Master is Also Running Away from Marriage Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 32

The next day, Mu Ling noticed that Lin Qingge’s eyes were red again at the corners.

Though Qingge looked just as beautiful perhaps even more so than usual Mu Ling felt an inexplicable unease when she gazed at her. Qingge’s current demeanor carried a faintly dangerous aura, far from the righteous bearing of an immortal cultivator. Instead, she resembled more of a legendary demonic enchantress from the tales.

Mu Ling reached for Lin Qingge’s wrist to check her pulse and, sure enough, found it disturbingly erratic. She quickly handed Qingge a bowl of spiritual spring water, murmuring with a pang of heartache, “Still no memories? Just who was the bastard that injected this harmful energy into your meridians?”

Lin Qingge had been keeping her head lowered, but the moment Mu Ling released her wrist, she subtly retreated a step. She instinctively started to shake her head but paused abruptly, lifting her gaze to study Mu Ling’s expression. “Actually, some vague images have been surfacing in my mind lately. It seems… it seems like it was Yan Qi who forced this energy into my meridians!”

“Yan… that damned Demon King again!” The cultivation world trembled at the mere mention of demons, and people often referred to Yan Qi simply as the Demon King, rarely using her real name. It took Mu Ling a moment to realize Yan Qi was indeed the Demon King.

Mu Ling didn’t doubt Lin Qingge’s words in the slightest. In fact, she had long suspected as much. The energy in Qingge’s blood was far too sinister, undoubtedly originating from someone of immense power.

This made perfect sense! No wonder, in the original story, Lin Qingge had sought to kill Yan Qi. Without Mu Ling’s spiritual spring in the original plot, who knew how Qingge had endured the torment of each flare-up over the years? The accumulated suffering must have left her with an undying hatred for the Demon King.

“Qingge, don’t worry. We’ll definitely settle this score in the future!” Mu Ling comforted her softly. “I believe one day, you’ll have your vengeance and strike the Demon King down with your sword!”

“Aren’t you afraid I might die by Yan Qi’s blade instead?” Lin Qingge arched a brow, her smile faintly mocking. “After all, the rumors say Yan Qi’s power is unmatched under heaven, while I’m still just a novice.”

Naturally, Mu Ling couldn’t reveal her knowledge of the original plot, so she improvised, “That Demon King has committed countless atrocities. How could she compare to my Qingge, blessed with such fortune? Besides, there are so many who despise her. As the saying goes, ‘two fists are no match for four hands’ one spit from each person would drown her.”

“And what about you, Master?” The feigned smile vanished from Lin Qingge’s face as she pressed her lips together, staring intently at Mu Ling. “What deep-seated grudge do you hold against Yan Qi?”

Mu Ling hadn’t expected Qingge to bring this up. Her gaze flickered, the shameful past of being forced into marriage with the Demon King was too humiliating to share with her noble and upright disciple. To protect her cover, she dodged the question again. “I’d rather not revisit those memories. But in short, the person I despise most in this life is the Demon King! And besides, she’s depraved and bloodthirsty. Even without personal grievances, any righteous cultivator would loathe her.”

“Is that so?” Lin Qingge’s dark eyes lingered on Mu Ling’s evasive expression for a moment, a shadow flickering deep within her gaze. But she lowered her head and murmured softly, “Then Yan Qi truly deserves to die.”

Mu Ling’s eyes would flicker whenever she lied. What was she hiding?

All these years, she had been concealed within Lin Qingge’s body, fully conscious every moment, watching the fool whom Mu Ling had protected gradually become infatuated with her even to the point of wanting to kill himself. She had originally thought that once she took over this body, she would immediately kill Mu Ling to sever that fool’s obsession. Yet, standing beside Mu Ling now, she couldn’t help but wonder: What grudge did she even have against Mu Ling?

But so what?

Lin Qingge sneered. The fool inside her still held dominance, so naturally, her thoughts were influenced. Once the cultivation technique was perfected and the fool within her vanished, then she would definitely kill this nuisance who had weakened her resolve the first chance she got!

That day, Lin Qingge donned a veil hat and silently slipped out of the camp.

It was almost laughable. The camp was filled with elite disciples from various factions, with the towering Bai Xu Sect overseeing everything, yet no one noticed Lin Qingge’s departure.

The next day, news arrived that the dormant demonic sects had launched a counterattack. Two sects on their way to the Demon-Subduing Conference had been ambushed, nearly wiped out, and the few survivors had fallen into comas after being poisoned by scorpion venom.

This incident tore away the camp’s facade of peace. Before the Demon-Subduing Conference had even begun, everyone had already gathered, united in their condemnation of the demonic sects, swearing to make them pay in blood.

With such an event unfolding, Bai Xu Sect, as the conference’s organizer, could not remain silent.

Apart from the sect elders, the rest of Bai Xu Sect’s members sprang into action, dividing into several groups: one to notify and protect smaller sects that had yet to arrive, another to investigate the incident, and a third to calm the camp’s atmosphere while selecting cultivators from various factions to help detoxify the disciples afflicted by the scorpion venom.

At this point, Mu Ling, who specialized in healing, was naturally summoned to examine the poisoned disciples.

“This scorpion venom is quite troublesome,” Mu Ling and several other healers concluded after their assessment. The scorpions that had bitten these disciples were an ancient, nearly extinct species whose venom slowly corroded a cultivator’s spiritual roots, reducing them to uselessness. For most cultivators, losing their spiritual roots was worse than death.

To neutralize the venom, they needed the juice of phoenix-tail grass.

When Qian Jing heard that phoenix-tail grass was required to cure the poison, her heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively glanced behind Mu Ling. For some reason, Lin Qingge was wearing a veil hat today, her tall, slender figure exuding an icy aura like a cold blade, making others hesitant to approach.

It must just be a coincidence!

Qian Jing stared at Lin Qingge’s silhouette, recalling her bewitchingly beautiful appearance from the day before, and her gaze grew increasingly fervent.

At first, Mu Ling paid no attention to Qian Jing. But as Qian Jing’s stare grew more brazen, Mu Ling finally spared her a glance and was disgusted to find Qian Jing’s eyes practically glued to Lin Qingge. Quickly, she pulled Lin Qingge to her side.

The motion came naturally to Mu Ling, but she failed to notice the slight stiffness in Lin Qingge’s posture.

The people Bai Xumen sent to the camp this time were indeed familiar faces to Mu Ling: Bai Junhao and Bai Mufeng. Bai Fengqing, being the strongest among the younger generation in cultivation techniques, was naturally dispatched to protect the smaller sects that had yet to arrive at the camp. Meanwhile, Bai Junhao, known for his thoroughness, and Bai Mufeng, a master of rhetoric, were assigned to the camp.

True to its reputation as the foremost sect in the world, Bai Xumen swiftly acted upon discovering that Phoenix Tail Grass was needed to cure the poisoned disciples. Bai Mufeng flew back to the sect on his sword and, upon returning to the camp, had already located the herb.

“The sect elders discovered years ago that a patch of Phoenix Tail Grass grows atop Mount Huai,” Bai Mufeng announced, scanning the crowd. Noticing their lack of reaction, his eyes gleamed cunningly. “As everyone knows, the summit of Mount Huai is an ancient ruin fraught with dangers. Bai Xumen would never ask you to make the journey in vain. Given that today’s incident was due to our oversight, any fellow cultivator who retrieves the Phoenix Tail Grass will be rewarded. Once we successfully storm the Demon Palace, Bai Xumen is willing to cede it entirely.”

This grand assembly, ostensibly a Demon Subjugation Conference, was more accurately a preemptive division of spoils, with the immortal realm confident in their impending victory over the demonic lands. Though success was far from guaranteed, Bai Mufeng’s words stirred excitement among many. Watching these cultivators suddenly invigorated as if injected with adrenaline, Mu Ling frowned, recalling their eventual heavy casualties. She stood by, observing the spectacle, when a cool voice suddenly spoke beside her: “I will go to Mount Huai.”

What?! Qingge?

Mu Ling’s eyes widened as she turned to Lin Qingge. The veil obscured Lin Qingge’s face, and under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Mu Ling could only silently convey her disbelief with her eyes: What did I tell you before we came here? Weren’t we supposed to lay low as much as possible?

Seeing Mu Ling’s puffed cheeks and wide-eyed glare, Lin Qingge’s fingers twitched slightly. Her thoughts, however, were far from Mu Ling’s reproach. For a fleeting moment, she even felt the urge to caress Mu Ling’s cheek. Realizing this, her eyes sharpened, and the crimson at their corners deepened.

This was absolutely not her own thought! It was that fool from earlier interfering with her mind!

Lin Qingge took a deep breath, her gaze toward Mu Ling growing inscrutable, and delivered her premeditated line: “This is what Yan Qi owes me. I want to be the first to charge into the Demon Palace and slay Yan Qi with my own hands!”

That response was so quintessentially Lin Qingge!

Mu Ling was convinced by her words.

With her disciple having spoken up, Mu Ling, as her master, could no longer remain silent. Sighing, she added, “I will accompany Qingge.”

Thus, it was decided that everyone would return to their respective sects to prepare before setting off for Mount Huai in half an hour.

Mu Ling walked back to the Qingyi Sect’s ship with Lin Qingge, her head bowed in deep thought. Lin Qingge followed silently behind, her gaze occasionally lingering on Mu Ling. Aware of this but preoccupied with her own concerns, Mu Ling didn’t engage in conversation until they were aboard. Once she had gathered her thoughts, she turned to Lin Qingge with a look of pride. “Qingge, you’ve grown up!”

In the past, whenever Mu Ling saw Lin Qingge, she would instinctively want to shield the girl under her wings. Regardless of how strong Qingge was, in Mu Ling’s heart, she was first and foremost the child she had picked up, and only then the destined prodigy Lin Qingge.

But the moment Lin Qingge signed up just now, Mu Ling suddenly came to her senses: Lin Qingge had grown up. She could now freely choose her own path. As her master, Mu Ling couldn’t hold her back. The alliance to attack the demon realm was about to be formed, and it was time to let Qingge make her own decisions.

“Qingge, this time, your master will accompany you. But when the time comes to storm the Demon Palace, I’m afraid I won’t be able to fight by your side.” After some thought, Mu Ling still voiced her plan.

Lin Qingge almost scoffed. How could someone with such kitten-like cultivation even speak of fighting alongside her? Yet, upon hearing Mu Ling’s words, an overwhelming panic suddenly surged within her. The consciousness she had barely suppressed seemed to stir awake inside her once more.

“Why?” Lin Qingge heard herself ask. “Did I do something wrong?”

“But doesn’t Master also despise Yan Qi, wishing you could tear her flesh apart?”

Right, she wasn’t that fool who adored Mu Ling. She must have done something in her mannerisms to provoke her anger.

But Mu Ling only smiled and shook her head. “No, Qingge hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Qingge has grown up. You’ve even surpassed your master now! I want you to follow your heart, not be shackled by me. The Demon King is my enemy, but I still have to protect the many disciples in our sect. Their cultivation isn’t outstanding, so of course I can’t lead them to the frontlines.” This was Mu Ling’s genuine thought. Lin Qingge had grown up, and as a proper guardian, she should let her soar freely.

Yet Lin Qingge didn’t see it that way.

“Master speaks wisely.”

Lin Qingge answered respectfully, but behind her veil, her gaze darkened as it fixed on Mu Ling. She could feel the consciousness within her struggling violently. Unconsciously, her tongue pressed against her lower lip, and her crimson lips curled into a cruel smirk as she silently whispered in her heart:

“But if that day truly comes, I fear I won’t be able to resist killing you with my own hands!”