After the Demon Lord was Reborn, She Switched to a Master-Disciple Romance Script - Chapter 27

A soft cough from behind immediately drew Zhu Jiyun’s full attention.

She scrambled out of the person’s arms and knelt on the ground, turning to look.

Seeing her Master’s gaunt, pale face, Zhu Jiyun’s expression shifted slightly. She quickly reached out to support her, checking her over anxiously. “Master?”

She didn’t even have time to ask why her Master was here. Seeing how much weaker she looked compared to when they had parted ways at Forgotten Solitude Peak, Zhu Jiyun’s eyes filled with concern.

Xun Juexue’s lips were pale as she pressed a hand to her mouth and coughed twice more before rising with Zhu Jiyun’s help.

She gazed at Zhao Qianfan, who lay unconscious beneath the tree, her delicate brows furrowing slightly. “Why were you two fighting?”

When she had arrived, she had caught Zhao Qianfan about to strike a fatal blow. Enraged, she had intervened, unleashing her spiritual power without considering the impact it would have on him.

Now that she had calmed down, she finally had time to ask for an explanation.

Seeing her Master’s question, Zhu Jiyun followed her gaze. Her face instantly darkened as she accused Zhao Qianfan with furious indignation. “Master, you don’t know! Zhao Qianfan and his Master have been secretly killing Senior Brothers and Sisters in the Sect. They… they’ve been extracting their Spirit Bones!”

“I confronted Zhao Qianfan, and when he realized I’d discovered his secret, he tried to kill me to silence me forever!”

“Master, if you’d arrived even a moment later, I…”

Zhu Jiyun recalled the near-death experience, her eyes reddening with lingering fear as she buried her face in her master’s embrace.

Mindful of her master’s frail health, she instinctively restrained her grip as she nestled against her.

Yet as she wrapped her arms around Xun Juexue’s waist, Zhu Jiyun was startled by how slender it was.

Remembering her master’s gaunt and weary expression, Zhu Jiyun gritted her teeth inwardly.

Kangtuo, what exactly has happened here?!

Her little disciple rushed into her arms, and Xun Juexue instinctively embraced her.

She had just been enraged by the news that Yue Changqiu might be extracting disciples’ Spirit Bones, and her disciple’s subsequent words only deepened her fear.

Yue Changqiu’s fate would be decided by the Sect upon their return, but her disciple’s recklessness demanded immediate discipline.

Xun Juexue pulled Zhu Jiyun from her embrace, her voice as cold and sharp as shattered ice, yet undeniably captivating.

“Zhu Jiyun!”

Hearing the voice, Zhu Jiyun instinctively flinched and stood at attention. “Here!”

Xun Juexue’s brows furrowed deeply. “Do you even realize the difference in cultivation levels between you and him? Knowing he was likely acting as a tiger’s accomplice, you still dared to confront him alone? If I had arrived even a moment later, do you have any idea what might have happened to you?”

I know. I probably would have stabbed Zhao Qianfan to death.

But Zhu Jiyun dared not say such a thing to her clearly furious Master.

Stealing a glance at her, Zhu Jiyun obediently admitted her mistake. “Master, I was wrong.”

Her disciple lowered her head, her eyes still red-rimmed. Remembering how close Zhu Jiyun had come to death, Xun Juexue’s hardened heart softened despite herself.

She sighed softly. “We’ll settle your recklessness later.”

Suppressing her complex feelings about raising a disciple, Xun Juexue’s gaze turned icy as she looked at Zhao Qianfan. “You said you found a clue. Where is it?”

Zhu Jiyun didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she moved to Xun Juexue’s side, raised her hand, and for the first time ever, audaciously draped her arm around her Master’s shoulders, pulling her close. “Master, lean on me and rest,” she whispered.

Xun Juexue was slightly taken aback.

She was indeed utterly exhausted.

*****

During her recent deep dive into Kangtuo, she had discovered something significant, but at the same time, her Spirit Body had suffered irreversible damage.

Malignant Qi, like a leech clinging to bone, lingered deep within her dantian, refusing to dissipate. Xun Juexue had originally intended to return to Forgotten Solitude Peak immediately after leaving Kangtuo, but she had been forced to detour when she sensed a towering surge of Demonic Qi erupting from Water Moon City.

For the sake of the city’s inhabitants, she had no choice but to investigate.

Yet as she approached Water Moon City, the towering Demonic Qi vanished without a trace.

It was then that she spotted her junior disciple battling her fellow sect members.

Slightly relaxing her guard, she leaned against her disciple’s shoulder, feigning complete vulnerability.

Seeing her Master lean on her, Zhu Jiyun felt a flicker of relief. She retrieved two Image Stones from her Cosmic Pouch: one recorded the scene of Xiang Shao’s death, and the other captured her confrontation with Zhao Qianfan.

Xun Juexue reviewed the contents of both Image Stones, her gaze lingering on the black mole for an uncomfortably long time.

“Master?” Zhu Jiyun asked.

“Hmm,” Xun Juexue murmured, closing her eyes. “Besides what’s recorded on these Image Stones, tell me about any other discoveries you’ve made.”

Hearing this, Zhu Jiyun knew her Master already harbored suspicions.

The half-jaw recorded by the Image Stone alone wasn’t enough to convict Yue Changqiu. But Zhao Qianfan’s subsequent guilty reaction only deepened those suspicions.

Zhao Qianfan wasn’t stupid, but he wasn’t particularly clever either. His nature was hypocritical, yet his attempts to conceal his true abilities were clumsy. Upon seeing the Image Stone’s contents, he would inevitably begin to wonder why all the fellow disciples he’d met in the Human Realm had vanished one by one.

And why had they all interacted with him? Yue Changqiu must have given him some instructions before he went to the Human Realm, perhaps even planted something on him without his knowledge.

Now that Zhu Jiyun had bluntly accused him of colluding with Yue Changqiu to extract Spirit Bones from their fellow disciples, fragments of past clues would flood his mind. His first reaction would undoubtedly be guilt!

This was precisely why Zhu Jiyun had deliberately played the Image Stone’s recording for Zhao Qianfan during their confrontation.

The moment she realized Yue Changqiu had been plotting to seize disciples’ Spirit Bones all along, she had combined her experiences from her previous life to set this trap for Zhao Qianfan.

Beyond all else, Zhu Jiyun had made a reasonable deduction at Lingyan Pavilion.

She didn’t need to gather enough evidence to convict Yue Changqiu; she only needed enough to make her Master suspicious.

Both the Sect Leader and her Master knew the Soul-Searching Technique, which could probe a person’s entire past experiences and memories. If the subject willingly cooperated without resistance, they would emerge unharmed.

But if the subject resisted even slightly, their mind would be damaged after the Soul-Searching Technique. In severe cases, they could become mentally impaired, almost beyond recovery.

Zhu Jiyun had overheard this from the Sect Leader Martial Aunt’s eldest disciple and instinctively memorized it. When she saw Yue Changqiu’s face, with only half his jaw visible, the Soul-Searching Technique immediately came to mind.

Extracting someone’s Spirit Bone was considered an utterly cruel act in the Cultivation World. Her Master and the Sect Leader would naturally not stand idly by if they learned of it.

In fact, any leader who understood the grave risks involved in Spirit Bone extraction would always prefer to execute the innocent rather than let the guilty go free!

If Yue Changqiu had nothing to hide, he would naturally not resist the Soul-Searching Technique.

But would he really not have?

Zhu Jiyun recounted everything that had happened since arriving in the Human Realm, her voice trembling with anger. When she described finding Senior Brother Xiang Shao’s mangled corpse, her entire body shook.

Xun Juexue noticed immediately.

She softened the icy glint in her eyes and gently placed her slender hand over her disciple’s clenched fist, which rested on her knee. “Ji Yun, you did everything you could. There’s no need to blame yourself.”

A single tear fell, landing precisely on the back of Xun Juexue’s pale hand.

The crystalline tear sent ripples of emotion through her heart, an uncontrollable surge of tenderness.

Zhu Jiyun lowered her head, her eyelashes fluttering as a drop of condensed moisture slid down her cheek. She bit her lip and said, “If I had realized something was wrong sooner, Senior Brother Xiang Shao wouldn’t have suffered such a fate.”

She looked up, her eyes brimming with tears. “But Master, I don’t know why Senior Brother Xiang Shao suddenly vanished before my eyes. I searched for ages before recalling a Hidden Spirit Secret Art from an ancient text that might counter the situation. But my spiritual power was too weak to break the technique. I could only try with all my might. I don’t know which surge of spiritual energy accidentally swept away my Cosmic Pouch, or how it inadvertently created a fissure in the formation, alerting Elder Yue to his crimes.”

“If I had gotten there sooner, or stopped Senior Brother Xiang Shao when I first noticed Zhao Qianfan acting strange, would none of this have happened?”

Seeing her disciple’s self-blame, Xun Juexue’s heart ached with a subtle, persistent pain. She raised her hand, her palm gently cupping Zhu Jiyun’s pale cheek, her thumb wiping away the tears that rolled down her face.

“Ji Yun,” she said solemnly, “when I say you did well, I mean it with all my heart.”

Xun Juexue rarely found herself in situations requiring words of comfort. After uttering this single sentence, she paused.

Then, her lips moved slightly as she placed her palm on the back of her disciple’s head, pressing Zhu Jiyun’s face against her chest. She silently consoled her disciple, who was still consumed by self-reproach.

Buried once more in her Master’s embrace, Zhu Jiyun’s tears soaked the plain white robes at her chest. Her dark eyes stared fixedly at the magnified silver patterns before her, devoid of sorrow, as she let her Master’s hand pat her back gently.

With this, she had recounted all the events, from beginning to end.

The rest was up to her Master and the Sect Leader to decide.

After handing over the bound Zhao Qianfan to her Master, Zhu Jiyun urged anxiously, “Master, you should return to Forgotten Solitude Peak right away. I’ll meet up with the other two Junior Sisters and bring Senior Brother Xiang Shao’s body back immediately.”

She stared at her Master’s pale lips, her heart pounding with worry.

We need to get back quickly! Forgotten Solitude Peak has plenty of excellent spirit medicines. They’ll definitely help Master recover quickly!

“Be careful,” Xun Juexue warned.

Zhu Jiyun nodded fiercely. “I will, Master!”

Seeing the urgency of the situation, Xun Juexue left with Zhao Qianfan.

After traveling a thousand miles, she suddenly stopped, pressed her palm against a tree, and couldn’t help but cough softly, bending over slightly.

Only then did she continue on her way.

Long after her formidable aura had dissipated, several birds fluttered down, their delicate feet landing on the spot where the terrifying presence had lingered. Their sharp beaks pierced through the thick layer of fallen leaves, quickly finding a leaf stained crimson with fresh blood. They pecked a large hole through it.

Chirp chirp—chirp chirp—

The satiated birds flapped their wings and flew off again, the wind scattering the tattered leaves. Everything returned to normal, as if no one had ever been there.

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