Chapter 124#
The Disciple’s Rebirth and Revenge#
What is meant by “dying before the battle is won.”
This is it.
If Lin Xiaodong really believed there were rats on Cold Maple Peak, he definitely wouldn’t have been killed; he would have died of stupidity.
But Xiao Nian gave him a way out, so he could only hold his nose and accept it, and completely strike the option of poisoning from his plan.
“Sorry, Master,” the blind youth said without any sincerity, “Disciple was just worried these beasts would affect your rest. Since I accidentally heard you coughing, your health should be fine, right?”
His tone was gentle, and his sightless eyes stared straight toward Xiao Nian, seemingly truly concerned about the man’s body.
Xiao Nian paused for a moment and, as expected, denied it: “No, you misheard.”
“Is that so?” Lin Xiaodong smiled slightly, “Then it might indeed have been my illusion. Goodnight, Master.”
“…Mhm.”
The eerie atmosphere between this master and disciple, if seen by any disciple or elder of the Cloudsoaring Sect, would cause them to grimace.
Speaking of which, Lin Xiaodong had been back at the Cloudsoaring Sect for so many days and hadn’t gone to see his old friends yet.
“You want to go down the mountain?” Hearing his request, Xiao Nian didn’t show any opposition, “You may. This is the disciple token of Cold Maple Peak; take it with you.”
“Thank you, Master.”
In the past two days, Lin Xiaodong had been unusually quiet, as if the probing and murderous intent of that night were just a fleeting illusion of Xiao Nian’s.
He didn’t teach the other any immortal techniques or formulas, because both of them understood in their hearts that it would be in vain.
Their current relationship maintained a precarious balance on the surface. Lin Xiaodong was waiting for an opportunity—an opportunity when Xiao Nian decided no longer to tolerate him, or an opportunity for him to kill Xiao Nian. He knew that Xiao Nian’s silence about his identity must have a reason, although he didn’t know what that reason was.
But he no longer cared.
When Xiao Nian handed over his flying boat to him, Lin Xiaodong casually asked, “Master, will you wait on the mountain for my return?”
His intention was to ask if Xiao Nian would be temporarily summoned to the Main Hall by the Sect Master to discuss matters again like last time, so he could slack off and not have to sweep the courtyard when he returned. But for some reason, this sentence touched a nerve in Xiao Nian. The man’s lips moved, and he looked at him for a long time with eyes as quiet as the night before slowly nodding.
“I will.”
Lin Xiaodong was somewhat puzzled. He was just going down the mountain for a look; why was Xiao Nian acting as if it were a final parting?
When he really died, he didn’t see this person being very sad.
With such doubts, he decided to find clues within the Cloudsoaring Sect to see if he could dig out some reasons related to Xiao Nian’s changes from the mouths of his junior disciples.
Not to brag, but back then in the Cloudsoaring Sect, the Senior Brother’s name was more useful than that of an elder.
When the youth was sacrificed back then, the elders didn’t dare tell the disciples the truth. Therefore, from beginning to end, the junior brothers and sisters were completely unaware. They only heard that the Senior Brother had unfortunately died to save innocent people while out hunting demons. At that time, all the Cloudsoaring Sect disciples who heard this news had bloodshot eyes and gathered at the Main Hall, signing a petition with ten thousand names to ask the Sect Master to send them out to avenge Lin Xiaodong.
But how could the Sect Master, who was the culprit, allow it? So he firmly refused the disciples’ request, only saying that Xiao Nian, as his master, had already avenged his disciple, and instructed the elders to comfort the disciples. It took more than half a year to barely calm this commotion that had shaken the Cloudsoaring Sect.
Thinking of these past events, Lin Xiaodong landed the flying boat on the square where disciples usually sparred and casually grabbed a passing young disciple to ask, “Excuse me, who is the current Senior Brother of the sect?”
Unexpectedly, the young disciple immediately looked wary and asked back instead of answering, “Who are you? How did you sneak in?”
“I’m also from the Cloudsoaring Sect,” Lin Xiaodong said, feeling a bit weirded out as he reluctantly introduced himself, “Oh, I’m under Immortal Venerable Xiao Nian of Cold Maple Peak… I joined recently, you probably haven’t seen me yet.”
“You are Immortal Venerable Xiao’s disciple!?”
The young disciple gasped.
His voice instantly drew the attention of everyone around. Even two female cultivators sparring nearby stopped their movements and stared intently at Lin Xiaodong’s face.
One of them was the cold-faced beauty who had carried Lin Xiaodong to see the Sect Master on the flying boat on the Immortal Ascension Path.
At the same time, she was also the junior sister who had the best relationship with Lin Xiaodong, the Sect Master’s daughter, Bai Yue.
She saw everything that happened in the hall back then clearly. To be honest, as the only person who knew the truth, Bai Yue on one hand hated her father and the elders for what they did to Senior Brother, and on the other hand felt a deep sense of powerlessness for her own cowardice.
Bai Yue thought guiltily that Senior Brother had been incredibly good to her, yet she had no power to resist after learning the truth. She could only do as before, making a scene and protesting with a hunger strike.
However, the little princess of the Cloudsoaring Sect, who could have whatever she wanted, was of no use in such a matter concerning the lifeline of the world and the immortal realm. Her father, who usually doted on her, not only showed no sign of relenting but directly placed Bai Yue under house arrest for three months.
By the time she was released, everything was already a fait accompli.
Since then, Bai Yue had changed.
Different from what the Sect Master thought, Bai Yue didn’t even continue to make a scene after her house arrest was lifted. She only listened to what Xiao Nian had done to Lin Xiaodong that day with red eyes, then locked herself in her room for a whole week without touching a drop of water.
From that day on, she stopped being delicate. Her first reaction to difficulties was no longer to ask her father or Senior Brother for help—and one of them could never be her support again. As new batches of disciples entered, Bai Yue also became a respected senior sister in the minds of the disciples, equivalent to the legendary Senior Brother of the Cloudsoaring Sect.
But only Bai Yue knew how much she missed that youth who could tolerate all her emotions, who would take her to sit on Cold Maple Peak to watch the peach blossoms fall and the maple leaves turn red all over the mountain.
With such a mindset, when she saw this newly accepted disciple of Xiao Nian’s, Bai Yue’s gaze involuntarily turned a bit colder. But she didn’t show it too obviously; she just walked over through the crowd and said in a flat tone, “Is there something you’ve come here for?”
Lin Xiaodong smiled: “Senior Sister must be joking. I’m also a disciple of the Cloudsoaring Sect. Can’t I come to this place for sparring and competition?”
“Of course you can,” Bai Yue replied, “It’s just that it’s been over half a month since the new disciple initiation ceremony, and I haven’t seen any sign of you. I thought Immortal Venerable Xiao wanted to teach you privately.”
“On the contrary,” Lin Xiaodong said happily; he never cared about exposing Xiao Nian’s secrets to outsiders and even enjoyed it, “During this time, Master hasn’t taught me anything at all.”
“Oh?” Bai Yue’s expression didn’t change, but she scanned his body with her spiritual sense. She immediately frowned—because Lin Xiaodong didn’t want others to find out he was talking to a corpse yet, he used demonic energy to protect all important organs and meridians.
So, even if Bai Yue used her spiritual sense to check, she could only see a ball of dark, hazy mist.
“He didn’t teach you the immortal techniques to suppress demonic energy?”
“No.”
Bai Yue took a deep breath, her eyes tinged with anger, probably thinking about the Senior Brother’s matter.
But the Senior Brother who had crawled out of the coffin stood smiling before her, “looking” at this junior sister who had almost become a different person compared to before, feeling a momentary sense of sadness.
When they met on the Immortal Ascension Path earlier, because his mind was entirely focused on seeking revenge against Xiao Nian, although he recognized Bai Yue, he didn’t take her changes to heart. Now that he had settled down, meeting an old friend indeed made him feel deeply moved.
“The move Senior Sister used just now was very beautiful,” he praised sincerely, “The sword is like a dragon, graceful like a startled swan; you must have put in a lot of hard work practicing it, right?”
Bai Yue stared at him: “Aren’t you blind?”
“Just spiritual sense,” Lin Xiaodong tapped his temple, “Self-taught.”
Self-taught?
Bai Yue didn’t quite know what to feel about this blind person. She certainly didn’t hate him, but of course it was impossible for her to have a good impression either, as he was that Xiao Nian’s disciple. But for some reason, the youth’s tone and attitude always gave her a very familiar feeling, as if…
Bai Yue suddenly bit her lower lip. What was she thinking!
In what way did this blind man resemble Senior Brother? He couldn’t even compare to Senior Brother’s pinky finger!
Besides, his performance in the hall at the beginning was far too dangerous and suspicious. Bai Yue didn’t know what her father was thinking, letting this fellow, who was very likely a spy for the demon realm, into the sect—even if Xiao Nian was hateful, that was no reason for him to attack the other in full view of everyone!
The key point was that he had now actually become Xiao Nian’s disciple.
“Since you can use spiritual sense, then come up and spar with me,” she slightly raised her chin and said proudly, “I won’t use my full strength.”
Lin Xiaodong knew Bai Yue wanted to test him, but he was actually also very interested in seeing his junior sister’s current level, so he readily agreed: “Alright. Then please teach me, Senior Sister.”
He agreed easily, but didn’t notice the disciples around him gathering in increasing numbers, and they were all staring at him with eyes as if looking at a madman.
A person who had just cultivated spiritual sense and hadn’t even learned any immortal techniques or formulas wanted to compete on the same stage as Senior Sister Bai Yue. Was this person serious?
But as the disciple acting as referee gave the order, looking at the thick demonic energy swirling around the blind youth on the stage, everyone’s faces showed expressions of both horror and fear.
Countless whispers began to spread through the crowd. Although the higher-ups of the Cloudsoaring Sect intended to downplay Lin Xiaodong’s existence, a dozen years of time couldn’t completely erase the traces left in the disciples’ hearts by that respected Senior Brother.
Many older disciples showed strange looks when they heard the phrase “Immortal Venerable Xiao’s disciple,” and now seeing the blind man on the stage holding his own and even having the upper hand when sparring with Bai Yue, they all clenched their fists. For a moment, it was as if they had returned to a dozen years ago, to the time before the Senior Brother had left.
The Cloudsoaring Sect at that time… was not like this.
In the distance, the Sect Master, who happened to be strolling by, watched this scene and let out a deep sigh.
“Call Xiao Nian over,” he waved his hand and said to the disciple beside him, “Quickly, tell him to take the person away.”
No matter what, he was still the Sect Master.
The Cloudsoaring Sect could not undergo the same experience twice.