After Faking Her Death and Escaping, the Junior Sister Fell to the Demonic Path - Chapter 122

Jianmen Sect.

Cangxue Peak.

“She still won’t come out?”

Xie Su frowned as he looked at the barrier of Cangxue Peak and asked the person beside him.

“She hasn’t come out since that day she returned from the Soul Lamp Pavilion.” Hu Yu stood beside him, sighing in response. “Junior Sister set up a forbidden barrier on Cangxue Peak. I’ve tried to break the formation multiple times but was blocked.”

Hu Yu lowered his head, and after a while, mustered the courage to speak again:

“Senior Brother… is Senior Sister—”

Is she really dead?

But the words rolled around on his tongue, and he still couldn’t utter the word “dead.”

He didn’t want to believe it.

Even though he had personally seen his Senior Sister’s soul lamp extinguished.

“Watch your words,” Xie Su said.

“Even if Senior Sister…” Xie Su gritted his teeth. He also couldn’t say the word, and finally had to carefully maneuver around it, “We must take care of Junior Sister.”

“Master is not here. This is our responsibility.”

Xie Su wanted to say more, but before he could speak, the barrier in front of him suddenly lifted, and a cold beauty’s face appeared before the two of them.

“Junior Sister—”

Xie Su was still stunned, but Hu Yu had already gone up to her. Seeing that Zhou Zhixue was whole, without any injuries, and seemed mentally normal, he let out a huge sigh of relief. “Junior Sister, it’s great that you’re okay.”

Zhou Zhixue let him examine her. When he finally finished, she lifted her foot, intending to leave.

She treated the two of them as if they were invisible.

But she had only walked two steps when Xie Su blocked her path.

“Is there something?” Zhou Zhixue asked, her voice slightly hoarse, but without any emotional fluctuation.

Xie Su looked at her, and after a long while, finally spoke: “Where is Senior Sister?”

“Where have you hidden Senior Sister?”

Zhou Zhixue: “No comment.”

With that, she lifted her foot to leave from the side.

But Xie Su had no intention of letting the matter drop. He grabbed Zhou Zhixue’s arm, attempting to reason with her.

The next moment, something unexpected happened.

A cold flash streaked by, and frigid sword energy slashed directly at Xie Su’s arm.

Again?!

Xie Su’s pupils contracted. Instinctively, he let go of his grip on Zhou Zhixue, retreating two steps to avoid the sword.

Seeing that he was not harmed, Zhou Zhixue’s expression remained unchanged, and she simply withdrew her sword calmly.

“My apologies, I don’t like being touched.”

The indifferent voice instantly enraged Xie Su.

He couldn’t recall how many times he had lost his temper when facing Zhou Zhixue.

In the past, his temper had always been very good, but recently, every time he faced this Junior Sister of his, he couldn’t control his anger.

The veins on Xie Su’s forehead throbbed: “Where did you hide Senior Sister?”

“I don’t care that you made a scene at Cliff Mountain, or that you argued with the elders, but you must tell me—”

“Where. Is. Senior. Sister!”

He ground out the words, syllable by syllable.

It had been over ten days, and he hadn’t known where his Senior Sister was.

The day they came back from the Soul Lamp Pavilion, Zhou Zhixue hid their Senior Sister. In the past, although she was “mad,” she was still somewhat restrained. Now, she refused to let any of them see their Senior Sister again.

“Lest you forget, she is our Senior Sister too!”

Xie Su confronted Zhou Zhixue. In his agitation, the spiritual energy around him subtly stirred up a storm.

Zhou Zhixue met his gaze, and after a long moment, she finally answered in her hoarse voice: “At the bottom of the cliff behind the mountain, in the Cold Ice Pool.”

Having received the answer, Xie Su felt no joy.

He looked at the Junior Sister who had been acting “mad” during this time, and his eyes were full of unfamiliarity.

“You put Senior Sister in the Cold Ice Pool? What are you trying to do?”

He vaguely guessed an answer—the temperature in the Cold Ice Pool was extremely low, and the spiritual energy was abundant, making it extremely suitable for preserving… but he needed the person in front of him to answer.

“I want to go to Cliff Mountain to search for Senior Sister’s soul.”

Zhou Zhixue looked at him, with no expression on her face.

It was still the same coldness as before, yet Xie Su felt that—

Something was different.

Xie Su looked at Zhou Zhixue with a complex gaze.

Cultivators in the Xuantian Realm have no reincarnation. A cultivator who dies in battle with the demon race is truly dead; there will be no afterlife, and no soul.

Not to mention that the soul of a person killed by the demon race would be polluted by demonic energy, and the Grand Array beneath Cliff Mountain would not retain anything tainted with demonic energy.

Going there would surely be a futile effort.

Zhou Zhixue couldn’t possibly not understand this truth.

During this time, she had been searching for the soul at Cliff Mountain and performing soul retrieval at Jianmen. Disregarding everyone’s opinions, she frantically protected her Senior Sister’s physical body, placed it in a millennium-preserving jade coffin, and now sank the person into the Cold Ice Pool, desperately searching for a way to bring the dead back to life.

She was nearly frenzied.

But Senior Sister was already dead. She died at the hands of the demon race to save her.

Xie Su desperately wanted to grab Zhou Zhixue’s shoulders and shake her awake, telling her it was useless, Senior Sister would never wake up again, she was dead, and dead was dead, there was nothing left, and such a person would never exist in this world again!

But looking at Zhou Zhixue’s stubborn, almost insane appearance, Xie Su suppressed the words of warning. He waved his hand at his Junior Sister and said tiredly, “Forget it, do as you please.”

Perhaps when she vented enough, she would return to normal.

Zhou Zhixue heard this and was about to leave, but as she walked past Xie Su, his words made her stop again.

“Tomorrow, many people will come to mourn Senior Sister. Will you come?”

As Xie Su spoke, a sliver of hope suddenly rose in his heart. He hoped that his Junior Sister hadn’t completely lost her mind.

Many sects would come to Jianmen tomorrow, and he only wished to maintain the dignity of Cangxue Peak.

But the response he received was a slight sneer from Zhou Zhixue: “Senior Sister isn’t dead, why the funeral?”

“You?!” Xie Su was furious.

Zhou Zhixue ignored him, turned, and walked away.

Leaving the enraged Xie Su standing in place.

Hu Yu watched Zhou Zhixue’s retreating figure. Only after she completely disappeared did he turn to Xie Su, his eyes bewildered:

“Senior Brother, is there a possibility that Senior Sister really isn’t dead?”

——————

“I heard that the battle that day was almost earth-shattering. Many Jianmen disciples died there, and even the Sect Master of Jianmen was no match for that demon star and perished.”

“More than that? You’re behind the times. A few days ago, I heard people say that the new Sect Master of Jianmen sacrificed herself to save someone.”

“The person saved was the Sect Master’s youngest Junior Sister, right? I heard she’s also a top-tier genius of Jianmen. Jianmen truly gathers outstanding talents.”

“Alas, that person is completely out of control now. A young person can’t accept such an outcome and almost succumbed to cultivation deviation. I heard she’s even making a fuss about breaking ties with Jianmen now.”

In the tavern at the foot of Jianmen Mountain, people were talking in low voices.

The voices were very quiet, but everyone present was a powerful cultivator, so they all heard these words.

The Jianmen Sect holds a significant position in the Immortal Realm, and coupled with their consistent friendliness, the Sect Master’s passing was a major event, so quite a few people came to offer condolences.

The current Sect Master of Jianmen is the previous one’s Junior Brother. Upholding the principle of showing sorrow by not holding a grand ceremony, the change of the Sect Master’s position was not widely publicized, only a brief public announcement was made.

“What a pity…”

Someone lamented.

When talking about Qin Qingyi, most people shook their heads and sighed.

They sighed, discussing that they would rest for a while and then ascend Jianmen Sect tomorrow.

Not far away, the group from Medicine King Valley, who were on good terms with Jianmen, listened in silence. Bai Qiyue’s eyes were even red.

She bit her lip: “She just died like that?!”

Bai Qiyue didn’t know what her emotion should be. When she received the news of Qin Qingyi’s death, she completely refused to believe it.

She was so strong, how could she die so easily… so hastily?

But everyone said she was dead.

But she hadn’t defeated her yet, how could she just die like this?

Bai Qiyue squeezed her fingers, almost crushing the teacup in her hand.

Back then, Qin Qingyi had promised her, clearly stating that when she was strong enough, she would definitely defeat her.

She had clearly promised.

Bai Lan held her hand, his expression helpless: “Stop talking. Wipe your tears, don’t disgrace Medicine King Valley.”

Bai Qiyue lowered her head, roughly wiping away the tears that were about to fall with her sleeve.

“I’m not crying.”

She insisted stubbornly.

With that, she took the lead and got up, heading towards the room upstairs in the tavern.

Seeing her return to her room, Bai Lan sighed.

“With a temperament like this, when will I ever be able to rest assured?”

For cultivators in the Xuantian Realm, living today and dying tomorrow is the norm, yet his child still hadn’t grasped this concept. Excessive attachment to the lives and deaths of others would only drag herself down.

“The Valley Master worries too much,” an Elder of Medicine King Valley beside Bai Lan spoke.

She looked in the direction Bai Qiyue had left and said, “Compassionate hearts are the hallmark of healers. Our lineage in Medicine King Valley chose to enter the Dao through medicine precisely because we have more sympathy than others.”

“Although the Young Valley Mistress is still young, she has already shown signs of a sage’s heart, and having studied at Jianmen in her early years, she has made many friends there. Why worry that she won’t be able to support Medicine King Valley in the future?”

Bai Lan still sighed: “That’s the theory, but look at her, she’s still willful when she’s out and about…”

Trailing off, Bai Lan shook his head: “Forget it, forget it. If I say more, she’ll complain again. Let’s go rest first. We have to ascend Jianmen Sect tomorrow.”

The Elder beside him smiled and naturally followed him upstairs to the private room.

Before long, the surrounding discussions gradually died down. The crowd, satisfied with the gossip, dispersed. The former Sect Master, who was supposedly dead in their mouths, was having tea at the next table.

Hearing these discussions about herself, the corner of Qin Qingyi’s mouth twitched, and the expression on her carefully concealed face was somewhat indescribable.

She hadn’t expected that she would still be the subject of so much trouble even after her “death.”

Also, aren’t these people a bit too nosy? The Xuantian Realm is so vast, why are these people so concerned about her life and death?

“Look at your ‘great’ idea, how many people’s hearts you’ve broken.”

The person across the tea table suddenly spoke, their voice very low, yet the teasing was unmistakable.

Qin Qingyi looked up and rolled her eyes at the person, biting back her retort: “You tell me if it was useful or not.”

How dare he laugh at her idea? If he had the nerve, he shouldn’t have cooperated with her. Now he was taking advantage and still acting smug, deliberately trying to annoy her.

The person reached out and rubbed their nose, awkwardly changing the subject: “Ahem, let’s not talk about that.”

“Tell me what you plan to do next.”

“After all, you went to such trouble to arrange this meeting with me, so I assume you need my cooperation.”

As he spoke, the person finally put down the teacup, which was already empty.

After setting down the teacup, she finally revealed a hint of her true appearance—

It was an ordinary face, utterly unremarkable. Among the many beauties in the Xuantian Realm, it was completely inconspicuous, a face without any distinguishing features that would leave no lasting impression at a glance.

But this was precisely the effect she wanted.

Given her current identity, it was not suitable for her to be recognized.

Qin Qingyi sneered, looking up at the person. Her scrutinizing gaze first circled that unremarkable face before she said, “You’re certainly pleased with yourself now, aren’t you? What, is Feng Ning awake?”

Indeed, the person who came was Feng Ying, who should have been in the demon realm.

And she was also the accomplice in Qin Qingyi’s plan to fake her death and escape.

Qin Qingyi used her “death” to leave Jianmen, and Feng Ying used the “killing” of Qin Qingyi to gain the trust of the demon race.

It was supposed to be a win-win situation, and Qin Qingyi had always thought this plan was absolutely brilliant, without a single flaw.

If there had to be a flaw, it was that two days after she returned to the demon race, the communication token from the Upper Realm lit up like a death warrant.

Out of some unknown sense of guilt, Qin Qingyi initially did not answer the communication.

She merely watched the bamboo token flicker several times before falling silent.

Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she had avoided it and was safe, the bamboo token suddenly shattered right before her eyes.

Followed by the furious roar of Venerable Wenqing—

“You little brat, are you tired of living?!”