Past Affection Ends Here

After taking care of all the miscellaneous matters, darkness had completely fallen.

Carrying his bundle, Qin Jue walked along the stone-paved path toward his lodgings. Though his body was a little tired, his spirits were unusually high. With this batch of Stone Bell Milk, he could continue practicing the Hundred Refinements Fourth Layer tonight and perhaps even advance the Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record another step!

But when he turned a corner and saw his humble little courtyard, his steps came to an involuntary halt.

Two figures stood at the entrance.

The setting sun stretched their shadows long, nearly to Qin Jue's feet.

The woman on the left wore a pale green dress. She was pretty, but her face was frosty, and her almond-shaped eyes brimmed with urgency. It was Shen Zhiqiu.

Beside her stood Su Jin, quiet and still. She wore her usual simple, elegant white academy uniform, her long hair stirred lightly by the wind. As she watched Qin Jue approach, her gaze grew impossibly complicated—filled with shock and confusion, and with a trace of regret she herself hadn't noticed.

"Qin Jue!"

Before Qin Jue could get close, Shen Zhiqiu shrieked and rushed at him, glaring fiercely.

"Where's my brother? Where did Shen Yutang go? Senior Brother Ning Wuque said he went looking for you. Why have you come back, while there's still not a word from my brother?" Shen Zhiqiu's voice was shrill and grating.

Qin Jue stopped and calmly regarded the hysterical young woman before him.

Shen Yutang? That fool who had twisted the truth in the Chaos Stone Forest to curry favor with the Ning Family, only for Qin Jue to seal his throat with a single sword stroke?

"His legs are his own. How would I know where he went?" Qin Jue replied indifferently, as if discussing some trivial matter that had nothing to do with him. "Maybe he got lost at Silver Moon Bay, or perhaps... some Fierce Beast carried him off."

"You're lying!" Shen Zhiqiu screamed. "How could you not know? It must have been you... You must have used some underhanded trick to hurt him!"

Several academy disciples gradually gathered nearby. They stood at a distance, whispering and pointing. Some recognized Shen Zhiqiu; others recognized Qin Jue, the dark horse who had defeated Ning Zhiyuan with a single sword strike on the Martial Stage a few days earlier.

"Isn't that Shen Zhiqiu? What happened to her brother?"

"I heard Shen Yutang went treasure hunting at Silver Moon Bay a few days ago, but never came back. He probably died there."

"Tsk, tsk. People die at Silver Moon Bay all the time. Why is she going after Qin Jue?"

Su Jin's face was pale as she watched the tense scene unfold, her thoughts tangled into a knot. Before they came, she had tried desperately to persuade Shen Zhiqiu not to act so rashly, to at least wait until they had investigated the matter. But after learning that her brother was dead, Shen Zhiqiu had completely fallen apart. Somehow, she had heard a rumor and decided Qin Jue was the culprit, insisting on confronting him face-to-face.

Shen Zhiqiu had dragged Su Jin along, and she had come half willingly, half under protest. Deep down, perhaps she had also harbored a thought she didn't want to admit, not even to herself. She wanted to see him, to ask him with her own lips what had happened these past few days, to find out whether he was still the person she remembered.

Yet now that she was standing here, facing that familiar yet unfamiliar face, all that remained in her heart was bitterness.

"An underhanded trick?"

"Shen Zhiqiu, you think far too highly of your useless brother." Qin Jue stood with his hands behind his back and spoke coldly. "If I wanted to kill Shen Yutang, why would I need any tricks? With a three-foot Green Edge in my hand, killing him would be like slaughtering a pig or a dog."

His tone was calm, but his words were outrageously arrogant!

"N-no... That's impossible..." Shen Zhiqiu's lips trembled. "You're talking nonsense! Nonsense!"

"Enough. I'll say it one last time: I never saw him."

After saying this, Qin Jue paid Shen Zhiqiu no further attention and headed for the courtyard gate.

"Qin Jue, stop! You're feeling guilty, aren't you? You have to give me an explanation today!" Seeing him leave, Shen Zhiqiu panicked and reached for his sleeve.

But before her hand could touch his clothes, Qin Jue whipped around, his icy gaze stabbing into her eyes.

Killing intent poured from his gaze without the slightest concealment. Shen Zhiqiu froze with her hand hanging in midair. Her whole body turned cold, and the curse on the tip of her tongue lodged in her throat, unable to come out. The young man before her seemed like a man-eating beast. If she dared take another step, she would be drenched in blood on the spot.

Su Jin, standing to one side, saw it all.

Was this really the Qin Jue who had once fought a whole gang of bigger children until he was battered and bleeding just to protect her?

No. He wasn't.

Though Qin Jue wore plain clothes, the steely resolve deep in his bones gave him an aura no one could ignore. Faced with Shen Zhiqiu's accusations, he hadn't shown the slightest panic. He was so calm because he truly didn't care.

He didn't care what Shen Zhiqiu thought, or what anyone else thought. He didn't even care what Su Jin thought anymore.

Su Jin's heart gave a sharp pang, and her nose began to sting.

"Qin Jue..."

Su Jin finally spoke. Her voice was dry, trembling with hope. "Zhiqiu's just worried. After all, her brother's been missing for days. If you really saw anything, or if there's been some misunderstanding, could you... tell us, for old times' sake?"

She tried to use those four words, "for old times' sake," to stir even the slightest flicker of feeling in Qin Jue.

But she was disappointed.

Qin Jue turned his gaze to Su Jin. His eyes were still clear, but they were exceptionally cold.

"Old times' sake?"

Qin Jue softly repeated the words, then shook his head, as if he'd just heard a joke that wasn't funny. "Miss Su, I think you've misunderstood something."

"Since Shen Yutang dared to venture into the wilderness, he should have been prepared not to come back. Whether he was killed by a Fierce Beast or by an enemy, what does it have to do with me?"

"Besides..."

Qin Jue took a step forward. In that instant, an invisible aura radiated from him.

"In anything I do, why should I explain myself to you? If I did kill him, what could you do about it?"

All color drained from Su Jin's face, and she swayed. As she looked at the young man before her, his sharpness laid bare, something she had held onto for so long completely collapsed in her heart.

"You... weren't like this before." Su Jin murmured to herself, her eyes reddening. Her voice was full of hurt and disappointment. "You used to be gentle and humble. You would never have said something so cold. Qin Jue, you've changed. You've changed so much I don't even recognize you."

"Boring."

He had no patience left to indulge these two women, still living in the past, in such a melodrama. The path of martial cultivation stretched endlessly before him. His time was precious, meant for training and growing stronger—not for reminiscing over a past that meant nothing.

"Enough. Don't say anything this pointless again."

"The martial path is a lonely, thorn-choked road. We seek different things and walk different paths. From now on, you take your broad, sunny road, and I'll cross my narrow bridge. What we once shared ends here."

With that, Qin Jue didn't spare either woman another glance. He turned, pushed open the courtyard gate, and strode inside.

"Qin Jue! You..." Su Jin hadn't expected him to be so utterly resolute, without leaving them even the slightest shred of courtesy.

"Creak—"

Outside, the cold wind swept fallen leaves across the ground.

Su Jin stared blankly at the closed door.

The academy disciples who had gathered to watch began whispering among themselves.

"Tsk, tsk. Qin Jue's really got guts! He won't even give Goddess Su Jin the time of day."

"What goddess? That was before! Qin Jue defeated Ning Zhiyuan despite being a whole level below him. He's a true genius now! A genius naturally has pride. Qin Jue hadn't made his name back then, but now that he's soared to the heavens, why would he care about a woman who once looked down on him?"

Though the whispers were hushed, how could a martial artist fail to hear them?

Every word stung Su Jin's face like a needle. She bit down hard on her lower lip until she tasted blood, barely managing to hold back the tears threatening to spill.

"He killed Shen Yutang... and offended the Ning Family too... This path is doomed to end in death." Su Jin silently told herself, "The path I chose is the right one. In martial cultivation, only by relying on the strong can you go farther."