Chapter 14

(Desire to cultivate his miraculous skills, wielding a sword to castrate himself; lonely and long dark nights filled with immeasurable desolation.)

As reality would prove it, the tools that Gu Liang wanted to bring along could not be taken into the next scenario.

Not only was he not allowed to bring it, even his clothes – scarf included – had to be left behind.

The only thing he was allowed to bring was the red cord on his wrist.

When Gu Liang woke up in the morning three days after, he found that the bed under him was still the same bed but everything else in the room had become obscure. In fact, his entire person had been enveloped by the thick fog and it was white and hazy wherever he looked.

Very quickly, two men in black emerged from the white expanse, and one of the black-clothed people was holding a roulette. However, the words on the roulette were blurred out and its contents could not be perceived.

The man in black opened his mouth and said: “The grade quality of the scenarios on the roulette are all simple. Please draw one.”

Gu Liang spun it without trouble. After the roulette spun a few rounds, it came to stop, pointer landing on a blurred script name.

The man in black did not look at the roulette, and he only stated: “Your next scenario is called《 Painted Exteriors · Long Lived 》.”

The other man in black who was standing beside him raised both his hands and spread out six cards. Then, he said, “Please choose the character card you will be playing in this scenario.”

Conveniently, Gu Liang picked a card before he flipped open the card face. Just as he finished reading the first line, he stiffened. “Your husband Perennial Wang is the Deceased in this scenario, you are his tenth legitimate wife, and also the number one beauty in the martial art circles, Beauty Yi.”

Gu Liang: “……”

The man in black said: “Different from the first introductory script, everything interrelated to the script will go through an upgrade, and that includes the card. The card will have your story, timeline, the map where the plot takes place, and even crucial information prompts. The voting at the end will also be conducted through this card. Please care for the card properly.”

Gu Liang weighed the card in his hands. In his heart, he remarked, This is a super thin tablet.

“With regards to how the card is used, and what the specifics of your story line are, you can explore them slowly as you’re travelling. Please change into your costume now and get on the sedan, we will be sending you to your next scenario location.”

After the man in black’s voice fell, Gu Liang kept his card and raised his eyes, and he saw an entirely pitch-black sedan appear in the distance in front of him. Upon withdrawing his gaze, he noticed that one of the men in black suddenly had a red ancient skirt costume and wig in his hands.

Gu Liang asked: “Can I opt out of changing?”

Man in black: “You may.”

Gu Liang: “Very good.”

Man in Black: “After opting out, you will be locked in the small black room for twenty minutes and then you’ll be forced into your costume.”

Gu Liang: “……”

Despite the warning prompt that the system issued, Gu Liang stared at the costume silently for ten seconds.

In the end, Gu Liang still took the clothes before the system could report his ensuing punishment. “Please turn around.”

“Feel free to change, we can’t see.” The man in black responded.

Can’t see?

Well, that must be true; they did not even have to glance at where the pointer had landed before they announced the name of the script.

But how and who did they learn it from?

What kind of living beings were they exactly?

Gu Liang furrowed his eyebrows slightly as he scrutinised the men in black, whose faces were similarly enshrouded by the fog.

His scrutiny, however, did not yield him any results, and he could only sigh and change into the ancient-styled red skirt.

Gu Liang had a suspicion that he would not be having the best time during the entire enactment process for the next scenario.

And everything would only be made worse if he encountered Yang Ye in this appearance.

Once he was done changing his clothes, Gu Liang got on the black sedan and allowed the men in black to carry him towards an unknown location.

During this time, he seized the opportunity to study the next script carefully.

Compared to the previous scenario, this scenario was slightly longer.

“This script has a total of six players. Deceased [Perennial Wang], is the Sect Leader of the Number One Xiaoyao Sect in the martial arts circles. Apart from the Deceased, the other five players’ designations are, his current legitimate wife [Beauty Yi], his two direct disciples [Oldest Martial Brother] and [Second Martial Brother], the monk who came to the Sect to expel ghosts [Master Hui], and [Doctor Yu] who is treating Perennial Wang’s illness.

“The reason why Perennial Wang managed to develop Xiaoyao Sect into the Number One Sect under the heavens is because he practices the art of immortality. He has been alive for several centuries, and as a natural consequence, his internal energy is exceedingly deep and he is the greatest master practitioner under the heavens. He has received disciples all over the lands which allowed the Sect to grow stronger with each passing day.

“However, only a scant few know that, in order to cultivate his miraculous skills, Perennial Wang had wielded a sword and castrated himself. Therefore, as his tenth legitimate wife, you have continuously led the life of a grass widow; having lonely and long dark nights filled with immeasurable desolation.”

What the fuck do you mean by having lonely and long dark nights filled with immeasurable desolation.

Gu Liang: “…………”

There were too many things to insult, he did not know where to begin.

“Two months ago, you went to Hongfu Temple to offer incense and you encountered Master Hui. Many years ago, as a girl in your early teens, there was a period of time where you and Master Hui had feelings for each other. Unfortunately, he was a monk and you had a marriage agreement attached to your person, and you could only break it off with him. Who could have thought that after you married Perennial Wang, you did not live a blissful life. Upon reuniting with Master Hui, you have decided to abandon everything and get together with him.

“After you returned home, you found someone to stir up trouble by pretending to be a ghost, and complained to Perennial Wang in a tearful manner, saying that Xiaoyao Sect was haunted and you wanted to invite a Buddhist monk to chant scriptures. When you received Perennial Wang’s agreement, you invited Master Hui to stay in Xiaoyao Sect. Every night, you would drug Perennial Huang to knock him out, and you would have a lovers’ rendezvous with Master Hui once he was fully asleep.

“In the past two days, you realised that Perennial Wang was acting a little strange, and you suspect he might have discovered your secret romantic liaisons with Master Hui. With a vicious heart, you decided to carry through with it, whatever the consequence, and find an opportunity to kill Perennial Wang.

“There is a curse in Xiaoyao Sect called [Draw a Circle to Curse You]: after drawing the specified cursed talisman and writing the name and Eight Characters of the curse recipient, he will immediately die a sudden death. However, this curse can only be used at a specified time. The ninth day of the ninth month at maoshi, that is the only opportunity where the curse can be utilised in the next three years. Thus, you have decided to kill Perennial Wang on that day.”

By the time Gu Liang was done reading the plot, the ellipses in his mind had already circled the earth once.

He genuinely had no way of understanding this dog blooded drama and he could not accept the fact that he had to act as the skirt-wearing, female protagonist in the mentioned dog-blooded drama.

Forget it, the story was not important, neither was his appearance; the most important thing was understanding his character’s motivation to kill and modus operandi.

Scowling, Gu Liang forged on ahead to read his timeline.

His timeline in this instance was very simple too— on the eighth night of the ninth month, he knocked Perennial Wang out as per usual and went to have a rendezvous with Master Hui. On the following mao shi of the next day, which was also the five’ o clock at dawn on the ninth of September, he had to use [Draw a Circle to Curse You] to curse Perennial Wang to death.

And the card really got an upgrade; the Eight Characters for Perennial Wang, as well as a detailed drawing of the cursed talisman were displayed, and Gu Liang only had to imitate it when the time came.

Lastly, below the plot and timeline were the pivotal points of information.

“1, In Xiaoyao Sect, Perennial Wang’s wife and direct disciples all know how to utilise the [Draw a Circle to Curse You]; 2, You might be the real murderer, please ensure that you conceal your identity.”

Gu Liang read the points of information thrice in a scrupulous manner. He could not help but think— Why would the system give these pivotal points of information?

Since Perennial Wang had been alive for several hundred years, his internal energy was deep and unmeasurable and he was the best at martial arts under the heavens, which signified that no one could beat him. In a wuxia setting, even poisons might not be effective on a person like this.

You couldn’t defeat him, you couldn’t kill him, and perhaps even poisons were useless.

Due to such circumstances, the only viable way of killing him was curses.

The script had already explicitly stated that Perennial Wang’s wife and direct disciples all knew of this curse.

Which means to say, at mao shi on the ninth day of the ninth month, it was possible that at least three characters would be using the [Draw a Circle to Curse You] to curse Perennial Wang to death.

If that were truly the case, who should be considered as the real murderer who killed him?

* * *

Having gone through the plot, Gu Liang pulled the scrollbar at the side down, and came to discover that the back page was only displaying the word “Downloading”. This indicated that he could not check the map of Xiaoyao Sect for the time being and he could not see other clues concerning the plot.

Since there was nothing he could do in the moment, he chose to keep his card properly before closing his eyes to take a rest.

The sedan was so steady he could barely perceive the fact that this structure was being carried as they walked, and it was even to the extent where Gu Liang did not feel himself shifting in the slightest.

After a long while, Gu Lang heard the faint sounds of weeping.

The weeping nose was existent and yet not; it could not be called heartrending, but a particular feeling of despair rose from the depths of his heart, unprovoked.

Gu Liang opened his eyes and examined the sedan carefully.

The interior of the sedan was entirely pitch-black and there were no windows.

Thus, he stretched out his hand and gripped onto the door curtain, as if he wanted to raise it up to take a peek.

It was at this moment, however, that he heard the man in black’s voice. “Don’t look at any of it. Or else, when you die an unnatural death, it’ll already be too late.”

Gu Liang’s hand stilled completely. Then, he put the door curtain back down.

Everything that had occurred thus far was beyond what he understood about human strength.

He could sense that he was either going up against something that surpassed the realm of natural or deities and ghosts.

In short, the strength they possessed was something he could not fight against for the time being.

Therefore, he could only choose to adapt to the rules first.

Gu Liang’s agitated heart calmed down very quickly.

The sedan had food and beverages, and it even had a partitioned washroom.

He might as well eat and drink along the way and cultivate his spirits properly before he had to tackle the next scenario.

* * *

By the time Gu Liang was quietly suggested to get off the sedan, it was already late at night.

After Gu Liang stepped off the sedan, the men in black behind him, alongside the sedan, disappeared altogether.

Everything in his surroundings were still shrouded by thick fog and nothing could be seen.

It was only after a long while that the fog dispersed slowly, which allowed Gu Liang to finally recover the clarity of his gaze.

Gu Liang took out his card to check it. On the left corner, there was a timestamp indicating that it was the eighth day of the ninth month. Presently, there was still an hour before zi shi.

He tried to drag down the card face again and the next page no longer showed the “Downloading” text, for it was replaced with the map of Xiaoyao Sect. Additionally, his location marker showed he was currently standing inside of Perennial Wang’s and Beauty Yi’s bedroom.

Soon after, the voice of a NPC servant girl sounded from outside the door. “Madam, the Sect Leader’s calming soup has been sent over.”

Gu Liang opened the door, took the calming soup and the servant girl left.

After carrying the soup into the bedroom, Gu Liang rummaged through the chests and cupboards before he eventually noticed a smaller box inside the rouge case. The words “Knockout Drops, a small amount can render someone unconscious” were written on top in a conspicuous manner.

Gu Liang poured some of the knockout drops into the soup intuitively and sat down, waiting for his “husband” Perennial Wang to return.

According to the script’s timeline, Gu Liang would be letting Perennial Wang drink this bowl of soup, and once he was sleeping deeply, he would go and find Master Hui for a secret liaison.

Roughly a quarter of an hour later, Perennial Wang came back.

Gu Liang heard the door being opened, and then a male voice travelled over: “Wife, I’ve returned.”

Gu Liang: “……”

— Did this player play too many of these games, such that he was exceedingly accustomed to portraying these characters?

Important Translator’s Note: I was thinking about relegating this to an optional footnote, but I did not want this contextual clue to be lost in literal translation so:

The reason why “Perennial Wang” has his character name translated this way is because the last two characters of his Chinese name ‘王不老’ (pinyin: wang bu lao) can have a lot of meanings. It can signify ‘not ageing’, ‘immortal’, ‘never dying’, and ‘lasting’ collectively – Chinese is fun like that; the characters are simple in construct, but combined, it can have a lot of nuances.

Additionally, his name is relation to the title of the script, notably the Long Lived part – ‘长生’ (pinyin: chang sheng) – forms the idiom ‘长生不老’ together, which means ‘living forever and never growing old’. In light of that fact, I made his name Perennial Wang, because I felt like the definition of ‘lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring or continually recurring; specifically engaged in a specified way of life’ fits best.

Please do keep that in mind for the rest of the arc!

P.S. The first part of the scenario title PaintedExteriors can have a lot of meanings too x: