Song Wanníng's expression was terrifyingly dark.
This was her disciple.
Her very own disciple.
And in every possible way, he had utterly and completely disappointed her.
Her fingers clenched tighter around the pill bottle in her hand. It took her a long while to suppress the murderous intent boiling in her chest.
"Big Sister, don't you dare go soft. Ye Chuxue brought this on herself!"
The little golden sword worried that Song Wanníng might grow soft-hearted and decide to spare Ye Chuxue. Because it knew—if their positions were reversed, Ye Chuxue would never show Song Wanníng mercy. In fact, she would likely ensure Song Wanníng suffered even more cruelty at the hands of others.
"Soft-hearted?"
Song Wanníng's voice was icy as she replied, "Do you think I would be soft toward someone who betrayed me?"
If anything, she only thought Ye Chuxue was dying far too slowly.
She simply found Lu Nanfeng's way of enacting vengeance… distasteful.
But no one—no one—could shake her resolve for revenge.
She uncorked the bottle. Black demonic qi and spiritual energy surged out in a volatile rush. Song Wanníng sat cross-legged and began meditating to absorb it, never glancing back at the floating bubble.
…
Meanwhile, inside the mountain cave.
Lu Nanfeng stared down at the woman beneath him.
Ye Chuxue's face had gone blank. It was as if her soul had been drained from her body.
In that instant, it was like he'd been struck by lightning.
His mind snapped back into place.
"Junior... Junior Sister Ye... "
What… what had he done?
Lu Nanfeng clutched his head in horror, unable to believe what he had just done to Ye Chuxue.
She was the woman he had cherished above all else. The most perfect woman in his heart. He scrambled to his feet, trembling as he put his clothes back on. Ye Chuxue, lying on the ground, didn't move a muscle.
Lu Nanfeng called her name several times, but she gave no response. Something inside him shattered. Panicked and disoriented, Lu Nanfeng fled the cave like a madman.
He couldn't live with what he had done.
He couldn't accept it.
Soon, the cave was silent again.
Ye Chuxue remained motionless on the cold floor. A single tear slid down her cheek as she squeezed her eyes shut in anguish.
Lu Nanfeng had dared to do this to her.
A storm of pain and hatred twisted her expression into something monstrous.
Gritting her teeth, she reached out and clawed the scattered pills into her hand. It took all her strength just to get one into her mouth. It was a long time before her broken bones began to knit back together. The internal injuries would take much longer to heal.
Ye Chuxue's face was blank, numb. She dressed in silence, then staggered unsteadily toward the mouth of the cave. Her eyes burned with boundless hatred, though her expression remained eerily calm. Right now, all she wanted was to find a place to refine an aphrodisiac pill.
If it hadn't been for Song Wanníng, she would never have been humiliated like this. She would kill Lu Nanfeng, then find someone to rape Song Wanníng before killing her as well.
Only then would her hatred be satisfied.
…
An entire day passed in the blink of an eye.
Song Wanníng opened her eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air.
That mix of spiritual and demonic qi wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Once this matter was resolved, she could finally go treasure hunting and resume her cultivation in peace.
She turned her gaze to the floating bubbles. Inside one of them, Lu Nanfeng was running wild through the Demon Sea like a rabid dog, his expression frenzied and deranged.
A sharp glint flashed through Song Wanníng's eyes. Remembering the method Mo Yuan had taught her, she abruptly teleported to appear right in front of Lu Nanfeng.
"Lu Nanfeng, what are you doing here?"
Her tone was cold, her gaze even colder. Just one look sent Lu Nanfeng stumbling to the ground in fear.
"Mas-Master…"
He still couldn't accept what had happened. Seeing Song Wanníng now only made his fear intensify.
Song Wanníng said nothing. Her spiritual sense swept across his body—and in the next moment, her expression turned ice-cold. With a flick of her wrist, she sent him flying with a slap.
"Lu Nanfeng. You've fallen to demonic cultivation?" Her voice rang out like a thunderclap.
Lu Nanfeng froze.
This was what he had been trying to avoid, the truth he had refused to face.
Master had seen through it instantly.
As a Dao cultivator, he knew exactly what it meant to fall into demonic cultivation.
He didn't even dare to imagine what came next.
His family. His sect. His master. His friends…
What would they think of him?
"Master, please! Help me!"
Lu Nanfeng crawled frantically across the ground, grabbing onto Song Wanníng's ankle.
"Master, I don't want to be a demon cultivator. Please help me. I'm begging you! I know I was wrong. I'll never dare do anything like this again. I swear I've changed! Master, you're so powerful. You must have a way to save me, don't you?"
Tears and snot streamed down his face. He begged again and again.
Song Wanníng looked down at him wordlessly.
Lu Nanfeng's panic only grew.
"Master, please… I shouldn't have gone against you for Junior Sister Ye. It was all my fault! I was wrong. I see that now. You've always been the one who truly cared for me, the one who treated me best! I swear, I truly know I was wrong…"
His heart twisted with regret. For the sake of Ye Chuxue—a woman who was all facade and lies—he had turned against the person who had raised him.
All this time, Master had cared for him so much. She guided his cultivation, gave him spirit stones and pills. Countless people had envied the bond they shared.
But he hadn't cherished it.
Only now did he understand.
He vowed silently to make it up to her. From now on, he would treat his master better than anyone, no matter what.
The man before her sobbed and pleaded like his life depended on it.
But Song Wanníng only stared at him coldly.
It was laughable.
Back then, when she had begged and pleaded for the Song family, Lu Nanfeng hadn't said a single kind word on her behalf. Not even one.
Instead, he'd stood self-righteously and thrown reason after reason at her, condemning her without mercy.
Song Wanníng curled her lips into a faint smile and looked down.
"Lu Nanfeng, you've already fallen into demonic cultivation. You should know that neither the human race nor the demon race will accept you now.
You'll be consumed by your inner demons, piece by piece, until your sanity is gone and you become a soulless monster. Rather than become a disaster upon the world…
Shouldn't you just end it yourself?"
Her voice was gentle, almost earnest, as if she were giving him kind advice.
Lu Nanfeng's entire body went rigid. He looked up in disbelief and let go of her ankle.
"Master… what… what do you mean by that?"
He knew Song Wanníng was angry. But she was telling him to kill himself?
He was her disciple.
She had raised him with her own hands.
Even if he could never compare to Bai Yang, he knew she had truly loved him once.
And yet, in just one or two years, she had hardened enough to say this to him.
His eyes filled with disbelief and accusation. He stared at Song Wanníng, unable to accept what she was saying.
"You didn't understand me?" she said. "I told you to end it yourself."
Her expression remained cold.
In fact, if one looked closely, there was even a trace of satisfaction in her eyes.
"A demonic creature like you—if you're allowed to live, who knows how many more people you'll harm. You're a disciple of Wentian Sect. Do you not even have this much integrity?
Have you forgotten everything I've taught you all these years?
Lu Nanfeng, as people…
We can't be too selfish."
Song Wanníng gave back to him every line of moral kidnapping he had once used on her.
So then.
Could he face death with the same righteous resolve?