After Constantly Courting Death, I Became the White Moonlight - Chapter 6

Outside the Illusory Realm — The Heavenly Xian Residence

A young man in white robes leaned lazily beneath a banyan tree in the courtyard. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering into fragments like golden dust upon his handsome side profile.

A bronze-colored mystic mirror floated mid-air, reflecting scenes from within the Pagoda of Ascension. Seeing something in the image, Tian Xianzi raised his eyebrows in mild surprise.

“Junior Brother!”

A deep and powerful voice suddenly rang out from the front of the courtyard. The sharp force of sword energy rustled the tree branches and made even the air seem to freeze for a moment. “Draw your sword!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Tian Xianzi couldn’t bear to tear his eyes away from the mirror. He waved a hand casually, dispelling the oncoming sword aura. “I’m watching my disciples in training. Let’s spar another day.”

The newcomer was none other than Zhenxiao Sword master — one of the six grand elders of the Xuanxu Sect and Tian Xianzi’s own senior brother.

Aside from being broke and sword-obsessed, Tian Xianzi shared none of the typical traits of a sword cultivator.

And what is a sword cultivator supposed to be? Upright like a sword, sharp like a sword, cold and fearless like a sword. When faced with anything or anyone they disliked, they fought first and never wasted words.

But Tian Xianzi? He had a silver tongue and was a smooth talker, skilled in food, drink, gambling, and trickery.

Zhenxiao was the complete opposite.

He was the most traditional kind of sword cultivator — always carrying a sword and inheriting the proud tradition of drawing it at the slightest disagreement. His catchphrase was just one line, “Draw your sword.”

Strong warriors love to test themselves against other strong warriors. That’s why Zhenxiao’s favorite hobby was to come here and challenge Tian Xianzi to duels — wagers included.

He got the thrill, and his junior got the money. Win-win.

“Training, you say?”

Zhenxiao gave a cold snort and stood beside him, cradling his sword. “A puny place like the Star-Plucking Pavilion actually needs your attention?”

Tian Xianzi chuckled. “No, no, this time the Star-Plucking Pavilion is different.”

A gust of sword wind sliced through a sliver shadow beneath the trees.

Zhenxiao hesitated, frowning. “Could it be—”

His bottomless eyes drifted slightly downward, finally landing on the bronze mystic mirror. “Your disciples are merely at the Golden Core stage. If they run into a monster like that… it doesn’t look good.”

“Not necessarily.”

The white-robed young man leaned in and gently ran his fingertip across the mirror’s surface, stirring a ripple that danced across the vivid face of a girl in a purple dress. “That monster is indeed dangerous, but my little disciple… might just surprise us.”

The mirror displayed the front gates of the Star-Plucking Pavilion. Carriages streamed like water, horses galloped like dragons. A brightly dressed young lady laughed with reckless abandon — the very image of a wild and dissolute rogue.

Zhenxiao commented coolly, “I remember the troublemaker at the gate was a man. Since when did the Pagoda turn him into a girl? And that pose — arms wrapped around both sides — the illusion designers have questionable tastes.”

Tian Xianzi gave a shameless grin, proud instead of embarrassed. “That’s my disciple. Didn’t see that coming, did you?”

A crack finally appeared in Zhenxiao’s ever-serene expression.

How is your disciple even worse than the original scoundrel? And she’s obviously robbing them by force, right? Even that guy in yellow robes looked like he couldn’t stand it!

Is this what the youth are into these days?

“The Star-Plucking Pavilion hungers most for the flesh and blood of righteous cultivators,” Tian Xianzi said with a grin. “Now, thanks to her antics, those female demons probably find her thoroughly detestable and won’t pay much attention to her. How fun! Worthy of being my disciple!”

He sipped his tea and asked, “Maybe Ning Ning has already noticed something strange. What do you think she’ll do next?”

Zhenxiao Swordmaster: Not interested. Don’t care. It has nothing to do with me.

Zhenxiao: “I’ll stay and watch with you. Once they’re out, we’ll duel at the summit.”

Tian Xianzi’s eyes sparkled. “Senior Brother, I feel particularly fatigued today, I fear—”

“Ten thousand spirit stones.”

“Done! I’ll die a thousand deaths for my dear senior brother!”

=====

“Please have a seat, miss.”

Following the woman in yellow robes upstairs, Ning Ning entered a private room within the Star-Plucking Pavilion.

Only after shamelessly clinging to two women at once was she politely reminded by the madam-in-charge that each guest could only choose one companion per night — supposedly to avoid jealousy and conflict among the girls.

Ning Ning replied vaguely, while secretly thinking: the “jealousy” was just an excuse — the real concern was that too many monsters fighting over one piece of human meat would cause chaos.

The woman who brought her upstairs was named Zhaoyan. She wore a long gown of soft goose-yellow gauze — the classic beauty from the water towns of the south. Her voice was sweet, her waist slender, her brows delicate and curved like willow leaves.

As she walked, her gentle figure swayed like mist and silk, outlining a waist so slender it looked like one could wrap a hand around it.

Ning Ning couldn’t help but think at the wrong moment — If I were a man, I’d stay in this illusion forever. So many stunning beauties to choose from, and all for free. Absolute paradise!

Too bad… once you peel off those beautiful faces, it all turns into a horror story.

Behind the scenes, the boss of the Star-Plucking Pavilion was the White Bone Lady, who lived at the top of the tower.

She and her demonesses fed on human flesh and blood to cultivate. Since they looked nothing like actual humans, they all wore human-skin masks — only revealing their true ghastly faces when opening their mouths wide to feed.

But the White Bone Lady didn’t realize that the demonesses she thought she controlled… had already changed masters.

Their true master was called the Ghost Mother of Yin Mountain, hidden in the secret tunnels beneath the tower, wielding immense, unmatched power. Wounded by a sword sect elder, she had no choice but to retreat here to absorb vital energy and recover.

That monster needed the endless supply of blood and power from the Star-Plucking Pavilion but knew that a direct confrontation with the White Bone Lady would only lead to mutual destruction.

So, after much thought, she came up with a clever plan…

As the Ghost Mother, she naturally possessed the power to control living beings — capable of turning average cultivators and demons into puppets under her command.

She couldn’t face the White Bone Lady head-on, but subduing the lesser demons was no problem. Within half a month, most of the demonesses in the Star-Plucking Pavilion had become her puppets, and most of the life essence they harvested now flowed directly to her.

The White Bone Lady simply assumed human cultivators were weak and never imagined she was unwittingly working for someone else’s benefit.

According to the original story, after the group defeated the White Bone Lady, they suddenly heard a thunderous roar from beneath the ground. The Star-Plucking Pavilion collapsed in response.

The Ghost Mother of Yin Mountain broke through the earth, awakened from her slumber. After absorbing days’ worth of vital energy, she had fully regained her strength.

She was terrifyingly powerful. Despite fighting with all their might, the group was still forced onto the back foot. The original heroine was even gravely injured and had to be evacuated from the illusion.

In the end, it was Pei Ji who unleashed the torrent of sword energy hidden within him. In a near-death gamble, he poured out his full strength and finally defeated the monster.

—

You couldn’t act too righteous, or the demonesses would treat you like a delicious, holy monk meat.

You couldn’t directly kill them either — if you accidentally took out one of the puppets, the Ghost Mother would instantly notice.

And you couldn’t face off against either of the monsters. Pei Ji and the Little White Dragon were blessed with protagonist plot armor — if anything went wrong, she would be the first to die.

Life was hard. Ning Ning sighed. All she wanted was to be a proper villainess in peace. Why was that so difficult?

Yin Mountain Ghost Mother, what am I supposed to do with you, your mischievous little gremlin?

…

“What’s on your mind, miss?”

Zhaoyan poured her a cup of tea, her voice soft and gentle. “Could it be that I bore you?”

Ning Ning stared blankly ahead. “Yes.”

The woman in the yellow dress twitched at the corners of her mouth but quickly replaced it with a smile. “Zhaoyan gives her whole heart to you, yet you only think of the sisters who haven’t even arrived. That’s quite hurtful.”

“If I chose you to enter the room, it means I obviously like you,” Ning Ning said absently, still thinking about how to deal with the Ghost Mother.

The woman beside her smiled at those words — but in the next instant, her smile froze solid.

That shameless scoundrel, with a perfectly calm face, continued, “But liking you doesn’t mean I can’t like those other sisters too! I’m a cultivator — I pursue universal love. You and the others are all part of the great Dao. Naturally, I love all of you equally.”

By the mystic mirror, Tian Xianzi nearly spat his tea everywhere.

He listened in stunned silence as she added, “My love for you is selfless — it’s the Way. So shouldn’t the sisters, in turn, selflessly love me too?”

The woman in yellow’s face contorted, forcing a smile. “My love for you truly is selfless…”

“Liar.”

Ning Ning glanced at her, speaking smoothly without missing a beat. “If you love me, then you should want to make me happy. If I can’t be with the other sisters, I’ll be unhappy — isn’t that contradictory to what you just said? Sister, I think you still don’t understand the boundless love of us sword cultivators.”

Even Zhaoyan, who considered herself a bona fide demoness, was stunned speechless.

Do you even want your dignity? Huh? Dignity?! What kind of ‘great Dao love’ is this? How do you make shamelessness sound so noble?! What is wrong with your sword cultivators?!

Rendered speechless, Zhaoyan was consumed by rising anger.

This little brat called herself a sword cultivator, but with her delicate, frail build and roguish manner, she didn’t seem like a real threat. Instead of listening to her chatter, it would be better to end this quickly and eat her.

She made up her mind and was just about to make a move when Ning Ning said, “Let me tell you a secret.”

The girl stepped closer and lowered her voice. “I’m a disciple of the Xuanxu Sword Sect. I’ve long since seen through your demon disguise.”

Truthfully, Ning Ning didn’t want to reveal her identity this soon.

But the woman clearly meant to attack her. If she knocked her out or killed her now, the Ghost Mother would surely be alerted.

And since she hadn’t figured out how to deal with that monster yet, this was her only way to buy time.

Besides, she needed more information — and this demoness might have some to offer.

Zhaoyan was briefly stunned.

Then she gave up the pretense and growled in a low voice, her face darkening with killing intent: “Nonsense! The Xuanxu Sword Sect is full of sword-wielding elites. How could someone like you be one of them?!”

Ning Ning formed a seal with one hand and effortlessly blocked the wave of spiritual wind she sent out. “Nonsense? My strength far surpasses yours. Why would I waste time lying to you?”

Her spiritual energy was deep and powerful — clearly far above Zhaoyan’s level.

Zhaoyan’s attack was deflected with ease, and she knew she was no match for this girl. But with no one else nearby, she couldn’t call for help.

A demon in the hands of a sword cultivator — doomed either way. She gritted her teeth and quickly formed a plan.

This girl looked inexperienced. Her current mask gave her a delicate, helpless look. If she spun a good enough, lie — claimed she was being coerced by the White Bone Lady—

But before she could act, Ning Ning sighed dramatically and said, “I came to the Star-Plucking Pavilion to root out the demon who feeds on human flesh and blood. Sister, you seem frail and kind-hearted… you must’ve been forced by that monster, right?”

Zhaoyan: …?

Wait — did she just steal my lines?

Caught off guard, the demoness froze. Then deep inside, she sneered coldly.

This idiot must’ve seen my delicate, pitiful appearance and assumed some tragic tale of coercion. How naive.

Exactly as she had hoped.

Without hesitation, Zhaoyan responded, “Exactly! That White Bone Lady forced us to serve guests here. If we refused, she would have slaughtered us all. I had no choice.”

As expected, Ning Ning’s face lit up with delight.

Hah. This foolish sword cultivator thinks she’s uncovered the truth of what’s happening in the tower, and now she’s grinning like that.

She thinks she’s playing on the second level, but little does she know—I, Zhaoyan, am already on the third.

With righteous determination, Ning Ning nodded. “Can you tell me what’s really going on in this tower?”

“We were originally demons from the mountains,” Zhaoyan explained. “The White Bone Lady forced us to come here to absorb mortals’ spiritual energy and blood essence.”

“The girls in this building wear masks made from the faces of beautiful women — to win the hearts of our guests.”

Just as expected from a naive young disciple. The girl’s eyes flickered with a trace of fear. “Are the masks… made by peeling human faces directly?”

“They’re formed from spiritual energy, not real human flesh,” Zhaoyan reassured her. “If a beautiful female guest visits, we replicate her appearance perfectly for later use.”

To comfort the frightened young lady and show how kind and gentle she was, Zhaoyan flicked her finger — and a mask identical to Ning Ning’s face appeared in her palm. “Like this.”

“Oh, I see!”

Ning Ning carefully took the mask, the fear gone from her apricot eyes — replaced by a deep, growing smile. “I just had an idea.”

Zhaoyan tilted her head. “What idea?”

The girl in the purple dress smiled sweetly, her voice soft and gentle — yet the words that followed sent a chill straight down Zhaoyan’s spine.
“I just figured out… how to bring this whole place down.”

As she spoke, her lips curled in a smile, her voice honeyed.
“Goodbye, sister.”

A sharp flash of sword light sliced through the sultry night air.

The moment the Starscar Sword pierced her body, the demoness swore a thousand curses in her heart.

She had treated Ning Ning like a fool, never imagining the girl had planned everything — using her from the start to gather intel.

She’d offered her pitch-black, sincere loyalty… only to be played for a tool.

Who could’ve thought — she believed she’d reached level three,
but that so-called idiot… was already at level five.