Peerless Beauties 4+1 · Conversa

Cold Blades Crash the Feast, Fading Fragrance Returns to its Master The night at Lanxing Tower in the capital's suburbs is like honey-soaked poison. Amidst the carved beams and painted rafters, shark-silk curtains hang like mist. The brazier burns exotic incense from the Western Regions, while decadent music plays and powerful officials laugh, tightly wrapping the tower's luxury and filth from the outside world. Wei Yong, the current Prime Minister, reclines on a soft couch, his fingertips tracing Su Ningguang's dry, withered black hair as he watches her play the zither with downcast eyes. Her light apricot eyes are clouded with the watery light of dead silence, a brand scar winding like a snake across her neck. Her slender fingers tremble on the strings, every note wrapped in blood and tears. Gao Lishi, the Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, holds Fei Jin in his arms, wantonly mocking the red-haired half-elf as an 'exotic plaything.' The girl's severed right ear has a rough edge, a hideous scar runs across her brow, and her violet eyes hold nothing but numbness. Deep purple iron chain marks bite into the flesh of her wrists, and whip scars crisscross her arms like a net. Zhang Chengye, the Minister of Revenue, trifles with Hua Wuzhou's fingertips, laughing at her as a 'poisonous beauty.' The girl's narrow fox-like eyes are hollow and expressionless, her fingertips tinted a pale ash-gray, blue veins bulging on her neck, and the web of poison veins on her waist and abdomen faintly visible beneath her clothes. Every breath she takes feels as if her meridians are snapping. Li Song, the Palace Commander, forces Shen Cixue to paint. The girl, her eyes covered with thin gauze, keeps her back as straight as a pine tree. Her remaining left eye is hollow and dead, her palms covered in dense needle-prick scars. The paint, mixed with blood, spreads across the paper, depicting the forms of her family's deceased souls. These four peerlessly beautiful women are the most expensive playthings of this gathering of treacherous officials—mere ornaments for their division of power and indulgence in pleasure. No one cares about the scars covering their bodies, and no one knows the despair hidden in their eyes. Outside the tower, the night is as black as ink, and murderous intent surges in the shadows. Dressed in tight-fitting martial attire, you stand in the shadows, radiating a terrifying chill. You are not the Marquis of Zhenbei, but the Master of the 'Shadow Pavilion'—the most mysterious organization in the martial world. With countless experts under your command and influence spreading across both the court and the common land, you are a figure of both good and evil, whom no one dares to provoke. Three days ago, the Emperor secretly summoned you to the palace. Offering half the imperial treasury and an 'exempt-from-death gold plaque' as leverage, he struck a deal with you. This clique of corrupt officials had long angered the heavens with their conspiracies and embezzlement, but because their factions were deeply rooted, the Emperor could not easily move against them. The Emperor promised that once the deed was done, the Shadow Pavilion would gain a legitimate foothold in the imperial court, and he granted you the authority of 'execution before reporting.' In return, you must use swift and ruthless means tonight to eradicate every single corrupt official within Lanxing Tower, leaving none alive. “Pavilion Master, the hour has come,” an elite shadow guard reports in a low voice. The medallion in his hand glows—the execution order personally bestowed by the Emperor, its dark iron patterns gleaming coldly in the night. You look up, your deep eyes devoid of emotion, filled only with cold, murderous intent. The long saber/sword at your waist unsheathes, its cold light cutting through the night. With a single command, the elite forces of the Shadow Pavilion, lying in ambush, surge in like a tide. The flash of blades illuminates the decadence, tearing this shameful revelry to shreds. “Presumptuous! Who dares trespass into my Lanxing Tower!” Wei Yong rises in shock and anger, slamming his wine cup to the ground, sending shards of porcelain flying everywhere. The only response he receives is a cold blade. You stride inside, your figure descending like an icy god of death. Wherever your saber/sword passes, blood spatters. The screams and pleas of the corrupt officials interweave with the suppressed gasps of the women, plunging the hall into utter chaos. Gao Lishi collapses to the ground and is decapitated with a single strike. Zhang Chengye tries to flee, but your blade pierces his shoulder blade, pinning him to a pillar. Li Song draws his sword to resist, but within three moves, his head is severed from his body. Wei Yong attempts to threaten you with his power, but with a single slash, you sever his right arm, spraying fresh blood onto Su Ningguang's plain dress. She trembles violently, biting her lip hard, not daring to make a single sound. In less than the time it takes to burn half an incense stick, Lanxing Tower is littered with corpses. The treacherous officials who once wielded absolute power over the court have all been executed. The warm fragrance is replaced by the smell of blood. The music has ceased, leaving only the suppressed breathing and low sobbing of the women. Some curl up in corners, others stand frozen in place, covered in wounds and filled with terror—like ruined flowers abandoned in a chaotic world, ignorant of whether they will live or die. You sheathe your saber/sword, the few bloodstains on your robes making you look even more stern and cold. Your gaze sweeps across the room of women, your voice low and clear, cutting through the dead silence: “You were all kept by these corrupt officials. Tonight, the traitors have been executed. I give you two choices.” You raise your hand, and the shadow guards behind you push forward ten gilded carriages. The carriage doors are wide open, revealing brilliant, glittering gold that dazzles the eyes—enough for anyone to live a peaceful life in this chaotic world. “First, take the ten wagons of gold and leave immediately. From now on, you will go to the ends of the earth, and your life or death will be your own responsibility. Second, stay by my side. I will protect you and provide you with a place of shelter.” Gold is the most enticing path to survival in a chaotic world, enough to free them from humiliation and allow them to start anew. Light flickers in the eyes of many women. They step forward one after another to take the gold, hurriedly departing after offering their thanks, terrified of being trapped in this bloody place if they delay. Soon, only a few people remain in the tower, and the only ones who have not moved a single step are those four scarred women. Su Ningguang casts her eyes down, her withered hair hiding the faint scar on her brow. She does not look at the dazzling gold, only gently clutching the hem of her skirt. The thick calluses on her fingertips press against the fabric, the sorrow in her eyes deep and unyielding—gold cannot buy back her family's innocence, nor can it wash away the old brand scars. In this world, there is no longer a place for her to call home. Fei Jin stands in the shadows, her red hair disheveled, her severed right ear a striking sight. Her violet eyes hold no desire for gold, only a vacant terror. She was once abandoned by her clan and sold as a 'thin horse' plaything. In this vast world, there is not a single place that can accommodate this 'harbinger of calamity'—except perhaps you, standing before her with absolute and decisive ruthlessness, who might grant her a moment of respite. Hua Wuzhou leans against a pillar, her fingertips bruised purple and blue veins bulging on her neck. She stares at the gold, pulling her lips into a sickly smile. Ravaged by poison, no amount of gold can buy back her life or erase her humiliation of being used as a human cauldron. Staying is perhaps her only way to survive. Shen Cixue stands straight, thin gauze covering her eyes, her remaining left eye hollow and expressionless. She cannot hear the temptation of gold, nor can she see a bright path ahead. With her family destroyed, blind and mute, there is no place left for her in this world. Only by staying can she find a faint glimmer of light in this chaotic age. Your gaze falls upon them. Looking at their respective scars and the despair and stubbornness in their eyes, you remain silent for a moment before slowly speaking: “Since you have chosen to stay, follow me.” You turn and stride away, your dark figure dissolving into the night. Supporting one another, the four women follow closely behind you step by step, never looking back. The blood and decadence of Lanxing Tower are left behind, and their shattered lives seem to have finally found a faint glimmer of hope.