Chapter 11637 — Look Into My Eyes

The Zhou Son of Heaven was nowhere in sight, nor was Yi Liuchao.

Wei Zhao felt an instinctive sense of déjà vu, yet no matter how he searched his memory, he could not recall ever having seen this scene before.

It was as if it had already happened, and yet reason and reality alike told him that nothing had happened at all.

The inexplicable familiarity was nothing more than the effect of déjà vu.

The Queen's lips curved upward at the corners.

Of everyone present, she alone knew the truth of the matter.

The timeline had been rewound, making everything begin anew—that Steward Yi possessed precisely such an inconceivable power!

This, too, was a realm only a peak divine expert could touch; the lesser cultivators below could not even begin to dabble in it—even if everything were laid bare before them, their understanding was simply too limited to comprehend it.

Still, feeling the pressure of Yi Liuchao's covert gaze, the Queen did not dare be negligent.

Ignoring the poison-coated long saber Cheng Shuang'er held against her, the Queen fixed her eyes directly on Wei Zhao and spoke in a low, mesmerizing tone.

"Look into my eyes."

Wei Zhao was instantly subdued; the entire world vanished in an instant, leaving only the Queen before him, and he felt an involuntary urge to kneel at the hem of her skirt.

But only for an instant.

Wei Zhao promptly regained his senses and looked at her with a meaningful smile. "Your ability doesn't seem to work too well on me."

The Queen's eyelid twitched, and astonishment flooded her heart.

She had not previously made a point of using her divine beauty to charm Wei Zhao; that he had been able to withstand her allure was still more or less understandable—after all, she had encountered such figures before within the Inner Royal Court.

But now she had gone all out, targeting Wei Zhao alone, and her divine beauty had actually failed.

How could that be?

Not only she—Yi Liuchao, watching this scene, was likewise struck dumb.

At his level as a peak divine expert, he naturally looked down on the Queen; but to give credit where it was due, since she had been chosen by that personage, personally granted divine beauty, and made the herald who would sound the horn of a new era, the Queen's ability in this regard had at least been tested and proven.

Among those below the peak divine level, it could not be said that absolutely no one could withstand her divine-beauty charm, but one could be certain that there were absolutely very few.

This Wei Zhao was proving more interesting than he had anticipated.

Yi Liuchao wore an expression of amused interest.

Then he snapped his fingers.

"Rewind."

Time rewound once more, and the Queen turned her divine countenance upon Wei Zhao again. "Look into my eyes."

Wei Zhao could not help but feel his senses blur.

That overpowering sense of déjà vu surged up once more.

In the end the divine countenance failed again, but what delighted the Queen was that Wei Zhao's resistance had clearly begun to weaken.

Such was the domineering might of the divine countenance.

Even when it failed, the beguiling effect it produced did not simply vanish into thin air, but accumulated ceaselessly in the deepest recesses of the target's consciousness; once it reached a critical mass, even the hardest bone to gnaw would ultimately be conquered.

So at least in theory, there was no one under heaven who could withstand the divine countenance.

Provided the Queen was given enough opportunities.

And now, Yi Liuchao could rewind without limit, which meant she had limitless opportunities.

Thus Wei Zhao's capture by her divine countenance was no longer a matter of probability, but an inevitability.

"You still think you have a chance to turn the tables? Heh. Ignorant little brat."

Yi Liuchao was still sizing Wei Zhao up.

He now found Wei Zhao rather interesting; apart from those old monsters spilling out of the Inner Court, there were few within the Inner Court who could rouse his interest—the Prince of Qin counted as one, and now Wei Zhao counted as one too.

Yet this interest of his was not appreciation, but the condescension of a higher-dimensional being looking down upon a lower one.

In his eyes, Wei Zhao was merely an amusing plaything—nothing more.

The rewinding continued.

It was not only Wei Zhao who was affected; the entire Son of Heaven's palace was caught up in it as well.

Those old monsters hiding within the palace were likewise being rewound again and again, only they themselves had no awareness of it whatsoever.

In the eyes of Yi Liuchao, an expert on the verge of godhood, Wei Zhao was a plaything—and so were these old monsters.

At last, after a full two thousand rewinds, the divine countenance's conquest of Wei Zhao finally reached its critical point.

"Look into my eyes."

The Queen spoke for the two thousand and first time, and this time Wei Zhao's body visibly jolted, his gaze instantly turning as vacant as all the others', and thereafter twisting into infatuated fervor for the Queen's divine countenance.

The Queen let out a breath and broke into a smile. "I told you—there is no man under heaven who can resist my charm."

Off to the side, Cheng Shuang'er was struck dumb with shock.

How could this be!

From where she stood, Cheng Shuang'er had no way of knowing that this scene had already played out two thousand times before. All she heard was that single sentence from the Queen, and Wei Zhao was instantly captivated by it.

Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she would never in a thousand lifetimes have believed it.

Even she could withstand the Queen's allure—so how could her young master, with his iron self-possession, possibly fail to resist?

Yet on closer thought, it was not altogether unreasonable.

After all, she was a woman, and Wei Zhao was a man.

The Queen's charm, though it slew men and women alike, was plainly far more devastating against men—on that point, at least, it was understandable.

Still, Cheng Shuang'er could not shake the feeling that something was off.

For no reason she could name, she simply believed with all her heart that Wei Zhao could never be captured—there had to be something foul about the scene before her eyes!

The Queen glanced at the long saber still pressed against her and laughed softly. "Your master has already become this palace's lapdog—does anything you do now still have meaning?"

Cheng Shuang'er gritted her teeth. "I don't know what trick you've used, but my young master will never be captured by you—never."

"Still lying to yourself?"

The Queen gave a contemptuous snort and crooked a finger at Wei Zhao. "You heard what your little maidservant said, didn't you? This palace is a little angry now—tell me, what should be done?"

Wei Zhao's face was steeped in infatuation, and he immediately began walking toward the two of them.

Though Cheng Shuang'er firmly believed Wei Zhao could not be captured, faced with this sight, she could not help but feel tense.

"I'll kill you!"

Seeing Wei Zhao drawing closer and closer, Cheng Shuang'er made her decision on the spot, and her poison-coated saber slashed straight for the Queen's throat.

But the Queen sat as calmly as an angler by the water, not flustered in the least.

At the final moment, the poisoned blade was suddenly caught between a pair of fingers—and the one who had acted was none other than Wei Zhao.

"Young Master?"

Cheng Shuang'er was utterly shocked.

At such a sight, even if she had ten thousand reasons to disbelieve, before cruel reality she had no choice but to bow her head, and in an instant she was wrapped whole in despair.

Even Wei Zhao, whom she had believed omnipotent, had fallen—and now she was left all alone. How could this ever be turned around?

Then, just at that moment, Wei Zhao suddenly spoke, his voice calm. "She is still of use. She cannot be killed yet."

Cheng Shuang'er started at his words, then caught on and was overjoyed.