Chapter 12: The Unseen Mark

“The energy impact just now injured your meridians.” Gu Chang’an’s voice was devoid of emotion, as if stating a mere fact. She stopped before Shen Zhaoqing, looking down at her from above. “I will guide your qi.”

Without waiting for Shen Zhaoqing to react, she extended a hand and grasped Shen Zhaoqing’s wrist.

Her fingertips were icy cold, yet they held an undeniable, irresistible force.

Shen Zhaoqing stiffened instantly.

She tried to pull her hand away, only to find Gu Chang’an’s grip firmly imprisoning her, rendering her immobile.

A surge of pure, frigid spiritual energy flowed from Gu Chang’an’s fingertips, slowly entering Shen Zhaoqing’s body.

Indeed, wherever this spiritual energy passed, it significantly eased the stagnation in her meridians, which had been jolted by the impact.

However, Shen Zhaoqing had no inclination to savor this ‘healing’ comfort at that moment.

For they were too close.

To facilitate the transfer of spiritual energy, Gu Chang’an had almost knelt before her. Their proximity was such that Shen Zhaoqing could clearly see her Senior Sister’s long, curled eyelashes, and a nearly imperceptible, faint old scar on her thin lips.

A crisp, cool scent, like pine trees after a snowfall, lingered at her nostrils.

Shen Zhaoqing’s heart skipped a beat, for no apparent reason.

Embarrassed, she averted her gaze, unsure where to look.

The next second, she felt Gu Chang’an’s grip on her wrist tighten abruptly. The force was so immense it made her wrist bones ache.

“Hiss…” Shen Zhaoqing gasped in pain. Just as she was about to protest, she met a pair of eyes that sent a shiver down her spine.

In that instant, Gu Chang’an’s expression turned colder than ten-thousand-year-old profound ice!

All emotion vanished from her beautiful almond-shaped eyes. “What is this?”

Her voice was deep, as if rising from the depths of the Nine Netherworlds.

Shen Zhaoqing followed her gaze, only to see her own wrist, smooth-skinned and utterly unblemished.

“What… what is what?” She stammered, a little frightened.

Gu Chang’an offered no reply.

She merely stared fixedly at Shen Zhaoqing’s wrist, as though she could pierce through flesh and bone to see the invisible demonic pact’s red thread, already fused with her bloodline!

Ever since a moment ago, she had sensed an extremely subtle yet incredibly pure demonic aura.

That demonic aura coiled around Shen Zhaoqing’s heart meridian, weakly connected to her own breath, carrying Ling Shuangjue’s domineering and enchanting scent!

It was that demon!

She had actually left such a vile mark on Shen Zhaoqing, right under her very nose!

“That scoundrel!” The temperature inside the stone cave plummeted, and a thin layer of white frost crystallized on the stone walls!

Shen Zhaoqing was scared out of her wits. She had no idea what she had done wrong, or why her Senior Sister, who had been ‘tenderly’ healing her a moment ago, had suddenly transformed into a murderous Yama King.

“S-Senior Sister…”

“Don’t move.”

Gu Chang’an formed a sword-finger with her other hand, and a brilliant, chilling frost-white light shimmered at its tip.

Without the slightest hesitation, Gu Chang’an channeled that wisp of Oblivion Sword Intent, cautiously probing into Shen Zhaoqing’s wrist pulse, and fiercely slashed towards the hidden demonic pact’s red thread!

The sword intent was incomparably sharp; it could cleave through anything in its path!

However, the moment the sword intent touched the red thread—

Shen Zhaoqing’s face instantly turned deathly pale, and a mouthful of heart’s blood welled up in her throat without warning!

“Pfft!”

Simultaneously, the hidden red thread erupted with an eerie crimson glow, resonating with her heartbeat, staunchly resisting the sword intent’s erosion!

Gu Chang’an’s expression drastically changed, and she instantly retracted her sword intent!

She gazed at the blood spilling from Shen Zhaoqing’s lips and her paper-white face.

‘How could this be…’

This demonic pact was already so deeply intertwined with her heart meridian!

Forcibly severing it would be tantamount to tearing apart her heart meridian with her own hands!

In that moment, an unprecedented sense of powerlessness and jealousy, like a poisonous vine, fiercely seized Gu Chang’an’s heart.

She hated!

Hated that demon Ling Shuangjue’s despicable shamelessness!

And even more, she hated her own helplessness!

She was Qingyun Sect’s once-in-a-millennium sword dao genius, a powerful cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Void Refinement Realm. Yet now, she couldn’t even erase a tiny mark on the person she most wanted to protect!

She slowly lifted her head, her star-like eyes fixed intently on Shen Zhaoqing.

“From today onwards,” Gu Chang’an’s voice was hoarse and cold, each word enunciated as if declaring an unalterable decree, “without my permission, you are not to leave this Silent Reflection Cliff, not even half a step.”

****

During her days on Silent Reflection Cliff, Shen Zhaoqing felt like she was about to sprout mushrooms.

Quite literally.

This dreadful place was perpetually shrouded in mist, so damp one could wring water from the air. The only stone cave was dark and cold. She seriously suspected that if she stayed any longer, she would become the first disciple in Qingyun Sect’s history to evolve into moss due to poor living conditions.

Shen Zhaoqing sat cross-legged at the stone table, sighing profoundly with her hands propping her chin, a sigh filled with countless turns and heart-wrenching sorrow.

“Senior Sister,” she called out weakly, “Can we discuss something?”

At the cave entrance, the thousand-year-old unmelting ice sculpture stirred an eyelid, offering a response.

“Look, I’ve been here for several days now. My meridians are clear, I’m eating heartily, and my mental state is so good I could split bricks with my bare hands. Isn’t it… time to consider letting me go down the mountain for some fresh air?” Shen Zhaoqing forced out her most fawning smile. “I promise, I’ll just go to the tavern down the mountain for a couple of drinks, absolutely no trouble, and I’ll definitely be back before dark!”

Gu Chang’an finally opened her eyes, her star-like gaze quietly observing Shen Zhaoqing, without a ripple of emotion.

“No.”

The word was concise, resounding, and left no room for negotiation.

Shen Zhaoqing’s smile instantly crumbled. “Why not?”

“It’s dangerous down the mountain.” Gu Chang’an’s reason was equally simple and blunt.

“Senior Sister, with you here, who would dare harm me! Besides, in broad daylight, under the clear sky, on Qingyun Sect’s territory, what danger could there possibly be?!”

Gu Chang’an’s gaze fell upon her wrist, her eyes abruptly chilling by three degrees.

“If I say no, it’s no.” Gu Chang’an’s tone deepened, carrying an unquestionable authority. “Until the mark on your wrist disappears, you are not permitted to go anywhere.”

There it was again.

Shen Zhaoqing rolled her eyes internally.

These past few days, Gu Chang’an had been acting as if possessed, inspecting her wrist three times a day, morning, noon, and night, without fail. Each time, she would probe with spiritual energy for a long while, and each time, it would end with her face growing darker and the cold aura around her intensifying.

Shen Zhaoqing herself had checked it eight hundred times; her wrist was smooth, without even a mole. What mark was she talking about?!

Shen Zhaoqing completely gave up on communicating, flopping onto the stone table like a dried salted fish.

‘It’s over. I’m never getting out in this lifetime.’

“Just wait for me to grow old and die on this Silent Reflection Cliff!” Shen Zhaoqing raged in impotent fury.

After a moment, a clear, cool voice sounded: “You may only walk at the cave entrance. Take one step further, and I will personally come out to find you.”

****

Shen Zhaoqing paced boredly at the cave entrance.

“Senior Sister Shen? You really are here!”

Shen Zhaoqing sharply lifted her head, seeing a slender figure standing gracefully at the cave entrance.

The newcomer wore the simple robes of an outer disciple of Qingyun, her dark hair reaching her shoulders, which made her small face appear even paler. Her ink-blue eyes were now brimming with worry and concern as they gazed at her.

It was Li Wuxia.

Shen Zhaoqing’s eyes instantly lit up.

A living, breathing Junior Sister!

“Wuxia?!” She stood up in surprise. “How did you get up here?!”