Chapter 10: Shen Ai’s Determination

Courting death!

That was a cliché expression for those who just did not know the danger of their action, provoking those they ought to never provoke. The bald elder used to laugh at such expression, thinking that only blind fools would do such a mistake. Yet never did he expect, he would do that mistake himself.

In front of him, ominous aura was coming out from the blue-robed lady. The border guards nearby all scared stiff. How they wished they could run, yet they completely lost control of their muscle. The bald elder smirked, cold sweat behind his back. He faced death in battle many times before, yet this was the first time he felt ever so small. Bodywise, he was twice the lady in front of him. Yet, the presence from her… The feeling coming from the lady in front of him was…

Overwhelming.

“…What, monster is this… Blood Oath Sect,”

As the elder was trembling, Shen Ai was having an entirely unfamiliar feeling burning within.

Wrath.

Something the gentle Shen Ai so rarely went through. Even those who knew her for many years would say, impossible for this mellow jellybean to be angry.

Yet this time, it was the worst ever. Within her mind, voices kept echoing.

This lowlife, dares hurt my sister?

This lowlife, dares take advantage of her…?

This lowlife… die!

Her movement was spontaneous.

Bam!

In a blink, a palm strike hit the bald elder from a distance. Roaring sound shook the surroundings. Her Qi pierced through his Qi barrier as if a rock hitting an egg. Coughing blood, the elder was sent backward for at least a hundred meters. His feet burrowed into the ground, his chest almost burst open.

How?!

He asked himself. Their cultivation seemed equal, yet such a qualitative difference… He could not believe it!

Almost losing consciousness, the lady in front of him disappeared.

“You—”

He heard the voice.

He blinked. The next moment, she was next to him. She roared;

“Dare!”

A punch on the left shoulder of the elder. The pain was excruciating, immediate dislocation.

“Hurt!”

Another one on the right shoulder. Broken.

“My!”

A kick on his left calf. Broken.

“Sister!”

A kick on his right calf. Dislocation, body turned around like a ball spinning in the air.

As the body spun in the air countless times, she was silent… More Qi clenched with her fist. Eyes grim, as if seeing a pile of trash, repulsive trash… Voice filled with disgust, she uttered;

“Die.”

A massive Qi concentration hammered towards the elder. Should this hit, even the family would not recognize the remains. Screaming sound pierced the air around. Her fist, so close to hit—

…!!

Yet the massive Qi, dissipated into air. A soft palm greeted her fist, gently swirling around her arm, stopping the rampage altogether. Dust dissipated…

A lady in sky blue, almost similar to Shen Ai’s robe, stopped her fist with almost no effort. In her daze, her eyes managed to return their focus, finally recognizing the interrupter.

“Master…”

“Silly girl,”

As they exchanged that short conversation, the bald elder finished spinning, finally falling onto the ground. Blood all over, all his four limbs were in a weird position. He was barely alive, twitching. Not even looking, Grand Elder Ling spoke;

“This filthy one, don’t stain your hand any further.”

“He… hurt, big sister,”

“This, will be punished, worry not,”

“…”

Finally calming herself down, she fell to the ground. Turning to her back, her unconscious sister entered her view. She saw blood, flowing out of her mouth.

Sister…

“I’m sorry…”

A few days later, they returned.

After the Grand Elder’s Assembly, Grand Elder Ling came out with a troubled expression. The Grand Elders expressed their judgment of the situation. Since it caused such an event, it was hard to cover it, so they had to punish the perpetrator to set an example.

Thus, Shu Fen had to be punished according to the sect’s law. Nonetheless, they still had concerns over what effect this would cause on Shen Ai. With this in mind, they pushed the responsibility to the ‘wise judgment’ of Grand Elder Ling. Wise judgment, eh… She rolled her eyes, as if she did not know what they were thinking.

They did not want to be the laughing stock of other sects, yet they also did not want to make enemies of their greatest asset, Shen Ai. Punishing her sister according to the sect’s law was pretty much asking her to hate the one making the judgment. That was why they pushed the responsibility onto her, as her Master. Whatever her judgment, she would have to bear the consequence. To cause humiliation to the sect, or cause grievance with her precious disciple?

Grand Elder Ling lamented, you sly old foxes…

Then again, since she was given such responsibility, she had to make sure some things…

“Let’s just see how this goes,”

“Master…”

Hearing the judgment set for Shu Fen, Shen Ai was in disbelief. When she reported to her master about Shu Fen’s plan to desert the sect, she pleaded her master for a change of judgment – the lightest one possible; absent without consent. With that, she would only receive mid-level punishment at worse. Yet the other Grand Elders did not agree, as news of the whole incident had spread to the surrounding sects. Hearing so, Shen Ai got irritated;

‘These people just love gossips for some reason. If you lowlifes have so much time, go and cultivate!’

She wanted to say so, but she kept silent to listen to her master first. According to the sect law, deserting the sect would fall into the category of risking the whole sect’s security, and thus, deserved heavy punishment.

“Crippling cultivation, and rank 3… Soul Cleansing?”

“This was made with you in mind, since she carried a top-priority secret,”

“But crippling her cultivation? Her cultivation is shallow, how would that be a threat to the sect! And… Soul Cleansing? Rank 3…”

A soul cleansing would drain a lot of Qi from the elders. With a rank 3 Soul Cleansing, they should be able to clean around 30 years of memory. That would cover all the way to her childhood, even past the time she met Shen Ai.

“Don’t you worry. She should be able to speak, write, and do chores like normal people,”

“But… over 30 years, does that mean, she will… even me?”

Forget about me? Me, her little sister?

With a grim expression, Grand Elder Ling nodded. Hearing so, Shen Ai burst in anger— something she never did to her master.

“But why! How come that’s necessary!”

“She held the sect’s greatest secret. A secret which could destroy the sect,”

“Secret… That secret… That’s me, right?”

“…”

“…Master, she’s my sister. Even if she left the sect, do you think she would tell such secret to others? Something, which could trouble me, her little sister? Do you?”

“That’s…”

Grand Elder Ling could not refute. She just couldn’t.

“And… crippling cultivation? Wouldn’t that carry a certain risk for us woman? Didn’t you yourself say, there’s fifty percent chance to damage… reproduction? Cannot bear child, cannot be pregnant?”

“…You remember correctly,”

Seeing her master seemed unmoving, even after mentioning all these, Shen Ai realized – It was not her decision. The other Grand Elders… made it seemed so. Had it been entirely up to her, she would just hush it with whatever clever reason she could come up with.

With her master’s trouble in mind, she knew what to do;

“Master,”

She lowered both knees, kneeling sincerely to her master. Tears in her eyes, she kowtowed.

“Xiao Ai, what…”

“Master, I’ve never sincerely asked something from you. The last time, I asked you to help my sister, to allow her to marry… yet I never did ask with all my heart. This time…”

Still in kowtow, she said;

“Her cultivation can never be a threat to the sect, and her relation to me should never be questioned. Had she divulge such secret, it might harm me. From my standpoint, such a thing is impossible. So please,”

“…You should know, if we let her be, she might attempt another escape.”

“…I know. And that is why, I sincerely ask, that she be spared from such punishment, and still be allowed to marry her lover,”

An almost impossible request. Grand Elder Ling expected her to ask for sparing her from punishment, but this went beyond her expectation. For what reason?

“You still ask for her marriage? Why?”

“…Master, I… I want her to be happy,”

To be happy. That was enough of a reason for her. Such reason put Grand Elder Ling in a stump. She realized she still did not know too well of her disciple. Such innocence... Fingers tapping on her table, Grand Elder Ling said;

“…Actually, there’s another way. This way, she might be happy, we can spare her from punishment, and we don’t have to worry about her leaving the sect.”

“…Master?”

She unconsciously raised her head.

“A rank 2 Soul Cleansing,”

Rank 2 Soul Cleansing?

Wouldn’t that wipe out five years of memory? For what, she realized. Doing that, she would…

“Forget, about her lover?”

“Yes, that sounds better than any alternative at least…”

That indeed sounds better than anything, Shen Ai was tempted. This might be it – Yet, at the time, she recalled how her sister would see the moon, with such longings for her lover. Her eyes… Making her forget about him? Wouldn’t that be as cruel making her forget about her little sister?

“…Master, I cannot. That would be no different as my sister, forget everything about me,”

“I see.”

Grand Elder Ling stayed silent. She was just testing her, to see whether she would choose another alternative for her sister. Nonetheless, the suggestion she presented on purpose just now, had a huge weakness, and she knew it.

“Nevermind, I’m just testing you. This method cannot work anyway. Should she meet that Xin Jian again, she would recall the same feeling. Strong feelings are easy to recall, and love is the easiest. The love between man and woman, goes beyond logic and memory, impossible to curb. This happened before, so we know, this method is useless.”

“U-useless? You’re just… Then, do we have other…”

“No, we have decided, we shall proceed with the two procedures,”

The two procedures, meaning Cultivation Searing to cripple cultivation, and Soul Cleansing to clean up her memory, all for thirty years. Only with this much, will the sect allow her to marry someone from their foe’s territory. Seeing her master being adamant, Shen Ai trembled.

Grand Elder Ling, concerned for her, assured;

“Now before you protest anymore, listen first. We’ll make her unconscious and numb during the process, so she won’t suffer. After it’s done, she will no longer be of our sect, but she can marry whoever she likes. The secret will be safe, the sect will be satisfied. Also, she will be happy, and you can still meet her once in a while. Listen, it’s not as bad as you think… It’s a good deal. She won’t remember you, but she should retain some feeling for you.”

Hearing so, Shen Ai gritted her teeth. A good deal? Losing cultivation in Foundation stage, meant cutting her life in half… And making her own sister lose memory about her? Did her master, and other Grand Elders, think so lightly of their memory together?

“Xiao Ai, think positive, you two can make new memories at least.”

New memories?

You think memories are that simple? You can just cook new one when the one before was lost?

“After all, this is for the greater good, so don’t think too much about it anymore.”

Grand Elder Ling dismissed the issue, signaling Shen Ai that she was tired. Indeed she was, mentally. The whole event blew out of proportion, with even their rival, the stronger Heavenly Tower sect, took interest in it. It was not easy to keep people’s mouth shut afterall.

…

While she knew she ought to let her master rest, Shen Ai was preoccupied with that last statement.

Greater good? What the heck is that?

These Grand Elders… You think cause you have power, you can push others around, just like that?

…

Nonsense!

...

“Anyway, it’s late, and we’re all tired. Let’s end this here.”

As Grand Elder Ling was about to dismiss her, Shen Ai whispered;

“Master…”

Placing her fingers over her dantian, determination filled her eyes. Qi filled her fingers, ready to cut through.

“Xiao Ai, what… cease this nonsense!”

“Whatever my sister receives, I shall share the same burden.”

“Don’t be silly, you wouldn’t dare—”

…!

Grand Elder Ling flinched, she recognized such eyes. It was not the eyes of her childish disciple, that soft-hearted young lady. This pair of eyes, was the same as those hardened warriors, backed into a corner. No path to retreat, nothing else to lose, they fought like the devil.

“Master is wise, you should know… All I ask master, is to deliver this message… to them.”

“You—”

Finger pointing at her, trembling, she could not believe it. For her to be so daring…

Shen Ai, the Fairy of the Blue Lake, of the Blood Oath Sect… The hidden jewel of the sect. Formally, she was known as Grand Elder Ling’s direct disciple. However, all the Grand Elders in the sect could actually count as her teachers, including the Sect Leader and the two ancestors. She was too precious to be monopolized by just one person after all. Those greedy old foxes all wished for their share.

However, these teachers of hers, never expected this course of event. This was the first time, in the history of the Blood Oath Sect… that their very own student, would threaten them…

All, at the same time!

By accident, these Grand Elders forged something within this soft-hearted lady, something they failed to build all this time;

Determination.