Away from Sorrow - Chapter 3

3.

When I first arrived at Spirit Mountain at seven years old, Fang Wenzhou had been very kind to me.

But after Master publicly announced that I would be his only personal disciple, Fang Wenzhou, who had always taken such good care of me, became less close.

As I grew older, however, he grew gentler again.

Even kinder than he had been when I was little.

After ten years of constant companionship, a young girl’s budding affection could hardly stay hidden.

On the day Master arranged our engagement, I was happy from the bottom of my heart.

Fang Wenzhou even knelt before him and swore to treat me sincerely for the rest of his life.

And sincere he was.

Sincere enough to drug my wine on our wedding day, seal away all my spiritual power, shatter my primordial spirit, sever my immortal meridians, and curse me to Avici Hell, never to be reborn.

Such sincerity was truly moving.

I studied the Fang Wenzhou before me.

In this life, I had one more enemy.

Before we reached Master, he could no longer contain himself. Turning directly toward me, he said, “Little Sister, our wedding is approaching. Afterward, I hope you’ll be a gentle, virtuous wife and stop staining your hands with blood. Otherwise, I fear you’ll struggle to win respect as the sect leader’s wife.”

Oh? Threatening me?

He thought I could never love anyone but him. So he used my feelings to threaten me into obedience.

Even though he had already decided to kill me on our wedding day.

If he could humble me first, it would still satisfy his vanity immensely.

I said nothing. Taking my silence for fear, he grew more pleased with himself and continued lecturing.

“If you’re good and obedient, I’ll still treat you well. I’ll make you the most respected sect leader’s wife in the immortal sects. But if you refuse to learn forgiveness and restraint, with such poor character, how could you deserve to stand beside me?”

Ridiculous!

He seemed to have forgotten that his engagement to me was what made him eligible for the position in the first place.

The influence he borrowed had always been mine.

So when we saw Master, I dispensed with any preamble and said I wanted to end the engagement.

“A-You, why do you want to break it off?”

Master had reached the Spirit Transformation stage, only one step from ascending to immortality. Sensing that his ascension was near, he was eager to see me married soon.

Naturally, he was puzzled when the first words out of my mouth were a request to end the engagement.

Fang Wenzhou had been standing beside me full of anticipation. Now his eyes widened, panic and confusion filling them.

“Little Sister, why are you suddenly saying this? Everyone on Spirit Mountain knows our wedding is near. Such thoughtless behavior will embarrass the sect leader too!”

He was trying to use Master to pressure me into stopping my supposed nonsense.

I knelt beside Master and spoke obediently.

“Today I avenged my family. That feud is over. But Senior Brother says that once he becomes sect leader, I must stop staining my hands with blood and become a gentle, virtuous wife. Otherwise, I won’t deserve the title of sect leader’s wife.”

As I spoke, I kept watching Master’s expression.

Just as I expected, his face darkened. There was displeasure in the look he gave Fang Wenzhou.

Among cultivators, the distinction between men and women mattered little. A woman could lead a sect and safeguard its honor as well as a man. We had long since discarded the mortal rules that bound women to obedience and prescribed virtues.

Those so-called virtues were shackles in themselves.

Besides, I had learned the immortal arts to destroy demons. How could my hands remain free of blood?

Unless—

I shut myself away on this mountain forever, devoted myself entirely to being Fang Wenzhou’s wife, and ceased to concern myself with the world. A puppet no different from an ordinary mortal woman.

But if that were the goal, why had Master gone to so much trouble to bring me here and teach me?

He had always held great hopes for me.

I continued, “So I thought, if I’m not worthy, we might as well cancel the engagement. Senior Brother must prefer a gentle, dutiful woman, but I really can’t learn to be one. I want to protect Spirit Mountain for you, Master. I want to keep slaying demons and defending the righteous path…”

“Little Sister!”

Fang Wenzhou could hold back no longer. He interrupted me.

Master frowned slightly and stroked my head. His voice came from above me, its mood unreadable.

“Wenzhou, as our eldest senior disciple, you should understand our founding precepts better than anyone. Male or female, we are all cultivators. Our duty is to slay demons and defend the righteous path. Inevitably, our hands will be stained with their blood. But since you want a gentle, dutiful wife, you and my A-You cannot make a happy match. Let us call off this marriage.”

Master had always treated the senior disciples equally, neither favoring nor distancing himself from any of them. Only because of me had Fang Wenzhou received a little extra care.

But Master had raised me.

Everything I knew, he had taught me himself.

He wanted to protect Spirit Mountain forever and rid the mortal world of evil spirits. As his disciple, I should inherit that purpose and devote my life to it.

If marriage would undermine it, then the marriage had to be reconsidered.

Fang Wenzhou went deathly pale and immediately prostrated himself.

“I spoke recklessly! It was only a momentary mistake. I do not think there is anything wrong with Little Sister. She is the only woman I wish to marry. Sect Leader, please do not cancel our wedding!”

I watched coldly. The panic in his eyes brought me ever greater pleasure.

Fang Wenzhou. Frightened already?

I had always known how to repay a kindness. Naturally, every agony you gave me in my previous life would be repaid twice over.

Today was only the beginning.