Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Her Promise, They Don’t Deserve It
Zhou Jin Yue was always gentle and refined. She never spoke ill of people behind their backs. Even though she had already formed a bad opinion of Quan Ye, she still used mild words to describe him.

Yu Zhao had no such scruples. Her voice was sharp and cold as she said: “A person’s habits will not change just because the environment changes. A wild beast locked in a cage will not lose its bloodthirsty nature.”

Zhou Jin Yue’s pupils shook hard. It was as if she had guessed something. She stared at Yu Zhao in disbelief.

Yu Zhao smiled faintly: “So, Senior Sister Zhou, guess what someone like Quan Ye, chained to Lone Moon Peak, would do?”

He would use “sparring” as an excuse to beat Yu Zhao with fists and feet.

When Yu Zhao was covered in wounds, he would put on a guilty face and apologize, help her apply medicine, and beg for her forgiveness.

Then everything would start again.

Among her five senior brothers, Yu Zhao felt deep respect for her First Senior Brother, Fang Cheng Lang.

But for her Fifth Senior Brother, Quan Ye, what she felt was fear. Fear that had seeped into her bones.

Shock, disbelief, anger.

Many emotions flashed through Zhou Jin Yue’s eyes.

“Quan Ye, he, how could he dare…”

Yu Zhao was his junior sister.

“Then the others on Lone Moon Peak?” Zhou Jin Yue asked. “Why didn’t they stop him?”

She had originally wanted to ask why Yu Zhao had not exposed this and asked the sect for help. But then she thought it through. She could not blame the victim for not speaking up, so she changed her question and pointed her anger at the others of Lone Moon Peak.

“They tried to stop him, but they couldn’t,” Yu Zhao said. “There was always a time when I was alone. And besides, Quan Ye once saved my life.”

Back then, Quan Ye really had saved her once.

It had started because he secretly took Yu Zhao out of the sect, then carelessly left her behind in a remote mountain forest.

At that time, Yu Zhao was only a child who had just reached the Qi Refining Entry Stage. Her fighting power was almost nothing. When she ran into a wild beast, she nearly lost her life and fell into the Yellow Springs. It was only because Quan Ye rushed back in time that she survived.

From that time on, she believed she owed Quan Ye her life.

Even when he later hit her without knowing his own strength, she swallowed her anger and did not dare to refuse.

Thinking back on all of this now, Yu Zhao only felt that she had been truly foolish.

Quan Ye had saved her because he was the one who had thrown her into the mountains. If he had not done that, how would her life have ever been in danger?

Besides, she had saved Quan Ye later too.

More than once.

Even if she had owed him for saving her life, that debt had long been paid off.

But she had clung stubbornly to the past, drowning in old memories, and had already forgotten that things and people both change.

“You’re silly. So what if he saved your life? Does that mean he can do whatever he wants to you?” Zhou Jin Yue said, furious.

The truth she had learned today completely opened her eyes.

In the eyes of outsiders, the disciples of Lone Moon Peak looked open and bright, but their true nature was ugly.

Zhou Jin Yue asked: “Then your spot for the Bramble Secret Realm was taken by Quan Ye too, wasn’t it?”

Yu Zhao gave a bitter smile and nodded.

Quan Ye was forceful and overbearing. Even though she had dreamed for a long time of going to the Bramble Secret Realm, in the end she could not stand up to Quan Ye’s threat of violence.

“Hateful!” Zhou Jin Yue was so angry that her hands were shaking.

She had thought Yu Zhao lived well on Lone Moon Peak and was happy there. She had never imagined that Yu Zhao had fallen into a den of demons.

If she had known this earlier, she would have rather kept Yu Zhao directly on Main Peak. Then she would not have suffered so much.

“Junior Sister Yu, come to Main Peak and live with me,” Zhou Jin Yue suddenly suggested.

Yu Zhao was stunned for a moment, then shook her head.

Zhou Jin Yue grew anxious: “Why? Are you worried that I can’t protect you?”

“Senior Sister Zhou, I don’t want to drag you down,” Yu Zhao said. “Besides, I am not the same person I used to be. Don’t worry. They will not be able to hurt me anymore.”

Yu Zhao was very grateful for Senior Sister Zhou’s help. That was exactly why she could not cause trouble for her.

The people of Lone Moon Peak were not so easy to deal with.

Also, debts from her past life had to be repaid in this life.

If she was not by their side, how could she watch them fall one by one into the abyss, never to escape?

There was firm resolve in Yu Zhao’s eyes. Seeing that her mind was made up, Zhou Jin Yue did not try to persuade her further. She only told her that if she ever ran into trouble, she should come to Main Peak to find her.

Yu Zhao thanked her and silently renewed her resolve to help Senior Sister Zhou avoid her Death Tribulation.

After they returned to the sect, the two of them went their separate ways.

Yu Zhao went straight into her cave dwelling and began to count her spoils.

This time, she had seized the chance and taken thirteen items from Su Ming as payment for his debt.

Twelve of them were great fortune items that, in the future, would become hot topics in the cultivation world for a certain period of time. That bright-colored feather was one of them.

Only one item was special.

Yu Zhao reached in and took out a gray, dusty pouch with a pattern of a crooked, ugly little bird on it.

She opened the pouch. A yellowed slip of paper fell into her palm.

Yu Zhao unfolded the paper. When she saw the large line of writing on it, the corner of her mouth lifted in a mocking smile.

“With this slip, you may make any wish.”

The signature at the bottom was Zhao.

This pouch had been the birthday gift Yu Zhao had sewn by hand for Su Ming. Inside, she had placed one wish.

She still remembered how, when Su Ming received the gift, he had been all smiles. He had said the gift was too precious and that he would treasure it carefully.

Back then, he would never have guessed that many years later, he would take out this pouch and use the wish to demand that its maker kneel down and slap herself in the face, again and again, until he was satisfied.

Yu Zhao’s fingers slowly curled closed.

When she opened her hand again, only a wet pile of paper dust remained.

Her promise, they did not deserve.

After getting rid of one future problem, Yu Zhao’s mood became much lighter. She turned her attention back to the twelve items in front of her.

She did not have any extra Spirit Stones on hand, so she still needed to sell one item to relieve her money troubles.

But each of the twelve items was a rare treasure with an extraordinary origin. No matter which one she sold, Yu Zhao would feel reluctant.

She also had to find a buyer who knew their value and was generous enough, so that these treasures would not be sold too cheaply.

Looking at the twelve different treasures, Yu Zhao fell into deep hesitation.

…

“Damn! Yu Zhao is crazy! She actually gave the Purple Cloud Bamboo Flute away as a gift!”

Su Ming slammed to his feet, his face full of disbelief.

These past few days, he had been busy preparing gifts for the new junior sister, so he had not paid attention to news in the sect.

Only when he returned today did he learn what had happened a few days ago. He rushed over at once to ask Second Senior Brother about it.

Lan Zi Yu gave him a light glance, but the tight clench of his fists showed his real feelings.

Su Ming slowly sat back down, but deep inside he still could not accept it.

No one knew better than he did how much Yu Zhao treasured that Purple Cloud Bamboo Flute.

Back then, he had only borrowed it to play for a short while, and Yu Zhao had almost broken off their friendship over it.

After that, he never dared touch the flute again.

Su Ming could not help muttering under his breath: “She even took back the pouch she gave me. What is she trying to do?”

His voice was very quiet, but Lan Zi Yu heard every word clearly.

Lan Zi Yu’s expression changed slightly: “She took back that Little Bird Pouch too?”

Su Ming nodded, a bit embarrassed.

He had been so proud when he first got that pouch. Now he only felt ashamed.

“Taking back something you gave away, how petty.”