Chapter 80: A Sudden Attack, Completely Unexpected

Lin Xinyi had left the Celestial Altar earlier, but she was still physically and mentally exhausted from everything that had just happened.

She originally wanted to find a quiet place to calm down, but as she walked, she still ended up at the foot of her own Grotto-heaven’s mountain.

“If I go back at a time like this, I might be ravaged by that rebellious disciple again. I might as well not go back…”

Just thinking about the torment of the night made Lin Xinyi’s heart tremble.

However, after taking two more steps, she looked up and saw a girl sitting quietly under a tree not far away, calmly flipping through a book in her hands.

The foot she had just lifted froze in place.

The girl sitting under the tree was none other than her own good disciple, Qin Huaiyin.

At that moment, her fingers gently turned the page, as if she were waiting for Lin Xinyi.

“You, why are you sitting here?”

After seeing her figure, Lin Xinyi realized it was too late to turn and leave, so she simply walked over and directly questioned her.

“I thought Master would take some effort to return, but I’ve only been reading for a little while and Master has already arrived…”

Qin Huaiyin’s fingers lightly turned the pages, clearly aware of Lin Xinyi’s approach.

When Lin Xinyi slowly raised her eyes, she subconsciously stepped back.

“I asked you a question, and you haven’t answered me yet?!”

Lin Xinyi was already in a bad mood, but she hadn’t expected to see this rebellious disciple waiting for her at the foot of the mountain before she even reached the Grotto-heaven.

For a moment, unease crept into her heart.

She didn’t understand why the other was waiting here—could she have sensed her intention to run away, or was she plotting something sinister?

Faced with Lin Xinyi’s questioning, Qin Huaiyin simply closed the book in her hands calmly.

As she slowly stood up, using the tree for support, Lin Xinyi instinctively stepped back a little, as if triggered by stress.

“Wait! Don’t move! Tell me, what are you after?!!”

“Purpose?”

Qin Huaiyin tilted her head, putting on an innocent expression as if she had no ulterior motives.

But the more she acted like that, the more vigilant Lin Xinyi became.

“Master, what are you saying? When Master goes out on business, isn’t it only natural for your disciple to come and welcome you back?~”

“A fine ‘natural’ indeed. A weasel paying New Year’s respects to a chicken—no good intentions…”

By now, Lin Xinyi’s essence blood had recovered somewhat, but she was still extremely weak and no match for this rebellious disciple.

However, since they were not inside the Grotto-heaven, Qin Huaiyin would have to think twice before doing anything.

It was precisely because Lin Xinyi knew that Qin Huaiyin wouldn’t dare act recklessly outside that she kept a safe distance.

Otherwise, if they were in the Grotto-heaven, this rebellious disciple wouldn’t even give her an explanation and might just pounce on her directly.

“Master’s words truly break my heart. Isn’t it also Master’s own rule that the disciple should receive Master upon return?~”

“My rule…?”

Just as she was wondering what trick the other was planning, Lin Xinyi heard these words and was momentarily stunned.

But after hearing that, she thought back carefully and realized she had indeed set such a rule back then.

The key was that back then, Qin Huaiyin was still a soft and easily bullied little ant, and she even hid from Lin Xinyi every day.

So naturally, she had set a rule to force her to appear before her each time, so she could enjoy the sight of her being afraid yet having no choice but to show up.

But now was not that time.

She was currently depleted in qi and blood, her cultivation unstable, and she wished Qin Huaiyin would stay far away from her.

That rule back then was only set to satisfy a twisted taste, and now Qin Huaiyin was bringing it up again.

“Then if I say this rule is canceled now, will you obediently go back?”

“Of course, everything as Master wishes~”

“Ah, easy to say. It’s just that you won’t make a move against me outside…”

Lin Xinyi put her hands on her hips, looking at the other’s smiling face, but she was helpless against Qin Huaiyin.

After all, she was weak now and would need a long time to recover, and the other was currently also in her Cave Abode.

If she really followed Qin Huaiyin back to the Cave Abode quickly, wouldn’t she fall into this girl’s hands again?

When night came, this girl would shed her disguise, and then she would be utterly powerless—calling to heaven and earth would be futile.

“Forget it. You, I don’t need you to receive me. Go back by yourself. I still have some things to handle…”

Lin Xinyi said as she turned to leave.

After all, she had finally managed to get out, so how could she go back like this and be toyed with?

Even if she had nowhere to go, it was better than being worn down night after night by Qin Huaiyin in that Cave Abode.

“Could it be that Master doesn’t plan to come back tonight, and instead choose a place to hide inside that Fangcun Dongtian~”

When Lin Xinyi heard this, her heart skipped a beat.

She hadn’t expected Qin Huaiyin, who rarely left her room, to even know about the treasures on her person.

But then she thought about her Fangcun Dongtian and such.

It wasn’t exactly a secret, after all, although the item was precious, she had shown it off a few times in front of this rebellious disciple Qin Huaiyin.

Moreover, she hadn’t brought that thing when she escaped earlier; it was probably still in Bai Qianqian’s hands.

“Hide from you? Don’t be ridiculous. I am the great True Person Changqing. As long as I recover my strength, squashing you would be like an ant.”

Lin Xinyi gave a cold snort, clearly unyielding.

Her chilly eyes merely glanced briefly at Qin Huaiyin before she resumed her lofty demeanor.

After all, although Lin Xinyi had been quite unlucky these past few days—her cultivation regressing and being humiliated by her rebellious disciple—she never considered herself defeated.

Her inner pride naturally remained intact.

Originally, Qin Huaiyin had just made a casual remark.

Seeing her Master put on that lofty expression, the book in her hand slipped from her grasp at that moment, and something seemed to stir in her eyes.

“Ah, well, since Master doesn’t want to come back, then don’t. I’ll let Senior Uncle Yun go back first…”

“When Master feels like it, I’ll have Senior Uncle come to find you~”

Lin Xinyi had intended to turn and leave, but upon hearing these words, she stopped in her tracks.

She turned around with a puzzled expression, clearly not having processed it.

“What did you say? Yun Yiyi is here?”

“That’s right. Not long after Master left, I was playing a tune for about an hour or two, and then Senior Uncle arrived~”

When Lin Xinyi heard this news, her heart clearly skipped a beat.

‘Didn’t I just see her? Why is Yun Yiyi coming to my Grotto-heaven to find me again?’

A bad premonition instantly arose in her heart.

“What does she want with me…”

“Who knows? Master will probably have to ask herself.”

Lin Xinyi listened to Qin Huaiyin’s casual reply, and her bad feeling grew stronger.

At the same time, she couldn’t help recalling how she had stabbed the other in front of her earlier.

“Oh no, could it be that Yun Yiyi has figured it out and come to settle the score with me?”

After all, aside from that incident, Lin Xinyi couldn’t think of any other reason why she would come to her mountain to find her so soon after leaving.

There was no other reason besides revenge.

“Was she… was she in a good mood when she came to find me?”

“Since when does Master care about others’ moods? However, Senior Uncle Yun was as usual when she came.”

This casual reply from Qin Huaiyin clearly did not satisfy Lin Xinyi.

Back then, she had thought Yun Yiyi was going to ambush her, but it turned out she had misunderstood.

Lin Xinyi acknowledged that she was in the wrong in this matter.

Even if Yun Yiyi bore a grudge, she couldn’t blame others.

But now that she had no cultivation left, if Yun Yiyi really came to demand an explanation for this, she would probably have to kneel and beg for forgiveness.

“No… no, I must be overthinking. Yun Yiyi is very simple-minded. How could she…”

Lin Xinyi had intended to comfort herself, but then she reconsidered: Yun Yiyi only appeared simple on the surface; in reality, her mind was not simple either.

If it were normal times, Lin Xinyi would absolutely not run away.

But now, there seemed to be no other choice.

She could only turn around immediately, wanting to quickly distance herself from this place of trouble.

“Tell your Senior Uncle I’m busy now. Let her come find me another time!”

After saying this, Lin Xinyi turned and left, quickening her pace.

Qin Huaiyin saw that Lin Xinyi was trying to run away, so she also quickened her steps, wanting to intercept her.

“Master, why are you in such a hurry to leave? Senior Uncle just came to ask…”

Qin Huaiyin raised her hand, about to grab Lin Xinyi in front of her, when suddenly a sharp longsword came flying in from a soft spot in an ambush.

In that instant, Qin Huaiyin’s golden-colored eyes immediately caught sight of the flying sword.

The person the longsword was aimed at was none other than Lin Xinyi, who was walking ahead.

The speed was so fast that even Lin Xinyi didn’t notice it, but Qin Huaiyin, relying on her Dragon Transformation Body, sensed the change in the airflow and reacted first.

Lin Xinyi only heard a gasp behind her, and at the same time, her wrist was grabbed from behind.

The next moment, her entire body was forcefully pulled backward, and she fell into a soft embrace.

“Hey, you! We are outside the Grotto-heaven…”

Lin Xinyi had initially thought Qin Huaiyin was trying to forcibly take her back, and she intended to resist.

But unexpectedly, the scene shifted, and she was forcibly spun around and embraced, while the blade of a longsword was mere inches from her eyes.

“Ma… Master walks so fast, your disciple can hardly hold you back…”

Lin Xinyi heard the voice next to her ear, but her eyes widened.

Because at that moment, Qin Huaiyin had embraced her from behind at almost the fastest speed, spinning her around, and the sharp sword blade had directly pierced through Qin Huaiyin’s shoulder.

On the blade hung golden blood droplets, clearly the dragon blood after transformation.

Lin Xinyi still hadn’t processed what was happening; after being pulled over, this was the scene before her.

“Why… why did you save me?”

When Lin Xinyi saw the longsword pierce Qin Huaiyin’s shoulder, she suddenly understood: someone had been ambushing her, and Qin Huaiyin had just protected her.

Qin Huaiyin did not say much.

In an instant, her entire left arm went numb.

At the same time, after pushing Lin Xinyi out of her arms, her golden eyes slowly focused and looked toward the place behind her.

“Master, it seems they are after you. Could you go back to the Grotto-heaven and wait for a while?”

Faced with this sudden attack, although Qin Huaiyin was caught off guard, the dragon armor that had emerged on her body was also pierced through in an instant.

Clearly, the other’s cultivation was above her own.

“Originally, this strike should have taken that Elder Lin’s head, but I didn’t expect you, her disciple, to block it.”

Along with the voice slowly emerging, a young woman dressed in inner disciple attire walked out slowly.

As she appeared, an overwhelming pressure also rushed over.

“Nascent Soul stage…”

Faced with the suddenly appearing figure, Qin Huaiyin frowned slightly.

She didn’t understand why this person wanted to assassinate Lin Xinyi, and even released such an unrestrained pressure, as if she was determined to succeed.

“I am the True Person Du Mei, an Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect. Please, Elder Lin, die~”