Bengtie: My death fueled their madness.

Of all the secrets revealed in the Jade Omen, only this one remains.

The truth about that pill is not complicated and can be summarized in just a few words.

That was a special mother-child Gu that Qi Zhimu had refined.

Its effect is that all the pain and suffering of the person who ingests the offspring Gu will be transferred to the person who ingests the mother Gu.

Furthermore, the latter bears the burden of the time required for wound healing and the energy consumed in body regeneration.

Upon learning the truth, Jingliu's knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground, head bowed and tears streaming down his face, choking out incoherent sobs.

She ingested the Gu poison a long time before the Battle of Sudden Awakening.

She was not seriously injured during this time, and gradually the matter faded from her memory.

They simply assumed that what their master had given them was a elixir that was beneficial to their health or could enhance their strength.

Until that thing happened...

Shortly after capturing Hu Lei, the Jade Palace Incident occurred, forcing them to rush to his aid.

On the eve of their departure, the comrades gathered together, and their mentor presented them with a farewell drink.

They said they'd been retired for many years and were powerless to help the Jade Palace... Liar!

At that moment, she felt uneasy, as if her master was acting strangely, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

That was clearly a farewell that did not intend to return.

That was clearly a final farewell kept secret from his apprentice.

That was clearly... a cruel scheme designed to make the disciple kill his master with his own hands.

So that's why Master said that back then, right?

Before setting off, she looked at her master's broad back and asked for the answer she had been waiting for for a thousand years.

Master, are you willing to acknowledge your inner thoughts?

His answer was: It never has, so there's no need to acknowledge it.

You big liar...liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar!!!

The person she cared about most was her disciple.

He had clearly fallen in love with her long ago.

But the master regarded himself as no different from Shuhu, a monster that plundered countless bountiful blessings in order to achieve his goals.

The monsters are too hard to kill...

He left behind a sharp blade for that undying future, so that through her hand, he could achieve a future where he killed himself.

The reason why the master was unwilling to follow his heart was largely due to the sharp blade that ended his own self.

In order to make her kill him, the master did not hesitate to say those heartless words.

Let her graduate.

He said she was no longer his apprentice.

He said the most heartless things to her, trying to incite her hatred towards him.

The hatred of unrequited love can be terrifying at times.

But Master... have you ever thought about this?

My disciple doesn't care, doesn't care about any of that at all!

Monster or monster, it doesn't matter, as long as it's my master, as long as it's you...

No matter what form you take, your disciple will accept you...

Clearly, as long as the truth is told, there could be no barriers between master and disciple.

But the master chose to be selfish.

Selfishness made all the decisions for her, selfishly chose her future path, selfishly chose to perish together with Shuhu...

She could almost picture what it would be like after she left that night.

The master was consumed by grief, his desolate figure bending low as he picked up the shattered jade pendant piece by piece.

One by one, carefully and patiently, they pieced it back together and glued it back together.

That was a keepsake given to him by his disciple, and the only item he had worn for a thousand years without ever leaving his side.

One can imagine the countless days and nights that the master spent away from her, holding that jade pendant alone, reminiscing about her as he looked at it.

All the selfish things Master did for her stemmed from deep love…!

This selfish love was only obtained by Mianxue and Qinghan at the very end.

But she was different. From the moment her master began to treat her differently, she had already received it, for a full thousand years...

From the moment she became her master's disciple until his passing, she lived in a carefully woven web of lies.

The master's lies were filled with ruthlessness and cruelty, devoid of tenderness and compassion.

Yet this ruthlessness and cruelty is precisely the deepest affection he has for his disciple.

In short, to protect her, Master is willing to lose everything and will stop at nothing.

And this was also the master's original intention in refining the Mother-Child Gu.

Because... that was the last thing Master could do for his disciple before he died...

"...Waaah...Master, you're such a jerk!!!"

Unable to contain her emotions, Jingliu broke down in tears, scratching several bloody marks on her cheek with her fingernails.

She wailed like a child, but then let out a low, eerie laugh that was even more unsettling than her cries.

"Hehehe... Master, you've deceived your disciple so badly..."

"It's so bitter, so bitter—!!"

"A future without a master is meaningless..."

"I will come to you, Master. Until that day comes, I will obediently listen to you and try my best to live."

The master's silent love for a thousand years was only to keep her alive.

Yes, that must be it!

Master must have hoped to meet her again in the next life, so that he could eradicate her immortality disease and free her from the torment of demonic influence.

Only she, who was not a sinner, could stand upright beside her master, who was embarking on a new life.

This must be the future that Master longed for!

Jingliu became more and more certain as he thought about it, a strange glint flashing in his pupils, and a half-smile appeared on his lips.

"Your love for your disciple is so distorted and twisted, so naturally you allow your disciple's love for you to be abnormal, right?"

Under the moonlight, the woman half-covered her face, her voice filled with deep affection.

"...My dear...Master..."

If it weren't for the terrifying red light flashing in her eyes, her flushed cheeks, and her eerie expression that sent chills down one's spine, anyone would be captivated by this seemingly affectionate ocean.

……

a few days later.

After Jingliu finished sorting through Qi Zhimu's belongings, the black swan appeared.

In fact, aside from some less important items, the only things that remained were the broken Zhanhui sword and the silver moon jade pendant that had been given to her.

But these two items are absolutely impossible to entrust to Black Swan.

Fortunately, the black swan only used these important items to try to locate them using memory-related methods, and then returned them all.

"How is it? Is there any result?" Jingliu's eyes held a glimmer of hope.

"Unfortunately, we gained nothing." A look of regret appeared on Black Swan's face.

"It seems that cooperating with you alone isn't that effective. You're relying on Liuguang Yiting, aren't you?"

"good."

"And what about you?"

Jingliu turned his gaze to Ruan Mei, who was sitting at the opposite table, and then glanced at Yu Qingtu, who was sitting next to him.

"Could it be that you, like me, don't have many methods for finding the Master... to find him?"

Unlike Jing Liu, who was still immersed in grief, Yu Qing Tu learned that more than a thousand years had passed since Qi Zhi Mu left.

I'm not devastated by the fact that I missed out on the little one again.

She smiled faintly and explained casually:

"We have our own methods, but those methods are not advisable. Now that we know the little one may have an afterlife, out of respect, I will follow the usual way and be patient."

At this point, Yu Qingtu suddenly looked at Ruan Mei.

"Of course, it's uncertain about A-Ruan. Heaven knows if she might go crazy in love and do something crazy that defies common sense."