Chapter 3

Chapter 3

At first, things truly went quite smoothly.

Pei Yi took Qianqian to travel the mortal realm, teaching her the rules and principles of surviving in the human world.

From time to time, he would send back tokens of affection to express how much he missed me.

As time passed, the entire Sect began to relax. Only I remained uneasy, a lingering sense of dread in my heart.

One day, a surge of blood-red energy suddenly erupted from a corner of my room. It was a signal from the Samsara Pearl-someone was slaughtering civilians in its vicinity.

I hurried down the mountain with several Junior Disciples. What we saw, however, was a village turned into a sea of fire, littered with charred corpses. The scene was one of utter devastation.

Just as we were about to search for the killer, a cry for help came from the back of the mountain. We flew there on our swords, only to see Qianqian with blood-red eyes, slowly closing in on two children.

Without a second thought, the Junior Disciples struck first, launching an attack against her.

I raised my sword and channeled a spell, cutting off her path of retreat.

Seeing that she was being cornered by my Junior Brothers with nowhere to run, Qianqian was about to collide with the edge of my blade.

Suddenly, a massive surge of energy struck from behind, aimed directly at my heart.

Even though I managed to dodge in time, the backlash from the forced interruption of my sword technique surged through my meridians. A thin trail of blood leaked from the corner of my lips.

Pei Yi, who had rushed onto the scene, saw none of this. He held the frightened, unconscious Qianqian in his arms, his handsome face clouded with fury.

“Xie Liufeng!” He pointed his longsword directly at me. “I know you have always been prejudiced against Qianqian, but for you to be so despicable as to try and assassinate her the moment my back is turned!”

My brows furrowed at his words, and I interrupted him coldly. “Pei Yi, the blood energy on the Samsara Pearl erupted. She has slaughtered at least a hundred villagers.”

I thought Pei Yi would understand, but to my surprise, he let out a cold laugh. He reached out and made a grasping motion in the air, and the decapitated corpses of two jackal demons were thrown onto the ground.

“These are the ones who killed the villagers. I have already executed them. Qianqian was only here because she wanted to protect these two children.”

As his voice, thick with icy anger, rang out, the two children who had been standing dazed on the spot suddenly seemed to wake from a dream. They stood up and ran toward him and Qianqian.

“That’s right, we wandered off. Sister Qianqian was trying to protect us.”

Something was wrong. I had clearly seen that these two children had hollow eyes; they were nothing more than walking corpses who had lost their own will.

Yet Pei Yi seemed unable to tell. He leaned down, tenderly picking up the frightened Qianqian as if he were cradling a priceless treasure.

Before departing, he simply threw back a sentence, telling me to come find him only when I had reflected on my actions and realized my mistake.

The Junior Disciples who had witnessed the entire ordeal stood by, unable to interject. The group returned to the Sect in low spirits.

However, when they spoke of Pei Yi again, the admiration that once filled their eyes was gone.