After Becoming a High-Risk Master, I Flipped the Script Chapter 86

Jingzhan’s heart surged with raging waves, but in the end all he could manage was a muted, “Brother… actually… women are pretty good.”

Xie Qingrong, lost in thought, suddenly heard this out-of-the-blue remark. “Huh? What did you say?”

When it came to feelings, Jingzhan was always decisive. He felt this had to be made clear, so he spoke with utmost seriousness: “Qingrong, some feelings—if they’re not right, you shouldn’t continue. Even if… even if you insist on liking men, it can’t be me. I truly see you as a brother. I can’t do it. Yes, I know I’m outstanding, and it’s understandable you’d feel that way. But good brothers are for life—other kinds of feelings might not last.”

Xie Qingrong was silent for a while, then with some incredulity said: “So you’re trying to say… I like you, but you can’t accept me. Is that what you think?”

Jingzhan looked like a man ready to face death: “What do I think? I only know that my brotherhood toward you will never change. As for your love…”

When Mo Xuanli came back carrying the refreshments, he saw that Xie Qingrong, who had originally been sitting in Jingzhan’s arms, was now sitting alone off to the side, while Jingzhan crouched on the ground plucking at grass, one hand covering an eye, looking dejected.

“What happened?” Mo Xuanli asked.

Jingzhan peeked out from between his fingers, his face full of gloom, the eye that was showing throwing a reproachful little glare at Mo Xuanli.

Mo Xuanli was baffled. “Your eye…”

“It’s nothing, just got sand in it.” Jingzhan shot Xie Qingrong a resentful glance.

Mo Xuanli frowned slightly, too lazy to bother, and leapt back up onto the roof.

On the roof, Gu Baiqing was sitting on the ridge beam holding Three Bean. When Mo Xuanli landed, he set down a small tea table and arranged the refreshments. The scene looked less like they were keeping watch and more like they were enjoying the rooftop view.

“Master, I’m sorry. These past days, I’ve troubled you.”

“There you go again—don’t bring it up,” Gu Baiqing muttered inwardly, really not wanting to recall anything.

“Not calling you ‘Master’ makes my heart uneasy.” Mo Xuanli spoke slowly. “Also… thank you for the things you bought me. I like them all.”

“I was just coaxing a child.” Gu Baiqing, embarrassed, even found grooming Three Bean’s fur awkward.

Mo Xuanli’s smile curved his brows and eyes, but suddenly he recalled the moment earlier that day, when he’d rushed away from the lake to find his master. The smile faded halfway.

He had overheard them discussing the demon race. The moment he was about to step forward, his legs drew back. He had been reckless. That feeling—like being doused with a bucket of cold water—still made his chest chill even now when he thought of it.

Especially those few words from Xie Qingrong—even though they hadn’t been spoken by his master, they pressed against his throat like a blade.

“Master, after the sect mission ends, I want to continue traveling. I won’t return to Zixiao Sect for the time being,” Mo Xuanli suddenly said.

Gu Baiqing was startled, looking at him with some confusion.

Mo Xuanli looked at him seriously: “This disciple wants to seek out the remaining fragments of the Godslayer Sword.”

Mo Xuanli’s heart pounded wildly. He’d finally said it—this outrageous, far-fetched idea—he’d finally spoken it to his master.

It took Gu Baiqing a moment to process what Mo Xuanli meant. He was utterly puzzled. In the original text, Mo Xuanli obtained a fragment of the Godslayer Sword by coincidence, and later collected more only to keep them from falling into enemy hands and causing trouble. But by the story’s end, the eight fragments had never been fully assembled, so there had never been a completed Godslayer Sword. To Mo Xuanli, the sword itself shouldn’t have held much meaning.

Why, then, was he suddenly determined to gather the fragments?

“Why?” Gu Baiqing asked directly.

Naturally, Mo Xuanli couldn’t reveal the truth about his body. He only said: “This disciple… has a chronic ailment. I need the Godslayer Sword to cure it. I once thought I would never be able to find it in this life, but now…”

A chronic ailment? How could Mo Xuanli have one? He was the strongest half-immortal, half-demon.

And the Godslayer Sword could cure it? Where had that setting come from?

Gu Baiqing’s mind raced, then suddenly a light went on—Mo Xuanli had always minded his bloodline, always wanted to free himself from the taint of demon blood, which was why he devoted himself to the Dao. In the original text, it had only been by a twist of fate that he’d fallen to demonhood, succumbing to his nature. But now, raised under his care, Mo Xuanli’s nature resisted turning demonic. Of course he would still want to rid himself of the hidden dangers in his blood.

The old man’s seal would only grow weaker. Mo Xuanli must want another way to keep his identity safe. Could it be he’d figured it out?

The Godslayer Sword was a divine blade, containing immense divine power—an unfathomable force even to the cultivation world. If anything could work a miracle, it was that.

So the Godslayer Sword could truly help him? “Curing his ailment” meant completely altering his bloodline?

Gu Baiqing had to admit—this time his guess was very likely on target.

“…Master, I…” Not hearing a reply for so long, Mo Xuanli began to worry that Gu Baiqing didn’t believe him. After all, it would be easy enough for his master to call him back to see Third Senior Aunt, and his supposed “ailment” would be exposed immediately.

“Are you sure of your judgment? That the Godslayer Sword can truly help you?” Gu Baiqing asked.

Mo Xuanli froze, then immediately nodded hard. “Yes. It can definitely help me. I… I must find it. Only with the Godslayer Sword can I be worthy of starting my life anew.”

“Eight fragments. You already have one. It doesn’t sound impossible.” Gu Baiqing’s lips curved slightly. “All right, I understand. Go ahead without worry.”

Mo Xuanli was stunned. He had thought he would need to pile up excuses to persuade his master. But just a word of confirmation, and his master accepted his plan.

“Master, you believe me?” Mo Xuanli asked dazedly.

Gu Baiqing: “Why wouldn’t I? You’re certain, aren’t you? But… I may have to go with you.”

Mo Xuanli’s eyes flickered.

Gu Baiqing murmured: “You’re my disciple. If you’re ill, as your master I can’t just sit back. And regarding the Godslayer Sword, I know more than you.”

Helping Mo Xuanli overcome his demon bloodline—that was the perfect way to guarantee the mission. It was like having a cheat code, wiping his demonic corruption value back to zero and locking it there forever. Such a treasure was something he absolutely had to obtain.

What’s more, since the system prohibited Mo Xuanli’s demonic transformation, the original demonization plotline clearly wouldn’t proceed. Instead, the story would be about focused cultivation under his guidance. Naturally, he had to stay by his disciple’s side and keep “clocking in” tasks. If so, then of course he had to go along.

Granted, living together day and night carried a certain risk of slipping into “master-disciple romance” tropes. But compared to the benefits, Gu Baiqing felt he could endure it. He already had experience resisting strange narrative pitfalls—surely he could maintain the proper master-disciple relationship.

Lost in thought, he didn’t realize Mo Xuanli hadn’t answered. Frowning, Gu Baiqing looked over. “What is it? You’re unwilling? Don’t tell me it’s that spiritual power excuse again—or is it that this disciple of mine wants to go off alone and doesn’t want a parent tagging along?”

“No, I very much want to.” For the first time, Mo Xuanli gave a serious reply: “As long as it doesn’t delay Master’s proper business, I’d be very glad for Master to accompany me. And along the way, we can also search for other methods to treat Master’s spiritual power problem.”

That really did sound like two patients traveling together.

Gu Baiqing nodded. For now, this matter was settled.

Mo Xuanli looked at Gu Baiqing, his heart warmed.

Just as they finished speaking, sounds of heated arguing once again rose from the hall downstairs—it was still about Hua En and Wen Jiang.

From bits and pieces of the quarrel, one could tell Hua En and Wen Jiang had once been good friends. They had studied together for years. Later, Hua En’s family declined, his household became complicated, and he had no one to rely on. During academy breaks, Wen Jiang often invited him home as a guest. The Wen family was respectable and full of talented scholars, so helping Hua En a little was nothing unusual. But who would have thought it would lead to disaster.

Lu Sulan seemed unable to bear hearing it any longer. Supported by Wu Hongxi, she left the hall.

Mo Xuanli suddenly spoke: “Master, if Hua En appears next, don’t make a move—stay above.” Afraid Gu Baiqing might misunderstand, he explained further: “There may be a second person. I don’t know if he’ll appear, but Master, please help us keep watch.”

“How are you so sure?” Gu Baiqing actually had no real certainty in his heart.

“I’m sure. And I’m also sure Xie Qingrong is hiding something from us, so Master mustn’t trust him too much,” Mo Xuanli said suddenly.

Gu Baiqing’s eyes widened in realization. “No wonder your attitude toward Xie Qingrong has been strange. But Xie Qingrong has good character, he shouldn’t do anything bad—unless… he’s being controlled?”

“That jade figure is indeed his split soul. He isn’t being controlled. But whether he lost his memory, whether he recovered it, how much he lost—those are all in question. Anyway, he definitely hasn’t told us the whole truth. Even if he doesn’t mean us harm, not fully disclosing the situation still brings us danger, doesn’t it?”

Gu Baiqing thought it over. “Are you certain?”

Mo Xuanli laid things out point by point: “I’ve noticed several suspicious points, and some of them concern Xie Qingrong. Master, listen and judge for yourself.

“First, Xie Qingrong’s true body. Since the enemy didn’t kill him, why not use him? At the very least, he could have been used to threaten us. After all, even Senior Brother Zhu was used against us. Unless Xie Qingrong’s true body isn’t at Hua En’s side—then where is it? And when Hua En saw Xie Qingrong directing us to break the array, his reaction wasn’t especially strong.”

Gu Baiqing thought about it. The logic really did make sense.

“Second, the Immortal statue. Why was it carved in Xie Qingrong’s likeness? The sculptor could not possibly have been unrelated to him. Even we, or most people in the cultivation world, have only ever seen Xie Qingrong with his eyes covered. Almost no one has seen his full face. How could someone carve it so precisely? And the timing of the statue’s appearance was too coincidental. There’s no way it’s unrelated to this incident.”

This point hadn’t been mentioned in the original text at all—not even that the statue was of Xie Qingrong.

“Third, who taught Hua En so much? In just half a year, he went from an ordinary man to a puppet master. Even a genius couldn’t learn that fast on his own. Yet in only three or four months, he could already handle Senior Brother Zhu and Xie Qingrong.”

Listening, Gu Baiqing felt as if a veil had been lifted. It wasn’t that he hadn’t had doubts, or suspicions, but too many messy clues jumbled together—and influenced by the original story, he hadn’t been able to see the tangled fog of doubts clearly.

Now, after Mo Xuanli’s explanation, things became much clearer.

Mo Xuanli continued, looking toward the room: “And the most important point: if Hua En was truly the puppet master behind everything, since he could control Xie Qingrong and Senior Brother Zhu, why couldn’t he even make a single ordinary corpse into a puppet?”

Gu Baiqing was stunned and countered: “But didn’t we see Hua En controlling corpses, and even controlling Wen Jiang?”

“That’s not the same. Those were just ordinary object-control or soul-control techniques. The end result was only manipulating unconscious corpses—basic puppet skills. Last time, Xie Qingrong explained to us about corpse control. Master still remembers, right?”

“Mm, I remember. Corpse control means digging out a soul that hasn’t yet left the body right after death—such a corpse still has awareness and can act on its own. As long as the soul doesn’t disperse, it’s eternally undying,” Gu Baiqing recalled.

“I previously examined Wen Jiang’s body. It had spiritual power fluctuations, clearly unlike those dead things. And although he’d been dead half a year, after the control threads were removed, he still didn’t decay. That proves someone had been constantly nourishing him with spiritual power. Only when that power dissipates will the body rot. I think there’s only one explanation: the puppet master was preparing him for corpse control.”

“Corpse control takes time. To succeed, the body must be kept in a just-dead state until completion. And in terms of difficulty, turning an ordinary person into a corpse puppet should definitely be easier than controlling a living cultivator.”

Gu Baiqing instantly understood. “So that’s why you said—if he could control Xie Qingrong and Zhu Jian, then how could it take six months and still fail to make Wen Jiang into a corpse puppet?”

“Exactly. Hua En killed Wen Jiang, nourished him with spiritual power, waiting to make him into a corpse puppet—so Wen Jiang could live again in another form, forever controlled, forever by his side.” Mo Xuanli concluded: “So in terms of ability, Hua En cannot be the one who controlled Senior Brother Zhu and Xie Qingrong. That person must be the one who taught Hua En—or else, the one controlling Hua En. After all, we don’t even know if Hua En is alive or dead now.”

At that, Gu Baiqing felt his hair stand on end. “So… Hua En might already be dead, and what we’ve seen is a corpse puppet controlled from behind the scenes.”

“Exactly—a subordinate,” Mo Xuanli said slowly. “Hua En learned puppet arts from his controller, and wanted to make Wen Jiang into the same thing. That’s the only way today’s situation could arise. And I believe Xie Qingrong knows all of this, and is deeply connected with that hidden person. Only after losing the battle did he split off a soul to ask for help.”

“Then why doesn’t he just tell the truth? If it’s someone he fought against, we could help him,” Gu Baiqing said.

“Maybe… he just doesn’t want anyone else interfering.” Mo Xuanli had also confirmed a few things from the earlier talk in the alley about what to do if someone close to you became demonized.

He thought that the person behind it all was not only someone Xie Qingrong knew well, but possibly someone who had already fallen into demonic ways. Only a puppet master who had succumbed to demonic influence would have such strength—that was the only way Xie Qingrong’s actions could make sense.

“Wait a second.” Suddenly Gu Baiqing cried out.

“What is it?”

“If it’s corpse control… then does Wen Jiang now count as…”

Gu Baiqing didn’t know how to phrase it. If Hua En had truly managed corpse control, then Wen Jiang would, in a sense, still be alive. But such a thing went against the Heavenly Dao, it felt eerie and unnatural. Yet they had snatched the body back, let it be burned, and ruined the corpse control. Wouldn’t that count as… another kind of killing?

Gu Baiqing was tangled in the logic, not even sure how to explain what weighed on his mind to Mo Xuanli.

But Mo Xuanli seemed to see straight into Gu Baiqing’s heart, and before he needed to say much, he spoke: “Master needn’t worry. In truth, Wen Jiang’s soul had long since departed.”

Gu Baiqing looked at Mo Xuanli in confusion.

Mo Xuanli explained: “When I studied the medical path, I learned that once a person dies, spiritual power alone cannot hold the soul. According to corpse control principles, if you don’t complete the control very shortly after death, the soul will disperse and cannot be retained. So when Wen Jiang was killed, he was already gone. As for Hua En, a half-baked learner, he was probably misled—thinking he could use spiritual power to hold a soul, make it into corpse control like himself. He thought his failure was just because his cultivation was lacking and he could try slowly. But in fact, it was fundamentally impossible.”

“So it was that person who tricked him.” Gu Baiqing slowly came to understand. “They wanted to keep using Hua En. Because if Hua En knew Wen Jiang could never come back, then his obsession would be gone.”

Gu Baiqing dared not think further, feeling the truth behind it all might be unbearably cruel.

Daylight quietly faded, and as night fell, the scene described in the original text finally arrived—the massive tide of puppets appeared. Clearly, Hua En was dead set on barging through to take Wen Jiang away. Even though everyone here was stronger than him, he would pay any price. Because he could wait no longer—if he delayed any further, the corpse control would fail.

In the original, the puppet master attacked, the master and disciple captured him, and forced him to explain how to save people. But the puppet master deceived them, saying that as long as one did not control their heart, the spell would naturally lift. He preyed on human weakness—because no one could truly do that. In the end, while the master and disciple sought ways to save people, the puppet master killed himself.

Back then, reading the original, it seemed the puppet master took his own life because he had no escape. But thinking now, it was because Hua En realized Wen Jiang could not be retrieved—he had already been cremated. His obsession was gone, and the one behind him had also abandoned him. Naturally, his life ended there.

But here, the battle was only beginning. Hua En controlled many living people. Clearly, from the previous fights, he had learned that these cultivators couldn’t bear to harm the innocent, so they would be tied down.

But Hua En wasn’t the only one who had learned a lesson. The Wen estate had long since set up formations against puppets, trapping them in small barriers, like prey caught in a hunter’s trap, unable to move.

Even though the enemy used sheer numbers, letting some puppets climb over others’ bodies into the main hall, such intrusions weren’t a serious threat.

Yet Hua En wasn’t stupid. He adjusted tactics on the spot, ruthlessly turning his puppets to attack other ordinary people. If not for Mo Xuanli’s foresight in placing talisman papers on those people beforehand—papers that would activate at the first strike—the Wen family would have suffered heavy injuries. As it was, once they dodged the first blow, Mo Xuanli and Jingzhan could react in time to save them.

Meanwhile, Hua En had slipped into the hall amidst the chaos, approaching the coffin. He looked long and hard at Wen Jiang. Seeing corpse spots already appearing on Wen Jiang’s face, Hua En’s already ashen expression grew even uglier.

“Want release? Impossible!” Hua En snarled, reaching to lift Wen Jiang’s corpse.

“Let go!” At that moment, Wu Hongxi and Lu Sulan also rushed into the hall. Seeing Hua En, they moved to block him. But to Hua En, ordinary folk didn’t even count. He raised his hand, about to use the puppet-controlling bracelet to seize Wen Jiang, when suddenly a dagger crackling with lightning flew over and severed the bracelet from his wrist.

The bracelet hit the ground—and in that instant, all the puppets stopped moving. It turned out Hua En’s puppet arts really were just at the beginner level. Without the bracelet, he couldn’t control them at all.

Hua En tried to flee. But this time, he wasn’t so lucky—Mo Xuanli seized him directly.

Just like in the original text, they easily captured the puppet master.