Chapter 196: Chapter 196: Gu Qingyuan’s Plea

"Ye Chuxue, did you murder Lu Nanfeng? What in the world happened? You must give us an explanation!"

"Ye Chuxue, are you ignoring our messages because you’re trying to hide from the truth?"

"Ye Chuxue..."

Message after message, all of them demanding to know why she had killed Lu Nanfeng.

Ye Chuxue swayed, nearly collapsing where she stood.

She had been so careful. She hadn’t even told her master. ’How could the Sect possibly know?’

A storm raged in her heart. Beside her, Gu Qingyuan was also stunned.

’Chuxue killed Lu Nanfeng?’

’How is that possible!’

He instinctively denied it, but when he activated his own Communication Talisman, he heard the same questions from the Sect, asking if he knew anything about it.

Gu Qingyuan’s brows furrowed. He found the whole thing absurd.

"How could Lu Nanfeng be dead? And how could you, Chuxue, be involved? I think the Sect Master must have lost his mind!"

Everyone knew about the relationship between Lu Nanfeng and Chuxue. Even if Lu Nanfeng was dead, it must have been at someone else’s hand. There was no way Ye Chuxue could be connected to it.

But he didn’t receive the agreement he expected from Ye Chuxue. Instead, he was met with a long silence.

Gu Qingyuan’s heart skipped a beat. He looked at Ye Chuxue in disbelief.

"You—"

"Why?"

He couldn’t understand. A tempest was already raging in his heart.

’If Ye Chuxue really did kill him, what will happen to her?’

’Killing a fellow sect member is a grave crime!’

His answer came from Ye Chuxue’s reddened eyes.

She bit her lip, not feeling she had done anything wrong.

But she didn’t want to tell her master the reason for it.

She didn’t want to ruin the image he had of her, so this secret had to be buried forever.

"I killed Lu Nanfeng. But he brought it on himself; no one else is to blame!"

"As for the reason, Master, don’t ask. He tried to harm me first, and I just fought back!"

Ye Chuxue raised her stubborn gaze, her eyes glinting with a stunning light.

She was waiting to see how Gu Qingyuan would react.

’If he can believe in me without reservation, if he chooses me, then I can give him my heart completely.’

Gu Qingyuan froze at her words and looked seriously into Ye Chuxue’s eyes.

’Chuxue wasn’t joking. She really killed Lu Nanfeng.’

He swallowed hard, his expression shifting several times before he finally let out a sigh.

Reaching out, he pulled Ye Chuxue into his arms and stroked her head, his heart aching for her.

"Since you killed him, he must have brought it upon himself. I believe you."

"As for the Sect, I will negotiate with them and try to lessen your punishment."

What he was worried about now was Song Wanning’s reaction.

That woman was fiercely protective of her own. If she found out, there was no telling what kind of scene she would make.

The situation would likely be impossible to contain.

Ye Chuxue had obviously thought of Song Wanning as well. Her brow darkened as she said, "Master, do you think Song Wanning will let me off?"

"Between me and Song Wanning, who do you think the Sect will choose?"

A dark light flickered in her gloomy eyes. ’That bitch Song Wanning would love nothing more than to see me dead.’

"No matter what scene she makes, I will protect you!"

Gu Qingyuan’s arms around Ye Chuxue tightened. His heart ached for her even more, and he grew more frustrated with his own lack of strength, unable to defeat Song Wanning.

Hearing this, Ye Chuxue looked up with a smile and asked tentatively, "Master, what will you do if the Sect insists on crippling my cultivation and expelling me?"

She had wanted to leave a hellhole like the Heavenly Inquiry Sect for a long time.

It was full of selfish people, and she had no attachment to it anymore.

Even if she left the Sect, she could live an excellent life.

’But what about Gu Qingyuan? Could he bear to leave?’

A flicker of anticipation grew in Ye Chuxue’s heart. Her eyes, shining with a certain light, were fixed on him without blinking.

"No!"

Gu Qingyuan exclaimed in a low voice, "Chuxue, you are my disciple. I will never allow you to be bullied."

"I will explain to the Sect. At most, the Sect Master will just punish you with a few years of penitent seclusion..."

He was still holding on to his illusions. Hearing this, the light in Ye Chuxue’s eyes dimmed, a flash of disappointment crossing her face.

But she could understand. She had, after all, transmigrated from a future era and didn’t have deep feelings for the Heavenly Inquiry Sect.

But Gu Qingyuan had joined the Heavenly Inquiry Sect as a child and had lived there for over a hundred years. His emotional ties were bound to be extremely deep.

It was only normal that he had never even considered leaving the Sect.

Ye Chuxue hid her thoughts. ’This matter can’t be rushed...’

She didn’t interrupt Gu Qingyuan’s beautiful fantasy, but she knew Song Wanning would never let this go. And on top of that, the Lu Family probably wouldn’t let her off either.

’Right now, my master is all I have left.’

Ye Chuxue raised her arms and hugged Gu Qingyuan back tightly.

Her action made Gu Qingyuan freeze for a moment, and then a wave of sweetness washed over his heart.

He could sense the change in Chuxue’s attitude. ’I’m not the only one whose heart has been moved.’

’But...’

Their identities as master and disciple prevented them from being together openly.

’Then we’ll just have to cultivate hard and ascend together.’

’Once we reach the Spirit Realm, we can start over with new identities!’

...

The Sect Master of the Heavenly Inquiry Sect, who had been anxiously awaiting news, finally received a reply half a month later.

When he heard Gu Qingyuan’s words pleading for leniency, the Sect Master was so angry he smashed a glazed teacup.

’Ye Chuxue actually killed Lu Nanfeng?’

Gu Qingyuan pleaded relentlessly on Ye Chuxue’s behalf, only saying that Lu Nanfeng had tried to kill her first, which had led to an irreconcilable conflict.

But Gu Qingyuan couldn’t provide a specific reason, which greatly displeased the Sect Master.

But then he thought about how Ye Chuxue had already advanced to the Golden Core stage, her cultivation speed leaving everyone in the dust, even temporarily surpassing Bai Yang.

’Wouldn’t it be a terrible waste to cripple someone with such heaven-defying talent?’

Especially since the Heavenly Inquiry Sect was currently in short supply of promising disciples, it seemed best to downplay the incident no matter how he looked at it.

The Sect Master immediately summoned the Seventh Elder to the main hall. He paced back and forth, contemplating how to deal with Song Wanning and the Lu Family.

Although the Lu Family wasn’t a top-tier family, they still had some foundation and probably wouldn’t let the matter rest easily.

The Sect Master’s brow was furrowed with worry, and he sighed constantly. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

When the Seventh Elder arrived and heard the story, he too looked troubled.

"That girl Ye Chuxue must be crazy! If something happened, she should have let the Sect handle it. How could she just kill someone like that?"

"And of all people to kill, she had to kill Song Wanning’s disciple!"

He sighed again and again, feeling utterly exasperated.

The Sect Master was worried about the exact same thing. Did they not know how fiercely protective Song Wanning was?

Killing her disciple was practically a death wish, wasn’t it?

"Tell me, what should we do now? We can’t really cripple Ye Chuxue’s cultivation, can we?"

"Putting aside the waste of a genius, we also have to answer to Junior Brother Gu..."

This was no longer just an issue between two True Disciples; it now involved two Nascent Soul True Monarchs.

If this wasn’t handled properly, the situation would blow up.

Just thinking about it was enough to make his hair fall out.

"Sigh, this matter is truly difficult. Junior Sister Song has been pressing the Sect for an explanation these past few days."