Chapter 6: Why Is He Here?
The servants covered the corpse, easing it away from the scene. The only thing left was the excessive amount of blood that spread across the area.
"Lady Lin! Go back inside the house!" A servant ran up and advised.
Yu Xuelan whipped her head around with the corner of her eyes wet and red.
She seethed, "You expect me to head inside after seeing my beloved fiancé die? In fact, you dare have the audacity to order me around?"
The servant flinched and stammered, "Bu, but Lady-"
"It is best if you leave. Cultivators from Zheng Long are here. I will stay here in this spot where my husband died. At least give me time to mourn," Yu Xuelan frowned and wiped her tears.
The servant looked at her in shock.
"What are you doing? Did I not tell you to leave? Or do you just enjoy making me repeat myself?"
"Um, ah, yes, ma'am!" The servant hurriedly ran back into the house without looking back.
After making sure the servant had left, Yu Xuelan sniffed and rubbed her nose, still retaining her usual expression of indifference.
"Why is my nose so itchy? Allergies?" She mumbled.
Luo Ran sat still on the ground, looking extremely puzzled, trying to comprehend whether Yu Xuelan was actually sad that Master Xiao died or not.
A smile of relief escaped Yu Xuelan's lips now that all the servants and cultivators were out of sight. She carefully examined the area where Master Xiao was killed, noticing there was a black substance underneath the rubble and dirt.
Something clicked inside her mind and she immediately looked at Luo Ran.
"What do you want? It's not my fault!" Luo Ran worriedly stuttered.
Yu Xuelan chuckled and walked towards the woman, "I haven't even said anything yet, Ran-dajie."
"Did you bring this demon in here to kill me?" Yu Xuelan smiled brightly, resting her left cheek on her palm as she crouched back down to meet at an eye level.
"What are you talking about?!"
"You looked extremely worried when I mentioned you could close the demonic gate. Was that just a coincidence? Did you want to bring in a demon to kill me?"
Luo Ran slightly flinched but remained silent as she lowered her eyes.
Yu Xuelan continued, "I thought I noticed dirt on your fingers. Though I soon realized that it wasn't dirt, but ink."
"Why do you have ink on your fingers when there was literally nothing in your room that had to do with calligraphy or arts? And you were also supposedly feeling unwell this whole time-"
"No! I didn't! Stop accusing me of things I didn't do!" She stubbornly dismissed Yu Xuelan's speculations.
The woman hid her hands under her sleeves and put her arms behind her back as Yu Xuelan continued, "You tried to break the barrier that the Zheng Long Sect created, but that didn't go well because they just sealed it off again. So, you tried to draw a summoning circle to bring the demons straight to the Xiao Village."
Yu Xuelan explained her speculations while Luo Ran continued to deny everything.
"To draw arrays and summoning circles, you could use fresh blood or a specific type of ink and this type of ink is extremely hard to rub off once it gets on your skin," Yu Xuelan said and reached out her hand, tightly grabbing onto Luo Ran's arm where the red marks from the previous grasp could still be seen.
"So why is the ink still on your fingers after showering? Or does Ran-dajie not like cleaning herself? Coincidentally, there's also traces of ink on the ground where that old man died."
Yu Xuelan dug her nails into Luo Ran's wrist, causing it to bleed before throwing her arm back towards her.
She yelped in pain, holding onto her wrist that was bleeding, and yelled, "You vixen! How dare you harm me!"
Harm you? Me? No... Ah, Luo Ran... I'm trying to kill you.
Yu Xuelan looked at her fingers that were stained in Luo Ran's blood before bringing her fingers to her lips, licking them. Luo Ran gritted her teeth and glared at her like she was looking at something worse than a demon.
"Ran-dajie, you told me you wanted us to escape to the left borders of the Feather Temple, but you really just lured a demon from the gate at Yang forest so it could kill me once I go there. After all, you were never planning on going there with me from the start."
Luo Ran slightly gaped her mouth in shock and fear.
Yu Xuelan slowly walked around Luo Ran in a circular motion. "But what made you draw a summoning circle here if you wanted me to go to the borders? To think that Master Xiao accidentally stepped on the summoning circle you drew yourself just when a demon was coming through. That is truly sad."
"Maybe I should draw a summoning circle to summon a demon to kill you?" Yu Xuelan pondered as she twirled her hair around her finger. "But I must say, I must commend you for your skills."
Luo Ran jolted and narrowed her eyes, her pupils shaking from fear before blurting out, "Al, alright, alright! It was me! So what! I was just going to scare you for a bit so you would actually want to leave the village and escape! I thought the Master was going to visit the lower village for a while. I didn't know he was still going to be in the house!"
Yu Xuelan sighed, "But even if I got scared and somehow ran off to the borders. It's not like the demon would just leave without harming no one. Have you not thought about this?"
"Why are you talking to me like I'm stupid? As long as you were dead, nothing else mattered, because then I would the inheritance and title would return back to me."
Yu Xuelan was absolutely bewildered and just wanted to smack her forehead upon hearing Luo Ran's reasoning. There would be no ownership of this village if all the villagers died! What would she be looking after? Ants?
Not wanting to talk to her any further, the black-clad girl stepped back since she was afraid the woman's stupidity might rub onto her. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching or near them and faced back to meet Luo Ran's raging eyes.
Even in the darkness, Yu Xuelan's gaze seemed to penetrate the trembling woman in which Luo Ran found herself getting lost in the girl's bitter stare.
Lost.
And there was no exit.
"Who even are you? One person can't change this much overnight."
Yu Xuelan sarcastically smiled, but that still provided a shallow depth of looking blankly inscrutable.
"That is true."
Luo Ran widened her eyes upon feeling the rising heat, a burning sensation melting the insides of her body.
She clutched onto her chest and gasped for air. If one was to describe this feeling, it was like her organs were about to explode out of her body.
The air filled with the cries in agony as the woman clenched her stomach and curled her entire body. Yu Xuelan stood still, without moving an inch, silently watching.
"What, what?! What's happening? I feel like I'm being ripped apart! Hel, help!" Luo Ran pleaded, as her heart continued to palpitate at inconsistent rates.
She reached out her hand and held onto Yu Xuelan's ankle, but the girl shook off her grasp and stared down at the suffering woman.
Suddenly, her body ripped apart.
The red substance splattered everywhere. Luckily, Yu Xuelan moved back before it could stain her clothes. The grey stone path was now polluted with more blood and flesh.
She continued to walk backwards to create a distance between the bloody mess that was in front of her before noticing a shadow behind her.
That shadow wasn't there before. She was sure there was nothing behind her. So who was it?
She whipped her head back and saw a white-hilt sword that lied on the figure's hip. Her breath ceased.
Fu Shi De. It was a sword that she knew extremely well, and she knew extremely well who that sword belonged to.
She gazed up, and her heart beat restlessly, yet the rest of her facial features remained indifferent since they were paralysed in astonishment and shock.
It was a tall, slim figure dressed in a white hooded robe.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
xbemoo
xbemoo Summary
HaiShen Yu: Water-based cultivation methods
Yu Xuelan (Daughter of the late Sect Master)
Yu Yang (Current Sect Master and Yu Xuelan's uncle)
Zheng Long: Earth-based cultivation methods
Long Wen (Daughter of the Sect Master - Yu Xuelan's childhood friend)
Long Rei (inner disciple)
ShenMing Wu: Wind-based cultivation methods
???
Shu: (Won't be mentioned till Book II)
Thank you for reading! Votes and comments are appreciated :D
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