After Faking Her Death and Escaping, the Junior Sister Fell to the Demonic Path - Chapter 72

Blackwater Cliff.

Over three months had passed, and this place was no longer what it was before.

Zhou Zhixue stood at the very highest point, gazing at the nearly dried-up Blood Pool below.

The winding Blackwater Demon Cave from before was now almost completely leveled, with only the pool of thick demon blood remaining, still preserved relatively intact.

Three months ago, Senior Sister had inexplicably disappeared in the Blood Pool. She and her Senior Brothers were in a fierce battle with the Demon Clan. The Demons were numerous, and even with their great strength, they were outnumbered, clearly losing ground and about to perish at the hands of the Demons.

At the critical moment, their Master, True Lord Wen Qing, arrived just in time, saving them from peril.

Upon discovering that Senior Sister had vanished out of thin air in the Blood Pool at Blackwater Cliff, their Master was furious, vowing to dig up the entire Blackwater Cliff and find her no matter what. If his disciple had died on the Demon Clan’s territory, then all the Demons would pay the price.

The Demons present hadn’t anticipated the arrival of a cultivator like True Lord Wen Qing, who was extremely close to the Ascension Realm. Caught completely off guard, many lost their lives in True Lord Wen Qing’s wrath, turning into faint wisps of demonic energy returning to the heavens and earth.

By the time the battle ended, half of Blackwater Cliff had been razed, completely becoming flat ground. The Blood Pool, originally hidden deep within and carefully concealed from outsiders, was naturally exposed and dried up day by day.

Zhou Zhixue’s eyes felt sore from watching. She slowly closed them when she couldn’t bear it anymore. Two tears welled up at the corners of her eyes because of the stinging pain.

“Senior Sister, I clearly jumped in after you that day, but why couldn’t I find you once I was inside?”

During the chaos that day, she watched as Senior Sister was dragged into the Blood Pool. Without a second thought, she jumped in after her. It wasn’t completely dark inside the Blood Pool; although she could only vaguely see her surroundings, what truly terrified her was that ever since entering the pool, she hadn’t seen her Senior Sister, nor had she found the demonic tentacles that had dragged her in.

Later, the Demon General named Ti Wei’na pursued her and also jumped into the bottom of the pool. In desperation, she could only turn and fight.

Thus, she lost the first opportunity to search for her Senior Sister.

By the time True Lord Wen Qing arrived, Ti Wei’na managed to escape, barely clinging to life. But by then, her subsequent dives into the Blood Pool yielded nothing.

Now, the bottom of the Blood Pool was terrifyingly silent.

If one ignored the pool water, which resembled thick, sticky blood, and the rather unpleasant smell, it seemed like nothing more than the most ordinary stagnant pond.

But she had watched with her own eyes as this pool of blood devoured her Senior Sister.

For the three months that followed, she and her two Senior Brothers repeatedly dove into the Blood Pool, trying to find any trace of her Senior Sister. By now, they had practically felt every brick and stone at the bottom of the Blood Pool.

Zhou Zhixue refused to give up. Opening her eyes, she leaped down again, submerging into the Blood Pool, letting the sticky demon blood envelop her. But upon reaching the bottom, she still found nothing.

Senior Sister, it was as if she had evaporated into thin air, disappearing from this world.

Yet, Senior Sister’s soul lamp was still lit. Although flickering precariously, it was still lit after all.

And because of this lit soul lamp, everyone held a sliver of hope in their hearts.

Perhaps their disciple/Senior Sister was still alive, just currently somewhere unknown.

They were sure they could find her with more time.

This feeling, however, became less and less certain as time went on, and gradually, some negative murmurs started to surface within the Sword Sect.

Disciples who were unaware of the situation said that Senior Sister had died long ago, that she must have been buried in the clutches of the Demons. They said that they were now simply unwilling to accept reality, which was why, day after day, from Master to disciples, they were frantically retaliating against the Demon Clan and desperately searching everywhere.

Ti Wei’na had fled to the Sixteen Passes of Yan Yun in the Human Realm. That was the Demon Clan’s true headquarters, in the real sense of the word.

After all, the Human Realm was the first to fall, and the Demon Clan’s power was more deeply entrenched there. Their Master was currently at the Sixteen Passes of Yan Yun, constantly acting as the vanguard, shouting challenges to the Demon Clan every day, just to find Ti Wei’na and demand to know Senior Sister’s whereabouts.

And her two Senior Brothers, also in search of Senior Sister’s location, never stopped for a single day. Expanding their search outwards from Blackwater Cliff, they had now searched thousands of miles away.

She remained at Blackwater Cliff, firstly to guard against the Demon Clan’s resurgence, and secondly to wait, in case Senior Sister suddenly reappeared, so she wouldn’t be unable to find anyone.

Zhou Zhixue squatted blankly by the Blood Pool, watching the pool of blood, and a wave of sadness suddenly welled up in her heart.

Three months.

Even she was about to lose heart.

Senior Sister, where exactly did you go?

Why wouldn’t you leave even a hint for me?

Are you truly… as they say, no longer in this world?

She didn’t even dare to think the word “death” in her heart.

As long as the soul lamp wasn’t extinguished, she always had a ray of hope.

What if?

What if Senior Sister was still alive?

Zhou Zhixue suddenly covered her face and wept bitterly.

Just as she was crying, the Blood Pool suddenly showed a strange sign.

No longer calm as before, bubbles began to emerge from the bottom in the very center of the Blood Pool with a gurgling sound.

It was as if someone was blowing air underwater.

Unfortunately, Zhou Zhixue was caught up in her sorrow and did not notice this slight change.

Not until the bubbles surging from the bottom of the Blood Pool became more numerous, and the ripples reaching the edge became wider and wider, did it finally catch Zhou Zhixue’s attention.

Her crying instantly stopped. When she looked up, her eyes had recovered their sharpness. The Chang Le sword flipped in her hand, and frost emanated from its tip.

She watched the abnormal movement in the Blood Pool warily, taking two steps closer to the pool.

The spiritual power storm had clearly gathered in her wrist. As soon as whatever was underneath showed its head, it would inevitably face a sword strike from her right hand and an attack from her left.

If it were a demon, it would instantly perish by her hand.

But what if…

It was Senior Sister?

Hope ignited in Zhou Zhixue’s heart. A heart that had been silent for a long time began to thump again.

Could it be… Senior Sister?

The commotion in the Blood Pool grew louder, and Zhou Zhixue became more tense.

Until—

“Poof—”

A figure lifted their head from beneath the Blood Pool, bobbing in the water, and immediately gasped for air.

It was Senior Sister!!!

A look of surprise erupted in Zhou Zhixue’s eyes.

The two attacks in her hands immediately dissipated. She looked at the figure with their back turned to her and cried out in surprise: “Senior Sister!”

The person slowly turned around, tilting their head when they saw her, and replied, “Junior Sister.”

The voice was the same.

The appearance was the same.

But the look of joyful surprise on Zhou Zhixue’s face vanished the moment she clearly saw the person’s eyes.

The gaze was wrong.

A fake.

Realizing this, Zhou Zhixue’s eyes returned to indifference. She raised her sword again.

This time, her aura was even stronger than before, even carrying anger.

How dare someone impersonate Senior Sister.

Damn it.

Anger burned in her eyes. Her sword pointed directly at Qin Qingyi: “You are not Senior Sister.”

Immortal Venerable Wuwang was controlling Qin Qingyi’s body, moving closer to the person she was looking for.

That was great. She had thought she would have to expend some effort, but she hadn’t expected the person to be waiting nearby. It saved her the trouble of having to search.

The current body clearly couldn’t withstand any more consumption.

Qin Qingyi, lying in the spiritual platform, barely breathing, saw Immortal Venerable Wuwang walking toward Zhou Zhixue and continued her useless and weak struggle: “You cannot go to her. This is wrong. You cannot do this.”

“If you don’t do this, you’ll die,” Immortal Venerable Wuwang heartlessly rejected her plea.

By now, Qin Qingyi’s nagging had been repeated three or five hundred times since she came out of her small world secret realm and surfaced from the bottom of the Blood Pool. Her ears were about to grow calluses.

“Why don’t you change your lines? It’s not a good thing to repeat the same sentence over and over again,” Immortal Venerable Wuwang mocked.

Qin Qingyi was silent for a moment, then indeed spoke something different: “We are fellow sect sisters. Doing this goes against human ethics. I cannot allow the entire Hidden Snow Peak to be disgraced.”

“But you are a fox, not a human, so you don’t need to abide by the rules of human cultivators.”

“A fox should be free and unrestrained, love who they want to love, do what they want to do, and enjoy the present moment—that’s what a fox should do.”

Immortal Venerable Wuwang also changed her words to refute Qin Qingyi.

“Besides, you’re about to die. Do you still want to throw away your life just to adhere to the broken rules of the humans?” She earnestly persuaded her.

But Qin Qingyi was stubborn: “I still have a few tails. I can afford to die.”

This small grumbling, in Immortal Venerable Wuwang’s ears, was no different from seeking death. She sneered and ruthlessly shattered Qin Qingyi’s illusion: “Do you think this is something that can be solved by cutting off a tail like before? You are thinking too favorably.”

“The power of the demonic seed is beyond your imagination. Now this thing has rooted in your marrow. It only awaits complete consumption of you to be reborn in your body and take your place.”

“Cutting off a tail and feigning death can deceive other things, but not the demonic seed. The only current solution is to quickly make you advance and attract the Heavenly Thunder to cleanse your bones and marrow, which is the only chance to strip the demonic seed from your bone seams.”

“If I weren’t afraid that the Demon Clan would be left without a successor if you died, do you think I would bother to save you?”

Her words were realistic and cruel.

And they successfully made Qin Qingyi shut up.

Although she still looked reluctant, she was at least not reacting as intensely as before.

Just having convinced the latter, Immortal Venerable Wuwang looked up and saw Zhou Zhixue pointing her sword at her, having instantly recognized that she was not Qin Qingyi.

Immortal Venerable Wuwang raised an eyebrow in surprise at this situation.

Unexpectedly, this girl had deep feelings for the little fox.

She believed her disguise was flawless. Moreover, she and the little fox shared the same origin, so logically, she shouldn’t have been recognized.

Yet, the child before her sensed the anomaly with just a glance.

If she weren’t deeply in love with the person in front of her, it would probably be very difficult to see through her disguise.

“Don’t make that expression with my Senior Sister’s face.”

Seeing her raise an eyebrow, Zhou Zhixue said with disgust.

The damn counterfeit.

“Junior Sister, what are you talking about?” Immortal Venerable Wuwang naturally wouldn’t admit it. She gently flicked the sword edge aside and then tenderly moved closer to Zhou Zhixue, “I am your Senior Sister. What’s wrong, you don’t recognize me after being apart for some time?”

Zhou Zhixue’s veins throbbed on her forehead. She endured and endured, gripping the sword tighter and tighter, with such force that she almost crushed the hilt.

She pushed the person away violently, her chest heaving heavily, her eyes bloodshot, and she roared angrily: “Who exactly are you?!”

“Don’t use Senior Sister’s face to disgust me, you are unworthy!!!”

“Get out of Senior Sister’s body!!!”

Her reaction was unexpectedly strong, but Immortal Venerable Wuwang still did not take her seriously.

Seeing how guarded she was, Immortal Venerable Wuwang knew that the method of deception would not work.

“It seems I can only use some force. You are forcing my hand. I originally didn’t want to be this rough.”

She sighed, stopped in place, and slowly turned her left wrist.

She couldn’t use her right hand, but thankfully she still had her left.

Zhou Zhixue watched her movements warily. Seeing her attempt to step forward, she wanted to cautiously retreat.

The person in front of her looked exactly like Senior Sister. She didn’t want to hurt her. If this was Senior Sister’s body, and the other party had merely taken it over, any injury or disability would ultimately cause Senior Sister pain.

But just as Zhou Zhixue tried to lift her foot, she realized she couldn’t move.

She looked down at her feet in disbelief, finding that no matter what, she couldn’t twist them.

“Stop struggling now.”

Immortal Venerable Wuwang walked over and gently tapped Zhou Zhixue’s glabella.

“Remember. Once you recall everything, you naturally won’t resist.”

A light flashed from Zhou Zhixue’s glabella. Her forehead felt a sharp pain, and she involuntarily closed her eyes, but was startled when memories suddenly appeared in her mind.

Those were all of Senior Sister.

Senior Sister smiling, Senior Sister angry…

Senior Sister gently taking care of her, and also, herself, whose longing for Senior Sister gradually led to the induction of a heart demon…

“Senior Sister…”

“How could you make her remember?!” Qin Qingyi questioned Immortal Venerable Wuwang angrily.

But Immortal Venerable Wuwang simply returned control of the body to Qin Qingyi, and she herself withdrew from her body.

Pushing the person from behind into Zhou Zhixue’s arms, Immortal Venerable Wuwang then teased: “Alright, enjoy what you should be doing with your fated Dao companion.”

“I shall excuse myself for now, so as not to disturb you two.”