[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-nothing-is-taboo":3,"chapter-nothing-is-taboo-nothing-is-taboo-chapter-31":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Nothing Is Taboo",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2310416,4514,"Chapter 31: Stall","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-31",31,"\u003Cp>“Holy Maiden, there’s a ruined temple ahead—would you like to rest?” The maid supported the Holy Maiden; both were exhausted, their bodies newly scarred with wounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last night, seeing they couldn’t escape the mountains in time and finding no place to spend the night, they squeezed into a crack between two massive boulders, and the Holy Maiden pulled out a seven-colored cloud-silk shawl and draped it over them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a strange artifact crafted by a Craft Cultivator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once covered, it instantly blended into the surrounding environment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only did it leave no visible flaw, but even their scent was completely masked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two of them dared not move a muscle or make the faintest sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The nights in the mountains were terrifying—strange, overwhelmingly powerful horrors passed by them at intervals, each one crushing the spirit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just before dawn, disaster struck: a rabbit, fleeing some horror, crashed headfirst into the crevice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were exposed and had no choice but to fight the horror to the death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though they survived, they had alerted other malevolent entities, forcing them to flee nonstop; the Holy Maiden’s Craft Cultivator artifacts and her Law Cultivator “Dharma Coins” were nearly spent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But at last, dawn arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two women nearly burst into tears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Surviving even one night in the deadly “wild land” of Ghost Witch Mountain meant they could boast of it for the rest of their lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Maiden glanced at the ruined temple: one corner of the main hall had collapsed, doors and windows gone, the two pillars at the entrance half-eaten away at the base by some unknown creature, swaying precariously, ready to crumble at any moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The altar inside was still intact, but the incense burner lay shattered into pieces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The central statue had lost one arm and half its head, looking utterly pitiful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Maiden shook her head: “Don’t go in—there might still be horrors hiding inside.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked ahead again: “Let’s push on a bit farther—find a sunlit slope to rest.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Holy Maiden.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had taken only two steps when the Holy Maiden suddenly grabbed the maid’s arm: “Wait!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Maiden pulled from her sleeve a pair of earpieces made of red wood and yellow brass, slipped them on, listened intently, then turned pale: “Someone’s coming!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maid froze: “Who would come here…?” Then she suddenly realized: “It’s that boy!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Maiden nodded: “Very likely.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why would he be here?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Maiden sneered coldly: “To kill us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maid’s first reaction was amusement—but then her eyes widened: “He doesn’t actually think he can do it, does he?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He’s young and reckless. After a few victories, his confidence has ballooned!” The Holy Maiden scoffed. “And he must have deduced we spent the night in the mountains—either dead or badly wounded. Hmph. He guessed right.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maid gritted her teeth: “Even wounded, killing him would be child’s play!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t underestimate him,” the Holy Maiden said, drawing a deep breath. “He found us in this vast mountain range—what does that mean? It means that boy left a mark on us sometime ago.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maid frowned: “That complicates things—we were planning to hide and ambush him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Maiden scanned the area: “No ambush. We fight him right here, openly. Our losses have been heavy—but if we can claim the June Insect, it’s still a massive profit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maid nodded firmly, took position on the open ground before the slope, and summoned her last three Yin Soldiers, preparing to hide them around the perimeter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Holy Maiden gestured for her to wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, the Holy Maiden picked up a stick and drew a large circle around the maid, enclosing every spot suitable for hiding the Yin Soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such a simple act left her drenched in sweat, her body visibly drained—she had expended tremendous energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Holy Maiden…” the maid cried, heart aching. The Holy Maiden waved her off: “Keep arranging. Within my ‘Stall,’ every rule favors me—and I want to see what he thinks he can use to kill us!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boundary the Holy Maiden had drawn on the ground was the “Stall” of a Law Cultivator who practiced the “Commerce Method.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whoever owns the Stall sets the rules.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once Xu Yuan steps inside, everything turns against him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he’s trapped within the Stall long enough, he can be turned into “merchandise” on the Stall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, like a butcher, he can be cut into parts—and each part sold for whatever price desired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Maiden herself could buy him outright at a pittance—he’d be utterly powerless to resist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Stall’s power requires Eighth-Tier Law Cultivator rank. The Holy Maiden had only just reached Eighth-Tier Law Cultivator not long ago—but now, wounded, the cost of activating it was immense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maid immediately concealed the Yin Soldiers throughout the Stall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One behind the grass on the left, one beneath a large boulder ahead-right, one in the shadowed corner behind the temple’s steps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had only these three left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Maiden sat atop the large boulder, placing the Divine Crossbow across her knees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Divine Crossbow held only one arrow—but the Holy Maiden believed one arrow was enough to end this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last night’s narrow escapes had nearly exhausted all her Craft Cultivator artifacts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the Holy Maiden remained utterly confident: today would mark the triumphant completion of her mission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am the Holy Maiden chosen by one hundred thousand devotees of the Pingtian Sect—I am destined to become one of the Three Hundred Concubines of the Great Pingtian Saint!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am nineteen, already an Eighth-Tier Craft Cultivator and Eighth-Tier Law Cultivator! The entire sect channels its resources into me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My fate is noble! What can a lowly farmhand from a backwater village possibly match me with?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll kill him in less than half an hour.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In half an hour, I will become a Master of Fate, Craft, and Law!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hidden in her other sleeve was a small, gleaming dagger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the narrow path ahead, grass rustled—the maid tensed, waiting for him to emerge—but no one appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the maid puzzled over this, a flash of golden light shot toward her throat!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dantian Cultivator! It really is you!” the maid cried, pulling a fly-whisk from her hand and whipping it toward the golden pellet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pellet curved midair, suddenly transforming into a short sword that snapped the fly-whisk’s handle clean off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the short sword continued its arc toward the maid’s neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A flash of icy dagger light stabbed sideways—CLANG!—deflecting the sword back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maid cursed: “Coward! Are you even a man?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan did emerge—but in a blur, his feet kicking up dust as he surged forward, reaching the maid in an instant, swinging a short rod straight at her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Yin Soldiers hidden along the way had no time to react.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Holy Maiden moved like lightning, her dagger slicing toward Xu Yuan’s throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Yuan sidestepped, missing the maid with the rod—but the rod suddenly transformed into a long rope, whooshing around the maid’s neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Requesting monthly votes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another chapter tonight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1180,"2026-06-20T12:07:23.516Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","593764cfae029084fd3c8bed73d16a39d418951e8d24254979132162973dc80d","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-32","nothing-is-taboo-chapter-30",413,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fnothing-is-taboo-cover.jpg"]