Chapter 47: The Third Senior Sister’s Background

Chu Sang recalled the description of Mu Changqing from the original novel. While other villains had tragic backstories, sought revenge, or harbored hidden motives, this man was different. He was simply a pure madman.

A complete and utter sociopath.

Born a villain, he was not only cruel to others but also ruthless towards himself.

You might think his crippled leg was the result of an enemy’s poison or some treacherous scheme? No, he did it to himself.

Although the original novel didn’t explain the reason for his self-mutilation, it didn’t stop Chu Sang from thinking this man was truly bizarre—crazy, evil, and strange all at once!

In the story, he opposed the male and female protagonists without any real reason. After all, he never needed a reason to attack. Perhaps it was just a fleeting thought, or he found Mo Qingchen and Qin Xixue’s appearances pleasing and wanted to turn them into puppets… His strength was immense, and the protagonists, not yet fully developed in power, nearly fell victim to his poisonous hands.

But as the old saying goes, evil cannot triumph over good. In the end, the protagonists turned the tables, defeating Mu Changqing, this great BOSS, and obtaining a lot of equipment. Those puppets played a significant role in the later parts of the story.

All along, Chu Sang’s motivation for saving the other senior brothers and sisters was secondary to completing the task. The main reason was that she pitied their tragic fates in the original novel. Only for this third senior brother did she feel… he deserved to die.

If he died, so be it. His death would spare others from suffering.

Although she inwardly criticized him, he was still her third senior brother. She should try to save him, right? Maybe there was still hope?

The moment Chu Sang took out the Demon Puppet Pearl, Mu Changqing’s expression changed.

In the original novel, he was like a person detached from the world, rarely interested in anything except killing and… the Demon Puppet Pearl.

He was one of the rare puppet masters in the cultivation world. However, puppets were ultimately lifeless objects. No matter how skilled the puppet master or how lifelike and intricate the puppets were, they could never compare to living beings.

But with the Demon Puppet Pearl, it was different.

The Demon Puppet Pearl could absorb souls and even place them in another container, allowing the dead to “resurrect” within another vessel.

For Mu Changqing, the vessel was naturally a puppet.

Simply put, placing a living person’s soul into a puppet could give the puppet thoughts and make its appearance like that of a living person.

These puppets could no longer be called puppets. Except for their bodies not being made of flesh and blood, they were almost identical to real living people, even free from the pains of aging, sickness, and death.

When Chu Sang read the original novel, she actually had suspicions – was Mu Changqing trying to turn himself into a puppet? To achieve immortality through another method?

Of course, these were just her guesses, unconfirmed.

“Where did you get this little toy?” Mu Changqing’s interest was entirely focused on the black pearl. He released her and carefully examined the pearl, no longer interested in doing anything to her.

“A while ago, I happened to encounter the soul of an elderly demonic cultivator in a secret realm. I got this pearl from him,” Chu Sang explained truthfully. “I knew you were a puppet master, Third Senior Brother, so I thought you might like it.”

“Do you know what this little thing does?” Mu Changqing’s thoughtful gaze fell on her face, with a hint of inquiring smile.

“It’s a Demon Puppet Pearl,” Chu Sang said without changing her expression. “I’ve seen it in the sect’s library. Girls who love reading always have good luck, don’t you think, Third Senior Brother?”

Mu Changqing covered his mouth and chuckled, waving his hand to dismiss her. “I like this little thing very much. Now scram.”

Just as she turned and hadn’t taken two steps, a fierce and domineering attack suddenly came from behind. Chu Sang thought, ‘Oh no, has this unpredictable Third Senior Brother changed his mind and decided to kill me again?’

As she quickly calculated in her mind whether the Vajra Talisman could withstand a full-force attack from a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, that attack, slightly different from spiritual energy, brushed past her ear and shot towards the woods on the left.

With several cries of anguish, three Golden Core stage cultivators fell to the ground, their heads separated from their bodies. They died miserable deaths, completely silenced.

“Looks like you have quite a few enemies,” Mu Changqing lowered his gaze to look at her. The fact that they sent three Golden Core cultivators to kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator like her suggested that this new little junior sister seemed to be more trouble than he had imagined.

Chu Sang turned her gaze from the “Zhao” character tokens on their waists and raised an eyebrow to meet his playful gaze. She stubbornly said, “Why couldn’t they have come to assassinate you, Third Senior Brother?”

His hands were stained with countless lives, and he had enemies all over the world. There should be many people who wanted to kill him.

Mu Changqing narrowed his eyes, “I don’t have enemies.”

He always liked to nip things in the bud when doing things. In his dictionary, there were only dead people, not enemies.

…

…

Chu Sang bumped into Tantai Ming upon returning.

She would always take him to practice swordsmanship at the back mountain every evening, but tonight she was nowhere to be seen.

Tantai Ming wasn’t one to seek trouble, but worried that something might have happened to her, he asked Wenren Yue and learned that she had been taking a lot of beast feed recently.

He quickly pieced it together and rushed to East Peak. Seeing Chu Sang return safely, he sighed in relief and lightly punched her. “Why did you go there? Didn’t I tell you not to? When Third Senior Brother goes crazy, no one can stop him!”

Chu Sang almost fell over, rubbing her nose. “I was just curious.”

“A little junior sister weighing ninety pounds but filled with ninety-nine pounds of rebellion,” he sighed. “Terrifying!”

Chu Sang: “…You don’t need to exaggerate!”

“Though Third Senior Brother is a bit twisted, he doesn’t seem as terrifying as the rumors say.” She rubbed her chin, pulled out a token from her robes, and tossed it to him. “By the way, Seventh Senior Brother, just now three Golden Core cultivators tried to assassinate me. Third Senior Brother killed them, and this is the token I found on them.”

“The token has a ‘Zhao’ character on it, the same as the one we saw last time. It seems they were sent by Zhao Xun. They must’ve followed us, thinking we had the lotus seed. We need to be careful from now on.”

Tantai Ming examined the token and snorted coldly. “Those thieves dare target us? I’ll teach them a lesson.” He promised confidently, “Don’t worry, little junior sister. I’ll guard the mountain pass. If one comes, I’ll take them down. If two come, I’ll take down both!”

“I believe in you, Seventh Senior Brother. You’ll make them cry for their mothers!” Chu Sang cheered for him. Then, after some thought, she patted him on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear.

Tantai Ming’s eyes widened slightly, surprised by her suggestion. Then, with a sly smile, he said, “Leave it to me!”

He dashed off quickly, leaving Chu Sang to think that the Zhao family would be in turmoil soon.

Of course, this was just a small nuisance for the other side, not a real solution to their problem.

Zhao Xun knew they had obtained the Chaotic Green Lotus Seed, and he wouldn’t rest until he snatched it back. They were out in the open while the enemy hid in the shadows. It was a constant threat.

Chu Sang sighed. If only they had a sect-protecting formation.

Typically, every major sect had its own protective array, allowing only its disciples to enter. Outsiders, without permission, would be instantly killed if they tried to intrude.

Unfortunately, Lingqing Sect was an exception. They were so poor that they didn’t even have a spiritual vein, let alone a sect-protecting formation.

Acquiring one would be no less difficult than buying a spiritual vein, perhaps even harder.

The latter was just a matter of spirit stones—if you had enough money, purchasing a mid- or high-grade spiritual vein wasn’t impossible.

But the former wasn’t just about spirit stones.

To create a high-level sect-protecting formation, the cultivator had to be at least in the Soul Transformation stage, and such formation masters were extremely rare on Lingyuan Continent. Most of them were elders or ancestors of powerful sects and families, with elusive whereabouts that common folks couldn’t easily find.

Not to mention, with her current status and standing, she had no way to even approach such people. Even if she knew one, they didn’t lack spirit stones and wouldn’t be willing to create a formation for a small, unknown sect.

Unless she could earn a favor from one of these powerful figures.

Chu Sang sighed again. She’d have to rely on herself.

She spent the next month buried in the sect’s library.

She allocated all ten points to comprehension, just barely enough to create a low-grade protective array for the sect. It would be enough to ward off Golden Core and lower-level cultivators, but nothing more.

If they encountered a Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, or even stronger cultivators, the formation would be useless.

For now, they’d have to make do with this formation. Maybe in the future, she could find a way to upgrade to a higher-grade one.

Chu Sang glanced at her current attributes.

[Physique: 15, Comprehension: 23, Aptitude: 1, Luck: 7]

As things stood, she could barely create a low-grade protective formation. Beyond her understanding, the bigger issue was her cultivation level. If she were at the Golden Core stage now, she might be able to create a mid-grade sect-protecting formation.

She made a decision.

Next time, she’d increase her aptitude!

Who would be the best to leech points from? After considering her options, she settled on the Third Senior Brother with his 80 points of corruption.

When Chu Sang went in the morning, there were several dead bodies on the floor of the bamboo house.

When she went in the afternoon, the row of corpses on the floor had disappeared. The bloody smell inside the house had become even stronger, overpowering the intense wine aroma.

When Chu Sang went the next day, there was a new row of puppets in the corner. “…”

The bloody scent mixed with wine lingered in the house, but Chu Sang hadn’t heard any news of missing people from the foot of the mountain. It seemed that the people Third Senior Brother killed every day weren’t ordinary civilians or innocent cultivators from below. So where did all these corpses in his house come from?

Chu Sang accidentally found a token in the woods of East Peak.

No one else recognized what this token was, except for Wenren Yue, who stared at it in silence for a long time before speaking, “This is a disciple token from the Beast Refining Sect.”

“Look, the shape carved on the front of the token looks like a beast’s skull, doesn’t it? The beast skull has its mouth wide open, and the flame in its mouth is the Eight Yin Evil Fire their sect worships. And the pattern on the back…”

“Third Senior Sister, how do you know all this in such detail?” The patterns on the token were complex, and the text wasn’t in the common script used in the cultivation world. Most people wouldn’t be able to recognize it.

Moreover, if Chu Sang remembered correctly, wasn’t the Beast Refining Sect one of the five major sects in the Demon Realm? Few disciples in the cultivation world should recognize it, right?

Wenren Yue’s eyes darkened slightly. Meeting the curious gazes of Chu Sang and the others, she put down the token and sighed softly, “Well, I’ve already let go of this matter, so there’s no harm in telling you.”

“I am a demon.”

The three of them were shocked.

Wenren Yue continued, “I was born in the Beast Refining Sect, but when I was seven years old, something happened.” She paused, those memories clearly not pleasant, so she skipped over them briefly. “Afterward, I fled from the Beast Refining Sect, escaping all the way to the Central Region. By chance, I was picked up by the Sect Master and brought to Lingqing Sect. Since then, I’ve been living here.”

Chu Sang suddenly understood. So Third Senior Sister was originally from the demon race. No wonder when she first saw her, she felt that her attire and style didn’t quite match the Central Region’s fashion.

“The Beast Refining Sect is also a famous beast-taming sect, almost on par with the Beast Taming Sect, one of the Eight Great Immortal Sects.”

“But while the Beast Taming Sect practices techniques of mutual understanding and assistance between humans and beasts, with equal contracts, the Beast Refining Sect takes the opposite approach, practicing a very sinister path.”

“They torture beasts, refine them, and train their servile nature, making the beasts submit to them. The contracts they form are one-sided master-servant contracts that only take from the beasts…” Wenren Yue said gravely, “One of the main reasons I left the Beast Refining Sect was that I couldn’t agree with their ideology. Their methods of treating contract beasts were too cruel. Countless beasts died at their hands, and even the beast clans deeply hate this sect.”

It sounded like this Beast Refining Sect was truly despicable and deserved to die. So Third Senior Brother was killing these evil people?

This seemed… somewhat at odds with his image in the original novel as a moody, violent killer?

However, Mu Changqing was definitely not a good person. He wouldn’t do something like seeking justice for beasts. So, why was he taking revenge on the disciples of the Beast Refining Sect?

“Well, well, my little junior sister, how many days have you been eavesdropping? Why not come to see me openly?” A sword thrust from behind. Fortunately, Chu Sang dodged quickly, or the sword would have pierced straight through her heart.

“…Third Senior Brother.”

Chu Sang felt she had been too hasty in her judgment. This man was truly born bad.

She decided that from now on, she would cover herself from head to toe with Vajra Talismans to prevent losing her little life at any moment.

Mu Changqing waved away the few sword-wielding puppets and looked at her with a smile. “Why do you always come to spy on me secretly? Do you really want to stay and keep your senior brother company?”

“Third Senior Brother, you must be so lonely by yourself. I’d like to come and keep you company, but your house is too scary, and there are often corpses appearing. I’m afraid,” she said, widening her eyes. When she did so, her eyes looked round and particularly cute and innocent, making it hard for anyone to refuse her.

“Senior Brother, we should be good people. We shouldn’t kill indiscriminately.”

“You don’t want me to kill people?” Mu Changqing’s gaze lingered on her face for a few turns. His smile didn’t change at all, looking as if he was very open to negotiation. “Alright.”

“As long as you can break the formation on this mountain and let me out, I naturally won’t be bored enough to kill people anymore.”

…