After Faking Her Death and Escaping, the Junior Sister Fell to the Demonic Path - Chapter 38

“Qingyi, are you trying to spite your master?”

True Person Wenqing whispered.

It must be that she was spiting herself.

After all, how could a person who couldn’t even protect her own disciple be worthy of being a master?

She lowered her head, applying medicine to the back, which was almost festering with wounds, her voice so soft it was barely audible: “Your insistence on receiving the punishment means you are dissatisfied with your master, is that right?”

Qin Qingyi remained silent, then after a long pause, she said: “Master, you overthink it.”

“This disciple did make a mistake, and punishment is what I deserve. How could I be exempt from punishment just because I am the master’s disciple? Even in the mortal world, if the Son of Heaven violates the law, he is punished like a commoner. Since this disciple made a mistake, I should naturally be punished.”

Hearing her speak so, True Person Wenqing also fell silent and concentrated on applying the medicine.

Fortunately, they were all superficial wounds. It was regrettable that they hadn’t been dealt with before, but now that they were being treated, they would heal in a few days.

By the time the medicine was applied, Qin Qingyi had already fallen into a deep sleep.

True Person Wenqing quietly left the room.

As soon as the door closed, the person who had been breathing evenly on the bed opened her eyes.

Her eyes were clear, without the slightest hint of sleepiness.

She looked at the closed door, and finally turned her gaze away.

After about half a month of recovery, Qin Qingyi went to find True Person Wenqing and returned the Elder’s Token.

“What’s wrong? Are you unwilling to help your master manage Hidden Snow Peak anymore?”

True Person Wenqing asked her.

Qin Qingyi smiled slightly: “What are you saying, Master? Hidden Snow Peak doesn’t need this disciple to manage it.”

“It’s just that this disciple has an important matter and needs to leave the Sword Sect for a period of time.”

“Where are you going? What is this important matter?” True Person Wenqing pressed.

Qin Qingyi’s smile remained unchanged as she bid farewell to True Person Wenqing:

“The affairs of the Demon Race are numerous. As the Young Master of the Demon Race, your disciple naturally needs to return to handle state affairs. Moreover… my mother misses your disciple very much.”

Since she spoke thus, True Person Wenqing could no longer stop her.

Before leaving, Qin Qingyi went to the cave where Zhou Zhixue was cultivating.

She stood outside the barrier, unable to see the world within.

“She has now entered the critical phase of the first stage of the Heartless Dao. Perhaps she is indeed destined to walk this path, and her cultivation speed is incredibly fast.”

True Person Wenqing stood beside Qin Qingyi. “Do you want to go in and say goodbye to her?”

She knew that the relationship between these two Senior and Junior Sisters was usually close, and now that Qin Qingyi was leaving for a while, she thought they should say goodbye.

However, just as True Person Wenqing raised her hand to remove the barrier, she was interrupted by Qin Qingyi: “No need. There is nothing to say.”

Qin Qingyi chuckled lightly. “Since she chose this herself, and is now at a critical point, why should I disturb her?”

True Person Wenqing looked at her eldest disciple, her eyes complex.

Qin Qingyi bowed to her: “Please be aware, Master, that the Demon Race has already extended its hand into our race. My return this time is not out of personal pique, but to deal with the spies mixed into the Demon Race.”

Hearing this, True Person Wenqing’s expression immediately became serious: “Do you need your master to intervene?”

She hadn’t expected that Demon Race spies had already infiltrated the Demon Race. True Person Wenqing’s heart sank.

“Not yet. This disciple can handle it alone,” Qin Qingyi shook her head.

“The Demon Race has unique methods of identification, so rooting out a few Demon Race spies is still simple.”

True Person Wenqing frowned tightly: “If the secluded Demon Race is like this, there must be even more Demon Race members in the Profound Heaven Realm.”

She recalled what Shangguan Yu had said a while ago: the Underworld Ghost Realm had fallen, the Human Emperor had been slaughtered, and now the seal on Cliff Mountain in the Profound Heaven Realm was also precarious.

The Underworld Ghost Realm was annihilated in an instant, but upon reflection, it was known that this could not be accomplished overnight.

It must have been brewing for a long time, but the Underworld Ghost Realm had deliberately cut off contact with the Profound Heaven Realm for many years, which led to it being unable to transmit messages during the gradual infiltration by the Demon Race, ultimately leading to its own downfall.

Even so, the Profound Heaven Realm should be on high alert.

“In that case, you should go back first. If there is anything you cannot handle, feel free to contact your master. On the Immortal Gate side, your master will discuss it with your Senior Brother, strengthen the defenses of Cliff Mountain, and send a few more Elders to guard the barrier.”

Qin Qingyi nodded, took a final look at the cave barrier, and then left without looking back, flying away on her sword.

By the time Zhou Zhixue completely broke through the first stage of the Heartless Dao and emerged from seclusion the next morning, Qin Qingyi had already returned to the Demon Race.

“Senior Sister?”

Zhou Zhixue pushed the door open, but did not see anyone.

The room was empty.

Zhou Zhixue frowned.

Perhaps Senior Sister was outside, Zhou Zhixue thought.

So she ran to the peach forest outside the courtyard, searching for Qin Qingyi’s figure.

But she didn’t see a trace of Qin Qingyi until she had almost searched the entire Hidden Snow Peak.

Zhou Zhixue panicked for the first time.

“Senior Sister?”

“Senior Sister!!”

“Stop shouting! So noisy! Aren’t you annoying!” Hu Yu hung upside down from a tree branch, looking as if he had been woken up.

He was tired from practicing his sword this morning, so he found a large tree to climb and rest, but he didn’t expect to be woken up after only a short sleep.

He looked at Zhou Zhixue, who was helplessly calling out Qin Qingyi’s name in the courtyard, and for the first time, he found his Junior Sister unbearable.

Where was she when Senior Sister was punished for her? Where was she when Senior Sister was suffering with a body full of injuries at the Cliff of Contemplation?

Senior Sister spent half a month recovering from her injuries; any person should have gone to see her. Where was Zhou Zhixue then?

To cultivate that wretched Heartless Dao, she could actually stand by and watch Senior Sister be punished.

That was one thing, but she didn’t come to see her when she was here, and now that the person has been gone for a day, she finally knows to come looking.

So his tone was extremely impatient: “Stop shouting, Senior Sister has gone down the mountain to travel. She left yesterday.”

That’s right, the matter of Qin Qingyi returning to the Demon Race could not be stated clearly. True Person Wenqing’s official statement was “down the mountain to travel.”

This was a universal answer – leaving the Sword Sect, traveling down the mountain.

If anyone asked where she was traveling, True Person Wenqing would be vague. The Profound Heaven Realm outside the Sword Sect was vast. Saying any random place would not arouse suspicion.

But Zhou Zhixue did not know.

Hearing the answer that Qin Qingyi had gone down the mountain to travel, she immediately became flustered.

Senior Sister was no longer on Hidden Snow Peak.

“Down the mountain to travel?” she repeated, and then looked up to ask: “Then when will Senior Sister return?”

Her voice carried a tremor of panic that she herself was unaware of.

“I don’t know.”

Hu Yu swung back up into the tree. He didn’t look at Zhou Zhixue below, and responded casually: “Maybe a few months? Maybe a few years, who knows.”

“After all, who can say for sure about traveling down the mountain?”

As fellow disciples, he couldn’t directly show ill will towards her, so he could only express his dissatisfaction with this perfunctory answer.

“Then does Senior Brother know where Senior Sister is traveling?”

Zhou Zhixue held onto her last shred of hope, with expectant eyes, and whispered her question to Hu Yu.

Unfortunately, she did not hear the answer she wanted.

Hu Yu placed his hands behind his head, a blade of dogtail grass still dangling from his mouth. He opened one eye, glanced at Zhou Zhixue below the tree, and his voice was heartless and cold, completely shattering her illusions: “I don’t know.”

“Sword Sect disciples usually have uncertain whereabouts when they travel down the mountain. No one knows where Senior Sister went. If you want to know, just wait until Senior Sister comes back and ask her.”

Hmph.

She still wants to know where Senior Sister went?

Even if he knew, he wouldn’t tell her.

Zhou Zhixue’s face was pale, and she could barely hold the sword in her hand.

Senior Sister didn’t want her anymore.

This realization echoed in her mind. It felt as heavy as a thousand catties, pressing down on her until she couldn’t breathe.

Seeing her pitiful expression, Hu Yu coldly snorted, completely devoid of sympathy.

Just then, Xie Su arrived. Seeing the expressions of Zhou Zhixue and Hu Yu, he immediately knew what had happened.

“Why did you have to tell her?”

Xie Su frowned, scolding Hu Yu.

But his words, heard by Zhou Zhixue, confirmed the truth of what Hu Yu had said.

Seeing that it was almost time for class, Xie Su turned to leave, but was grabbed by his sleeve by Zhou Zhixue.

“Junior Sister?” Xie Su frowned.

He thought Zhou Zhixue wanted to go to class with him, but now that his Junior Sister was cultivating a different Dao, she naturally didn’t need to attend other classes.

So Xie Su gently pulled back his sleeve and asked politely: “Do you have something else, Junior Sister?”

Zhou Zhixue’s lips trembled, her eyes helpless, just like a small deer on the verge of death. She took a few short breaths before finally managing to speak with difficulty, asking:

“Senior Brother, Senior Sister… has she really gone down the mountain?”

Xie Su nodded.

“Senior Sister did go down the mountain yesterday. She came to see you before she left. Didn’t you know?”

Zhou Zhixue looked blankly.

Senior Sister came to look for her?

Seeing her blank expression, Xie Su knew that she was probably unaware that this had happened.

“Yesterday… I was cultivating, and I didn’t see Senior Sister,” Zhou Zhixue whispered.

It was as expected.

Xie Su’s expression was one of realization, and he sighed softly, “I don’t know anything else. If you want to know Senior Sister’s whereabouts, you should ask Master.”

Hu Yu flipped down from the tree. As he passed Zhou Zhixue, he told her something in a malicious tone:

“You still don’t know? Because you are cultivating the Heartless Dao, Senior Sister was punished for taking you out. Fifty lashes, completely tearing her skin and flesh, and then she stayed under the Cliff of Contemplation for a month with her injuries.”

“But until Senior Sister’s wounds healed, you never showed up. Senior Sister’s heart was broken by you, which is why she chose to go down the mountain.”

“She doesn’t want to see you again. This is all your fault.”

After saying this, seeing Zhou Zhixue’s shaky appearance, Hu Yu felt immensely relieved, and he didn’t bother with Zhou Zhixue anymore, turning around and leaving.

Xie Su, on the other hand, chased after him and blamed him: “Why did you say those things? You’re just unnecessarily hurting someone.”

How could he not know how good the relationship between the Junior Sister and Senior Sister was? And yet he said such things to rub salt in her wound.

Zhou Zhixue, however, felt as if she had been struck by lightning.

Senior Sister was punished because of her, and now, heartbroken, she had gone down the mountain.

Senior Sister didn’t want her anymore.

These two sentences kept circling in Zhou Zhixue’s mind, weighing as heavily as a thousand pounds, crushing her until she couldn’t breathe.

After a long time, Zhou Zhixue, who had stood in the same spot until her legs were numb, moved again. She turned around to look for True Person Wenqing.

That’s right, there was still Master.

Master must know where Senior Sister went.

But after finding True Person Wenqing, Zhou Zhixue received the same answer.

“Your master also doesn’t know where the child Qingyi went to travel.”

True Person Wenqing’s tone was apologetic.

Looking at the panicked and helpless Zhou Zhixue, she could only conceal Qin Qingyi’s true whereabouts and fob off her little disciple with other words.

Zhou Zhixue was completely unaware of how she eventually took her leave of True Person Wenqing or how she stumbled back in a daze.

She staggered, leaning against the door frame to enter. By this time, the sky was already dark, and the room was illuminated by a luminous pearl, but the Senior Sister who used to wait for her to sleep together every day was gone.

Zhou Zhixue looked at the piece of clothing still draped over the edge of the bed.

It was stained with blood, torn and tattered.

It was the one Senior Sister wore when she was punished.

Zhou Zhixue whimpered, like an abandoned little animal, and silently wept while hugging the clothing.

However, at this moment, she still held onto the thought that “Senior Sister will be back soon,” thinking that Senior Sister had only left temporarily.

Senior Sister wouldn’t abandon her.

Yes, how could Senior Sister abandon her?

She had to cultivate well, so that when Senior Sister returned, she could protect her.

Thinking this, Zhou Zhixue gradually felt sleepy. She held the clothing left by Qin Qingyi and fell into a deep sleep.

——————

But she never expected that Qin Qingyi’s departure would last for several years.