Chapter 5
Chapter 5
His sister had no friends in the Qinglu Sect.
Cen Yongmiao was the only one.
Before she entered the sect, his sister had been isolated, always walking alone in silence.
Others often sneered at Yunmiao:
“She’s just here because of her connections.”
“She can barely light a fire, yet she has the nerve to show up for alchemy class every day.”
“If it weren’t for her genius brother, she wouldn’t even be qualified to be a servant in the Qinglu Sect.”
No one was willing to sit next to her in class.
When she mustered the courage to ask a question, she was met with disdain and ridicule.
Yunmiao had never been one to endure mistreatment.
Yet, when mocked by her fellow disciples, she acted as if she didn’t care at all.
She would simply lean back over her desk, focusing intently on studying those talismans and pill formulas.
Even after returning home, she never complained to him.
It was only when he couldn’t help but bring it up that she would startle for a moment.
Then, she would laugh lightheartedly:
“Oh, they’re not wrong.”
“Back then, the Qinglu Sect only wanted to take you away, Brother.”
“If you hadn’t stood your ground and said you wouldn’t cultivate if they didn’t bring me along…”
“They only took me because they were forced to.”
“I’m so weak, it’s only natural that no one wants to team up with me.”
“It’s fine, Brother. I’m already satisfied just being by your side.”
“Having my brother is enough for me!”
Yunmiao had thrown herself into his arms once again.
Just like during those days when they had only each other to rely on.
She held him tightly.
Clinging to her only support.
Even as she grew up, Pei Yunmiao’s world remained very small.
It was still enough, as long as she had her brother.
“Your sister sure knows how to play the victim.”
When his fellow disciple, Ying Nian, heard about this, he had looked exasperated:
“She’s making you feel guilty on purpose so you’ll spend more time playing with her.”
“You say she’s a coward who’s afraid of death, but doesn’t she still love running off to random places?”
“Then, when something actually happens, she cries for you to save her.”
“She’s just trying to get your attention.”
“It’s too selfish.”
“You shouldn’t spoil her like this.”
“We who walk the Way of Detachment must prioritize the common people of the world.”
“We cannot let personal feelings disrupt our state of mind.”
Ying Nian was an orphan.
Because he had grown up without family, he spoke with a harsh bluntness.
He sighed, advising him:
“If you can never get over this hurdle regarding your sister…”
“Don’t even think about ascending in this lifetime.”
…
He was right.
He could no longer let her disturb his mind so easily.
Pei Jinzhuo coldly raised his eyes, staring at Cen Yongmiao as she continuously wiped away tears.
He spoke indifferently:
“Junior Sister Cen, I’ll have to trouble you to tell Yunmiao something.”
“If she continues to throw these tantrums, she doesn’t need to come home anymore.”
As his cold, hard words fell, the person before him froze instantly.
Pei Jinzhuo expected to see guilt or panic on the face of her accomplice.
But there was none.
Cen Yongmiao’s tears continued to flow, and a strange expression surfaced in her eyes as she looked at him.
It looked like…
Pity?
Pei Jinzhuo frowned. Before he could process it, he heard Cen Yongmiao speak again.
Her trembling voice still could not hide her grief.
She said, “Senior Brother, Yunmiao isn’t coming back.”
He went still.
He watched as she slowly pulled a Sound Transmission Jade Slip, broken in half, from her Storage Ring.
His pupils constricted. He recognized it almost instantly.
It was the gift he had given Yunmiao for her eighteenth birthday.
At the time, she had held this little trinket-which wasn’t even a proper spiritual tool-as if it were a priceless treasure, unable to put it down.
She carried it with her everywhere, refusing to let even a speck of dust touch it.
“I have to take good care of everything Brother gives me.”
“You’ll definitely ascend in the future. When you become an immortal lord, you’ll live for millions of years.”
“When a mortal like me reaches the end of my natural life, these things will have to die for love with me-”
“Die for love?”
He arched an eyebrow, repeating that rather suggestive word with a lingering tone.
His sister paused, and then her entire face turned beet red.
She covered her face tightly, letting out a series of strange, flustered squeals.
Then, she corrected herself stammeringly:
“B-bury. Be buried with me.”
Her ears were incredibly red, yet she still stubbornly muttered under her breath:
“Oh, a slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue. I meant to say ‘buried with me’ all along…”
He had laughed.
It was a casual laugh; he didn’t bother to expose her clumsy acting.
Some feelings didn’t need to be sorted out so clearly.
After all…
Regardless of the nature of the affection,
Yunmiao would always be devoted to him.
But now.
The jade slip she had promised to take to her grave was broken in two.
It was splattered with filthy mud and dried, dark-red blood.
As if afraid he still wouldn’t believe her, Cen Yongmiao took two steps forward.
She personally held the jade slip out in front of him so he could see it clearly.
Pei Jinzhuo looked down in a daze.
The Number One Sword Cultivator, who remained unshaken even when facing top-tier demons, now found his hands shaking uncontrollably.
The moment his fingertips touched the jade slip, the unsent voice message stored inside was immediately released.