Chapter 331

Chapter 331: Now You Regret It, What Were You Doing Before?
One day, three young men and women in flowing white robes arrived in the small border town where they lived. They called themselves masters. They said they had come to choose children with good talent to join an immortal sect and learn the Way of Longevity.

For some reason, the moment Master Qing Yan saw them, he felt a strong dislike. He warned Shui Qing Yue again and again not to go near them.

But Shui Qing Yue was still a child at heart and yearned for the Way of Longevity.

If she could learn the Way of Longevity and teach it to her elder brother, then the two of them could stay together forever.

Holding that beautiful wish in her heart, Shui Qing Yue secretly signed up for the disciple selection. As expected, she was chosen.

She was overjoyed and was about to go back and tell her elder brother the good news when the three kind and gentle young people suddenly changed their faces and locked her up.

These three were not disciples of any sect at all, but lackeys searching for furnace cauldrons for a Golden Core cultivator.

With her water spiritual root and snow-white, adorable looks, Shui Qing Yue was the perfect furnace candidate.

Finding such a prize in a poor, remote town pleased the three of them very much. To avoid any problems, they decided to take Shui Qing Yue away at once.

They had barely left when Master Qing Yan felt a bad premonition.

When he confirmed that Shui Qing Yue was missing, he immediately locked onto them as suspects. Relying on his sharp instincts, he tracked them all the way to the Golden Core cultivator’s lair and finally found Shui Qing Yue, who had been imprisoned there.

Of course, his presence was exposed at the same time.

The Golden Core cultivator disdained dealing with a mere mortal and sent the three lackeys out to handle him.

They were vicious, but they were also real Foundation Establishment cultivators. The memoryless Master Qing Yan was no match for them at all. In the end, it was Shui Qing Yue who used her own life to threaten them, forcing the three to give up on killing Master Qing Yan.

Watching his beloved little sister cry her heart out as he lay on the ground, Master Qing Yan felt like his head was splitting apart, and the spiritual power that had been sealed in his dantian by his injuries finally awakened.

Driven by boundless rage, he used cruel methods to kill the three of them. He also wiped out the high-level cultivator and all of his followers, rescuing many young women who, like Shui Qing Yue, had been imprisoned there.

However, because his illness kept flaring up and his emotions were out of control, he was afraid he would lose himself and hurt Shui Qing Yue.

Without even leaving a single word behind, he fled in a hurry, traveling thousands of miles before finally collapsing outside the gates of Greenwood Sect.

When he woke again, he was once more the aloof Master Qing Yan.

Sect Master Ji Yuan’s face was full of emotion.

He had never expected that the cold-hearted Master Qing Yan could have such a gentle side.

He said: “Now that you have recovered your memories, you should go and search for Shui Qing Yue. If she has not taken a master, bring her back to the sect and settle her on your Lone Moon Peak so you can teach her carefully. If she already has a master, that is fine too. There are many livable places near the Five Elements Dao Sect. We can give her a small courtyard so it is easy for the two of you to meet.”

Sect Master Ji Yuan had basically thought through every detail on Master Qing Yan’s behalf.

But Master Qing Yan still did not say a word.

Elder Gu could see that something was wrong. He said: “After Master Qing Yan recovered his memories, the first thing he did was not go looking for Shui Qing Yue, but to search for Yu Zhao. May I ask if there is some special connection between them?”

Sect Master Ji Yuan let out an “ah.”

He had not thought of that.

Thinking of the information he had found earlier about Shui Qing Yue, Master Qing Yan’s face turned ashen. He said: “Yes. Yu Zhao looks exactly the same as Little Yue. She should be Little Yue’s child.”

“This…” Sect Master Ji Yuan and Elder Gu looked at each other.

Neither of them had expected such a link between Yu Zhao and Master Qing Yan.

When they thought back to how Master Qing Yan had once harshly scolded Yu Zhao in public, the two men felt both angry and a little gloating.

Back then, they had tried so hard to persuade Master Qing Yan not to be so ruthless toward Yu Zhao and to leave some room for the future. But he had refused to listen and stubbornly done as he pleased.

And now, what a joke it was. The disciple he had despised so much was actually the daughter of the person who had saved his life, while the beloved disciple he had treated like a treasure turned out to be a malevolent spirit.

He had been wrong about everything.

Sect Master Ji Yuan held himself back again and again, but in the end he decided not to hold back at all. He said angrily: “You only know how to regret it now. What were you doing before? Yu Zhao is such a good child, but you forced her so hard she could not even take part in the Cultivation World Sect Grand Tournament. When she went to train on the Floating Island, you even cast the Water Mirror Art on her to spy on her! And you still want her forgiveness? Hmph!”

Elder Gu had only known about the first matter. When he heard the second half of Sect Master Ji Yuan’s words, he was so angry his beard practically puffed up. He shouted: “Yu Zhao had to give up the Sea Moon Scripture to repay your kindness and could only search the Archive Tower for another suitable cultivation technique. You almost ruined her entire life!”

The two of them took turns scolding until Master Qing Yan could not even lift his head.

“I know I was wrong. Right now, I only want to make it up to her.” Master Qing Yan clenched his fists, his expression full of grief.

Only now did he truly understand why that otherworldly soul had been so sure that he would regret this one day.

If he had not forgotten that part of his past, Shui Qing Yue would not have been left alone, dying so young and leaving behind only a single child connected to him by blood.

What was even sadder was that fate had led him to Yu Zhao among thousands and thousands of people. He had clearly had the chance to make it up to her, but instead of cherishing it, he had relied on his identity as a master and forced her to leave Lone Moon Peak and stand on her own.

Now, he kept seeing in his mind the stubborn look in Yu Zhao’s eyes when she had faced him.

His arms trembled.

He regretted it.

He truly regretted it.

Master Qing Yan’s heart was twisted with sorrow and regret.

Sect Master Ji Yuan and Elder Gu, however, did not feel much sympathy.

This was the path he had chosen.

He had to bear the consequences of choosing wrong.

The only one who had been innocent and most worthy of pity the whole time was Yu Zhao.

Sect Master Ji Yuan stood up and said: “Yu Zhao has gone out to train and we do not know where she is. I advise you not to go looking for her. She might not be willing to see you.”

Elder Gu was even more blunt than Sect Master Ji Yuan. He spat out: “Bad luck!” Then he clasped his hands behind his back and walked out.

Sect Master Ji Yuan also wanted to leave. He had taken only two steps toward the door when he remembered there was still an important matter he had not explained to Master Qing Yan.

He turned back and said: “Ye Cong Xin is dead.”

Master Qing Yan was startled, but when he remembered that he had broken with Yu Zhao because of Ye Cong Xin, his expression stayed indifferent.

Sect Master Ji Yuan frowned.

Even if Master Qing Yan blamed Ye Cong Xin, to hear of her death and react like this was chilling.

Sect Master Ji Yuan said: “She was killed by Su Ming and Quan Ye working together. The two of them both claimed she was a malevolent spirit. Right now, her body is being kept on the Main Peak, while Su Ming and Quan Ye are being held in seclusion on Lone Moon Peak. As for how to judge this case, after discussing it with the elders, we decided to leave the final decision to you.”

When he heard talk of a malevolent spirit again, Master Qing Yan no longer rejected the idea.

When that soul had burned itself away to stabilize his Sea of Consciousness, it had also made him realize that what it had told him in the past was not empty talk.

The strange things about Ye Cong Xin that he had deliberately ignored surfaced in his mind once more. He said coldly: “Ye Cong Xin deserved to die. Su Ming and Quan Ye are innocent. Fang Cheng Lang is innocent.”

He did not plan to punish Su Ming and Quan Ye at all and even intended to release Fang Cheng Lang, who had been locked up before.

Sect Master Ji Yuan hesitated and said: “The two of them killed Ye Cong Xin in public. We need to give the disciples an explanation. Besides, we still have no proof that Ye Cong Xin had evil intentions.”

Master Qing Yan said: “Then make public all the suspicious points about Ye Cong Xin and let the disciples judge for themselves.”

Sect Master Ji Yuan frowned: “If we do that, your reputation…”

“It does not matter anymore,” Master Qing Yan answered.

“…All right,” Sect Master Ji Yuan sighed.