After the Demon Lord was Reborn, She Switched to a Master-Disciple Romance Script - Chapter 25

Zhu Jiyun listened with a smile as Qingdai told her about Zhao Qianfan.

According to Qingdai, Zhao Qianfan had come to this brothel five years ago. She had just started working there and was chosen to serve him. That was the first time she met him.

But Zhao Qianfan didn’t like her type back then. He kept a few of the older sisters and sent her away.

Over the past five years, Zhao Qianfan occasionally visited Lingyan Pavilion. He was generous with his money and handsome, standing out from the common men around him. The girls in the brothel adored him.

And sometimes he would bring his friends along. They were just as handsome and refined as he was. When the two of them stood together, they made all the other men look plain.

The girls here cared about looks as much as money!

Over time, all the girls in the brothel grew especially fond of Zhao Qianfan.

Zhu Jiyun chuckled softly. “You like him too?”

Qingdai blushed and looked at her. “I only like you, Young Master.”

Zhu Jiyun nodded with a smile. “You’re drunk.”

Qingdai’s eyes were hazy. “I can hold my liquor…”

Zhu Jiyun kept smiling. But a painting had somehow appeared on the table. She asked, still smiling, “Do you recognize this person?”

Qingdai squinted, trying to focus.

“I… I know him. He’s a friend of Young Master Zhao.”

The moment she finished speaking, Qingdai’s eyes met Zhu Jiyun’s, dark as night. Then, dizzy, she collapsed face-first onto the table.

Zhu Jiyun stared at Qingdai’s flushed cheek, the amusement in her eyes fading into indifference.

She gathered the painting from the table, glanced sideways at the group already heading upstairs, and followed them with an air of composure.

At the second-floor landing, she discreetly cast a spell on Zhao Qianfan and the man beside him, then turned and descended the stairs, leaving Lingyan Pavilion.

The spell she’d cast was similar to a Tracking Spell, ensuring she could find them both the next day.

Back at the inn, Xia Lianjiao and Han Banmeng had already returned.

Noticing Zhu Jiyun’s fragrance, Xia Lianjiao exclaimed, “Zhu Jiyun, where have you been? You smell so good!”

Zhu Jiyun replied tersely, “I went to see Senior Brother Chen.”

Xia Lianjiao fell silent.

Han Banmeng, acting as Team Leader, first asked about Zhu Jiyun’s day. Satisfied there were no issues, she asked, “Did you find any clues today?”

Zhu Jiyun hesitated. “I’m not sure yet. I’d like to hear what you found first.”

Xia Lianjiao blurted out, “You won’t believe it! Today, Banmeng and I raced all the way east, even out of the city, before finally finding a clue in a small town beyond the walls.”

“About two years ago, a haunted ancestral home belonging to a wealthy family in that town had been causing trouble. They hired a Daoist priest who demanded human sacrifices to appease the restless spirits. Senior Sister Huang happened to pass through at the time and, seeing the impending human sacrifice, immediately intervened. She even helped resolve the haunting.”

“The haunting turned out to be caused by a wronged spirit. Senior Sister Huang helped the spirit find justice and sent her to be reborn. After settling matters at Chen Family Village, she left. According to the granny we met, no one has seen Senior Sister Huang since.”

Han Banmeng added, “We searched everywhere else, but we couldn’t find any trace of Senior Sister Huang.”

Zhu Jiyun asked, “Was Senior Sister Huang alone at the time?”

Han Banmeng confirmed, “Yes, she was.”

Xia Lianjiao suddenly remembered something and exclaimed, “Wait! Granny Chen mentioned that Senior Sister Huang seemed to be in a hurry, as if she was going to meet someone!”

“Who could she have been meeting?” Xia Lianjiao wondered aloud, puzzled.

Han Banmeng frowned deeply, trying to recall the details.

Zhu Jiyun asked, “Did Granny Chen notice which direction Senior Sister Huang went?”

Han Banmeng’s eyes lit up slightly. “She said it seemed like she headed northwest.”

Going northwest from the east side of the city… that would naturally lead to the north side.

Of course, this was just a guess about her route.

But it was strange. If Senior Sister Huang went northwest, why couldn’t the Spirit-Seeking Art track her?

Could something be concealing or erasing her aura?

Keeping this question to herself, Zhu Jiyun shared the results of her investigation from that day.

Xia Lianjiao frowned deeply. “Zhao Qianfan…”

Han Banmeng fidgeted with her fingers, her face growing numb as she heard about her senior brother’s debauched behavior in the Human Realm’s red-light districts.

This suddenly reminded her of what had happened five years ago.

Though her senior brother had been cold and distant toward her these past years, Han Banmeng couldn’t help but feel relieved.

Even if their master remained in seclusion and her senior brother ignored her, she was content to learn on her own.

Zhu Jiyun said, “I think Zhao Qianfan might be involved in this.”

Actually, she suspected someone else as well.

But when she considered the timing, it didn’t quite add up.

This didn’t stop her from keeping the suspicion in mind for now.

Zhu Jiyun then told them about her encounter with Gongye Yuan earlier that day.

Han Banmeng was startled. “The young master is here too?”

Xia Lianjiao looked at her. “You know Gongye Yuan?”

As someone who loved gossip, Xia Lianjiao knew about the Twin Paragons of the Gongye Clan from the Fan Shui Sect. But how would Han Banmeng, who rarely interacted with outsiders, know about them?

Han Banmeng explained, “Before joining the Qingmiao Sect, I was Young Master Gongye Yuan’s maid in the Human Realm. I was fortunate enough to receive his permission to undergo Spirit Awakening. Before we parted ways, he took good care of me.”

As she spoke, Han Banmeng lowered her head, her eyes growing misty.

She quickly looked up again, her gaze filled with hope as she turned to Zhu Jiyun. “Is the young master doing well?”

Zhu Jiyun replied, “Not very well.”

Han Banmeng was shocked. “Is he injured?”

Zhu Jiyun thought for a moment. “Yes, he is.”

Han Banmeng’s face immediately turned pale.

Zhu Jiyun added, “But I sold him a Spring Return Pill. A high-grade one.”

The color slowly returned to Han Banmeng’s face. Her eyes, exceptionally pure, met Zhu Jiyun’s with sincerity. “Thank you, Senior Sister,” she said.

Zhu Jiyun observed Han Banmeng’s emotional reaction to Gongye Yuan. “Are your feelings for Gongye Yuan this deep?” she asked. “What if she were critically injured and dying?”

Han Banmeng’s face paled again.

Realizing the comparison was inappropriate, Zhu Jiyun corrected herself. “No, what if you were dying?”

Xia Lianjiao looked confused. Isn’t Han Banmeng perfectly healthy?

Han Banmeng hesitated. “…I’m dying?”

Zhu Jiyun’s voice remained calm, but a closer look revealed a hint of detached indifference in her eyes. “If you knew you were going to die someday, what would you feel when you thought of your Young Master?”

Though Han Banmeng didn’t understand why Zhu Jiyun was asking such a question, she earnestly considered the hypothetical scenario.

If I were dying someday…

Her memories flashed back five years to the moment Zhao Qianfan’s sword pointed down at her. She truly felt she was about to be burned to death.

What was I thinking then?

The first image that sprang to mind was the Young Master standing beneath a swaying tree, a folding fan in one hand and the other gently tapping her forehead with a helpless smile.

So radiant, so dashing and charming.

The instant she regained her senses, she saw Senior Brother Ji turn back. His noble bearing and protective stance as he shielded her and the Young Master reminded her so much of the Young Master’s own demeanor that her heart began to pound uncontrollably.

At this thought, Han Banmeng lowered her eyes, a shadow of sadness crossing her face. “I would probably be… very, very reluctant to leave.”

The mere thought of never seeing the Young Master again filled her with unbearable reluctance.

Han Banmeng clutched her chest, her face pale under the lamplight.

“Does your heart hurt a lot?” Zhu Jiyun asked.

Han Banmeng nodded slowly, her head bowed.

Even though it was just a hypothetical scenario, she felt tears welling up.

“…But what does a heart hurt like?”

“It’s probably worse than…”

Zhu Jiyun couldn’t find the words. Her expression was one of pure confusion, as if she had truly searched every corner of her mind but couldn’t find the right words to describe it.

Before, I only knew physical pain. How could I know heartache?

The pain of having her bones and marrow extracted, the agony of falling into demonhood and reshaping her body, the torment of a thousand arrows piercing her heart… Zhu Jiyun could list them all.

But to compare it to heartache…

Her face remained blank.

Seeing her expression, Xia Lianjiao’s heart skipped a beat for some reason. She blurted out, “It’s probably worse than when your cauldron explodes right before the Medicinal Pill is successfully refined.”

Zhu Jiyun nodded. “That is very painful.”

The heart can hurt so much.

So much!

At that thought, Zhu Jiyun clutched her chest, overwhelmed by the pain. “I can’t breathe,” she gasped.

Xia Lianjiao jumped up in alarm and rushed to Zhu Jiyun’s side, supporting her back. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “You were fine just now!”

Zhu Jiyun looked up, her beautiful face contorted in pain. “When I think about how my cauldron exploded,” she said, “it hurts so much. My heart aches so much.”

Xia Lianjiao stared at her, speechless.

This was something she truly couldn’t help with.

Zhu Jiyun’s talent for blowing up pill refinement furnaces seemed to be a genuine gift!

A hundred attempts, a hundred explosions!

She comforted her, “It’s okay, you have spirit stones. You can buy more, as many as you want.”

After all, Immortal Venerable Qingwu wasn’t stopping this pill refinement novice from wasting resources on her hobby.

After a while, once Zhu Jiyun had recovered from the heartache of the explosion, she said slowly, “I have some suspicions about Zhao Qianfan. Tomorrow, I’ll focus on tracking him.”

Han Banmeng wanted to ask about the Young Master. She hadn’t seen him in six years. But remembering the urgency of their current mission, she suppressed her eagerness.

The Young Master was also in Water Moon City. What if they ran into him by chance?

Xia Lianjiao said, “Tomorrow, Banmeng and I will search in the direction Granny Huang mentioned. We’ll meet back at the inn at night.”

Zhu Jiyun nodded. “In that case, let’s all go back and rest.”

After leaving Xia Lianjiao’s room and returning to her own, Zhu Jiyun opened the window and gazed at the distant moon, silent.

Had she grown so deeply attached to Master during their five years together?

She knew Master’s cultivation was far beyond anything Gongye Yuan could achieve, yet the mere sight of that white hair had thrown her into disarray.

The night was clear and the moon bright, the darkness enchanting.

But Zhu Jiyun had no desire to sleep.

She lingered, admiring the exceptionally full moon for a while longer, before finally lying down and closing her eyes to rest.

A long time passed.

Suddenly, she turned onto her side, curled up, and pressed a hand to her chest.

In the dimness, her expression was hidden, but a soft, questioning murmur drifted through the moonlit night:

” A Heartache?”

The two words, carried on the gentle night breeze, faded away.

******

Master, I miss you.

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