Fairy, Don’t Be Afraid, I’m Blind

Chapter 74: Brothers and Master-Disciple

In the dilapidated old house, only faint moonlight filtered through the mist, casting a dim glow on the battered, dying elder.

A tear-streaked youth clutched the elder’s hand tightly, sobbing uncontrollably in grief.

Nearby, a short and wiry boy stood apart, unmoved by this poignant display of master-disciple affection. Instead, his face twisted with resentment as he cursed through his tears, “You damn old bastard! I was already safe! Why did you have to drag me back here?! Waaah…”

“Wu Ping, shut your mouth! Have some decency!” Wu Cheng glared at Wu Ping. Though he had never been harsh with his younger brother before, this time, he was truly enraged.

“Brother! What conscience do we owe to an evil spirit?!”

Before Wu Ping could finish his sentence, a sharp slap echoed through the room. Wu Cheng’s fierce blow left Wu Ping stunned, frozen in place.

Breathing heavily, Wu Cheng ground out between clenched teeth, “If it weren’t for Master protecting us with his life, You Su’s Junior Sister would’ve killed us long ago! If it weren’t for Master sacrificing himself to shield us from those fiends, how could we possibly still be alive today?!”

Wu Ping stopped crying, pressing a hand to his stinging cheek. Slowly turning to meet Wu Cheng’s gaze, his narrow eyes brimmed with cold disdain. “Wu Cheng! Don’t try to guilt-trip me into feeling moved! You know exactly why he saved me—or didn’t save me! When You Su was chasing me down, he could’ve intervened earlier but deliberately waited until I was nearly dead before stepping in! All these years, has he ever praised me once? Can’t you see that he’s never respected me? In his eyes, I’m nothing but a useless burden who got in through connections! Just dead weight holding you back! He probably wished I’d disappear—you understand, don’t you?”

Wu Ping ranted bitterly about the injustices he’d endured over the years. Wu Cheng stared at him, seeing his somewhat foolish and spoiled younger brother in a new light—the same brother who had always obediently followed his lead. His eyes filled with disappointment. “If Master didn’t consider you his disciple, why are you still alive? Why, even after being corrupted by evil and losing his sanity, did he still protect you from those lurking fiends? And why, after you betrayed him and told everyone he was possessed, did he still risk everything to take you away? It’s because he thought that place was too dangerous! Even while consumed by evil, Master clung to the sole purpose of saving his disciples—and that alone kept him going! If it weren’t for saving you, he wouldn’t have taken that fatal blow! Do you understand?!”

“I don’t understand!” Wu Ping shouted, his eyes blazing with hatred. “All I know is that I was safe—until this damned monster dragged me back! If he hadn’t provoked You Su in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this mess! Over and over again, it’s always him dragging me into these situations! Am I supposed to feel grateful to him now?!”

Wu Cheng let out a bitter laugh, as if his heart had shattered. “You don’t understand… You don’t understand anything. Master just wanted you to face more challenges so you’d grow stronger—but you misunderstood him completely…”

Wu Ping sneered. “Stop spouting such hypocritical nonsense! You’ll never understand the suffering I’ve endured!”

Wu Cheng closed his eyes tightly, tears streaming down his face. Shaking his head, he prepared to defend their master further when Qi Daodong suddenly twitched twice, mumbling something weakly.

Wu Cheng quickly gripped Qi Daodong’s hand, his voice trembling with concern, “Master! Don’t speak! Everything will be alright… It’ll be alright…”

Qi Daodong slowly opened his eyes. The crimson glow had faded, leaving behind only the murky haze of a dying man.

His throat bobbed as frail words crawled out of his mouth like stiff insects: “It’s… my fault… I’m sorry… to both of you…”

No sooner had he spoken than his body seemed to experience a final surge of strength. With trembling fingers forming a makeshift sword, he plunged it directly into his own heart!

“No!” Wu Cheng screamed hoarsely.

But it was too late. Qi Daodong’s head lolled to the side, lifeless. A rotten, blood-red octopus emerged from his chest, motionless for a moment before beginning to decay.

This once-promising and spirited sect leader, who had accepted the power of evil to protect his two disciples for four days despite his injuries, ended his own life to rid himself of the corruption. Yet his eyes remained wide open, unseeing.

Wu Cheng broke down, his wails piercing the heavens.

Wu Ping watched coldly, unmoved. His lips curled into a venomous sneer. “Hmph, dying so easily! Get up, you bastard! You dragged me here—you owe it to me to take me back before kicking the bucket!”

He stomped angrily, then suddenly froze, his terrified gaze landing on something behind him. Collapsing against the wall, he stammered, “Brother… Wh-what is that thing?!”

Wu Cheng, drenched in tears, looked up at Wu Ping’s warning. Only then did he notice eight colossal tentacles blotting out the sky above them!

Following the tentacles to where they converged, there was a swirling vortex of flesh mingling with the mist. Most striking were the two indescribable points of eerie light at its center.

It wasn’t that they’d forgotten to flee—it was that they knew escape was futile. Two tentacles wrapped around them, lifting them high into the air.

A dual voice echoed simultaneously in their minds: “Only one of you may live. In exchange, the survivor must do something for me.”

This mysterious fiend viewed their deaths as inevitable, offering mercy by granting one of them a chance to survive.

The brothers locked eyes in the darkness, their expressions obscured but their gazes colliding…

An hour later, Wu Cheng limped through the mist and night, his left leg badly injured.

His face was numb, all his tears spent.

…

Under the bright moonlight, a pure woman in a snow-white dress leaned on her sword for support, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

Opposite He Shutong stood a seductive yet sinister beauty, covered in strange tattoos. She wiped away dried blood from her lips and purred, “Lotus Sword Venerable, cultivation isn’t a man. You abandoned it for eight years—do you really think it’ll treat you the same as before? You may have killed my junior brother, but you can’t defeat me. Push yourself any harder, and your spirit platform might shatter right here…”

He Shutong’s gaze hardened. The female evil cultivator wasn’t wrong.

Her body and spirit platform were overwhelmed by the sudden surge of profound energy, compounded by two consecutive days of grueling battle. She was on the brink of collapse.

But she had no choice but to press forward into the mist ahead. She refused to stop here.

With that thought, she prepared to exhaust herself further with another Lotus Sword Technique. Suddenly, she sensed something and turned to look at the moon hanging high above.

A celestial maiden floated before the moon, her white robes billowing in the wind like a goddess descending from the heavens.

The newcomer was none other than the prodigy leader of the new generation of the Mystic Firmament Sect, the sole true disciple of the Lotus Sword Venerable, and the one whom He Shutong had referred to as unmatched against evil—even a hundred Gu’s couldn’t compare.

Her true face was hidden behind a jade rabbit mask, and her cool voice drifted softly: “Master.”