Under Gu Qinghuan’s icy gaze, Lu Ning felt her heart skip a beat.
Guiltily, she clutched the beast hide diary behind her back as if hiding stolen goods.
What should she do?
Why did she suddenly come back?
Wasn’t there supposed to be an urgent matter at the sect?
Could this all be a trap she set on purpose, just to test me?
A thousand thoughts flashed through Lu Ning’s mind in an instant, but she didn’t dare let even a trace of them show on her face.
Suppressing her panic, she stiffened her expression, put on the cold and lofty bearing of a Sect Master, and glared coolly at Gu Qinghuan.
“Do I, as the Sect Master, need to report to you if I want to read a few books in my own bedchamber?”
Gu Qinghuan said nothing.
She simply walked in at an unhurried pace, her beautiful phoenix eyes locking onto the hand Lu Ning kept hidden behind her.
“Disciple naturally wouldn’t dare meddle in Master’s personal affairs.”
Gu Qinghuan came to stand directly in front of Lu Ning, the distance between them less than three feet.
“I’m just curious—what kind of book could make Master force herself up even when the medicine’s effect is flaring, just to secretly read it?”
Hearing this, Lu Ning frowned slightly.
She knew that any explanation would be pointless now.
This woman’s insight was frighteningly sharp.
Since she couldn’t hide it, she could only take another path!
Lu Ning’s mind raced, recalling what she’d seen in the diary, and a daring plan that had just taken shape.
A look of panic and embarrassment—exposed secrets—flashed across her face.
Such an expression was utterly unprecedented for the always-cold “Lu Ning.”
“Insolence!” she scolded, her voice fierce but hollow.
“How dare you, rebellious disciple, presume to lecture me about my actions?”
The more she acted this way, the more intense the suspicion and scrutiny in Gu Qinghuan’s eyes became.
Gu Qinghuan stepped forward and reached for the hand Lu Ning hid behind her back.
“Disciple wouldn’t dare lecture you.”
“I just want to see what exactly Master is hiding.”
Lu Ning struggled symbolically, but with her current strength, resistance was futile.
The beast hide diary was easily snatched away by Gu Qinghuan.
Lu Ning staggered back two steps, as if dealt a heavy blow.
Gu Qinghuan, with the diary in hand, didn’t open it right away.
She looked deeply at Lu Ning, as if trying to see through every secret buried in her heart.
When she saw Lu Ning’s “the sky is falling” expression, the last shred of her doubt finally vanished.
So, there really must be some earth-shattering secret in this book.
Was it the truth about her injuries?
Or something else?
Suppressing the torrent of speculation in her heart, Gu Qinghuan slowly opened the coverless beast hide book.
When she saw the first line—“My name is Lu Ning, born a woman”—her pupils shrank sharply.
Though she had already learned this secret, seeing Master’s own “confession” in writing still stirred a strange wave in her heart.
She read on.
The contents matched exactly what Lu Ning had just read.
It recorded the original owner’s background, the hidden dangers of cultivating the 《Heavenly Demon Codex》, and secrets about the “Taiyin Physique.”
Gu Qinghuan’s expression changed constantly as she read on.
From initial coldness, to shock, then to sudden realization.
So she was chosen as the “medicine” from the very start!
She had always thought her Master took her as a disciple because of her talent and character.
She’d always regarded her Master as someone to surpass, to conquer.
Who would have thought, in her Master’s eyes, she had always been nothing more than a tool to solve the problems of her cultivation technique.
An indescribable anger surged from deep within Gu Qinghuan.
Bang!
Gu Qinghuan slammed the diary shut.
A powerful aura burst from her, making the bookshelves tremble and hum.
She looked up, her expression growing darker.
“Master, what have I been to you all this time?”
Lu Ning stared “fearfully” at the furious Gu Qinghuan, her body trembling, face pale as paper.
“N-no… it’s not like that… Qinghuan, listen to my explanation…”
“Explanation?”
Gu Qinghuan sneered, slamming Lu Ning against the wall.
Lu Ning didn’t resist; she only gazed up at her with tear-filled eyes, filled with sorrow.
“Black on white—how do you still plan to explain?”
Gu Qinghuan’s tone grew harsher.
“That… that wasn’t written by me!”
Lu Ning forced out, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“I… I woke up here… I don’t remember anything from before!”
“I… I only know my name is Lu Ning, and… nothing else…”
She spoke while “crying” sorrowfully, looking heartbreakingly pitiful.
She was the very image of a sickly beauty, stripped of her cultivation, memory lost, bullied by a rebellious disciple.
Looking at Lu Ning’s tear-streaked face, seeing the genuine confusion and sadness in her eyes, Gu Qinghuan’s anger inexplicably faded a little.
Amnesia?
It wasn’t impossible.
After all, Master suffered a grave injury, lost her Nascent Soul stage cultivation, even her soul was damaged. Memory loss was plausible.
Besides, ever since Master woke up, her behavior had been completely different from the ruthless and decisive Demon Sect Master she used to be.
The old Master would never show such fragility and helplessness.
Could it be, she really… isn’t the same “her” as before?
Gu Qinghuan’s heart was a mess.
If Master truly lost her memory, then what was the meaning of all her previous scheming and plotting against her?
A nameless frustration welled up within her.
She looked at Lu Ning’s reddened eyes and, almost involuntarily, let go of her.
“Even if you’ve lost your memory,” Gu Qinghuan’s voice was still cold.
“What’s written in this diary is still true.”
“The dangers of the 《Heavenly Demon Codex》 are real. My Taiyin Physique can save you, right?”
Lu Ning “weakly” nodded.
“That’s what I saw… so I wanted to see if there was another way…”
“I don’t want to… I don’t want to do that to you…”
“I don’t want to treat you as medicine…”
Looking at the honest and sorrowful eyes before her, the softest part of Gu Qinghuan’s heart was touched.
Master would rather remain weak like this than use her as medicine…
That realization filled Gu Qinghuan with a complex, indescribable feeling.
“Master, you’re truly foolish…”
Gu Qinghuan gently wiped the tears from Lu Ning’s eyes.
Her touch was extremely gentle.
“The backlash from the Heavenly Demon Codex will only grow worse. If it isn’t rooted out, you’ll be consumed by demonic energy and your body will explode.”
Hearing this, Lu Ning “shrunk” her neck in fear, her body trembling slightly.
“But… I…”
“Don’t be afraid.”
Gu Qinghuan gently pulled Lu Ning into her arms.
Lu Ning’s body stiffened.
This was the first time Gu Qinghuan had embraced her without any trace of aggression or possessiveness.
Her embrace was warm, carrying that familiar cool fragrance.
“Master…” Gu Qinghuan whispered by her ear, her address reverting to its original respectful tone.
“In the past, this disciple was ignorant and offended you in many ways.”
“This disciple is truly fond of you, not just because I want to possess you, conquer you.”
“This disciple also wishes to protect you.”
Leaning against her embrace, Lu Ning was inwardly shocked.
Fond of me?
This rebellious disciple just confessed?
Isn’t this development a little too fast?
Gu Qinghuan paused, then continued.
“I’m willing to become your ‘medicine.’”
As she finished speaking, she looked up, her phoenix eyes shining with a near-reverent light.
“So long as Master promises to belong to me alone from now on.”
“So long as you stay by my side forever, let me care for you, protect you.”
“This disciple… is willing.”
Looking at the madness of possessiveness in her eyes, Lu Ning had only one thought.
Her plan had succeeded.
She’d successfully revealed her weakness and softened the rebellious disciple’s heart.
Though the price was selling her “beauty” and “feelings,” For the sake of regaining her cultivation, it was all worth it!
“Qinghuan…”
Lu Ning stretched out a trembling hand to hug her back, choking up with overwhelming emotion: “You… you’re so good to me…”
Just as she was feeling proud of her acting skills and thinking she had Gu Qinghuan thoroughly in hand—
Gu Qinghuan suddenly released her and gave a sly smile.
“But, Master.”
“You can fool me, but you can’t fool this.”
She shook the beast hide diary in her hand.
“The last page of this diary was torn out.”
“I’m quite curious, Master, did you already read it?”
“And then put on such a show to trick your disciple?”
At those words, Lu Ning’s smile froze instantly.