Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 31

Li Jin’an looked closely, then again, and again, scrutinizing it from all angles, and found the scene truly peculiar.
In the deep valley, a perpetual thick fog shrouded the upper reaches. Below, rows of coffins were neatly arranged, all of uniform style and size, and thoughtfully covered with lids. A Black Butterfly perched on top of each coffin.
This scene truly resembled a civilian morgue, and Li Jin’an felt as though they were forensic examiners who had come to inspect corpses.
It was hard to say how this group of Black Butterflies truly viewed human customs and culture, but it was certainly not how normal people would understand it.
“You came here earlier?” Li Jin’an looked at Xie Huaixue.
Xie Huaixue nodded in affirmation.
Seeing Xie Huaixue’s calm expression, Li Jin’an coughed lightly and composed herself, feeling embarrassed to make such a fuss. She casually tapped a nearby coffin and asked: “Which ones are my disciples’ coffins?”
Three Black Butterflies in the front-left flew up, flapping their wings. To prevent Li Jin’an from seizing the opportunity to cause trouble, they immediately made their wings glow as indicators.
Li Jin’an had long forgotten about her attempt to use the Black Butterfly to forcibly kill Zhong Fei. She nudged Xie Huaixue with her elbow and eagerly asked: “Did you open the coffins?”
Xie Huaixue was silent for a moment. “No, I saw they were fine and came out to wait for you.”
“How did you know I would come looking for you?” Li Jin’an eyed Xie Huaixue warily, her eyes full of suspicion.
Could it be that Xie Huaixue saw what she made the Black Butterfly do to Zhong Fei?
Even if Xie Huaixue feigned indifference towards her disciples, Li Jin’an causing the wretched creatures to suffer setbacks was different from killing them. The former could be said to be a senior’s test for juniors, but the latter was inexcusable.
Given the widespread importance placed on disciples in the cultivation world, this would undoubtedly be a signal to declare war on Qingxiao Peak.
Anyway, for Li Jin’an, if anyone dared to gratuitously insult her disciples, she would definitely go on a killing spree.
Indeed, Xie Huaixue had no conscience!
She was clearly performing a daily good deed, for Xie Huaixue’s own good!
To get angry with her over a few ill-intentioned, dirty, and smelly wretches, had Xie Huaixue’s eyes been smeared with filth? Utterly detestable!
Sensing the increasingly oppressive aura emanating from Li Jin’an, the nearby Black Butterflies fled faster than rabbits, fearing they would be shattered to pieces again.
Xie Huaixue produced a string of candied hawthorn from somewhere and handed it to her, ignoring Li Jin’an’s gaze, and stated plainly: “Because you’re clingy.”
Indeed, the young Sword Sovereign, with her buns tied up, was exactly like that. She pestered Jingting Dao Lord, clung to Chixin Sword Lord, Yinyue Monarch, and Xie Huaixue, and loved nothing more than trailing behind people with her short little legs, not leaving their side for an inch.
Sometimes, Chixin Sword Lord and Yinyue Monarch had to be careful not to step on her when they turned around, otherwise she would be inconsolable and raise hell. Xie Huaixue was the same; if she went out and didn’t bring her gifts like steamed buns, Xie Huaixue would only see her round back of the head.
Li Jin’an’s eyes widened, her cheeks flushed, and she pointed a trembling finger at Xie Huaixue, unable to speak for a long moment. “You scoundrel! You’re still bringing up stale old matters from a thousand years ago? How dare you!'”
Ahhhhhhhh!
How could she have said such shameless words?
Egregious! Who reveals someone’s embarrassing secrets in public?! How could Xie Huaixue call her clingy?!
She was not clingy towards Xie Huaixue at all!
If Blazing Radiance Sword wasn’t with her true body, she would have drawn her sword and dueled Xie Huaixue.
Butterflies throughout the deep valley were watching the show, countless pairs of eyes staring at the candied hawthorn in the Immortal Venerable’s hand, and the Sword Sovereign who was so embarrassed she was almost fuming.
Xie Huaixue paused for a moment, then nodded seriously and very solemnly, “Alright, you’re not clingy.”
This person was still holding that damned item, the candied hawthorn that had made her lose all face in front of hundreds of Black Butterflies.
Why be stubborn now, of all times, when she had no way to gracefully back down?!
Li Jin’an felt a murderous intent rise. She wanted to squash every single Black Butterfly here that had witnessed this!
The Black Butterflies, most sensitive to malice, immediately shrank onto the coffins of Qi Lingzi, Tan Yanyi, and Ling Qiu, feigning death.
Saying anything now would be useless. If it were to say it had even helped Li Jin’an, how could she turn her face and disown it? Li Jin’an would only become even more furious with embarrassment.
Li Jin’an said in a nasty tone: “I don’t like eating this!'”
Xie Huaixue’s lips curved slightly upwards, then quickly pressed back down. She brought the candied hawthorn to Li Jin’an’s mouth and said coaxingly: “Try some? This is the best candied hawthorn stand in all of Purpleleaf Town. If you don’t eat it, wouldn’t it be a shame?'”
Li Jin’an thought she wasn’t that easily appeased. She crossed her arms and sneered, “What a shame; you can eat it yourself. After all, Qingxiao Immortal Venerable isn’t clingy.'”
The last three words were spoken with as much sarcastic insinuation as possible.
“I’m clingy, I apologize.” Xie Huaixue sighed lightly and said, “I hope Sword Sovereign will do me the honor.”
Li Jin’an was a little unable to maintain her composure, but ultimately she still valued her dignity. She cleared her throat, “Anyway, I just won’t eat it.'”
By now, her anger had dissipated; how could she remember anything about Black Butterflies, colorful butterflies, or those three wretches? None of that mattered now. Now, Qingxiao Immortal Venerable was showing her deference!
There was a way to back down, but wouldn’t descending too quickly seem unseemly? It would make her seem too eager.
Li Jin’an snatched the candied hawthorn. She certainly wouldn’t let Xie Huaixue feed her. She took a fierce, big bite, then snorted heavily, “Barely acceptable.”
After speaking, she turned to lift the lids of her disciples’ coffins, and stuffed a pile of lotus seeds and red dates into Xie Huaixue’s palm.
Xie Huaixue lowered her gaze to the items in her hand, and smiled faintly.
The first to suffer having her lid opened was Tan Yanyi.
The unscrupulous master, full of wickedness, seeing her disciples lying neatly in their coffins, her subconscious reaction was to take out a recording stone and capture their unfortunate appearance.
Raising disciples, wasn’t it just for fun?
After taking souvenir recordings of all three disciples, Li Jin’an, with the candied hawthorn in her mouth, casually flipped open the lids of the other coffins too.
Over a hundred coffins with their lids flipped open were neatly arranged, looking even more frightening.
She walked to Tan Yanyi’s coffin again, and casually plucked a Black Butterfly over. “What is she seeing in the illusion right now?”
The Black Butterfly was silent for a moment, then calmly replied: “All sorts of countless beauties, delicious foods, fine wines, and great achievements.”
Generally, for someone so greedy that they couldn’t chew what they bit off, the illusion was simple; it just needed to apply a template—whatever encounters protagonists had in storybooks, it would arrange for them.
“So, wouldn’t my second disciple be the easiest to fall?”
The Black Butterfly became even more lifeless: “Not exactly. From another perspective, she’s even greedier.”
“Hm?”
“She wasn’t corrupted by the illusion because there weren’t enough beauties, delicious foods, or fine wines for her, and the achievements and fame weren’t grand enough. In short, her ambition was too vast; she could accommodate too many people and things.'”
Li Jin’an also fell silent. As expected of her second disciple, her broad affection had reached a certain realm.
Xie Huaixue stepped forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with her, and said concisely: “You should teach her more, lest she lead you astray.”
The world always felt that Jijin Sword Sovereign was a notch below Qingxiao Immortal Venerable in all aspects, not by much, but there was still a gap.
However, the world was still narrow-minded; in one aspect, Jijin Sword Sovereign surpassed Qingxiao Immortal Venerable, who cultivated the Emotionless Dao, and that was her purity of heart and lack of desires.
Li Jin’an: “…Are those supposed to be kind words?'”
Such a great Immortal Venerable, how could she be so bad at speaking!
Xie Huaixue put herself forward: “Otherwise, you could place your second disciple at Qingxiao Peak; I can teach her on your behalf.”
Li Jin’an slanted a look at her. “No need. I fear she’d hang herself on a crooked neck tree at Qingxiao Peak, and then it would be inexcusable if the Dao Sect and Sword Sect didn’t go to war.'”
Xie Huaixue didn’t speak. Judging from her expression, she seemed a little disappointed.
“What about her then?” Li Jin’an picked up the Black Butterfly, seizing the opportunity to learn more about her disciples, so she could prescribe the right medicine for their ailments in the future.
Even if she didn’t need them to confront those wretches, Li Jin’an wouldn’t let them have it too easy; the title of ‘Number One of their Generation’ absolutely had to be secured.
She was referring to her third disciple, Ling Qiu.
The Black Butterfly explained diligently: “Her illusion is singular: she’s happy as long as she’s with your eldest disciple every day.'”
Li Jin’an mused, then suddenly understood, and, unable to resist, asked another question: “Are there any scenes of her working hard to improve and wanting to revitalize Jijin Peak?”
The Black Butterfly gave an extremely affirmative answer: “Absolutely none.”
“Although she wants very little, she’s difficult to satisfy, because her spiritual sense is naturally keen. Whenever there’s something off about her eldest senior sister, her spiritual sea will become turbulent, making it easy for her to break free from the illusion.'”
“Of course, she only has such strong devotion for her eldest senior sister.'”
This brat!
Li Jin’an took a deep breath. “What about her then?'”
“The things holding your eldest disciple captive are quite numerous. She wants to defeat Immortal Venerable’s disciples, wants to bring glory to you, wants to protect her two junior sisters, wants to master her sword arts…'”
Li Jin’an felt a strange sense of comfort.
So her spirit had indeed been passed on. As expected of her pioneering first disciple.
“Then why has Qi Lingzi been trapped in the illusion for so long?”
“She wants too much, and finds it hard to let go, so she can only diligently and practically work within the illusion, just like in reality. Otherwise, how could she fulfill her numerous wishes?'”
Indeed, these days, there are truly people who, in an illusion, desire not pleasure, but suffering.
In a word, they’re all oddballs.
Even spirit monsters had their eyes opened.
Li Jin’an hadn’t said anything yet, when her peripheral vision suddenly caught movement from Ning Zhufeng’s coffin not far away.
From the open coffin, Ning Zhufeng suddenly sat bolt upright, her eyes beneath her eyelids rolling frantically, veins bulging on her forehead, as if two consciousnesses were fighting over her body.
Immediately after, all the coffins in the deep valley actually began to tremble. The people lying inside didn’t suddenly sit up, but they were close, their bodies trembling and struggling.
The fog above rolled anxiously. All the Black Butterflies disintegrated into specks of light, then coalesced, then disintegrated again… repeatedly, unable to even form a complete sentence.
Under such a bizarre sight, Xie Huaixue instinctively tugged at Li Jin’an’s sleeve.
“It’s reanimated… ah!'”
Li Jin’an’s exclamation was cut short.
The moment Ning Zhufeng opened her eyes, Li Jin’an felt a tremendous pulling force. Her full resistance was futile, and she instinctively grabbed Xie Huaixue’s hand.
At the same time, Xie Huaixue also reached out and clasped her hand.
The two vanished from the spot.
…
The next instant, the chaos in the deep valley vanished. Ning Zhufeng stopped struggling, and with a thud, the back of her head hit the coffin.
All the coffins quieted down, and continued to be immersed in beautiful illusions.
Hundreds of Black Butterflies flew together and coalesced into a human form, which was precisely Miss Zhang, the bride of the day.
It was a fusion of spirit monsters, but not merely a spirit itself; it leaned more towards the monstrous. It named itself—Skin Weaver Demon.
Everyone who saw it saw their most beloved and fixated lover. It could then see their memories, and keep people trapped in beautiful dreams forever. Every butterfly in Purpleleaf Town was someone’s lover.
Divine consciousness clones and illusions were merely its methods of concealment.
As soon as it detected Li Jin’an and Xie Huaixue outside the town, the Skin Weaver Demon decisively acted, changing the town’s focus. That was why it had seemed so peculiar.
However, in front of these two, the Skin Weaver Demon didn’t dare to use any of its tricks. It had, however, put on a rather good act.
When Ning Zhufeng ‘reappeared,’ it seized the opportunity to pull the two into an illusion, simply wanting to erase their memories of Purpleleaf Town and then happily send these oddballs on their way!
In total, there were eight people from two different groups of masters and disciples, and not a single one of them was normal.
There’s no need to elaborate on the Sword sovereign’s disciples; each had their own eccentricities. As for the Sword sovereign herself, the memories and obsessions the Skin-Stripping Demon saw were entirely focused on sword practice and fighting. Occasionally, flashes of her youth appeared, which sounded very proper, but in reality, those fleeting images were entirely of Immortal Venerable Xie Huaixue. Even when practicing sword arts alone, she would murmur Xie Huaixue’s name; otherwise, her sword practice wouldn’t feel right.
On Immortal Venerable Qingxiao’s side, unusually, nothing at all could be seen; everything was shrouded in mist, which was very strange.
Her disciples were even more unusual; some weren’t truly human, and others were half-human, half-yao. Not only that, they all harbored improper intentions towards their revered master!
The Skin-Stripping Demon was completely numb; it just wanted to hurry and send these oddballs away!