The youth revealed a deceptively docile yet fierce smile, a blend of extreme emotions that sent shivers down one's spine.
"Me?" The youth extended a hand, long and wide, his skin so pale that the purple veins beneath were visible. He tidied his sleeve slightly and said casually, "Of course, I'm the same as all of you, wanting to join the Qingyun Sect."
This time, the Qingyun Sect accepted even fewer disciples than before; those chosen were outstanding talents with great potential.
The disappointed ones were sent down the mountain dejectedly.
A senior disciple, clad in Qingyun Sect robes, guided the newly admitted disciples on a tour, introducing them to everything.
All new disciples began with the most basic tasks, each assigned a different chore.
For instance, filling water jars, splitting a mountain of firewood, sweeping away fallen leaves, or chopping bamboo from the mountain.
Even while performing such tasks, no one complained of hardship or fatigue. Those who persevered were not the lazy sort; they worked diligently without complaint.
However, there were always one or two troublemakers.
The youth held a broom, sweeping here and there. An hour passed, and he hadn't cleared a single clean patch of ground.
Seemingly tired of the chore, he casually tossed the broom aside, climbed a nearby tree, and lay down, closing his eyes as if to nap.
Petals landed on his face, which he absently brushed away.
"Junior Brother!"
A senior disciple called out from below. He frowned sternly, "Why are you up there slacking off again? Come down and sweep the ground."
The youth rolled over, ignoring him.
The person below continued to drone on incessantly. Seemingly annoyed, the youth threw a spell. The previously noisy senior disciple acted as if possessed, his eyes devoid of any spirit, like a soulless puppet, and he walked away.
The youth had almost fallen asleep when a sharp pain shot through his nerves. The next moment, he opened his eyes and shouted foolishly.
"Didn't you promise me you'd look for Master? I want to see Master! I want to see Master!"
The noise gave the youth a splitting headache. The veins on his forehead twitched slightly, revealing a hint of a ferocious expression. He snarled fiercely.
"Shut up."
His fierce and violent demeanor shifted to anger at being deceived. "You're lying to me! Are you lying to me? I'm going to find Master! I want Master!"
He was so loud that the youth's nerves throbbed painfully, his head feeling as if pierced by a thousand needles. He kept his eyes half-closed, his gaze icy.
As the pain intensified, the youth's expression became somewhat terrifying.
He revealed a bloody, mocking smile.
"Idiot, they don't want you anymore, why are you still pestering them?"
The youth's expression changed again, to one of being wronged and on the verge of tears. "You're talking nonsense! Master doesn't not want me!"
His eyes felt a stinging sensation, and tears streamed down like he was deeply wronged and heartbroken.
Master didn't not want him; he was so well-behaved, how could Master possibly abandon him?
It was all the fault of this bad person! This bad person's fault!
Suppressing the throbbing pain, the youth became increasingly displeased, his tone growing more venomous.
"Why would they kill you? If they truly didn't want you, why would they kill you without hesitation? How can you lack self-awareness? I'm telling you, if I ever see that hypocrite Xi Yu, I'll run him through with a sword. What can you do to me then?!"
His voice was hoarse, his throat burning like fire. The corners of his lips were pulled up in a chilling, sinister grin, like a resentful ghost crawling out from the abyss.
But Bi Lian's emotions were in turmoil. For the past five hundred years, he had been imprisoned day and night in the Abyss Sea, suffering agonizing pain every moment. He had gone mad centuries ago.
He hated, wishing to drink Xi Yu's blood, eat her flesh, sever her limbs, shatter her heart, break her bones, and then cast them into the Abyss Sea to be devoured by fish, reduced to a pile of white bones.
Even then, it would not be enough to quench his hatred.
The angry voice of that fool echoed in his mind.
"No!"
"You can't hurt Master!"
Bi Lian's features became increasingly cruel and bloodthirsty. The pain in his head felt as if it would explode, causing Pei Duo to...
He closed his eyes, enduring the torment.
His eyes blazed with deep resentment and madness, his heart growing more excited, so much so that his very nerves trembled.
The mere thought of such a scene could slightly suppress the brutality and madness within him.
Now, he had only one thought: to kill her!
---
[Do you remember your mission?]
Shen Yue was engrossed in a melodramatic TV show. The male lead had amnesia, then hit his head and recovered his memory, but the female lead had run away. The male lead then desperately searched for her.
The system asked two or three times before Shen Yue's attention finally focused.
Shen Yue's expression was strange: [Do you remember?]
System: [...] Are you doubting my work capability?
Shen Yue: [No, has the villain come to find me?]
Over the past three hundred years, the system had used a time accelerator, condensing three hundred years into three days. If she had to wait three hundred years, either Shen Yue or the system would have gone mad.
[The villain has come to find you. To take your life.]
Shen Yue, like a pig unafraid of boiling water, said: [Oh, then let them come. I'm not afraid.]
The system easily saw through her poor pretense: [Are you really not afraid? Your leg is trembling, though.]
Shen Yue pressed her trembling leg, which seemed to have a mind of its own, and stubbornly retorted: [Oh, perhaps I have epilepsy.]
System: [...] I didn't realize you had this problem.
Shen Yue was actually quite apprehensive. She felt that although she had contributed to the major villain before, it was minor compared to the harm inflicted.
Moreover, Bi Lian...
The mere thought of him gave her a headache, chest pain, pain everywhere.
Bi Lian was far more cruel than Rong Hua. In his youth, he was petty, vengeful, and moody. Those who offended him met a grim fate, and it was this nature that kept many at a distance.
In his youth, he liked Xin Xi, but his way of expressing affection was difficult to accept. He would either bully her or say all sorts of malicious and childish things in front of Xin Xi, much like a schoolboy expressing his liking by pulling a girl's pigtails or bullying her.
But such actions only pushed people further away.
Xin Xi grew to dislike this junior brother more and more, showing him a cold face almost every time they met.
And Xi Yu was caught in the middle, in a difficult position.