A story from the past

The two senior disciples shook their heads. "Master Yu Qing never speaks of that past. All we know is that the demon slaughtered countless people and was utterly terrifying. We must never let him wreak havoc in the mortal world, or the whole world will descend into chaos!"

As they spoke, the sky over the Demon-Suppressing Tower lit up as bright as day, and frantic, confused cries rose one after another.

The entire Sect was stirred into action.

Clearly, this demon was no ordinary threat.

Xiao Qinghe grew restless, wanting to go and investigate.

But Xie Jun caught him and said in a low voice, "You still haven't explained why you invited Master onto the bed just now."

Wrapped in the quilt, she had been forced to huddle in the corner. Watching her senior brother and Master exchange meaningful glances had already left her seething.

And now her senior brother wanted to abandon her and run off to find Master?

Where did that leave her? How was she supposed to bear it?

"You're not going anywhere until you explain!"

Xiao Qinghe had no way of knowing all the tangled thoughts running through her mind, and he certainly couldn't tell her about his system mission.

"Master knows the Ghost King Spirit Pill acts up every full moon. If I hadn't shown any reaction, he would have realized you'd sneaked back. Master loathes the Demon Clan. If he discovered you here, do you think he'd let you off easily?"

Xie Jun kept her face tense and said nothing.

She had heard what the two senior disciples said outside the door.

Did Bai Yuqing really hate her merely because she belonged to the Demon Clan, forbidding her from returning to see her senior brother for fear she would hurt him?

That nonsense might fool her innocent senior brother, but how could it fool her?

Bai Yuqing definitely harbored private feelings for her senior brother. He only forbade her from approaching him because he wanted him all to himself.

He looked like an untouchable flower on a lofty peak, but he was rotten to the core!

"Senior brother, don't go." Xie Jun lowered her eyes, looking pitiful. "I rarely get to come back, and I have to leave at dawn. Once I'm gone, you can stay by Master's side day and night."

Her senior brother talked tough but had a soft heart. He pitied the hardships she had suffered as a child, so he could never bear to see her wronged.

A shrewd glint flashed in the eyes of the seemingly aggrieved young woman. She tugged at Xiao Qinghe's sleeve like an abandoned puppy. "Senior brother, can't you spend just one night with me?"

Her pitiful little face was almost more than Xiao Qinghe could withstand.

Xie Jun gingerly took his hand. "The whole Sect has mobilized. If they could catch that demon, they would have caught him already. Besides, tonight is a full moon. You shouldn't fight, or people could easily discover the Ghost King Spirit Pill. Then, before they even catch that demon, you'll have gotten yourself dragged into this and locked in the Demon-Suppressing Tower first."

Holy shit!

Master could tolerate his being half-human and half-demon, but the others in the Sect might not!

Xiao Qinghe began to waver.

"Senior brother, don't go. Stay with me tonight. At dawn tomorrow, I'll give you back to Master." While he was still distracted, Xie Jun pulled him straight back to the bedside, removed his outer robe, and pushed him onto the bed. "Go to sleep, senior brother. Master is powerful, and the whole Sect is helping him. He'll be fine."

Xiao Qinghe was still worried, but in the end, he did not insist on going after Master.

Xie Jun lay down on her side, a pleased smile curling her lips where he couldn't see it.

The commotion at the Demon-Suppressing Tower continued all night.

After dawn, everyone in the Sect was still talking about it.

"Master Yu Qing gave the tower guards a terrible scolding. I've never seen him so angry."

Everyone fell silent in fear, not daring so much as to breathe loudly.

Even when the Sect Leader intervened personally, he failed to calm Bai Yuqing down.

An exhaustive search lasting all night had failed to find the escaped demon, leaving everyone terrified.

A heavy atmosphere hung over the Sect, both inside and out.

"The Sect Leader issued a wanted notice overnight and sent a Demon-Hunting Team of highly accomplished cultivators down the mountain to capture the demon."

"All this fuss-just what kind of monster is that demon?"

Xiao Qinghe heard all kinds of questions and speculation along the way. He racked his brains for relevant passages from the original novel but came up empty.

There was indeed an incident in the original novel when the Demon Spirit Pearl was stolen, throwing the Demon-Suppressing Tower into chaos. Demons escaped in every direction, plunging the world into turmoil. The Demon-Slaying Sect became the target of universal condemnation, its reputation plummeting as the other sects clamored to attack it.

By that point, the original Xiao Qinghe had long since died.

Clearly, this disturbance wasn't the crisis caused by the theft of the Demon Spirit Pearl. So what was going on?

Utterly bewildered, Xiao Qinghe went to find Master and ask what had happened, only to be turned away at the door.

"Master?" Xiao Qinghe was astonished that Master had locked himself inside the Small Ancestral Hall.

Master had specially established the hall to enshrine a memorial tablet bearing no name.

He cleaned it himself and never let anyone else interfere. Even Xiao Qinghe had only glimpsed the hall once and had never entered.

On the first and fifteenth days of every lunar month, Master would enter the hall, light three sticks of incense, and gaze at the tablet in prolonged silence.

The original novel offered no explanation for this. Xiao Qinghe had wondered about it more than once and tried asking indirectly.

Whenever he did, Master would fall silent for a long, long time, his thoughts drifting far away.

Just as he did now, immersed in a past Xiao Qinghe knew nothing about, offering no response.

Xiao Qinghe had thought it would only be temporary. He hadn't expected Master to shut himself in the hall for three whole days.

When he finally emerged three days later, the normally aloof and proud man wore a rare look of exhaustion, and even his steps faltered.

It was as though he had stood motionless for three days, and now that he was moving again, his body would not obey him.

He leaned lightly against Xiao Qinghe, his voice hoarse and utterly weary. "My disciple, do you have any wine?"

Xiao Qinghe could clearly sense that he was suppressing something.

The lofty, proud Master Yu Qing always kept everything bottled up inside. Over time, his burdens had grown heavy, leaving him desperately in need of an outlet.

"Wait a moment, Master. I'll fetch some for you." Without another word, Xiao Qinghe brought over two large jars of Osmanthus Wine.

Bai Yuqing gave a quiet laugh. "If he hadn't died, perhaps he would understand me as you do."

Murmuring to himself, he accepted the cup Xiao Qinghe handed him.

He drained it, swallowing it down with all the bitterness in his heart.

Xiao Qinghe wanted to speak but hesitated. In the end, he said nothing and simply refilled his cup again and again.

He watched Bai Yuqing's gaze gradually grow hazy, his body swaying unsteadily.

He was actually drunk.

Xiao Qinghe hurried forward to steady him, only to discover that the drunken man was extraordinarily strong. In the confusion, Bai Yuqing pushed him to the ground.

Bai Yuqing braced his arms beside Xiao Qinghe's ears, his body pressing down on him, displaying a rare drunkenness.

His usual lofty, unapproachable aura had vanished. With his hair disheveled, his face flushed, and his eyes unfocused, Bai Yuqing looked like an immortal untouched by worldly life who had finally fallen into the mortal realm and acquired a trace of earthly desire.

Amid that disarray lay a quiet sensuality.

Xiao Qinghe was dumbstruck.

Who could have imagined his aloof, cold Master had such a side?

"Qinghe, my disciple..." Bai Yuqing murmured, gazing at Xiao Qinghe beneath him. Something seemed to stir beneath his hazy eyes. "You're both the same. Stubbornly following your own paths, refusing to heed my advice, insisting on entangling yourselves with demons..."

"Demons are treacherous and cunning. They excel at bewitching people and clouding their minds. That was how that demon bewitched him. And what became of him in the end... reduced to ashes, not even his bones left behind..."

"First him, and now you... I've warned you time and again, but you refuse to listen. You insist on following in his footsteps. What am I to do with you?"

"I've already lost him. I don't want to lose you too..."

Xiao Qinghe had been about to struggle, but at those words, he suddenly went still.

Bai Yuqing raised a hand and stroked his face. His gaze was hazy, as though he was looking at Xiao Qinghe, yet also looking through him at someone else.

His voice was low, filled with a sorrowful longing. "When he died, he was about your age. It was at this age that he met that demon and came to that end..."

As he spoke, his voice grew softer and softer.

Finally, Bai Yuqing went limp and collapsed on top of Xiao Qinghe, unconscious.

"In all these years, this is the first time I've seen Junior Brother Bai drunk." Ouyang Chong's sigh drifted over.

Xiao Qinghe started. "Sect Leader, when did you get here?"

Ouyang Chong glanced at the master and disciple, who were practically entwined, and cleared his throat. "Just now. I didn't hear anything I shouldn't have."

Xiao Qinghe secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

If he had heard the part about getting entangled with demons, he might have followed the clues and uncovered Xie Jun's identity.

Fortunately, the Sect Leader hadn't heard.

But why did his expression look as though he had stumbled upon something he shouldn't have seen?

Nothing happened between Master and me, all right!