Seeing that it was likely the same fox cub Li Meirong spoke of, the cultivators menacingly circled around both the cub and the girl, blocking any possible escape route. Li Meirong might be a demonic cultivator, but they had power in numbers. Not to mention all the sect's Grandmasters were at the Nascent Soul stage of their cultivation, far higher than the girl's level. The succeeding disciples were full of confidence as they grabbed their weapons, ready to battle against evil.
Captain Liang swung her bullwhip in the air, aiming to strike, when suddenly it flew out of her hand, tossed harmlessly aside by some hidden force. She immediately spun around to find Zhu Zhang had used a streak of force on her. It was he who had deflected the whip.
The Grandmaster's eyes were widened in utter shock. He couldn't spare his disoriented student so much as a glance, for he was utterly entranced with the sight of the white fox perched atop a heap of crumbled tiles.
Liang Rou Yan's eyes burned with tears threatening to be shed. Her Grandmaster had just flung her weapon aside. Why would he do that to her? Was he truly intending to protect that wretched girl?!
Her heart tightened in her chest. It was happening all over again. Just like all those years ago, when he'd neglected her for the sake of another…
Liang Rou Yan had been carefully selected by Grandmaster Zhu Zhang to be his succeeding disciple, after having proven herself worthy by winning countless tournaments and promoting the sect's prestige throughout the continent. She was given the highest level of privilege under one of the most righteous cultivators known across the land, the Bestiary Division's Grandmaster.
Even then, she never stopped practising and pushing the limits of her body's potential, all in hopes of receiving even the slightest shred of acknowledgement from her detached and aloof master.
A small part of her knew her efforts were probably futile. The Grandmaster never showed any affection, or indeed almost any emotion at all, to anyone. It was as if he always looked through people, seeing no one. Still, she yearned to be the one to break through the carefully crafted armour, to see and feel what she was certain was a truly great and wonderful man underneath.
However, the only attention he had ever graced her with was on the night she had offered him the ceremonial drink of acceptance between teacher and disciple. She could still recall his stunning features illuminated by the flickering candlelight. His eyes gleamed with what she hoped was pride and affection, a faint smile on his lips, and for a moment she felt as if he really saw her.
They exchanged pleasantries, he bestowed upon her a gift collection of priceless cultivation scrolls, and almost immediately retreated to his private chambers, leaving her standing alone in the entrance hall. It was years before she saw him again.
That one brief moment of direct interaction was enough to fuel Liang Rou Yan's desire with an undying flame for her master. She was convinced that if she was able to elicit such a breathtaking smile from him once, surely she would be able to do so again. To her, Zhu Zhang was beautiful and mysterious in the way only a true immortal could be. Unfathomable, elusive, and yet also charming and noble. The ideal man. And she knew that she would someday be the one to reach him, even if it took her many lifetimes over.
Grandmaster Zhu Zhang frequently left the sect on lengthy journeys, no one knew where to or for what, ever searching for something, or someone. He never confided in anyone what it was he desired, but Captain Liang was under the impression he desperately sought after something truly special, perhaps even he didn't know exactly what.
If only he could see the answer standing right in front of him…
She wouldn't give up, however, and cherished every moment she was able to see her master, even from a distance. To watch him meditate peacefully under the sun, and appreciate everything he was to her in secrecy, for it did not do to approach him herself with her desires. He must be the one to initiate.
Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. One fateful day, roughly fifty lunar years later, everything changed. She remembered it as clearly as if it were yesterday. On the new disciple's acceptance ceremony, a damned furnace had made its way into the sect….
Traditionally, the sect's grandmasters granted audience to all the newly arriving disciples, hearing of their attributes and accepting into their division anyone who seemed fitting. Zhu Zhang had never shown any interest in anyone, though. At times she even wondered whether he was only pretending to be present while he meditated with his eyes open.
But as the event progressed, a young boy arrived. He lacked any manner of accomplishment or status. He came from a peasant family, that much was obvious from the tattered clothes hanging off his boney figure. He was wounded and out of breath, having only barely made it out of the 3 day trial in the Wild Lands in time for the ceremony.
Miraculously, the wretched creature possessed a single lightning vein. With such a relatively unique attribute, the youth's potential in the cultivation realm was sure to be boundless. His fortune would change instantly from rags to riches. Liang Rou Yan was not yet aware of his other… quality.
The moment the boy called Liu Wei entered the ceremonial hall, Zhu Zhang's eyes locked on him, catching a glimmer that had never been there before. The grandmaster was hypnotized, unable to look away. This was also the moment in which Liang Rou Yan's heart shattered into a million pieces when she was forced to experience, for the first time, heartbreak.
Zhu Zhang immediately declared Liu Wei secondary direct disciple for his division, before anyone else could claim him. His deep, obsidian eyes were filled to the brim with passion and wonderment. He saw no one else in the world but him. Terrible bitterness welled up within Captain Liang as this... this speck of dust received everything she had ever wanted. Everything she had shed blood, sweat and tears for, given to the boy for nothing more than barely deigning to show up.
Her master took the boy in, even allowed him to live by his side in his mansion, providing him with everything he could ever possibly desire, and more.
Still, Liang Rou Yan remained faithful and loyal to her division. And when Liu Wei was tasked with a field expedition, as senior sister under the same Grandmaster, she took up her obligation to accompany him. It was then that she discovered, by chance, the secret. The boy wasn't remarkable solely for his lightening vein, but also for possessing a highly uncommon physical attribute that deemed him a furnace, otherwise known as a human cauldron. He was capable of strengthening a cultivator's vital energy through vulgar practices.
As noteworthy as this was, she didn't see how it could matter to their master. Males could not possibly copulate with each other. Or so she thought.
Liang Rou Yan kept a close watch on Liu Wei from that day onward, under the pretense of a dedicated senior. He grew into a handsome youth, and quite skilled at his tasks. Years passed without any incident, and she tried to set her worries aside concerning the relationship between him and Zhu Zhang. Her master would not possibly stoop to commit such vulgar, sexual activities with a student no matter what he was, she told herself.
It was a lightning struck, stormy night when Liang Rou Yan's entire world view was shocked to its core. She ran to Grandmaster Zhu Zhang's residence, seeking guidance on how to control the unsettled beasts running amok in fright from the thunder. She dashed through the entryway, frantically searching the rooms for him, when she was brought to a halt right outside her master's bedroom chamber.
The double doors stood partially ajar. The light was faint, too faint to make anything out beyond a vague silhouette, but when lightning struck outside the entire room lit up, enough for her to see the two masculine figures entwined together in a passionate embrace upon the massive, luxurious bed.
She ran away again before anyone could spot her spying on them. She could scarcely believe what she'd seen. Her beloved master, most righteous in the land, corrupted by a devious, disgusting furnace!
After witnessing that scene, Liang Rou Yan vowed never to allow anyone to taint her precious master again. She would stop at nothing to ensure his purity, willing to shoulder any sin, whatever it would take.
The next morning she summoned Liu Wei to join her for a morning ride on her loyal Tiger Spirit mount, travelling across the ocean to a secluded island, far away from prying eyes. There, she attacked the naive, unsuspecting youth, in a surge of unrestrained madness. She bound him to the ground with crippling talismans latched onto both his wrists and ankles. He lay completely immobilized at her mercy, except for a violent tremble running through his body, as she tore away all of his clothes and mounted him.
Deaf to his cries and blind to his anguish, she violated him again and again, using him up to the very last drop of his inner energy, until there was nothing left. In a fit of mad rage, she had completely drained Liu Wei's life force, absorbing it as her own.
Liang Rou Yan rose from the lifeless body, sparing it one last hateful look before permitting her Tiger Spirit to tear it to shreds and devour the remains, thus eliminating all evidence of the incident.
When she returned to the sect to report Liu Wei's unfortunate death, she invented a story. Explaining how they had been ambushed by demonic cultivators who, when they discovered Liu Wei's special physical attribute, had used his body until his last breath. She pretended remorse over being unable to stop them, telling how greatly outnumbered they had been and therefore how lucky she was to even escape with her life.
Upon receiving the news, Grandmaster Zhu Zhang was overwhelmed with despair. His eyes became vacant and joyless once more. He looked as though part of his soul had died.
Liang Rou Yan watched her master sink into his sorrow, and lock himself away in his private chambers in closed cultivation. The dutiful disciple moved into her master's pagoda, and took it upon herself to watch over and care for him during his time of need.
Grief was temporary, she told herself, and she would be there when he recovered.