(09) Cheng ChunHua

The next day, the forest returned to normal and everyone was able to leave the forest. When they exited, Wu LiJing noticed that Lin YaWen and her group were also out.

Lin YaWen saw her and quickly walked over, looking less exhausted. Her golden hair pins were neatly placed into her two buns and she had a new teal robe on. She saluted with a grateful smile. "Miss Wu, thank you for saving me and killing that murderer! I will definitely repay you in the future!"

A few Moon Sect disciples looked over curiously.

Song Niu also was someone who was taller than most and drew the attention of multiple gazes. He saluted along with the other disciples dressed in teal, who were part of the Calming Wave Sect. "Our sect will take responsibility if anything happened due to our misjudgment."

With an indifferent nod, Wu LiJing went to find the masters to discuss what had happened within the forest. Master Lu transported everyone back to the entrance of the sect in one go with his scroll and was ready to report back to the sect leader with Master Ruan.

When Wu LiJing approached them and asked if anything major happened to the disciples, Master Lu and Master Ruan's expressions became grim.

"A whole team was attacked and murdered with daggers embedded in their bodies," Master Ruan said with a somber tone. "This killer was not an amateur and highly skilled. None of the disciples were able to call for help. They were killed one by one and before we knew it, we were only able to notice when the mirror showed us their dead bodies."

"Thankfully, only one team fell victim," Master Lu said. "However, another team informed us that they were attacked by a random man dressed in black and three were heavily injured before they were able to escape when the attacker sensed us arriving. We must report this to Sect Master Wang."

Besides that, only a few teams were heavily injured due to overestimating themselves or from not being able to work together, and failed their tasks.

Wu LiJing nodded. "I think I know who this man is."

"Were you attacked in the forest as well?!" Ruan FuPing frowned as he glanced at her worriedly. She didn't look injured at all, which made him relieved. If she was injured, how would they deal with the Sect Leader's wrath?

Wu LiJing shook her head. "I witnessed him harassing another woman and already got rid of him. Both masters can go rest first. I know what happened so I can report to master myself." Then she left.

Master Lu stared at Wu LiJing's back. His usual stern expression was replaced with a bewildered one. "So she already killed him?" Just like that?

"It seems so."

When Wu LiJing went to knock on her master's study, it seemed like he was not back yet. She stopped one of his servants and asked to make sure before she returned to her room. She sat on her bed after changing and took out the Angelica Flower. She smiled. It would help with her cultivation.

She didn't think she would come across such a flower in the forest. It makes sense why such a huge beast was guarding this flower. If she consumed, cultivated its energy, and combined it with her chi in the right moment, she could have an easier breakthrough into the Immortal Realm.

Another flower with small pale blue petals appeared in her hand, the Baby Blue Flower. This would be very helpful for Wu QiaoHua and help improve her chi absorption. Wu QiaoHua was good at condensing the chi she absorbed from nature and making it her own, however, sometimes she had trouble pulling it into her body in the first place, which can slow her cultivation.

Before they left the forest, Wu LiJing spotted the flower when she noticed a huge beast and decided to kill the beast for it. She got a small injury on her leg due to her still healing shoulder injury, but it was worth it.

The next day, Wang WeiYue finally returned so Wu LiJing was able to report back to him.

"Good job," he said with a smile. "It's a shame a few of our disciples died, but that is how this world works." He sighed. "Since you already killed him and no further damages were made, I won't hold Sect Leader Ding responsible."

Wu LiJing frowned. "But master, their decision to not report this caused this to happen. They didn't show any respect for you."

Sect Master Wang chuckled. "Wu LiJing, I know you may feel angry for me. However, it sounds like the fault lies in the decisions of the disciples, not Sect Leader Ding. I have met her before and she does not seem like an unfair person; I'm sure those disciples will be punished for this. Another thing, if I just let it be, they will owe us a favor. You should learn from this since favors could be very useful in the future."

Wu LiJing was silent but nodded in understanding.

"Master, regarding the Chestnut Village…" A few weeks had already passed but she hasn't had a chance to report back to her master.

"Go on."

"About ten men were killed in only three days. It seems these men had also anticipated this situation since they even hired people to guard them before they died. After investigating for a few more days, I found out they were all connected to one person - a woman named Su YiJu."

"Su YiJu?" Sect Master Wang lightly tapped his cheek with a finger as he listened.

"She is a seventeen year-old girl, known to have an ethereal beauty, so beautiful that no man could resist her seduction. Many knew her as a fickle person, who liked to go from house to house and seduce different men. However, it seems one of the men finally had enough of this immoral behavior and locked her up because he had wanted to have her to himself instead. From there, she stopped appearing in public. But since she was so popular, no one knew which man was the one who had done it."

"And so?"

"Many months passed, when suddenly, all of those men died, one by one. When they died, they had a missing heart and a message was left behind: I am not a seductress. After investigating some more, I learned that she had actually had a lover and had been forced by her uncle to perform in front of these men for money. She had ignored all of these men's advances however… they schemed together and locked her up, taking her by force and sharing her amongst themselves, after killing her lover who wanted to report them. The strange aspect of this situation was that Su YiJu was at peak-stage of the Second Tier when she was kidnapped, but in only a few months, she managed to have the power to kill all of these men involved in the scheme, who either had the money to protect themselves or were stronger than her, including her uncle."

Wang WeiYue smiled and turned to her. "So it was there."

Wu LiJing nodded. "However, when I arrived, Su YiJu was already gone. I wanted to follow her but I came back for the test."

He sighed and stood up. "It's a shame something so horrid happened to a young girl." He opened the window for some fresh air and looked at the blue sky. "Good job, LiJing. Leave the rest to me."

In a small city in the northeast, the back of a man dressed in deep grey robes could be seen standing inside a big room. His body was releasing a fierce pressure that made the tens of people kneeling on the floor afraid to let out a single breath. The silence in the room seemed to stretch eternally and a drop of sweat could be heard as it hit the floor.

Two deformed bodies with horrified faces were lying dead on the side with a pool of dark blood still spreading from their bodies. Their faces were unrecognizable with their skin, coated with a nasty rash.

"No one knows where he is?" the man finally spoke in a deep voice.

A cultivator wiped his sweat and answered seriously, "No, Master. H-he escaped."

"You couldn't even capture one man with tens of you?!" A dark aura was released from his body and his subordinates lowered their heads in fear while clenching their teeth. A stinging pain could be felt spreading throughout their bodies, as if a tiny needle was poking each pore.

"Master, please forgive us! Give us a chance to redeem ourselves and track him down!" the cultivator banged his head on the ground, over and over again until blood oozed from the wound. He couldn't give any excuses or it would be over. He knew best the way to survive was to redeem himself.

"Alright, stop!" The man raised his hand and the cultivator froze in place. The man turned around and looked to be around his late thirties. His eyes emitted a dark glow and his thick eyebrows were stern. He showed a wicked smile, with a scar crossing through his lips, as he walked closer to the group of men and women. "One more chance. Go find him."

"Thank you, Master! Thank you!" The group of people bowed, finally released from the stinging pain.

Then the man glanced at the two bloody bodies with a displeased expression. "And clean up these traitors' bodies!" He swung his sleeves as he walked out and the subordinate who was in charge of this mission finally breathed in relief.

…

Within the Moon Sect, Wu LiJing sat on a chair in her study room as she casually read a book. Yet the chi within her body was still circulating constantly and gathering within her lower abdomen, the core of her power.

As her eyes scanned the pages, images of herself copying the martial arts moves within the book were portrayed inside her mind. Every move was made with strong intent and with immense strength. At first, she moved slowly, then as the moves became ingrained in her mind, she moved faster and faster. She let out a breath as she finished and closed her eyes, still seeing these afterimages.

"Time to practice," she said as she stood up.

More than a few days have already passed since the test for the Moon Sect disciples occured in the Disappearing Forest. When news of the killer was known, it was quite the gossip topic. Once the masters informed the disciples that the killer was already dealt with by their direct disciple, everyone was stunned further, and it became an even bigger topic as they conversed about Wu LiJing and how great she was.

Many had not been able to see her up close since Wu LiJing never really joined in any sect activities and always did things independently. Now, they gossiped and even felt proud that their direct disciple was not only gorgeous but even more talented than they imagined. Some who had slight dislike for Wu LiJing before changed their minds while others disliked her further.

Soon, along with the topic of their sect's second direct disciple, they also started discussing about the emerging Genius Medicine Doctor, a female cultivator that was unknown until a few weeks ago. Her name was suddenly more widespread due to the family scandal she was involved with as well as her unexpected pill-making skills that were said to be godly. Wu LiJing had been locked up in her manor and so was unaware of all the gossip outside.

Wu LiJing has been concentrating on healing her wounds and cultivating since her master left again. It was only one or two days after Wang WeiYue returned, but he became busy again and left after receiving a letter.

Wu QiaoHua, on the other hand, was currently off with some other inner disciples to complete a mission outside of the sect.

Completing missions were a way for disciples to earn money from the sect, gain experience, and train their skills. It included a wide variety of things such as collecting a certain type of herb in the sect garden or forest to help the sect stock up, collecting water and chopping wood, going out of the sect to get rid of demons, or investigating and collecting information.

Outer disciples usually took care of the simpler missions and inner disciples usually took on missions that required going out of the sect. If a mission was important or dangerous, then usually one of the masters would elect an inner disciple to be in charge of that mission and they would be able to take a few disciples along with them.

This time, Wu QiaoHua and a few others left the sect to catch a small evil pond demon in a near-by village, who has been pulling its victims into its pond and drowning them.

Before Wu QiaoHua left, Wu LiJing helped QiaoHua focus on her cultivation for a few days after QiaoHua consumed the Blue Baby Flower since she seemed nervous for this mission.

LiJing suddenly wondered if QiaoHua would be able to feel the difference in cultivation when she fought.

She remembered the smile on QiaoHua's face when she gave the Baby Blue Flower to her.

Her lips curved up in a good mood as she thrusted her arm forwards. Oh… that was a bad move. She should concentrate better and clear her mind.

Executing a few more moves, LiJing still couldn't help smiling when she thought about the improvement QiaoHua will have when she also consumed the rest of the herbs collected from the Disappearing Forest.

After drinking some water, Wu LiJing sat down in her study. She rolled her aching shoulder. It was healing well but she may have overdone it with the training. The wounds almost reopened and she had to have ChunHua come help her.

She took out a random book at the bottom of her shelf and read to relax for a moment. She ended up being lost in thought instead of reading her story book properly. Once she snapped out of it, it was already time for dinner and Cheng ChunHua knocked on her door.

"Master, it's time for dinner."

"Mm. I'm coming." She put her book down and exited her study room. After her cousin breaks through to the next stage, what should she reward her?

When she went out, the sun was already setting and the sky was a beautiful mix of red and yellow.

Cheng ChunHua already set up the dinner on the table, just a plate of stir-fry pork and cabbage soup. She was about to leave but Wu LiJing stopped her and asked her a question.

"ChunHua, tell me. Do you think QiaoHua would prefer eating out in a famous sweet shop or receiving money?" She had on a serious expression as she waited for Cheng ChunHua's answer. Because ChunHua had been with her since she became a direct disciple for more than half a decade ago, she should also know QiaoHua's preferences.

Cheng ChunHua said in a respectful tone, "Master, I don't believe Miss QiaoHua would enjoy receiving money… she will probably reject it instead."

Wu LiJing nodded. "… I thought so too. In the past, she refused any money I wanted to give her, so it is probably a bad idea. It's just, when I went outside of the sect, I've heard and seen many people receive money as a reward and were happy about it." If she told QiaoHua it was a congratulatory gift, would she still reject?

Cheng ChunHua sighed inside. That's because she knew that Miss QiaoHua had her pride and she wouldn't receive money for no reason. Also, Cheng ChunHua realized her master and Miss QiaoHua weren't as close as they appear to others.

Cheng ChunHua sees her master treat Wu QiaoHua well - so well that she found it a bit unbelievable, because all Wu QiaoHua really does is avoid her older cousin when she could and complain when Wu LiJing tried to talk about improving her cultivation.

The funny thing was, Miss QiaoHua wasn't willing to receive money from Wu LiJing, but she accepted any type of herb or manual that Wu LiJing got for her, and these things were much harder and expensive to get.

Cheng ChunHua wondered many times if Miss QiaoHua even knew the value of these herbs and manuals and realized… that she probably didn't. After all, her master probably never really explained what the herbs were called or were helpful for.

For example, the few days before Wu QiaoHua left, she heard her tell Wu QiaoHua, "This is good for your cultivation. Don't worry, it isn't difficult to get, so just take it."

But when she looked at the herb being given over, it was the Baby Blue Flower… Ah, that was a very expensive spiritual herb in the market and was probably tough to get as well. A limited amount could be found every year, so only rich families could afford it. She couldn't help staring at her master at that moment in disbelief. If anyone could get that herb, then many would be stronger than they were now. She sighed, feeling that Miss QiaoHua was very lucky.

"This cabbage soup tastes great," Wu LiJing said with a mild smile. "I'm glad you're in charge of cooking my meals."

Cheng ChunHua bowed slightly. "You flatter me, master." Her cooking was just a bit better than most cooks.

"So should I just give her another spiritual herb?"

Cheng ChunHua smiled and replied, "Master has already given much to Miss QiaoHua in terms of resources. Going to a restaurant to enjoy sweets would be enjoyable for both Master and Miss QiaoHua. But why is Master asking? I don't believe Miss QiaoHua's birthday is coming up anytime soon." It's still the springtime and Wu QiaoHua's birthday was not until fall.

Wu LiJing smiled warmly - the few times she shows such a face is when she talks about Wu QiaoHua. "I think she may be very close to achieving a breakthrough. I just want to reward her hard work. I have been a bit more stern than usual and I feel bad."

Cheng ChunHua nodded in understanding. When she became a servant in this manor, she couldn't believe that her master woke up even earlier than the servants in order to train. And her master was only sixteen then. She realized that most of what her master did was train, read, rest, and train again.

Once her master started taking on personal missions given by the sect master, she spent most of her time out. And when Wu LiJing returned, she only concentrated on training.

Cheng ChunHua remembered when Wu LiJing first came back from her first mission alone. She had a few deep gashes on her arms and legs and parts of her robe had been cut into pieces.

At that time, Cheng ChunHua helped her treat her wounds and felt that her master was a bit pitiful. So although Wu LiJing had on an indifferent face and only furrowed her brows slightly when Cheng ChunHua touched her wounds, Cheng ChunHua still asked her, "Why don't you take a few disciples with you, Master? I heard Sect Master told you to take care of a demon…"

Wu LiJing showed more expressions back then and didn't always show an indifferent face. She remembered that her master displayed a small smile when she heard her question, lowered her eyes, and then replied in a slightly dark voice, "Only through slicing your own flesh and blood again and again, can one blossom into a being who can defeat even the most indestructible god; because when one has been cut so much, not much is left except for the useful parts." Her master's voice sounded so sinister at that time that it made her shiver unconsciously.

Cheng ChunHua felt a little sad in her heart when she replied like such. But it was only for a moment. After all, who doesn't have hardships in this world? Her job was to stay as a servant and serve her master properly without asking too many questions.

Still, Cheng ChunHua was confused as to how busy a direct disciple can get. Her life as a servant even seemed better when she looked at how exhausted her master looked back then. Yet, she could only watch and didn't ask a thing.

After the missions, Wu LiJing barely had enough sleep as she concentrated on training instead. Cheng ChunHua would wake up in the middle of the night, hearing the sounds of a moving sword because she was a light sleeper.

It didn't take long for Wu LiJing to collapse, and Sect Master Wang had to call a doctor to see her. When the doctor informed Sect Leader Wang of her fatigued condition as well as her sleep deprivation, he was furious.

"I didn't accept you to be my direct disciple to destroy you! Why didn't you listen to me when I told you to pace yourself?! You even took on some missions behind my back? What for? Wu LiJing, if you rush things, it could destroy your cultivation, and then it's over. It's all about time. TIME!"

That was the first time she saw the sect leader so angry. Wu LiJing looked downcast, but her face didn't seem to show any expressions, still seemingly stubborn.

"I needed the money," Wu LiJing replied in a quiet voice. "I'm sorry, master. I promise I'll do better in the future. I'll make sure to get some rest."

Sect Master Wang only let out a long sigh and rubbed his temples. "You are to be locked in your manor for a whole month."

Wu LiJing looked up, alert. "But master!"

"If you take even one step out, I'll extend your punishment. Now rest, Wu LiJing. Rushing will only stub your cultivation, remember that." Sect Master Wang looked at Cheng ChunHua before he left, and Cheng ChunHua knew that it was her job to keep her master in or she would be the one punished.

Her master listened and stayed inside her manor. But because Wu LiJing couldn't go out, she asked Cheng ChunHua to purchase a few herbs and give it to Wu QiaoHua. That was when she learned of Wu QiaoHua's existence and learned that they were related. She guessed that some of the money her master had earned was probably going towards these herbs.

Back then, when Cheng ChunHua looked into her master's eyes, she could see specks of emotion. But every time her master returned from a mission alone after being locked inside her manor, it became harder to guess what she was feeling or thinking unless it concerned her cousin. Her injuries also lessened, and now she returned with not a speck of blood or dirt on her.

Seeing how harshly her master treated herself, Cheng ChunHua wasn't surprised that her master was strict with her cousin, her only family. After all, in this world, only the strong were able to strive.

Take her for example. Her parents died when she was young, and she had to beg for food to survive. Then she was kidnapped and sold to become a servant. She was too busy and didn't have any chances to cultivate and improve her situation, so she decided to follow what fate had in store for her and simply stay as a servant. As long as she had a roof and food to eat, it was good enough.

Cheng ChunHua felt that Wu QiaoHua is probably grateful for having such a caring cousin - buying her sweets and presents, giving her manuals and precious herbs to cultivate better. It's just that their relationship may be strained from something that had happened in the past. Or else, Wu QiaoHua wouldn't just avoid her master for no reason, right?

"Have you already had dinner?"

Cheng ChunHua snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head.

"Then go ahead. I can do my own dishes." Then she stood up and left, carrying the dishes towards the kitchen.

Usually, Cheng ChunHua would just leave and then come back later to clean the dishes since Wu LiJing didn't need anyone serving her directly. However, since Wu LiJing needed someone to talk to, she stayed. She hasn't had such conversations with her master in a while, so she ended up reminiscing about the past.

After finishing dinner, Cheng ChunHua went back to her room to change and finally rest for the day. Since Wu LiJing did not demand for much, she usually had a lot of free time compared to other servants, especially after dinner to relax. Just as she was going to take off her uniform, she paused when she saw something on her table. It was a red herb that helped with sensing chi… She smiled.

Even if she was alone since young, her life wasn't so bad now.