[On the surface, a lazy and carefree master who is actually a genius, eccentric and world-weary] X [A ruthless, devious, scheming disciple who loves setting traps]
-
The moment Ying Xue opened her eyes, she was back at the time after her sect had been destroyed.
The young man who had become a world-ending demon lord in her previous life knelt before her, covered in wounds, begging for her mercy.
"Sect Leader! Please don't send me away! I'll do the laundry and cooking, and work like an ox or a horse to serve you. If you say east, I won't go west. If you say one, I won't say two. Your word is the sky, your word is the earth! Wherever your sword points is where I'll go!"
"Oh..." Ying Xue lifted an eyelid. "Since that's the case, drag him away and feed him to the dogs."
The hand clinging to her leg went rigid for a moment. Then, without missing a beat, he put on a fawning smile and happily hugged the sect's last watchdog, a big yellow dog.
"The Sect Leader agreed to let me stay and feed the dog! Dahuang!"
Fine, fine. He'd stay and become the dog-feeding general. That was still better than what had happened in his previous life: joining a great sect, cultivating the heartless path, proving his Dao through slaughter, destroying sects, abandoning his humanity, going mad with cultivation, and falling into the demonic path forever.
Who could have guessed that he still held a grudge for the end of his previous life, when she had stabbed through his heart and crushed his soul, and they had died together? His wolfish ambition was plain as day.
"Sect Leader, since you took me in back then, why won't you take responsibility for me for the rest of my life?"
"Well..." Ying Xue smiled kindly as she explained to her rebellious disciple, "Because I'm about to die."
"Rebellious disciple! Put away the spirit-gathering banner, soul-locking nails, and puppet doll you're holding!"
Things had come to this, so she supposed she might as well keep living for a while.
Since she'd taken in a mad dog, she had to keep it on a leash for the rest of her life.
-
The older woman had lived through the most brilliant age and seen the most astonishingly gifted people. Her heart had long since become as firm as stone and as cold as frost.
Some loved her, braving fire and water for her and devoting their lives to her. Some hated her, driven mad by cultivation because of her until they were reduced to ashes. Some were grateful to her; others became her mentors and close friends.
They had danced with swords beneath the moon, fled through the wind, faced the deepest and darkest evil, and shared strong liquor atop the highest, most inaccessible peaks.
In the end, she was left alone, guarding the ruined remains of her sect, holding countless broken swords, her cultivation gone and barely clinging to life.
Until she took in a young man who was stubborn and foolish.
He cost her effort and money, and in the end, he even made her waste the little sincere affection she had left.
"Don't love me. It won't end well. How can a dead heart keep beating?"
"Your heart may be dead, but your mouth isn't. You can still kiss people. That's terrifying."
"Sect Leader, your heart is beating strong. I can hear it."
"...Get lost!"
-
Both reborn | Cultivation | Master and disciple
Theme: Peace and freedom
