Haven't Been a Senior Sister for Many Years - Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Fooled
On the night of the full moon, the sky was illuminated by its round glow, with only a few scattered stars accompanying it in the vast darkness.
Desert nights were bitterly cold, laced with hidden dangers. Before the sun had set, Ding Ying and Shangguan Yan had set up camp in a wind-sheltered spot for the night.
They hadn’t pitched a tent but instead dug a shallow cave in the rock face. A campfire burned at the cave’s entrance, casting warm, orange light across their faces and warding off the desert’s nighttime chill.
From her storage pouch, Shangguan Yan took out several pieces of spirit beast meat and some seasonings. Though their cultivation levels meant they didn’t need to eat, having some hot grilled meat or a bowl of stew on such a cold night was certainly a luxury.
“Do you all want grilled meat or stew?” Shangguan Yan asked, shaking the meat in her hand.
“I want both!” Ye Ling’er quickly raised her hand to answer.
Lin Hongxue poked her shoulder. “If you want to eat, then come help. Don’t just sit there and laze around.”
Ye Ling’er pouted. “Do I look like the kind of person who would slack off?”
Ding Ying, Shangguan Yan, and Lin Hongxue responded in unison, “Yes.”
Ye Ling’er gaped in disbelief. “You… you’re all slandering me!”
“Alright, enough. If you want to eat, come help,” Shangguan Yan said as she took out an iron pot, poured in some rootless water, and set it over the fire. “I’ll make the stew. You two handle the grilled meat.”
Ye Ling’er eagerly agreed. “Leave it to me and Hongxue!”
With duties clearly divided, Ding Ying kept watch, Shangguan Yan prepared the stew, while Ye Ling’er and Lin Hongxue took up skewers and began roasting the meat.
The two younger girls couldn’t even grill meat in peace—they chattered nonstop as they worked.
While turning the skewer, Ye Ling’er asked, “Senior Sister, do you know what caused the two disturbances earlier this afternoon?”
Shangguan Yan sliced the meat into thin pieces and tossed them into the boiling water. After a moment of thought, she replied, “The first one was probably caused by someone trespassing and drawing the attention of a spirit beast in the core area. The second… I suspect it involved the elders.”
Lin Hongxue frowned. “Why would the elders cause such a commotion? Didn’t our sect make a pact with the spirit beasts in the core? There shouldn’t have been any conflict.”
Shangguan Yan shook her head. “Perhaps the spirit beasts got annoyed after being disturbed repeatedly.”
Lin Hongxue murmured, “Still feels odd to me.”
“There’s nothing strange about it,” Ding Ying suddenly said. “The Liu sisters broke into the forbidden area. The elders went to investigate and got into a conflict with the spirit beasts. Simple as that.”
Ye Ling’er asked, “Why are you so sure, Senior Sister?”
Ding Ying sighed. “You still think those Liu sisters were just some ordinary cultivators who accidentally stumbled into the secret realm?”
Ye Ling’er blinked. “Weren’t they?”
Lin Hongxue flicked her forehead. “Use your brain for once, dummy.”
Ye Ling’er pouted. “Then who do you think they are if not ordinary cultivators?”
Ding Ying looked up at the bright moon above—the flawless silver disk hanging in the sky like an ever-watching eye observing everything within the secret realm.
“I have a guess,” she said.
Ye Ling’er pressed, “What guess?”
Ding Ying replied, “Chu Zhiqin. I can’t think of anyone else it could be.”
Ye Ling’er exclaimed, “Huh? Who did you say?!”
Ding Ying repeated, “You heard me—Chu Zhiqin.”
…
“Where is she?” Liu Rushuang hovered above the lake, holding the Azure Clarity Sword. Behind her stood a worried-looking Chu Yu.
Ripples spread across the lake, followed by massive waves surging upward.
“Who’s the rude little girl shouting so loudly?” A voice rumbled. A creature emerged—tiger-headed, fish-bodied with a snake’s tail. It was the dragon that resided beneath the lake.
Chu Yu quickly stepped in. “Apologies, Senior. My senior sister meant no offense. We only seek your guidance in finding someone.”
The dragon asked coldly, “Who?”
“Chu Zhiqin,” Chu Yu replied.
“I don’t know her,” the dragon said flatly.
“How could you not?” Liu Rushuang pushed Chu Yu aside angrily. “She fought you fifty years ago in this secret realm. Now you’re claiming you don’t know her? Ridiculous.”
The dragon remained indifferent. “So what if I know her? So what if I don’t? I am not obliged to tell you anything.”
“Then don’t blame me for using force.” Liu Rushuang’s brows arched sharply, her eyes brimming with uncontainable fighting spirit.
Chu Yu sighed internally. Her senior sister was excellent in every way—except when it came to anything involving Chu Zhiqin. Mention her, and Liu Rushuang became an explosive powder keg, completely irrational.
The dragon sneered, “Overestimating yourself.”
“Chu Yu, move!” Liu Rushuang shouted as her sword slashed through the sky. A fierce sword aura tore the air apart, cracking the sky.
The dragon responded with a casual flick of its tail, summoning waves that neutralized the blow.
“You’re not even close to her level. Compared to Chu Zhiqin fifty years ago, you’re miles behind,” the dragon mocked.
Liu Rushuang narrowed her eyes. “You better hope you can still talk like that later.”
“Come, then!”
The two clashed again, powers colliding in a flash. Chu Yu could only watch helplessly, anxious and unable to intervene.
What now? Back then, Chu Zhiqin was severely punished for attacking the dragon—thirty lashes and a year of solitary meditation. If Liu Rushuang was this reckless now, who knew what consequences she’d face?
Liu Rushuang, of course, knew she’d be punished. But as Chu Yu said, once the name “Chu Zhiqin” was mentioned, she lost all reason. She didn’t care about anything else—she just needed to know where Chu Zhiqin had gone, and with whom.
“I’ll ask one more time. Where is Chu Zhiqin?”
“I don’t know.”
The dragon still refused to answer.
“Then let’s speak through strength.”
The secret realm quaked as towering waves clashed with blazing sword light. Neither side could overpower the other.
“This is pointless,” the dragon finally said. “What is she to you? Why are you so obsessed with her?”
“She’s my enemy,” Liu Rushuang spat.
“Then I really can’t tell you anything.”
“Why not? What if I said we were sectmates?”
The dragon tilted its head and instead asked, “What will you do if you find her?”
Liu Rushuang replied coldly, “That’s none of your concern. I’ll turn over every inch of this realm if I have to.”
The dragon laughed. “Then go ahead.”
A terrifying aura exploded from the dragon, freezing the lake and darkening the skies.
Liu Rushuang hovered in the air, her face whipped by slicing winds, bl00d trailing from her cheek.
As they battled, Chu Yu saw flashes of light and splinters of ice breaking through the clouds above.
She finally screamed, “Enough! Stop fighting!”
But neither of them listened.
“Your companion looks like she’s about to cry,” the dragon taunted.
“…Don’t think that’ll distract me.”
“Oh? Then why has your sword slowed?”
“Even slow, it’s enough to kill you!”
“I look forward to it.”
Red rain began to fall from the sky. Chu Yu knew—it wasn’t rain. It was bl00d.
She couldn’t let this continue.
Taking a deep breath, Chu Yu drew her own sword—Watersoul.
Unlike Liu Rushuang’s aggressive sword style, hers was gentle, like the soft sunlight of spring—brimming with life.
Her sword sliced the dark clouds apart, revealing the combatants.
Liu Rushuang’s hair was messy, her clothes torn, her hand bleeding onto the Azure Clarity Sword.
The dragon didn’t fare much better. Its proud tail had a deep, bone-deep wound, making it hiss in pain.
“Senior Sister, let’s go back,” Chu Yu pleaded. “If this continues, both sides will suffer.”
Liu Rushuang wiped the bl00d from her mouth, her eyes full of frustration.
The dragon cursed Liu Rushuang inwardly.
This woman was as vicious as Chu Zhiqin back then. But unlike Chu Zhiqin, who had only wanted the Nine-Star Illusion Herb, Liu Rushuang clearly wanted her dead.
In a fit of spite, the dragon sneered, “While you were busy fighting me, Chu Zhiqin already left the secret realm.”
“What? You tricked me?!” Liu Rushuang roared.
The dragon wagged its tail gleefully. “Trick? Not at all. I really don’t know where she went—because she’s gone.”
“Can you still sense her presence in the realm? No, right? She left just before you arrived. Had you chased after her instead of fighting me, you might’ve caught her. But you wasted all this time.”
“You say you’re sectmates—shouldn’t you know where she went? Why ask me, an outsider?”
Liu Rushuang snapped, “None of your business. Since she’s gone, I have no reason to stay. Let’s go, Junior Sister.”
“Come and go as you please? You think this is your backyard?” the dragon shouted, launching dozens of water arrows.
Before Liu Rushuang could react, Chu Yu’s Watersoul Sword sliced through them, dissolving the attacks into harmless splashes.
“We were in the wrong, Senior. I apologize,” Chu Yu said. “We will compensate you for your injuries. But—”
“If you insist on fighting, I’ll stand my ground too.”
Supporting Liu Rushuang with one arm, Chu Yu held her sword with the other.
Normally the friendly, peacekeeping type, today Chu Yu was genuinely angry.
Both Liu Rushuang and the dragon had gone too far.
The dragon flicked her injured tail, cursing all Sword Sect disciples.
Years ago, the old sect leader even mistook her for a male dragon. Ever since, everyone assumed she was male, despite being a proud female. Chu Zhiqin never believed her, always calling her “Brother Dragon.”
Now another Sword Sect disciple had shown up, fought her, threatened her—utterly intolerable.
“You’ve said everything, good and bad. What more can I say?” the dragon grumbled, slapping the lake’s surface. “Leave whatever you’re offering and get out of here.”
“Thank you for your understanding,” Chu Yu said politely, leaving behind a storage ring. She then dragged the reluctant Liu Rushuang away from the lake.
Once they were out of sight, the dragon scooped up the ring and swam back to the lake’s depths.
Hmph. She’d bought Chu Zhiqin a lot of time. Next time they met, she’d make sure Chu Zhiqin paid for it—preferably by never calling her “Brother Dragon” again…
…
Meanwhile, having exited the core zone, Chu Yu stopped in midair.
“Do you know what you did wrong?” Her usually warm face was now cold as ice.
Despite being the senior, Liu Rushuang could only lower her head like a child in trouble.
“I’m sorry…” she muttered.
“Do you even know what you’re apologizing for?” Chu Yu asked.
“I shouldn’t have attacked the dragon on impulse…?”
“That’s one.”
“And I fell for the dragon’s provocation.”
“Two. What else?”
“…There’s more?”
Chu Yu scolded, “As a Sword Sect elder, you ignored the safety of the disciples still training in the secret realm to pick a fight with a spirit beast. That’s the first mistake.”
“Insulting a spirit beast our sect has a pact with, escalating the situation, that’s the second.”
“Repeatedly making the same mistakes—that’s the third.”
“Senior Sister, you’re no longer a child. Why does your so-called self-control vanish the moment Chu Zhiqin is mentioned?”
Liu Rushuang fell silent, sorrow in her eyes.
Of course she knew why.
It was because she envied Chu Zhiqin. Envied how Chu Zhiqin had captured their master’s heart, how she could openly express her affection and receive all that love in return.
But more than anything, she hated herself—for realizing her own feelings too late.
If only she had recognized them sooner, maybe she could’ve come between their master and Chu Zhiqin. Maybe her master wouldn’t have died for her.
“I…” she whispered.
“I’m sorry,” she said instead, unwilling to reveal her feelings. “When we return, I’ll go to Elder Sinan to accept punishment.”
Chu Yu glared at her. “You’d better. If Ding Ying or the others were hurt because of your mess, how would you explain it to the Yaoguang Hall Master? Everyone knows how protective she is.”
Liu Rushuang nodded silently.
“Let’s go check on them,” Chu Yu said.
“Alright.”
They flew back toward Ding Ying’s camp. By the time they arrived, Ye Ling’er and Lin Hongxue were already full and fast asleep, nestled together in the cave.
Ding Ying and Shangguan Yan were taking turns on night watch at the entrance.
“Who’s there?” they called out, weapons raised as they sensed someone watching them.
“No need to panic—it’s us.” Chu Yu stepped out with a warm smile. “Something happened in the core, and we were worried you might’ve run into trouble. Looks like we were overly concerned.”
Ding Ying didn’t lower her guard. Frowning, she asked, “How do I know you’re really them? We’re not the only ones in this secret realm.”
Chu Yu smiled approvingly at her caution. “Good. When out adventuring, one must always stay alert. But rest assured—we’re the real ones.” She tossed a token toward Ding Ying.
“Is it genuine?” she asked.
Ding Ying examined it carefully, then respectfully returned it. “Apologies for the offense, Elder.”
Chu Yu chuckled. “Why apologize? Did you do anything wrong?”
Ding Ying was left speechless.
Liu Rushuang raised an eyebrow. “You encountered others in the secret realm?”
Shangguan Yan nodded. “We did.”
Liu Rushuang asked, “Who?”
Ding Ying replied, “Two sisters. The elder called herself Liu Sanqi, and the younger, Liu Fuling. Claimed to be lost in the secret realm. I was worried that doubting them might cause them to stay trapped, so I told them our rendezvous point for three days later before we split up.”
“But…”
“But what?” Liu Rushuang pressed.
“But later I began to suspect they may have used disguise pills.”
“What made you think that?”
“I suspect Liu Sanqi was Elder Chu Zhiqin in disguise, and Liu Fuling was the demonic sovereign Leng Junzhu, whose cultivation had been sealed.”
Ding Ying’s gaze was steady as she voiced her suspicions.