There is no Redemption for A Scum Villain

Chapter 51

Liu Mingyan was very meticulous when it came to fulfilling missions placed on her. Even now she didn't pull a face even when she was alone in her room, packing up clothes for the travel. It was her duty to obey her shizun, so she would not say a word in opposition or even think in that direction.

Qi Qingqi personally accompanied her down the mountain, selecting her very own horse for Liu Mingyan to take as she went off. It was a female horse, limbs slender yet strong, with fur that shone like fresh snow after a cold winter night and hooves that looked like they were made from the finest silver as they reflected the light of the early morning sun.

The horse was prideful like its owner, but seeing Liu Mingyan it even bowed down a little to let the youth climb up, like she felt her worthy enough to sit on her. Liu Mingyan on this horse looked like she had already obtained the status of an immortal or maybe already an ascended goddess that had come down from the heavens, humbling herself to meet the common people.

Qi Qingqi was extremely proud. This was just the image that she wanted her peak to shine out. Strong, beautiful, prideful and untouchable. She had a good feeling as she sent off this youth, knowing that she would return alive and well, helping their sect into new and even more prosperous times.

The journey to the borders took just about a week, which is why Liu Mingyan had had a rather tight time schedule. Qi Qingqi had insisted that before she went they ought to hold her sword drawing ceremony, so she wouldn't have to go with her simple training sword. Her teacher had assured her that she had thought of holding it for a while now, but Liu Mingyan had doubts.

If Qi Qingqi had not mentioned it to her before, she surely had actually not planned on doing it this early. Was she even ready? Liu Mingyan looked down at her sword, Shui Se, which sat in its scabbard by her waist. Then again… Would this sword have chosen her if she was not ready?

Liu Mingyan shook her head, trying to get these thoughts out of her head. What did it use to doubt at such a moment? The sword was already hers and she couldn't give it back until the day she was laid to her ancestors.

For now she focused on thinking about how to progress with her mission. She would have to keep Sha Hualing's identity a secret while touring her around the human realm. With Sha Hualing's eccentric behaviors that would probably end up being more of a challenge. At least Liu Mingyan had been given a sigil by Yue Qingyuan that permitted her to politely tell other cultivators not to interfere with her business since it was official Cang Qiong Mountain sect business.

Most people were not bold enough to seek out drama with their sect, giving her at least some peace of mind. But if the matter were to be discovered that Cang Qiong Mountain officially gave her the mission to guard a demon saintress, that would be a whole different story. She could only shield Sha Hualing from being questioned, but once anything else got out, she would have no other choice but to take the sole blame. She would not drag her sect into this, no matter what. Even if the order had come straight from the head of the sect.

When she had first entered the sect, Liu Mingyan would never have thought that she would ever end up defending a demon. Even a week ago she wouldn't have. Her family was made up of lords and cultivators. Since her childhood she had been taught that to uphold justice, one had to cleanse the human realm from the demonic race and now she was going against that very principle.

A couple months ago she would have stood firmly against this, siding with the beliefs of her family, but she had already been proven once that her family also made mistakes, no matter how high they held themselves. Subconsciously Liu Mingyan rubbed over her cheeks and chin.

Some things were just wrong, no matter how strongly some people believed in it. Some people had to be shown that first by people who were wiser than them. Liu Mingyan held both Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu in high regards. They had stepped in to defend her rights and those of her shimeis and shijies. She was more than ready to repay them for it, no matter if it cost her her own honor.