Su Ji, why don't you just drop dead

The scene shattered.

Su Ji abruptly opened his eyes.

Before him, Su Jiu stood unharmed, adding medicinal herbs to the bathing tub.

"Junior Sister!"

The words escaped Su Ji's lips, his voice trembling in a way even he hadn't noticed.

Su Jiu paused mid-motion as she was about to untie her belt, turning her head in confusion. Her cool, distant gaze met his.

"Is there something else?"

"Why haven't you left yet?"

"Surely Senior Brother doesn’t intend to stay and watch me bathe?"

"I..."

Su Ji's mouth opened, then closed.

How could he explain?

Tell her that he had just glimpsed a future where she fought desperately for him, only to be struck half-dead by the Love-Longing Sect Sect Leader?

Such words would sound absurd—not just to her, but even to himself.

Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, he forced a calm smile just before his mind blanked.

"You look... really beautiful today."

Su Jiu visibly stiffened.

A faint blush, almost imperceptible, crept up from her pale neck to the tips of her ears. Yet her tone remained as frosty as ever.

"How pointless."

Ignoring her reaction, Su Ji slowly rose to his feet and stepped toward the bathing tub, his expression uncharacteristically grave.

"Junior Sister, my initial Heavenly Destiny... is now rainbow-colored."

He spoke slowly, deliberately.

In that vision of the future, Su Jiu had fought tooth and nail for him, unleashing her full power without hesitation—even against a Golden Core expert.

Regardless of her original motives, regardless of any blood oath binding her...

Hearts were still made of flesh.

Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator could die facing a Golden Core.

Su Ji decided it was time to reveal a fraction of the truth to Su Jiu.

This was both repayment for a kindness yet to come and a way to secure her willing aid in surviving the imminent death crisis.

As expected, Su Jiu’s face showed no surprise—only a look of "I already knew."

"You used a [Heavenly Destiny Breaking Stone] to upgrade it, didn’t you? I guessed as much."

She tested the water’s temperature with her hand, her voice laced with something complicated.

"Starting with a red Heavenly Destiny... Senior Brother’s foundation is indeed terrifying."

By conventional wisdom, the highest Heavenly Destiny a Qi Condensation cultivator could attain was locked at purple.

But the world was full of those who defied convention.

For example...

Her own initial Heavenly Destiny was also red.

But that had been the result of meticulous planning and an exorbitant price.

Su Ji, however, seemed to breeze through everything effortlessly—a fortune that would make any prodigy seethe with envy.

Su Jiu scattered the last packet of herbs into the water, steam obscuring her expression.

"If I didn’t know you as well as I do, I might’ve actually believed your story about being a young master from an upper-realm family sent here to temper himself."

She paused, then added, "But you didn’t have to tell me this. Trust no one—that’s the rule."

Su Ji shook his head, relieved he’d spoken.

"I did."

His gaze locked onto hers as he enunciated each word:

"Because my Heavenly Destiny allows me, once every two and a half months, to glimpse how I might die in the future..."

"Just now... I saw myself dying right outside your courtyard gate."

Su Jiu froze mid-motion, her brows knitting tightly.

"Impossible. My courtyard is secure, and I’ve never harbored any intent to harm you."

Perfect.

Su Ji swiftly recounted the vision he’d seen, framing it with plausible reasoning.

"I saw Elder Liu and that disciple Wang San ambushing me the moment I stepped out."

"Wang San accused me of being the 'lecherous fiend' and claimed we were colluding."

"Then... my spiritual root was exposed on the spot."

Su Jiu’s expression darkened. She stared at the prepared medicinal bath, silent for a long moment.

Finally, she spoke.

"Fine. Stay here a while longer. I’ll use illusions to help you deceive Elder Liu, then take my bath afterward."

"No."

Su Ji rejected the idea immediately, urgency sharpening his tone.

"This time, illusions won’t work."

"If she’s returning after already inspecting us, it means she’s convinced I’m guilty."

"She’ll come prepared with something to see through illusions—nothing as half-hearted as her act at the Personnel Hall."

Su Jiu fell into thought, reluctantly acknowledging his point.

Her illusions were advanced, but her cultivation was still lacking.

While she’d boasted that none below Golden Core could see through them...

Under the scrutiny of a determined Foundation Establishment Great Perfection expert, there was indeed a risk of exposure.

"Illusions cast on others are never as flawless as those on oneself. Elder Liu might indeed see through them..."

She murmured, then cut off abruptly, her head snapping toward the courtyard gate.

"Elder Liu is here? She’s already at the gate!"

In that instant, Su Ji’s mind raced at breakneck speed—and a wild, audacious plan took shape.

"Junior Sister, you’re saying illusions cast on yourself can’t be seen through?"

"Of course. My earlier claim wasn’t empty boasting."

Su Ji exhaled in relief.

"Then I have a plan!"

Su Jiu’s eyes locked onto his. "Do it!"

With no time to spare, she agreed without hesitation.

Su Ji had proven his quick thinking during the Personnel Hall incident.

She trusted him now.

...

Half a minute later.

BANG!

The door to Su Jiu’s residence was violently blasted open.

Two figures stood in the doorway—Elder Liu, her face thunderous, and behind her, Wang San, gleeful with vindictive triumph.

Wang San’s shrill voice shattered the courtyard’s peace:

"Su Ji! Su Jiu! You adulterous snakes, daring to deceive the sect! Surrender now!"

Yet when their eyes landed on the scene inside, both faces stiffened in shock.

The wooden room was filled with swirling steam.

Su Ji sat half-naked in the massive bathing tub, his skin flushed crimson, veins bulging grotesquely. His face contorted in agony as inhuman, guttural groans escaped his throat.

The medicinal herbs had transformed into countless hair-thin threads, burrowing relentlessly into his flesh.

Internally, Su Ji had cursed Su Jiu at least ten times.

This junior sister truly had masochistic tendencies.

What kind of torturous bath was this?!

Gritting through the pain, he feigned surprise.

"Elder Liu?"

...

Ten times?

Su Jiu had cursed him a hundred times over in her mind!

She lay submerged in the bathing tub, completely underwater.

For a Foundation Establishment cultivator, holding her breath briefly was no issue.

But the real problem was...

Su Jiu stared at the spiritual root nearly poking her in the face.

What.

Why had she agreed to this?

Was this Su Ji’s brilliant plan?!

Su Ji, why don't you just drop dead?!