Shaking my head, I turned my gaze to the inkstone on the table. In it, I seemed to see a teenage Qian Gu sitting across from me, copying scriptures with a brush. He had looked up with a smile, saying, “Master, you’ve slept longer than it took me to copy two hundred scrolls.” The flickering candlelight made his face both vivid and blurry.
I realized I couldn’t sit in the hall any longer. Heading outside, I came across the wine pool and was reminded of that day when I pretended to nap there. The faint, fleeting warmth on my lips… his husky whispers calling me “Master, Master” over and over, as if he had stolen the most precious treasure in the world, both content and guilty.
Covering my face, I let out a deep sigh.
In the end, I used the earth-traveling technique to leave Kong Ling Mountain quietly and tracked Qian Gu to where he had been cast out.
He had been thrown onto a pile of jagged rocks, the river washing over his body, carrying his blood far downstream.
I pulled him out and settled him in a nearby cave.
During the night, Qian Gu developed a high fever, muttering incoherently in his delirium. After being struck by the Soul-Devouring Whip, his soul was inevitably gravely injured. With no medicine at hand, I could only use my immortal energy to forcibly suppress the turbulent blood energy within his body.
For three whole days and nights, his head rested on my lap, his sweat soaking through my robes.
By the dawn of the fourth day, his breathing finally steadied. I withdrew my immortal energy, placed a stone under his head as a pillow, and rubbed my legs, which had gone completely numb. Then, I walked out of the cave.
Before leaving, I couldn’t help but glance back. Qian Gu was lying on the ground, looking as though he weakly opened his eyes for a moment before shutting them again, falling unconscious.
At that time, I naively believed that Qian Gu had left my life for good and would never appear again.
Three months later, Qian Zhi emerged from the Ling Xu Cave. Not seeing Qian Gu, he inquired about his whereabouts and learned that I had whipped Qian Gu and expelled him from the sect.
Although Qian Zhi had often been on the receiving end of Qian Gu’s beatings, in truth, Qian Gu was more of a master to him than I ever was. After all, I gave him a century of cultivation and then practically vanished from his life.
Hot-tempered as always, Qian Zhi couldn’t hold back and berated me loudly:
“Senior Brother risked his life to obtain medicine for Master! Even knowing he’d be scorned by others afterward, he still saved you! And yet Master repaid him like this?”
I sipped my tea in silence.
Gritting his teeth, Qian Zhi glared at me for a while before continuing, “I truly thought that once Master understood Senior Brother’s feelings, even if you reprimanded him for overstepping boundaries, you wouldn’t punish him so harshly. It seems I misjudged you, Master.”
With that, he turned to leave.
“Where are you going?” I set down my teacup.
“I no longer wish to cultivate under such a heartless and ungrateful master. I’m going to find Little Hong, roam the martial world with her, and live freely, unbound by obligations!”
“Come back.”
Qian Zhi ignored me. My expression darkened as I waved my hand, erecting a barrier before him. To my surprise, he raised his hand, channeling immortal energy, and struck the barrier head-on with a technique I had taught him—using the very cultivation I had given him. With no hesitation, he shattered the barrier and took off on his sword.
Slamming my hand on the table, I yelled, “This little brat!” I leaped into the air, intercepting him mid-flight.
A glow flickered in Qian Zhi’s hand as he prepared to attack.
I sneered. “Oh? You dare raise your hand against your master?”
I swung a heavy slap toward him. Qian Zhi tried to block, but I was determined to teach him a lesson and wouldn’t let him deflect me. My palm landed squarely on his head, leaving him dazed and dizzy. Grabbing him by the ear, I personally dragged him back to the Ling Xu Cave and locked him inside.
“My disciples’ fates are for me to decide. Whether I keep them or cast them out is none of your concern. Stay in here for confinement. You will not come out until you understand your wrongdoing.”
“I did nothing wrong!” Qian Zhi shouted from behind me. “I’m not wrong, and neither is Senior Brother! You’re the one who’s wrong, Master! It’s you!”
Ignoring him, I left the Ling Xu Cave.
Half a month later, a disciple from the foot of the mountain brought urgent news of a major incident.
When I arrived at the meeting hall to investigate, I learned that Yue Lao Hong had lured my former disciple, Qian Gu, into the demonic path.
Clutching my chest, I felt utterly... stifled.
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