Master, Please Help Me Break the Love Curse! - Chapter 12

In the dark, deep cave, Pei Hui struggled to open her eyes.

The Little Princess’s mind was still hazy upon waking. Her vision was blurred, and she couldn’t immediately adjust to the cave’s darkness.

Pei Hui remembered being in the Buddha’s Finger Cave, but now she seemed to be in a different place.

A sharp pain pierced her head, and in that instant, everything came flooding back.

After receiving the “revelation” at the Immortal Ancestor Shrine, Pei Hui immediately summoned her attendants from Lingxiao. These attendants, carefully selected by her mother, were all descendants of noble families with spiritual energy, specifically chosen to accompany her on this journey.

Learning that the Buddha’s Finger Cave was a low-level secret realm, Pei Hui bribed three Lingxiao Sect disciples with generous sums. With a group of five or six, they ventured directly into the cave.

The Buddha’s Finger Cave wasn’t dangerous; in fact, it was quite beautiful. Legend had it that the cave was formed by a single finger of the Buddha descending from the heavens, creating this mystical realm. The cave retained traces of immortal spiritual energy, nourishing a variety of flora, fauna, and insects.

Being a low-level secret realm, the group quickly reached the innermost depths of the cave, but they found no sign of the Method of Immortality Pei Hui sought.

Pei Hui and her companions searched every corner of the cave, but their efforts seemed futile. Just as Pei Hui was about to concede defeat, she unexpectedly stumbled upon a wooden box.

This must be the Immortal’s guidance to the Method of Immortality!

Pei Hui was overjoyed. Ignoring the Lingxiao disciples’ attempts to stop her, she immediately opened the box. As soon as it was opened, a strange fragrance filled the air, and Pei Hui lost consciousness, remaining unconscious until she had just woken up.

Lying on the stone slab, Pei Hui belatedly realized she had fallen into a trap.

Someone was trying to harm her!

“Ugh…”

Pei Hui pushed herself up into a sitting position. She felt utterly drained, her spiritual energy seemingly suppressed and unusable. When she finally took in her surroundings, her face paled with terror.

Several bodies lay scattered haphazardly across the small cave. Upon closer inspection, she recognized them as the followers who had accompanied her to Buddha’s Finger Cave.

An ominous premonition gripped Pei Hui. She timidly climbed down from the stone bed and reached out to touch the nearest attendant. The man’s seven orifices were bleeding, and his body had already stiffened.

“Ahhhh!!!!”

Terrified, Pei Hui screamed and curled up at the edge of the stone bed. She realized they were all dead—the bodies strewn across the floor were corpses.

“How did I get here?” Pei Hui cried out in terror, shouting at the top of her lungs, “Is anyone there?! Please, someone save me! My mother is the Eldest Princess, and my father is the Great General! Whoever rescues me will be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold and a life of wealth and glory!”

“Is anyone there?! Is anyone out there?!”

“I’m a Princess! Someone, please save me!”

Pei Hui’s cries grew more desperate with each passing moment. She had always lived a life of unimaginable luxury, and if she hadn’t come to the Lingxiao Sect, she would never have found herself in such a predicament!

The thought made her burst into tears.

Though she was accustomed to being arrogant and domineering, she was still just a young girl at heart.

As Pei Hui sobbed, she heard the mechanism of the stone door click open. A hidden door swung inward, and a blurry figure slowly stepped into the chamber.

Pei Hui’s heart leaped with joy. She scrambled to her feet and lunged forward, crying out, “Save me! Please, save me!”

But as she reached the figure, she froze. The light streaming through the open stone door revealed the person standing before her—Qin Wangyue.

The same Qin Wangyue she had kicked into the lake and mocked for her weak magical power!

Pei Hui instantly understood. Though she didn’t know what Qin Wangyue had done to her, she knew this was Qin Wangyue’s revenge!

She was trying to harm me!

“You!” Pei Hui’s eyes burned red as she pointed at Qin Wangyue, retreating step by step. “I knew it! You’re a scheming, vicious woman! You killed them all! It was you!”

Qin Wangyue stood at the only exit, watching the Little Princess’s emotional breakdown with a slow, mocking smile.

“So what if it was me?”

Qin Wangyue gazed at Pei Hui, a smile playing on her lips. “Because you’re brainless, carelessly triggering the secret realm’s traps and poisoning everyone to death. And because you’re arrogant and self-important, thinking this place was your Princess’s manor. Little did you know, here, no one cares about your status.”

Qin Wangyue looked at her with feigned pity. “Little Princess, do you regret it now?”

Pei Hui bit her lip. “When I get out of here, I’ll expose you! You’ll die for this!”

“It seems you’re the one facing death now,” Qin Wangyue said with a gentle smile. She raised her hand, and a pearl the size of a night-luminescent lamp materialized in her palm. Infused with magical power, it slowly rose from her hand, hanging in the stone cave like a radiant moon.

Pei Hui stared blankly at the beautiful, luminous pearl, momentarily stunned.

“It’s called the Soul-Devouring Pearl,” Qin Wangyue said.

Pei Hui looked at her, bewildered. “What?”

“The Soul-Devouring Pearl absorbs souls,” Qin Wangyue said. “The higher one’s cultivation level, the more it nourishes the pearl. Though I despise you, your spiritual root is indeed exceptional. Combined with the cultivation levels of these people on the ground, it will be more than enough to nourish the pearl.”

Pei Hui felt as if she had plunged into an icy abyss. She understood: Qin Wangyue intended to kill her!

She was only sixteen years old. She had a lifetime of wealth and glory ahead of her. She didn’t want to die!

“S-Senior Sister Qin…”

Realizing that only the person before her could save her life, Pei Hui knelt without hesitation, looking up at Qin Wangyue. “Senior Sister Qin, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have disrespected you. You can beat me, scold me, take all my money—anything! Please, Senior Sister Qin, spare me. I’m only sixteen. I don’t want to die…”

Pei Hui’s pitiful appearance and the tears welling in her eyes would have softened the heart of anyone who saw her.

A flicker of reluctance crossed Qin Wangyue’s eyes. She stepped forward, bent slightly, and gently stroked Pei Hui’s cheek, like a compassionate bodhisattva.

“If only you had known this sooner,” Qin Wangyue said softly. “In your next life, be sure never to offend me again.”

Knowing Qin Wangyue was determined to kill her, Pei Hui erupted into a torrent of curses, unleashing every vulgarity she had ever heard, as if this might ease her final moments.

Qin Wangyue maintained her gentle expression, unmoved by Pei Hui’s tirade.

The Soul-Devouring Pearl began to rotate slowly. A white light emanated from the corpse on the ground, coalescing into a wisp of green smoke that spiraled into the pearl. A similar white glow began to envelop Pei Hui.

Gradually, her curses weakened. Realizing her death was imminent, she ignored Qin Wangyue and staggered toward the open stone door, desperate to reach the outside.

“I want to get out…”

Exhausted, Pei Hui crawled on her hands and knees toward the light. “I want to get out… I want… to live…”

Her fingertips brushed the sunlight streaming through the stone door, and she collapsed motionless on the ground.

With the last wisp of her soul energy absorbed into the Soul-Devouring Pearl, the now-saturated orb floated into Qin Wangyue’s hand. She examined it carefully before storing it away with satisfaction.

Turning her gaze to Pei Hui’s lifeless body by the stone door, Qin Wangyue’s gentle features softened with a hint of pity.

She sighed softly. “Foolish child,” she murmured. “In your next life, never cross the Demonic Sect. After all, we Demonic Sect disciples always repay every slight.”

Jade Court Forest.

Luo Jiu stood within the Formation in the rear courtyard, bathed in blue-white light that converged from all directions into her body. Gu Jin and Shang Qianye watched from the edge of the Formation, their expressions reflecting their different concerns.

Soon, Luo Jiu deactivated the Formation, and the spiritual energy she had sent out to search returned to her.

Gu Jin hurried forward. “What did you find?”

Luo Jiu glanced back at her, her gaze lowered. “Pei Hui’s Soul Lamp has gone out. I fear the worst.”

Gu Jin sighed heavily, falling silent.

Shang Qianye understood the significance of a Soul Lamp extinguishing. Lingxiao disciples lit their own Soul Lamps upon initiation; as long as they lived, the lamps would remain lit. Conversely, if a lamp went out, it meant the disciple had died. Luo Jiu’s words confirmed Pei Hui’s death.

The death of a member of the imperial family within the Lingxiao Sect was a grave matter.

Gu Jin’s face clouded with worry. Her hands clenched at her sides before she finally said, “Alive or dead, we must find Pei Hui’s body. Lingxiao must provide the imperial family with an explanation, regardless of the outcome.”

Luo Jiu nodded. “Send people to search for the body immediately.” She turned to Shang Qianye. “You should assist in the search as well. We need to find her as quickly as possible.”

Shang Qianye clasped her hands in a bow. “Yes, Master.”

Due to the urgency of the situation, all Lingxiao Sect disciples—except those on missions or already away from the sect—suspended their current tasks and descended the mountain to search for Pei Hui.

Gu Jin theorized that Pei Hui couldn’t have traveled too far, focusing the search within the vicinity of Lingxiao Sect. An initial team of over a hundred disciples was dispatched to scour the area, aiming to locate her as quickly as possible.

After assigning search areas to the Talisman Cultivator disciples, Shang Qianye prepared to descend the mountain. At the Mountain Gate, she encountered Gu Yunqing, who was also preparing to leave.

“Senior Sister Shang!” Gu Yunqing called out, rushing over with her sword in hand. She glanced at the group behind Shang Qianye and asked, “Are you also going to look for the Little Princess?”

Shang Qianye nodded. “Yes.”

“That’s perfect! Let’s go together,” Gu Yunqing suggested. “Working together will definitely be more efficient.”

Shang Qianye agreed to team up with Gu Yunqing.

As the two were about to step through the Mountain Gate’s teleportation portal to descend, a figure flashed into existence within the portal. Qin Wangyue, dressed in a pale green robe and carrying her medicine chest, appeared before them.

“Huh?” Qin Wangyue exclaimed, noticing the large gathering. “Where are you all headed?”