Chapter 84 – Internal Disciple

Ling’er’s previous smooth complexion was now covered in three terrifying wounds that were so deep, that her flesh curled outwards. Her body was in even worse shape. Not a single inch of her skin had been spared and there were cuts all over. A huge hole had been punctured into her dantian and it had nearly damaged the Spiritual Root inside her spinal cord.

The cuts left behind on her four limbs by the sword were in neat rows that didn’t look very deep, but all of them knew that Gu Suihan had not just broken her tendons but he had literally removed a whole chunk of it so that it would be impossible to put them back together again. She was incapacitated permanently unless they found some incredibly rare treasure that could heal her.

“What a vicious fellow he is!” Wan Xin stared helplessly at Ling’er as she unleashed her hatred and anger into her surroundings.

“That was so quick,” was all the other three from the Youthful Clarity Sect could conclude from looking at Ling’er’s injuries. There were at least 30 cuts on her and these had been made in that instant when Gu Suihan flung her into the air. This made them even more fearful of his detailed yet vicious technique.

“Ling’er’s injuries must be attended to immediately. This operation has been a failure. I’m bringing her back to the sect right now.” Wan Xin glared at the three men frostily. The friendly and warm atmosphere between them had completely disappeared.

The two men who were not willing to hand over their share of the Spiritual Stones earlier merely shrugged and didn’t really care at all, since they weren’t the ones who were injured. Instead, it was the teenage boy who looked worriedly at Ling’er and looked like he wanted to go along, but when he saw the looks on his seniors’ faces, he could only look at the ground silently.

“Humph!” Wan Xin glared fiercely again with a frosty stare, then flew into the air with the unconscious Ling’er in her arms.

The teenage boy watched them fly off and felt very uneasy inside.

Meanwhile, Gu Suihan and the rest had been flying towards the Seven Kill Sect at high speed when Gu Suihan suddenly stopped running and said, “Let’s head back to where we came from.”

“Huh?” The other three nearly stumbled over themselves and looked at Gu Suihan with puzzled looks on their faces.

“I left something on that Ling’er and I can sense that there’s the only one person with her right now.” There was a cold glint in his eye and a malicious smile on his face.

“Where are they now?” The other three perked up and their eyes lit up too.

If they could capture two Wonderful Sound Sect disciples, that would be a fantastic opportunity to give the Ethereal Court and its allies a slap in the face. The Seven Kill Sect would definitely reward them for doing this.

“To the left, about five kilometers away.” Gu Suihan closed his eyes to sense where Ling’er was, then shot out like an arrow.

Wan Xin had no idea that Gu Suihan had more than a thousand years of scheming experience and had no idea what was coming for her. She was flying carefully in the air and used her Qi to surround and protect the unconscious Ling’er. She had to fly more slowly than usual so as not to aggravate Ling’er’s wounds.

“Hello there, beautiful. It’s very dangerous to wander around outside in the middle of the night, you know?” A lecherous voice echoed in Wan Xin’s right ear and her heart instantly sank.

“Don’t bother trying to run.” Zhu Lingjian stood on the branch of a large tree and looked at the wary Wan Xin from afar.

“If you don’t attack us, we won’t kill you.” Gu Suihan quietly emerged from the forest and smiled at the alarmed Wan Xin.

She stared at Gu Suihan hatefully and said, “You did something that could track Ling’er’s movements?”

“What do you think?” Gu Suihan walked toward her confidently and glanced casually at Ling’er.

“You can forget about capturing me alive.” Wan Xin had a resolute look on her face as she carried Ling’er on her back instead to protect her. She then raised an arm and her glass zither appeared.

“You’re still hoping to protect her?” Murong Wei’s voice resounded from behind her and sounded a little excited.

“There’s really no point in putting up a fight. Given who your master is, I’m sure they would be willing to pay the price to redeem the two of you,” said Wu Hao with a cheeky look on his face.

Wan Xin could not help but consider this possibility. Wu Hao was right. Her master would redeem her as long as she and Ling’er were treated as one entity. Ling’er was a lot higher in status than herself after all.

“Who is this Ling’er exactly?” Gu Suihan stroked his chin as he looked at Wan Xin with some interest. She was clearly in a life-threatening situation, yet she insisted on protecting Ling’er.

Wan Xin seemed to have been drained of all her energy and her expression faltered as she landed on the ground. She gave Ling’er a pill and combed her hair before saying quietly, “She’s Qingrou Zhenren’s only daughter. Ling’er snuck out of the sect with me this time.”

The four Seven Kill Sect disciples had struck the jackpot. Their eyes lit up as they looked at the unconscious young lady lying on the ground.

“Miss Wan Xin, surrender and come with us to pay the Seven Kill Sect a visit, won’t you?” said Gu Suihan politely. But to Wan Xin, Gu Suihan’s smile had hints of playfulness and there was no sincerity in it.

“Humph!” She scoffed and stared murderously at Gu Suihan for a few moments before finally keeping her glass zither away and picking up Ling’er again to follow Gu Suihan.

“Everyone, we’ve accomplished quite a feat today. I hope everyone will speak the truth once we get back,” said Gu Suihan as he glanced at Murong Wei and the rest.

Their expressions froze before they laughed hollowly and said, “Don’t worry, we’ll report exactly what happened to the sect.”

Gu Suihan’s unpredictable yet highly effective schemes had struck terror in their hearts. First, Gu Suihan had chosen to attack the weakest one among the five, then he managed to make them turn on each other with just one remark, and even after leaving, he still left something on Ling’er that could enable him to track her down. All of this both amazed and terrified them.

“Junior Brother, since things have come to this, I think it’s time to give this to you.” Murong Wei looked down in deep thought for a brief moment and let out a long sigh. Everyone watched in surprise as Murong Wei took out a small, flat piece of red jade with gold borders and ferocious animals carved into the sides. The characters “Gu Suihan” were etched deeply into the front, while the emblem of the Seven Kill Sect was emblazoned on the back.

“Is this an internal disciple’s token?” Gu Suihan’s expression was even more dismayed now. The Peak Leaders were really unwilling to let him stay out of this mess and were practically forcing him to be part of it.

Murong Wei saw the nasty look on Gu Suihan’s face and said with a bitter smile, “The Peak Leaders have a message for you as well.”

“What is it?” Gu Suihan looked up suddenly. The glint of pure violence that had flashed in his eyes for that one moment sent shivers down Murong Wei’s spine. His voice trembled as he said, “The Peak Leaders said: My fellow cultivator of the Way, the world of cultivation is very small.”

“It’s exactly as I thought. Very vicious indeed,” muttered Gu Suihan as his frosty glare intensified. He spat, “Since that’s the case, it’s now a matter of whether you’re really able to control me.”

He then looked back at Murong Wei and asked, “Since you had this mission on hand, why didn’t you carry it out earlier?”

“The Peak Leaders instructed me to be sure of your abilities before making a decision,” said Murong Wei in a quivering voice.

“Excellent,” said Gu Suihan with a scoff. He kept away the violent aura he had earlier and did not speak anymore.

The message from the Peak Leaders was short but the implications were staggering. For the Peak Leaders at the Peak Origin Core stage to call Gu Suihan a “fellow cultivator” when he was only at Mid Foundation Establishment was something that made them even more terrified of Gu Suihan.

Zhu Lingjian suddenly thought of a possibility. He looked at Murong Wei with a start to ask for confirmation of his guess.

The latter nodded slightly with a bitter look on his face.

“You…you…you…” Zhu Lingjian was too stunned to even form a proper sentence. It took him a long time before he finally exclaimed, “You’re the senior who took over another person’s body and restarted your cultivation journey?!”

Wu Hao’s eyes widened in fear and even Wan Xin shuddered as she realized why the operation to kill them had failed so miserably.

There was no way a bunch of Foundation Establishment rookies like them could outsmart someone with more than a millennium of experience. It only made sense that the operation would fail.

Wu Hao gulped a mouthful of saliva because his throat suddenly felt terribly dry. He had behaved so arrogantly in front of such a senior. That could have killed him.

“Come along now.” Gu Suihan narrowed his eyes to hide the frostiness in his eyes. He took the token from Murong Wei and hung it on his belt in place of the white jade token of an external disciple.

“Let’s go.” The rest immediately nodded as they now looked at Gu Suihan both warily and fearfully.

None of them thought it strange that Gu Suihan had become an internal disciple just like that. The sect maintained exactly 999 internal disciples, but some would die every year in a fight or a mission, so making Gu Suihan an internal disciple on the spot was not impossible either.

Besides, the sect rules were nothing but a joke to the Peak Leaders.

Zhu Lingjian and Wu Hao were reminded of the cryptic warning that Murong Wei had given them before they set off on this mission. His tone had been wary and fearful, which was why he proceeded with great caution. Wu Hao had thrown caution to the wind and nearly got himself into trouble.