sneak attack
"Bang—"
At this moment, Chun Ting, now dressed in the robes of a Silver Bamboo Sect disciple, finally arrived at the Zhu family. Unexpectedly, he ran into the Water Spirit Sect members and even bumped into a female disciple.
Cheng Jin was knocked back a step, and when she looked closely, she locked her gaze on Chun Ting directly in front of her.
"Senior sister, she seems to be from the Silver Bamboo Sect..." a junior brother next to Cheng Jin whispered.
"Silver Bamboo Sect!" Cheng Jin glared fiercely at the newcomer.
She knew her senior brother was in love with Qi Yuan of the Silver Bamboo Sect, and she shouldn't have gotten involved, but most importantly, she hated the Silver Bamboo Sect! Especially Qi Yuan…
As luck would have it, the person who bumped into her was from the annoying Silver Bamboo Sect.
Cheng Jin patted the dust off his clothes, his teeth grinding together.
"I'm sorry." Chun Ting looked down at her toes, partly a sincere apology, but partly not wanting to have anything to do with the characters in the book.
"Silver Bamboo Sect? Which elder are you a disciple of? How dare you be so reckless! Or are you just an outer disciple who does odd jobs?" Cheng Jin frowned and stared at her, grabbing her shoulder with displeasure.
Chunting felt the pressure on his shoulder, and subtly shifted his position, clenching his fist.
"...I am an outer disciple. I am truly sorry for offending Senior Sister." Chun Ting's voice was muffled, but she still patiently said these words.
Cheng Jin was somewhat surprised by Chun Ting's forbearance, paused for a moment, and unconsciously let go of his hand.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chun Ting quickly slipped away. When Cheng Jin turned around, she realized that there was no one behind her.
"When will Senior Sister change her bad temper?" a junior disciple whispered in the crowd.
"If you make another sound, you'll be punished by copying the sect rules twenty times! Why are you being so nice to the people of the Silver Bamboo Sect?" As expected, Cheng Jin caught this remark.
Cheng Jin looked back at the deserted corner behind him, his doubts still lingering in his eyes.
Outer disciples cannot possess ancestral jade pendants.
The item that the female disciple was wearing just now was genuine.
*
The girl didn't know that this toy was the magic weapon everyone wanted. She kept fiddling with it in her hands, but eventually got bored and let go of it.
The magical artifact fell to the ground, but the man didn't seem to care at all. He stroked the girl's hair and said in a deep voice, "Wei Shuang, are you tired of playing with it? I'll have someone bring you a new toy."
"Master, do I have parents?" Eight-year-old Qi Yuan looked at Yun Xingjun with pleading eyes.
Upon hearing this, he paused in his work.
Oh.
Ruan Yiyun's smile slowly faded, her voice carrying a hint of threat: "Wei Shuang doesn't have any parents. I think you're still half asleep."
Qi Yuan didn't understand the meaning behind her words and said with unwavering conviction, "I dreamt of my parents. Isn't that something everyone experiences?"
Seeing that her master remained silent, she thought she had said something wrong, so she added, "I understand the principle that a teacher for a day is a father for life! But my master is not my real father after all."
“…”
Seeing that Ruan Yiyun's expression was not right, the outer disciple hurriedly interrupted, "Little girl, do you know what you're saying! You're an orphan, where would you get parents? If it weren't for our sect leader's kindness, you'd probably be dead somewhere by now!"
"Slap! Slap!"
The loud slap reached Qi Yuan's ears. She looked up and saw an outer disciple covering his cheek, looking incredulous.
"Master..." the outer disciple called out tremblingly, looking somewhat at a loss.
He was clearly speaking up for his master, so why did his master still beat him?
Qi Yuan ran over and stood in front of the outer disciples, urgently calling out, "Master!"
Even though hearing those words made Qi Yuan uncomfortable, she felt that hitting someone was wrong!
Ruan Yiyun suppressed her anger, squatted down, and said with a forced smile, "Wei Shuang, you may need some time to accept this. I will not force you. People should be given a little punishment for saying the wrong thing. I am just teaching him a lesson. If he does it again, he will be expelled from the sect."
Qi Yuan blinked in confusion, watching her master's departing figure grow further and further away.
She shouted from afar, "Master! Hitting people is wrong!"
Why won't Master tell her where her parents went?
She was puzzled.
*
They waited for several days in a row, but it seemed like the heavens were deliberately working against them, as it was always cloudy.
After waiting so many days in the inn, Qiu Yi, the culprit, couldn't sit still any longer.
"My mission rewards will only last two days before they expire! As soon as the weather clears up, they'll still have to exorcise the evil spirits!" Qiu Yi gritted her teeth.
[BE System]: Invalid query. The system has no obligation to answer this question for the host.
Still so heartless.
Qiu Yi had already guessed the outcome, so she wasn't too disappointed.
She bit her finger, racking her brains, and finally decided: she wouldn't participate in the exorcism. Wouldn't it be enough to just trap Qi Yuan and Mu Qinghuai in the courtyard? Their double death would also be a bad ending.
However, Qi Yuan and Mu Qinghuai treated her well as well, and they were very generous with the things they gave her.
No, no, that's not right.
After all, she's just a fictional character in a novel; nothing is more important than her going home.
Qiu Yi shook her head, trying to put those extraneous thoughts behind her.
She shouted, "System, I want to use the last special effects card!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a surge of spiritual energy continuously flowed into Qiuyi's body, swelling her until she could hardly breathe, her limbs went numb and she couldn't move, and her heart ached from the pressure.
She couldn't help but cry out, yet the spiritual energy within her body continued to surge ever stronger.
"Enough! Enough!" Qiu Yi screamed, the taste of blood filling her mouth.
[BE System] Remained unmoved. Silently activated the sound barrier.
"Aaaaaaah!"
It was another transitional phase, and she even had the illusion that she was being skinned alive.
Her skin felt as if it were being torn open and forcibly filled with power that did not belong to her.
Qiu Yi bit her upper lip tightly, large tears streaming from her eyes. She was too exhausted to make any more pointless screams.
This system has absolutely no sympathy for her!
She nearly fainted; the intense, throbbing pain lasted for over an hour before Qiu Yi regained control of her body.
Qiu Yi collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. She cried for a while, her voice still choked with sobs: "If only this could I... could I go home?"
This feeling is so unfamiliar. Is this really her body? Qiu Yi looked at the hand stretched out above her head and moved her fingers uncertainly.
The previously silent [BE System] finally spoke, but didn't directly answer Qiu Yi's question: "The rain has stopped from now on. When you're exorcising evil, that's your best chance to kill the protagonist; don't waste this spiritual power. If the host fails to complete the mission, headquarters will impose a fivefold penalty."
Qiu Yi's pupils dilated, and Nan Nan cried out in despair, "Five times... are they trying to kill me?!"
[BE System]: No, near-death state. Headquarters will ensure the host has a breath left, after all, there are other missions to come.
System, I hate you so much… Qiu Yi clenched her hands tightly.
"Senior Sister! Something terrible has happened! Master is in trouble!" The voice on the other end of the telepathic communication was extremely anxious.
Qi Yuan asked calmly, "Hmm? What happened to Master?"
"Well, it's just... Elder Shen has defected! Master was furious when he found out, and the whole sect has been in turmoil these past few days. Then... Master fell ill," the junior brother stammered.
“Master is usually calm and has great magical power. How could he fall ill because of Elder Shen’s defection? Is there really no misunderstanding? Since I have accepted this commission, I cannot return to the sect temporarily. I will find a way over there.” Qi Yuan said calmly.
She wished Ruan Yiyun would just die.
She then asked, "When did he defect? And to whom did he defect?"
The junior disciple answered truthfully: "Not long ago, a disciple discovered that Elder Shen was frequently communicating with demonic cultivators. In order to find out what was going on, that senior brother accidentally broke into a secret room in Elder Shen's pavilion and found all the evidence that Elder Shen had betrayed the demons. He reported it to Master, and Elder Shen was then kidnapped by the demons."
"Okay. I understand."
"Once I've finished dealing with things here, I'll immediately rush back to the sect to help my master. Please be sure to tell my master that everything is fine and there's no need to worry," Qi Yuan added.
"...Senior Sister, also, when the demons came to abduct people, they attacked indiscriminately and injured many outer disciples. Master was busy dealing with the defection, so he didn't have time to take care of these injured disciples... They still haven't received any treatment."
"Why don't you ask a healer to treat the injuries?! The demons' attacks are penetrating deeper and deeper, and some symptoms will gradually worsen. Are the sect's healers blind and ignoring these disciples?!" Qi Yuan frowned.
"Because they are only outer disciples..."
“If you don’t treat them, kick out all those doctors and healers, and say that I told them to.”
"...Should we inform Master...?"
Before her junior brother could finish speaking, Qi Yuan angrily cut off the communication.
Even if I told my master, he would absolutely not care.
Even without him saying it, Qi Yuan understood what those words meant.
Since they are only outer disciples, they are of no use to the sect, and treating them would only be a waste of resources.
"Who's there?" Qi Yuan sensed something and turned around sharply to look at the door.
The door had been opened silently, but there was no one in sight.
She became more alert and looked around to locate the man.
It wasn't a very big, sealed space to begin with, so there wasn't much room to hide.
The man realized that Qi Yuan had seen him, and in a flash, he darted behind her and, without hesitation, pulled out a sword and stabbed it into Qi Yuan's heart.
"Hiss—" Qi Yuan cried out in pain and fell to her knees, her left hand supporting her body tightly, her right hand pressed firmly against her chest.
The man pulled the sword out of Qi Yuan's body, and some blood splattered out with it.
Qi Yuan gasped, a few beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.
It hurts, it hurts so much, I feel like I'm going to die from the pain.
She felt unable to lift her head and could only stare intently at the blood dripping onto the floor.
Qi Yuan felt powerless and desperate. Who had she offended?
What sins did I commit to deserve this?
The door seemed to open, and the light grew brighter and brighter...
No! No way!
We can't let that person leave!
She gritted her teeth and used all her strength to get up, struggling to stand by supporting herself against the wall.
Qi Yuan stretched out the hand that wasn't covering her chest and used all her strength to close the door.
Her spiritual power couldn't possibly be that weak.
The man faced the door in silence for a few seconds, confronting Qi Yuan, before slowly turning around and revealing his face.
"...Zhu Fu?!"
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