Chapter 128: Master and Disciple
After checking everything, Shi Hao set aside the Heroic Deeds Blade and the matricide’s heart. He picked up a brush, dipped it in the Undying Child’s blood from the vial, and began drawing a strange magic circle on the cleared ground.
Back at the Chongxian Sect’s main temple, the first thing Du Yuejiao heard was devastating news.
Her aunt was dead, murdered in her own home. And all evidence pointed to her cousin, Fang Yu, as the killer.
Du Yuejiao was stunned. She couldn’t imagine her usually timid cousin, constantly under his mother’s thumb, committing such an act.
And yet, on the other hand, she also felt… it wasn’t entirely unbelievable.
Fang Yu had fled and was now being pursued by the Six Gates.
On her first day back at the temple, Du Yuejiao attended her aunt’s funeral with her master.
She returned to Mount Qian Yuan as night fell. The atmosphere was somber.
The death of Lu Jin, the Azure Dragon Immortal Warrior, had forced the Chongxian Sect to withdraw from Dàxīng City. Most of the martial artists had left Mount Qian Yuan, only a skeleton crew remaining.
And last night, the descendant of the Taisu Immortal Pavilion had appeared, miraculously resolving the crisis at Dragon Head Mountain.
For the Daoist sects, the reappearance of a Taisu Immortal Pavilion descendant was a greater threat to the Chongxian Sect’s authority than even the death of Lu Jin.
Du Yuejiao hadn’t witnessed the event… She had been… otherwise occupied.
Because of this, she had learned of it later than the others, and she had been equally stunned.
Now, after her bath, dressed in a yellow chest covering and thin silk trousers, she lay in bed with her master.
“You shouldn’t have run off like that,” Zhuo Mulan said, her arm around her disciple, gently scolding her, “Disappearing without a word, not even sending a message… I was worried.”
Du Yuejiao’s explanation for her disappearance was that she had seen Shi Hao with another girl and, overwhelmed by jealousy, had run away… Ignoring the complicated details, it wasn’t entirely untrue.
“I’m sorry, Master,” she whispered, hugging her master’s waist.
Although she had been… taken advantage of by that scoundrel, she felt most guilty towards her master, who had been worried about her.
Having been sent to the Chongxian Sect at a young age, her master was the closest thing she had to family, a mother figure.
Moonlight streamed through the window, casting a silvery glow on the floor.
They talked about recent events. Du Yuejiao whispered, “I can’t believe someone like Lord Long Zi was killed. Those martial artists are so ruthless.”
Zhuo Mulan sighed. She knew she couldn’t let her disciple live in the idealized world she had created for her. She said softly, “The one who killed Lord Long Zi is called Zhao Xian, the ‘Peerless Sword.’ He’s been on the Six Gates’ Blacklist for a long time, ranked nineteenth. But in the martial world, he’s known as Hero Zhao.”
Du Yuejiao said, surprised, “A hero? Someone like that?”
Zhuo Mulan said, “Although he’s a skilled martial artist, he never abuses his power. He’s known for his righteousness. Those he kills deserve to die. That’s why he’s called a hero.”
Du Yuejiao’s eyes widened, “But he killed Lord Long Zi…”
Lu Jin, the Azure Dragon Immortal Warrior, was one of the Chongxian Sect’s Eight Immortal Warriors, a respected and admired figure.
Zhuo Mulan shook her head, “Do you know why Zhao Xian killed him?”
Du Yuejiao asked anxiously, “Why?”
Zhuo Mulan sighed, “To avenge the Zong family, the ‘Confucian Hero of Xun River’…” She recounted the story of how Lu Jin had slaughtered Zong Youbi’s entire family, even violating his daughter.
Du Yuejiao was shocked, “Lord Long Zi did that? How… how is that possible?”
Zhuo Mulan said, “Our Chongxian Sect doesn’t have a good reputation in the martial world. We’re just too powerful for most people to challenge us openly. Do you know why your uncle defected? He couldn’t stand for it any longer.”
She revealed the darkness within the Chongxian Sect, no longer hiding anything. The girl in her arms shifted uneasily. As a member of the Chongxian Sect, proud of its supposed righteousness, she couldn’t believe the truth.
If anyone else had told her this, she might have doubted them, but it was her master, the person she trusted most.
Zhuo Mulan said, “Do you know why those martial artists risked their lives to steal the God-Sealing Stones? Why your uncle felt so guilty about creating them? In the martial world, the barbarian court is seen as the enemy, and we, the Chongxian Sect, are seen as their collaborators, traitors who betrayed China.”
“Three hundred years ago, the Chongxian Sect was just a small, insignificant sect called the Chongming Sect. They gained power and influence by siding with the barbarians, helping them suppress the Chinese people.”
Du Yuejiao said uneasily, “But… I heard the Sheng Dynasty was corrupt and decadent, and the Venerable One, seeing the future, declared the Mandate of Heaven belonged to the Jin…”
Zhuo Mulan said softly, “Those who collaborate with invaders always need excuses to justify their actions. But there’s no such thing as the Mandate of Heaven. It’s just a lie.”
Du Yuejiao murmured, “So… so, Master… so those who stole the God-Sealing Stones are the… good guys?”
Zhuo Mulan sighed, “Perhaps ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are too simplistic. But you should understand your uncle’s character. Even he, who usually avoids worldly affairs, couldn’t stand for it any longer. He betrayed the sect and joined the resistance.”
Du Yuejiao felt everything she had ever been taught crumbling around her, the world she knew collapsing.
The Kun Zhen Courtyard, where all female disciples of the Chongxian Sect trained, taught them that the Chongxian Sect represented the Mandate of Heaven, the righteous path, that everything they did was just and noble.
Now, discovering it was all a lie, she felt lost in darkness.
Zhuo Mulan, understanding her feelings, held her close, offering comfort. After a while, she whispered, “You started to say ‘Master’ just now. You were going to say Shi Hao, weren’t you?”
The girl looked up, her eyes wide with surprise.
Zhuo Mulan said, “Shi Hao was the villain who captured you, then rescued you under a different guise. His objective was the information about the God-Sealing Stones, right?”
The girl whispered, “You… you know, Master?”
Zhuo Mulan said, “I didn’t suspect him initially. Who would have thought someone could cultivate both Daoist and demonic techniques? But that night, at the Yuan Dan Huo estate, when I pursued him, he captured me. That’s when I discovered his dual cultivation.
“Logically, he should have killed me after I discovered his secret. But he didn’t. He let me go. And thinking back, I realized he must be Shi Hao. And the reason he risked so much to spare my life… it must be because of you.”
Du Yuejiao was stunned. Brother Shi had captured her master? It seemed impossible. Was he truly that powerful?
But she was also relieved. He must still care about her to have spared her master… In that situation, most people would have killed her.
She hugged her master tightly, burying her face in her chest, “But who knows if he truly likes me? He treated me so cruelly, tricked me, and then just… left…”
Zhuo Mulan hugged her back and smiled, “But he went to such lengths, didn’t he? It must mean he cares about you. Why else would he bother? In the eyes of the martial world, we’re collaborators with the barbarians, his enemies. He could have killed you, but he didn’t. He even spared me because of you…”
Her face flushed… He hadn’t spared her at all.
Zhuo Mulan’s voice was gentle, “I don’t know what happened between you two these past few days, but I suspect he’s involved. Did he… apologize?”
The girl buried her face deeper in her master’s bosom, her cheeks burning.
He had apologized, but his method of apology… she still felt… violated.
She whispered, “But he… he has other women…” The thought of that sometimes ugly, sometimes beautiful, female thief filled her with anger.
Zhuo Mulan’s heart sank. Had her disciple figured it out?
She held her close and said softly, “Men… sometimes they’re like that, wanting what they can’t have. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about you. And my disciple, your beauty is unmatched. As long as his heart is true, don’t worry about such trivial matters…”
She spent the entire night comforting and reassuring her disciple.
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