The Beloved Master's Mad Dog Disciple - Chapter 9

Guan Caimei sat motionless on her bed, eyes closed, her hands continuously forming mudras. A crimson aura enveloped her skin, slowly seeping beneath the surface and circulating through her meridians.

With each complete cycle of the energy flow, Guan Caimei’s aura grew stronger.

The pallor that had haunted her face during the day had vanished, replaced by a healthy flush and vibrant lips.

A crimson mole gradually appeared at the corner of her brow, its subtle tremor adding a touch of allure to her otherwise ordinary features.

Suddenly, a figure materialized silently before her bed. The newcomer stared at her for a long moment, but Guan Caimei remained oblivious until a blade of light struck toward her heart.

The sudden pressure against her chest jolted Guan Caimei awake. Before she could open her eyes, she instinctively slid downward, narrowly evading the luminous blade.

As she lay flat on the bed, having dodged the attack, Guan Caimei finally opened her eyes. “Who’s there?!”

No one answered. The room held no trace of living presence. Guan Caimei glanced around instinctively, only to see a blade slashing toward her. The wielder had an exceptionally gentle face, seemingly harmless, yet their eyes burned with icy malice and murderous intent.

Bo Xuenong!

Guan Caimei froze, every hair on her body standing on end.

Her body reacted faster than her mind. She slammed her hand down on the bed, shattering the wooden slats instantly. Guan Caimei fell through the broken boards to the floor beneath the bed, narrowly avoiding Bo Xuenong’s descending blade.

Bo Xuenong narrowed her eyes slightly, flicked her wrist, and the blade plunged downward with renewed force.

Guan Caimei didn’t dare waste a moment. She rolled out from under the bed, scrambling away until she was a safe distance before daring to rise to her feet.

She was fast, but Bo Xuenong was faster.

The moment Guan Caimei stood, Bo Xuenong’s blade pressed against her lower abdomen. Guan Caimei hadn’t even sensed the slightest hint of killing intent before her life was nearly extinguished. She desperately retreated, but Bo Xuenong’s speed was unmatched. Gritting her teeth, she leaped sideways. With a subtle flick of her wrist, Bo Xuenong’s blade followed her, slicing a long, bloody gash across her abdomen. Pain engulfed her instantly.

Her fury reached its peak. Guan Caimei tore off a red-stringed bead, and her aura surged, intensifying tenfold.

The crimson energy swirling around her thickened, and the red mole on her forehead burned with renewed intensity.

Guan Caimei swallowed a medicinal pill, and the wound on her abdomen rapidly healed. She glared coldly at Bo Xuenong. “You’re a Golden Core cultivator. Do you think I’m not?”

“Oh,” Bo Xuenong replied flatly. With a swift flick of her wrist, the single blade in her hand transformed into dozens, which instantly flew toward Guan Caimei.

Guan Caimei sneered and closed her eyes.

Cultivators at the Golden Core level and above could use techniques to channel their Divine Sense. By observing movements with their eyes and sensing energy with their Divine Sense, they could perceive their opponent’s attacks slowing down within their Divine Sense’s range. To her surprise, when she closed her eyes, she saw nothing at all. Just as Guan Caimei began to suspect Bo Xuenong had withdrawn her attack, a sharp pain shot through her arm.

Her eyes snapped open, and she watched in horror as a blade tip pierced toward her left eye. Simultaneously, multiple blades grazed her body. Had it not been for the protective aura surrounding her, Guan Caimei would already be blind.

Guan Caimei retreated clumsily. Bo Xuenong pursed her lips and retrieved another blade from her Storage Jade Bracelet. She hurled it forward while forming a hand seal. The blade instantly multiplied into dozens, circling behind Guan Caimei to cut off her escape route.

Guan Caimei could only defend herself with her qi, constantly channeling it to the blade tips, forcing the knives to shatter inch by inch.

She dared not let her focus waver for a moment, terrified of being turned into a pincushion.

Bo Xuenong watched her with undisguised mockery. Calmly, she retrieved a third blade from her Storage Jade Bracelet, gripped it in her left hand, and lightly stroked the blade with two fingers of her right hand. The knife transformed into a pale blue ice blade, radiating intense cold. Bo Xuenong hurled the ice blade at Guan Caimei, each strike colliding with the qi-infused knives defending her. After the ice blade struck, the knives melted into droplets of icy water that pierced through the red qi barrier. The moment these droplets touched Guan Caimei’s skin, they solidified back into razor-sharp blades, plunging into her flesh.

Instantly, over twenty wounds bloomed across Guan Caimei’s body. Her left eye was blinded, and an unbearable chill seeped into her flesh, draining her strength and dispersing her gathered qi.

Her weakened body swayed before collapsing heavily to the ground.

The blades sank deeper.

Bo Xuenong gazed at the utterly humiliated Guan Caimei. “Your mid-stage Golden Core is all show and no substance.”

Bo Xuenong picked up the pearl Guan Caimei had just removed from the ground. A faint chill crawled from the pearl into her palm, suppressing her spiritual energy and gradually purifying its restless nature into a gentle warmth. She quickly tossed the pearl into her Storage Jade Bracelet. “What is this thing? It can forcibly suppress my cultivation and alter my spiritual energy. Did you use this to deceive Master on the day you entered the sect?”

Guan Caimei didn’t answer. She stared intently at Bo Xuenong, only now noticing her wooden-like complexion.

Overwhelming hatred surged in her eyes. “Breath Exchange Technique? No wonder I couldn’t sense your aura or even hear your breathing. Why did you learn the Breath Exchange Technique so early?”

Bo Xuenong stepped closer and lifted Guan Caimei to her feet. “Now it’s my turn to ask the questions.”

Guan Caimei ignored her, still reeling from the shock of Bo Xuenong’s strength and her own utter helplessness. Her eyelashes fluttered twice. “Bo Xuenong, I used the Spirit Endowment Banner to block all traces of my presence. How did you get in?”

“You said it yourself—it only blocks traces of your presence.”

Guan Caimei’s eyes widened abruptly as she finally realized her foolishness.

Her gaze darted around before she suddenly extended her bl00d-soaked arm toward Bo Xuenong. “Eldest Senior Sister, would you like to drink my bl00d? It must smell delicious to you, right?”

Just as Guan Caimei had predicted, the metallic scent of bl00d transformed into a honey-sweet aroma in Bo Xuenong’s nostrils, drawing her irresistibly closer.

Shen Yanting’s face flashed before Bo Xuenong’s eyes. Holding her breath, she violently flung Guan Caimei away. Guan Caimei crashed onto the table, the knife sinking deeper into her arm, and bl00d gushed out more rapidly. A crimson mist began to deepen in Bo Xuenong’s eyes.

She craved slaughter, craved bl00d.

The increasingly clear voice terrified Bo Xuenong. The Imperial Tranquility Sect was a small sect with no real training or even internal competitions, leaving her with no opportunities to be injured or bleed.

Though Bo Xuenong had spent five hundred years fantasizing about killing someone every day, she had never actually killed even a chicken.

She had only ever smelled her own bl00d, a faint, rusty scent. Why… why did Guan Caimei’s bl00d smell so intoxicating?

This was still with part of her body already turning to wood… Bo Xuenong instinctively leaned forward, then abruptly recoiled, her feet skidding to a halt. “No! Your bl00d smells utterly repulsive!”

The Cultivation World had always adhered to the tradition of disciples resembling their masters. She didn’t want her actions to give others the impression that Shen Yanting was the same. Suppressing her overwhelming craving, Bo Xuenong’s body began to tremble uncontrollably. With a shaky hand, she pushed at the corner of her mouth, forcing a disingenuous smile. “Junior Sister, shouldn’t you explain why you possess a Golden Core cultivation level? You don’t seem like a rogue cultivator; you must have a lineage. If you have a lineage, why did you come to the Imperial Tranquility Sect?”

Guan Caimei ignored her questions, her eyes slowly shifting as a new idea formed. “Eldest Senior Sister, aren’t you afraid Elder Shen will find out about this? If he learns you’re harming a fellow sect member, he’ll despise you.”

This beast’s will is surprisingly strong. Let’s see how long you can hold out. The moment you can’t resist drinking my bl00d, the Immortal Venerable will come to execute you. Then it won’t be me who dies! Kill me? You’re not worthy.

Her inner thoughts echoed aloud, and a flicker of anticipation surged in Bo Xuenong’s eyes.

If I so much as taste bl00d, Master will come to kill me?

Then I’ll soon get my wish to die by Shen Yanting’s sword, won’t I?

Bo Xuenong touched her lips, her feet retreating instead of advancing. She longed to die by Shen Yanting’s sword one day, but she wanted even more to be a good disciple whom her Master favored. She couldn’t do anything her Master disliked—and if she did, she couldn’t let him find out.

Guan Caimei had said that if she drank bl00d, Shen Yanting would arrive immediately. There must be some kind of Covenant Seal on her body.

Bo Xuenong retreated further, her hand falling to her throat.

The crimson mist in her eyes had faded considerably, and her trembling had become barely perceptible. Bo Xuenong exhaled in relief, forcing a calm tone as she said, “Guan Caimei, you seem to enjoy talking so much. I’ll give you a chance to say more.”

“Elder Shen favors disciples who are kind and good-tempered…”

“I don’t want to hear that.” Guan Caimei’s words struck at her soft spot, and Bo Xuenong interrupted her coldly, steering the conversation to the main point. “Tell me, what book were you reading? Why did you call my Master the ‘High Mountain Flower’? Who’s the male lead? And who’s the female lead?”

The moment Bo Xuenong began her questioning, Guan Caimei’s composure vanished completely.

She looked at Bo Xuenong in terror. With each word Bo Xuenong uttered, the fear in Guan Caimei’s eyes deepened. When Bo Xuenong asked about the Female Lead, Guan Caimei raised her bl00d-dripping fingers and cried out, “Y-you! How do you know?!”

Bo Xuenong’s gaze swept across Guan Caimei’s chest. Guan Caimei clutched the fabric over her heart. “You can read minds!”

Before Bo Xuenong could reply, Guan Caimei shook her head frantically. “Impossible! It wasn’t written in the book! If you could read minds, then how… how could you not know…?”

Bo Xuenong rubbed her nose, a flash of white light at her fingertips sealing her sense of smell.

Only then did she approach Guan Caimei. After just a few steps, she realized something was wrong. Even with her sense of smell blocked, the scent of Guan Caimei’s bl00d remained intoxicating. Her own bl00d began to boil, not with desire for the sweet fragrance, but with a primal urge to draw power from Guan Caimei’s bl00d.

Bo Xuenong bit her lip tightly and flipped through the ancient book again.

There was no time to waste. Since Guan Caimei refused to speak, Bo Xuenong would have to take matters into her own hands.

Guan Caimei snapped back to awareness just in time to see Bo Xuenong forming a seal. The familiar seal terrified her so much that she fell off the table. Covered in injuries and unable to stand or walk, she crawled frantically toward the exit, fear driving her. She had barely taken two steps when Bo Xuenong dragged her back. Guan Caimei couldn’t help but scream, “Bo Xuenong, you’re nothing but a bloodthirsty beast!”

Bo Xuenong pressed the seal against Guan Caimei’s forehead, her palm firmly against the woman’s cold, sweat-slicked skin. She stared into Guan Caimei’s still-intact eye. “Junior Sister, you seem awfully afraid of this technique. You know what it is, don’t you? Have you seen someone else use it before? Or have you used it on someone yourself?”

Guan Caimei’s bl00d-stained face turned deathly pale, her gaze darting away unnaturally. Yet her voice remained loud and defiant. “Bo Xuenong, you’re nothing but a wild beast! No matter how hard you try, you can’t change the evil in your bones! Shen Yanting will never love you! She’ll only despise you! She’ll kill you!”

Guan Caimei knew Bo Xuenong all too well, and every word she spoke struck at the woman’s deepest fears. Lacking the strength to wield a blade against Bo Xuenong, she turned her words into daggers, stabbing them mercilessly into Bo Xuenong’s heart.

Bo Xuenong wanted to take back her claim of not fearing pain.

She was terrified of pain. In an instant, she snapped Guan Caimei’s neck.