Reborn as a Happy Wife in a Rural Family
Chapter 174: Master and Disciple

Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Master and Disciple

She hadn’t killed her. This way, if Yunjing were to ask in the future, she wouldn’t feel guilty.

"Here. Just jump down yourself," Xi Chenqing said, gesturing towards the sinkhole.

Gu Qingli glanced at the ink-black opening. In this snowy landscape, such a pitch-dark hole was strikingly conspicuous.

Yet, this was to be her burial place.

Xi Chenqing hadn’t killed her outright. Instead, she had ordered her to jump, confident that even if Gu Qingli possessed some mysterious means, she wouldn’t be able to climb back out.

If she couldn’t get out, even if the fall didn’t kill her, she would starve or die of old age down there.

Truly a ruthless girl.

She knew clearly that even if she jumped, even with her Space, it couldn’t save her own life. Moreover, she wouldn’t be able to rescue Xiao Yunjing and the thirty-odd men.

Her only option was to gamble—to bet that this girl, Xi Chenqing, would keep her word. At least Xiao Yunjing wouldn’t die.

She didn’t want him to die.

"Hurry up! Are you waiting for them to wake up? Since I could save them, I can also kill them again—this time, including you," Xi Chenqing threatened.

Seeing Gu Qingli hesitate, Xi Chenqing assumed she was trying to seize another opportunity to rescue the men.

There wouldn’t be such a good opportunity this time.

Gu Qingli looked back one last time, her eyes, blurred again by tears, filled with reluctance as she gazed at what lay behind her. Then, resolutely, she leaped into the black hole.

Xi Chenqing stood by the sinkhole for a long while before flitting back to where Xiao Yunjing and the others lay. She then sprinkled a circle of medicinal powder around them.

Then, she quickly snuck back into the clan’s territory, returned to her master’s secret room, and placed the alms bowl back in its spot. She let out a long sigh of relief and turned to leave.

"Ma-Master."

At the door stood the Poison Elder, his aged face exceptionally grim.

"Did you save them?"

Xi Chenqing lowered her head. "Yes."

"Where are they?"

"Master, you..."

"Hmph! Tell me, and I won’t hold you accountable for stealing the King of cursed insects."

Xi Chenqing grew anxious. "Master, you can’t! I promised someone I would spare their lives."

"That’s your concern," the Poison Elder said grimly. What did it have to do with him?

"But, Master—"

"No ’buts.’ Those people are prime vessels. I can cultivate formidable cursed insects using them."

THUMP! Xi Chenqing immediately knelt, clutching the Poison Elder’s leg and pleading desperately, "Master, please spare them! As long as you spare them, your disciple will obey your every command, Master..."

Xi Chenqing had never imagined she would be discovered by her master.

Those men hadn’t woken up yet, and Master still wouldn’t spare them. What should she do?

Xi Chenqing was filled with immense regret. She shouldn’t have forced that woman to jump into the sinkhole. She should have let them all awaken and returned the King of cursed insects *before* letting that woman die.

The Poison Elder impatiently shook Xi Chenqing off. How could he pass up such excellent vessels? He turned to leave.

In her panic, Xi Chenqing scrambled back, snatched up the alms bowl containing the King of cursed insects, and shouted after the Poison Elder, "Master, if you go, I will destroy the King of cursed insects immediately!"

The Poison Elder stopped in his tracks. He slowly turned around, seemingly incredulous that his own disciple would betray him for a man.

"Xi Chenqing, put it back!" the Poison Elder commanded, his voice laced with fury.

"I will not! Unless Master spares them, your disciple will destroy it to prevent it from harming anyone else!" Xi Chenqing retorted, speaking recklessly. She knew that cultivating this King of cursed insects had cost the lives of countless clan members.

The clan members would never know. Those who had vanished or died inexplicably had all been used by her master to nurture his cursed insects.

Members of the Baiyue Clan were born with innate power, making them the most favored vessels for cursed insects. Her master specifically targeted those clan members who possessed pure internal energy but lacked influential backing.

Afterward, he would always claim they had been killed by outsiders.

In all these years, the only outsider she knew of was Master, and he was merely a frail scholar.

Were outsiders truly all that formidable, capable of killing clan members with such profound internal energy?

It was a lie so blatant even a ghost wouldn’t believe it, yet the clan members did. That was why they harbored such deep animosity towards outsiders.

But she, Xi Chenqing, refused to believe it. Whenever she had the chance, she would search for clues within the clan.

Five years ago, she had finally trailed her master to the clan’s forbidden grounds and witnessed a horrifying scene. Her terrified scream had alerted him. Although he subsequently taught her how to cultivate cursed insects, he never put his heart into it. Xi Chenqing knew all of this.

Upon hearing her threat, the Poison Elder’s face instantly filled with killing intent. If this wretched girl dared to destroy his King of cursed insects, he would kill her!

Xi Chenqing, of course, felt the murderous intent radiating from the Poison Elder.

She stared fixedly at the Poison Elder, her mind racing, calculating how to protect herself, Xiao Yunjing, and his men.

Ever since she had stumbled upon her master using humans to cultivate cursed insects, clever as she was, she knew he was extremely wary of her and, at times, even harbored murderous intent. He had even made her feed his precious King of cursed insects daily—a task that was practically a death sentence. The King of cursed insects recognized its owner; since she was not its owner, it would bite her to death if it ever went berserk. Fortunately, she had been prepared. She had secretly found poisonous insects outside, cultivated them into other cursed insects, and fed those to the King of cursed insects. That was why it had never harmed her.

The master and disciple remained in a standoff, neither willing to yield.

But as time dragged on, Xi Chenqing grew increasingly worried about the men in the forest. She suddenly rushed forward, and with a THUMP, knelt again before the Poison Elder, crying, "Master, your disciple was impulsive just now! Please allow me to kowtow and admit my mistake!"

As she spoke, Xi Chenqing began to kowtow forcefully on the ground—THUD! THUD! THUD! Soon, blood streamed from her forehead. While kowtowing, the hand holding the alms bowl subtly tilted the lid ajar. The King of cursed insects within extended its antennae, waving them slightly. It seemed to relish the scent of fresh blood. Like a flash of lightning, it leaped out and pounced on the bloodstains on the ground, greedily lapping them up.

The Poison Elder had no idea what trick this wretched girl was playing now. She was always so sly and cunning; she had cleverly dodged every trap he’d ever laid for her.

When he saw the King of cursed insects leap from the alms bowl, he instinctively bent down to grab it. The King of cursed insects, for its part, ignored the Poison Elder’s movement—that was its master; he wouldn’t harm it. In that very instant, as the Poison Elder bent over, Xi Chenqing, who had also been watching the King of cursed insects, suddenly flicked her wrist. A razor-sharp dagger shot towards the crown of the Poison Elder’s head!

Xi Chenqing struck with all her might—fast, ruthless, and precise—giving the Poison Elder absolutely no chance to dodge.

PUCHI! The sickening thud of a sharp weapon piercing flesh.

"You..." The Poison Elder collapsed with a crash, pointing at Xi Chenqing. He managed only that single word, his eyes wide and staring, before he breathed his last.

Xi Chenqing gazed at the fallen Poison Elder, her eyes filled with a chilling ruthlessness—a stark contrast to her usual sweet and gentle demeanor.

She quickly placed the King of cursed insects back into the alms bowl and returned the bowl to the shelf. Then, she retrieved a packet of medicinal powder from her robes and sprinkled it over the Poison Elder’s corpse. The body shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye, eventually dissolving into a pool of blood.

And just like that, the Poison Elder ceased to exist in this world.

The Poison Elder would never have dreamed in his entire life that he would die at the hands of his own disciple.

After cleaning up the scene, Xi Chenqing gathered some bottles and jars, packed them into a bundle along with the alms bowl containing the King of cursed insects, and headed straight for the sinkhole.