DLOBML CHAPTER 12

Chapter 12 — Infuriate the Demonic Master to Death (3) | The Rival Army Wants To Take Me Out Every Day

They had come with a grand entourage yet returned as only two. Xing Ge had ordered the attendants to remain with the Ye family, to protect and care for her “in-laws.” That way Ye Zhenzhen would worry less and focus more on the Great Dao.

Traveling light was quicker, and in the past half year Xing Ge had fully mastered sword flight. In a little over ten days, they reached the mountain gate of the Xiaoyao Sect.

In her past life, Ye Zhenzhen had suffered terribly trying to climb the mountain without an official recommendation and had only been discovered by the male lead by sheer chance, which led to her meteoric rise. This time, with Xing Ge’s status as a Golden Core cultivator, securing Ye Zhenzhen’s eligibility was easy. All that remained was the final ascent and aptitude test.

Everyone who reached this final trial had been thoroughly screened and tested. They were the future pillars of the Xiaoyao Sect. Even so, compared to Ye Zhenzhen, their starting line was not just a little behind. Afraid the butterfly effect might knock the heroine off course, Xing Ge had poured herself into the girl: the best techniques, a steady stream of pills, and a constitution that defied heaven. If Ye Zhenzhen did not stand out, it would truly waste half a year of effort.

As a result, Ye Zhenzhen became a thorn in the eyes of every golden child and was thoroughly ostracized. She did not care.

Dong, dong, dong.

The pure, ancient bell pealed. It was time to climb. Faces of the boys and girls glowed with resolve and excitement, yet there was the ache of leaving their families behind.

Once you enter the Xiaoyao Sect, the next meeting with your kin will be ten years later.

“Go on. Do not let me down.”

Xing Ge ruffled her hair. In these months she had raised the girl like a daughter. Now that the cocoon would break and the butterfly emerge, how could she feel anything but gladness and pride?

Ye Zhenzhen was not as bright as the day before. She lowered her head, her voice thick with tears. “Why are you sending me here?”

She seemed to finally grasp how important this man was.

“You belong here. This is your world,” Xing Ge said with a faint smile. “As for me, it is time I took my leave.”

Hands clasped behind her back, she turned toward the road she had come, walking with that same steady calm.

Look at that, she thought, another smooth, invisible display of awesomeness. Her cool factor in the heroine’s heart had shot up again. Perfect.

Now for the truly urgent matter… what was for lunch?

Xing Ge tilted her head to watch a gold-crested immortal crane glide overhead, her expression very solemn, as if pondering life and destiny.

Maybe a deluxe cultivation-world version of grilled celestial bird? That crane looked easy to bully. The cloud-pattern flying tiger beside it looked powerful though, probably very satisfying to bite into. Ah, decisions. Should she roast the bird or stew the tiger? So annoying. As a Virgo, she hated choosing.

Why not roast the bird with one hand and simmer tiger soup with the other?

Grinning wickedly, she locked onto the bird and the tiger and gave chase.

Behind her, Ye Zhenzhen watched that “lonely back gazing at the heavens,” eyes reddening. She clenched her teeth and stepped onto the endless stone path.

She would not disappoint him.

And her heart…

Ten years swept by. The sealed gates of the Xiaoyao Sect opened once more for the disciple-intake ceremony. For current disciples, it was also the rare chance to return home.

On Seventh-Ring Peak, a man in purple sprawled lazily on a couch, black hair swept back in a sensual tail.

He toyed with a jade thumb ring, lids lowered. “You intend to go down the mountain?”

The reply was even cooler than his tone. “Yes, Master.”

His brows knotted. “Ye Zhenzhen, after ten years of teacher and disciple, can you not be a little closer to me?”

“Master, propriety cannot be discarded. This disciple is a married woman.”

Li Jiutian choked on her prim and proper answer. Grinding his teeth and swallowing his anger, he said, “Very well. In that case, get out.”

So furious, yet he had to maintain elegance, otherwise the girl would dislike him. Fortunately he was a born seducer. That single “get out” curled off his tongue like a red silk ribbon, decadent to the bone. Girl, did that make your heart flutter?

Ye Zhenzhen’s face remained wooden. Perhaps the signal in the cultivation world was poor.

“…”

I must endure this. I must endure it.

In ten years, he had watched her change from a green bud into a stunning flower. Her resolve and courage had made his icy heart tremble. He knew it was improper, yet he wanted to break every taboo for her. And what he received, every time, was the same line: “I am a married woman.”

A married woman, a married woman. The phrase wrapped his skull like a cursed band, impossible to shake off.

She had clearly never lost her primal yin, yet she dressed herself as someone’s wife for another man. It made his chest tight with rage.

Night and day he fantasized about killing that “adulterer” to vent his anger. He wanted to see whether she would still be a married woman then.

No, killing him would be far too merciful. How could he let a rival die so quickly? Perhaps a trip to the Demon Sect, the Corpse Cavern, and the Ghost Gate was in order, to collect methods that make life worse than death. When he was young, he had even seen a “human swine,” limbs broken, only a torso kept alive in a vat, fed on strips of his own flesh…

Heh heh heh. Cross me and there is no good ending.

A sinful smile curved the male lead’s red lips.

Outside, Ye Zhenzhen missed the strange look on her master’s face. Relief bubbled up, along with a hint of anticipation.

Ten years, and she had never forgotten his expectations. She trained day and night, rose at a terrifying pace, became Li Jiutian’s personal disciple, and vaulted to the post of Thirty-First Generation First Disciple of Seventh-Ring Peak. Everyone she met greeted her with a respectful “Senior Sister.”

Would that be enough to answer, “Do not let me down”?

Thoughts swirled. She slowed her steps, and the flowers ahead framed her figure in her blue-and-white disciple robes, bright as a fresh blossom.

Passersby unconsciously softened their tread. A few turned to stare and nearly walked into trees.

A hand waved in front of her eyes. She blinked and came back to herself. A young man with features like sculpted jade stood before her, smiling as he plucked a leaf from her hair.

“Senior Brother?” Ye Zhenzhen blinked, then realized they stood a little too close. His breath brushed her cheek. She shifted aside without making it obvious.

Seeing this, the senior brother’s eyes dimmed. He hid his disappointment with a smile. “Little Junior Sister was thinking of someone, to be so lost on the road.”

That single word “thinking” colored Ye Zhenzhen’s cheeks and softened her gaze. Noticing the change, Wei Yu felt a stab of pain.

He liked this forthright, poised junior sister, yet she treated him only as family. He had resigned himself to losing to the master, if it came to that. Who would have thought that at such a young age she would already be “married,” and to a rumor-shrouded wrinkled old man?

Ye Zhenzhen had no idea what ran through his head. She hesitated, then spoke. “Senior Brother, would you accompany me to the black market?”

A woman going alone could run into trouble, and she had spent years focused entirely on cultivation. Her social circle was pitifully small. By process of elimination, this senior brother was the person she knew best.

Wei Yu was surprised. She had never asked him for anything. He tested gently, “What does Junior Sister wish to buy? Tell me, and I will gather it for you.”

Ye Zhenzhen lowered her gaze, shy. “I want to pick out a few gifts myself. For him.”

Who “he” was needed no explanation.

Wei Yu managed a bitter smile, and a thin thread of jealousy coiled in his chest. What sort of witchcraft had that old man used to make her ignore a legion of brilliant admirers and keep herself pure only for him?

His fingers curled. If he ever met that old goat, well… he would make sure the man never returned.

He would do this to him, and that to him, and then some.

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