Master, Please Help Me Break the Love Curse! - Chapter 7

Upon recognizing the person who had been pushed into the water, Shang Qianye immediately shouted, “What are you doing?!”

The Medicinal Cultivator disciples by the lake turned to look, including the girl they had been protecting in the center.

Shang Qianye rushed over. The Medicinal Cultivator disciples recognized her and retreated, pulling the girl with them. Ignoring their expressions, Shang Qianye quickly pulled Qin Wangyue, who was standing in the lake, to safety.

“Senior Sister Qin, are you alright?”

Qin Wangyue was soaked to the bone. Kunlun Mountain’s perpetual snow meant she would surely catch a wind-cold if left like this. Shang Qianye hastily removed her outer robe and draped it over Qin Wangyue’s shoulders.

The onlookers reacted with varying expressions.

As Luo Jiu’s Eldest Disciple and one of the Lingxiao Sect’s foremost Eldest Senior Sisters, Shang Qianye commanded respect. Her kind nature had also earned her the affection of disciples from other courtyards.

However, the Medicinal Cultivator disciples wore sour expressions. The haughty girl among them sized up the two figures standing by the lake and scoffed, “Senior Sister Qin? What kind of Senior Sister is she?”

Hearing this, Shang Qianye raised her head, her face cold as she rebuked, “What’s your name?”

The girl tossed a strand of hair behind her ear and declared smugly, “I am the daughter of the current dynasty’s eldest princess, and thus a Princess of the Realm.”

“I asked for your name. Do you not have one?”

“You—!”

The girl, unaccustomed to such directness, flushed crimson with anger. Pointing at Shang Qianye, she spat, “Who do you think you are, daring to ask the Princess of the Realm for her name!”

Shang Qianye, unwilling to indulge such arrogance, stepped protectively in front of Qin Wangyue. Her expression remained icy as she retorted, “Princess or not, within the Lingxiao Sect, all are Lingxiao disciples. Your disrespect toward your elders and Senior Sister Qin violates Sect Rules and warrants expulsion.”

“What?!” The girl’s face paled with shock. Stomping her foot, she pointed at Qin Wangyue behind Shang Qianye and shrieked, “My spiritual energy is higher than hers, my spiritual root is superior! Why should I respect her? What is she anyway—ah!”

Before she could finish, Shang Qianye flicked her sleeve, executing a hand seal that sent the girl sprawling to the ground.

With a wave of her hand, the White Jade Sword flew to her side, its tip hovering inches from the girl’s forehead.

The girl trembled violently at the sight of the sword, her eyes darting to Shang Qianye in terror, too frightened to speak.

“Regardless of your status in the mortal world, here at Lingxiao Sect, your duty is to vanquish demons, uphold righteousness, and cultivate both your character and your path to immortality,” Shang Qianye said. “It seems you have no understanding of this place. Perhaps you should return to the mountain and resume your life as a princess.”

“Senior Sister Shang is right!”

A crisp, clear voice rang out from the crowd of disciples. Gu Yunqing, dressed in a pink robe, pushed her way forward and stood beside Shang Qianye, glaring down at the fallen girl with her hands on her hips. “You should leave Lingxiao Sect today,” she declared. “This place isn’t for someone like you.”

The girl’s face turned pale. She was a rare cultivation prodigy, born into the imperial family only once every hundred years. Even the Emperor had summoned her personally, urging her to focus on her cultivation. Her mother had also warned her before she ascended the mountain that mastering the path to immortality would ensure the empire’s prosperity for ten thousand years.

She had initially believed cultivation was no different from studying books. But seeing Qin Wangyue, who lacked her innate talent, bossing her around had deeply offended her. Now, for a minor mistake in class, she was being punished.

The pampered young girl, accustomed to a life of luxury, couldn’t tolerate this. She immediately rallied her followers among the Medicinal Cultivators and pushed the “useless” Qin Wangyue into the water, intending to teach her a lesson.

Little did she know, things would escalate to this point.

“I-I won’t leave the mountain!” The girl glared venomously at Qin Wangyue, who was hiding behind the others. “My mother is the Grand Princess, and my father is the Great General! If you dare drive me off Lingxiao Sect, I’ll have my father raze this entire place to the ground!”

Before Shang Qianye could respond, the surrounding disciples burst into laughter.

“Is she joking? Raze Lingxiao Sect? With what? Horse hooves and arrows?”

“Then I guarantee her father won’t even make it past the Mountain Gate.”

“She really is a pampered Princess. Doesn’t even know who she’s talking to. Forget the Elders and Sect Leader—any Senior Martial Brother or Eldest Senior Sister with cultivation could wipe out her father’s million-strong army in an instant.”

“Such arrogant nonsense! It’s laughable.”

The other Threefold Cultivator disciples watching the commotion joined in the laughter. Even Gu Yunqing couldn’t help but chuckle, turning to the girl and asking, “Do you even know what an immortal sect is?”

“The immortal sects,” Gu Yunqing said, “are places where immortals can kill anyone with a flick of their finger, be they royalty or nobles.”

The girl’s face drained of color. She sat on the ground, her eyes darting around in terror as if realizing for the first time where she was.

Immortal sects.

This is an immortal sect.

“Enough,” Qin Wangyue suddenly spoke up from behind them. She glanced at the fallen girl and said softly, “Pei Hui, I will report everything that happened today to Master and the Sect Leader.”

Qin Wangyue’s gaze swept over the Medicinal Cultivator disciples, a flicker of malice in her eyes. She mentally marked each person who had bullied her, then covered her mouth and coughed lightly twice.

“Senior Sister Qin,” Shang Qianye said, sheathing her White Jade Sword. “My courtyard is nearby. Let’s go there so you can change your clothes.”

Medicinal Cultivators possessed little difference in spiritual energy or physical strength compared to ordinary people. In this freezing weather, they couldn’t risk Qin Wangyue catching a cold. Gu Yunqing quickly helped her up, channeling spiritual energy to maintain her body temperature as they left the classroom.

Shang Qianye glanced back at the still-shaken girl, snorted coldly, and turned away.

Ginkgo Courtyard.

Shang Qianye retrieved a set of her own clothes and handed them to Qin Wangyue. “Senior Sister, our figures are quite similar. My clothes should fit you well. Yunqing is heating water for a bath. Take one before you go back to avoid catching a wind-cold.”

Qin Wangyue coughed softly twice, accepted the clothes, and smiled gently at Shang Qianye in gratitude.

The water next door heated quickly. Qin Wangyue went to bathe, while Shang Qianye and Gu Yunqing sat beneath the ginkgo tree in the courtyard, chatting idly.

“Senior Sister Qin has really had it rough,” Gu Yunqing said, propping her head on her hand as she sat on a stone bench, a yellowed ginkgo leaf dangling from her lips. “She has so little magical power and her spiritual root is so weak. If we hadn’t intervened today, that princess would have bullied her to death.”

Shang Qianye nodded. “When did this little princess arrive? Just recently?”

Gu Yunqing spat out the leaf. “Exactly. My mother brought her back from her recent trip down the mountain. They say she’s a once-in-a-century cultivation prodigy from the imperial family, and they insisted on sending her to the Lingxiao Sect. My mother had no choice but to accept her.”

“I see,” Shang Qianye murmured, her brow furrowing slightly. “But that Princess is truly unruly. If she dares to bully Senior Sister now, who knows what she’ll do in the future? We should send her away as soon as possible.”

“Mm, I already sent a sound transmission talisman to my mother about this, but she hasn’t replied yet. I wonder if there’s some unspoken reason for her silence.”

“This is quite troublesome.”

As the two were chatting, a dark green sound transmission talisman shot through the air from outside the courtyard with a whoosh.

The talisman hovered at the bathroom entrance before a deep, feminine voice echoed from within:

Wangyue, return immediately.

It was the voice of Yu Shiyan, the Medicine Cultivation Elder.

The dark green talisman fell to the ground after delivering its message. Qin Wangyue opened the door and bent down to pick it up.

“It’s Elder Yu’s sound transmission talisman,” Gu Yunqing said, looking at Qin Wangyue. “Senior Sister Qin, do you have to leave right away?”

Qin Wangyue’s hair was still damp from her hurried bath, water droplets clinging to her long, delicate eyelashes. Her fair complexion framed her gentle brows and eyes, giving her an ethereal beauty reminiscent of a lotus emerging from water.

“Master wants me to return immediately,” Qin Wangyue said, tucking away the talisman. “It must be urgent. Qianye, Yunqing, I’ll be heading back now.”

Gu Yunqing rushed over and cast a spell, instantly drying Qin Wangyue’s damp hair. Shang Qianye approached as well, saying, “Senior Sister, go ahead and take care of things. I’ll finish washing your clothes and bring them to your courtyard later.”

Qin Wangyue smiled warmly at them. “Thank you both.”

As they watched her leave, Gu Yunqing clasped her hands behind her back and sighed wistfully. “Senior Sister Qin is so kind-hearted. I wonder who will marry her someday.”

With a sly glance at Shang Qianye, Gu Yunqing winked and asked, “Senior Sister Shang, have you heard? Senior Sister Qin seems to have… a special relationship with Elder Yu.”

Shang Qianye glanced at her. “What do you mean by ‘not ordinary’?”

Gu Yunqing blinked. “You know, the kind of ‘not ordinary’ that leads to becoming Daoist partners.”

Shang Qianye froze, her gaze drifting toward the path where Qin Wangyue had disappeared. Her brow furrowed slightly.

Qin Wangyue… with her Master too?

Curiosity surged through Shang Qianye. She and Luo Jiu were currently at odds. If Qin Wangyue had a close relationship with her Master, could she perhaps learn something from her? After all, she was still quite unfamiliar with the art of pleasing her own Master.

“Senior Sister Qin and her Master… are they close?” Shang Qianye asked, her eyes darting away.

“They seem to be,” Gu Yunqing replied. “I often see them together. My mother doesn’t even bat an eye anymore. I bet we’ll hear good news from them soon. When that happens, the Medicinal Cultivator disciples will have to call Senior Sister Qin ‘Martial Aunt’.”

Shang Qianye’s heart fluttered at the thought.

If I were to end up with Luo Jiu, would the Talisman Cultivator disciples have to call me ‘Martial Aunt’ too?