After Faking Her Death and Escaping, the Junior Sister Fell to the Demonic Path - Chapter 42

“She is still a child, don’t be so aggressive with her right away.”

Hearing Qin Qingyi say this, Zhou Zhixue’s eyes instantly reddened.

In the past, her Senior Sister had never blamed her.

No matter what happened, her Senior Sister always stood by her side.

But now, it was no longer the case.

She felt dizzy and shaken.

So, this child, was she really the bastard that Senior Sister had with someone else?

Zhou Zhixue was overwhelmed by this thought.

The inexplicable sense of panic almost suffocated her, making it impossible for her to think clearly.

Her hand gripping the sword hilt tightened, the veins on the back of her hand bulging.

But Qin Qingyi’s next sentence forcibly pulled her spiraling rationality back.

“Yan Li is a child I found outside. When I met her, she was being chased by the demon race and was quite pitiful, so I rescued her in passing, thinking it would be better to bring her to the Sword Sect to be an outer disciple than to wander outside.”

Qin Qingyi fabricated a set of lies without batting an eye, and Yan Li’s new background was thus established.

Sword Sect disciples, accustomed to acts of righteousness while traveling, frequently performed deeds such as rescuing people from the demon race, so her story would not be doubted.

Although she didn’t know why Zhou Zhixue harbored such malice towards Yan Li, she needed to dispel her suspicions for now.

With just one sentence, Zhou Zhixue’s overwhelming resentment was lightly extinguished.

So, not Senior Sister’s child with someone else?

Zhou Zhixue was somewhat dazed.

“A… child she found?”

Zhou Zhixue looked at the child hiding behind Qin Qingyi. Her rationality finally returned at this moment, allowing her to think calmly.

Looking at the child, who was not much shorter than her Senior Sister, she suddenly realized: This child looks at least sixteen or seventeen years old. Senior Sister had only been away for ten years, so how could this possibly be Senior Sister’s child?

She had been confused.

Zhou Zhixue sheepishly removed her hand from the sword hilt, her gaze erratic and flustered, daring not to meet Qin Qingyi’s eyes.

“Yes, I found her.” Qin Qingyi agreed. “Where else could she be from?”

Qin Qingyi was amused. She observed Zhou Zhixue’s expression and knew she must have jumped to conclusions, but she didn’t know how far she’d gone.

So she probed: “Could it be that you thought…”

The unfinished words were cut short by Zhou Zhixue’s frantic interruption: “Senior Sister!”

Her eyes were wide, and the face that had been carrying a mix of anger and confusion was now completely replaced by nervousness and shame.

It was she who interrupted Qin Qingyi, and it was she who was blushing and stammering, unable to speak.

Qin Qingyi held back a smile, wondering what had happened over the years to cause such a drastic change in the little girl’s temperament, but at the core, Zhou Zhixue was still just a half-grown child.

Could it be because of the Dao of Emotionlessness?

She had read many ancient texts in the demon realm over the years and understood that cultivating the Dao of Emotionlessness required plucking out the threads of emotion. Could this alone have made Zhou Zhixue so awkward?

Qin Qingyi stepped aside, revealing Yan Li behind her, and teased Zhou Zhixue: “Come, meet your Junior Sister Zhou.”

Yan Li was obedient: “Hello, Senior Sister Zhou.”

This made Zhou Zhixue blush even more.

“Since… since Senior Sister rescued the child from outside, why don’t we go to the outer sect now to get a disciple token? That way she’ll have an official status.”

Zhou Zhixue turned her face away to hide.

She urgently wanted to escape this topic, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

As long as it wasn’t Senior Sister’s child, the rest—whether she was found or rescued… or even captured—didn’t matter.

Qin Qingyi suppressed her laughter and finally took pity on her.

“No hurry, the journey was tiring. Let’s rest a bit before going. After all, the steward’s hall won’t run away.”

“Thank you, Junior Sister, for cleaning my room. Would you like to stay for a cup of tea?”

Qin Qingyi walked into the room, this time without being obstructed.

Seeing the clean and tidy room, she made the invitation in a good mood. She thought that after ten years apart, her Junior Sister must have a lot to say to her.

However, to her surprise, the other party did not accept.

Zhou Zhixue left with a hurried “I haven’t cultivated yet today, so I won’t bother Senior Sister. Senior Sister, please rest well,” and swiftly left.

Qin Qingyi watched her retreating figure and sighed softly: “Junior Sister and I, have we become so estranged?”

Zhou Zhixue’s departing footsteps staggered, her figure even more flustered and embarrassed, fleeing as if escaping.

Her small actions naturally did not escape Qin Qingyi’s eyes.

Qin Qingyi secretly shook her head.

After years apart, she was even less steady than when she was a child.

“Young Master, she wanted to kill me just now.”

At this moment, Yan Li finally found a chance to speak.

A cat’s sixth sense was extremely accurate. The killing intent that burst forth from that person just now was absolutely real.

She wanted to kill her.

Although she didn’t know why, the killing intent was indeed directed at her.

Qin Qingyi nonchalantly patted her head to comfort her: “Alright, how could she want to kill you?”

“We are fellow disciples; we should be friendly to each other.”

Yan Li anxiously said: “But…”

She couldn’t have sensed wrongly. That person truly wanted to kill her.

But Qin Qingyi no longer had time for her.

Looking at the sparkling clean room and the visibly new bedding, Qin Qingyi cast two cleaning spells on herself and then collapsed into the bedding.

The bedding was soft. Qin Qingyi pulled the quilt up to her face, covering the sunlight leaking through the window, and smelled the warm scent of sunshine on the quilt.

She couldn’t help but hum: “She was really thoughtful.”

When Zhou Zhixue was small, she used to do all these chores. She didn’t expect the little girl to be this grown up now.

It seemed that the little girl had taken good care of herself in her absence.

Catching a glimpse of Yan Li still standing by the door, Qin Qingyi inwardly scoffed twice.

They were just two little girls; how could there be talk of fighting and killing?

Yan Li must have misjudged the feeling.

Perhaps the bedding was too soft, or perhaps the fatigue from the journey finally surged up at this moment. Qin Qingyi narrowed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

Yan Li stood by the door, and seeing that Zhou Zhixue would not return, she closed the courtyard gate before turning back.

Walking to the bedside, looking at the already sleeping Qin Qingyi, Yan Li obediently pulled up the quilt for her, then walked over to the table and sat down.

Noon was the time for cats to nap. Yan Li originally planned to stand guard over Qin Qingyi, but perhaps the sunlight streaming in was too warm, or perhaps the shared exhaustion finally came rushing in at this moment.

Yan Li slumped down on the table, and after a while, drowsiness took over. Her eyelids struggled to stay open for a moment, then completely closed, and she also drifted into a heavy sleep.

When she woke up, the sky had already darkened.

In the meantime, Qin Qingyi had woken up. Seeing that Yan Li was still asleep, she didn’t disturb her, choosing instead to meditate on the bed, manipulating the spiritual energy within her body to circulate through her meridians and spiritual acupoints.

Perhaps because she hadn’t used spiritual energy for a long time, she felt somewhat rusty, and the circulation was quite sluggish.

After all, in the demon realm, demonic energy was the primary choice, and spiritual energy was indeed used less.

Yan Li groggily looked at the branches outside the window, mid-yawn, just as a leaf fell in. Seeing it about to fall into her mouth, she reached out to catch it. Looking outside the window, she finally realized it was already dark.

It was dark!

A cat’s sensitive nerves instantly tensed up.

In an instant, all drowsiness vanished.

“Young Master!”

Yan Li shot up from her seat, nervously looking around.

“What is it?”

Qin Qingyi opened her eyes.

Looking at the startled cat, she sighed helplessly.

See, hadn’t she told her not to let Yan Li follow her?

She furrowed her brow and warned:

“Reel it in.”

Yan Li froze in place, seemingly not understanding.

Even the tail that had already appeared wagged when she heard Qin Qingyi’s words.

Qin Qingyi gritted her teeth: “Your ears and tail are showing!”

This finally enlightened Yan Li. She softly gasped “Ah,” and instinctively reached for her head, finding two furry ears there as expected.

Looking down, she noticed the tail wildly swishing due to panic.

Yan Li’s face turned completely red, utterly mortified.

After retracting her ears and tail, Yan Li hesitantly walked up to Qin Qingyi, fidgeting:

“I’m sorry, Young Master.”

She had embarrassed the Young Master again.

Yan Li was visibly dejected. She couldn’t even control her tail; following along was just causing trouble for the Young Master.

Qin Qingyi’s spiritual energy continued to circulate. She opened one eye to look at her, saying expressionlessly: “It’s fine. I was prepared for this anyway.”

With that, she flicked a bottle of medicinal pills from her sleeve.

“Shape-shifting Pill. Take it to maintain a human form for one month.”

Yan Li immediately cheered up again.

“It’s already very late today. I have sent a message to my Master. Tomorrow, you will first come with me to see my Master, and then go to the outer sect to receive your disciple token.”

She gave her instructions meticulously, only then realizing a problematic point.

The living quarters of Hidden Snow Peak disciples were small, and she only had one room.

If she rested at night, should she let Yan Li stand guard?

How could that be right?

But what about sleeping in the same bed?

Qin Qingyi looked at the bewildered Yan Li and twitched the corner of her mouth.

For some reason, she was not eager to share a bed with Yan Li.

After thinking for a moment, Qin Qingyi got up: “You can sleep here tonight.”

She patted the bed, signaling that she was giving the bed to her.

Yan Li was happy for a moment, and then thought of a question.

“What about Young Master?”

She asked anxiously, watching Qin Qingyi move toward the door.

“Is Young Master leaving?”

Qin Qingyi was standing at the doorway, putting on her outer robe. Hearing Yan Li’s question, she thought for a moment and replied: “I have something to attend to today. I won’t be sleeping here tonight.”

With that, she pushed the door open and left without waiting for Yan Li to ask further questions.

Yan Li looked back at the empty bed, then at the doorway. The person was long gone.

A feeling of emptiness immediately welled up in her heart.

She returned to the table, slowly crouched down, and curled up into a ball.

The Young Master had left her again.

The moon was high in the sky.

Zhou Zhixue was meditating and cultivating in her room.

But for some reason, her brows suddenly furrowed tightly, her breathing became erratic, and the surrounding spiritual energy instantly turned into a storm, causing her robes to loudly flap.

After a muffled groan, a trace of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth.

Mutterings, too indistinct to make out, echoed throughout the room. Black energy gradually condensed between her eyebrows, casting a shadow over the cinnabar red dot on her forehead.

“Get out!”

Zhou Zhixue suddenly opened her eyes, and after a fierce shout, the surrounding spiritual energy gradually calmed down.

Then, she violently snatched at the air, and the indistinct mutterings instantly stopped.

Zhou Zhixue lowered her head to look at her palm. A solid mass of black mist, connected to the meridians in her palm, was clenched in her hand.

The black mist twisted and struggled, seeming to say something to Zhou Zhixue.

But Zhou Zhixue showed a cold smile, “What do you think you are?!”

“Just an immature heart demon, nothing more. Do you truly believe I can’t do anything to you?!”

With that, without waiting for the black mist to react further, Zhou Zhixue abruptly closed her palm, and the black mist completely dissipated into the air.

Just at that moment, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

“Knock knock—”

The ferocity in her eyes had not yet faded, and Zhou Zhixue looked up with vigilance: “Who is it?!”

Who would come at this hour?!

Could it be Master?!

No, it shouldn’t be Master.

The seal at the border of the demon realm was currently unstable. Master should be discussing this matter with the sect leader and the other elders these past few days.

Then who could it be?

In an instant, several thoughts flashed through Zhou Zhixue’s mind.

For some unknown reason, after her question, there was no response outside the door.

Not even the sound of knocking could be heard.

But Zhou Zhixue could sense that someone was at the door.

She suppressed the irritation stirred up by the heart demon and asked again: “Who is outside?”

A soft sigh came from outside, followed by an answer: “Junior Sister, it’s me.”