Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Didn’t Want to Heal Her
The message token vibrated twice. Jiang Li Sheng lowered her head and looked.
She hesitated, then asked for leave. “Hall Master Zhou, Hall Master Ying summoned me to the Medical Hall. Can I go now?” Class wasn’t over. She couldn’t just walk out.
Zhou Zhen Yan remembered what she’d said yesterday—Ying Zong Yu wanted to study whether her spiritual power could help with Wei Qing Lan’s spirit mansion injury. For Kun Lun Sect, that injury was critical. He nodded at once. “Go. I’ll come with you.”
Jiang Li Sheng nodded.
An Ru Xu, standing nearby, spoke up as well. “Hall Master Zhou, I’ve run out of Heavenly Fragrance Pills. I need to buy some from the Medical Hall. I’ll go too.”
Zhou Zhen Yan glanced at him. An Ru Xu’s face was pale; the injury was clearly serious. “Fine.”
The three of them set out on their swords. An Ru Xu couldn’t fly his own right now, so he naturally rode on Jiang Li Sheng’s sword.
When they entered the Medical Hall, they found it crowded—several people sitting and standing. The most eye-catching presence was Wei Qing Lan.
Zhou Zhen Yan put his sword away, surprised. “Why is the Medical Hall so busy today?”
“Good,” Ying Zong Yu said dryly. “Fellow disciples are brawling. As the Discipline Hall’s Hall Master, shouldn’t you handle that?” His gaze slid past Zhou Zhen Yan and landed on Jiang Li Sheng. “And this wound—one even I can’t heal—takes talent.”
Zhou Zhen Yan followed his line of sight and saw Zhao Ke Xin’s face, streaked with blood. “What happened?”
Zhao Ke Xin’s eyes snapped to Jiang Li Sheng—Jiang Li Sheng, arriving yet again with An Ru Xu riding on her sword. Zhao Ke Xin’s teeth nearly cracked from how hard she clenched them. Her spite hardened into something sharp and mean.
She pointed. “Reporting to Hall Master Zhou, the injury on my face was caused by her. I don’t know what vile method she used, but even Hall Master Ying can’t heal it.”
Zhou Zhen Yan turned to Jiang Li Sheng. “You did it?”
Jiang Li Sheng nodded without flinching. “Yes. Senior Sister Zhao struck first. She shattered my sword and made me crash. I paid her back in kind.”
Then she added, crisp and steady, “Senior Brother An saw everything. He can testify—Senior Sister Zhao attacked first.”
An Ru Xu glanced at Zhao Ke Xin, still stunned that even Ying Zong Yu couldn’t heal her wound. He nodded anyway, direct as ever. “Yes, Hall Master Zhou. I can testify. Senior Sister Zhao attacked Junior Sister Jiang first.”
Zhao Ke Xin looked at him with wet, wounded eyes. “Senior Brother An… you really were fooled by her. You’re actually helping her like this.”
An Ru Xu exhaled, already tired. “Senior Sister Zhao, the truth is the truth. You struck first. If you hadn’t attacked Junior Sister Jiang, her sword wouldn’t have shattered. I saw it with my own eyes, and there’s an image-recording stone as proof. That can’t be faked.”
Zhao Ke Xin flared. “I attacked her because—”
Zhu Wen Yin grabbed her arm, cutting her off. “Because Junior Sister Jiang was rude. As a junior sister, she showed no respect to fellow disciples and senior sisters. My junior sister only meant to teach her proper conduct. We didn’t expect her to retaliate with such ruthless methods.”
Jiang Li Sheng stared at them, unimpressed. She didn’t bother hiding it. “Respect?” Her tone went flat. “I don’t recall Kun Lun Sect having a rule that says I’m guilty of provoking trouble just because I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t need Senior Sister Zhao’s ‘lesson.’”
Zhu Wen Yin choked, words sticking in her throat.
Ying Zong Yu’s expression soured as understanding clicked into place. “Weren’t you just claiming she did this because she likes An Ru Xu and can’t stand you? Then why were you the one who struck first?”
Zhao Ke Xin rushed to defend herself. “She’s arrogant. She likes Senior Brother An. She can’t stand me—”
Jiang Li Sheng’s eyes widened. “Since when do I like him?”
The audacity of the rumor almost left her speechless.
“Enough,” Ying Zong Yu snapped. “This isn’t the Discipline Hall. Take your mess back there.” Then he turned to Jiang Li Sheng, impatient and sharp. “Explain this wound. None of my pills work. My spiritual power can’t heal it either. You caused it—so tell me.”
Jiang Li Sheng answered plainly. “My spiritual power is special. If someone is injured by my spiritual power, only my spiritual power can heal it.”
That was why she rarely used it. Even when tu lou from Spirit Beast Peak had chased her so hard she’d nearly run her legs numb, she still hadn’t struck with her power. If she injured it, she would have to spend her own power to heal it afterward.
But this morning, Zhao Ke Xin had been unbearable. Jiang Li Sheng hadn’t held back.
“Then why did you still make us come to the Medical Hall?” Zhu Wen Yin snapped. “You made us skip Instructor He’s lesson.”
Jiang Li Sheng looked at her, calm as water. “Because I don’t want to heal her.”
Zhu Wen Yin’s mouth opened—and closed. Nothing came out.
Jiang Li Sheng turned her gaze away, voice steady, neither loud nor soft. “Annoying people are like flies. They see me and start buzzing. She provoked me. I struck back. And I don’t want to waste my spiritual power healing her.”
Zhao Ke Xin, furious, drew her sword on the spot.
Jiang Li Sheng didn’t move. With this many eyes on them, Zhao Ke Xin wouldn’t dare.
Zhu Wen Yin seized Zhao Ke Xin’s wrist. “Junior Sister—stop!”
Zhou Zhen Yan’s voice cut in, sharp with authority. “Ridiculous. Is the Medical Hall a place where you can draw your sword?” His glare pinned Zhao Ke Xin. “You struck first. You lost. And now, instead of begging for treatment, you dare threaten her again in front of me? Are the Discipline Hall’s rules too light? Was your last punishment not harsh enough?”
Zhao Ke Xin went cold all over. She sheathed her sword at once. “This disciple knows she was wrong.”
“Since you struck first, and you dared to strike again in front of me,” Zhou Zhen Yan said, “when you return today, you will copy the ‘Cautious Conduct’ section of the rules one hundred times. No spiritual power. No treasures. Bring it to me tomorrow morning.”
Zhao Ke Xin’s jaw tightened. “Yes.”
She waited, heard nothing about Jiang Li Sheng, and resentment boiled over. She lifted her head. “Hall Master Zhou, she injured my face and suffered nothing. My face was bleeding like this—how is that fair? You have to stand up for me.”
Zhou Zhen Yan looked to Jiang Li Sheng.
Jiang Li Sheng replied at once. “I wasn’t hurt because I reacted fast. You can’t make me pay for her injury just because she failed.”
Zhou Zhen Yan nodded slightly, accepting the logic. “Then how will you treat her wound?”
“I don’t want to,” Jiang Li Sheng muttered.
Zhou Zhen Yan let out a short, incredulous laugh. “Enough. Don’t speak out of spite. A wound on a girl’s face is her dignity. And we’re Kun Lun Sect disciples—fellow disciples cannot harm each other like this. Since you are in Kun Lun Sect, you must follow Kun Lun Sect’s rules.”
Jiang Li Sheng’s mouth tightened. “My spiritual power is precious. I cultivated it little by little. I’ve swallowed countless pills since I was young. To nurture my spiritual power, my master nearly emptied his private treasury. Healing her face costs a lot of spiritual power. I don’t want to waste it.”
Zhou Zhen Yan understood immediately. “Then name your conditions.”
Jiang Li Sheng’s expression brightened into perfect innocence. “The other day, tu lou from Spirit Beast Peak got loose and nearly hurt me. I happened to meet Instructor He, who sent a message to Martial Uncle Jin. Martial Uncle Jin compensated me with one hundred top-grade spirit stones, a bottle of Heavenly Fragrance Pills, and a mid-tier artifact. That day, I wasn’t hurt at all—I was just badly frightened.”
Zhou Zhen Yan froze. He hadn’t heard a word of this. He looked at Zhao Ke Xin, visibly stunned by the generosity.
Zhao Ke Xin glared at Jiang Li Sheng, eyes blazing. “Don’t even think about it! Have you gone mad with poverty? Are you trying to rob me?”
Jiang Li Sheng’s face didn’t change. “Yes.” Her tone was flat, unapologetic. “Senior Sister Zhao boasted about being rich the first time we met. You offered me a fine sword just to make me stay away from Senior Brother An. I refused, and you held a grudge ever since. If that’s how you want to play it, why should I be polite?”
An Ru Xu went still. In an instant, several gazes snapped toward him like arrows.
His scalp tingled. He wanted to vanish through the floor.
He hadn’t done anything—yet somehow he was still paying for it.
This peach blossom debt was going to kill him.