Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Seventh Senior Brother, who had gone with them, looked utterly desolate. He said Senior Sister had sacrificed herself to save them, taking the demon in the valley down with her.

I clutched Seventh Senior Brother’s sleeve, refusing to believe it.

“Then where are her remains? If there’s no body, how can you say she’s dead?”

Seventh Senior Brother had admired Senior Sister since we were children. He wiped at his reddened eyes and took out a bloodstained hair ribbon.

His voice was filled with grief. “Master is still searching, but I saw it with my own eyes. Senior Sister was torn apart by the demon… There was nothing left of her.”

I snatched the ribbon from him. Red thread had been used to embroider cloud patterns on it, along with a crooked little character for “zhen.”

It was the birthday gift I had given Senior Sister. Even though it was poorly made, she tied it in her hair every day.

And now it had become the only thing she had left behind.

My breath caught, as if someone had seized me hard by the throat, and sharp pains stabbed through my chest.

Senior Sister was brilliant beyond compare. I refused to believe she could die at the hands of some petty demon.

Clenching the ribbon tight, I rose and set off for Endless Valley to see for myself.

I had only just reached the mountain gate when I saw Master and my Senior Brothers returning from afar.

“Master! Senior Sister, she…”

With tears in my eyes, I hurried toward him, desperate for Master to tell me Senior Sister was not dead.

But when I drew close, I found my Senior Brothers’ faces alight with joy.

They were clustered around a woman in red, fawning over her with every courtesy.

The woman came toward me with graceful steps. She had a face exactly like Senior Sister’s.

Her smile was frivolous and brazen, one smooth shoulder half-bared, her eyes soft and alluring.

Several Senior Brothers let their gazes linger on her snow-white chest, as if their eyes might fall right into it.

Seventh Senior Brother, who had chased after me, froze in shock. “Senior Sister Mingzhen!”

I drew my sword from its sheath, the blade aimed straight at that woman.

She was not my Senior Sister. She was a Seductress Spirit who had stolen Senior Sister’s face.

“Insolence!” Master knocked my sword aside.

My Senior Brothers blocked themselves in front of that Seductress Spirit, terrified I might hurt even a hair on her head.

“Master, Senior Brothers, she’s a monster! She’s not Senior Sister!”

“Don’t talk nonsense. She is Mingzhen.”

“Exactly. Would we mistake her? If she isn’t Senior Sister, who else could she be?”

“Heaven has shown mercy and brought Senior Sister back from the dead!”

My Senior Brothers surrounded that Seductress Spirit on all sides, nervously shielding her behind them.

As if I were the loathsome monster.

The Seductress Spirit said nothing, only grabbed Eldest Senior Brother with both hands in panic.

Like a drowning person who had sighted a lifeline, she was all docility and dependence.

But my Senior Sister would never lower herself to this pitiful act just to win someone’s sympathy.

Eldest Senior Brother pulled her into his arms, his face all righteous indignation, while his fingers gently stroked her bare shoulder.

The other Senior Brothers stared at that hand, jealous and yearning.

I picked up my sword and stubbornly pointed it at her.

“Shameless Seductress Spirit. How dare you steal my Senior Sister’s face? Who gave you the nerve?”

The Seductress Spirit gave a soft whimper and shrank into Eldest Senior Brother’s arms, putting on a delicate act.

“Little Junior Sister, if a girl is this fierce, how will you ever marry in the future?”

My Senior Brothers roared with laughter, and Master took the opportunity to lecture me.

“Mingzhen is right. As a woman, it’s better to be gentle and obedient. What use is there in always trying to outdo everyone? Shen Lan, you should learn more from Mingzhen in the future.”

A chill of disgust crawled through me, and my grip on my sword tightened.

The Seductress Spirit’s eyes shifted with coy charm. Pouting playfully, she pushed away Eldest Senior Brother, who had been pressed close against her.

She walked toward my sword, took out a packet of plum candy, and stuffed it into my hand, saying gently,

“Little Junior Sister, here. The plum candy I promised you.”

The sweet-and-tart scent of plum candy seeped through the oiled paper packet and reached my nose in thin, tempting threads.

That face looked so much like Senior Sister’s too.

My heart trembled. Then I threw the candy to the ground and stomped on it hard several times.

“You are not my Senior Sister! You evil counterfeit!”

Holding back tears, I swung my sword with all my strength.

Eldest Senior Brother quickly pulled the Seductress Spirit away, saving her from dying under my blade.

“Shen Lan, have you gone mad?”

“You’re the ones who have gone mad. You bring back some random Seductress Spirit and expect me to believe she’s Senior Sister? Senior Sister can’t be dead. I’m going to find her and bring her back!”

I turned with my sword in hand and, ignoring everyone’s attempts to stop me, descended the mountain and went to Endless Valley.

Miasma blanketed Endless Valley.

Countless demonic beasts had once occupied this place. Now, they had all been purged.

Only bones littered the ground, and the reek of blood surged up to the sky.

I endured the stench and turned over the shattered remains.

I searched for two full days, but found no trace of Senior Sister at all.

“…Senior Sister, where are you?”

Clutching the ribbon, I faced the vast valley and sank powerlessly to my knees.

I had never imagined Senior Sister could die. She was gifted by heaven. She should have attained the Dao and become an immortal.

As the miasma churned, a demonic beast that had slipped through the purge suddenly sprang out. Catching me off guard, it opened its bloody maw and bit viciously at my shoulder.

I was caught completely unprepared. By the time I noticed it, it was too late to dodge.

But the pain I had imagined never came.

Senior Sister broke through the miasma with her sword in hand. The Sixteen Forms of the Startled Swan were light and lethal in her grasp.

Sword light flashed, and the demonic beast’s neck was severed.

The beast’s head rolled several times by my feet, then went still.

“Senior Sister!”

I looked up at Senior Sister. The joy of recovering what I had lost had not yet risen before her cold, indifferent tone shattered it.

“Little Junior Sister, you’re so weak. You truly make it impossible for your Senior Sister to rest easy, even in death.”

My gaze sharpened in an instant.

She was not my Senior Sister.

She was that Seductress Spirit.