Sin Becomes a God

Chapter 14: A Woman’s Heart Is the Most Vicious

After stripping the unconscious Zhang Wuji naked, Lu Renjia stuffed him into a secret compartment he had previously carved out beneath the bed slats. Fearing Zhang Wuji might suffocate, Lu Renjia deliberately carved several ventilation holes into the slats. Taking the palm-sized “substitute doll” from his bosom, Lu Renjia bit his index finger, squeezed out a drop of blood, and smeared it onto the “substitute doll.” As the blood slowly seeped in,the “substitute doll” began to swell like bread rising. The rough, withered straw, nourished by the blood, took on the color of human skin. In the blink of an eye, the “substitute doll”—now expanded to life-size—had formed a face identical to that of Song Qingshu. The only difference was that this Song Qingshu, materialized by the “substitute doll,” was completely naked,while the Song Qingshu whose body was now possessed by Lu Renjia’s soul was curiously examining his own reflection. “Damn… anything produced by the System is definitely no ordinary thing… This isn’t a stand-in… it’s practically a clone…” Lu Renjia grumbled. The Song Qingshu materialized by the “stand-in doll” slowly opened his eyes. “Are you planning to keep me naked like this?” Both his speech and mannerisms were identical to Song Qingshu’s usual way of speaking. This feeling, as if looking in a mirror, combined with that bizarre tone of voice, made Lu Renjia inwardly grumble. “My good brother… I’ll take them off right away… I’ll be counting on you for a while…” With that, Lu Renjia hurriedly stripped off his clothes and put on the outfit he’d taken from Zhang Wuji. Song Qingshu—materialized from the “stand-in doll”—finished dressing himself and couldn’t help but chuckle as he looked at Lu Renjia, now clad in Zhang Wuji’s clothes. “Listen, buddy, even though you’re going to use the ‘Performer’s Mask’ to disguise yourself as Zhang Wuji, you can’t change that head of yours, can you?” Years of martial arts training, combined with the fact that Song Qing-shu was already a few years older than Zhang Wuji, meant that when Lu Ren-jia slipped into Zhang Wuji’s clothes, he looked like a middle schooler wearing an elementary school uniform—the pant legs were half a length too short. “A minor flaw like this is inevitable… Anyway, it’ll be pitch black in a little while, so I don’t think those Wudang disciples will notice…By the way, you only possess fifty percent of Song Qingshu’s martial prowess. You can use that as an excuse to stay on Wudang Mountain… Remember to give Zhang Wuji one ‘Heavenly King Heart-Protecting Pill’ every night, so he doesn’t kick the bucket…” Lu Renjia instructed. “Got it! You’re such a chatterbox… As for you, have you decided where to jump from yet?” “Over the past while, I’ve been probing around and managed to find out from Zhang Sanfeng which cliff the Fire Monk jumped off back then… But just to be safe, I’ve set up a paraglider at the edge of the cliff… Just be careful—don’t let Zhou Zhiruo’s ‘Yitian Sword’ cut me when the time comes…” The “stand-in doll,” who had inherited all of Lu Renjia’s memories, patted his chest and assured him, “You can rest easy on that front. I never would’ve thought… that you, a single guy in the real world, could actually charm Zhou Zhiruo into a daze with just a few words and a promise from the wife of the Wudang Sect Leader… and get her to play along with this charade… Tsk, tsk, tsk… I really wouldn’t have guessed it…” Faced with the “stand-in doll’s” sarcasm, Lu Renjia laughed and snapped, “Is everything produced by the ‘Evil God System’ this wicked? You know so much—aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you to silence you?” “You won’t have to lift a finger… In five months, I’ll be back to dust! Are you ready to jump off the cliff, young man?” Faced with such a sharp-tongued “stand-in doll,” Lu Renjia could only shake his head in resignation. From ancient times to the present, men have conquered the world, while women have conquered men. This smoke-free war between the sexes has claimed the lives of countless heroes. In this world, no woman is truly foolish; the “foolishness” women display is merely to satisfy men’s vanity. When self-righteous men think they can deceive women, it is often the men themselves who end up being deceived. Sitting at her dressing table, Zhou Zhiruo gazed at her reflection in the bronze mirror. Her stunning, alluring beauty brought a confident smile to her face, and the deliberately flirtatious glances in her eyes gave way to a truly icy glare. “Hmph! The wife of the Wudang Sect’s Grandmaster? Why should we women be bound by the ‘Three Obediences and Four Virtues’? Why do you think you can take advantage of me with nothing but a few empty promises? Song Qingshu… you really do think too highly of yourself. Tonight, I’ll play along with your charade… I’m also curious to see what kind of drama unfolds when your so-called ‘legitimate and prestigious’ Wudang Sect faces internal strife…” Zhou Zhiruo sneered inwardly. Glancing back toward the window, those flickering dark shadows were all too obvious. After all, Zhou Zhiruo was the last disciple of Abbess Mie Jue of the Emei Sect; in terms of both insight and cultivation, she was in no way inferior to Song Qingshu. Seeing such a glaring flaw, Zhou Zhiruo couldn’t help but feel a wave of contempt wash over her. “Song Qingshu, oh Song Qingshu…Such an obvious flaw—if Zhang Wuji falls for it, it can only prove that you people of the Wudang School are one more foolish than the next…” By this time, Lu Renjia had already used the disguise skill of the “Performer’s Mask” to transform into Zhang Wuji’s likeness, while the “Decoy Puppet”—which had taken the form of Song Qingshu—had already hidden in the room right next to Zhou Zhiruo’s. With the deviation from the original world’s trajectory now at twenty percent, Lu Renjia dared not act recklessly any longer. Just as in the original world’s trajectory, he prepared to accept the fate that had been forced upon Zhang Wuji. The Song Qing-shu materialized by the “Substitute Puppet” seemed to possess an added air of wickedness. Watching the four Wudang disciples pin Lu Renjia to the ground, Song Qing-shu strode triumphantly toward him. “Do you know how much inner energy the Grand Master has had to expend every night over the years just to keep you alive? If all that inner energy from the past eight years had been channeled into me… I, Song Qingshu, would have long since become a master of my generation! What use are you, alive? You worthless piece of trash… or rather, you’re not even worth as much as trash? Hahahahaha…” “What? You don’t agree? Want to fight me? Go ahead if you’ve got the guts! You fatherless, motherless good-for-nothing… You’re just a waste of food just by being alive…” Although he had long since experienced the “stand-in doll’s” sharp tongue, being insulted with “good-for-nothing” thrown at him left and right pushed Lu Renjia—who, like her, had lost both parents—to the brink of an outburst. Looking at Lu Renjia’s reddened eyes, Song Qingshu slowly crouched down, pointed a finger at Lu Renjia’s nose, and sneered, “Your mother is a heretical woman from the Ming Sect. Come to think of it, we don’t even know if you’re really Fifth Uncle’s son… Maybe your mother conceived you through an illicit affair with some random man…” “Senior Brother Song… Just now, Zhang Wuji tried to make a pass at me… You’ve got to stand up for me! If a beast like that were in our Emei Sect, we’d definitely castrate him and feed him to the dogs…” Zhou Zhiruo’s pitiful-sounding voice was laced with utter venom. As she spoke, she had already drawn the Yitian Sword from her hand. Lu Renjia, who had been pinned to the ground by four Wudang disciples, twitched the corner of his mouth and thought to himself, “Damn… as the mission gets harder… I never expected even Zhou Zhiruo to become this cruel…” He quickly gave a subtle signal to the “decoy”—the illusion of Song Qingshu—who immediately stood up and stepped in front of Zhou Zhiruo. “Junior Sister, rest assured…If Zhang Wuji dares to make a pass at you, even the rules of our Wudang School won’t tolerate it… Once I report this to the Grand Master, he’ll certainly teach him a lesson!” Just then, the other voice Lu Renjia had been waiting for so long finally came. “Pfft! A bunch of thugs and harlots, presumptuously spouting nonsense about so-called ‘renowned righteous sects’… A whole mob bullying a single person—not only outnumbering her, but also framing her? How utterly shameless!” “What kind of demonic woman dares to break into Wudang at night! Wudang disciples… seize her!” Song Qingshu, who had materialized from the “decoy doll,” quickly bellowed to divert Zhou Zhiruo’s attention. The other Wudang disciples drew their swords one after another and charged toward the woman in red standing atop the wall. Zhou Zhiruo cast an icy glance at Zhang Wuji, who had been pinned to the ground, and a cold smile spread across her face. The reason she’d gone along with Song Qingshu’s charade earlier was mainly to witness the third generation of the Wudang School tear itself apart from within. If Song Qingshu had actually killed Zhang Wuji, that would have left her with a vulnerable point to exploit. Wouldn’t the third-generation Grandmaster of Wudang then be at her mercy? But with this woman in red throwing a wrench into her plans, a resentful Zhou Zhiruo channeled her inner energy into the Yitian Sword, and a sword beam as agile as a spirit snake surged forth. “Die, demoness!” Zhou Zhiruo cried out sharply, and a yellow sword glow burst forth from the Yitian Sword. “Whoosh…”The crescent-shaped sword beam was as swift as lightning, but Xiao Zhao’s skills were no slouch either. After all, she was the only daughter of the Purple-Robed Dragon King, one of the Four Great Dharma Kings of the Ming Cult. At such a young age, she had dared to go undercover in the Ming Cult to search for the *Qiankun Da Nuoyi* cultivation manual. Whether in terms of courage or martial prowess, Xiao Zhao could certainly be counted among the top-tier protagonists in *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber*. Her lithe body moved like a fish in water; just as the blade of the Yitian Sword slashed toward her, she dodged it in an incredible maneuver, simultaneously flinging the two black iron chains from her wrists. “Clang, clang, clang…” The clanging of metal rang out incessantly as the ordinary iron swords wielded by the Wudang disciples were one by one deflected. Although Song Qingshu—who had transformed into a “decoy doll”—knew he possessed only fifty percent of his true power, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and charge forward with his sword to play the part to the end. “You insolent demoness! Die!!!” With a shout, Song Qingshu’s long sword—forged from fine steel—traced a flourish as he executed the “Wudang Gentle Sword Technique,” a style characterized by its soft, fluid movements, with one hand following the other in a seamless, flowing sequence. Xiao Zhao furrowed her brow. She had already made inquiries about the man before coming to Wudang. Currently, Master Zhang of Wudang was in seclusion for cultivation, and his five senior disciples had all entered the seclusion area to guard him; the entire Wudang Mountain was being overseen by only Song Qingshu, a third-generation disciple of Wudang. If the person before her wasn’t Song Qingshu, then who else could it be? However, though his sword technique appeared exquisite, Xiao Zhao could tell that his martial power was inferior even to her own. “You want my life? Hmph! Let’s see if you’ve got what it takes!” Xiao Zhao cried out sharply as the mystic iron chains on her wrists whipped out like two whips. Though they couldn’t unleash sword energy like the divine weapon, the Yitian Sword, the howling wind as they approached made it clear that a strike from them would at least shatter bones and tear tendons. “Clang…” Amid a long, resonant clang of metal, the “decoy doll”—possessing only fifty percent of its creator’s power—was forced back by the mystic iron chains Xiao Zhao had flung. Xiao Zhao leaped forward and pulled the fallen Lu Renjia to his feet. Lu Renjia never expected Xiao Zhao to possess such remarkable agility—carrying a man weighing over a hundred jin, she managed to leap ten zhang in a single bound. “Little Taoist… This is your turf. Where should we run?” “Run toward the back mountain… There are sheer cliffs there, and Grandmaster’s thatched cottage is also there. If we head that way, we’ll be safe…”