Song Yao paused in her tracks.
Feng Qing squinted at her retreating figure. “There's no need to explain. There aren't that many people in this world with a God-grade metal spiritual root. Aside from you, I can't think of a second person.”
She let out a bizarre laugh. “I never expected, truly never expected, that you would still be alive. There must be quite a few people in the Tianshu Realm who miss you, aren't there?”
“If they were to find out that your cultivation is at this level now, I'm afraid your end would be a thousand, ten thousand times worse than mine!”
Unable to conceal her schadenfreude, her eyes darted around. “Right, I remember that girl Qingqiu seemed to care quite a bit about you back then, harboring a grudge because you defeated her so many times. If she found out you were Song Yao, it would certainly be very interesting.”
“Do you think she would break your bones, seal your spiritual root, and torture you to death?”
Song Yao found it amusing and turned back to say a few more words to her. “Senior Feng, just because you are someone who stops at nothing to get what you want, how can you slander Sect Master Chen? She is far kinder than you.”
“Kind?”
Feng Qing reacted as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world. “Why do you think I am currently this weak and wretched?”
Song Yao: “Was it not because you were beaten by Ye Chongguang?”
“Naturally, Ye Chongguang played a part! I was heavily injured by him, and it was with great difficulty that I brought the Supreme Elder back to the sect, thinking I had escaped to safety. But guess what happened next?”
A trace of sarcasm flashed through Feng Qing's eyes. “Chen Qingqiu, that ungrateful wolf, was waiting for me in the sect. She coaxed and deceived me with every word, and actually planted a Spirit-Devouring Parasite in me! Surely you've heard of the Spirit-Devouring Parasite, haven't you?”
Song Yao had naturally heard of it.
It was a top-tier venomous parasite. Within a few days of being infected, the victim would go blind and lose all five senses, requiring a very long time to fully recover. Furthermore, they would be shackled by the mother parasite for the rest of their life, with all their senses controlled by it.
If the mother parasite died, the host of the child parasite would suffer ten thousand times the agony and die along with it.
This poison was far too cruel, intolerable to the cultivation world. She hadn't expected Chen Qingqiu to know the method of refining parasites.
“I am her master! If not for me, she would have died on Liuxian Island long ago!”
Feng Qing stared at her with hatred, her voice squeezed from between her gritted teeth. “It's fine if she doesn't feel grateful to me, but to treat me like this!”
Her gaunt fingers clenched her hem, her knuckles turning white. She forced a cold laugh. “Well? Do you still think she is a kind person now?”
But Song Yao's face showed a trace of confusion. “But what does her being kind or not have to do with her placing a parasite in you?”
Feng Qing froze slightly. “What do you mean?”
Song Yao's brow furrowed slightly. “In the beginning, you were the one who dragged her back to the sect and subjected her to absolute abuse. You were the one who placed a parasite in her first, and for your own selfish desires, you wanted her to marry an idiot like Ye Chang'an—”
“She merely took her revenge. How does that make her unkind?”
She thought about it and added, “If I were her, I would also make you marry Ye Chang'an. Only then would it be considered even. What do you think?”
Feng Qing: “...”
She suddenly came to her senses, feeling that she must have truly gone mad just now to say such things to Song Yao.
The most absurd, the most bizarre, and the most heartless person of all was right here.
Feng Qing drawled, “Indeed, what Chen Qingqiu did must seem completely ordinary and insignificant to you. After all, the personal disciples of the Nine Saints Hall were all ruined by you; otherwise, they wouldn't have all gone mad after your death.”
“When it comes to acting against those close to you, you certainly know far more than Chen Qingqiu.”
Song Yao curled her lips in a smile. “Thank you for the compliment.”
Feng Qing was rendered speechless.
There was a reason this person could become the Sword Demon.
She possessed absolutely no emotion.
Those unaffected by the secular world had the most transparent minds. No wonder she was unrivaled in the way of the sword.
How terrifying. How was she any different from a demon?
Suddenly, ripples appeared on the barrier behind them. Feng Qing narrowed her eyes and curled her lips slightly. “My dear disciple is here.”
A gold-embroidered hem was the first to sway out from the barrier, followed by a tall and elegant figure.
Feng Qing leaned lazily back against the ice bed, focusing her breath to heal her injuries. With the air of someone watching a show, she said to Song Yao, “What do you think Qingqiu would do to you if she knew you were Song Yao?”
She didn't lower her voice in the slightest, clearly intending to expose her.
Yet, Song Yao maintained her serene and calm demeanor. She even turned her head of her own accord, following Feng Qing's gaze to look at Chen Qingqiu as she walked in, and asked with a smile, “That's right, what are you going to do to me?”
Feng Qing sneered.
She still dared to provoke.
Truly courting death, thinking she was still the Song Yao of old.
But the smile vanished the instant Chen Qingqiu silently reached out to pull the cloak's hood over Song Yao's head.
Her dear disciple's cheeks were slightly flushed, and she spoke in a gentle voice Feng Qing had never heard before: “Don't catch a cold. It's very chilly here, and your health isn't good.”
Before she could say anything, Chen Qingqiu held out her hand to Song Yao. A parasite slowly crawled out from a vein in her wrist and stopped in her palm.
Chen Qingqiu said softly, “My master harmed many of your people from the Nine Saints Hall and almost took your life. This is the mother parasite that can control her. I give it to you as an apology.”
Feng Qing's pupils shrank. She could no longer lie down and scrambled to sit up. “Chen Qingqiu! Are you mad?! I am your master! How—how dare you hand the parasite over to her! She is Song Yao! She is the Sword Demon! Do you want to get me killed?!”
Chen Qingqiu lightly pinched the parasite. Feng Qing's throat instantly went hoarse, and she lost her voice. Her eyes widened so much they nearly popped out of their sockets. She struggled with all her might, but could not even leave the ice bed.
Song Yao glanced at her and pushed the parasite back. “It's not very interesting. I don't want it.”
Chen Qingqiu seemed slightly disappointed but did not force the issue, and the parasite crawled back into her vein.
She said softly, “I heard everything you two said just now. The situation in Frost City is indeed as Master described. She really doesn't know much. Is there anything else you want to ask? With the parasite in my possession, she won't lie.”
Song Yao shook her head and smiled at her. “No, let's go out.”
Chen Qingqiu nodded. “Alright, I will walk you back to your sleeping palace.”
The two of them left the barrier one after the other, leaving a bewildered Feng Qing behind.
...
The decorations in the hall were extremely luxurious and extravagant, even surpassing the grandeur of Feng Qing's main hall in Song Yao's memory.
Not thinking too much about it, she sat down at the table, grabbed two grapes from the fruit plate, and ate them, asking indistinctly, “Back at Black Cloud Mountain, you already knew I was Song Yao?”
During their last meeting, she had still thought of concealing her identity, but now there was absolutely no need.
Seeing this, Chen Qingqiu took the bunch of grapes, peeled them for her, placed them in a small cup, and gave a low murmur of assent.
Song Yao felt a slight sense of defeat.
She had thought she had successfully deceived her back then, but it turned out the other party had merely gone along with it.
She sighed silently, still not understanding why she had repeatedly exposed her identity before.
However, given the current situation, whether her identity was exposed or not made little difference. She simply tossed it to the back of her mind and asked, “Then after we parted at Black Cloud Mountain, where did you hide? Did you leave the Tianshu Realm? I heard that even the people from Yong'an Tower couldn't find you.”
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