Chapter Fifty-Six: Severance

Zhang Deshuai followed closely behind Wang Shuhan, unexpectedly finding himself led to the barbecue restaurant where he had dined with Xiao Tingjing last time.

He watched as Wang Shuhan deftly navigated through the main dining hall, exchanged greetings with the staff, and then smoothly slipped out through the back door.

"To think this barbecue joint was their front all along."

As he trailed behind her, Zhang Deshuai could only marvel at how small the world truly was.

Exiting the restaurant led them into a labyrinth of dilapidated old alleys. Following Wang Shuhan through the winding paths, Zhang Deshuai finally came to a halt in front of a modest adobe house adorned with fresh Spring Festival couplets and paper talismans.

The wooden door was half-open, and the stale, musty odor of a long-abandoned dwelling mixed with the scent of damp earth rushed into his nostrils.

While the cottage itself appeared utterly decrepit, the couplets and talismans plastered across it were strikingly new, casting a grim and eerie aura over the place.

The talismans were a vivid, startling red—a hue that by no means resembled ordinary paint.

It looked far more like fresh human blood.

Without a second thought, Wang Shuhan pushed open the weathered door and stepped inside. After a brief hesitation, Zhang Deshuai followed suit.

Beyond the threshold, apart from a few shattered wooden tables and chairs, the interior consisted entirely of a stark, blindingly white new wall.

Wang Shuhan pressed her palms together, and an imperceptible current of energy circulated around her before converging onto the wall's surface.

In an instant, Xiao Yifei felt the world spin wildly out of control as all light vanished from his sight.

When his vision finally cleared, Xiao Yifei was astonished to find that they had been transported to an entirely different realm.

Before him lay a steep flight of stone stairs, and at the summit stood a magnificent estate.

Built with rigid symmetry, the grand gates were firmly shut, and the high perimeter walls blended seamlessly into one another, revealing nothing of what lay within.

Flanking the main entrance stood two pitch-black cast-iron twin divine serpents, radiating an oppressive, chilling aura that struck anyone who approached.

A man and a woman stood waiting at the threshold of the main gate.

The man possessed a stern, handsome visage and a towering physique. Standing with his hands clasped behind his back, he was clad in a flowing white robe embroidered with a silver dragon.

Unlike the ferocious, claw-bearing dragons commonly depicted, this dragon kept its sharp edge entirely concealed, seemingly melting into the fabric of the daoist robe.

The woman wore a light yellow floral dress and possessed a sweet, baby-faced appearance. A charming smile graced her features as she cheerfully waved at the two arrivals.

"Master, Father."

Wang Shuhan hurried forward and bowed respectfully to the pair.

So these were Wang Shuhan's master and father...

Recovering from his astonishment, Zhang Deshuai stepped forward alongside Wang Shuhan and offered a polite bow to the two figures as well.

The man in the white robe returned the bow to Zhang Deshuai with a courteous gesture.

"You must be little brother Zhang Deshuai. My name is Wang Yan; I am Wang Shuhan's father and the Sect Master of the Severing Sect.

The lady beside me is Wang Jiabai, my daughter's master."

"Your father and I were old friends, and he rendered a great kindness to our family. Sending my unworthy daughter to test you was a decision we reached together. Since you are the son of an old friend, there is no need to stand on ceremony."

Zhang Deshuai quickly offered a polite acknowledgment, cupping his fists toward the man.

Meanwhile, the sweet-faced woman playfully bounced over to Wang Shuhan and pinched her cheek.

"Huhan, how did your mission go? The young master of the Zhang family didn't see through your disguise, did he~?"

She beamed with a gentle, amiable tone, yet Wang Shuhan visibly tensed up at her words.

"N-no, not at all. Hehe, how could anyone possibly see through the art of facade taught to me by Master?"

Wang Shuhan lowered her head, nervously picking at her fingers, and was so flustered that she actually stumbled slightly on the steps.

"This woman looks so gentle and kind, yet that arrogant girl Wang Shuhan is terrified of her."

Watching Wang Shuhan swallow her pride, Zhang Deshuai thought to himself with a smirk.

Suddenly, a strange wave of dissatisfaction welled up inside him.

"Why should she be the only one making a fool of herself while I miss out?"

Glancing down at the steep steps below, Zhang Deshuai hardened his resolve, closed his eyes, and deliberately tripped his left foot over his right.

"Aah, Uncle Wang, your stairs are terribly steep!"

Crying out aloud, Zhang Deshuai tilted his body backward and rolled all the way down the steps like a bouncing rubber ball.

As the familiar warm current coursed through his body, Zhang Deshuai rested his head against his backside and smiled with deep satisfaction.

The three individuals standing atop the stairs stared at him in utter speechlessness, black lines of exasperation appearing on their foreheads.

"Well now, the steps to our estate can be a bit slippery. I hope my young nephew isn't hurt."

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Wang Yan hurried over to play the peacemaker and help Zhang Deshuai up.

"Even though I've seen his father pull this stunt countless times, it's still just as baffling every time I witness it," Wang Jiabai said, covering her mouth with a giggle.

Unable to bear the sight any longer, Wang Shuhan shielded her eyes and asked Wang Jiabai, "Master, is this jinx really as formidable as you all claim? He doesn't carry himself like an expert in the slightest."

Wiping the smile from her face, Wang Jiabai fixed her with a chilling glare.

"If it hadn't been for his father, your father and I would both be dead by now.

I've always told you never to judge a book by its cover. Is this truly how you perceive things?"

Pierced by that icy gaze, Wang Shuhan broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly dropped to her knees.

"Master, this disciple was wrong."

Bruised and battered all over, Zhang Deshuai lacked the energy to pay attention to the master-and-disciple exchange. Grimacing in pain, he hoisted himself up and turned to Wang Yan.

"By the way, Uncle Wang, what was the purpose of having Shuhan bring me here today?

And where on earth is this place? We clearly walked into a dilapidated grass hut, yet it turned into a place like this.

This... defies all logic."

"I was actually planning to explain, but who could have predicted you'd pull this stunt the second you arrived..." Wang Yan muttered inwardly.

Straightening his expression, he smiled and explained to Zhang Deshuai:

"This is a realm distinct from the mundane world; you can think of it as the realm of cultivators.

A long time ago, cultivators used to live entirely within the secular world.

Later on, because the actions of cultivators began to have an overwhelming impact on ordinary mortals, the patriarchs of various great families joined forces to forge independent cultivation realms belonging to their respective sects.

These spaces both rely upon the mundane world and remain entirely detached from it.

This right here is the realm where our Severing Sect resides.

The hotpot restaurant you passed through earlier serves as our sect's business front in the secular world.

Because cultivators have always been few in number, the realms of various sects were never interconnected, and in the early days, everyone kept to themselves.

Aside from naturally occurring cultivation zones, each sect occupied its own corner without interfering with one another.

Part of the reason was that relations among the sects were relatively stable back then, but the main factor was that the connection points between the various realms and the secular world were vastly separated and not mutually linked, making it quite arduous to breach the spatial barriers.

However, recently, heretical sects have been springing up endlessly, the balance among the righteous sects has been shattered, and the spatial laws of the cultivation world are gradually dissolving and collapsing.

In other words, the various cultivation realms are slowly merging, gradually forming a brand-new, unified micro-world!

As this spatial degradation worsens day by day, various sects are beginning to stir, and peaceful days are becoming a thing of the past."