Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A Face to Face Apology
Fang Cheng Lang walked toward her against the light. His voice was warm and familiar.

Yu Zhao narrowed her eyes and was dazed for a moment.

They said the eldest brother was like a father.

In her heart, Fang Cheng Lang had always played the role of both father and teacher.

Not long after Master Qing Yan took her in as a disciple, he felt something and rushed into closed-door cultivation. It was Fang Cheng Lang who filled the gap in her growth and stayed by her side as she grew up.

Her first time guiding qi into the body, her first time writing, her first time learning magic arts, even her first Foundation Establishment, all had Fang Cheng Lang’s shadow beside her.

If she felt fear and respect toward Master Qing Yan, then toward Fang Cheng Lang she had complete dependence and trust.

So when she noticed that Fang Cheng Lang’s gaze fell on her less and less, she became afraid.

She did everything she could to win him back.

He said young women should be quiet and gentle, so she held herself back and stopped laughing and running around.

He said cultivation should be diligent and without pause, so she squeezed out time and shut herself in to train hard.

He said cultivators should be strong and independent, so she held back her desire to pour out her troubles and bore all the bitterness alone.

She tried hard to reach the standard of the perfect Junior Sister in Fang Cheng Lang’s words, only to hear him say to Ye Cong Xin, “You are fine just like this. Keep your true heart, natural and simple.”

How laughable.

Yu Zhao slowly stood up and walked step by step toward Fang Cheng Lang, who stood in the light.

Then she passed by him without any expression.

This time, she would not chase after him again.

Fang Cheng Lang froze for a moment, thinking Yu Zhao was still angry. He frowned.

A moment later, he sighed. [Forget it.]

Little Six was still young and had grown up without parents. If her manners were poor, that was his fault.

He should go back and reflect on himself.

On the other side, Yu Zhao had already stepped out of the boundary of the Black Prison.

The bright sunlight stung her eyes and made her stop for a second.

She narrowed her eyes to pick out the direction, then lifted her feet and walked toward Lone Moon Peak.

Fang Cheng Lang had wanted to call out to Yu Zhao, but when he saw how fast she was walking, he could only hurry after her.

Before long, the towering outline of Lone Moon Peak came into view.

At this time, a large group of people were gathered at the foot of Solitary Joy Peak. The man and woman standing at the front were the most eye-catching.

The man had sword-like brows and starry eyes. He was tall and handsome. His thin lips were curved in a light smile, and there was a free and easy air between his brows.

The young woman still wore a goose-yellow wide-sleeved fairy dress. Her hair was done up in two buns. Her smile was like a blooming flower and did not hide her delicate weakness.

When Yu Zhao saw the two of them, her steps stopped. Her gaze grew deep.

Second Senior Brother Lan Zi Yu.

Junior Sister Ye Cong Xin.

They met again.

“What, after one trip to the Black Prison, you do not even know how to greet people?” Lan Zi Yu raised his brows slightly.

His words drew a wave of unkind agreement.

“Yeah, did you become mute?”

“She must feel too ashamed to see people!”

“Who says that? With Yu Zhao’s thick skin, how could she feel embarrassed? She is definitely pretending!”

“…”

“Stop it, all of you!” Ye Cong Xin stomped her foot to stop them. Then she looked at Yu Zhao with a face full of worry and said, “Sixth Senior Sister, are you feeling better? It was my fault that I did not stop Master that day and you were hurt too. I feel so bad.”

If the timing was not wrong, Yu Zhao really wanted to clap for Ye Cong Xin.

Ye Cong Xin’s acting was completely natural and detailed. No wonder all her senior brothers were wrapped around her fingers.

Only because Yu Zhao had the memories of her past life could she so easily see through this disguise.

Fang Cheng Lang, who had arrived a step later, felt his face change.

How could he have forgotten that matter?

Little Six had coughed blood that day.

Now he finally remembered that Yu Zhao’s face had looked quite bad, and he had actually been so careless that he never asked about it.

His heart grew anxious, and he was also angry that Yu Zhao did not know how serious it was. He quickly stepped forward and grabbed Yu Zhao’s wrist. He blurted out, “Junior Sister, you are too thoughtless. You were hurt, so why did you not tell First Senior Brother? How are you feeling now? Do you need medicine?”

In his rush, he called her by the title she used to have.

Before Ye Cong Xin appeared, there had only been one Junior Sister on Lone Moon Peak.

And that was Yu Zhao.

Ye Cong Xin’s fingers tightened, and her expression froze for a moment. [Damn it.]

She had meant to bring up Yu Zhao’s ugly scene of being struck by Master that day, but instead she had shot herself in the foot.

It seemed they had not completely given up on Yu Zhao yet.

It made sense. Even if you raised a little cat or dog, you would feel something after a long time. She needed to add more fuel to the fire.

Yu Zhao did not even look at Fang Cheng Lang. She twisted her wrist and slipped out of his grip, then looked at Ye Cong Xin with a slight smile.

“Thank you for your concern, Junior Sister. I am fine. In fact, I also want to thank Master. It was because of that palm from Master that I was completely woken up.

All that came before is as if it died yesterday. All that comes after is as if it was born today.

Senior Sister has already let it go.”

Everyone looked at each other.

What did Yu Zhao mean by that?

Had she really let it go?

A sharp little laugh broke the silence.

Lan Zi Yu curved his lips in a half smile. “It is very good that you can think like this. In that case, apologize to Junior Sister here in front of everyone and let us see your resolve.”

Lan Zi Yu did not believe Yu Zhao’s words at all.

Yu Zhao was deep and scheming, always one face in front of others and another behind their backs. Junior Sister had suffered a lot from her in the past.

He wanted to vent all his anger for Junior Sister in front of everyone.

“Yes! Apologize! We do not believe what you say, we just want you to apologize!”

“Apologize, apologize to Junior Sister Ye!”

“Apologize! Apologize!”

Their voices gathered into a huge wave of sound that shook the sky.

The Five Elements Dao Sect disciples who had not known about this matter followed the sound and hurried over as well.

The crowd swelled and surged.

Yu Zhao stood in the center, feeling the burning gazes coming from all directions. It was as if she had returned to the day she died.

On that day, she had finally discovered Ye Cong Xin’s secret.

She had always been curious about why Ye Cong Xin, who only had the ordinary talent of three spiritual roots, could cultivate so fast. Before she reached a hundred years of age, she had stepped into Divine Transformation and become the youngest Divine Transformation Cultivator of the Five Elements Dao Sect.

It turned out Ye Cong Xin had made a deal with an evil fiend. She could use a Fate-Devouring Method to strengthen herself.

Her master, her senior brothers, and all the gifted cultivators in the cultivation world were her sacrifices.

Yu Zhao had thought that once she exposed the truth, everyone would see Ye Cong Xin’s true face.

But the result was not what she had imagined.

No one was willing to believe her. They all thought she was framing and slandering Ye Cong Xin.

Her Third Senior Brother Su Ming had even shouted that, even if what she said was true, he was willing to let Junior Sister use the Fate-Devouring Method on him.

He also said Yu Zhao was vicious and cruel and could not compare to even one of Junior Sister’s toes.

In the end, she died under her Master’s sword.

The excuse was “cleaning the sect’s door”.

After her death, her body was smashed and her bones were burned by Ye Cong Xin’s furious followers. She did not even leave a whole corpse behind.

That day, Ye Cong Xin had also stood quietly in the middle of the crowd like this, with a face of deep pity, as if Yu Zhao’s fate was all her own fault.

Yu Zhao laughed.

Apologize?

Of course she would apologize.

She would raise Ye Cong Xin high up onto the altar, then watch with her own eyes as Ye Cong Xin’s followers fell from Heaven’s Chosen to dust under her feet.