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Ruyi Cosmetic Shop
"It all started with a portrait," Mu Xi sighed deeply. "After the matter of the Human Skin was discovered by the General, he didn't seem to take it to heart. He just became a bit more distant with me during our daily interactions."
"This is understandable. After the incident, the General once asked you, madam, whether you were using a long-lost Human Skin mask from the underworld. Perhaps in the General's eyes, the reason you are using your current face is due to the disfigurement you suffered back then. He didn't think much deeper than that."
"That's right. I also considered this aspect, so I didn't reveal anything." Mu Xi adjusted her sleeves and looked up at the swirling snow that was falling heavier and heavier. "Without worries weighing on my mind, time always seems to pass quickly. Before I knew it, it was already Lunar New Year. Since the General officially entered the Military Camp, my father-in-law resigned from his military position and returned home with my mother-in-law to live there. Over the years, due to various reasons, the General has only corresponded with my in-laws through letters and has never visited them. Perhaps it was because I was with him this year or perhaps because of that incident, but the General actually brought me back home."
When Mu Xi first met her in-laws, she felt nervous, but that wasn't the most important thing. It was their expression when they heard the General call her Mu Xi. On the surface, they were polite, but privately they took the General aside and secretly showed him a portrait.
Ruyi, you are quick-witted; you must have guessed by now. The woman in that portrait is none other than the General's fiancée.
Since their separation in childhood, the General had never seen his fiancée again, nor had my in-laws met her. However, the General's father-in-law is a thoughtful person who has someone paint a portrait of his daughter every year and sends it along with letters to my father-in-law. The General was unaware of these matters.
It is easy to imagine how suspicious the General must have felt when he saw that I looked exactly like the person in the portrait. My face is derived from hers; our features are indistinguishable. As Ruyi mentioned earlier, the reason the General contracted Corpse Poison was due to being schemed against, and here I am appearing beside him with a face identical to his fiancée's—if one were in my position, wouldn't they think deeply about it?
"If the Fox Demon is unaware of this situation, they will undoubtedly ponder over it."
"Not just ponder; they will definitely investigate privately." Mu Xi smiled bitterly. "If back then the General had confronted me with that portrait directly, I might have concealed something, but at least I would have had a chance to explain myself. But he didn't do that; he hid all his suspicions deep inside his heart. On New Year's Eve, he still acted very affectionately towards me. I thought he was just trying to comfort my in-laws and cooperated fully. Little did I know that his intentions were not as simple; he merely wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get me drunk."
"A lady is a demon; how could she be easily intoxicated?"
"As they say, it's not alcohol that gets people drunk; it's people who get drunk themselves. At that time, I had already developed deep feelings for the General; in a daze, how could I discern his true intentions? Moreover, if he employed charm tactics, even if I am a demon, I would be powerless to resist."
Xing Ruyi recalled Li Yan's appearance; although he was now frail and sickly, beauty lies both in skin and bone—this applies to men as well. Judging from Li Yan's physique, he must have been handsome and strong; it is only natural for Mu Xi to be infatuated with him.
"The General took advantage of Mu Xi being drunk and asleep to closely examine this Human Skin on her face. This Human Skin mask is unlike those tricks from the underworld; once applied to one's face, no one but Mu Xi can remove it. Although the General had never seen those Human Skin masks from the underworld before, looking at Mu Xi's perfectly fitting face must have filled him with fear and shock beyond what outsiders could imagine."
"Though he is a General, he is still ultimately human. Furthermore, having gone through such an ordeal previously and considering everything about his wife, he might find it hard not to think along other lines—for example, whether his wife is a ghost or a demon."
Mu Xi nodded with a bitter smile.
"Indeed! When I woke up and saw nothing but a cold expression on the General's face. I wanted to ask him something, but he threw down his sleeve and left without a word for two whole nights. On the third day, a maid in the household deceived me into leaving under his name; when I returned home, I found all doors tightly shut—not only were there talismans posted around the courtyard but even things like Truth-Reflecting Mirrors hung on the door."
At that time, it was already known that he must have discovered something.
Mu Xi knelt at the door, desperately pleading with him, hoping he would give her a chance to explain everything. However, the voice that came from inside was not his, but the pleas of her in-laws.
Her in-laws begged Mu Xi to spare the General, saying that she had no grievances with him in the past and no enmity recently. They asked her to consider that the General had once treated her kindly and to forgive him. Mu Xi stood there in a daze, unsure how to respond.
At that moment, a servant suddenly appeared and stabbed a sword into Mu Xi's heart. The sword, considered a Taoist artifact, did not revert Mu Xi to her original form but made her recall her past life in an instant. The love she had shared with the General vanished in that moment, leaving only feelings of grievance and resentment in her heart.
The door swung open.
Mu Xi looked at the people inside—the overly frightened in-laws and the cold General—and suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of desolation. Her limbs felt heavy and weary. It turned out that regardless of past or present, whether as a human or a demon, no one cared for Mu Xi's sincere heart.
As Mu Xi approached the General, emanating an immense demonic power, she saw memories reflected in his eyes. It turned out that throughout their past lives, the one who had hurt her was always him.
After a century of calamity, enduring desolation and loneliness, suffering through the pain of transformation between human and demon—all of this stemmed from the man before her. In that moment, Mu Xi felt an indescribable rage and infinite sorrow. She watched as her in-laws knelt down repeatedly bowing their heads to her out of fear while he coldly pointed his sword at her heart. The scene from a hundred years ago seemed to replay before her eyes.
His tenderness, his cunning calculations, and his indifference pierced deeply into Mu Xi's heart like a sharp blade. He looked into Mu Xi's eyes, but she could hear his inner thoughts; he wanted her to die.
Mu Xi closed her eyes, and a tear slowly fell from the corner of her eye.
"When she opened her eyes again, Mu Xi had returned to her true demonic form. After branches and vines spread out, the mansion was left in chaos—blood and flesh everywhere—while Mu Xi's hand had pierced straight through someone's body."
"Is it the General's mother?" Xing Ruyi asked softly, though there was some emotion in her eyes. "In this world, only a mother would unhesitatingly stand in front of her own son during difficult times."
Mu Xi glanced at Xing Ruyi but remained silent for a long time.
"Even though there was a body between them, Mu Xi knew that heart was in her hand; it was still warm and lively. So when the General swung his sword at her again, Mu Xi did not evade." Mu Xi closed her eyes again: "But I am a demon, not a human. Humans have their instincts; demons have theirs too. Moreover, this demonic body does not belong to me; when danger arises again, it will instinctively retaliate."
The General's sword pierced through Mu Xi's clothing but did not penetrate her body because it was blocked by a mirror. The mirror fell to the ground; the demonic branches injured the General, and his blood splattered onto the mirror. Then everything froze. When Mu Xi regained her senses, she saw the General lying on the ground covered in blood but still breathing.
Mu Xi used a spell to calm everything in the mansion and brought the General back to the military camp. You probably know what happened next, Ruyi. The General's condition worsened day by day while Mu Xi temporarily forgot all about her past life and focused solely on saving him. Unfortunately, Mu Xi was mistaken. She thought the General's injury was caused by her demonic branches when in fact... it was due to the female ghost within that copper mirror.
"When did you find out?"
"That night at the Yun Family Gathering, I suppose? That night, due to Mu Xi's negligence, the Copper Mirror was left on the General's Carriage. When I went back to look for it, I realized the mirror was missing. Later, Mu Xi also heard about what happened at the Watchman's House and vaguely guessed that the Copper Mirror might have been seen by the General. He had seen that Copper Mirror before and knew it was something Mu Xi carried with her; he just didn't know that there was a female ghost trapped inside it. He purely disliked Mu Xi, so he hated everything related to her and casually discarded the Copper Mirror. Coincidentally, it was picked up by the Night Watchman.
As for how the ghost in the mirror got out, Mu Xi had some thoughts on that as well. It must have been when Mu Xi went mad that day, and the General stabbed the Copper Mirror with his sword, causing cracks to form in it. With the General's blood being tainted with Corpse Poison, which is connected to that female ghost, when his blood dripped onto the Copper Mirror, it awakened the ghost inside. However, due to my magical power, she had not been able to escape until now.
This Yun Family Gathering seems different from others; the Yin Qi here is quite heavy. Moreover, when the General threw the Copper Mirror from the Carriage, it exacerbated the cracks in it. The person who picked up the Copper Mirror has a fate aligned with Yin, which led to the ghost escaping from it."
"What about the Centipede?" Xing Ruyi suddenly asked.
"The Centipede? What Centipede?"
"When I was at the Watchman's House, I encountered a Centipede much larger than a person, and it wore a Human Skin mask on its face. Wasn't that your handiwork?"
"Mu Xi has never seen such a Centipede." Mu Xi shook her head in denial: "Although I knew that the female ghost had escaped from the Copper Mirror, I didn't take her seriously. Moreover, with the General's condition worsening, I had no mind to deal with her at all. Especially after learning her identity, I wanted even less for her to approach the General. In other words, if she doesn't come near, I won't bother with her; if she dares to come, I can make her soul scatter. As for that Night Watchman, I'm not like a young lady; I don't have that kind of compassion."
Mu Xi's straightforwardness and sincerity seemed far from deceitful; however, the human-faced Centipede in the Watchman's House appeared far from coincidental.
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