After Death, I Became My Shijie’s Palm-Sized Birdie – Chapter 10
by Little PandaEvents of the Past, Part 9
The traitor nearly harmed Wen Qiwu
“A life-saving grace ought to be repaid.” That was sound reasoning—except Wen Qiwu’s voice carried a faint note of gritted teeth.
She didn’t know the Qingluan Princess of Shiling Domain, but the daughter of the Qianyue Sword Sect’s Sect Master… thanks to Zuo Lan, she was quite familiar with the people and affairs there. Or rather, this matter itself was inextricably linked to Zuo Lan.
The Sect Master’s daughter was one of the few who knew the true history between Zuo Lan and Immortal Venerable1 Lin Shu—from growing up supporting each other as children, to their later falling out, when one chose to cultivate the Way of Heartlessness and the other left the Qianyue Sword Sect. After hearing the full saga of their love and resentment, the young woman seemed to have an epiphany. One day, she suddenly announced that she believed she had found someone she admired.
Zuo Lan had once mentioned this incident in a letter—inadvertently. As for who the object of that young woman’s affection was, Wen Qiwu’s expression told the whole story.
“That daughter of the Qianyue Sword Sect’s Sect Master… did she only say she wanted to repay Shijie2‘s life-saving grace?” Wen Qiwu asked Lu Qiaoyi, feigning indifference.
“Let me think…” Lu Qiaoyi deliberately drew out her words, waiting until she had Wen Qiwu squirming a little before saying, “Shouldn’t be anything else.”
Lu Qiaoyi winked at Wen Qiwu. “She certainly never said anything about repaying a life-saving grace with her body.”
Good—nothing ridiculous, then…
Wait.
Lu Qiaoyi’s words suddenly made Wen Qiwu suspicious. Why would Elder Lu say something like that?
Elder Lu had always been perceptive. Had she noticed something?
Wen Qiwu looked at Lu Qiaoyi with some wariness. The other woman’s eyes held their usual soft glow—that hazy “light” kept anyone from glimpsing the emotions buried deep within, lending Lu Qiaoyi an air of elusive mystery.
“I’ve heard about that young lady from the Qianyue Sword Sect… ahem, rest easy. The Sect Master doesn’t have those intentions, and no one is going to steal your Shijie.” Elder Lu seemed to think her attachment to Shijie was pure sect-sisterly devotion.
Wen Qiwu couldn’t read Lu Qiaoyi’s intentions. But her feelings were far from ordinary—if Elder Lu had truly noticed, she wouldn’t be reacting like this… Then again, Wen Qiwu decided she was probably overthinking it.
“But I hear the Qianyue Sword Sect’s Sect Master plans to bring his daughter here in person to offer thanks once she’s healed…” Lu Qiaoyi watched Wen Qiwu’s ever-shifting expression with great amusement.
“Xiao Que’er? Where are you going?” Lu Qiaoyi immediately followed as Wen Qiwu turned to leave.
“To find Shijie.” Wen Qiwu’s gaze shifted evasively, and she mumbled the words.
She found an excuse to part ways with Lu Qiaoyi for now. Once she was alone, Wen Qiwu immediately released a transmission paper crane. This letter was a request for Zuo Lan’s help—if all went smoothly, the Sect Master’s daughter would be too busy to come visit.
Unfortunately, she had no idea that the helper she sought had, through Shijie’s deliberate arrangement, already been thrown into the Inheritance Tower of Yuxi Sect by the Yuxi Sect Master. Zuo Lan wouldn’t be receiving her letter anytime soon.
Just as Wen Qiwu was about to leave, the voices of two disciples drifted from nearby. Since they mentioned the Sect Master the moment they spoke, Wen Qiwu stopped in her tracks.
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen the Sect Master that angry. What on earth did Elder Zhu do?”
“Definitely not a small matter. I think I just heard Elder Zhu screaming. The Sect Master had the Hall Master use the Disciplinary Whip—I’ve been in this sect for centuries and never once seen that whip drawn! Afterward, I overheard a bit, and it sounds like Elder Zhu colluded with enemies—possibly even the Demon Realm!”
“Heavens. Elder Zhu has been in the sect for thousands of years, hasn’t he? To think he’d betray the sect…”
The Disciplinary Whip? A traitor?!
When the Punishment Hall Master had come to arrest someone in person earlier, Wen Qiwu had sensed this was no simple matter. But she never imagined Elder Zhu would be a traitor. What could he have done to make Shijie this angry?
She might as well go take a look. She could head back with Shijie afterward anyway.
Wen Qiwu made her way up the mountain. The Punishment Hall stood behind the main hall, farther from the other buildings. Given its nature, it always carried a solemn atmosphere.
But today the Punishment Hall was more oppressive than ever. A restless, volatile force was being suppressed by another, far more powerful one. By the time Wen Qiwu reached the gates of the Punishment Hall, she felt an invisible hand closing around her heart, suffocating her.
The weaker disciples had all temporarily withdrawn. Even the weakest among those who remained had reached the Nascent Soul Realm. The two disciples guarding the gates smiled wryly as they let Wen Qiwu through.
Guarding the doors today was excruciating. They had to channel every ounce of spiritual power to withstand the unseen, intangible pressure in the air—and that was merely the aftershock. If it continued much longer, their reserves would be depleted. Someone needed to go in and talk the Sect Master down.
At this point, the one person in the entire sect who could possibly sway the Sect Master was Elder Wen. Fortunately, she had arrived right on time.
Wen Qiwu nodded her thanks to them and stepped inside. The disciples at the entrance had told her that Shijie and the Punishment Hall Master were interrogating the traitor in the cell. The deeper she went, the more palpable the violent energy of the Disciplinary Whip became in the air.
The Disciplinary Whip was an Immortal Artifact forged by the first Punishment Hall Master. In the right hands, it could even wield power approaching that of a divine weapon.
The Punishment Hall Master gripped the Disciplinary Whip. Before him, Elder Zhu had been reduced to a bloody figure. Yet even at this stage, the traitor refused to yield. He admitted only to a moment of greed—trading for a single cultivation technique with contacts in the Demon Realm—and insisted he had done nothing else.
“I’ll ask you one more time. Was Elder Jin’s death connected to you?” Blood slid down the length of the whip. The pale golden lash darkened, as though tainted by something filthy.
That was the marvel of the Disciplinary Whip—its transformation confirmed the man’s guilt.
“Unrelated! It truly had nothing to do with me! Sect Master, see reason! I admit I intended to act against Elder Jin, but before I could do anything, he was already dead!” The blood-soaked traitor stared with clouded eyes, desperately explaining himself.
“When Elder Jin met his end, can anyone prove you weren’t by his side?”
The traitor’s expression stiffened. At that time, he had been lured away by a spirit beast. No one had been with him. No one could vouch for him.
The interrogation had reached another impasse. The Punishment Hall Master looked helplessly to Yun Heng for instruction on what to do next.
Behind the Hall Master, Yun Heng lifted eyes devoid of any emotional fluctuation. It was getting late. She had promised to return before her Shimei3 took her evening medicine. Since this man was confirmed as a traitor, there was no reason to continue showing him mercy.
“Soul Search.”
It was the most effective method—and spared them the trouble of listening to the traitor’s lies. The subject of a Soul Search would bear tremendous consequences, but that was clearly not her concern.
It was unclear whether the words “Soul Search” had terrified the traitor, but the blood-drenched man convulsed.
“Boom!”
An explosion erupted from the direction of the cells. Demonic energy burst forth with the force of a Golden Immortal Realm self-detonation. It happened so suddenly that the surrounding disciples were caught completely off guard.
Nearby buildings were reduced to ash in an instant. Some had no time to dodge at all—they could only watch helplessly as that force bore down on them.
In the split second before multiple tragedies could unfold, the explosive power suddenly halted—then miraculously dissipated.
But at the moment of the incident, a blood-drenched figure was flung out by that force. Hair wild, resembling a vengeful ghost, he knew full well he couldn’t escape Yun Heng at the True Immortal Realm. Yet he still came charging out—straight toward Wen Qiwu, who had just entered the Punishment Hall.
Wen Qiwu met the blood man’s hollow eyes for only an instant. An eerie, bone-chilling dread crawled up her spine. Was this person even still conscious?
She immediately drew her weapon to defend herself, but before the blood-soaked figure could reach her, a surge of sword intent pierced clean through him.
“Schk!” Blood gushed out. The droplets that nearly splattered onto Wen Qiwu were intercepted entirely by Yun Heng.
The traitor who had colluded with the Demon Realm was sent flying, crashing to the ground. Yun Heng had struck with lethal intent—Elder Zhu’s very soul was shredded. Something was clearly wrong with the man’s body, and he had just been so close to her Shimei. Yun Heng would not gamble with even a single “what if.”
“Are you hurt?” Yun Heng’s tone lacked its usual composure. Her lowered lashes trembled faintly as she suppressed the fear that had gripped her. Yun Heng’s concern had clouded her judgment—otherwise a single sweep of her divine sense would have told her that Wen Qiwu hadn’t lost so much as a strand of hair.
“I’m fine.” Wen Qiwu hurriedly assured her she was unharmed. But Shijie—she looked at the hem of Yun Heng’s robes. To protect her, Shijie hadn’t spared a thought for herself. The traitor’s blood had splashed across her white garments, like the bright moon stained with grime.
Wen Qiwu immediately cast a dust-purification spell to wipe the filth from Shijie’s clothes.
“Were you frightened?” Yun Heng’s fingertips brushed, almost inadvertently, across her pale, illness-tinged cheek. The Immortal Venerable always felt that her frail Shimei might shatter at a touch. She protected her with exquisite care every day—yet today, because of a traitor, she had been frightened.
Wen Qiwu smiled and shook her head. “I’m not a child anymore. Why would I be scared by something like this? Besides, Shijie was right here. What is there to fear?”
“But… that was Elder Zhu just now, wasn’t it? He truly betrayed the sect?”
Yun Heng glanced at the corpse nearby. Cold light surfaced in her eyes, making one suspect she might be tempted to desecrate the body.
“Earlier, I detected traces of demonic energy flowing within the sect. After Elder Jin died, he let something slip. I was about to perform the Soul Search when whoever was backing him must have sensed it and moved to silence him.”
“Whoever was backing him… it must be one of the Demon Lords.” Wen Qiwu’s tone turned grave.
The Cangwang Realm contained six domains: Dongzhao Domain, Canghai Domain, Shiling Domain, Wansen Domain, Yuanzhou Domain, and the Demon Realm. The Demon Realm was divided into three, each ruled by a Demon Lord. Other than those three, Wen Qiwu couldn’t think of anyone capable of covertly controlling an Earth Immortal Realm elder of Wenshen Sect.
“It should be a Demon Lord, but he was silenced before he could speak the name.” Yun Heng frowned.
“Shijie, let me try.” Wen Qiwu proposed to Yun Heng.
Yun Heng hesitated briefly before nodding. Her Shimei walked toward the corpse, and she stayed close, guarding carefully.
Wen Qiwu gathered a pale-white flame in her palm. She cast it onto the body. Firelight engulfed everything on the ground in an instant, yet left the corpse completely undamaged.
The flames gradually shrank, finally condensing into a single mass upon the body. Wen Qiwu inscribed a rune into the fire. A twisted human face surfaced in the flames.
He looked at Yun Heng in panic, begging for rescue. “Save me! Sect Master, save me! It was Wanhun Mozhu! He made me be his inside agent! He has already broken through to the True Immortal Realm! His next step is to…”
Elder Zhu, desperately trying to prove his worth to Yun Heng, suddenly let out a wretched shriek. Wen Qiwu had been using her own technique to condense Elder Zhu’s fading remnant soul. The soul had been on the verge of stabilizing—when an unseen force erupted from nowhere and snatched the wisp of remnant soul right out of her flames!
Wen Qiwu immediately tried to reclaim the remnant soul. But protecting a soul on the verge of dissolution was extraordinarily difficult, while destroying one was effortless.
A surge of demonic energy erupted from the flames. Yun Heng instantly severed the connection between Wen Qiwu’s spiritual power and the fire, preventing her from being corrupted by the demonic energy. But the fragment of remnant soul she had painstakingly gathered was gone, dissolved completely.
Footnotes
- A title of great respect for a top-tier cultivator who has reached or is nearing the God Realm.
- Literally 'older martial sister'; a respectful term for a senior fellow disciple under the same master or sect, used both as a title and a direct form of address.
- Literally 'younger martial sister'; a term for a junior fellow disciple under the same master or sect.
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