Chapter 35

Chapter 35: She Really Was a Genius

“Since she’s in seclusion, let’s go.”

The mountain wind sighed through the corridor outside the hall. A strip of paper had been pasted to the door, simple characters declaring: In Seclusion.

Gu Qing Yuan, who had stayed silent the whole time, finally spoke. “You’re still poisoned. We can’t delay.”

They had already been told Song Wan Ning was in seclusion, but Ye Chu Xue refused to believe it. She insisted on coming anyway, dragging her weakened body all the way here, as if she could pry the truth out by sheer will.

“What you hear can be false,” she said, voice tight.

Who could guarantee Song Wan Ning was truly in seclusion?

What if it was just a sign on the door?

“Enough.” Gu Qing Yuan’s low bark cut through her spiraling thoughts. He grabbed Ye Chu Xue by the arm, his grip firm.

“If she says she’s in seclusion, then she’s in seclusion.” His jaw clenched. “Song Wan Ning isn’t that scheming.”

“Come back with me first.”

His tone was sharper than usual. Ye Chu Xue’s heart chilled all at once.

Master snapped at her because of Song Wan Ning?

In more than twenty years, that had never happened.

“Master,” she said, lifting her chin, stubborn heat flooding her eyes, “you trust her that much?”

The more they shielded Song Wan Ning, the more Ye Chu Xue wanted to prove her suspicion right. She wanted to show them—show everyone—that Song Wan Ning was vicious and rotten to the core.

Gu Qing Yuan’s brows drew tighter, the worry in his eyes warring with a patience worn thin. “It’s not about trust. You can’t barge in and ‘verify’ someone’s seclusion. Interrupting seclusion is despicable.”

Ye Chu Xue’s lips pressed into a hard line.

An Ze, who had been hovering at Ye Chu Xue’s side like a faithful shadow, rushed forward the moment he saw her expression.

“Martial Uncle Gu, if you go knock, Master will open the door for you right away!” he blurted, eager to please. “Master has always indulged you. You’re only interrupting her seclusion—she won’t be angry!”

His voice grew louder, as if volume could turn nonsense into reason. “If what Senior Sister Ye says is true, then what Master did is absolutely vile. Senior Sister Ye, don’t worry. With Martial Uncle Gu stepping in, there won’t be any problem.”

He talked himself into a fever, completely missing the strange looks aimed his way.

Had he forgotten what Song Wan Ning had done to Gu Qing Yuan the other day?

And he still wanted him to knock?

Idiot.

Gu Qing Yuan didn’t even spare An Ze a glance. If Ye Chu Xue hadn’t been on decent terms with him, Gu Qing Yuan wouldn’t have bothered tolerating a word.

But Ye Chu Xue’s eyes lit anyway, a fragile hope flickering back to life. To this day, she still didn’t know Gu Qing Yuan had once knelt and begged for medicine for her. In her mind, everything was as it had always been: Master would protect her. Master would choose her.

“No.” Gu Qing Yuan’s refusal was flat, merciless. It snuffed out her last shred of fantasy in a single breath. “Don’t do it.”

His gaze slid over An Ze, cool and cutting, as if measuring how much damage foolishness could do when paired with blind devotion.

“Come on,” he said, voice final. “We’re going back.”

Ignoring Ye Chu Xue’s resentment choking hot in her throat, Gu Qing Yuan forced her to leave.

Behind them, Bai Yang’s eyes lingered on the main hall for a heartbeat too long. Then they shifted to Li Ruo, and a trace of coldness flashed through his gaze.

No one was going to replace his place in Master’s heart.

—

Blood sprayed.

Song Wan Ning took a vicious thrust through the chest. She spat out a mouthful of blood, fingers going numb around the hilt, and yanked the longsword free with a savage jerk.

The soldier across from her stared, shocked—then the shock curdled into vicious delight. He swung again.

Song Wan Ning’s gaze sharpened into something feral. She raised her sword and met the blade head-on.

Bloodlight flooded her vision.

“Mom, save me!”

“Dad—I’m scared!”

“Don’t kill him! Don’t!”

“Please… please, let them go!”

“You’ll die horrible deaths! Even as a ghost, I won’t let you go!”

Screams ripped through the night, one after another, shredding what was left of reason. Song Wan Ning’s killing intent only surged higher as she fought, her arms burning, her breath tearing.

In this village, she had lived with these people for more than ten years.

There had been mischievous children who clung to her sleeves, honest uncles with weathered hands, kind aunties who worked until their backs ached and still smiled, boys and girls full of youthful fire.

Just yesterday, everyone had gathered together beneath lanternlight, laughing and dreaming out loud about the harvest, about warmer winters, about better days.

Tonight, roaming soldiers turned those dreams into corpses.

Song Wan Ning tried to protect them.

Then she realized the spiritual qi in her body was completely gone.

Empty.

As if someone had scooped her hollow and left her as ordinary as the people she was trying to save.

She swung her sword anyway. Again and again, until her arms shook. Until her hands split. Until the world blurred.

She chased every cry, every wail—only to watch bodies fall one after another.

Blood ran through the streets. Limbs tore. The ground became a carpet of broken flesh.

It dragged her back to the Song Family massacre in her previous life—the same despair, the same helplessness, watching everything burn while she could do nothing.

Bloodlight seeped into her eyes, and something deep in Song Wan Ning finally snapped open.

Even knowing this was only an illusion within the inheritance trial, she still threw herself into it with everything she had.

A sword came down from above.

Pain flashed—white, clean, absolute.

Her body split in two and hit the ground.

Endless cold swallowed her. Boundless blood-red darkness wrapped around her, layer by layer, until there was nothing left.

When she opened her eyes again, the world had returned to the night before.

For a moment, she stared blankly, breaths shallow, as if her mind had been scraped raw. Then the meaning of the first trial settled into her bones.

Around her, the villagers’ voices were bright and simple. Their lives were hard, but every one of them still held tight to small, stubborn hopes for the future. They lived with effort, with clumsy determination, as if persistence alone could earn them mercy.

Heaven was unfair.

It refused to let them go.

Song Wan Ning curled her fingers into a fist.

More than ten years of memories surged through her, and her resolve only hardened.

So she began again.

Killed, reborn.

Killed, reborn.

Over and over—without end.

Outside, half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

Song Wan Ning was still in seclusion, but the Heaven-Questioning Sect had erupted with news.

“Did you hear? Senior Sister Ye successfully refined a fifth-grade pill yesterday!”

A sharp hiss followed. “That fast? Already refining fifth-grade?”

“Of course. I heard Senior Sister Ye only joined half a year ago, and in just six months she refined a fifth-grade pill. She’s practically a born pill cultivator!”

“That’s insane. Senior Sister Ye is the real alchemy genius!”

“Right! She’s the successor of the Medicine King Sect!”

The disciples’ voices buzzed with excitement, eyes shining as if they’d witnessed a miracle.

“And Senior Sister Ye is beautiful and kind. She even gives pills to ordinary disciples like us!”

Grandmaster Song might be an alchemy grandmaster, but her pills had never had anything to do with them. They’d never even smelled one up close.

Senior Sister Ye was different. She handed pills out like blessings.

Someone laughed bitterly. “Unlike certain people who make you kneel just to beg for a pill.”

The memory of Song Wan Ning’s harsh demands only made the contrast sharper. She’d even forced Grandmaster Gu—a banished immortal—to kneel. How cold-blooded could someone be?

“Senior Sister Ye is giving out pills again today. Hurry—maybe we’ll get lucky!”

“Let’s go!”

Before long, Ye Chu Xue stepped out with a tray in her hands, her expression composed but her eyes bright with pride.

[I really am a genius!]