Chapter Twenty: The Final Farewell
Yan Rouwan couldn’t recall how she spent that night.
The confinement chamber was cold.
It was no different from a prison of the Demon Sect.
She always felt that something was off.
Things shouldn’t have turned out this way.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t figure it out.
In the early morning, there was still a thin layer of dew on the windowsill of the confinement chamber. Yan Rouwan heard the whispers of the female disciple guarding her at the door:
“Senior Sister Yan actually came back, I just can’t understand it.”
“I heard from the medical officer who checked her yesterday that she didn’t even break through to Yuanhong.”
“Ah? So those demon cultivators are just a bunch of perverts?”
“Maybe, or she might have served them well in other ways, and they let her go.”
“It makes me so mad that she returned unscathed.”
“However, the sect is already suspicious that she betrayed us, selling our sect’s secrets to save her own skin. She can’t act like she used to, riding high on us anymore.”
“Tch, I’ve been annoyed by her arrogant attitude for a long time. She’s lucky the demon cultivators didn’t turn her into a toilet!”
“If she weren’t lucky, would she be able to be the chosen one? I mean, why does she have such good talent and progress so fast? Why can’t we do the same?”
“Exactly. It’s only a matter of time until she pays for it.”
……
Yan Rouwan remained silent, curled up in the corner.
She clutched her knees tightly and bit her lip, her mind continuously questioning where it all went wrong.
It shouldn’t be like this.
It really shouldn’t.
Clearly, I never mistreated them. I treated all my fellow disciples kindly and gently.
I never bullied you guys.
Why?
Why do you have to harbor such filthy thoughts about me?
Recalling the days and nights spent in the sect, Yan Rouwan suddenly felt that everything was left with hypocrisy.
Those who once greeted her with smiles and praised her were secretly another person altogether.
Those elders who were kind to her turned their backs on her when it mattered most.
And then, Master……
Thinking of her Master brought a glimmer of hope to Yan Rouwan’s beautiful eyes.
That’s right.
Only Master would certainly believe me.
Master treated me like a daughter since I climbed the mountain at ten years old.
Having watched me grow up for so many years, she would have to believe that I haven’t betrayed her.
…… I need to see Master.
Yan Rouwan slowly stood up.
At the door of the confinement chamber, the two female disciples chatting suddenly rolled their eyes and fainted.
Yan Rouwan pushed open the door and staggered outside.
Right now, her mind was filled with just one thought.
She must see her Master.
——
——
Water Moon Sect’s great hall.
In the side room tea chamber, the sect leader, dressed in a plain robe with a purple hairpin and elegant makeup, looked anxiously at the communication device in front of her.
“Sect Leader He, is there truly no room for negotiation on this matter?”
“Master Yu Xia, it’s not that I don’t wish to help your Water Moon Sect.”
On the other end of the communication device, a rotund middle-aged Taoist looked troubled. “Attacking the Demon Sect is a severe matter, their defenses are tight, and with someone like Hua Jianglian, a tribulation expert, it’s not easy to launch an attack.”
“Why not change it to another day for us to gather the righteous sects for discussion?”
“I can wait, but my daughter cannot!”
Master Yu Xia’s expression was urgent. “If something were to happen to her, what good would it be to break the Demon Sect?”
“Sigh. Master Yu Xia, I understand your anxiety for your daughter. But you’re too emotional right now, too unstable. Let’s discuss it when you calm down.”
Saying that, the signal on the communication device was cut off.
Master Yu Xia stared at the table for a long time, her jade hand clenched tightly, and suddenly she flipped the table.
“…A bunch of hypocritical, despicable scoundrels,” she spat out in anger.
“Every day they form cliques, wishing they could merge their sects into one.”
“But if one side truly runs into trouble, they all become turtles, dodging and delaying. They even hope my Water Moon Sect and the Demon Sect will suffer both losses.”
“Truly despicable.”
Si Jingzhu had been captured by the Demon Sect for two days.
Just thinking about her innocent and delicate darling daughter being abused by countless demon cultivators sent chills through Master Yu Xia’s body and twisted her heart with pain.
Fine.
Even if it means exhausting the full power of my Water Moon Sect.
I will make sure to sink the Demon Sect!
Just then, a sudden commotion from outside made Master Yu Xia, already frazzled, even more irritable. She waved her sleeve and shouted:
“Who dares to act wildly in the hall?”
“Master, it’s Yan Rouwan… your junior sister.”
Master Yu Xia’s beautiful eyes narrowed as she quickly walked to the main hall.
Surrounded by several sect disciples, Yan Rouwan, in a light gauze dress, pale as a sheet, knelt on the ground with her hair in disarray.
The moment she saw Master Yu Xia, the vacant look in her beautiful eyes slowly began to sparkle.
“Master…”
“I remember, you should be in the confinement chamber,” Master Yu Xia said coldly.
Hearing that somewhat icy tone, Yan Rouwan’s heart sank.
“Master… I, your disciple, have never done anything wrong to the sect.”
“The elders and fellow disciples refuse to believe me. But every word I say is true. You raised me since I was a child, you must know I haven’t deceived you—”
She tried to defend herself further.
But Master Yu Xia’s expression remained as indifferent as water.
Her cold eyes showed no emotion.
After a long pause, when Yan Rouwan finished speaking, looking at Master Yu Xia with hope.
Master Yu Xia finally spoke slowly:
“…Have you finished?”
Yan Rouwan’s beautiful eyes were filled with bewilderment and confusion.
“If you’re innocent, why not stay in the confinement chamber, and why did you come out on your own?”
“If you’re innocent, why were you the only one released by the Demon Sect, and were completely unharmed?”
Master Yu Xia squinted slightly: “I only hate that you, of all people, came back.”
“…And not my daughter.”
Those words seemed to shatter the last ray of light in Yan Rouwan’s eyes.
When all the light faded away.
Her beautiful eyes were left with endless gloom and emptiness.
“I wanted to pity you for being young and unable to withstand the tortures of demon cultivators.”
“Now it seems, there’s no need for pity.” Master Yu Xia waved her sleeve and coldly ordered:
“Take her to the dungeon. She will be punished after the battle with the Demon Sect.”
“Yes!”
As several instructed disciples prepared to step forward to grab Yan Rouwan, she stood up on her own.
Her vacant gaze drifted back a few steps, and she looked back at Master Yu Xia with reluctance.
She had planned to call out “Master” again.
But Master Yu Xia had already turned and unhesitatingly returned to the side room. Not even glancing at her once.
So in the end, she swallowed everything into a silent silence.
And swallowed back the call for Master.
She knew.
This should be.
The last time in her life she would see this place.
