Master is Also Running Away from Marriage Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 51

Mu Ling felt as though she were trapped in a nightmare:

 

In this dream, Qingge had become the Demon King Yan Qi, abducting her to the demon palace and shamelessly demanding that she marry her.

 

“Dream on!” Mu Ling glared at Yan Qi. For some reason, ever since discovering that Yan Qi was Lin Qingge, she found herself no longer afraid of the Demon King at all. She sniffled and glared, but Mu Ling had always been gentle by nature. After a long while, she still couldn’t think of any harsh words to hurl at Yan Qi. Clenching her teeth, she tried her best to appear unyielding and indomitable, finally managing to scold, “You wicked disciple!”

 

“Wicked disciple?”

 

Yan Qi’s crimson lips curled in amusement.

 

“Master, guess what I’ve recently discovered?”

 

Yan Qi took a playful bite of Mu Ling’s earlobe, let out a cold laugh, and then suddenly conjured a letter from her spiritual repository, spreading it open before Mu Ling’s eyes.

 

“Princess Mu Ling of the Mu Kingdom, virtuous and graceful, beautiful and kind-hearted. Hearing that Your Majesty lacks attendants by your side, we specially send Princess Mu Ling to the demon palace to serve Your Majesty. May Your Majesty show mercy.” Yan Qi enunciated each word slowly, reading the letter that had been sent to the demon palace two hundred years ago. One she had never opened before. Watching Mu Ling’s cheeks flush red with shame once more, Yan Qi narrowed her eyes. “So, this is the deep-seated hatred that made Master swear to fight me to the death?”

 

“Well then,” Yan Qi took another bite, this time at the tip of Mu Ling’s nose. Watching as Mu Ling avoided her gaze, she firmly wrapped an arm around Mu Ling’s shoulders and leisurely lay down beside her. “It just so happens that I, too, wish to stay with Master for the rest of my life until death do us part.”

 

Mu Ling was at a complete loss for words!

 

She had never imagined Lin Qingge could become so cruel and shameless.

 

The once-familiar fragrance now felt alien. The person before her seemed to be Lin Qingge, yet also seemed not to be Lin Qingge at all.

 

Could it truly be that everything was part of Yan Qi’s meticulously calculated scheme?

 

Mu Ling stared blankly, recalling her grandfather’s words. Since childhood, he had taught her: Never make decisions in the heat of anger.

 

Mu Ling’s parents had deeply loved each other, yet because of one argument, they had quarreled while driving, leading to tragedy.

 

Taking several deep breaths, Mu Ling gazed vacantly at the ceiling as her anger-clouded mind gradually cleared.

 

Memories of her years with Lin Qingge flashed through her mind like scenes from a play. Mu Ling refused to believe that all of Lin Qingge’s affection had been feigned. The Demon King’s powers were unparalleled. If she didn’t wish it, Mu Ling would never have been able to force her into anything. In truth, the signs had been there all along, but Mu Ling, blinded by the original story’s plot, had mistaken them for protagonist’s halo: Lin Qingge’s eerily calm demeanor in the face of danger as a child; her occasional bouts of reclusive gloominess; her probing questions about Mu Ling’s views on the Demon King; and that bizarre, meteoric cultivation talent.

 

Looking back now, Mu Ling could only curse her own stupidity for having nurtured this calamity by her side for so many years.

 

Yet the calamity beside her seemed utterly oblivious to the fact that they were now sworn enemies, closing her eyes as if she had actually fallen asleep!

 

Mu Ling pressed her lips together, carefully turning over to gaze at Yan Qi. Qingge was the Demon King. She had a bloody and cruel past, and would undoubtedly continue down her path of brutality. A life Mu Ling had never wanted any part of.

 

Yet, Yan Qi’s stance made it clear she was determined to pull Mu Ling into her world.

 

How could she be so shameless!

 

Feeling Yan Qi’s light breaths beside her, Mu Ling gritted her teeth, inexplicably unwilling to see Yan Qi acting so nonchalant. Just as she was about to push Yan Qi off the bed, a glimpse of deep red on Yan Qi’s arm made her freeze mid-motion.

 

Yan Qi had always carried a faint scent of blood. Dressed in crimson, the color made it nearly impossible to notice her injuries unless one looked closely.

 

It wasn’t hard to imagine. Snatching Mu Ling from a stronghold teeming with cultivators, Yan Qi must have faced countless ambushes and pursuits along the way.

 

What exactly had happened?

 

Mu Ling couldn’t forget Lin Qingge’s confident demeanor when she set out. Mu Ling was certain that Yan Qi had once been prepared to impersonate Lin Qingge for the rest of her life. So why had everything changed in a single day?

 

Pursing her lips, Mu Ling studied Yan Qi’s face up close. Features she knew all too well, flawless as ever, yet now shadowed by faint traces of exhaustion beneath Lin Qingge’s eyes.

 

With a quiet sigh, Mu Ling finally lowered her hand and curled up beside Yan Qi, an unprecedented sense of desolation washing over her:

 

What now? The plot had already spiraled into utter chaos. The male lead philandering everywhere, Qingge turned into a demon king.

 

Was it the butterfly effect caused by her?

 

With everything changed, was there still a way for her to return to the modern world?

 

…

 

Unbeknownst to Mu Ling, Yan Qi’s eyelashes trembled slightly in her sleep.

 

Mu Ling had thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep, but in the dead of night, she heard a sigh. A familiar hand slid up her neck, and then she drifted into unconsciousness.

 

By the time Mu Ling woke the next day, it was nearly noon. The room’s barrier array had already been lifted.

 

Yan Qi was no longer there. Waiting by the bed was the same maid from yesterday, Shuang’er, who helped Mu Ling freshen up and served her a tasteless breakfast. Then, gauging Mu Ling’s mood, the maid tentatively suggested, “The spring scenery is lovely. Would the young lady like to take a stroll around the Demon Palace?”

 

Mu Ling knew this was likely something Yan Qi had instructed Shuang’er to ask, so she didn’t refuse.

 

She didn’t want to stay with Yan Qi in such an unclear state.

 

She knew Yan Qi loved her, but Mu Ling wasn’t sure if she loved Yan Qi back. What she had adored was the radiant, sword-wielding Lin Qingge who could cleanse the world but that was merely an illusion Yan Qi had crafted. The real Yan Qi was a cruel, bloodthirsty demon king.

 

After walking around the Demon Palace, Mu Ling realized the surroundings felt oddly familiar. It dawned on her that the new Demon Palace was nestled in the mountains near Lufeng Town. The very place Mu Ling had once visited in search of Bai Mufeng.

 

But why had Yan Qi chosen this location for the new Demon Palace?

 

Mu Ling didn’t notice Shuang’er silently retreating behind her until a familiar voice spoke beside her:

 

“Lufeng Town is a rather special place.”

 

Yan Qi, now having regained all her memories, naturally wasn’t as oblivious as Lin Qingge to the anomalies of Lufeng Town: “Lufeng Town holds the last remaining Heavenly Rift in the world.”

 

Legend had it that when cultivators reached the pinnacle of their practice, they had to shatter the void to ascend to godhood, and the Heavenly Rift was the stepping stone for cultivators to achieve this divine ascension.

 

“But this rift is extremely difficult to open,” Yan Qi curled her lips slightly, recalling the records about the Heavenly Rift in her cultivation techniques. “It requires gathering a hundred thousand cultivators and using a special forbidden method to make them willingly offer their spiritual power and lives. ”

 

This sinister method sounded eerily familiar.

 

Mu Ling frowned, remembering the dark cultivation technique practiced by Wang Qing’s son in the underground passage when she first encountered Yan Qi, the soul-summoning ritual Zhao Linglong performed for Yan Lufeng, and the malevolent cultivator from the Liao Family Manor.

 

“Do you intend to practice such a forbidden technique?” Mu Ling’s brows furrowed tightly as she glared at Yan Qi. “Such dark arts invite divine retribution be careful of being struck by lightning and having your soul scattered to the winds.”

 

Yan Qi gazed deeply at Mu Ling, whose eyes flickered with unmistakable frustration. Yet, Yan Qi only smiled at her. “I won’t practice it.”

 

Her laughter was bright and unrestrained, an expression Lin Qingge’s face would never wear.

 

Seeing Yan Qi like this, Mu Ling’s heart skipped a beat, and she averted her eyes as if to hide her reaction. “Who knows if you’re lying?”

 

“I truly won’t.”

 

Yan Qi lowered her head, staring intently into Mu Ling’s eyes.

 

To say Yan Qi had never once entertained thoughts of godhood would be a lie. In fact, she was more capable than anyone of bewitching a hundred thousand people into willingly sacrificing their lives and spiritual power.

 

Yan Qi herself didn’t know why, three hundred years ago, she had moved the Demon Palace near Lufeng Town yet never once considered setting up such a forbidden ritual.

 

Looking back now, it was likely because she still held onto some lingering attachment. Some faint belief that this despairing, filthy world might still harbor a glimmer of light.

 

And now, Yan Qi had found her light.

 

Her gaze lingered on Mu Ling, whose ears had turned faintly red, and her lips curved slightly. Shifu still cares for me. Does that mean she doesn’t despise me as much as I thought? Once we’re married, perhaps.

 

But Yan Qi never got to see the day of their wedding.

 

On the eve of the ceremony, the Demon Palace was adorned with lanterns and decorations, while the immortals who had long been searching for Mu Ling infiltrated the festivities.

 

Mu Ling saw Bai Fengqing again.

 

It hadn’t been long since they last met, but the cold, handsome swordsman now bore a much sterner expression, as though he had endured immense hardship during this time.

 

“Elder Zhao sent me to find you.” Bai Fengqing brought a secret treasure from Bai Xu Sect, lifting the suppression on Mu Ling’s spiritual power. Mu Ling had always longed for escape, yet when the opportunity finally came, she hesitated for a moment, unsure of her own thoughts.

 

Perhaps it was because Yan Qi had been so gentle lately, making her mistake her for Lin Qingge again.

 

But by Yan Qi’s side, given her possessiveness, Mu Ling would never have the chance to return to the modern world and save her grandfather.

 

At this thought, Mu Ling gritted her teeth, summoned her mermaid silk, and swiftly followed Bai Fengqing.

 

“Elder Zhao and the other sect leaders are holding off the Demon King,” Bai Fengqing explained as he flew on his sword. “Fortunately, the Demon King was severely injured earlier otherwise, none of us would stand a chance against her…”

 

“How was she injured?” Mu Ling blurted out almost instinctively.

 

“You probably don’t know, and it’s truly a family disgrace,” Bai Fengqing cast a deep glance at Mu Ling, the pain that had been weighing on his heart suddenly surging with an urge to confide. “My elder brother, Bai Junhao, was somehow bewitched and activated the Immortal-Slaying Array before the old Demon Palace. I always knew he resented my cultivation talent and feared I would inherit the Bai Xu Sect in the end, but I never imagined he could be so foolish.”

 

“But what does this have to do with Qingge?” Mu Ling unconsciously furrowed her brows, feeling a tightness in her chest.

 

“I didn’t expect it either,” Bai Fengqing let out a bitter laugh, his expression complex. “In the end, the entire immortal sect was saved by the Demon King. She single-handedly stopped the Immortal-Slaying Array and suffered severe injuries. Yet, as soon as they were rescued, most of the sect members turned on her and launched a siege.”

 

Bai Fengqing couldn’t understand why the once upright and righteous immortal sect had turned into such a shameless, greedy mob, seizing the moment to strike.

 

But Mu Ling had no time to ponder these thoughts.

 

She had been wrong!

 

A sharp pain throbbed in Mu Ling’s chest as she recalled the young Yan Qi she had seen in the City of Eternal Night. Back then, Yan Qi had been sweet and adorable, her eyes filled with a bright light. Yan Qi had once held kindness toward this world, but the twisted ways of the world had ground her into something inhuman.

 

—And yet, when disaster struck, she still stepped forward to save the immortal realm she despised.

 

Yan Qi was not the cruel, bloodthirsty Demon King the world claimed her to be, one who loathed humanity and slaughtered without mercy. In this life, she was Qingge. The Qingge Mu Ling had raised with her own hands!

 

Biting back tears, Mu Ling ignored Bai Fengqing’s attempts to stop her and rushed toward the battlefield.

 

In the town of Lu Feng, panicked crowds scrambled in all directions. Among them, Mu Ling spotted the terrified figures of Zhen Niang and her younger brother. Zhen Niang, heavily pregnant, seemed on the verge of labor.

 

Strange lights flickered across the sky as a group of cultivators attacked Yan Qi, with Zhao Yunshi striking the fiercest. Her face cold with fury, Zhao Yunshi shouted, “I wish I could carve you into a thousand pieces, you heartless, ungrateful beast! Where have you hidden your master?!”

 

Yet Yan Qi’s expression remained as icy as ever. She had been dodging Zhao Yunshi’s attacks until she turned and saw Mu Ling.

 

Yan Qi’s eyes widened in shock.

 

Mu Ling had never seen such terror in Yan Qi’s gaze before.

 

Was she afraid Mu Ling would run away again?

 

Wiping her tears, Mu Ling forced a smile. Deep down, she had always known what Yan Qi feared. She wanted to tell Yan Qi that she loved her too, that she wouldn’t run away again. Maybe Yan Qi could help her find a way to save her grandfather together. She would stay by Yan Qi’s side, slowly atoning for their past sins.

 

Then, belatedly, Mu Ling felt a sharp pain pierce her chest.

 

—A sword, summoned from nowhere, had impaled her spiritual core.

 

Before her, Yan Qi’s eyes abruptly turned crimson. Mu Ling saw the swirling seven-colored vortex in the sky behind Yan Qi and panicked, tears streaming as she tried to speak to tell Yan Qi not to cry, that she wouldn’t die. But the words caught in her throat.

 

The last thing she saw was the lifeless, blood-red glow in Yan Qi’s eyes, her raven-black hair turning snow-white in an instant.

 

…

 

With the fall of her Dao body, Mu Ling’s form dissolved into scattered sand, the contents of her spiritual core spilling across the ground.

 

No one had anticipated such a turn of events. Everyone stood frozen in stunned silence.

 

In the dead silence, the Crimson Demon King knelt down, blood tears streaming from her eyes as she trembled, slowly gathering the scattered items from Mu Ling’s residence.

 

“Master, look at me,” no one expected the Demon King to show such humility. She knelt on the ground, her white hair spilling like snow, as if abandoned by the entire world, her face filled with terror. “I won’t anger you anymore, let’s return to Qingbo Peak.”

 

Zhao Yunshi’s eyes burned red as she clenched her sword. In Yan Qi, she saw her own reflection. She had always believed Yan Qi resented Mu Ling for becoming her master and had kidnapped her to humiliate her. But now she realized she was mistaken.

 

No one noticed a single golden lotus seed silently rolling across the ground, making its way toward Zhen Niang’s swollen belly.

 

A day later, the Demon King’s wedding proceeded as scheduled. But during the ceremony, the one standing opposite her was an empty spirit tablet.

 

In the years that followed, the Demon King waged war against the immortal realm like a madwoman. None could stand against her, and the immortal realm crumbled like scattered sand.

 

Several more years passed, and the Demon King began digging mass graves on a massive scale in Lufeng Town.

 

Fifteen years later, Zhen Niang’s simple-minded daughter, who had just come of age, suddenly hit her head. When she awoke and opened her eyes, Zhen Niang froze for a moment. Those eyes, they looked hauntingly familiar.