After Faking Her Death and Escaping, the Junior Sister Fell to the Demonic Path - Chapter 17

After the light was extinguished and she lay down on the bed, Zhou Zhixue looked at Qin Qingyi standing by the bedside, her face flushed red.

“Senior Sister, aren’t you resting yet?”

Her voice was faint, only slightly louder than the sound of a needle dropping.

Yet, her entire body was hidden under the covers, her hands gripping the edge of the quilt. When she spoke, only her two eyes were exposed, so the sound that came out was muffled and unclear.

Qin Qingyi had originally intended to return to her own room to rest, but seeing her like this, she knew she couldn’t leave.

“Is it still cold at night?” she asked, knowing the answer.

Zhou Zhixue nodded mutely.

Qin Qingyi’s eyes darted around, holding back a smile, but she didn’t immediately agree: “Then Senior Sister will go fetch you a hot water bottle. You can hug it to sleep, and it won’t be cold at night.”

As she spoke, she made a move to get up, looking as if she were really about to leave.

In a moment of urgency, Zhou Zhixue reached out and grabbed the edge of Qin Qingyi’s flowing robe. The quilt fell away, revealing her slender shoulder blades: “Senior Sister, don’t go!”

This sentence was louder, tinged with urgency, and a hint of pleading.

“Senior Sister, don’t go.”

She repeated it once more.

But because Qin Qingyi didn’t react for a while, she thought her actions had been too abrupt, and the strength in her hand gradually loosened.

Senior Sister had her own room; she shouldn’t have to sleep with her. It was her who was too greedy.

This was the Sword Sect, not the place she had been before. She should be obedient, she should learn to sleep by herself.

The disappointment in Zhou Zhixue’s heart welled up, but she forced herself to let go, “It’s Zhixue’s fault, Senior Sister, go back…” she trailed off.

This time her voice was lower, and her eyes, which had been raised, dimmed.

Zhou Zhixue forlornly withdrew the hand she had extended to pull the robe, and silently turned over to the inner side of the bed, curling herself up into a ball, attempting to keep warm by shrinking herself into a small bundle.

Just as she was bundling herself and the quilt into a ball, Qin Qingyi uttered a questioning “Hmm?”

“What is it?”

She had just undone half of her outer garments when she heard Zhou Zhixue’s murmur.

“Go back where?”

She turned around, draped her removed outer garment over a chair, and then asked about Zhou Zhixue’s earlier words.

Not getting a reply, she wasn’t annoyed. Instead, she took out the hairpin fixing her hair, loosely gathered her long black tresses, and then sat on the edge of the bed, patting the curled-up “bug” on the inner side of the bed.

“What were you saying just now? Senior Sister didn’t hear.”

The cotton quilt “bug” wriggled a couple of times but didn’t speak. Qin Qingyi patted it patiently again: “Share half the quilt with Senior Sister, or Senior Sister will freeze to death in the middle of the night because she has no covers.”

It was only early spring, which was naturally chilly, and the mountain was a few degrees colder than the foot of the mountain. Although Hidden Snow Peak had a cold-repelling array, there was still some coldness, and one needed to be well covered at night to prevent catching a chill.

This time, although it still didn’t speak, the “bug” moved, freeing up half of the quilt that had been rolled beneath it. The “bug” also took the opportunity to burrow further toward the inner side of the bed, as if vowing to remain silent and not speak again.

Seeing this, Qin Qingyi let out a light laugh. The “big wriggler” moved again, clearing a large space for her, only occupying a tiny spot near the inner edge of the bed itself.

She lifted the quilt and slipped in, then pulled the child who was hugging the edge of the bed and radiating a chill from the inside out into her embrace, and was so cold that she let out a sound of “hiss—”

She was so chilled by this sudden coldness that she grimaced, and the breath she exhaled became white, cold air.

After several shivers, Qin Qingyi finally felt her frozen body gradually warming up.

Zhou Zhixue poked her head out from the confinement of Qin Qingyi’s embrace. Her hair, which had been neatly combed, became messy from the rubbing. But she didn’t have time to worry about that now. Instead, she stared at Qin Qingyi, her eyes shining: “Is Senior Sister going to sleep with Zhixue tonight too?”

Heaven knows how happy she was when Qin Qingyi had burrowed into the quilt and pulled her over. Last night, being held by Senior Sister was as warm and reassuring as being held by her Imperial Mother in the palace back then.

But since coming to the Sword Sect, she hadn’t felt that way again. Imperial Mother was dead, she knew. Before her death, Imperial Mother told her to follow Master, not to think about revenge, and to take care of herself. She remembered it all. She would do very well.

“Little children shouldn’t overthink things. You’re so cold, and you can’t yet control your spiritual power well. How could Senior Sister leave you to sleep alone?”

She reached out and covered Zhou Zhixue’s mouth, which was about to speak, her teeth chattering from the cold: “Don’t talk, go to sleep.”

“Tomorrow, Senior Sister will take you to meet the Elder of the Talisman Class. Hurry up and sleep, or if you can’t get up tomorrow, Senior Sister won’t take you.”

This sentence was effective. As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Zhixue obediently closed her mouth. Although her eyes blinked and blinked, refusing to close, she was quiet overall.

After a little while, the child finally grew sleepy, her eyelids drooping. Her hand still tightly grasped Qin Qingyi’s lapel, and she murmured things like Senior Sister is so warm as she fell into a deep sleep.

She was asleep, but Qin Qingyi was so cold that she could only embrace the primal unity, using her spiritual power to resist the cold.

Damn it, this child is as cold as a block of ice just pulled out of the Frigid Domain. Can someone save her?

She shivered again from the cold. As if she had thought of something, Qin Qingyi lowered her head to observe the sleeping Zhou Zhixue.

“I shouldn’t be discovered, right…”

She muttered to herself softly, “I don’t care anymore. If this continues, I’ll turn into an ice sculpture.”

As if giving up on herself, Qin Qingyi closed her eyes and opened them again. Her pupils, which had been jet black in the dark night, suddenly changed to light-colored vertical slits, and two fiery red ears pricked up from the back of her head.

The quilt suddenly puffed up a lot. Qin Qingyi wiggled the tail she had just released, and sighed comfortably, “As expected, the true form is the most comfortable.”

As soon as the fox tail was released, the cold air that had been lingering around completely vanished, replaced by a more domineering demonic energy. Protected by the fur of her fox true form, Qin Qingyi, who had just been shivering, immediately relaxed.

She moved her body, shifting into a more comfortable position. Her fluffy tail not only wrapped around herself but also enveloped the sleeping Zhou Zhixue. The pervasive cold air was swept away by the large tail, leaving only warmth.

However, her tail was too large; fully extended, it immediately occupied most of the bed, taking up the majority of the space. Zhou Zhixue was thus left with only a pitiful small area. Perhaps the tail moved too recklessly, causing the eyelashes of the sleeping person to tremble, and her brows to slightly furrow. It looked like she was about to wake up.

Seeing this, Qin Qingyi immediately held her breath and quickly gathered the tail into her arms.

After observing anxiously for a few moments, and seeing Zhou Zhixue’s brows relax again with no sign of waking up, Qin Qingyi finally let out a slight sigh of relief. The ears on the top of her head, which had stood up due to tension, also drooped back down.

“You scared me to death…”

She lightly patted her chest and re-embraced Zhou Zhixue.

Before long, she also fell into a deep sleep.

The beautiful, fluffy fox tail brought a pleasant warmth, ensuring a good night’s rest.

The next day, Zhou Zhixue woke up before dawn.

She remembered what Qin Qingyi had said last night and knew that she would attend the Talisman Class today. Due to the interesting experience of attending class yesterday, Zhou Zhixue was extremely interested in “listening to lectures” at the Sword Sect.

However, when she woke up, she found the spot beside her empty.

Zhou Zhixue panicked for a moment.

Senior Sister, is gone?

She reached out and touched the bed beside her, which was icy cold. Clearly, the person had left a long time ago.

She got up in a panic, not even having time to properly put on her outer garment before running out, only to bump into someone right at the door.

“Oh dear, you’re awake?”

Qin Qingyi stumbled slightly from the impact, took half a step back to steady herself, and helped up Zhou Zhixue, who had crashed into her arms.

“What’s wrong? Why the rush? No coat, no shoes.”

Once the person was steady, Qin Qingyi finally had time to look down and realized that Zhou Zhixue was wearing only a thin nightgown for some reason, and didn’t even have shoes on her feet.

“Senior Sister wasn’t here.” Zhou Zhixue lowered her head, her voice still trembling with fear that hadn’t subsided.

She clutched the dangling ornamental pendant at Qin Qingyi’s waist, and when she looked up, her eyes were already moist with tears.

Qin Qingyi paused slightly.

Then her gaze softened.

She had been negligent.

She only remembered the task Master had assigned yesterday, but she forgot how dependent this child was on her.

She closed the door behind her, guided the girl to sit by the bed, and then brought over the clothes to drape them over Zhou Zhixue. Only then did she speak with a slight chide: “We are both on Hidden Snow Peak. Where could I have run off to? Today’s Talisman Class requires you to bring your own talisman paper. I went to prepare things for you.”

With that, she raised her hand and showed Zhou Zhixue the stack of spiritual talisman paper she was holding.

The yellow spiritual talisman paper, neatly cut into long strips, surged with spiritual power when Zhou Zhixue looked at it. Clearly, it was not an ordinary item.

“These are things you’ll need for the Talisman Class later. Senior Sister prepared a set for you according to the quantity for the other disciples.”

Qin Qingyi explained softly.

Zhou Zhixue lowered her head in shame, clutching the hem of her clothes, and didn’t speak.

Seeing that she was properly dressed, Qin Qingyi urged her out the door, “Let’s go. Today we’ll go with your two Senior Brothers.”

Xie Su and Hu Yu were already waiting outside. Seeing the two of them come out, Hu Yu’s eyes lit up, and he greeted Zhou Zhixue: “Junior Sister.”

Zhou Zhixue nodded demurely, following behind Qin Qingyi.

It wasn’t until they were finally about to set off that she encountered a difficulty.