Chapter 2

Drip—

An icy droplet landed on the tip of Qin Zhiyue’s nose, its chill seeping into her skin. She frowned and opened her eyes. Not a trace of light could be seen around her, and the faint scent of damp air mingled with stone. She sighed inwardly. It should have been three days since they returned to the First Sword Sect.

She truly had not done it on purpose. Qin Zhiyue felt terribly wronged. Who could have expected that on one of her rare trips down the mountain, before she had even traveled ten li from the sect, she would accidentally fall into that cave?

When she woke up, she saw the sect’s Senior Sister covered in blood and clutching a sword. At almost the exact same moment, a blood-red gu worm flew toward her, and Qin Zhiyue instinctively swung her sword at it…

Up to that point, the situation had still been manageable. But the instant the gu worm came into contact with Qin Zhiyue’s spiritual energy, it suddenly split in two. The slightly larger one entered Qin Zhiyue’s body, while the other entered Senior Sister’s.

Even now, remembering Xiao Weimian’s expression at the time, like a wrathful demon from hell, made Qin Zhiyue’s heart nearly stop. She had instinctively turned and run, while Xiao Weimian walked toward her with her sword in hand. Before anything else could happen, however, the cave collapsed.

When Qin Zhiyue woke again, the unconscious Senior Sister was lying beside her.

Qin Zhiyue raised her eyes and glanced around. She was currently inside the First Sword Sect’s Soul Tower—which, in plain terms, was a prison for disciples who had committed offenses. Despite being in the sect for so long, she had never visited this place before.

If this matter had not involved Xiao Weimian, an outer disciple of her rank probably [Read on BaiLianTales]would not even have been qualified to be brought here.

Just as Qin Zhiyue was idly letting her thoughts wander, a violent fluctuation of spiritual energy made her squeeze her eyes shut. With her head lowered, she could sense two people standing before her.

“Take her away.”

It was Wen Yixi’s voice. Qin Zhiyue recognized it. She let her limbs hang limply, her white outer robe dampened by the moisture in the air. With her spiritual energy sealed, Qin Zhiyue was no different from an ordinary person. Unable to dry her clothes, she could only allow the two inner disciples to cast a spell and unlock the shackles around her wrists.

Her arms were seized, and Qin Zhiyue was dragged away in a miserable state, her face deathly pale. Her dantian was so dry that it could not produce the slightest trace of spiritual energy. At that moment, she was no different from a mortal who had gone without food for three days and nights.

When Qin Zhiyue was mercilessly thrown from her cell into a hall wreathed in clouds and mist, her depleted spiritual energy slowly recovered by a fraction. But given her cultivation level, no one paid any attention to such a paltry amount.

The mist-filled hall was abundant with spiritual energy. Aside from Wen Yixi and several familiar-looking outer disciples… Qin Zhiyue weakly raised her eyes. Several dead leaves were still caught in her long black hair, and her outer disciple uniform was stained with mud. Kneeling on the floor, she slumped sideways as though she had no bones. She looked utterly improper, but Qin Zhiyue truly could not muster any strength.

“Insolent.” The voice was ethereal and icily solemn, unhurried yet entirely devoid of emotion.

A crushing pressure surged toward Qin Zhiyue with the voice. Her heart pounded wildly. The owner of that voice was powerful enough to erase her from existence without the slightest effort.

“A mere outer disciple, yet every word out of your mouth is a lie.”

As the imperious words fell, Qin Zhiyue, who was already kneeling, felt a tremendous weight descend upon her shoulders. Her entire body was pressed tightly against the floor. The pressure made it difficult for her to breathe, while a chill gradually spread from deep within her marrow. Qin Zhiyue lowered her head and trembled, appearing exceptionally terrified.

She knew who this person was: the leader of the First Sword Sect, Venerable Zifei.

A sword cultivation prodigy who had risen to fame at a young age, she had become renowned throughout the cultivation world with her Feixue Sword. Before even reaching two thousand years of age, her cultivation had already advanced to the Deity Transformation stage. Combined with the Sword Sect’s techniques, which strengthened a cultivator’s physique, she could be considered the strongest person in the cultivation world in a direct confrontation, apart from those reclusive mighty experts.

At least, that was the information Qin Zhiyue had acquired before recovering her memories. Now, however, every powerful figure would eventually become another stepping-stone on the female lead’s path of growth.

In this world, Xiao Weimian would be the ultimate victor. After all, the Heartless Sword Dao was such an absurdly unreasonable existence.

“Senior Sister Zifei, she is merely an outer disciple. How could she possibly harm Weimian?”

This voice was soft and unhurried, yet carried a calmness capable of persuading others. The frost covering Zifei’s face eased slightly. She glanced at the gentle and elegant woman beside her, gave a cold snort, and finally sat back down.

Qin Zhiyue’s breathing was ragged from the pain. She blinked with difficulty and curiously tried to raise her head to look at the speaker, but all she could see was a blurry expanse of white.

“The sect competition is approaching. How do we know she isn’t an agent planted here by the Demonic Hehuan Sect?” Zifei looked down ​bailiantales.com​at Qin Zhiyue, who lay sprawled on the floor, without the slightest hint of pity in her voice.

The feud between the Hehuan Sect and the First Sword Sect had not begun yesterday. It was a deep blood feud that would never end.

An outer disciple had appeared along the route they had taken while investigating an elder of the Hehuan Sect. The circumstances seemed extremely suspicious.

This Qin Zhiyue appeared utterly unremarkable, yet at such a time, she had caused Zifei’s disciple to suffer a serious loss. Xiao Weimian was still recuperating, and who knew how many rare natural treasures would be needed to restore the cultivation she had lost? Zifei scrutinized Qin Zhiyue. She was so ordinary that there was truly nothing suspicious about her, but…

“Sect Leader, Qin Zhiyue is an outer disciple under my supervision. She has been in the Sword Sect for over a hundred years. How could she be a spy from another sect?” The gentle voice carried a trace of helplessness, as though utterly certain that Qin Zhiyue was not an agent of the Hehuan Sect.

Had it already been more than a hundred years?

Still lying on the floor, Qin Zhiyue silently calculated. That was far longer than she had lived before transmigrating. She had already explained herself countless times over the past three days, but these people simply disliked her.

The current events were merely the beginning of the novel she had written. After the sect competition, Xiao Weimian would choose the male lead as her Dao companion, and only then would her path to the Great Dao truly begin.

“Ming Xueshi.” Zifei’s voice inexplicably took on anger and warning. “The Sword Sect’s inner cultivation method has been leaked to the outside world, and the disciple responsible has yet to be found.”

The kneeling Qin Zhiyue’s ears twitched. That name did sound familiar. Ming Xueshi was the elder in charge of [read the original at bailiantales.com]all outer sect affairs. Oh, so she was the highest-ranking superior of the entire outer sect.

After saying this, Zifei no longer paid Ming Xueshi any attention. She remained silent for a while, the spiritual pressure infused with her spiritual energy making Qin Zhiyue feel her meridians swelling painfully inch by inch, as though her body were about to explode.

Just as Qin Zhiyue was about to reach her limit, Zifei withdrew her spiritual energy and asked coldly, “Then why were you there?”

Suppressing her impatience, Qin Zhiyue recounted once more how she had gone down the mountain to gather spiritual plants. She then added quietly, “Sect Leader, with this disciple’s aptitude, I truly am unworthy of being entrusted with the important task of acting as a spy.”

What sect would be mad enough to send her here to idle around for a hundred years? Her superior would probably have fired her long ago.

Ming Xueshi’s clear voice rang out again. “If Senior Sister still has doubts, I am willing to ease your concerns.”

The person on the raised platform gently waved her sleeve. A glazed cauldron glowing with azure light floated into the air and completely enveloped Qin Zhiyue, who was kneeling on the floor.

Zifei shouted sharply, “Ming Xueshi!”

But it was already too late.

Ming Xueshi’s robes fluttered slightly as the spiritual energy around her fluctuated violently, covering her ​read the original at bailiantales.com​entire figure in frost and snow. A crystalline three-legged cauldron was summoned.

It was Ming Xueshi’s spiritual artifact—the Heart-Inquiring Cauldron.

Beneath this cauldron, anyone with a cultivation level lower than Ming Xueshi’s would be incapable of lying. However, summoning a spiritual artifact such as the Heart-Inquiring Cauldron greatly depleted its user’s cultivation.

Zifei’s expression darkened. Did Ming Xueshi trust Qin Zhiyue’s innocence that much?

“Qin Zhiyue, let me ask you this: Did you have any part in Xiao Weimian being afflicted by the gu, and are you in collusion with the Hehuan Sect?” Ming Xueshi asked slowly.

Qin Zhiyue looked terrified. Violet light obscured her face, and all that could be seen was her desperately shaking her head as she answered in a trembling voice, “This disciple has absolutely no intention of harming Senior Sister, nor any intention of endangering the sect. Sect Leader, please investigate the matter clearly!”

Beneath the Heart-Inquiring Cauldron, no one could speak falsely.

Zifei narrowed her eyes.

With a sweep of her sleeve, Ming Xueshi recalled the Heart-Inquiring Cauldron. Her face instantly turned pale, clearly having suffered a tremendous loss.

Zifei glanced at her, a faint trace of concern appearing in her eyes. Only then did she instruct the disciples beside her, “Take her away.”

Seeing that she had barely passed this ordeal, Qin Zhiyue’s suspended heart settled slightly. She truly had not intended to harm Xiao Weimian, but the definition of the word “harm” was far too broad.

Having barely cleared herself of suspicion, Qin Zhiyue was hauled up by an inner senior sister and unceremoniously thrown out of the hall.

“Hey! The Sect Leader didn’t even punish you. What do you think you’re doing, lying on the ground like that?”

Qin Zhiyue lay flat on her back without moving and replied weakly, “Senior Sister, my spiritual energy is currently exhausted. I’m afraid I’ll have to lie here on Yuxu Peak for a while longer.”

The inner senior sister’s expression changed. “This is no place for an outer disciple like you to linger. Leave at once, or don’t blame me for treating you harshly!”

“Oh?” Qin Zhiyue could still manage a smile. “Then I’ll have to trouble Senior Sister to treat me harshly.”

“You!” The inner senior sister choked with anger, yet could not actually bring herself to attack Qin Zhiyue. She closed her eyes, then asked reluctantly, “Which peak do you live on?”

Qin Zhiyue readily rattled off an address. Excellent. That saved her the spiritual energy needed to fly back.

After this ordeal, her life should be [stolen content]safe for the time being. However, Zifei had not mentioned anything about removing the gu, which was somewhat strange.

“Thank you, Senior Sister Lu.” Qin Zhiyue was thrown onto the outer sect’s mountain peak. She fell without any preparation but managed to use her spiritual energy in time to support her body.

“You clearly have spiritual energy?!” The inner senior sister immediately choked with anger, and her tone turned hostile. “No wonder the Sect Leader questioned an outer disciple as hypocritical and dishonest as you.”

Qin Zhiyue did not mind. She continued smiling without the slightest shadow crossing her expression. After straightening her hair, she bowed respectfully. “Senior Sister Lu’s criticism is justified. It is merely that we outer disciples still have duties to complete tomorrow, and we will be punished if we fail to finish them. I truly apologize to Senior Sister for deceiving you and secretly conserving my spiritual energy.”

Seeing Qin Zhiyue’s solemn expression, the inner senior sister was momentarily at a loss for words. Qin Zhiyue’s subtle jab made it seem as though she herself were terribly unreasonable. She said irritably, “I wasn’t blaming you.”

With that, she flung her sleeve and turned to leave, only to hear Qin Zhiyue’s soft voice behind her.

“Senior Sister is both beautiful and kindhearted. It was Zhiyue’s good fortune to meet a senior sister willing to help me.”

Qin Zhiyue watched the senior sister’s figure stiffen before rapidly disappearing from where she stood. She laughed inwardly. As expected of a pampered and privileged inner disciple—she was exceptionally easy to soften.

Dragging her exhausted body, Qin Zhiyue returned to the outer disciple dormitories. Fortunately, the outer sect’s mountain was large enough to accommodate some ten thousand wooden cabins, so she did not need to squeeze into a room with anyone else.

She removed the hairpin from her head and placed it on the battered table inside the room. Then she formed a Cleansing Art and plopped down on the bed.

With her eyes closed, Qin Zhiyue let out a long sigh. More had happened in the past two days than during her entire century of life in the cultivation world.

Qin Zhiyue narrowed her eyes and unconsciously crossed one leg over the other. She still felt as though she had overlooked something extremely important.

Logically speaking, she was in the fairest and most impartial sect in the cultivation world. Even if that fairness existed only on the surface, today’s interrogation had already proven her innocence, so her life should no longer be in danger.

Besides, it was only a love gu, not a fatal poison. Removing it should not be too difficult, right?

If she remembered correctly, they only needed three drops of blood from her heart…

And she was merely an outer disciple. Who would be idle enough to pay any attention to her?

As it turned out, someone truly was.

Deep into the fourth watch of the night, Qin Zhiyue opened her eyes and abruptly flipped off the bed, launching herself into the air. Almost simultaneously, the bed shattered into pieces.

Qin Zhiyue: !!!

She circulated her spiritual energy in midair, her long skirt tracing an elegant arc. But as she landed, her ankle twisted violently, and her entire body pitched forward onto the floor.

The pain in her chin completely dispelled Qin Zhiyue’s lingering drowsiness. Gritting her teeth, she secretly tightened her grip on the mustard-seed pouch at her waist. Sure enough, once someone became involved with the female lead, trouble would arrive one after another.

The person before her was shrouded from head to toe in gray mist, making it impossible to determine whether they were male or female. Even their sword was completely concealed.

Who wanted to kill her?