Chapter 4
He beat me badly in that fight.
My arm bent the wrong way. My ribs broke. My eyes swelled, and blood streamed from the corners of my mouth.
I landed a hundred feet beyond the sparring platform and thought I was dying.
Luo Qingzhu descended from the air.
Looking down at me, he lectured, “I hope you’ll mend your ways and learn to live honestly. Even if you hurt our youngest sister, you’ll never become her.”
I coughed up blood and spat. “Luo Qingzhu, I despise you.”
His face turned livid.
It was the first time I had ever addressed him by his name alone.
“What did you say?” Third Brother kicked me viciously.
I grunted in pain, then laughed scornfully. “My mistake. I despise all of you.”
As I spoke, I sprang up without warning and kicked Third Brother in the chest.
They surrounded me, punching and kicking.
A group of immortal cultivators, using the methods of street thugs.
It ended only when Master emerged from seclusion and punished us all.
He gave me a long, searching look.
“Huaiyue, you have disappointed me terribly.”
My eyes burned. I held my tears back with all my strength.
How had I disappointed him?
He had taught us to compete for the Great Dao and advance without fear. Through countless brushes with death, I had never retreated.
He had taught us to contend with the heavens, challenge the cosmos, slay monsters, and banish evil. That fighting spirit lived in my heart. I had never dared forget it.
He had taught us never to disgrace the Cloudwater Sect or the pride of Morningcloud Peak, and to stand by our fellow disciples. I remembered every word.
Yet now those same disciples had slandered and beaten me, and he said I had disappointed him.
I was the one who should have been disappointed.
“Yes, Master,” I said quietly. “I know I was wrong.”
Afterward, we became strangers.
Then the Mount Wu Secret Realm opened. Qin Rou arrived in high spirits to join the other immortal sects, riding the flying artifact Master had made her: a seven-colored cloud.
No female immortal in the Nine Provinces and Three Realms had ever ridden such a cloud. Naturally, everyone complimented her.
Blushing with excitement, Qin Rou said, “It was Master’s birthday gift to me. I have my senior brothers to thank for gathering the materials so quickly.”
“Oh, all from your senior brothers? Nothing from your senior sister?” someone joked.
Qin Rou gave an awkward little smile.
My fellow disciples’ faces turned cold.
Understanding dawned on the others. They glanced discreetly at me and changed the subject.
Later, I heard them talking behind my back.
“Who would have thought Huaiyue of the Cloudwater Sect was so vicious? She can’t even tolerate one junior sister.”
Still later, while searching alone for opportunities in the secret realm, I happened upon Qin Rou. The instant she saw me, she leaped onto the cliff to pick the Jade Buddha Fungus…
I came back to myself.
For the first time, one thing became perfectly clear.
Qin Rou had picked that fungus on purpose.
She had wanted to kill me.