Wayfarer

Chapter 232: The Humanoid Madam Rouge

In the interior of the divine purple rock, the crystal mountain continued to grow smaller. Madam Rouge, ensconced within, didn't respond to Xiao Nanfeng's attempts to communicate.

Xiao Nanfeng wasn't particularly worried about the danger outside. Everything could wait until Madam Rouge had awoken.

He retrieved a red rope cursed effigy from his storage ring, then sent his avatar, with embedded red moon and stellar lake, within. Very quickly, the cursed effigy took on his form. He activated the storage ring and pulled out a set of clothes, which he quickly put on.

He did prefer the feeling of having a physical body, after all.

Suddenly, he found the crystal mountain drifting away.

"The interior of the divine purple rock is huge. If you go too far, I won't be able to find you!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

He hurriedly drew the crystal mountain back. By then, it was only sixty meters tall, and still shrinking steadily as it emitted a pink glow.

He was just about to store the scroll of the Heavenly Dao when he gasped. The cloth was shining with yellow light.

"It's restoring itself...?" Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

Light concentrated where the cloth was frayed, ripped, or had holes as it repaired itself at a glacial rate.

"Could it be the gray fog and purple light within this space?"

The interior of the divine purple rock was surrounded by gray fog dotted with purple light. Xiao Nanfeng didn't know what they were, but he was very surprised that they were able to repair the scroll of Heavenly Dao.

Suddenly, his eyes brightened. He began to call on a technique from the manual The Imperial Court of Heaven. He would take advantage of the fact that the scroll was in a badly damaged state, with its will fragmented, to infuse his own will into the cloth and gain full control over it.

He sat in meditation, one hand holding onto the cloth, and the other onto the crystal mountain.

As he attuned to the scroll of the Heavenly Dao, he could sense a vast expanse of starry sky, one which had been torn apart. Chaotic, shattered regions of space formed vortices in its midst. As his mind wandered, he could sense that the remaining stars seemed to follow some deep pattern he was yet unable to comprehend, as though charting out the Heavenly Dao. However, because of the shattered space, the pattern had been broken, the resonance lost. Now, however, gray fog and violet light were starting to restore the damaged regions.

"Would I be able to comprehend the Heavenly Dao once this scroll is restored...?" Xiao Nanfeng wondered.

Despite the fact that the pattern was currently broken, despite the fact that everything was all but incomprehensible to him, the starry sky still captivated his senses.

He didn't know how long he spent glancing at the celestial sight. He was jolted awake when something squirmed in his lap.

The crystal mountain had vanished, replaced by the figure of a woman. Her lashes were long, her nose pert, her lips full and lush, her features delicate and gorgeous, her neck white and pale, her collarbone slender, her skin like snow. Xiao Nanfeng blushed red.

Suddenly, the woman opened her eyes and met Xiao Nanfeng's gaze, startling him. His eyes widened.

The woman shot into motion, slapping him with a palm in embarrassment. "What are you looking at, Xiao Nanfeng?"

Xiao Nanfeng was sent flying. As he floated in the air, he saw the woman wave an arm. Peach blossom petals shrouded her body. By the time he regained his footing, the petals had transformed into a long dress of the same color that covered her body from top to bottom, lending her the aura of an Immortal.

"A-Are you Madam Rouge? You can speak now?" Xiao Nanfeng was astounded.

The woman stared at Xiao Nanfeng. "What did you see?"

"Only the peach blossoms," Xiao Nanfeng quickly replied.

Before he could finish, Madam Rouge had struck him again with her palm, sending him flying.

"No, no, don't misunderstand me! I'm talking about your dress, not what you thought it was! Please, calm down," Xiao Nanfeng reassured her. [1]

"Stop talking nonsense!" Madam Rouge's face flushed red as she struck him again.

Xiao Nanfeng spat out a mouthful of blood as he was sent flying.

"Please, be reasonable! You've seen me change my clothes before, haven't you? I was just shocked by your transformation!"

"I never watched you change your clothes!"

Madam Rouge glared at Xiao Nanfeng, but she was a beauty even so.

"Madam Rouge, you're a stunning beauty." Xiao Nanfeng wiped at the blood trickling down his lips.

"Did you think I was a skeleton?" Madam Rouge replied coolly, still upset about what had happened.

"Don't be so angry. We're friends, aren't we? I wasn't staring at you intentionally. You hit me until you drew blood, didn't you? As an esteemed cultivator, you must surely be magnanimous in spirit," Xiao Nanfeng flattered her.

Madam Rouge glared at Xiao Nanfeng again, but she was so beautiful that even her glare made her look breathtaking.

"Why don't we think about how to deal with the red rope cursed king outside? Not only did it try to pretend to be my reflection as I entered the mirror world, it took the form of a crocodile spirit and tried to convince me to harm you." Xiao Nanfeng immediately changed the topic as she recounted what had happened.

Madam Rouge was still a little upset, but she quickly calmed down. She frowned. "The red rope cursed king might have controlled seventeen layers of this mirror world, but it won't be able to control this eighteenth layer."

"What's the difference?"

"The crystal mountains of the other seventeen layers were empty, which was why it could step within and take over. On the other hand, the eighteenth layer's crystal mountain contains a portion of my cursed spirit. It's my artifact, and it can't take over as owner. It tried to make use of your ignorance about this space to take over this last bastion, but you saw through its tricks."

"Are you now able to speak because you've absorbed the portion of your cursed spirit within this crystal mountain and restored your soul?"

"Of course!" Madam Rouge replied.

"You look far more pleasing to the eye now," Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

Madam Rouge glared at Xiao Nanfeng again, but her beauty overwhelmed any threat that she made.

"We should consider how we can get rid of that red rope cursed king. Are you able to beat it in your current state?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Madam Rouge frowned. "I can't. The cursed spiritual power I command is far less than when I was at my peak, and far less than what the red rope cursed king currently has access to. I may have claimed the eighteenth layer of the mirror world, but it controls the first seventeen, as well as the mirror on the whole. I wouldn't be a match for it in my current state."

"And with my help?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Madam Rouge gave him a strange look. "All his red rope subordinates are at late-stage Lunar Deluge, and they're stronger than you are. What use would you be?"

"I have the divine purple rock, which can suppress a cursed king. I have a red moon, which can hypnotize the red rope cursed effigies. Why wouldn't I be able to help? The red rope cursed king looked down on me and was stymied twice. Are you going to emulate it?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Madam Rouge blinked, then nodded thoughtfully. "You're right. You really may be able to play a decisive role."

"In that case, let's come up with a plan and prepare to strike."

Madam Rouge stared at Xiao Nanfeng for a little longer before she eventually smiled. "Very well."

She seemed to have forgotten about the awkwardness from before—or perhaps she didn't mind it as much as she claimed.

Outside the divine purple rock, the crocodile king transformed into the figure of a red-robed male, the red rope cursed king. He looked irritably and balefully at the divine purple rock.

"Is there a pocket space within this rock? You'll have to come out sooner or later," the red rope cursed king muttered.

He waited patiently as his red rope subordinates gathered around him, bowing respectfully and standing to the side.

After what seemed like forever, the divine purple rock pulsed. A woman stepped out and appeared to its side.

The red rope cursed king eyed her. "Are you Madam Rouge? Have you taken control over the crystal mountain of this layer?"

Madam Rouge snapped back, "If you intend to steal my cursed spiritual avatar, dream on."

The red rope cursed king stared at Madam Rouge, then suddenly grinned lecherously. "Madam Rouge? I would be happy to leave you your spiritual avatar. I seek a cursed queen by my side, a position that has been vacant for far too long—and you're the perfect candidate."

"Why would I ever choose you?" Madam Rouge retorted.

"I was the premier cultivator of my era thirty thousand years ago, and I controlled much of the known world. I would be more than qualified a match for anyone. We are both cursed monarchs, you and I, and we would surely be able to rule the world if we worked together." The red rope cursed king walked forward.

"A length of frayed rope. You can barely defend yourself, and yet your ambitions clearly haven't faltered. You—" Madam Rouge continued disdainfully.

Just then, the red rope cursed king suddenly waved an arm. Eight long red whips appeared from the void and snapped toward her. What he had suggested was a ploy—he had been deliberately trying to anger Madam Rouge, then strike while she was distracted.

Madam Rouge's body fell apart after being struck by the eight whips. Mirror fragments tinkled as they landed on the ground.

"What? That wasn't her actual body!" the cursed king exclaimed.

A huge mirror suddenly appeared in the air. Within the mirror was Madam Rouge.

"Red Rope, is launching sneak attacks all you can do?" Madam Rouge sneered at the cursed king from within the mirror.

The red rope cursed king's eyes were cold. With a wave of his arm, he sent eight whips snapping at the mirror, smashing it into nine fragments.

"Another fake body?" The cursed king was growing infuriated.

The nine fragments each restored themselves, forming nine mirrors floating in the air. Madam Rouge appeared in each one, causing the cursed king's subordinates to be taken aback.

"It looks like eight Whips of Order won't be enough. Why don't you guess which mirror contains my actual body?" Madam Rouge chuckled.

"Break them!" the cursed king howled.

Another Whip of Order formed. The nine Whips of Order struck the nine mirrors and smashed them all.

Suddenly, the nine mirrors fragmented further into dozens of mirrors, each of which contained Madam Rouge.

"Be careful!" The red rope cursed king suddenly blanched.

One of the mirrors had approached his subordinates. Madam Rouge reached out and dragged a subordinate within the mirror.

"Save me, King!" the red rope screeched.

"Break!" the red rope cursed king shouted.

His Whips of Order struck that mirror, which shattered. By then, Madam Rouge and the red rope had teleported to another mirror. With a squeeze of her hand, the red rope exploded into a cloud of red mist, which Madam Rouge sucked up and absorbed.

"Red Rope, your subordinates have rather decent cursed spiritual power. I wonder how yours tastes? I think I'll be able to recover to a significant degree by eating you," Madam Rouge concluded.

1. 桃花 (lit. peach blossom) is an oblique way of referring to the nether regions. ?