Chao Xiaotu raised her head and, sure enough, through the wooden window, she saw quite a few disciples running toward the front.
What happened yesterday, when Chao Xiaotu and the others encountered the Demon Venerable during the trial, had already spread everywhere. The Young Sect Master had gone alone to rescue them, yet had not returned for such a long time. Everyone was extremely anxious—especially the few Ling-generation junior disciples she had rescued. Upon hearing the news, they all climbed up from their beds in the medical hall.
Listening to Lingji and Lingyun’s excited voices, Chao Xiaotu silently curled her lips into a smile.
—They thought that this time, Chao Jinsui would return safely.
Only she knew that when Chao Jinsui came back this time, her entire body would be soaked in blood, her meridians shattered.
She wanted to confirm it once more. Grabbing her sword, she had just stepped out of the medical hall when she saw Su Liuyun.
Su Liuyun looked somewhat weighed down with worries, yet he still nodded toward her and smiled gently. “Junior Sister Xiaotu, are you feeling better?”
Chao Xiaotu’s gaze flickered. “Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother. I am already fine.”
She naturally followed behind Su Liuyun.
Everything seemed to overlap with her previous life.
Amid everyone’s cheers, Chao Jinsui would return gravely injured.
She subconsciously looked at the man she had loved across two lifetimes.
In her previous life, she had not obtained Su Liuyun’s heart. If this time, Chao Zhaoyue failed to find the spiritual medicine—if in this life Chao Jinsui could only become a cripple…
Then would Su Liuyun still spare her another glance?
She quickened her pace, almost impatient to witness this scene with her own eyes.
However, when she reached the mountain gate, her expression froze.
She saw Chao Jinsui’s figure.
She wore a snow-white fox-fur cloak, her bearing composed, her gaze cool and distant as she looked toward her. Her long hair was tied up with a white ribbon, fluttering in the wind like an immortal.
She was not coughing blood, not unconscious, not on the verge of death. Instead, she stood not far away—calm and indifferent.
As if noticing Chao Xiaotu’s gaze.
Chao Jinsui lifted her eyes, narrowing them slightly, staring straight at Chao Xiaotu.
Chao Xiaotu’s shocked expression was far too obvious—could it be that she had also meddled in this matter?
She asked the system. The system pondered for a moment, saying it needed to observe a while longer before it could be certain.
On the other side, the Great Elder had already stepped forward. “Are you injured? Why did you return so late?”
Chao Jinsui spoke, “I encountered some matters… I almost didn’t make it back.”
“As for this trial, there is indeed something important that must be discussed with the elders—for example, a traitor has appeared within the sect.”
As soon as the words fell, the surrounding disciples burst into an uproar.
Not far away, Su Liuyun’s figure paused.
The Great Elder frowned and asked, “What exactly happened? Let’s go to the discussion hall and talk.”
But Chao Jinsui did not move. She said softly, “Isn’t it just right to deal with the traitor in front of all the sect’s disciples?”
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
In the end, the Great Elder brought reinforcements.
When Sect Master Chao Taichu arrived, the junior disciples who had been chattering noisily immediately fell silent.
He was tall and imposing without anger, the pressure of a high-level cultivator giving him the bearing of a sect master. He frowned slightly, looking somewhat displeased, his tiger-like eyes fixed on Chao Jinsui as he asked, “What exactly is the matter, to cause such a disturbance?”
Behind him, the Elder of the Punishment Hall was also present.
They had been discussing the upcoming sect grand competition. When they received word from a disciple about what was happening here, they came together.
After a simple exchange of greetings, the surroundings fell silent.
Chao Jinsui asked, “Elders, what is the punishment for plotting harm against fellow disciples and seizing the chance to poison them?”
Behind Chao Taichu, a man with a ferocious scar across his face and a sharply hooked nose spoke with a grave expression, “Naturally, they are to be sent to the Punishment Hall and receive thirty lashes.”
She asked again, “What about colluding with another sect and framing the Young Sect Master—what is the punishment?”
Hearing this, even the scar on the Punishment Hall elder’s face seemed to twitch. “Naturally it is—”
But before he could finish speaking, Chao Taichu, who had faintly sensed something was wrong, interrupted him.
He said, “What exactly has happened? Stop speaking in riddles.”
Chao Jinsui handed the small bottle from her sleeve to the Punishment Hall elder.
The Kunlun Sword Sect’s Punishment Hall specialized in disciplining disciples. The disciples of the Kunlun Sword Sect were extremely combative, and the misuse of spiritual medicine and the planting of gu were not uncommon. The Punishment Hall elder was experienced and knowledgeable—he merely sniffed it, and his expression changed drastically.
Several of the Ling-generation disciples who had been standing nearby to welcome the Young Sect Master were also stunned, because they all recognized it.
Wasn’t that the Blood-Replenishing Pill Senior Brother Su had handed to the Young Sect Master?
Sure enough, Chao Jinsui called them by name. “Lingyun, Lingji, can you testify that this is the Blood-Replenishing Pill Su Liuyun gave me that day?”
Lingyun, the youngest, hesitated for a moment, then still stepped forward, bowed, and said, “It is, Young Sect Master.”
Chao Jinsui looked toward the figure not far away, her voice very soft, “Su Liuyun, you colluded with the Hehuan Sect and harmed fellow disciples—what exactly are you trying to do?”
Su Liuyun remained silent for a long time.
Only when the shocked and puzzled gazes of the junior brothers and sisters around him turned toward him did he finally speak, “That was not poison. It was a love gu.”
Chao Xiaotu’s hands clenched tight, her face turning pale.
The surroundings were deathly silent.
Su Liuyun let out a sigh. “I… it is because I have been deeply devoted to the Young Sect Master. Knowing she has no feelings for me, I became possessed and took the wrong path. I am willing to accept punishment.”
His manner was utterly sincere, filled with devoted affection.
Chao Jinsui let out a soft laugh, “This is not an ordinary love gu.”
“If it is not neutralized within three shichen, the qi and blood will flow in reverse, the meridians will shatter, and cultivation will be completely destroyed.”
She stated calmly, “You wanted to turn me into a cripple.”
He lowered his head and said with great difficulty, “So… so I kept waiting on the road for your return. As long as you… nothing would have happened to you.”
Chao Taichu suddenly spoke, shouting, “Enough!”
“Su Liuyun, you have truly lost your mind!”
“Men, take him to the Punishment Hall. Thirty lashes, then send him to Siguo Cliff to reflect for three months!”
Clearly, Chao Taichu did not want to make this a big matter. He only wanted to let it pass lightly.
But Chao Jinsui was unwilling.
She stared fixedly at the Punishment Hall elder, an invisible pressure spreading outward,
“Elder, colluding with an external sect and framing the Young Sect Master—what is the punishment?”
On the left stood Chao Taichu, on the right Chao Jinsui.
Forced between them, cold sweat broke out across his forehead, and under the immense pressure he stammered endlessly.
She shouted sharply, “Speak! What is the punishment?”
He trembled in fright and said in a quavering voice, “E-execution!”
As the words fell, a deathly silence descended around them.
Chao Xiaotu finally could not hold back and stepped forward.
In her previous life, because Chao Jinsui had made a Heaven and Earth Contract, she had always yielded and endured before her. So Chao Xiaotu had never been polite when speaking—her words sharp and biting,
“Senior Brother may be at fault, but his crime does not deserve death. For something that hasn’t even happened, you’re already shouting for killing and punishment—Young Sect Master, how imposing! Is your life precious, while the lives of other disciples are cheap?!”
Chao Jinsui raised her eyes to look at her.
That gaze, for a moment, looked exactly like the demon god who destroyed heaven and earth in her previous life.
Chao Xiaotu was startled and abruptly stepped back.
For a moment, overwhelmed by her aura, her lips trembled, and she could not utter another word.
Chao Taichu was indeed furious today because of Su Liuyun—of course, not because of Chao Jinsui.
He had intended to match Su Liuyun with Chao Xiaotu, and Chao Xiaotu was utterly devoted to him. Su Liuyun’s actions had embarrassed him, so he was filled with displeasure. With a flick of his sleeve, he said, “Siguo Cliff—three years!”
He believed he had already made a great concession: three years beneath Siguo Cliff and thirty lashes was already a heavy punishment.
Yet Chao Jinsui still did not move.
The others began whispering among themselves.
Chao Taichu was full of irritation, glaring at this daughter who had always been obedient.
But she merely looked at him quietly.
He came before her in irritation and, suppressing his anger, said in a low voice, “Do you intend to let this matter cause the entire Kunlun to fall out with the Su family?!”
His voice was very soft—only the two of them could hear it. “The bigger picture comes first. Have you even lost the most basic sense of composure?”
Chao Jinsui clenched her palm, her fingers turning pale.
Those words were too familiar.
In that nightmare, after Chao Zhaoyue died, she had been utterly despairing, enduring day after day the agony of severed meridians being remade, dreaming every night of killing Su Liuyun.
Once her body had recovered, the very first thing she did was carry her sword to find Su Liuyun.
She had wanted to tear him into ten thousand pieces.
But Chao Xiaotu had stood in front of him—
“You made a Heaven and Earth Oath! If you want him dead, step over my corpse first!”
Yes, she had made a Heaven and Earth Oath: to protect Kunlun, to protect Chao Xiaotu, even unto death.
The hand holding her sword trembled.
Everyone was persuading her.
Her senior and junior brothers and sisters were all deceived by Su Liuyun’s image as a graceful gentleman. They said, “Senior Brother Su was only momentarily confused.”
The elders pressured her, questioning her: “Are you going to cause turmoil in Kunlun because of personal grudges? Do you want Kunlun to become enemies with the Su family?”
Chao Taichu said, “The cultivation world is in peril. The human race is at a critical moment of unity. You are the Young Sect Master, you must put the bigger picture first!”
The Fumo Sword trembled in her grip.
In the end, she let go of the sword.
At the moment the Fumo Sword fell to the ground, it was as though she had fallen into a nightmare she could never wake from.
From then on, all hope extinguished, she lived like a walking corpse.
Day after day, she watched Su Liuyun live freely and happily. But as long as Chao Xiaotu’s devotion remained unchanged, she would never even have the possibility of touching him.
When she was young, Chao Taichu had taught her: right and wrong have their own judgment; justice resides in the hearts of the people.
She had hated evil as though it were an enemy, countless times stepping forward to uphold righteousness in this world.
Yet in the end, kneeling for a long time in the snow, all she received in return was Chao Zhaoyue’s corpse;
And her entire life, in exchange, only bought Su Liuyun three years beneath Siguo Cliff.
Her gaze passed over each familiar face, almost overlapping with that nightmare from her previous life.
At last, her eyes settled on Su Liuyun’s face.
His complexion was pale, but if one looked closely, from beginning to end, he had not even panicked.
The Su family was powerful and influential. For the sake of not falling out with them, Kunlun would never lay a hand on the Su family’s only heir. And he also had Chao Taichu’s treasured daughter deeply devoted to him.
From beginning to end, he had seen everything clearly—no matter how much she insisted today, there would be no better outcome.
She seemed to be the Young Sect Master, the future leader of Kunlun, basking in boundless glory.
In truth, she was nothing more than duckweed adrift in the air—alone, with nothing behind her.
From beginning to end, she had only one person.
And so that person had always acted without restraint—if he liked something, he had to have it. If he could not have it, he would not hesitate to destroy it.
But having only one person… was enough.
She softly said, “Alright.”
Chao Taichu revealed a relieved expression. The Punishment Hall elder wiped the sweat from his forehead. Everyone let out a breath of relief.
No one noticed how gentle, how strange her tone was.
—As expected, she was still the same as before, the qualified Young Sect Master in everyone’s eyes.
Gentle, humble, never calculating personal gain or loss.
Yet the very next moment—
With a sharp zheng, she abruptly drew the long sword at Chao Taichu’s waist, the one closest to her.
No one saw her movement clearly—only that the sword qi surged like a rainbow, sweeping Chao Xiaotu, who stood before her, aside.
Then, amid everyone’s shocked cries—
With a backhand thrust, puchi, she fiercely stabbed straight through Su Liuyun.
Fairness? Justice?
If others would not give it, she would take it herself.
