Chapter 120: The Little Blue Pill

“That’s true.” Fang Mu nodded. “We can’t be the ones who lose out here.”

Qian Qiuyue froze, utterly speechless with misery.

Was he really the one being wronged? Why did something about this feel off to her?

But there was no time to dwell on it now. The situation was urgent, and there was no time for further discussion.

Qian Qiuyue quickly composed herself. “Let’s reason this out first. Apart from consummating the marriage, what else might happen?”

“I have no experience in this area either.” Fang Mu rubbed his chin. “Do you?”

Qian Qiuyue shook her head. “Neither do I. But we can start there and work it out bit by bit.”

Fang Mu rose to his feet, startling Qian Qiuyue.

She soon realized that he had not stood up because of her, but because of something at the doorway.

Following Fang Mu’s gaze, Qian Qiuyue looked over.

Rustling footsteps came from outside. A moment later, the door swung open, and two paper effigies walked in.

Each paper effigy wore an eerie smile and held a stick of incense in its hand.

Fang Mu drew his butcher’s knife and watched them warily.

After the paper effigies entered, the door closed again. They walked to the table in the bedchamber and sat down.

The scene was horrifying, especially by candlelight, which made the two paper faces look even paler.

The paper effigies placed the two sticks of incense in the censer on the table. They ignited without flame, and a faint fragrance filled the room.

They simply sat there, utterly motionless.

“Make it quick.” Qian Qiuyue stared at the burning incense. “This seems to represent time. We only have as long as these sticks take to burn.”

Fang Mu wasted no time either, and the two of them began trying to reason through the situation in that tense environment.

Time continued to pass. They tried all sorts of methods.

One involved writing a divorce letter, while others were too indecent to describe, but none of them produced any noticeable change.

The two paper effigies sat there as if they were lifeless. Yet the incense before them had already burned down to less than half.

Blue-gray smoke drifted upward without dispersing, winding layer upon layer around the paper effigies. Within the haze came waves of terrifying whispers.

The situation was growing increasingly desperate. Gritting her teeth, Qian Qiuyue stared at the paper effigies shrouded in smoke.

Fang Mu mused, “What in the world are we supposed to do with this?”

The instant he finished speaking, he suddenly saw Qian Qiuyue move.

She seized Fang Mu by the shoulder, shoved him backward onto the bed, and then straddled his chest.

Fang Mu stared at her. “What are you doing?”

Qian Qiuyue held his shoulders down and gritted her teeth. “There’s no other choice. We have to try the last method.”

What was the last method?

There was only one answer: consummating the marriage.

Before Fang Mu could recover from his astonishment, Qian Qiuyue had already begun unfastening her outer garment.

“To stay alive.” Her voice was filled with helplessness and pain.

Fang Mu sighed. He reached out and pressed down on her shoulder. “Consummating the marriage isn’t necessarily the solution. Normally, it would be the most straightforward approach—but could it really be that simple?”

Qian Qiuyue said nothing. She placed a hand on Fang Mu’s shoulder and slowly lowered her head.

“Can you think of anything else?”

The atmosphere grew strange.

Fang Mu watched her face draw closer and closer. Just as their lips were about to meet, he twisted violently and rolled over.

Amid Qian Qiuyue’s startled cry, Fang Mu pinned her beneath him.

“I don’t like having an audience.” Fang Mu spoke slowly. “Not even paper people. But I do have a solution. It’s actually very simple.”

As he spoke, he reached out and gripped Qian Qiuyue by the throat.

Qian Qiuyue froze for a moment, then understood what he intended to do.

“If this marriage cannot be completed, will that break the curse?” A chill entered Fang Mu’s voice. “And how could the marriage fail to take place? One of us would simply have to die.”

With a sharp metallic ring, the butcher’s knife flashed out in an arc and swept across Qian Qiuyue’s throat.

Blood welled from her neck, and Fang Mu immediately climbed to his feet.

Shock and confusion filled Qian Qiuyue’s face as she clutched her throat.

“I killed your senior apprentice sister.” Fang Mu ran a finger along the butcher’s knife and spoke with regret. “You were going to die anyway. It was only a matter of when. Besides, tell me—what is this?”

As he spoke, Fang Mu pried open Qian Qiuyue’s mouth, revealing a small blue pill hidden inside.

Qian Qiuyue pressed a hand to her neck as blood gushed forth. Despair spread across her face.

“I’m a coroner. I know the human body well. The shape of a mouth holding something inside is different.” Fang Mu smiled. “You wanted to kiss me just now. Don’t tell me that was meant to replenish my vitality. You probably realized I might notice, too. What was it—poison? You’re still too inexperienced.”

As more and more blood flowed out, the light faded from Qian Qiuyue’s eyes, and the last vestiges of life slowly left her.

Fang Mu turned his head toward the two paper effigies.

The incense, which was nearly burned away, abruptly stopped. Even the slowly drifting smoke came to a halt.

The paper effigies, which had been shrouded in smoke, changed.

A spark of fire appeared beneath their feet, then began burning upward.

Invisible ripples spread through the air. Fang Mu slowly extended a hand, and notification sounds rang out.

[You touched a paper effigy and obtained a trace of true qi.]

[You touched a paper effigy and obtained a trace of true qi.]

[You touched a paper effigy and obtained the skill—Paper Effigy Craft. It can imbue paper creations with spirits and has limitless applications.]

The true qi merged into the school of true qi within Fang Mu’s body, while knowledge of Paper Effigy Craft entered his mind as well.

After reflecting on it, Fang Mu understood the skill.

By crafting something from paper and then infusing it with true qi, one could grant the paper creation special abilities.

For example, if one crafted a horse, that horse could move on its own.

However, the technique had one weakness: paper creations were extremely vulnerable to fire. Even ordinary flames could damage them.

Despite this drawback, Fang Mu was satisfied. He had always believed that something was better than nothing.

Just think—when he needed to travel in the future, he could simply craft a horse and have it carry him along.

And besides…

Fang Mu patted A Bai on the shoulder and sighed. “You’ll have some company from now on.”

A Bai looked utterly bewildered, completely unable to understand what its master meant.

After being touched by Fang Mu, the paper effigies began to fade away. A Bai exhaled a stream of black smoke and absorbed them completely.

The surrounding scenery began to blur. After a brief distortion, the bedchamber vanished.

Fang Mu turned his head and discovered that he was standing in the middle of a street.

At his feet lay Qian Qiuyue’s corpse, her death agonizing to behold.

“If you want someone to blame, blame yourself for harboring evil intentions first.” Fang Mu’s voice was indifferent. “Honesty is the most important thing in any transaction.”

With that, Fang Mu sent the corpse flying with a kick.

Ahead lay a brand-new road, and Fang Mu walked straight down it…

…

After Fang Mu departed, a graceful figure appeared and stopped beside Qian Qiuyue’s corpse.