Su Zhuyi returned to the house at the foot of the mountain with Luo Ying. Her room was some distance from Luo Ying’s. After Luo Ying entered her room, Su Zhuyi continued walking forward with Little Skull.

Walking along, she turned back to see a row of plum blossom prints on the ground.

Little Skull immediately panicked and hastily used spiritual energy to erase the string of paw prints that Yellow Dog Xiaoxiao had stepped in the snow.

Su Zhuyi said nothing and walked to the memorial stone, seeing three sticks of unburned incense still lit in front of Qin Jianglan’s memorial. She smiled. She lifted her foot to kick over the incense and topple the stone, but just as her toe was about to touch the memorial, she pulled back. The cultivation world didn’t only erect memorials for the dead—many people established longevity tablets and stones for those virtuous and respected cultivators, keeping them in their hearts and praying for their longevity.

Like Luo Ying in her previous life.

Though she had died, she lived on in many people’s hearts, passed down generation after generation, always remembered, as if always alive.

Thinking of this, Su Zhuyi didn’t destroy Qin Jianglan’s memorial either. She returned to her room and began meditating and cultivating. Gujian Sect’s sword nurturing involved first holding the sword to cultivate an emotional connection. So while meditating, Su Zhuyi placed the Broken Sword Ancestor on her lap, and with each circulation of spiritual energy through a complete cycle, she would also infuse some into the broken sword, like stroking the broken sword once after each cultivation round. At first, she often grasped at empty air because the broken sword had silently disappeared, but later she could touch it more frequently. Through one major circulation of spiritual energy—a total of one hundred and eight cycles—she estimated she touched the broken sword about fifty times, which was quite good.

After completing one major circulation, Su Zhuyi breathed and regulated her qi, feeling refreshed and clear-minded.

Because she had practiced the Meridian Moistening Formula for over ten years, her meridians were more resilient than most cultivators’, able to withstand greater force. Therefore, spiritual energy flowed faster through her meridians. For one complete major circulation of the mental cultivation method, others of equal Golden Core stage strength would need nine days, but with her previous life’s experience to learn from strengths, compensate for weaknesses, and streamline cultivation methods, she managed it in just three days.

Su Zhuyi opened her eyes and smelled flower fragrance in the room.

The room wasn’t large with simple furnishings. By the window stood a table with a flower vase containing not just red plum blossoms but also white and pink ones, filling the room with faint floral fragrance. As she stood up, she saw a little finger poking in through the window, then the window snapped open with a “pa” sound. Little Skull’s head poked in. “Big Sister, you’re awake?”

Little Skull had never grown taller. How was he this high? A sweep of divine sense revealed he wasn’t flying but was standing on a dog’s head.

He held a red stone in his left hand and a green one in his right. “Look what I found! Next time I’ll take these to give to Little Uncle—he loves red and green the most.”

Su Zhuyi: “…”

Qin Jianglan, your aesthetic sense is beyond salvation. The only time in your life your taste wasn’t problematic was when you fell for me, right?

Su Zhuyi opened her door and went out. She was planning to check on Luo Ying when she discovered someone approaching Luoxue Peak—it seemed the sect master had returned? She glanced at the Songfeng Sword stuck in front of the memorial stone, directly grasped the sword in her hand, then instructed Little Skull to hide himself well before heading toward Luoxue Peak’s entrance.

Speaking of which, when she returned, the sect master and others hadn’t come back yet, so she hadn’t actively greeted anyone and had directly returned to Luoxue Peak.

The sect master’s expression looked somewhat poor. Could it be that aside from her, no other Gujian Sect disciples had obtained good swords? As Su Zhuyi thought this, she saw the sect master had already flown up to Luoxue Peak.

“Su Zhuyi, where did your senior brother go?” the sect master asked in a deep voice.

Seeing the sect master’s expression, Su Zhuyi felt something was amiss. She secretly wondered what had happened to make the sect master look so grim. Could it be that Senior Brother couldn’t resist and devoured that sacrifice, Zhang Enning, going on a killing spree outside?

“Brother Duan, you said Luo Ying was in closed-door cultivation for recovery. Now we’ve all waited three days. How much longer do you plan to make us wait?” Just then, another person flew over on a sword. But Luoxue Peak couldn’t be trespassed upon freely, so he stopped outside Gujian territory, saying with a smile on his face.

It was another Dong Fushang Sect cultivator—this time it was the old lover of Suyue Sect’s Qu Ningsu, one of Dong Fushang Sect’s four great elders, Dongfang Yaoyang. He was quite old now, over eighteen hundred years at this time. Nascent Soul stage cultivators generally had lifespans of just over two thousand years. His form and appearance were already middle-aged. Though he looked somewhat older, he remained handsome and graceful. He appeared smiling and cheerful, but was a smiling tiger, skilled at stabbing people in the back.

Seeing Dongfang Yaoyang come personally, Su Zhuyi’s ominous premonition deepened.

“Luo Ying, ten years ago, your disciple severed Sect Master Qu of Suyue Sect’s flying sword with one strike. That sword carried extremely concentrated malevolent qi. When we came to investigate, you cleverly covered it up. But now the evidence is conclusive—do you still plan to avoid showing yourself?”

Was it revenge for that sword strike from ten years ago?

She had originally planned to go cause trouble for the Suyue Sect this time, but then felt cultivation was more important. That sect wouldn’t be jumping around much longer anyway. She hadn’t expected they would have the face to come knocking.

After Dongfang Yaoyang finished speaking, he turned to glance at Qu Ningsu, who then raised her hand. Her disciples came forward carrying a black wooden box.

When the box opened, Su Zhuyi’s eyes sharpened, then she lowered her head nonchalantly.

Inside the box was that female flying corpse—Liu Zhen from Feihong Sect, who had been taken by Zhang Enning to be refined into a living corpse! Su Zhuyi was accustomed to acting as she pleased. She didn’t harbor thoughts of slaying demons and monsters either—not harming people herself was already rare. So, after capturing Zhang Enning and taking him to purge evil qi, she had completely ignored that female flying corpse. Her senior brother also seemed uninterested in saving people and hadn’t dealt with the female flying corpse that was within range of his divine sense.

Now this flying corpse had fallen into Suyue Sect’s hands and been handed over to Dong Fushang Sect cultivators.

“This female flying corpse died ten years ago, pierced through the heart by a sword.” Dongfang Yaoyang pointed at the female corpse’s chest. Even though the living corpse had been refined and advanced in cultivation, her fatal wound wouldn’t disappear. Dongfang Yaoyang used his sword to lift open the flying corpse’s chest clothing, staring at the wound and shouting, “Luo Ying, come see—is this not the Frost Sword Intent of Tianxuan Nine Swords?”

Then he took out a crystal-white transparent stone, crushed it to powder, and slashed with his sword. The powder became mist-like, and wisps of black qi emerged from the wound, making surrounding cultivators gasp in shock.

“This sword qi also remains within the corpse. On the day the sword was wielded, the swordsman already carried cruel and murderous qi. To treat righteous path fellow disciples so cruelly—they must have already fallen to the demonic path.” Dongfang Yaoyang said this, then glanced at Gujian Sect’s master Duan Linshu. “Ten years ago, we came with Yunxiao Sect cultivators to seek justice, only to be cleverly deceived by you. This time, what do you have to say?”

Killing a righteous path dao friend and refining them into a living corpse—such behavior was worse than beasts!

“Based solely on your one-sided words, we cannot conclude this was Qinghe’s doing. I will quickly have him return to the sect for confrontation to get to the bottom of this and give everyone an explanation,” Duan Linshu said in a deep voice.

“How many have practiced Tianxuan Nine Swords to produce Frost Sword Intent? You, Gujian Sect, know this clearly in your hearts. The matter is already clear—what more is there to investigate?” A Dong Fushang Sect cultivator said dissatisfiedly. “Back then, Qinghe happened to appear in that area and severed Sect Master Qu’s flying sword with one strike. If he didn’t do it, who else could have?”

“Feihong Sect was also a decent cultivation sect, yet it was massacred overnight. We thought it was demonic path people, but unexpectedly…” Another person shook his head and sighed. “Qinghe has entered the demonic path, yet you, Gujian Sect, wholeheartedly protect him. Could it be that Gujian Sect…”

He didn’t finish, but everyone understood the implication.

The Yunfeng Master of Gujian Sect, who was already quite dissatisfied with Qinghe, now said sternly, “Gujian Sect is a famous righteous sect. If disciples under our sect fall to the demonic path, we will punish them severely.” After speaking, she looked at Su Zhuyi. “Call your master out and have her summon Qinghe back!”

No one in Gujian Sect could command Qinghe. Where he went and when he’d return, no one knew. To find Qinghe, only Luo Ying could manage it.

Just then, Luo Ying floated over from the foot of the mountain. She was very thin, looking like a wisp of wind, approaching lightly and soundlessly.

Except for the sect master, no one else had seen Luo Ying in recent years.

Even the Gujian Sect’s several elders hadn’t seen Luo Ying. Now, seeing the one-armed, deathly pale, seemingly extremely weak Luo Ying, many people were stunned. Even Dong Fushang Sect’s Dongfang Yaoyang paused slightly before saying, “So young friend was truly in closed-door cultivation, recovering from injuries. My Dong Fushang Sect has a superior spiritual spring with miraculous effects for nourishing the spirit and healing injuries. If Young Friend Luo doesn’t mind, you could stay at Dong Fushang Sect for a while.”

A gleam flashed in his eyes. Though his gaze seemed clean, Su Zhuyi had dealt with all sorts of men in her previous life and understood clearly the intentions hidden in his eyes. Su Zhuyi knew that when his lifespan was running out, he had done many filthy things to extend his life, using young female cultivators as cultivation cauldrons. She hadn’t expected this man to set his sights on Luo Ying.

At this time, Yunfeng Master said, “Luo Ying, your disciple was taught by you, and only you can call him back. Summon him back.”

Luo Ying’s gaze fell on the female flying corpse, her brows furrowing slightly.

She still remembered Liu Zhen. The Feihong Sect disciple she had rescued from beneath the forbidden land—she had already been dead for over ten years. That sword intent, that wound—it was indeed Qinghe’s doing.

“What will be done after calling him back?”

“Perhaps a hundred years of confinement?” a Dong Fushang Sect cultivator said. “Originally, how your sect deals with disciples is not our concern, but if handled inappropriately, it would be laughable if word got out.”

“In three more years, it will be the thousand-year emergence of Liusha River’s spiritual spring. Is Gujian Sect reluctant to part with such a powerful and outstanding disciple?” Liusha River spiritual spring? Where was the Liusha River? She had never heard of it in her previous life.

“I heard Qinghe previously violated sect rules but has never been punished.” Qu Ningsu laughed. “As one of the four great sects, are Gujian Sect’s rules just for show?”

She was referring to Qinghe stealing the Sword Heart Stone.

Because the sect master had always said disciples of Luoxue Peak should be handled by Luo Ying herself, and Luo Ying had been recovering from injuries for ten years while Qinghe was away, the sect master had been suppressing the matter. He hadn’t expected it would now be brought up by an outsider.

Yunfeng Master looked displeased and turned to Luo Ying. “Call Qinghe back.”

“How should his previous transgressions be handled?” Yunfeng Master asked.

Luo Ying remained expressionless. “Voluntarily returned, circumstances are extenuating—one hundred lashes with the Spirit Refining Whip.”

“What if he has fallen to the demonic path, killing like hemp and massacring entire families?” Qu Ningsu asked again.

Luo Ying raised her eyes slightly and glanced at Qu Ningsu expressionlessly. That light glance made Qu Ningsu feel cold all over. She wanted to say more but didn’t dare speak.

Seeing Luo Ying take out a transmission talisman, Su Zhuyi dropped to her knees with a “thud,” hugging Luo Ying completely. “Master, it wasn’t Senior Brother who killed them!”

If Luo Ying expelled him from the sect, Qinghe would collapse. If Qinghe went mad, Luo Ying probably wouldn’t survive either! Su Zhuyi’s heart was in chaos. She had to stop this—she couldn’t let history repeat itself.

Luo Ying looked down to see Su Zhuyi crying with tears streaming down her face. Her hand holding the transmission talisman also paused slightly.

Su Zhuyi cried, “Don’t… don’t you remember?”

She turned to glance at the sect master before choking out, “Ten years ago, I encountered Master at Qilian Mountain. Feihong Sect disciples triggered the evil sword seal at Qilian Mountain out of greed. Master Severed her arm to suppress that evil sword. Ten years have passed, and her injuries haven’t improved at all.”

She sniffled. “It wasn’t Senior Brother who killed them.”

“Qin Chuan of Yunxiao Sect can also testify! At that time, Feihong Sect disciples had all gone mad fighting over some kind of soul stone.” She brought up another witness—he had even accompanied Master back to Qilian Mountain to search for people. “If you don’t believe it, you can ask Elder He of Yunxiao Sect.”

“It wasn’t Qinghe who killed them…” Su Zhuyi repeated, but the last sentence was directed at the sect master, not daring to continue.

It wasn’t Qinghe who killed them.

Then it could only have been Luo Ying who killed them.

But Luo Ying killed those people for the sake of all under heaven, to suppress the evil sword. Now she was covered in wounds with only one arm remaining. So would others blame her?

Now it depended on how Luo Ying would handle this.

Su Zhuyi held Luo Ying tightly, looking at her with tear-filled eyes. Did she truly have no heart?