Luo Jie and Yao Huizhong looked at Wei Yaozu’s black eye, then shifted their gaze to Song Qingge’s right hand, which also appeared to be bruised.

…It seemed like Wei Yaozu was telling the truth. The original Song Qingge had been known to use violence when things didn’t go her way in the past, so in Luo Jie’s eyes, this wasn't exactly out of character.

Luo Jie shook his head in disappointment and immediately switched into lecture mode.

“Song Shimei, how many times have we told you - you can’t just hit someone who doesn’t agree with you! You’re Wei Shidi’s Senior now, so you need to-” Luo Jie’s lecture was abruptly stopped by Yao Huizhong holding up a hand to silence him.

Yao Huizhong thought about what Song Qingge said to him last night about wanting to change, and the tearful embrace they had shared. 

Would she really go back on her word so quickly? 

Yao Huizhong didn’t want to believe that. Last night, he truly believed that Song Qingge’s words had been genuine. So at the very least, he should understand the whole situation before issuing her any punishment.

“A-Feng, is what A-Wei said true?” 

Feng Wenling was silent for a moment before answering.

“To answer Shizun honestly, yes, it’s true.” 

Feng Wenling’s words made Song Qingge’s heart drop like a stone into a well.

Shijie…! You're actually siding with him..! Song Qingge felt very wronged by this turn of events, and tears began to well in her large, dark brown eyes.

“...but,” Feng Wenling continued, “Song Shimei did it to defend my honor, so I ask Shizun to be lenient.”

Song Qingge’s mood completely flipped, and tears of gratitude began to fall from her eyes.

Feng Wenling: …It seems that whether I defend you or not, you still end up crying either way…

Luo Jie was a bit surprised at this turn of events. It seems like his two Martial Sisters had definitely become a lot closer! Song Qingge even attacked someone to defend her Senior Sister!

The bond between the two girls was kind of scary! He made a mental note to not offend Feng Wenling in the future (not that he had ever done that before).

“A-Wei, can you tell me what you said to provoke A-Song?” Yao Huizhong asked. 

Though he was very happy Song Qingge wasn’t completely at fault, and that she had acted out to protect one of her fellow disciples, he was still Wei Yaozu’s Master. He didn’t want to outwardly show favoritism,so he still wanted to give Wei Yaozu a chance to explain himself.

But if Wei Yaozu had truly done something to deserve getting punched, he would definitely punish him for it! 

While Yao Huizhong deeply cared for all four of his disciples, anyone with eyes could see he tended to be more lenient when it came to his two female disciples, otherwise, how could the original Song Qingge have become such a brat? 

Luo Jie had come to accept this fact long ago. Whenever he made a mistake in his cultivation, his Master would make him run laps around the mountain until nightfall, but if Feng Wenling or Song Qingge made the same mistake, (or did something worse, in Song Qingge’s case), at the very worst his Shizun would make them copy a few sutras.

Luo Jie couldn’t help but gaze at Wei Yaozu with eyes full of pity.

“This Disciple… doesn’t dare repeat what was said.” Wei Yaozu said, bowing his head low to avoid Shixiong's gaze. His heart began to beat uncomfortably fast once again.

Yao Huizhong’s eyebrows shot up.

Seems like it was really bad then! 

“A-Song, since A-Feng asked for lenience, I’m only assigning you to write 50 copies of the Sect rules. As for you, A-Wei, since you know what you said was wrong, go run a hundred laps-” 

Before Yao Huizhong could finish dealing out his punishment, Feng Wenling cut him off.

“Wait, Shizun! I believe Wei Shidi was subconsciously influenced by some idle rumors from the outer disciples and only spoke out of turn due to some internal injury. I ask for you to be lenient and to please examine him!”

“But Shijie-“ Song Qingge could help but protest a little. Wei Yaozu had really pissed her off earlier! He deserved to run a hundred laps!

“Song Shimei, we already discussed this. Right now, the priority is to treat Wei Shidi’s illness.” 

Yao Huizhong’s brows furrowed at her words.

“A-Feng, why do you think he was affected by an illness?”

“Shizun, I’m not completely certain as I was not able to take his pulse, but before you arrived Wei Shidi suddenly lost consciousness, and when he woke up, he was quite …temperamental. Please take a look at him!”

Wei Yaozu’s face began to itch due to her words.

Who’s temperamental!? How dare this b*tch slander me in front of Shixiong!

Yao Huizhong’s face filled with concern and he quickly pushed the matter of punishment to the side. He moved to Wei Yaozu’s eyes and deftly grabbed his wrist to take his pulse, leaving the temperamental young man no room to protest.

The three other disciples watched in silence as their Master’s face slowly darkened.

Luo Jie was the first to speak up.

“Shizun, is there really something wrong with Wei Shidi?”

Yao Huizhong stood and turned to face his disciples, who were all waiting for an answer with bated breath.

“It seems that A-Feng’s suspicions were correct, A-Wei does indeed have an internal injury.”

Song Qingge, Feng Wenling, and Luo Jie all looked at their Junior Brother with faces mixed with shock and concern, but Wei Yaozu himself was the one who felt the most shocked.

When he had entered the Fenhui Sect in his past life, he had been in perfect health! How could he suddenly have an internal injury?!

Song Qingge was thinking along the same lines. The original novel never mentioned that Wei Yaozu had any sort of injury when he joined.

Could it be…

The Song Qingge and Wei Yaozu’s eyes met as they simultaneously reached the same conclusion:

This injury must have been carried over from Wei Yaozu’s past life!

As their minds raced, Yao Huizhong continued his explanation.

“The injury is located in his middle dantian, right in his heart. Usually an injury like this would completely cripple someone’s cultivation, but A-Wei seems to be progressing just fine. He only just joined the Sect and has already managed to reach the first stage of Qi Gathering.”

Luo Jie felt a rush of relief after hearing this.

“So it won’t affect Wei Shidi’s cultivation? That’s wonderful!”

But despite this seemingly good news, Yao Huizhong shook his head sadly.

“A-Luo, while A-Wei’s injury doesn’t seem to be preventing him from absorbing Qi, it looks like it’s affecting the way it flows through his body, which is causing his emotions to become erratic.”

Yao Huizhong turned to face Wei Yaozu directly, and his eyes were full of pity.

“I’m sorry, A-Wei, but if we can’t find a way to cure this injury, there’s a high probability that you will fall into Qi deviation before you can reach Golden Core Stage.”

Silence fell over the bamboo grove as all the residents of Zhuzi Peak processed the grim reality of Wei Yaozu’s situation. 

Once someone steps onto the path to immortality, gain extraordinary power and are blessed with long lifespans. But even the highest ranked cultivators must always continuously work towards advancement, because if they are unable to advance to the next realm, their lifespan will no longer increase, and they will eventually succumb to old age and die.

Reaching the Golden Core stage is often considered the first true step onto the path of immortality, as reaching this stage completely reforms the body, and cultivators no longer need to eat, sleep, or even use the bathroom. They no longer are chained down by these ‘mortal’ needs and can fully devote themselves to cultivation. There is also a huge increase in their natural lifespan, even an early stage Golden Core cultivators could live for well over a thousand years.

Many of those who set out on the path of cultivation ultimately fail to reach this stage and meet their end in the foundation establishment stage at around 150 years old. While mortals might consider this a long life, in the eyes of cultivators who can live for multiple millenia, a century and a half is practically nothing.

But the disciples of Zhuzi peak hardly had to worry about meeting such a fate, they were all Yao Huizhong’s direct disciples, a respected elder in the Fenhui Sect. Unlike the Sect’s outer disciples, who had to fight amongst themselves for limited resources and live in cramped dormitories, they were all given their own quarters and the very best resources spiritual stones could buy. They also received personalized cultivation plans and advice from Yao Huizhong, and their lives were truly enviable.

As long as none of them met with disaster, reaching the Golden Core stage was very achievable. 

But now disaster had arrived. If Wei Yaozu’s injury couldn’t be healed, at best they would all have to watch him slowly grow old and die, and at worst, he could fall into Qi deviation before he even had the chance to grow old.

But that was if his injury couldn’t be healed.

Song Qingge knew from her time reading novels that there was always something that could be done to heal the protagonist’s or his party members' wounds. Even though she had fought with Wei Yaozu, she didn’t want him to meet such a pitiful end.

After all, he was the only person in this world who knew that she wasn’t the real Song Qingge and they were both part of the LGBTQ+ community. For Song Qingge, this was more than enough reason to help him out.

Determined to find a solution, Song Qingge finally broke the silence.

“Shizun, is there any way to heal Wei Shidi’s injury?”

Extra:

Yao Huizhong: I love all my Disciples equally!

Luo Jie: …Shizun, everyone knows that’s not true…

Yao Huizhong: Stinky boy! Don’t contradict your Shizun! Go run 100 laps! 

Feng Wenling: Shizun, don’t get angry. Have some tea. Shixiong didn't really mean it.

Yao Huizhong: Ah, A-Feng is right. I’ll let you off the hook for now. A-Luo, go and  tell A-Song to come join us for tea.

Luo Jie: … Thank you, Shizun, for showing leniency…I'll let Shimei know...