Wen Li finished peeling the peach and extended her hand.
Zongzheng Huangyue thought the fruit was for her and reached out to take it, but Wen Li casually popped the peach into her own mouth.
Crunch.
“...” A trace of grievance flickered within the young girl’s calm eyes.
Wen Li acted as though she didn't see the gaze. After swallowing the first bite, she turned her head and looked at her with lazy eyes.
“There are only two situations where I will be angry with you.”
Zongzheng Huangyue perked up her ears to listen.
“First, if you disobey my words.”
“Second...”
Wen Li stood up.
“I do not like my disciples using self-harm as a way to scheme against me.”
You can self-harm, and you can scheme, but you absolutely cannot use such methods on her.
With those words, Wen Li turned to leave.
Left behind, Zongzheng Huangyue’s pupils trembled and her expression froze. Her hand tightened around the blanket draped over her; her Master knew.
How could she have known?
Watching Wen Li about to enter the house, Zongzheng Huangyue couldn't help but raise her voice.
“Master, I was wrong.”
“What was your mistake?”
Wen Li slowed her pace and paused. She turned to look at her. As the twilight faded, the light on their faces dimmed, casting a silhouette against their deep-set features and high-bridged noses.
Zongzheng Huangyue’s heart tightened. She looked directly into Wen Li's eyes, no longer daring to hide her calculations.
“I shouldn't have let myself get hurt. Zongzheng Yingchu only destroyed my knees; those thirty-eight lashes were ones I ordered the guards to give me.” Her voice was low yet carried clearly through the breeze.
Seeing Wen Li remain silent with a cold face, Zongzheng Huangyue’s heart raced. No matter how much she schemed, she was still only fifteen years old. Compared to a ten-thousand-year-old soul like Wen Li, her psychological resilience was lacking. Her body stiffened.
“I wanted to deepen Master’s resentment toward Zongzheng Yingchu to bolster my future revenge. I wanted Master to see the determination and sacrifice I made to become your disciple, so that among all your disciples, you would spare an extra glance for me.”
“I know that besides me, Master already has three other disciples. I do not know their temperaments, but I know I am the latest to join the sect. I am not as talented in talismans or the Dao of the Sword as my Third Senior Brother. I could only use myself as a bargaining chip and offer my sincerity to seek Master’s pity.”
Zongzheng Huangyue’s eyes flickered, her voice trembling and hoarse as she maintained a lowly posture. “I was wrong—wrong for using my own injuries to scheme for Master’s pity.”
Wen Li walked toward her, her slender waist accentuating her tall figure. Her green robes swayed gently, and her long hair was loosely held by a hairpin transformed from Hold On, giving her an ethereal and unrestrained air. She stepped onto the arched bridge and stood before Zongzheng Huangyue, looking down at her.
Her gaze was devoid of joy or sorrow. “No.”
“Your mistake was not scheming for my pity, but allowing yourself to be injured.”
“...”
Zongzheng Huangyue’s pupils dilated. What?
Seeing her confusion, Wen Li reached out and pressed her long finger against the eye-catching red lash mark on Huangyue's collarbone. Her nails were rounded and short, yet her beautiful fingertip pressed firmly into the wound.
“Does it hurt?”
She lifted her pale ink-colored pupils and looked down at her.
Zongzheng Huangyue’s brow furrowed for a second before immediately relaxing. A broken smile appeared on her pale face.
“...It doesn't hurt.”
Wen Li increased the pressure until her fingertip turned white from the force. She asked again.
“Does it hurt?”
Zongzheng Huangyue looked up, and in Wen Li’s incredibly beautiful eyes, she could clearly see the wretched reflection of her own bloodshot eyes. Even though the pain in her collarbone caused cold sweat to bead on her forehead and her breathing to hitch, she continued to smile without a change in expression, a smile that carried a hint of fawning.
“...Master, I'm not in pain.”
Wen Li’s gaze darkened. She immediately released her hand, took out a handkerchief, and gently wiped the bloodstain she had pressed out of the girl's collarbone.
“If it doesn't hurt, why are you crying, you fool?”
Being scolded by her for the first time, Zongzheng Huangyue was bewildered. Looking at Wen Li standing before her, her heart suddenly skipped a beat. She was crying?
She subconsciously reached up to wipe the corners of her eyes and realized there were tears from the intense pain.
“In order to make me feel sorry for you, you didn't hesitate to endure thirty-eight lashes from a Nascent Soul cultivator. Now that I’m right in front of you, why aren't you crying out in pain and telling me how aggrieved you feel?”
Wen Li’s words came like a sudden downpour, but Zongzheng Huangyue was stunned. Had she misunderstood?
Master's words...
Was she not testing her willpower and telling her to endure the pain?
“Remember, you may scheme against me, as long as you do not disobey me; I look forward to the day you actually succeed in scheming against me. However, I do not wish to see any disciple use self-harm to scheme for anything here. That is belittling yourself.”
Wen Li reached out and pinched Zongzheng Huangyue’s chin. Standing tall and looking down with a cool, detached gaze, her voice was thin and cold, yet held a trace of patience.
“What I teach you is self-respect and self-love. All things are for your use, yet none may insult you; you are the ultimate standard. You can show weakness or self-harm to scheme against others—that is a bargaining chip to seek profit, a move in your game.”
“But with me, you do not need to lay out plans or plots. Whatever you want, just ask, and I can give it to you.”
“...”
What?
Zongzheng Huangyue’s pupils shook, and her heart gave a violent throb. The sour numbness in her throat reminded her that she hadn't misheard.
Whatever I want, she can give it to me... without me having to scheme...
Wen Li looked at her with a helpless gaze. Her hand slowly released Huangyue's chin, and her fingertips gently wiped away the tears at the corners of the girl's eyes.
“In this sect and with me, you don't have to disguise yourself like you do with others. Be yourself. If it hurts, say so; there's no need to endure it. If you don't speak up, no one will feel for you. Whatever you want, whoever you want dead—I can give you everything I am able to give. You don't need to waste your effort scheming.”
Zongzheng Huangyue processed these words in her mind. She didn't understand. She didn't understand why she would be so good to her.
“Why?” She didn't believe anyone would be good to her for no reason.
“Because...”
Wen Li tilted her head slightly and looked toward the now completely dark sky, the light in her eyes covered by the night.
“From the countless living beings, I have chosen you all to defy the Heavenly Mandate with me and turn the tide of destiny.”
“I will pave a path to the heavens for you so that you are no longer discarded pawns and no longer have to suffer ill fate. You shall be the masters of your own lives.”
This was the first time Zongzheng Huangyue had heard Wen Li speak this way. However, before she could see the expression deep in her Master's eyes, Wen Li had already turned back toward her.
“In any case, remember: the only person in this world you can trust is me, and only I can save you. That is enough.”
Zongzheng Huangyue stared at her in a daze, her throat feeling parched.
“...Yes, Master.”
She vaguely sensed the peril and turbulence beneath Wen Li’s words.
She knew the reasons behind this were not yet something she could grasp, and for now, she didn't want to know.
“I will have six disciples. Your talents will vary, and the paths you enter will all be different. You don't need to worry too much about talent; talent does not equal strength. In the future, whether your personalities clash or you have conflicts, I will not interfere. As long as no one dies, it doesn't count as internal strife. You can scheme against each other as much as you like.”
Wen Li recalled the issue of talent she had mentioned earlier and spoke directly.
Hearing this, Zongzheng Huangyue was astonished. Other sects demanded harmony among disciples, so why was it here that they could... do whatever they wanted?
But a second later, she understood. “Yes, this disciple understands.”
It wasn't that their Master wouldn't manage them, but rather that she wanted these disciples with different specialties to learn the essence of each other's skills through constant friction and conflict. That way, they would have solutions when facing other cultivators.
In that case...
The six disciples would be living together for a period of time.
Since they could do as they pleased, then forming alliances would be allowed as well...
Rate on N.U.
