Forcing the Aloof Master to Madness - Chapter 29.1

Crimson blood soaked Shen Lezhi’s body and stained Wang Xi’s clothes.

Shen Lezhi bled profusely, gushing from her throat, welling up from her seven orifices, and even seeping through her skin.

The blood spread across the uneven floor, and in Wang Xi’s eyes, only a shocking red remained.

The scent of blood filled the cave dwelling.

It was a genuinely fragrant scent. Just like the previous time, when Shen Lezhi was on the brink of death, her blood suddenly began to emit a peculiar fragrance, and faint green phosphorescent light continuously drilled into her body.

Wang Xi’s investigation showed that she was nearly lifeless, and even the Life-and-Death Gu was struggling violently, on the verge of death. But soon, she was stabilized by unique streams of Wood-attributed spiritual energy, which locked onto her Dantian (elixir field) and life channels.

It wasn’t enough to heal her, but it saved her from death.

If it were before, Wang Xi might have taken the opportunity to investigate. But now, she grasped Shen Lezhi’s waist, and a strange light flickered in her eyes.

She tightly pursed her lips. The surrounding spiritual energy of ice and snow vibrated with her emotions. She felt as if her entire body had fallen into an ice cellar. She stared intensely at Shen Lezhi, wanting her to wake up immediately.

Shen Lezhi told her: The Sect Master wanted to kill her.

Wang Xi had sensed this in her previous life and had been investigating since her rebirth. Shen Lezhi was their chess piece. Wang Xi was unsure whether Shen Lezhi knew this, but she was certain that Shen Lezhi would not tell her.

Shen Lezhi wanted the Exquisite Heart (Linglong Xin), which aligned with those people’s goal. How could she possibly come and tell Wang Xi?

The Shen Lezhi of the previous life was a living example.

But why did she come now? Why did she rush so anxiously to Exquisite Peak late at night? Why did she bleed from her seven orifices, willing to pay with her life to speak the truth?

Wang Xi had already found traces of the restriction spell in Shen Lezhi’s body. The spell must have been triggered when Shen Lezhi spoke the first sentence. Wang Xi stared into her eyes then, and what she saw was a resolute determination and a calm acceptance of death.

Shen Lezhi knew her fate; she was prepared to die.

Wang Xi’s heart pounded uncontrollably. She could not fathom the meaning of Shen Lezhi’s actions.

In her previous life, Shen Lezhi was clearly her enemy—the one who killed and deceived her. But why, now, would the girl come to tell her the truth, even if it meant death?

But, did Shen Lezhi kill her?

In this life, Shen Lezhi had not yet killed her.

Wang Xi’s knuckles were tight. Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared at the person before her, who was barely breathing.

She could not understand; she was utterly confused.

Should Shen Lezhi, who has done nothing in this life and has not harmed her in the slightest, pay the price for everything in the previous life?

Wang Xi had thought Shen Lezhi would do the same things as in the previous life and would eventually harm her. But things seemed to have changed subtly.

Shen Lezhi had changed. For the first time, Wang Xi could not be certain whether the Shen Lezhi before her would lead them to that same conclusion.

Wang Xi took a deep breath, picked up Shen Lezhi, and flew on her sword toward Talisman Peak.

In her previous life, only Feng Nianzhen within the Jade Profound Sect consistently believed in her. Even after she truly became a demon, when she encountered Feng Nianzhen again, the woman never fought her and never reproached her even once.

When she went to the Jade Profound Sect after becoming a demon, intending to kill Shen Lezhi, everyone cursed her as a filthy demon. Everyone took up weapons to stop her from killing the treacherous disciple who had framed her.

Only Feng Nianzhen refused to fight her, only telling her one sentence: “Jiyue, take care.”

Thinking of this, Wang Xi concealed both their auras and headed straight for the cave dwelling of Talisman Peak’s Peak Master, Feng Nianzhen.

Because she arrived silently, it wasn’t until she appeared in front of Feng Nianzhen’s cave dwelling and inevitably touched the formation outside that Feng Nianzhen noticed her.

Sensing Wang Xi’s aura, Feng Nianzhen put away the talisman she had prepared to unleash. Feng Nianzhen cursed helplessly: “Jiyue, why are you running to my Talisman Peak in the middle of the night?! And you didn’t even reveal your aura; are you trying to scare me to death?!”

Despite her cursing, Feng Nianzhen still raised her hand to dissolve the formation and let Wang Xi in.

She was about to curse again, but her eyes caught sight of Wang Xi and Shen Lezhi, their clothes stained red with blood. The shocking sight made her eyelids jump.

“Save her.” Wang Xi instantly entered the cave dwelling, holding Shen Lezhi tightly, and approached Feng Nianzhen.

Her expression was cold and severe, and her eyes were chilling. An unbearable frigid aura emanated from her body.

“You should go to Herb Peak to find True Person Hundred Herbs. Seeking me for treatment is useless,” Feng Nianzhen glanced at Shen Lezhi in Wang Xi’s arms and was shocked again. Bleeding from her seven orifices, meridians severed—she was on the verge of death.

“What happened?” Feng Nianzhen’s expression also became serious.

“A restriction spell,” Wang Xi placed Shen Lezhi on a nearby stone platform but still refused to completely let go, embracing Shen Lezhi’s upper body as she responded to Feng Nianzhen.

Feng Nianzhen approached, spreading her five fingers and placing her fingertips flat on Shen Lezhi’s abdomen. Spiritual power entered Shen Lezhi’s meridians through her fingertips, quickly locating the restriction spell.

“The Sha Yin Curse.” Feng Nianzhen uttered the name of the curse.

She frowned, then reluctantly withdrew her spiritual power. “I can’t cure it. This poisonous curse has already been triggered.”

“But the Sha Yin Curse is supposed to be instantly fatal upon activation. How is she still alive?” Feng Nianzhen frowned, examining Wang Xi, trying to determine if the blood on her was Shen Lezhi’s or her own. “What price did you pay to save her again, Jiyue?”

Feng Nianzhen knew Wang Xi had cut out half of her heart to save Shen Lezhi, and she had been the one to guard the process, watching helplessly as Wang Xi’s cultivation plummeted.

Upon hearing this, Wang Xi lowered her eyes, and an even colder aura spilled out from her. She remained silent. Feng Nianzhen noticed a thin layer of frost on her hair and eyebrows, knowing that she was probably at her limit of suppression.

“Why didn’t you go to True Person Hundred Herbs? Even if she can’t save her immediately, the Sect Master has the Samsara Spiritual Spell for preserving life,” Feng Nianzhen found it strange. Why come to her for treatment?

Even if Wang Xi truly needed her to examine the restriction spell, she could have sent a voice transmission and gone to True Person Hundred Herbs together. Coming only to her, she couldn’t heal Shen Lezhi’s wounds.

Wang Xi suddenly looked up, her deep gaze startlingly cold. Feng Nianzhen seemed to see monstrous fury within it.

Feng Nianzhen considered herself Wang Xi’s close friend. Before they became Peak Masters, they had traveled together. But Feng Nianzhen had always felt that Wang Xi was cold, possessing the world’s greatest treasure, the Exquisite Heart, yet seeming like a person without one.

It wasn’t until Wang Xi took Shen Lezhi as her disciple that she seemed to display some normal human emotions, but never as intense, bare, and undisguised as she did now.

Feng Nianzhen was astonished. Who could make Wang Xi hate so much?

True Person Hundred Herbs? Or the Sect Master?

Regardless of who it was, Feng Nianzhen found it hard to imagine.

But Shen Lezhi’s condition was critical. Feng Nianzhen paused, realizing that Wang Xi would not go to True Person Hundred Herbs. She simply suggested: “Take her to the Wandering Scholar Academy (Youfang Shuyuan). The Medical Fairy (Yixianzi) is there. She might be able to save Shen Lezhi’s life. I will send a voice transmission to explain.”

Wang Xi did not hesitate for a moment. She immediately picked up Shen Lezhi and flew on her sword toward the Wandering Scholar Academy.

The Wandering Scholar Academy is located in the southernmost part of the entire Cultivation Continent, the closest place to the Mortal River.

The Mortal River is a river leading to the mortal world. To mortals, the river, except for the area near the bank, is shrouded in white mist all year round. Once inside the mist, one cannot see their hand in front of their face, making it impossible to navigate.

Some people have tried to force their way across by boat, but no matter how hard they tried, they would eventually land back on the bank, as if the boat had never sailed out.

People say it’s a “ghost wall”—the river is extremely sinister. Others say they have seen immortals passing over the river.

As the legends spread, people generally held a sense of awe toward the river.

To cultivators, this Mortal River is the path to the mortal world. A formation has been cast on the riverbed, preventing casual contact between the people of the two realms.

The immortals mortals see on the river are cultivators flying on their swords.

The Wandering Scholar Academy actively ventures into the mortal world every ten years to seek out prospects who can step into the immortal gate. This is the path to cultivation most mortals have access to.

Hua Man of Talisman Peak came from the Wandering Scholar Academy. Although the Academy seeks apprentices, it does not force cultivators to stay. Hua Man possessed extremely high talent for talismans, so the Academy’s Dean personally brought her to Feng Nianzhen, and she became Feng Nianzhen’s disciple.

It took Wang Xi only half a day to reach the Wandering Scholar Academy on her sword. When the sky first brightened, she could already see the Academy’s turquoise tile tower soaring into the clouds.

That was the Academy’s most iconic spot, with a bronze bell suspended on the tower.

It is said that the bronze bell contains supreme cultivation techniques. When the bell rings, the Academy’s cranes will guide people to the hidden location of the techniques.

However, the bronze bell has not rung for thousands of years. Even the great powers of the various sects have failed to ring it.

The entrance to the Wandering Scholar Academy was magnificent and golden, with ten-meter-tall golden gates on both sides. Upon entering, there was a long corridor. Along both sides of the corridor, beautiful murals carved from pale-white spirit stones depicted the history of the Wandering Scholar Academy.

Wang Xi descended. Dean Zhuxin (Bamboo Heart) of the Academy was already waiting at the entrance.

“Immortal Jiyue.” The current Dean of the Wandering Scholar Academy was the youngest in the Academy’s history. She wore a hair crown, with two pale-blue ribbons draped from her temples. Her delicate face held a pair of extremely clear eyes.

She possessed the demeanor of a scholar, appearing like a worldly academic.

However, the world knew that Dean Zhuxin, with her green leaf fan, once stood alone at the Academy gates and slaughtered an entire group of cultivators from a sect that had come to cause trouble, leaving no one alive.

The blood from the green leaf fan was spilled outside the Academy gates, never staining the Academy grounds.

She looked cold and detached, but her reputation outside was like that of a god of slaughter.

However, she disliked those nicknames. Especially after befriending Feng Nianzhen, anyone who dared to call her that would surely be forced to try her green leaf fan.

Speaking of Feng Nianzhen, Dean Zhuxin had received her voice transmission last night. Feng Nianzhen sounded anxious and told her not to disclose the news. So, Dean Zhuxin waited early at the entrance for Wang Xi and Shen Lezhi.

Although Feng Nianzhen had described the situation as severe, Dean Zhuxin was still slightly shocked when she saw the state of Wang Xi and Shen Lezhi.

There were no bloodstains on their clothes, probably because Wang Xi had already cleaned them with a spell. But Wang Xi’s face was frighteningly cold, and her eyebrows and ink-black hair were tinged with a thin layer of frost, making her look intensely frigid.

Shen Lezhi was in an even worse state. Her skin was bloodless and already showing a bluish bruising—a semblance of death.

Wang Xi remained silent, holding Shen Lezhi with a grim and cold demeanor.

“Follow me. The Medical Fairy is already waiting in the medical hut.” Dean Zhuxin pointed to the path beside them, leading Wang Xi and Shen Lezhi to the Medical Fairy’s residence.

Although the Medical Fairy’s name was proper, she was considered an Evil Doctor.

She treated and cured people as she pleased. Sometimes she demanded a life for a life, and sometimes she asked for nothing at all.

But her medical skills were exquisite. As long as a person hadn’t drawn their last breath, she could snatch them back from the King of Hell.

However, her personality was too eccentric. She had offended many people, whether she treated them or not, resulting in too many enemies. She had been hiding for a long time, and only the Wandering Scholar Academy was willing to take her in.

Dean Zhuxin blocking the Academy gates with her green leaf fan and starting a massacre was because this rival had threatened the Academy to hand over the Medical Fairy.

After Dean Zhuxin protected her, the Medical Fairy simply stayed at the Academy as a teacher. Her personality remained eccentric, but now, it was the medical students who had to endure her.

She was most obedient to Dean Zhuxin. After all, Dean Zhuxin was her Senior Sister, and she was always deathly afraid, likely due to the inherent suppression of a Senior Sister from the same sect.

“My eyes were pricked by flowers today. I’m not treating anyone,” Dean Zhuxin led Wang Xi and Shen Lezhi into the Medical Fairy’s medical hut courtyard, and immediately heard the Medical Fairy’s soft voice.

No matter how sweet the voice was, the tone was extremely irritable.

“Senior Sister! I’m blind! I can’t check pulses!” she whined. Dean Zhuxin walked in front of her, and she deliberately closed her eyes to show that she couldn’t see.

The Medical Fairy was not only sweet-voiced but also petite and charmingly beautiful. She wore a light pink cloud-spun gauze blouse with flowing sleeves, like a graceful and beautiful elf.

She spoke as if she was pouting, but pouting didn’t stop her from laughing merrily and telling people to quickly remove a corpse so as not to pollute the flowers and plants outside her door when someone died in front of her.

The world hated her wickedness, but with the Wandering Scholar Academy’s protection, no one could do anything to her.

“Immortal Jiyue is here. Stop playing around and save a life,” Dean Zhuxin threw out her green leaf fan, placing it in front of the Medical Fairy’s eyes—a full threat.

The Medical Fairy was accustomed to her wickedness, and the only person she feared was her Senior Sister. This was probably because, no matter how maliciously she tried to sneak attack when she was little, Dean Zhuxin would always see through it and then suppress her for a cruel “education.”

Those scenes had deeply rooted themselves in her mind, becoming the shadow of her life.

The Medical Fairy suddenly opened her eyes upon hearing Dean Zhuxin’s words. Her eyes were bright and watery, and her delicate features made her look like a newly left-home, naive, and romantic noblewoman, making it hard to reconcile this image with her eccentric behaviors.

She looked curiously past Dean Zhuxin. The Medical Fairy had only met Wang Xi once. At that time, she had just established her Foundation and had no reputation. She followed her Senior Sister, Dean Zhuxin, to the Grand Sect Competition of the Four Great Sects for the excitement, and had seen Wang Xi standing on the high platform from afar.

During one match, someone who had already won insisted on killing their opponent. When both Masters intervened, they nearly started fighting.

Wang Xi, standing on the high platform, rose and stabilized them. She didn’t say a single word, yet the Medical Fairy felt immense pressure.

She was quite far from the competition platform, but the pressure hung over her head, forcing her to mobilize her spiritual power to resist.

Immediately after, the surrounding temperature dropped rapidly. Although it was early spring in the third month, with the sun high overhead, large snowflakes suddenly fell from the sky.

The snow lasted for a full hour, and not a single person dared to make a sound.

The Medical Fairy felt too cold. Even resisting with spiritual power couldn’t ward off the chill. She thought, Forget about fighting again. Those people’s heads must have completely cleared up, or this ‘snow’ might not have been pure white.