It was probably when the peony flowers outside bloomed once again, their shadows swaying with fragrance as light and shadow danced.
The scent mingled with the sunlight, staining the windows and floors of the Medicine Hut.
This place was no longer just the master’s residence, but a home shared by master and disciple.
Although Elder Fu still cherished every one of his disciples, he made sure to set aside a special share of spiritual materials for his little disciple and occasionally gave her private lessons.
The master was sorting spiritual materials when the girl folded a peony flower from outside the window and, taking advantage of the master’s inattention, tucked it into his hair.
The yellow peony suited him perfectly. The disciple propped her cheek on her hand and gazed at the beauty. Her interactions with her master had grown increasingly casual and intimate.
Fu Songjin paused for a moment, but his brows softened with a helpless, shallow smile.
The flower pinned in his hair wasn’t secure and would fall with the slightest movement.
Thus, the kind and gentle master raised his hand and gently pushed the flower stem deeper into his hair, accepting his little disciple’s gift.
A beauty with a flower pinned in his hair—there wasn’t a single part of him that wasn’t beautiful.
The girl on the side suddenly laughed.
Her dark eyes curved instantly, sparkling with shattered stars.
Revering the teacher and honoring the dao?
That description had nothing to do with her smile.
She looked like someone about to get her hands on a toy she was interested in—full of eager fascination. With her narrowed, slightly arched eyes, she hid the secret excitement in her smile.
“Master…” She opened her mouth, her lips and teeth slowly savoring the word “Master.”
Fu Songjin looked up at her, not quite understanding why his disciple was calling him, but his brows and eyes remained gentle as he waited for her to continue.
His little disciple’s smile grew even brighter.
The sunlight in the room quietly dimmed, leaving only the girl’s radiant smile.
“Master.” Her lips and teeth moved again, savoring her master.
A soft-hearted master. A beautiful master.
“I like you,” she said.
The room should have been filled with the fragrance of flowers and herbs, sunlight streaming in, and the sounds of wind, insects, birds, and chirps from outside…
But as she uttered those words one by one, Fu Songjin could sense none of it.
Only the words she spoke lingered in a daze. Fu Songjin seemed to see those words tumbling from her lips, smashing onto the ground one after another, resounding through his entire mind.
One by one, they pounded at his heart, his spiritual platform, thumping loudly.
It was as if clouds had covered the sun, leaving only his little disciple’s smile in his vision.
Or as if the wind had torn the clouds apart, and blindingly bright light pierced down, illuminating and burning away all the dark, unclear thoughts.
“What?” he asked instinctively.
Like curling up in the shadows from the scorching light.
The girl’s eyes curved: “Master, do you like me?”
The master opened his mouth: “You… you’re my disciple. Of course, as your master, I… like you very much too.”
The girl shook her head: “No, that’s not it. Not this kind of like—romantic love between man and woman.”
She reached out and pressed her hand onto the back of the master’s hand: “I want to become dao companions with Master. I also want to dual cultivate with Master.”
The sunlight blazed suddenly, illuminating all the dark, unclear thoughts completely.
The emotions curled up in the shadows were abruptly yanked, dragged, and exposed to the light.
Fu Songjin suddenly held his breath, feeling a dull ache, a burning pain. He yanked his hand back fiercely.
No…
How could a disciple like her master…
No, that’s not right… It shouldn’t be…
Between master and disciple, what difference was there from taboo incest…
The girl, not understanding, looked blankly at her master who had suddenly retreated. He abruptly stood up, and the flower in his hair fell to the ground.
Noticing his inexplicable retreat, the disciple’s dark eyes immediately reddened, looking pitiful and in need of her master’s comfort.
Fu Songjin regained his senses.
He smelled the fragrance from his own body wafting around her, felt the warm breath from her slightly parted lips, and saw the moisture condensing on them, making her lips glisten red.
“Master?” she called out blankly and helplessly.
Fu Songjin moved his lips but, for the first time, did not respond to her.
Wrong…
Wrong…
It was his fault.
In that instant, he realized exactly what he had been doing all along—
It was him who had done wrong.
It was him who, under the guise of being her master, had seduced her.
Did she like him, or did she like her master?
How many people had she even met? Her bone age was so young—how could she know what liking someone really meant?
Fu Songjin clutched his robes, as if grasping those hidden thoughts of his.
In this moment, they nearly burst from his heart.
It was him. He was unworthy as a teacher, using the master’s name to guide her, indulge her, seduce her…
His little disciple was young and innocent, of course she didn’t understand. But he should have.
It was him who had fostered this taboo master-disciple relationship.
It was the master’s fault.
It was because he hadn’t fulfilled his duties as a master that she had developed romantic feelings for him.
Fu Songjin’s chest heaved, his eyelashes trembling, but he couldn’t speak.
Seeing him unwell, his little disciple stepped forward to support him. Fu Songjin waved his sleeve, dodging her hand.
“Master?” The girl’s posture became even more pitiful and fragile, seemingly not understanding why.
Tears welled in her eyes, about to fall. The master’s hand twitched, instinctively wanting to comfort her, but he suddenly clenched it tight and pulled back.
He turned his face away and ruthlessly closed his eyes, no longer looking at her.
Fu Songjin heard his own trembling voice: “You… go down the mountain for now.”
The girl looked incredulous: “Master, are you expelling me from the sect?”
The soft-hearted beauty clearly pursed his lips, his eyelashes trembling lightly, a hint of moisture and flush at the corners of his eyes.
In this vast world, her feelings for her master undoubtedly stemmed partly from her lack of experience…
If she went down the mountain and met more people, perhaps she wouldn’t be so infatuated with her master anymore.
He finally steeled his heart: “Go.”
Moreover, as her master, how could he…
Commit taboo incest with his disciple.
She was a child he had watched grow up bit by bit—how could he…
How was he worthy to be her master?
【Favorability: 0】
The Player was dumbfounded.
The Player’s smile vanished.
Where was her progress bar?!
Compared to being expelled from the sect, the favorability dropping to 0 was far more fatal.
She had worked so hard to play the pitiful little thing for so long!
She was so close to succeeding!
Though she had stumbled upon this beautiful targetable character by chance—or rather, he had delivered himself to her door.
From his reactions, the Player had tested that he was extremely soft-hearted, locking in her strategy of playing the pitiful one to farm favorability.
Privately calling him Master, swapping medicine seeds for flower seeds, playing hard to get by avoiding him then delivering flowers… A series of maneuvers raised favorability to 70, successfully getting the target to take her as his personal disciple.
Then came more proactive strikes—
She inquired about news and learned that her beautiful master had allocated spiritual materials to other disciples. Pretending it was a coincidence that she needed some, she went to her master to ask, making the soft-hearted master feel guilty.
This conveniently achieved hand-holding intimate contact.
She overheard NPC gossip and didn’t waste it, using the ready-made excuse to stir up more guilt in her master.
This conveniently achieved hugging intimate contact.
As for the other disciples’ gossip, the Player didn’t care about that.
The Player only cared about how to capture her target.
Her pitiful appearance and teary eyes were all deceptions aimed at the soft-hearted beauty.
She even had to thank that certain NPC who came seeking treatment with a heart demon obsession—it had given her a big push, letting her and the target sleep together clothed, pushing favorability to 99.
Who knew that at the final step, all her efforts would be wasted.
She didn’t even know how many Bad End save files she had played!
No time to count them now. Compared to the beginning, the Player had already learned to use the forums.
She searched the forums, and this sudden drop to 0 might mean the target had a heart knot.
Letting him figure it out on his own would work, but the time was uncertain—maybe one day in-game, or a year, even a century.
She hadn’t expected meat at her lips to fly away. The Player anxiously scratched her head.
Did she have to grind it out for another century like the first save file?
Having played the game this far, stuffed full of Bad Ends, the Player had long lost her patience.
Expelled by her master, the Player wasn’t ready to give up.
She continued playing the pitiful role, lingering near the Medicine Hut.
Unfortunately, the target shut himself in, claiming closed-door cultivation.
But the Player knew that with his soft heart, how could he truly be ruthless? He was probably tossing and turning, unable to enter meditation.
She stayed on the mountain for a few days, and seeing no reaction, she deliberately went down the mountain to stimulate him, to see if her master would come looking.
The Player waited another period, but still no movement.
The Player lost her patience.
The Player found a random corner.
Logged out. Restarted.
–
Fu Songjin didn’t dare see his little disciple again.
He wanted to end this mistaken relationship and not let her stay by his side anymore.
But he only made more mistakes, making the worst decision: in a moment of evasion, he drove her down the mountain.
If he truly wanted to expel her from the sect, he should have destroyed her life lamp.
He hadn’t.
Through the life lamp, he could see her status. The Life Soul Lamp had remained steady, meaning she was safe and sound.
If she were injured, the Life Soul Lamp would dim or flicker…
Though nothing like that had happened yet, Fu Songjin was still at a loss. What if she got hurt outside?
He was an unqualified master who had never let her go out for training.
Even though she had plenty of treasures and pills to protect herself, he couldn’t help it. Day and night, he guarded her Life Soul Lamp.
Until the lamp went out.
The lamp suddenly extinguished.
The apricot-robed figure by the lamp froze. After a long moment, he finally remembered what an extinguished lamp meant. Suddenly, he spat out a mouthful of blood, his realm destabilizing.
The door to the Medicine Hut was abruptly smashed open. Petals of ruined peonies scattered across the floor, swept up by the fleeing apricot robes.
The Life Soul Lamp could track souls.
Once extinguished, it pursued the soul and the killer for seven days.
Within seven days, he found the location indicated by the life lamp, but there was nothing—absolutely nothing.
No traces of battle, and the Life Soul Lamp gave no indication of a killer.
If there was no killer… then why had her lamp gone out…
He didn’t dare think about it.
He only dared think that she had found some method to sever the connection with the life lamp.
He only dared think that she was still alive, just didn’t know where she had gone.
A crack probably opened in his heart then, occasionally leaking out whispers—
How could there be no killer…
Wasn’t the one who killed her you?
It’s your fault…
It’s your fault…
It’s your fault…
……
All the peony flowers in the hall withered.
It was all the master’s fault…
It was all the master’s fault…
It was all the master’s fault…
……
Heart Sound could not be stopped. From then on, it constantly leaked from his heart.
……
Elder Fu was lecturing from the jade platform again today.
Elder Fu on the jade platform always scanned the crowd.
Many people came. Who was he looking for?
The peonies by the jade platform bloomed and withered again.
Elder Fu on the jade platform still scanned the crowd.
His fame drew more and more people, but he still hadn’t found who he was looking for.
Heart Sound leaked more and more from his heart, and the crack seemed to widen day by day.
Perhaps he should refine a furnace of wondrous spiritual pills to patch the crack in his heart, but he only often caressed the long-extinguished life lamp, as if trying to stuff the lamp into his heart.
The Medicine Hut had only him now. By the window, the flowers his disciple had planted had withered again.
Where had she gone…
It was hard for a loose cultivator. Had she been battered by wind and rain, bullied by others…? Her spells weren’t proficient, her cultivation low—how was such a child supposed to cultivate and survive alone outside…
It was the master’s fault.
The fragrance filling the Medicine Hut seemed to have faded, but he didn’t dare recall what it used to smell like.
The flowers outside the window withered again, and the lamp in his arms had long gone out.
In a daze, Heart Sound leaked out—
She died.
She won’t come back.
【She was killed by you.】
What the Player didn’t know—
Her target’s heart demon had taken hold.
Incurable by medicine or stone.
–
【End Game?】
【Yes】【No】
【Yes】
【Game Over】
【Unlocked Ending: Bad End】
【Start New Round of Game?】
【Yes】【No】
【Yes】
【Generating new map…】
【Loading new map…】
【Loading new character…】
【Loading complete!】
【Wishing you a pleasant game!】