Chapter 12

Chapter 12: He Was Wronged
Lone Moon Peak.

Ye Cong Xin called softly: “First Senior Brother? First Senior Brother?”

Fang Cheng Lang slowly came back to his senses and gave Ye Cong Xin an apologetic smile: “Sorry, Junior Sister, I zoned out just now and did not hear clearly. Can you say that again?”

Ye Cong Xin pouted and stared at the tips of her shoes: “First Senior Brother, do you not want to talk to me?”

Fang Cheng Lang’s voice was gentle as he said: “How could that be?”

Ye Cong Xin muttered under her breath: “Then why has First Senior Brother been so distracted every time he talks to me these days?”

Fang Cheng Lang was left speechless.

Ye Cong Xin kept her head lowered and could not see his expression. When she heard him stay silent for a long time, her fingers could not help grabbing tightly at the hem of her skirt.

Fang Cheng Lang hesitated. His junior sister and Sixth Junior Sister were both young women. Maybe they could help him untie the knot in his heart, so he asked carefully: “Junior Sister, have you felt that your Sixth Senior Sister is a bit different from before?”

Ye Cong Xin lifted an innocent face and shook her head: “Sixth Senior Sister has never liked me, so I, I rarely talk to her. Has something happened?”

She said this with her mouth, but in her heart she was sneering.

When Yu Zhao came out of the Black Prison, she had already acted very strange. Later she even went against her old habits and kept her distance from the five senior brothers.

Yu Zhao’s change was so big, yet Fang Cheng Lang only brought it up today. He was really slow.

Fang Cheng Lang lowered his eyes in disappointment, and a wave of frustration rose in his heart.

Last night, he had rarely not sat down to cultivate. Instead, he kept thinking over the things that had happened recently.

Then he suddenly realized that it seemed he had not seen Little Six smile for a long time.

Little Six used to love to smile. Her eyes would curve like crescent moons, filled with starlight, and just looking at her would make others happy too.

But at some point, the look she showed in front of him had turned into either sadness or exhaustion. Those eyes no longer held any trace of a smile, only heavy worry.

His attitude toward Little Six had also taken a sharp turn for the worse.

When Little Six spoke, he found her noisy.

When Little Six did not speak, he found her dull.

No matter what she did, he could always pick out something to criticize.

But Little Six was the child he had personally raised. He did not want to hurt her.

Fang Cheng Lang faintly realized that his state of mind had been unstable during this time, and the way he acted had been biased. That was why Little Six had grown distant from him.

But deep in his heart he still held a bit of hope. Maybe Little Six was only throwing a tantrum with him, and the two of them would soon make up and return to how they used to be.

The two feelings pulled back and forth inside his chest. His heart was in a mess, and he sighed softly: “I really have not done a good job as First Senior Brother.”

Ye Cong Xin could not stand to hear this and cried out: “First Senior Brother, I will not allow you to say that!”

How could she not hear that Fang Cheng Lang had started to feel guilty toward Yu Zhao? She would never allow Yu Zhao to snatch Fang Cheng Lang back again.

She stood up, her emotions stirred: “First Senior Brother is the best First Senior Brother! Back then, the reason I wanted to acknowledge Master as my teacher, besides admiring Master, was also because of First Senior Brother! I really envy Sixth Senior Sister. I also want a Senior Brother like First Senior Brother to dote on me and protect me… cough, cough…”

Because her emotions rose too sharply, Ye Cong Xin started coughing hard, and an odd red flush rose on her pale face.

Fang Cheng Lang felt both comforted and heartache. He quickly helped her sit down and even poured her some water.

Ye Cong Xin still refused to let it go. With her reddened eyes she insisted that he was not allowed to say such things again, and only after he coaxed her for a long time did she finally stop crying and smile.

A sigh rose in Fang Cheng Lang’s heart.

Little Six blamed him for giving too much of his concern to his junior sister, but she did not know that it was only because this junior sister deserved it.

…

Eight Treasures Pavilion.

The standoff between Yu Zhao and Su Ming was still going on.

The others did not dare to speak. The main hall was deathly silent.

Su Ming’s face was dark as iron, and he itched with hatred.

[When did Yu Zhao become so stingy!]

It was only a few Spirit Stones!

Did she really have to block him in the shop and stare at him like this to demand them back?

So petty.

She did not know the bigger picture.

If they were in the Five Elements Dao Sect right now, Su Ming would definitely scold her loudly without mercy. But at this moment, with so many people watching, and Zhou Jin Yue also there, he still cared about his face and had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.

Yu Zhao gave a cold warning: “Third Senior Brother, returning things to their original owner is a virtue.”

Her tone was icy. It seemed that in the next second she would tear all pretense and let the hidden blade show.

Yu Zhao was only thirteen years old now, and her height barely reached Su Ming’s shoulder. Standing above her, he could easily see all of her expression.

Yu Zhao was very calm. There was not the slightest ripple on her face. Her steady manner did not match her age at all. It was as if she had grown up overnight, making Su Ming feel that she was strange.

He shook his head and pushed away the unrealistic thoughts in his mind. No matter how Yu Xiao Zhao changed, she was still his junior sister.

That would never change.

He cleared his throat lightly and still wanted to try again: “Yu Xiao Zhao, be good. Let us go back and talk about this.”

Su Ming successfully used up Yu Zhao’s last bit of patience.

She turned her head slightly and looked at the line of people on the stairs.

Most of these people were rogue cultivators with no sect or clan. They lived by taking odd jobs given out by the stewards in the market district.

Su Ming spent money freely. They flattered him from behind and could sometimes get a bit of soup from it, so they were his loyal lackeys.

Yu Zhao pulled up old memories of Eight Treasures Pavilion from far in the past and set her gaze on the middle-aged man in scholar’s clothing who was standing at the back.

She spoke slowly: “Steward Liu, what treasure did my Third Senior Brother fancy here just now? Has it been put on the account?”

Steward Liu looked very troubled.

The fact that he could become the steward of Eight Treasures Pavilion proved that he was not a foolish person.

There was clearly a conflict between Su Ming and his junior sister Yu Zhao. Both of them were Personal Disciples of Master Qing Yan. He could not afford to offend either side, so he could only answer vaguely: “No.”

This was not really a lie either.

Su Ming had indeed taken a liking to a finely made magical artifact, but he had not had time to pay yet, and the item was still sitting upstairs.

Yu Zhao said: “That is for the best. He will not take that item anymore. You should keep it as a treasure of your shop.”

“This…” Steward Liu took out a clean handkerchief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then looked at Su Ming.

Su Ming clearly had not expected Yu Zhao to be this firm. In his anger, his hand rose on its own.

In the past, when Yu Zhao was naughty and made him angry, he could not bear to hit her, so he would only flick her on the forehead as punishment.

Right now, his anger surged, and his body reacted out of habit.

According to past habit, Yu Zhao would raise a hand to cover her forehead, then give him a fawning smile, and senior brother and junior sister would be on good terms again.

But to his surprise, Yu Zhao’s face filled with fear. She backed away again and again, crossing her arms in front of her chest in a defensive pose.

Everyone present was stunned, and they all reacted differently.

Disdain and shock flashed in the eyes of the rogue cultivators. It seemed they had not expected that this grand young master, who looked so bright on the surface, would be so shameful in private.

Zhou Jin Yue was furious beyond measure.

An instinctive reaction could not be faked.

She did not dare imagine how many beatings Yu Zhao had taken and how much bullying she had suffered.

If he raised his hand to hit someone just because of a few words, then this was how Su Ming had been treating Yu Zhao.

She stepped forward to block Yu Zhao from view, her face full of disgust: “Su Ming, I am warning you. If you dare touch Yu Zhao again, I will break your hand.”

“I, I did not!” Su Ming looked at his own palm and felt that he could not explain himself no matter how he argued.

He had not even touched one of Yu Zhao’s fingers!

He was being wronged!