Severing Ties: The Sect Regrets My Departure

Chapter 192: I Have a Merciful Heart, But This World Insists I Be the Villain

“Awakening Spirit Valley is a third-rate sect, utterly insignificant.”

“Their Sect Leader is a Nascent Soul cultivator named Yi Zhiyin. He founded the valley a century ago. While they boast a large number of disciples, most are glorified gardeners, spending their days planting flowers and tending to herbs.”

In the private quarters of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, Shadow continued her report, her voice flat and professional.

“They survive by cultivating spirit herbs and farming spiritual fields. However, their produce is of average quality. They rarely interact with major powers like us, preferring to hawk their wares in common market stalls.”

Shadow paused, flipping a page in her dossier. “Furthermore, Awakening Spirit Valley has always been excessively low-key. There are no rumors, no scandals, and no notable achievements. Half the cultivation world hasn’t even heard their name.”

Wan Xiaobei drummed her fingers on the table, her brow furrowed in thought.

Today, news that Awakening Spirit Valley intended to exterminate the “Shi Clan” had swept through the region like wildfire. It came without warning, catching everyone off guard.

The sheer absurdity of it had turned the valley into a laughingstock. A no-name sect announcing a public execution of an equally unknown clan felt like a desperate cry for attention—a gnat roaring at the sky.

But Wan Xiaobei, the Master of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, sensed something wrong.

“So,” she said, breaking the silence. “What is this ‘Shi Clan’? What’s their background?”

“That…” Shadow hesitated, then shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Xiaobei looked up, surprised.

“I’ve never heard the name before,” Shadow admitted. “At first, I assumed they were a reclusive family. But after a thorough investigation, I found no record of any cultivation family with the surname Shi in the area. Nor could I find any history of grievances between them and Awakening Spirit Valley.”

Wan Xiaobei’s frown deepened.

Am I overthinking this?

She shook her head. No. The news had spread too fast, too deliberately. Someone was fanning the flames.

“Is it possible…” Xiaobei murmured, her mind racing. “That ‘Shi Clan’ is a pseudonym? That Awakening Spirit Valley isn’t just killing people, but sending a message?”

“A message?” Shadow blinked, considering it. “If you look at it that way… it makes sense. Otherwise, why broadcast such a trivial matter to the entire world?”

“But who is the message for?” Xiaobei stood up and began to pace. “What is the purpose of this charade? And what does the Shi Clan represent?”

The room fell silent. Neither the young mistress nor her loyal shadow could find the loose thread to unravel the knot.

“Fine,” Xiaobei sighed, waving her hand. “Speculation is useless. It has nothing to do with our business anyway. Go attend to your duties, Shadow Sister.”

Shadow bowed and vanished.

However, Wan Xiaobei did not return to work. She was a girl who thrived on secrets, and an unsolved puzzle was like an itch she couldn’t scratch. She spent the next two days distracted, her mind chewing on the mystery of the Shi Clan.

Just as she was about to give up, a conversation from the shop floor below drifted up to her ears.

“…heard several Peak Masters from the Azure Mystic Sacred Land have left the mountain recently. They’re scouring the lands for spirit herbs.”

“For the Peak Masters to move personally? Who are they trying to save?”

“Who knows? But if Azure Mystic wants to save someone, they’ll live. Especially with Physician Xu there. In front of her, no injury is fatal.”

“Speaking of Physician Xu, have you heard the old rumor? They say she once faced a life-and-death calamity. Her life hung by a thread, and she only survived because someone replaced her heart!”

“Oh, I’ve heard that one! They say the legendary Tantai Physician performed the surgery. He gave her a Heart of Stone Wax.”

“Bah! What ‘Wax Heart’? You ignorant fool, that’s Void Stone Wax! It represents the ultimate benevolence in the world. They say that heart is why her medical skills skyrocketed, turning her into a saint of supreme goodness.”

“Physician Xu was already kind! Countless people have received her grace. It has nothing to do with some heart…”

The customers’ topic drifted to praising Xu Wanqing’s saintly reputation.

Upstairs, Wan Xiaobei froze. She didn’t care about Xu Wanqing’s kindness. Her mind latched onto two specific terms.

Tantai Physician. Void Stone Wax.

She immediately sought out Su Rumei.

“Rumei Sister,” Xiaobei asked urgently, finding the manager amidst a pile of ledgers. “You mentioned a Tantai Physician once before, didn’t you?”

“Tantai Physician?” Su Rumei looked up, puzzled but compliant. “Yes. Tantai Shi. Before Xu Wanqing rose to fame, he was the undisputed number one physician in Tianqi. His skills were unfathomable, famous throughout the entire Eastern Wastelands.”

“Why don’t we hear about him anymore?”

“Rumor has it that after he saved Xu Wanqing, he passed all his knowledge to her and retired to the mountains to live in seclusion.”

“Retired?” Xiaobei’s eyes narrowed. “Where?”

“No one knows,” Su Rumei shook her head. “Though… I recall a guest once mentioning that Tantai Shi passed away years ago. To avoid his enemies, his entire family changed their surname.”

“Changed it to what?”

“I believe… it was Shi.”

Shi.

Wan Xiaobei’s eyes widened. The pieces of the puzzle slammed together with a deafening click.

Awakening Spirit Valley wasn’t killing some random Shi Clan. They were exterminating the descendants of the Tantai Clan.

Why spread the news?

To lure someone out. Someone from Azure Mystic? Or perhaps… someone who knew the secret?

A thought struck her like lightning.

Wan Xiaobei bolted for the stairs.

“Master?” Su Rumei called out, startled by the sudden burst of speed. “Where are you going?”

“Listening-to-Rain Pavilion! I need to find Elder Feng!”

She didn’t have proof. She didn’t understand the full connection. But her intuition—that sharp, gut instinct that had served her so well—was screaming.

This is about Gu Xiu.

“Master, wait!” Su Rumei hurried to block her path. “Going there now is useless. Elder Feng isn’t in.”

Xiaobei skidded to a halt. “Not in?”

“No. He came by this morning to say he was going on a trip. He might be gone for a few days.”

“Did he say where?”

“No. He only said… he was going to handle an old matter.”

An old matter.

Wan Xiaobei’s blood ran cold.

“Rumei Sister,” she commanded, her voice dropping an octave. “Gather our people. Mobilize every available expert we have. Now.”

“What?” Su Rumei blinked, confused by the sudden shift to a war footing.

“I said, gather everyone!” Wan Xiaobei gritted her teeth, her eyes burning with resolve. “No one bullies an Elder of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion!”

“We are going to Awakening Spirit Valley!”

While Wan Xiaobei marshaled her forces, another drama was unfolding on the precipice of the Azure Mystic Sacred Land.

Reflection Cliff.

Xu Wanqing ascended the mountain path once more.

She looked the same as always—a vision of purity in a plain white dress, her expression tranquil as a still lake. But today, a shadow of melancholy marred her features. Pain, hesitation, and a profound sadness seemed to weigh on her brow.

She stopped before the prisoner.

“Senior Sister,” Xu Wanqing said softly, looking at Nian Zhaoxi with deep, soulful eyes. “You have always understood the principles of the world better than I.”

She paused, biting her lip.

“I want to ask you a question… Am I a good person?”

Nian Zhaoxi did not answer. She didn’t even speak. She merely cast a cold, disdainful glance at the woman before her, then turned her gaze back to the desolate landscape, as if the rocks were more interesting company.

Xu Wanqing let out a long, trembling sigh.

“Senior Sister, it is not my fault.”

“I have a merciful heart,” she whispered, her voice trembling with emotion. “But this world… this cruel world insists I be the villain.”

“I am unwilling. I do not want this.”

“But… I have no choice.”

She spoke with absolute sincerity. Her face was a mask of compassion and guilt, the picture of a saint forced to make an impossible sacrifice for the greater good.

It was a performance that could move mountains.

But it could not move Nian Zhaoxi.

The prisoner finally turned her head. Her eyes, usually dead and empty, now burned with mocking amusement.

“Physician Xu.”

Nian Zhaoxi’s voice was dry and rasping. “Have you worn that Bodhisattva mask for so long that you’ve forgotten it is just a mask?”

Xu Wanqing froze.

“Tantai Shi saved you,” Nian Zhaoxi continued, her tone stripping away the pretense layer by layer. “He cut open his own chest and gave you the Void Stone Wax. He taught you everything he knew.”

“And how did you repay him?”

“You feigned kindness. You pretended to care for his descendants, the Tantai Clan who hid under the name ‘Shi’. But in the shadows, you built Awakening Spirit Valley to farm them like cattle. You have been slowly grinding his bloodline into dust.”

Nian Zhaoxi sneered. “From the very beginning, all you wanted was the rest of the Void Stone Wax—the portion Tantai Shi held back.”

“Why bother with these excuses? Why try to blame your sins on the world, or even on Gu Xiu?”

Nian Zhaoxi leaned forward as far as her chains would allow, her gaze piercing through Xu Wanqing’s soul.

“Do you really think I am still the same fool as before? That despite possessing the Heavenly Secrets Divination, I am still blind, deaf, and easily manipulated by you?”

The sorrow on Xu Wanqing’s face vanished.

She stared at Nian Zhaoxi.

And for the first time, her eyes held naked killing intent.