Please Come Back to the Luoyu Sword Sect with Us, Senior

Xie Lingchuan walked up to Zhu Lianqing, undisguised scrutiny in his eyes.

"On our first night in Wuxia Village, Young Master Wei's corpse was already inside the house before we arrived. You said a corpse-eating demon had killed him, Senior, but we never saw it for ourselves, and the corpse-eating demon was nowhere to be found. Looking at it now, the truth of what happened remains unknown."

As Zhu Lianqing watched her own little disciple approach, she felt a dizzying sense that everything had been turned upside down.

She had always been the one lecturing her disciple. Now it was his turn to rebel!

"Why were you so eager to leave that night, Senior? Did you think there were too many of us for you to get away easily?"

Zhu Lianqing thought, That was indeed the case, but not in the way you think.

Still, with this Demon-Detecting Needle pointing at her, her single-minded determination to run away that night did look suspicious, especially since this disciple of hers was a fiend for details.

"I can't explain that to you. Just consider me unwilling to travel with others, wanting to go alone..."

"Can't explain it, or have no explanation?"

Zhu Lianqing was cut off before she could finish. She looked up at Xie Lingchuan in surprise, then frowned and thought, My disciple has grown up, and his temper has changed too. He never used to feel this oppressive, or corner people until they had nothing left to say.

Xie Lingchuan seemed to be making one final check. He nudged the needle on the compass again.

The needle began spinning once more.

Everyone in the cavern watched intently.

Zhu Lianqing stared at the compass, utterly baffled as to why it pointed at her.

Even if it was malfunctioning, it should have pointed east one moment and west the next. Why was it so stubbornly fixed on her?

The needle slowly came to a stop, and their gazes shifted from the compass to the contemplative Zhu Lianqing.

This time, the needle still pointed squarely at her.

Just as Zhu Lianqing was seriously considering what exactly had gone wrong, she suddenly felt a tight grip around her wrist.

She abruptly snapped out of her thoughts and discovered that Xie Lingchuan had seized her wrist, as though afraid she would escape.

The youth fixed his pitch-black eyes on her with piercing intensity. He spoke each word distinctly, his voice quiet but brooking no doubt.

"What demon are you?"

"Reveal your true form."

The instant his words fell, Shen Ji and the other three behind Xie Lingchuan all placed their hands on their sword hilts, taking defensive stances, as though she would reveal her true form and turn into some demon or monster the very next second.

Xie Lingchuan's last words gave Zhu Lianqing an absurd illusion.

Reveal my true form?

I absolutely cannot reveal my true form.

Zhu Lianqing met Xie Lingchuan's gaze without backing down, pulling her wrist free.

"You're identifying me as a demon just because this thing points at me? That's utterly absurd. Immortal Master Zhu is human too, and no human is perfect. Why worship her blindly?"

"But compared to you, Senior, with all the suspicions surrounding you, we would still rather trust Martial Aunt Zhu."

Zhu Lianqing sighed helplessly. She had never expected to be brought down by her own main account.

"Then what do you intend to do? Kill me on the spot because you think I'm a demon? Aren't you afraid of killing an innocent person?"

"Of course we won't kill you on the spot. You believe the world's demons deserve death simply for being born, Senior, but my master never taught me that."

Xie Lingchuan gazed at Zhu Lianqing and said slowly, "Until we personally witness you committing evil, Senior, we won't attack you. It's just..."

Zhu Lianqing had a bad feeling. "Just what?"

"It's just that, from now on, we'll have to stay with you at all times."

Zhu Lianqing instantly felt as though five thunderbolts had struck her head.

Stay with me?

That's far too terrifying.

"But I'm not a demon, and I can't harm anyone. How long are you going to follow me? When will you clear my name?"

Xie Lingchuan said, "Please rest assured, Senior. Once we finish our travels through the Four Realms, please come back to the Luoyu Sword Sect with us. The elders of our sect have their own ways of determining whether you truly are a demon."

Zhu Lianqing instantly felt as though she faced a formidable enemy.

"Go back to your sect with you?! You might as well kill me on the spot!"

At least if they killed me on the spot, I could put on another identity and be a fine hero once again!

Going back to the sect with my little disciple would be walking straight into the net!

She had sealed her own spiritual meridians. The juniors before her could not see through it, but once she returned to the Luoyu Sword Sect, she would practically be running naked before the second and third sect heads and the junior sect masters!

Hearing Zhu Lianqing's words, Xie Lingchuan frowned slightly. "What did you just say, Senior?"

Coming to her senses, Zhu Lianqing realized she had accidentally blurted out the truth. She gave an awkward smile.

"Nothing, nothing. I meant, as long as you don't kill me on the spot, that's fine. I'm willing to go back to the Luoyu Sword Sect with you."

Willing, my ass!

Once this matter is settled, I'm running away immediately. Could these few little brats possibly stop me?

"In that case, please cooperate with us, Senior, and form a Spirit Connection Spell with us."

Now Zhu Lianqing really was about to cough up blood.

How had her once-obedient disciple become so calculating? He was even bringing out the Spirit Connection Spell?

The Spirit Connection Spell was used between two or more cultivators. The caster could sense the location of those bound by the spell.

Simply put, it was the cultivation world's version of GPS.

"Isn't that a bit much? Don't you trust me? Since I've said I'll go back to the sect with you, I certainly will!"

"Is that so?" Xie Lingchuan countered lightly. "Since you're going back anyway, Senior, forming a Spirit Connection Spell won't hurt."

Zhu Lianqing continued trading tai chi moves with her little disciple. "If it won't hurt, that means it makes no difference whether we have it or not. In that case, why form it at all?"

Xie Lingchuan's tone was not forceful, but his attitude was. "Since forming it or not makes no difference, we might as well form one. After all, we're the ones drawing you into our travels, Senior. If you encounter danger, we'll be able to help you out of it in time. You're so determined not to form the spell, Senior. Do you have some concern?"

Zhu Lianqing calmly met Xie Lingchuan's probing gaze, flicked the hair ribbon behind her, and said, "Of course I have a concern."

"What concern?"

"It fetters my free soul."

Xie Lingchuan: "..."

Xie Lingchuan said, "Please stop joking with me, Senior."

At this point, Shen Ji stepped forward to smooth things over. "Senior, Senior Brother Xie has already considered everything very carefully. Please put up with this for now. If you're unwilling to form the spell with so many of us, you can simply form it with Senior Brother Xie alone."

Zhu Lianqing looked at Xie Lingchuan before her, considered for a moment, and raised her wrist.

"All right, then. I'll only form it with him."

Hmph. It's not as though a spell can't be undone.

I'm absolutely going to get away.

Xie Lingchuan held his right wrist over Zhu Lianqing's and formed a hand seal with his left hand. Several strands of gold, fine as silk threads, wound around their wrists.

Jiang Tingxue, Song Wensheng, Yan Qing, and the others nearby also gathered around curiously.

Watching her disciple cast the spell, Zhu Lianqing kept feeling that something was wrong.

Sure enough, the next second, the threads wound around their wrists snapped.