Master is Also Running Away from Marriage Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 14

“Over here!”

Mu Ling responded, brushing aside a thin layer of soil with her palm as she looked up to see Lin Qingge standing above her.

Mu Ling found herself in the middle of a forest. Lin Qingge was holding a young Nightmare Beast cub, her face filled with hostility as she glared down.

Upon seeing Mu Ling, Lin Qingge visibly relaxed, but then, as if remembering something, she took a wary step back, raising her sword defensively as she scrutinized Mu Ling.

“I’m not a Nightmare Beast,” Mu Ling understood Lin Qingge’s suspicion and obligingly leaned her face closer. “Feel my face? Nightmare Beasts are icy cold, even in illusions, but I’m different.”

Lin Qingge’s gaze flickered uncertainly. Her fingers twitched before she hesitantly reached out. The touch was warm, and the woman before her curved her lips into a teasing smile, blinking playfully.

There wasn’t another person in the world as shameless about disregarding their master’s dignity as her!

Lin Qingge stiffened, then yanked her hand back as if burned.

“Convinced now?”

Mu Ling didn’t notice her disciple’s discomfort. Straightening up, she patted Lin Qingge’s head and handed her a bowl of spiritual spring water. “Tell me, how did you escape from this little Nightmare Beast?”

Lin Qingge took small sips of water and briefly recounted her experience after entering the illusion.

She had encountered the young Nightmare Beast soon after stepping into the illusion. Nightmare Beasts evolved by consuming human hearts and livers. The one Mu Ling had faced was already fully grown, capable of weaving illusions to ensnare prey. But the cub in Lin Qingge’s grasp, still covered in downy fur, lacked such abilities. After meeting Lin Qingge, it could only shapeshift into Mu Ling’s form in an attempt to deceive her. Unfortunately, the cub couldn’t maintain the disguise for long before Lin Qingge saw through it. To find Mu Ling, Lin Qingge had captured the cub to lead the way.

Now, spotting the corpse of the adult Nightmare Beast behind Mu Ling, Lin Qingge’s expression remained cold as she snapped the cub’s neck with a crisp crack.

The young beast, not yet fully evolved, lacked the grotesque appearance of its adult counterpart. Covered in soft fur, it resembled an ordinary rabbit, even looking somewhat endearing. Mu Ling hadn’t expected Lin Qingge to kill it so decisively.

Truly the unyielding resolve of a sword cultivator!

Mu Ling shivered, her neck inexplicably feeling a chill. Swallowing her initial thought of keeping the cub as a guide, she turned her attention to the skeletal remains behind her.

She wondered which past sect leader this was…

As a descendant of the Qingyi Sect, she couldn’t leave a predecessor’s remains exposed to the wilderness now that she had discovered them.

Surveying the surroundings, Mu Ling spotted a small bamboo pavilion not far away, enveloped by lush flowers and trees. A serene and secluded retreat, likely the deceased’s former hermitage.

“Let the elder rest in peace here.”

Mu Ling split a rock into a tombstone and felled a tree to craft a coffin. As she dug a pit in the ground and prepared to move the bones into the coffin, a clink sounded, a jade pendant fell from the skeleton.

The pendant was made of common, unrefined jade, neither pure in quality nor exquisitely carved. Yet, since it had been kept close by this sect leader, it must have held personal significance. Mu Ling picked it up, intending to place it inside the coffin, but her gaze suddenly sharpened.

The jade had been hollowed out and carved into the shape of a dice, with a single red bean embedded inside likely inspired by the poetic line, “A delicate dice inlaid with lovesickness red.” Engraved on the jade was a name: Zhao Linglong.

Mu Ling wasn’t very familiar with the history of the Qingyi Sect. She probably couldn’t even name all the peak masters of the twelve peaks, but she certainly knew the name Zhao Linglong and it wasn’t just her. Almost every disciple of the Qingyi Sect had heard of Zhao Linglong’s deeds. She was the founding ancestor of the Qingyi Sect!

How could someone so free-spirited and revered in legends, a cultivator nearing the ascension stage, the founding ancestor of the Qingyi Sect, end up so destitute as to die at the hands of a lowly nightmare beast?

Lin Qingge naturally saw the words on the jade pendant as well, but unlike Mu Ling, she wasn’t shocked. She took the jade from Mu Ling’s hands and gently placed it beside the skeletal remains.

What was so strange about it?

Everyone had their weaknesses.

Yan Qi had them. Zhao Linglong had them. Even their master likely had them.

As for herself…

Lin Qingge thought of the face the little nightmare beast had taken Mu Ling’s face just moments ago. That face had been filled with panic when she saw through the illusion, and when Lin Qingge caught it, it twisted into hysteria.

“You actually have no weakness! How is that possible?”

I would never have a weakness!

When she realized the nightmare beast disguised as Mu Ling harbored malice toward her, even if she wasn’t sure whether it was really Mu Ling, Lin Qingge had still thrust her sword forward without hesitation.

But thankfully, it wasn’t Mu Ling.

Lin Qingge recalled the way her heart had stopped when she struck with her sword. Her gaze swept over the nightmare beast’s corpse nearby, and her hand paused before she placed the jade pendant over the skeleton’s heart. Pressing her lips together, she quietly covered the wooden board and sprinkled a handful of soil over it.

Even if it had been Mu Ling, so what? I would never be as foolish as them. There isn’t a single person in this world I’d be willing to die for!

Mu Ling silently walked to the side of the coffin and joined Lin Qingge in scattering soil over it.

She could have easily used a spell to quickly finish the burial, but the person lying in this grave was Zhao Linglong. A woman whose life had been full of upheavals, the founder of the Qingyi Sect.

No matter what reason Zhao Linglong had for willingly dying at the hands of a nightmare beast, her lifetime of achievements couldn’t be denied.

Burying her with their own hands was the human world’s way for juniors to pay respects to their elders.

It took another hour before the grave was fully covered.

Mu Ling extended her spiritual sense and found that the forest seemed to have no boundaries. Clearly, a formation had been set up around them.

Mu Ling didn’t know whether Zhao Linglong would have wanted others to know this was her body, so she simply wrote a few words on the tombstone: “Grave of the Late Master.” Remembering that Zhao Linglong’s bloodline was special, even if only bones remained, there was no guarantee that someone with ill intentions might try to steal them for nefarious purposes. So, she set up multiple formations around the grave.

After finishing all this, Mu Ling, feeling somewhat dejected, led Lin Qingge into the bamboo house.

Mu Ling had a premonition. The key to escaping was hidden somewhere inside this bamboo house.

The interior of the bamboo house wasn’t as well-preserved as the outside. It was in complete disarray, with the floor littered with the corpses of various animals, some still faintly warm.

The scent inside was a mix of fragrance and musk, and Mu Ling knew this bamboo house had become a nest for nightmare beasts. Perhaps sensing the arrival of formidable enemies, the nightmare beasts inside had all fled or perhaps the last two nightmare beasts in this formation had already been killed by the two of them. In any case, the bamboo house was now empty.

Mu Ling had no interest in investigating the nightmare beasts further. Right now, trapped inside the Black Tower, the most important thing was to find the sword Zhao Linglong had left behind and to successfully escape this graveyard alive.

The ground was strewn with scattered garments, surprisingly not just women’s attire but also several pieces of men’s clothing. Though partially ruined by the nightmare beasts, it was still evident that the bamboo house was fully equipped with daily necessities, including writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. Clearly, the person who built this bamboo abode had intended to stay for a long time.

A strange thought suddenly surfaced in Mu Ling’s mind: When the founding matriarch set up various formations in the graveyard all those years ago, was it truly to prevent tomb raiders or was it to shield her reclusive life from prying eyes?

And who was the man who had accompanied the founding matriarch?

Rumors claimed that Zhao Linglong’s husband had long passed away, and that the couple had been deeply devoted to each other. Unofficial gossip even suggested that Zhao Linglong had once been on the verge of ascension but chose to descend into demonic obsession for the sake of reuniting with her husband in the next life. After entrusting the Qingyi Sect to her daughter, she chose to perish. Could there have been other hidden truths behind this?

…

Brimming with questions, Mu Ling and Lin Qingge searched the bamboo house from top to bottom.

The two-story structure had suffered extensive damage from the nightmare beasts. In the study on the second floor, they found a painting hanging on the wall, its four corners adorned with Purifying Pearls. Priceless treasures that not only repelled dust but also protected one’s spiritual clarity during cultivation breakthroughs, often considered invaluable and impossible to obtain.

Under the protection of such artifacts, the painting remained pristine despite the passage of time.

It depicted a young couple: a girl sitting on a peach tree, her half-hidden face flushed with shyness behind the blossoms, while a young man bowed his head, carefully fastening a jade pendant to the hem of her skirt.

Had Zhao Linglong’s Phoenix-Bloodline not been discovered later, this couple might have lived a peaceful and happy life together.

Mu Ling sighed inwardly, withdrawing her gaze. She and Lin Qingge combed through the place several more times but found no means of escape.

This was truly bizarre!

After multiple searches, Mu Ling was almost certain that the key to breaking the formation lay within the house, yet she couldn’t pinpoint any clues.

As dusk gradually fell, the nauseating stench of animal carcasses from the first floor grew unbearable. Mu Ling led Lin Qingge to rest on the second floor.

“The founding matriarch’s cultivation was nearing the Divine Transformation stage back then. Naturally, the formations she set up wouldn’t be easily unraveled by ordinary people. But heaven never seals off all exits. Let’s search more carefully.”

After a tense journey, this rare moment of respite found them sitting across from each other. Though weighed down by worries, Mu Ling forced herself to comfort Lin Qingge.

Lin Qingge pressed her lips together, averting her gaze without a word.

Truthfully, they wouldn’t have had to go through all this trouble. If she hadn’t killed the young nightmare beast to silence it, the creature might have led them out by now.

Mu Ling must have realized this too, yet she hadn’t shown the slightest resentment toward her.

Outside, a fierce wind howled, rattling the window frames. The mountain night was bitterly cold. Remembering Lin Qingge’s aversion to the cold, Mu Ling moved closer to embrace her. When suddenly, a bright light flared from the study.

The four Purifying Pearls shimmered with an eerie glow, faintly outlining the shape of a door on the windowsill!

Mu Ling hadn’t expected the formation’s exit to be hidden in the study. It seemed the pearls could only be activated at a specific time. Had anyone entering the formation been greedy enough to take them, they would likely have been trapped forever!

As expected of Zhao Linglong, who would have thought the key to breaking the formation would be hidden within a painting?

The light gate transported the master and disciple into a cave.

The cave was eerily cold, and Mu Ling couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination, but she felt a faint scent of blood lingering in the air. Sinister talismans were carved into the walls, and at the center stood an obsidian jade bed.

The obsidian jade bed had the effect of nourishing the spirit, preserving beauty, and preventing corpses from decaying.

At the moment, the bed was empty no one lay upon it.

The cave also contained a formation, but this one was loose on the outside and tight within. Entering from the outside was as difficult as scaling the heavens, but leaving from the inside was effortless.

Mu Ling didn’t take long to unravel the formation from within.

“Truly, heaven never seals off all exits!”

She let out a sigh of relief and was about to lead Lin Qingge out of the cave when she noticed Lin Qingge walking to the corner, staring thoughtfully at the talismans on the wall with a furrowed brow.

“I’ve seen these runes before!”