The Day the Elixir Was Complete, My Master Went Mad - Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Master collapsed while he was being interrogated.
By then, dawn was approaching, and temporary torches flickered over the ruins.
Shen Zhaowei had divided the surviving disciples into three groups: one to rescue the injured, one to guard the mountain gate, and one to watch over the elders involved in the incident.
She was as busy as a blade pushed to its breaking point.
Master stood before the broken steps of the Heavenly Inquiry Platform and recounted everything.
He said that the year Xie Wuchen entered the furnace, he had been locked in the Sword Pavilion by the Sect Leader.
He said that by the time he broke out, the furnace had already been extinguished.
He said that over the past hundred years, he had investigated the Ash Chamber, destroyed two Formation Eyes, and killed three Furnace Tenders.
But when he reached the year I turned fifteen, he suddenly stopped.
Shen Zhaowei said coldly, “Continue.”
Master looked at me.
I looked back at him.
He said softly, “After I discovered that Jiang Heng was the final Heavenly Lock, I sealed a portion of her memories.”
My fingertips trembled.
Shen Zhaowei’s expression changed.
“What memories?”
Master did not flinch.
“When she was fifteen, she once entered the Back Mountain Forbidden Area and heard the Resentful Souls within the Abyss of Demons.”
A sharp pain suddenly shot through my head.
Fragments began to surface.
A black door.
A blood-stained bell.
Someone was shouting from deep underground: “Don’t become medicine.”
And then, a young boy’s faint voice.
“Senior Brother, don’t let the next child enter the furnace.”
I leaned against a broken pillar, doubling over in pain.
Master instinctively took a step forward, then forced himself to stop.
Shen Zhaowei cursed, “Xuanwei, you really have gone completely mad.”
He did not argue.
“I was afraid that if she knew the truth, she would take the initiative to open the lock.”
Shen Zhaowei said furiously, “So you sealed her memories?”
“Yes.”
“So you raised her in a place where she knew nothing, waiting for your own chance to save her?”
“Yes.”
Shen Zhaowei let out a sharp, angry laugh.
“Do you think you’re being incredibly devoted?”
Master looked up.
“No.”
He said, “I am merely despicable.”
As those words fell, the surroundings went silent.
I looked at him, feeling as if something was being violently torn open inside me.
It wasn’t because he had admitted it so candidly.
It was because I was finally certain that he truly knew where he had gone wrong.
But knowing did not mean the wound would disappear.
I asked, “Is there more?”
Master’s face was already unnaturally pale.
“Yes.”
He raised a hand to press against his chest.
“The Life-Binding Lock was never undone. Heaven’s punishment severed half of it; the remaining half is with me.”
I suddenly realized something.
“What do you mean?”
He looked at me.
“When your Pill Core shattered, your soul should have dissipated. I connected the remaining lock to my own heart.”
Shen Zhaowei cursed under her breath.
Wen Zhi’s face turned deathly pale.
I walked up to him, step by step.
“What did you just promise me?”
He whispered, “To live.”
“Then what is this?”
He looked like he wanted to explain.
But blood surged from his lips first.
He collapsed to his knees.
When I caught him, it was the first time I didn’t wait for him to ask.
Because I was afraid that if I waited even a breath longer, he would truly be gone.
He leaned into my arms, his eyes filled with a trace of panic.
“Ah Heng, I didn’t mean to lie to you.”
I was so angry that my tears fell onto his face.
“You’d better shut up.”
He actually shut up.
Wen Zhi rushed over to check his pulse, his voice changing with alarm.
“The lock is on his heart meridian. If we wait another half hour, it will snap.”
Shen Zhaowei asked, “Can it be undone?”
Wen Zhi looked at me.
“Yes, but Senior Sister Jiang must be the one to do it personally.”
I asked, “At what cost?”
Wen Zhi gritted his teeth.
“Pain.”
I gave a small laugh.
“What kind of cost is that?”
Master suddenly grabbed my sleeve.
“Don’t.”
I looked down at him.
“Xuanwei, you have no right to tell me ‘don’t’ anymore.”
His eyes slowly reddened.
I pressed my hand against his chest.
There was a fragment of the lock there, deeply embedded in his flesh and blood.
I used the last of my spiritual energy to grasp it.
Then, I wrenched it out by force.
The pain traveled from his heart meridian into my soul.
My vision went black from the agony, but I didn’t let go.
Master clenched his teeth tightly; instead of resisting, he was the one who first reached out to try and push me away.
I whispered, “Try moving even an inch.”
He went still.
The moment the residual lock was pulled out, both he and I spat out blood simultaneously.
The chain fell to the ground, shattering into two pieces.
This time, it was truly broken.
I knelt on the ground, gasping for air as if I had just been hauled out of water.
Master looked at the two pieces of the lock, his gaze momentarily vacant.
I knew what he was afraid of.
The Life-Binding Lock was broken; he could no longer use his own life to tether me.
I was finally, completely free.
And I could finally, truly leave him.
I looked at him.
“Xuanwei, from now on, whether I live or die is none of your business.”
His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible.
“Mm.”
“And whether you live or die, you are not allowed to use me as an excuse.”
He closed his eyes.
“Alright.”
