How Can I Make The Evil God Stop Secretly Loving Me - Chapter 5

Lu Ming pulled Xu Qingran’s arm toward him, his broad palm gripping her slender wrist. Looking at the wretched, nearly festering wound, he couldn’t help but reflect on what he had just said.

“Senior Sister… I…” Lu Ming suddenly began to stammer. He wanted to say something to make amends, but the words seemed suppressed by some unseen force, unable to leave his lips.

Xu Qingran slowly withdrew her arm from Lu Ming’s grasp. The fleeting flash of disgust in her eyes went unnoticed by everyone.

Just as she prepared to step forward, Yu Qingyan who was supposed to be resting in her room appeared once again.

By now, she had changed into thin, plain white clothes. Her eyes were rimmed with red, clearly striving to look even more pitiful than Xu Qingran.

Walking beside her was Elder An Qiyan.

An Qiyan had cultivated at Cold Jade Ridge for over a hundred years and had long since become a powerful master of her domain. Yet, even as a great master, she could not defy fate extending her life span by a few decades was the only thing she had managed to achieve.

Now, her hair was white as frost. Wrapped in a thick robe, her expression held a hint of displeasure.

Xu Qingran knew this was Yu Qingyan’s doing again, so she stood her ground and waited for the girl to approach.

As expected, Yu Qingyan came with ill intent. The moment she arrived, she collapsed into a kneel before Xu Qingran, looking as though she had suffered a monumental injustice.

“Senior Sister, it was you who pushed me that day, causing the tea set to fall and burn your arm. Now, you go around telling everyone it was my fault. Does ‘Qingyan’ truly mean my words are so light and my person so lowly that I must be trampled and insulted by you?”

These words were exactly what cultivators hated to hear most. Every person who entered the path of cultivation did so to defy heaven and fate to see such bullying and class based oppression occurring even within a cultivation sect struck a nerve with everyone present.

Lu Ming’s attitude shifted instantly. He hurried to help Yu Qingyan up, fussing over her with concern before turning to question Xu Qingran: “Senior Sister, you have the highest cultivation and the greatest talent in our sect. What is a mere burn that you cannot heal yourself? There is truly no need to show it off everywhere and put on such an act.”

Xu Qingran cursed inwardly. These people usually lack a single ounce of intelligence; why are they all so brilliant when it comes to framing others?

Just as this farce began to escalate and before Xu Qingran could formulate a response, An Qiyan who had been silent for a long time cleared her throat.

Instantly, silence fell over the entrance of the Library Pavilion. They all held deep respect for An Qiyan and waited for her to speak.

“Xu Qingran, do you acknowledge your guilt?”

These words pierced Xu Qingran’s ears and heart like shards of ice. She had heard them in two lifetimes, and every time, they brought immense pain.

She desperately wanted to use the resentment from her previous life to demand what “guilt” she actually bore.

But she didn’t dare. She was afraid of hurting the person who had rescued her and brought her to Cold Jade Ridge in the first place.

“I…”

“Say no more. Follow me to the Courtyard of Relieved Sorrows to receive your punishment.” An Qiyan dropped these words and turned to leave without looking back. Even though Xu Qingran was full of indignation, she did not dare disobey An Qiyan.

The crowd dispersed. With An Qiyan having spoken, people stopped gossiping about Xu Qingran, treating it as just another minor incident at Cold Jade Ridge.

The Courtyard of Relieved Sorrows

Xu Qingran looked back as she walked, a thought surfacing in her mind. She wasn’t sure if her guess was right or wrong.

Following An Qiyan into the courtyard, she saw that the room’s furnishings were not at all what one would expect of an Elder instead, it resembled a simple cottage belonging to ordinary folk at the foot of the mountain.

Teacups, pots, and bowls were all arranged in an orderly fashion. As Xu Qingran stepped inside, she suddenly realized how long it had been since she had last visited An Qiyan’s quarters.

An Qiyan’s tense face finally relaxed. She gestured toward a seat, signaling for Xu Qingran to sit.

Xu Qingran sat down obediently. She remembered when she first started her solo cultivation at Cold Jade Ridge; whenever she was troubled, she would come to An Qiyan for guidance.

Back then, it felt like having a mother.

But over a decade had passed, and across two lifetimes, she had stopped visiting An Qiyan as she once did.

In Cold Jade Ridge, every residential courtyard was protected by a personalizada formation set by its owner to ward off basic attacks. As an Elder’s residence, the Courtyard of Relieved Sorrows also had the power to block out external sound.

“I know,” An Qiyan said. Those three words alone calmed Xu Qingran’s restless heart. She looked at the white-haired woman with a sense of profound melancholy.

An Qiyan waved her hand, and a cup of hot tea was delivered into Xu Qingran’s hand.

“If I had let you stay there and argue with them today, what would you have gained?” An Qiyan’s eyes were half-closed as if she were exhausted, yet she forced herself to speak with her disciple.

Xu Qingran nodded. Her earlier suspicion was correct: An Qiyan wasn’t playing favorites; she was pulling Xu Qingran out of the chaos before it swallowed her.

Seeing that she understood, An Qiyan offered a final piece of advice: “You are the Senior Sister. If you wish to punish them, it is your right. But if you engage in petty bickering, you will only sink into their whirlpool.”

Pausing, she continued, “I have sensed that something is wrong for a while now, but I didn’t know where to start. I went into seclusion to avoid it, but now that the demonic claws have reached for you, I can no longer stand by and watch.”

The words that followed shocked Xu Qingran for a long time. It turned out An Qiyan had noticed the anomalies early on but had no choice but to minimize contact with others.

In her previous life, Xu Qingran had heard these same words, but she hadn’t understood them then. Instead, she had engaged in one direct conflict after another with Yu Qingyan.

After that, everything had spiraled out of control.

“This disciple understands.” By the time Xu Qingran left the courtyard, night had fallen, but the snow that had been falling all day showed no signs of stopping.

The cold wind howled. Despite her spiritual energy protection, Xu Qingran felt the chill. She pulled her robes tighter and stood outside the gate for half an hour.

She let the snowflakes hit her face and melt on her eyelashes. When she finally snapped out of it, the snow beneath her feet was already deep.

Xu Qingran did not return to the Drinking Mountain Courtyard. Instead, she descended the mountain alone, heading toward Black Jade Peak.

Leaving Cold Jade Ridge, she realized the blizzard was just as heavy outside. No wonder it was so deathly cold within the Ridge.

By the time she reached Black Jade Peak by sword-flight, it was late. Standing at the base of the peak, the cold was bone-chilling.

Xu Qingran understood that this biting chill came from the endless stream of yin energy below. It seemed the ancient sealing formation had long since loosened, needing only one final “node” for the Evil God to break through.

And she… was that final node.