Chapter 2: The Disciple I Picked Up Asks How Much a Bowl of Noodles Costs

I was the only one living on Azure Cloud Peak.

I hated servants hovering around. Usually, when I got hungry, I’d go down the mountain to buy food and reheat it with spiritual power when I got back.

But today was the first day I had a disciple, so there should be a little ceremony.

And so a mighty Spirit Transformation cultivator rolled up her sleeves, went into the kitchen, and cooked a bowl of noodles.

Gu Chen stood at the door, looking at the basin of hot water, the new set of clothes, and the steaming bowl of noodles on the table.

He didn’t move.

“Sit.”

He kept standing.

“Not to your taste?”

“It’s not that.” His voice was hoarse. “This disciple has no spirit stones to pay with.”

I was taken aback.

【Sob. Since he was little he’s had to pay for every meal in blood.】

【The original told it. His family lived on the northern border. The moment his demon bone showed signs of awakening, his parents sold him to the Mo family, who raised “bone people.” Every month they drew a bowl of his marrow blood for research.】

【He escaped at fourteen and wandered for a whole year before reaching the sect.】

I looked at the tangle of scars on his wrists and finally understood where they had come from.

I pushed the bowl of noodles toward him.

“I took a disciple, not a hired hand. My disciple doesn’t pay for his meals.”

“Eat. If it’s not enough, I’ll cook more.”

He stared at the noodles for a long time before he picked up the chopsticks.

After two bites, he suddenly asked, without looking up:

“Master doesn’t want what’s in this disciple’s bones?”

There it was.

The deepest wound this child had.

“That’s your foundation. What would I do with it?”

“People say another person’s bones can be refined into a magic treasure.”

“Some people do that,” I admitted. “But not everything you can take is something you should take.”

“You belong to Azure Cloud Peak now. Anyone who wants to touch your bones will have to go through me first.”

He gripped the chopsticks tightly.

“What if this disciple becomes a demon one day?”

“Then I’ll beat some sense into you.”

“What if it doesn’t work?”

“Then I’ll keep beating.” I added, very seriously, “But I will never dig out your bones.”

He lowered his head very low.

A drop of water fell into the bowl.

I pretended not to see it.

【Oh no, I’m crying.】

【Wake up, everyone, this is the villain who kills her!】

【He kills her in the original. In this one… not so sure.】

The next day, I examined Gu Chen’s body.

His spiritual roots weren’t mixed at all. There were simply two forces inside him, crushing each other.

One was a weak stream of spiritual power, squeezed until it had nearly gone out.

The other was cold and domineering, coiled deep in his marrow.

The Heavenly Demon Bone was sealing itself.

It didn’t want to harm its host. It was trying to keep its owner alive, after all those years of other people drawing his blood and drilling into his bones.

If someone forced it open, his meridians would shatter, the demonic qi would backlash, and if he didn’t die, he would go mad.

Suddenly I understood why he had turned demonic in the original story.

He wasn’t born evil.

Someone dug out his bone, the seal broke, the demonic qi poured out, and nobody ever taught him how to live with it.

I withdrew my hand and tossed him a jade slip.

“The Azure Cloud Heart Method. It won’t raise your cultivation quickly, but it will protect your meridians. For the next three months, practice only this. Don’t circulate demonic qi on your own, and don’t let anyone examine your bones. Not even the elders.”

Gu Chen took the jade slip with both hands. “This disciple obeys.”

As soon as we left the Scripture Pavilion, we ran into a familiar face.

Qin Lang, in the robes of Heavenly Sword Peak, stood between two senior brothers and saluted me flawlessly.

“Martial Aunt Shen.”

Then he looked at Gu Chen, and his gaze lingered for a long time on the dark mark between his brows.

“Martial Aunt gave up a Sword Heart and chose someone with mixed roots. This disciple is foolish and truly doesn’t understand.”

“If you don’t understand, go home and read,” I replied. “You’re the sect leader’s disciple. Do you really have time to worry about who I take?”

A few disciples nearby snorted with laughter.

Qin Lang kept smiling, bowed, and walked away.

His right hand gently stroked the old black ring on his index finger.

【Ah, the male lead’s ring!】

【That’s his golden finger. There’s the remnant soul of an ancient patriarch inside, who teaches him how to cultivate.】

【In the original, it was the patriarch in the ring who told the master the Heavenly Demon Bone could be forged into a life-bound sword.】

I stopped walking.

An ancient remnant soul who knew exactly what a Heavenly Demon Bone was good for.

And who just happened to encourage someone to dig it out.

I narrowed my eyes at Qin Lang’s retreating back.

What kind of patriarch makes a habit of telling people to dig the bones out of children?