Rebirth Of A Villainess

To him she was a dear junior disciple that was supposedly loved by everyone, no matter how much he played the scene at which he found her, he couldn"t find traces of what led to her death. She was found lying on the ground cold and lifeless by one of the male disciples who was paroling the grounds. He recalled a time when he once came out one night out of his room to take a stroll and there, he found her walking without a care in the world.

"Junior sister Xu Hui!"

Lin Cheng saw the female disciple in purple robes whirl around lightly on her toes, her eyes widened in surprise when she saw who it was that was also walking on the sect"s ground at night.

"Brother Lin Cheng! What are you doing here at night?!"

Lin Cheng smiled kindly at his junior sister disciple, whom he knew was sneaking out to play at night, despite being caught by another disciple.

"I should be asking you too, what is an unmarried maiden walking almost in the dead of the night? Have you considered you could ruin your reputation if it goes out to other sects that one of the female disciples at BaoXu sect goes out at night unaccompanied?"

The pretty youthful female disciple looked ashamed, as her face took on a pink tinge from being exposed by a fellow disciple from her sect. It was one of this times she really wished she was born a male and not the female she was, although Xu Hui knew the BaoXu sect was very strict about male and female being in the company of each other for a long time, yet she felt at ease in the presence of Lin Cheng, he had an air of benevolence and warmth not just when he was with her, but also with other disciples. His sword kills was second to those of their sect leader, which made him very respected by the disciples of BaoXu Sect.

"Brother Lin Cheng, please do not let it reach the ears of Sect leader Xu, I promise not to go out at night again."

Lin Cheng watched as the delicate beauty bowed to her waist, pleading with her fellow disciple not to inform their sect leader of her impropriety, knowing the punishment for break a sect rule was to knee in the ancestral hall for five days straight with no food or water served during those time.

"You promise not to walk alone from now on?"

"Yes Brother Lin Cheng, I give you my solemn word that I would not go out at night anymore, as long as you don"t tell sect leader of my indiscretion."

"Alright! Junior sister Xu Hui you can raise your head up, let me walk you back."

"Okay Brother Lin Cheng."

The two cultivators from the BaoXu sect begun heading back in the direction of the lodging reserved for female cultivators, when Lin Cheng saw they had gotten close to the place, he stopped to bid his fellow disciple farewell.

"This is where I leave you, since I can"t go any further. I"ll watch from here to see that you have safely gone inside."

"Thank you Brother Lin Cheng, I bid you farewell!"

"I bid you the same Junior sister disciple."

Lin Cheng and Xu Hui gave each other a salute, before parting ways, while the senior disciple watched as his junior sister disciple waved for one last time, before heading to the purple wooden lodging. The male cultivators were strictly prohibited from venturing towards where the female cultivators resided, this was to maintain the dignity and morality of the sect.

The image from the last time he saw her alive sent the cultivator into a sea of sorrow. He had only gone out for several days on a mission at dawn to a neighboring sect the ZaoQiang sect and returned late at night on the day she died. All the senior disciples including him were called as witness to her death, as everyone stood in a circle with their sect leader standing at the center where the body of his junior sister disciple was found.

"Sect leader! We need to find out how junior sister disciple Xu died! If not her spirit would know no peace!"

"Yes! We need to find her killer!"

"What are you saying?! That one of the disciples from BaoXu sect killed my second cousin! If word got out that there disciples from the BaoXu sect are now killing one another! How would I ever raise my head up high among other sect leaders! BaoXu sect has fallen in pugilistic rank! Rather than exposing what happened this night! We need to get back to in rank as number 2 even if we can"t be number 1!"

The sect leader of the BaoXu sect never alluded to his relations.h.i.+p with junior disciple Xu Hui, everyone knew they were related since they bore the same family name, because no one in the sect shared the "Xu" family name except those two, it was forbidden to speak about it since, the sect leader never had a child of his own.

"Forgive us Sect leader Xu! We only want retribution for our junior sister disciple, if she died unjustly."

Sect leader Xu gave a cold look at each of the senior disciples gathered, he specially asked that none of the female senior disciples be called to witness the death of their fellow disciple.

"Sect leader Xu, I know moving up in ranks is very important in order to remain command the respect of other sects, isn"t it wrong to leave her death unresolved. How can any of us find peace in our heart knowing that we turned a blind eye in uncovering junior sister disciple Xu Hui"s death?! Wouldn"t the heavens rain down punishment for allowing such an evil act to be swept away?"

Lin Cheng had been quiet all this time, when other disciples spoke in discontent of what the sect leader was doing regarding the death of one of his disciples. Deep within him, Lin Cheng wondered what could have led to her death, he remembered that she promised not to step out at night after he caught her walking very late at night alone.

"Did she break her word?! Or did someone from the sect lure her out to her death?!" That"s right! Feng Yueming! He must know something about junior sister disciple!"

The moment Lin Cheng thought about the other disciple, he turned to face him, "Feng Yueming, you and junior sister disciple Xu have a good relations.h.i.+p with each other, do you know of her tendencies to go out at night?"

Feng Yueming looked at Lin Cheng as he tried not to let his eyes waver from those of the other disciple, it was true he knew of Xu Hui"s nightly walks, but if he said anything regarding that, not only would the others look at him with suspicion, but he would also be punished for breaking the sect rule and possibly ostracized by his fellow disciples until his name was clear of any suspicion.

"Brother Lin Cheng, I do not know what you speak of, Sister Xu was a maiden that conducted herself in a manner befitting a disciple from the BaoXu sect. Please do not stain her honor by saying she steals out of her room at night!"

Feng Yueming spoke with so much vigor while standing up to the disciple that he was being questioned about. When the other disciples heard Lin Cheng question him, their eyes suddenly narrowed in wariness, but after they heard the way Feng Yueming spoke about Xu Hui that was when the wariness in their eyes was replaced with one of a.s.surance.

Lin Cheng for some reason could not bring himself to trust what the other disciple said, probably because his cultivation base and knowledge was higher than those of Feng Yueming, but regardless of the reason, his eyes faltered with deceit. He knew when the other disciples were taken in by his words, but Lin Cheng refused to believe a word that came out of Feng Yueming"s mouth.

The thought kept going through the mind of the senior disciple as to whether he should pursue with uncovering the matter in secret or not, he felt pity for the way she laid on the ground pale and lifeless face down, her hair pin lay precariously atop her head. When Lin Cheng saw this, he left the circle of cultivators and went to where she was, walking by his sect leader as he bent on his knee to straighten the silver hairpin with purple stones on them on the head of Xu Hui.

"Brother Lin Cheng!"

The voices of his fellow disciples called out to him, as they saw how he treated his junior sister disciple with respect even in death. With eyes filled with admiration, they watched him stand on his feet and head back to where they were after he had paid his respect to Xu Hui. This made them fall to their knees too and bow in respect to Xu Hui.

"Junior sister disciple Xu Hui, may your soul find peace!"

The only person that didn"t pay respect to Xu Hui was sect leader Xu Zijun who thought that it was best not to make anything of her death.

"Lin Cheng! After Xu Hui has been buried, I want you to leave for the mortal realm and return only after your inner demons have been put to rest! Use this period to find enlightenment and put to rest your troubled spirit! I fear that you would continue to search for the cause of Xu Hui"s death which would only bring unrest to the BaoXu sect! Leave and only return when your mind and soul is at peace! I will allow you to be present as she is laid to rest, but you must leave immediately after! Your duties will be shared among your brothers until the day you return back to the sect!"

The white haired man who looked as though he was seventy years of age, with long white beards and mustache had a look of severity as he spoke to Lin Cheng. Xu Zijun robes of purple had a sword by its side and a ta.s.sel on the other side. His white hair was regally held in a hair pin of silver that sparkled from the light coming from the paper lamps held by several of the disciples.

When they heard what their sect leader said, their eyes widened in shock, to them that was as good as being exiled from the sect. It wasn"t an heavenly trial, so why was sect leader Xu telling Lin Cheng not to step foot into the BaoXu sect?

Some of the disciples looked in confusion at their sect leader not knowing what to make of the decree. They also turned to face the disciple whom their leader gave the order to leave the sect after the burial of Xu Hui.

"If that is what you wish for sect leader. I, Lin Cheng would leave for the mortal realm and return after gaining new experiences in the mortal realm and overcoming my negative emotions."

Lin Cheng humbly accepted the punishment that his sect leader had handed him in front of the other disciples. This was his way of keeping everyone in line, while maintaining the semblance of peace that he strove for in his sect.