suche drew her blade in reflex, slashing toward Qingyan—but halfway through the strike, she realized her mistake!What erupted from Qingyan's body wasn't a hidden weapon, but a cloud of spider silk as light as willow catkins.
Countless tiny spiders shimmering with a pale blue-gold light fluttered in the air. Bai Suche swung her blade at them, and the silk immediately clung to the steel. The spiders couldn't be harmed by the blade's edge, but they could crawl down along it, swiftly making their way toward Bai Suche.
Without hesitation, Bai Suche released her grip on the blade and retreated far away.
Her retreat took her outside the great hall, but Qingyan remained inside.
From a distance, Bai Suche watched Qingyan, now covered in tiny spiders, standing motionless in the hall. She watched as Qingyan collapsed weakly, as she writhed on the ground, as spiders crawled out from her ears and nose—followed by streams of blood.
The spiders, weaving their webs with terrifying speed, soon draped Qingyan in layer upon layer of delicate silk. She looked as though she were shrouded in a hazy veil, both eerily beautiful and horrifying.
Bai Suche watched her die.
Every moment, every strand of web, she remembered with perfect clarity—just as she still remembered every single move of the "Like Pine" sword technique to this day.
Yu Konghou would never surrender without a fight.
She had been waiting, had even been puzzled before.
So this was it.
The poison of the Gu Spiders.
He had taken advantage of Qingyan's meal deliveries to spread the Gu Spider toxin. Now, who knew how many of these venomous spiders lurked within the vast Piaoling Eyebrow Manor? Qingyan was young and weak in martial arts; after being poisoned, she had been oblivious until the spiders burrowed into her brain and killed her. The Gu Spiders didn’t distinguish friend from foe—since Yu Konghou had released them, he himself would not escape unscathed.
Bai Suche stared at the trembling spiderwebs inside the hall, then took out a firestarter, lit it, and tossed it into the silk. Flames erupted instantly—the fine threads were highly flammable. Dozens of Gu Spiders, startled, fled from the burning webs. Bai Suche turned back inside, grabbed a golden flask of strong liquor beside a reclining chair, and splashed it over the spiders.
With a whoosh , the flames surged. The tiny Gu Spiders, drenched in liquor, were engulfed as the fire from Qingyan’s body spread toward them. In an instant, the minuscule creatures were reduced to ashes.
The flames from the burning silk soon died out, leaving Qingyan’s body charred and blackened.
Bai Suche walked over, knelt on one knee, and took out a handkerchief to gently wipe the grime from Qingyan’s face.
This child had killed many people.
She had been indiscriminate in morality, reckless in actions, callous toward life, cold-hearted and cruel—all of that was true.
But if, at twelve or thirteen, she hadn’t joined the Frivolous Store, hadn’t been praised after senselessly killing people… perhaps she wouldn’t have died like this.
Bai Suche raised her head, gazing into the dark, cavernous depths of the underground palace.
In this den of demons, what difference did it make whether there were Gu Spiders or not?
The people in this hellish place were alive, yet they didn’t seem to be living.
So they weren’t all that afraid of death, either.
Strangely, she even felt a flicker of satisfaction—because Yu Konghou had released the Gu Spiders.
There had to be someone behind the Gu Spiders, controlling them.
It wasn’t Yu Konghou. Yu Konghou was already at his wit's end, sacrificing himself to the spiders.
Then who was it?
She had hacked through thorns, killed others and herself, walked through fire—and now, was she finally about to uncover the answer to all these mysteries? The true master of the Frivolous Store?
If possible, when the time came, she would demand justice for all the white-robed and red-robed attendants of the Frivolous Store—those who were neither truly alive nor truly dead!
Bai Suche had no desire to live, no fear of death.
She walked alone. What she did was her own choice—it had nothing to do with anyone else.
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