Master, Please Help Me Break the Love Curse! - Chapter 1

Night fell over the bamboo forest.

Shang Qianye pursued the fleeing red figure ahead, her feet moving even faster. When she closed the distance to ten feet, she drew her White Jade Sword without hesitation. The jade-white blade hummed as a surge of sword qi, carried by a fierce wind, shot straight toward the red figure.

A muffled thud echoed as the sword qi struck its target. The red figure staggered, then tumbled from the bamboo canopy to the ground below.

Seeing her strike land true, Shang Qianye halted, standing atop the bamboo stalks to observe the fallen woman.

“You can’t escape,” Shang Qianye said coldly, descending with her White Jade Sword in hand. “Your Bl00d Serpent Palace has terrorized this region. Now that the Lingxiao Sect has crushed you, and your cultists have all been captured, I advise you to cease this futile resistance. You are no match for me.”

The Bl00d Serpent Palace had emerged in the northwest within the past year. This sinister cult recruited outlaws as its followers, specializing in trafficking women and children. They also used human bl00d as a medicinal ingredient, promoting a false “immortality elixir.” The red-clad woman before her was the Bl00d Serpent Palace’s Holy Maiden—Snake Lady.

She was also someone the Lingxiao Sect had ordered to be captured alive.

A dark stain spread across the Snake Lady’s back, crimson bl00d dripping from the hem of her robe onto the withered bamboo leaves. She weakly propped herself up and glanced back at Shang Qianye, who stood a short distance away.

“Will the immortal spare my life?” the woman asked weakly, her eyes red-rimmed. “Though I am the Holy Maiden of the Bl00d Serpent Palace, those atrocities were committed by their followers, not me. I did nothing wrong! If you let me go, I’ll give you all my gold, silver, treasures, and magical artifacts!”

Hearing this, Shang Qianye stepped forward.

The Snake Lady huddled on the ground, sobbing. “Please, immortal! I swear I’ll never do evil again if you spare me! I beg you, spare my life!”

Shang Qianye stopped five paces from the woman. The Snake Lady tilted her head back, her eyes slightly red, tears clinging to her lashes. Bathed in moonlight, she appeared even more pure and alluring.

“Your seduction techniques have no effect on me,” Shang Qianye said, her gaze fixed on the woman’s eyes. She drew the dragon tendon rope she had prepared beforehand. “Will you bind yourself, or shall I assist you?”

Snake Lady: “……”

“Impossible!” Snake Lady glared at her, furious. “My seduction techniques work on both men and women! They can’t possibly be ineffective!”

Shang Qianye, tired of arguing, reached out to grab her directly.

Snake Lady flicked her sleeve, evading Shang Qianye’s grasp. As she prepared to strike again, she heard a sharp whooshing sound behind her. Instinctively, Shang Qianye raised her White Jade Sword to block the attack.

Clang!

The metallic clash sent shivers down her spine. Shang Qianye rolled aside to dodge the subsequent palm strike. Looking up, she saw a black-clad figure standing nearby, charging forward without a word.

Though caught off guard by the ambush, Shang Qianye immediately engaged the attacker in close combat.

“So, some members of the Bl00d Serpent Palace managed to evade capture after all?”

In the heat of battle, Shang Qianye frowned as she exchanged blows with the masked figure—their gender obscured. After a few exchanges, she realized the opponent’s martial prowess far exceeded that of the Bl00d Serpent Palace cultists she had previously captured.

Who is this person?

This sword qi was actually on par with her own?

The black-clad figure executed a graceful turn, slashing downward with their long saber. Shang Qianye barely managed to block the strike, feeling her palm go numb from the impact. Just then, the Snake Lady, who had been feigning weakness on the ground, suddenly sprang up and hurled several silver needles at Shang Qianye.

Shang Qianye deflected most of the needles with her White Jade Sword, but one inevitably pierced her defenses.

The moment the needle struck, Shang Qianye felt her spiritual energy drain away instantly. With the black-clad figure pressing their advantage, a single strike sent her sprawling to the ground. She struggled to rise, but her head grew heavier with each attempt, and she collapsed back to the earth.

Before losing consciousness, Shang Qianye saw the Snake Lady approach the black-clad figure, crossing her arms with none of her earlier fragility.

“Is this her?” the black-clad figure murmured. “She’s nothing special.”

The Snake Lady smiled, placing a hand on the figure’s shoulder. “The thrill lies in risking little for great gain. I recently acquired a love gu—let’s test its effectiveness on this girl…”

Meanwhile, outside the Bl00d Serpent Palace, the Lingxiao Sect’s blue and white robes stood out even in the darkness.

The brightly lit plaza was now surrounded by a large group of Bl00d Serpent Palace cultists. The Lingxiao Sect had been monitoring their movements for some time and had finally rounded them all up tonight.

After the Lingxiao Sect disciples finished counting the prisoners and recording their names in a register, they turned to hand the list to a group of figures standing nearby.

The Lingxiao Sect had mobilized over a hundred disciples for this operation, including five personal disciples and one Elder.

One of the personal disciples accepted the register from his subordinate, glanced through it, and walked to the back of the crowd. There, he saw a white-robed woman standing with her back to them, her hands clasped behind her.

“Elder Luo Jiu,” the personal disciple said, stopping before her. “The headcount is complete. Except for the Holy Maiden Snake Ji, who remains at large, all the Bl00d Serpent Palace members have been captured. Shall we escort them back to the sect now?”

The woman addressed as Elder turned her head. Her features were refined and aloof, her dark, willow-leaf eyebrows framing starry eyes that swept over the personal disciple before she slowly extended a hand, signaling for the register.

Luo Jiu opened the roster. After the recent battle, only a dozen Lingxiao Sect disciples had been injured, with no fatalities. In contrast, over half of the Bl00d Serpent Palace members had been killed or wounded. After putting up a stubborn resistance, they finally surrendered and confessed their crimes.

“Understood,” Luo Jiu said, her crimson lips parting slightly. Her voice was clear and ethereal, devoid of emotion, like the bright white moon overhead.

She closed the roster and handed it back to the personal disciple. “Take everyone back. There will be reinforcements waiting on the mountain.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

As the disciple turned to leave, Luo Jiu suddenly called out, “Wait.” After a moment’s thought, she asked, “How long has Qianye been gone?”

“Senior Sister Shang has been chasing after her for over two hours now, I believe.”

“…Go.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

With everything prepared, Luo Jiu formed a hand seal. Spiritual energy swirled like celestial mist in her palms, and immense power flowed from her fingertips. When she pointed at the empty ground before her, a massive teleportation array suddenly materialized. The array, roughly fifteen meters in diameter, could accommodate at least twenty people at once.

The disciples of the Lingxiao Sect methodically escorted the Bl00d Serpent Palace cultists into the teleportation array, which would transport them to the Lingxiao Sect, a hundred miles away.

After the majority of the disciples had safely returned, only a few remained with Luo Jiu.

“Elder Luo Jiu,” one of the disciples said, cupping his hands in a respectful bow. “Senior Sister Shang hasn’t arrived yet. Should we wait for her?”

Luo Jiu gazed at the teleportation array before her for a long moment before replying, “The Bl00d Serpent Palace matter is urgent. You should return ahead of me. I’ll wait for her here.”

The disciples initially had doubts, but upon reflection, they remembered that Luo Jiu was an Elder of the Lingxiao Sect, her magical power and cultivation far surpassing theirs. Even if the Holy Maiden of the Bl00d Serpent Palace or one of the world’s top cultivators were to challenge her, they would think twice before engaging her in combat.

With this understanding, the disciples no longer hesitated. They stepped into the teleportation array, and Luo Jiu sent them back to the sect.

Once everyone had departed, Luo Jiu deactivated the array, flicked her sleeve, and turned toward the distant bamboo forest. She strode purposefully into its depths.

Beneath the moonlight, deep within the bamboo forest, Luo Jiu followed the guidance of her spiritual energy to a clearing. There, she discovered signs of a recent struggle.

She noticed bloodstains on the withered bamboo leaves, knelt down to touch them, and brought them to her nose to sniff.

A faint scent of ink wafted up—red ink.

Luo Jiu scanned the surroundings, finding numerous signs of combat. Many of the sword marks were familiar, bearing the distinctive style of Shang Qianye. She recognized them instantly; after all, she had gifted Shang Qianye her White Jade Sword.

Luo Jiu deduced that at least three people had been involved in the fight.

But when Shang Qianye had pursued the Holy Maiden of the Bl00d Serpent Palace, only the two of them had been present. This meant Shang Qianye had been ambushed—someone had been waiting here to trap her.

What puzzled Luo Jiu was why anyone would ambush Shang Qianye.

Frowning deeply, Luo Jiu rose and detached the Jade Token from her waist. She had given Shang Qianye an identical token, and the two tokens resonated with each other, allowing her to locate Shang Qianye no matter how far apart they were.

Southeast.

Following the token’s guidance, Luo Jiu ventured deeper into the bamboo forest.

The forest wasn’t particularly dense. Soon, she emerged into a mountain ravine. In the distance, she heard the roar of a waterfall and the sound of labored breathing—a familiar, desperately suppressed rhythm.

It was Shang Qianye.

Why was she breathing so heavily?

Was she injured?

But Luo Jiu couldn’t smell any bl00d. Could it be… poison?

Luo Jiu approached the waterfall, gradually making out the figure she had been searching for in the moonlight.

There, in a pool of water, Shang Qianye lay sprawled on the bank, drenched to the bone. The thunderous roar of the waterfall nearly drowned out her ragged breaths. Only as Luo Jiu drew closer did she notice the flush on Shang Qianye’s face and the way half her body was submerged in the water, like a newly awakened serpent.

“Qianye?”

After confirming they were alone, Luo Jiu casually formed a protective hand seal as a precaution before stepping forward. She stood over Shang Qianye, looking down at her. “Are you injured?”

Shang Qianye’s head swam with dizziness. Hearing someone speak, she lifted her crimson eyes to meet the speaker’s gaze.

Luo Jiu’s face imprinted itself on her pupils. The Gu worm within Shang Qianye seemed to sense something, clamoring to burst free. Shang Qianye groaned, nearly vomiting bl00d.

She’s here!

Shang Qianye’s own voice suddenly echoed in her mind, vibrating with an indescribable excitement. The person you’ve longed for is right before you. Just drag her into the water, and you can experience ultimate pleasure.