Haven't Been a Senior Sister for Many Years - Chapter 41
Chapter 41: She’s Dead.
In the year 1813 of Jingyuan, chaos swept across the Nine Provinces.
The Twelve Demon Gods led their forces in a full-scale invasion, swiftly conquering dozens of cities along the border between the Demon Realm and the cultivation world overnight.
Any who refused to submit were slaughtered without mercy. Their heads were hung above the city gates as a warning to others.
Rivers of bl00d flowed through the cities, mountains of corpses rose, and the people were plunged into misery.
Upon learning of this atrocity, cultivators across the Nine Provinces were enraged. One after another, they vowed to reclaim the fallen cities and avenge their fellow countrymen, swearing to ensure the damned demon cultivators would never return.
The major sects led by example, first sending outer disciples to scout the frontlines. As for their precious prodigies, they only followed after the path had been cleared with the flesh and bl00d of those outer disciples.
Of course, not everyone was willing to hide behind others and reap the benefits.
Su Yan, upon hearing the demons had invaded and were wreaking havoc at the borders, took up her sword and rushed to the frontlines. She fought fiercely in battle day after day, refusing to be dissuaded. Those who tried were met with scorn and accused of being demon spies for trying to stop her.
Left speechless by her accusations, they could only walk away in frustration.
Su Yan scoffed and pressed on with her blade in hand, continuing her relentless fight on the frontlines.
Meanwhile, due to Chu Zhiqin’s public abduction of the Demon Lord and subsequent disappearance, the Sword Pavilion found itself in a very awkward position during the war. As a righteous sect, their elder not only failed to kill the Demon Lord but had taken him away, causing people to question her true motives.
Though Sword Pavilion disciples were not directly targeted by other sects, they were nonetheless treated like the plague. Everyone feared they would defect mid-battle and stab their allies in the back.
The Sword Pavilion disciples endured this cold treatment in silence. The priority was to defeat the demon cultivators who were occupying cities and slaughtering innocent civilians and cultivators. Personal grudges and inter-sect rivalries paled in comparison.
Besides, they all firmly believed that Chu Zhiqin would never betray the Sword Pavilion or the Nine Provinces.
They were waiting for her to return.
Ding Ying wiped bl00d from her face. Her arms were so sore she could barely lift them. Behind her, Lin Hongxue and Ye Linger were also on the verge of collapse, barely able to stand.
“This isn’t working, we can’t kill them all.”
“Senior Sister! Look out!”
While Ding Ying was briefly distracted, a demon cultivator hidden in the shadows struck out at her blind spot. Though Lin Hongxue shouted a warning, it was already too late. By the time Ding Ying turned, the demon was already within arm’s reach, grinning wickedly.
Lin Hongxue and Ye Linger watched in horror — but to their surprise, the demon suddenly dropped dead.
They had no time to think, rushing to check Ding Ying’s condition.
“What are you daydreaming for on the battlefield? If you don’t want to die, get lost.”
Liu Rushuang looked down at them coldly. She had originally been searching for Chu Zhiqin but rushed to the frontlines as soon as the sect’s message reached her, setting aside their personal feud.
The three younger disciples quickly thanked her and left the battlefield, knowing that staying in their current state would only be a burden. Better to rest and recover before returning to the fight.
“Senior Sister, how long do you think this war will last?” Ye Linger asked, supporting Ding Ying, her voice weary.
“I don’t know,” Lin Hongxue replied. “Maybe a month. Maybe a year. But no matter how long, we can’t give up.”
Ye Linger nodded firmly. “Right! We have to take back Dingzhou City and all the others!”
So far, only two minor and strategically insignificant towns had been recaptured. The rest of the major cities remained under siege.
With the old cultivator monsters of the Nine Provinces unwilling to show themselves, only a handful of well-known young elites were holding the lines.
Without Chu Zhiqin, they had lost a key figure capable of opposing the Demon Gods, leading to a deadlock on the battlefield.
Then, at the main battlefield, as the two sides fought savagely, a woman in a dark green dress and mask — the Demon Lord — appeared atop the city wall, looking down on them all with disdain.
Some sharp-eyed cultivators recognized her. “Look, it’s the Demon Lord!”
As the cry spread, more and more people identified her, and the battlefield fell silent as everyone turned to look at her.
Some cultivators, unafraid of death, shouted for her to come down and leave Dingzhou City.
The demon cultivators were enraged to hear their lord insulted and rolled up their sleeves to retaliate. The battlefield descended once more into chaos.
Among the Sword Pavilion disciples, someone noticed that only the Demon Lord had appeared — not their own Sword Immortal.
One disciple gathered her courage and shouted up to the wall, “Where is Elder Chu? Where is she?”
Liu Rushuang immediately realized this was bad. She tried to stop the girl but was too late. Frustrated, she could only pray that the figure on the wall hadn’t heard.
Chu Zhiqin hadn’t come — the answer was obvious. But these young disciples didn’t understand the implications, voicing aloud what others had already feared.
The Demon Lord smiled. “She’s dead, of course.”
“You’re lying! Elder Chu is not dead!” Ye Linger, who idolized Chu Zhiqin, couldn’t accept the news.
Many others who had looked up to Chu Zhiqin were equally outraged.
“Liar! There’s no way someone like you could kill Elder Chu!”
“She’s just trying to break our morale! Don’t believe her!”
“Where’s your proof? We won’t believe it just because you said so!”
“Pfft, if she’s dead, it’s just because she wasn’t strong enough. ‘Sword Immortal’ — what a joke.”
“What did you say?! Shut your mouth if you have nothing respectful to say!”
…
“Enough! Stop this nonsense. Our priority is to kill these demons!”
Liu Rushuang cut through the argument.
She had never wanted to admit Chu Zhiqin was more talented than her and believed she herself was the rightful heir to their master’s legacy. The better Chu Zhiqin performed, the more Liu Rushuang resented her, feeling everything had been stolen from her.
Yet even she had to acknowledge Chu Zhiqin was a leading figure among the new generation, a role model to many swordswomen.
If the Demon Lord truly produced evidence now, morale would collapse entirely and shift the course of the war.
“But—”
Some still wanted to ask, but their companions quickly tugged at their sleeves, signaling them to stop before it was too late.
The Demon Lord smiled meaningfully and, under the gaze of thousands, took a sword from her storage ring.
“I imagine you’re all familiar with this.”
The sword appeared plain — simple sheath, unadorned hilt, and a faded red tassel — yet the sight of it left the crowd stunned.
Anyone who knew Chu Zhiqin recognized it immediately as her infamous sword: Wuyou.
A blade named “Worry-free” that brought only death.
Demon cultivators were even more familiar with it. Given how much Chu Zhiqin hated them, they had learned to recognize this killing blade if they wanted to survive.
Now it was in the Demon Lord’s hand. That could mean only one thing.
The demons who had suffered under Chu Zhiqin’s wrath erupted in cheers, chanting the Demon Lord’s name.
The cultivators who had demanded proof went pale. If not for their fellow disciples supporting them, they might have collapsed to the ground.
Sword Pavilion disciples who were close to Liu Rushuang looked to her, pleading silently for her to declare the sword a fake.
But fate was unkind — the sword was real.
Liu Rushuang gritted her teeth. “So what? Until we see her corpse, it could all be a lie.”
“Stop moping. If you’ve got time to cry, use it to think about how to take our cities back!”
Her words helped a little, but the damage was done. Morale had plummeted, and their progress from recent days was lost. They were pushed all the way back to their original position.
In the camp, the soldiers sat with heads bowed, tending their wounds in silence.
They had planned to push to the city walls today in preparation for a final siege tomorrow. But the Demon Lord’s appearance shattered that plan and crushed their morale — a devastating setback.
Liu Rushuang, polishing her Qingming Sword, cursed Chu Zhiqin for causing trouble even in death.
Just then, someone sat down beside her. She looked up in surprise — it was Su Yan, Chu Zhiqin’s long-time rival.
Without hesitation, Su Yan asked bluntly, “Do you think Chu Zhiqin is really dead?”
Liu Rushuang, annoyed, snapped, “What does it have to do with me?”
Su Yan ignored her attitude. “I don’t think she’s dead.”
Liu Rushuang: …
So annoying. Why did this so-called rival seem to care more than she, the official senior sister?
Afraid Su Yan would pester her all night if she didn’t respond, Liu Rushuang spat, “Only a fool would believe it.”
Satisfied, Su Yan stood up and left with a smug glance that said you know what I mean.
Liu Rushuang: …
Only a lunatic could be a match for Chu Zhiqin.
She rolled her eyes and went back to maintaining her sword.
Elsewhere in the camp, many junior cultivators were still grieving. Their idol, their goal — was now gone.
They had always believed Chu Zhiqin had a reason for taking the Demon Lord alive, even persuading others not to join in condemning her.
Yet now, the final news they received was of her death.
“I feel so awful.”
“Me too. But we need to stay strong. The people in Dingzhou City are still waiting to be saved.”
“You’re right. If the Sword Immortal were here, she wouldn’t want us mourning and wasting time.”
“I’m going to train even harder — and one day, I’ll avenge her!”
“Me too!”
They comforted and encouraged each other, finally falling asleep with swords at their sides beneath the dark night sky.
The night was still long.