After Faking Her Death and Escaping, the Junior Sister Fell to the Demonic Path - Chapter 35

Watching the time tick by with no sign of Zhou Zhixue emerging, Qin Qingyi began to get anxious.

She slapped the table, intending to rush into the Sword Pavilion to find the girl, but was lightly stopped by True Person Wen Qing.

“Just wait a little longer. What’s the rush?”

Qin Qingyi was helpless and could only retreat behind her.

How could she not be anxious?

Everyone else who went in early has already come out, and the last one left almost an hour ago. Only her Junior Sister hasn’t emerged. Even a fool could tell something was wrong.

Just as she was restlessly sitting, the large doors of the Sword Pavilion finally opened again.

Qin Qingyi’s eyes lit up, and she stared straight at the entrance.

“No need to look, it’s your Junior Sister.”

True Person Wen Qing chuckled. Her cultivation was far above everyone else’s, and she had been constantly watching, so her reaction was naturally quicker than the rest.

Before Qin Qingyi could react, True Person Wen Qing flicked her cloud-sleeves, carrying Qin Qingyi and flying toward the entrance.

In an instant, they arrived before the person.

“Master…?”

Zhou Zhixue looked up blankly at the two people who suddenly appeared before her, unsure of how to react.

The moment Qin Qingyi landed, she saw Zhou Zhixue’s bewildered expression and immediately became anxious: “Were you injured inside?”

She disregarded etiquette and circled Zhou Zhixue three times. Only after failing to find any obvious injuries did she breathe a sigh of relief.

She had heard that the swords in the Sword Pavilion were quite temperamental and would injure people if displeased.

Fortunately, her Junior Sister was not hurt.

However…

Qin Qingyi looked at Zhou Zhixue’s dazed look, and her relieved brows gradually furrowed again.

If she wasn’t injured, why the current state?

Did she turn into an idiot just by walking around inside?

She reached out and waved her hand in front of Zhou Zhixue. The girl looked up at her, and a flash of blood-red light quickly disappeared from her eyes.

This startled Qin Qingyi, causing her to step back, her hand clutching her chest, looking at Zhou Zhixue in disbelief.

But the next moment, Zhou Zhixue resumed her dazed expression, remaining unresponsive no matter how much Qin Qingyi observed or probed.

Did she see wrongly just now?

Qin Qingyi was suspicious, but dared not jump to conclusions.

She extended her hand once more and poked Zhou Zhixue. This time, there was a reaction.

Qin Qingyi watched defensively, but unexpectedly, the girl looked up and directly at her. As if finally recognizing her, she smiled foolishly: “Senior Sister, you’re not dead?”

Qin Qingyi’s face went blank.

It’s over.

“Master, Junior Sister has become an idiot.”

She immediately turned and complained.

True Person Wen Qing slapped away her hand: “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Her expression was one of reproach, but she wasn’t truly angry.

She simply explained softly: “Your Junior Sister has just emerged from the Heart Demon Illusion. Her mind is temporarily still entangled in the illusion and needs a little time to recover.”

Is that so?

Could it be that she died in Zhou Zhixue’s illusion?

Is that why she asked if she was dead?

Qin Qingyi tilted her head, looking at the child before her, but she still felt something was strange.

But what exactly was strange?

Qin Qingyi “tsk’d” and scrutinized Zhou Zhixue again from head to toe.

She just felt that something must have happened to her Junior Sister in the few hours she was inside the Sword Pavilion.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t explain the strange feeling surrounding Zhou Zhixue.

Especially that look just now, which made her heart jump.

It wasn’t a look an eight-year-old child should have.

She almost thought she was going to be devoured by the other party.

When her gaze landed on Zhou Zhixue’s waist, Qin Qingyi paused.

She looked at the sudden object and didn’t turn back, but slowly asked True Person Wen Qing behind her: “Master?”

“Hmm?”

“I remember that all disciples must remove their swords before entering the Sword Pavilion, right?”

True Person Wen Qing said carelessly: “Yes, why do you ask?”

True Person Wen Qing turned her head, about to ask Qin Qingyi why she suddenly brought up such irrelevant matters, when she heard Qin Qingyi continue in a slow voice:

“Then, what about the sword on Junior Sister’s waist?”

Upon hearing this, True Person Wen Qing looked at Zhou Zhixue’s waist. Sure enough, a sword was hanging there.

It was ancient in design and looked quite worn and unremarkable.

“Oh, she even brought a sword out.”

True Person Wen Qing praised.

At this moment, Zhou Zhixue seemed to finally regain her senses, her eyes gradually becoming clear. She looked up at the two of them and spoke another astonishing line:

“Master, Senior Sister, everyone is alive, that’s wonderful.”

With the burden in her heart finally lifted, Zhou Zhixue let out a long sigh of relief, then, as if all her vital energy had been drained, her head tilted, and she immediately fainted.

Qin Qingyi quickly caught her in her arms and looked at True Person Wen Qing with eyes full of doubt:

Didn’t I say she was acting strange?

And you wouldn’t believe it!

Seeing Zhou Zhixue faint, True Person Wen Qing had nothing more to say. Without delay to explain to the others, she swept her sleeve, carrying Qin Qingyi and Zhou Zhixue, and flew towards the direction of Hidden Snow Peak.

The scene was also thrown into a minor commotion by Zhou Zhixue’s fainting.

After all, she had been ranked first for the previous six days, and no one expected her to collapse on the final day.

She fainted inexplicably immediately after coming out of the Sword Pavilion.

Anyone would be worried about this.

Especially the disciples who had also undergone the Heart Questioning process in the Sword Pavilion, their eyes were full of panic, and they were on the verge of causing a disturbance.

Shangguan Yu timely controlled the situation, arranging for the disciples who had passed the trial to rest first, and the Master-Apprentice Ceremony would be held tomorrow.

Watching the people leave, Shangguan Yu sighed: “Such a state of mind…”

She didn’t voice the rest of the sentence.

But the other elders clearly understood.

The mental state of these children was truly too poor.

Zhou Zhixue remained unconscious for three days.

During this time, she had a high fever multiple times and vaguely called out phrases like “don’t die.”

Qin Qingyi watched with worry.

True Person Wen Qing did not delay. After discovering that Zhou Zhixue still hadn’t woken up on the third day, she immediately took her sword and cleaved open the main door of the Sword Pavilion.

She rushed straight inside and questioned the tower-guarding elders one by one.

Finally, on the top floor, she found out the reason.

“She was chosen by that sword.”

The tower guard only said this one sentence.

After that, he kept silent.

Chosen?

Qin Qingyi followed behind True Person Wen Qing and happened to hear that sentence.

True Person Wen Qing sneered, displaying her protectiveness to the extreme.

She held her sword across the tower guard’s neck and angrily demanded:

“Stop spouting nonsense! That sword has been there for nearly a thousand years. This Venerable has never seen anyone able to pick it up!”

“Quickly tell me everything that happened then, or don’t blame this Venerable for being impolite!”

The tower guard was helpless. He was originally forbidden to speak, but now…

He looked at the sharp sword close to his neck and finally compromised: “Go see for yourself.”

With that, he pointed toward the inner area.

Qin Qingyi looked in the direction he pointed.

It was completely empty.

True Person Wen Qing’s face instantly became even uglier.

“It’s really gone?”

Qin Qingyi had never been here and couldn’t help but ask: “Master, what is gone?”

True Person Wen Qing’s mouth twitched twice, and she answered in a low voice: “The ChangLe Sword.”

The ChangLe Sword is gone.

Qin Qingyi thought of the sword hanging at Zhou Zhixue’s waist when she exited the Sword Pavilion.

That sword which was not very noticeable, but which she couldn’t pull out, even thinking it was a broken sword.

Was it the ChangLe Sword?

Qin Qingyi knew about this sword.

The ChangLe Sword, who in the Xuan Tian Realm didn’t know about it?

It was something left behind by Wugui Immortal Venerable, the foundation upon which the entire Sword Sect was established.

“Junior Sister, you were too rash.”

Behind the two of them, Shangguan Yu’s figure appeared.

She looked at True Person Wen Qing with a slight reproach and then said to Qin Qingyi: “Why didn’t you try to advise your Master?”

Qin Qingyi didn’t reply.

Shangguan Yu then asked: “How is your Junior Sister? Has she woken up today?”

Without waiting for Qin Qingyi’s response, she smiled to herself: “She must not have woken up yet.”

“Otherwise, the two of you wouldn’t be here.”

As soon as her voice fell, a line of cold light shot toward her face. Shangguan Yu’s eyes narrowed, clearly having been prepared. She merely shifted her body and avoided the sword’s edge, even managing to grab the wrist of the attacker.

“Junior Sister, you are too impatient.”

Shangguan Yu had a faint smile on her lips, her fingers resting on True Person Wen Qing’s wrist.

“It seems Senior Sister hasn’t done anything wrong. Why the hostility?”

True Person Wen Qing gritted her teeth, pulled her wrist out of Shangguan Yu’s grasp, and stared at her, asking:

“Did you plan this all along? Everything, from start to finish, was your scheme!”

Shangguan Yu “tsk’d,” pretending to be annoyed as she covered her lips with her hand: “Oh dear.”

She adopted a thoughtful posture, but her eyes were fixed on True Person Wen Qing, completely unfazed by the other’s anger: “I forgot to conceal it from you.”

“How much did Junior Sister calculate? Can you tell Senior Sister?”

The two of them conversed without any regard for Qin Qingyi’s presence.

Their back-and-forth riddle-like exchange made Qin Qingyi’s head spin. She cautiously raised her hand.

“Um… Should I leave?”

It sounded like secrets she shouldn’t be hearing. Was it really okay to let her stand here and listen?

It was only when she spoke that Shangguan Yu noticed her.

Shangguan Yu, who usually maintained a cold and aloof facade, looked at her with interest: “No need, Junior Niece… it’s fine for you to stay and listen.”

With that, she sighed, forcibly put away True Person Wen Qing’s sword, and comforted her warmly: “Alright, my dear Junior Sister.”

“Is there anything that can’t be discussed properly by sitting down? Why must we fight to the death?”

Qin Qingyi didn’t dare to speak.

She thought, for her Master to be this angry, you probably didn’t do anything good.

But the words that followed from Shangguan Yu’s mouth completely overturned Qin Qingyi’s perception.

“Zhou Zhixue is the reincarnation of Wugui Immortal Venerable.”

Shangguan Yu dropped a bombshell with her first sentence.

“How is that possible?!”

True Person Wen Qing immediately jumped up.

Her eyes were filled with disbelief. Qin Qingyi also utterly refused to believe such nonsense.

“Wugui Immortal Venerable died almost a thousand years ago! We are all cultivators of the Dao. Senior Sister, do you believe such absurd talk of reincarnation?!”

True Person Wen Qing was practically shouting.

“This matter was personally stated by Grandmaster. On the day after you all left, Grandmaster summoned me again and informed me of this. Grandmaster said that she was present when Immortal Venerable Wugui passed away and heard the Immortal Venerable’s last words clearly—

‘When the Demon Race’s seal stirs, she will return.’

Now that the ChangLe Sword has recognized its Master, doesn’t this prove that she is the Immortal Venerable’s reincarnation?” Shangguan Yu sighed.

“Impossible, this is absolutely impossible!”

True Person Wen Qing still refused to believe such nonsense. She simply sat down cross-legged, bit her tongue, and began to perform a divination with her tongue-tip blood.

After a long while, she suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Qin Qingyi quickly rushed forward to support her, worried: “Master.”

At that moment, Qin Qingyi saw a streak of white hair the width of a finger appear at True Person Wen Qing’s temples.

It was particularly jarring.

True Person Wen Qing’s aura also completely wilted at this moment.

“I can’t calculate it.”

She murmured.

A look of defeat appeared on her face for the first time.

Shangguan Yu merely shook her head: “Why bother, Junior Sister.”

She lowered her eyes and resumed her usual cold demeanor.

“Junior Sister, if she is truly the reincarnation of the Immortal Venerable, then she will be the future hope of the entire Xuan Tian Realm.”

Shangguan Yu’s eyes were heavy, and her voice carried an inexplicable trace of defeat: “The Demon Race is stirring frequently now. Today, I already received news that the three Hall-Kings of the Underworld have all been captured by the Demon Race. The Nether Ghost Realm has fallen.”

True Person Wen Qing gritted her teeth: “Even if the ChangLe Sword has recognized her as its Master, it doesn’t mean she is the person reincarnated!”

Shangguan Yu: “I know what Junior Sister is thinking, and I haven’t informed anyone else of this matter.”

The Sword Pavilion was eerily silent. The tower guard had already left, leaving the top floor space to the three of them.

Qin Qingyi couldn’t help but look at the spot where the ChangLe Sword was reportedly kept.

There was nothing there.

But at this moment, Qin Qingyi suddenly felt a chill run through her entire body.