Chapter 004

Chapter 4: Admit Fault?

Hearing a noise, Ye Wan Wan gathered all her Talisman Arts and burned every scrap to ash. Firelight flickered in the girl’s eyes, calm and distant.

As soon as he stepped inside, Ji Chang Huai set down a small brocade box and said carefully: “Seventh Junior Sister, this is for you.”

Ye Wan Wan did not move.

From the doorway, Dou Ming spoke in a mocking tone: “This is the Origin Stabilizing Pill Eldest Senior Brother traded for with a magic treasure from Rosy Cloud Peak. There is only one. It can help you rebuild your meridians so you can cultivate again. Your speed will never match what you had before, but at least you will not be completely ruined.”

[In my last life, Ji Chang Huai also brought me this very pill, but before half a day passed, he took it back for Ye Qian. I never used it. Eager to win next year’s Grand Sect Tournament, Ye Qian made a mistake. Her meridians reversed and damaged her origin. Her Golden Core was taken from me. So Ji Chang Huai reclaimed the Origin Stabilizing Pill. Back then, it stayed in my hands for less than an hour.]

Ye Wan Wan’s eyes turned mocking as she said: “Thank you, Eldest Senior Brother, but I don’t need it.”

Ji Chang Huai’s face went pale. For a whole year, everything he had sent through others, Ye Wan Wan refused. He had thought she was a little miss throwing a tantrum, but now it seemed the tantrum had lasted a very long time.

Dou Ming noticed too. He raised his brows and snapped: “Ye Wan Wan, what attitude is that? What are you pretending at?”

“Do you know how much we’ve done this year to make up for the disaster you caused?” He jabbed a finger at her and kept going: “Especially Eldest Senior Brother. If he hadn’t watched over Junior Sister all this time, do you think the Ye Clan would have let you off so easily? What right do you have to give us that look?”

Ji Chang Huai stayed silent, only casting Ye Wan Wan a wounded, accusing glance, as if to say she did not know what was good for her.

Ye Wan Wan’s smile turned on herself as she asked lightly: “So it’s me who doesn’t know what’s good for me?”

“What else could it be? Is it us?” Dou Ming’s voice turned harsh. “Master already said it. If you still refuse to admit your fault, then you’ll stay locked up here until you die.”

Ye Wan Wan’s fingers curled slightly. [So the one-year ban was only the start?]

Dou Ming’s tone grew cold and sly: “Now you’re scared? If you knew to be scared, you should not have done it. Thanks to Junior Sister’s generous heart, she already told Master this: as long as you bow your head, kneel, and admit you were wrong, Master will let you out.”

Ye Wan Wan did not answer. She rubbed the rim of a teacup, then looked at Ji Chang Huai and asked: “Eldest Senior Brother, if I take this pill, will you ask for it back again?”

Angered by her way of looking past him, Dou Ming barked: “Ye Wan Wan! I’m talking to you!”

Ji Chang Huai frowned, puzzled as he said: “It was found for you. How could I take it back?”

“Good,” Ye Wan Wan said as she put the box away.

She rose and walked toward the door. The two men did not move.

Ye Wan Wan turned back and asked calmly: “Weren’t we going to apologize?”

Dou Ming stared: “You agreed? You’re not pulling some trick?” He did not believe Ye Wan Wan would bow her head. The first genius of Azure Cloud Peak would not admit fault so easily. They had come today only to try their luck.

Ye Wan Wan’s gaze was scornful as she said: “Third Senior Brother already said it. If I don’t want to be locked up until I die, then I can only admit I was wrong.”

Dou Ming gave a cold laugh: “So it’s for freedom.”

She looked at the bamboo cottage and said softly: “Yes, freedom is precious.” [Dignity is worth even more. Time to go.]

The three left the bamboo grove for Ye Qian’s residence. On the way, many people stopped to stare and point.

“Isn’t that Seventh Junior Sister?”

“I heard she injured Junior Sister’s Golden Core, so Junior Sister has been recovering all year.”

“What a vicious heart. Shattering a Golden Core is no different from killing.”

“She’s still walking around? Why hasn’t Dao Sovereign Yan Ding expelled her?”

The whispers reached their ears. Ji Chang Huai said with worry: “Wan Wan, they’re talking nonsense. Don’t take it to heart.”

“I think they are not wrong,” Dou Ming said with a shrug, glancing at Ye Wan Wan. “Didn’t she shatter Junior Sister’s Golden Core?”

No matter what anyone said, Ye Wan Wan did not react. [After a year of quiet, I have thought it through. This place is not where I should stay. Why waste my breath on fools.]

Ye Qian lived at Miao Lake, a place rich in water spiritual energy. It used to be Ye Wan Wan’s home. A year ago, when Ye Qian joined the sect, because she had a Supreme Water Spiritual Root and a frail body, she took over Ye Wan Wan’s residence. Back then Ye Wan Wan cultivated fire, so she gave it up without a fuss. [Looking at it now, I was far too easy to push.]

“Eldest Senior Brother!” Wearing a long dress and looking like a pure little white flower, Ye Qian ran over on the breeze. “I heard your voice all the way from the lake house.”

Ji Chang Huai’s tight brow eased when he saw her as he asked softly: “Junior Sister, are you feeling any better?”

Not to be outdone, Dou Ming leaned in and teased: “Junior Sister heard Eldest Senior Brother’s voice. What about mine? Did you hear Third Senior Brother?”

Ye Qian’s eyes curved with a smile as she said: “Of course I heard. I heard both Eldest Senior Brother and Third Senior Brother, loud and clear.”

She took both their arms and led them toward the little house over the water as she asked playfully: “What good things did you bring for Qianqian this time?”

“Nothing at all. We came empty-handed,” one of them said with a laugh.

“How can that be empty-handed? Third Senior Brother brought me his care.”

They laughed together. The lake wind carried their laughter far away. Only after a long while did they seem to remember they had forgotten someone.

“Seventh Junior Sister!” Ji Chang Huai turned around sharply.

Ye Wan Wan did not look at them. Standing by the shore, she was gazing at the house over the heart of the lake.

A light breeze rippled the water. On the platform at the lake’s center, a person stood.

“Master!” several voices cried at once.

They dropped to their knees. The onlookers went down one by one as well. Only Ye Wan Wan kept standing.

She lifted her eyes to meet Yan Ding’s for a long time. Under the weight of his pressure, she cupped her hands and saluted as she said: “Ye Wan Wan greets the Dao Sovereign.”

Dao Sovereign, not Master.

Several people shot Ye Wan Wan a startled look. Yan Ding’s gaze darkened.

Inside the house, Ye Qian twisted her fingers and said to the two senior brothers in a small, embarrassed voice: “Actually, there’s no need to apologize. This wasn’t entirely Seventh Senior Sister’s… fault.”

Her father, Ye Cong Ying of the Ye Clan, slapped the table and roared: “How could she not apologize? Do you know how long a cultivator must work to form a Golden Core?”

“And Qian’er has a Supreme Water Spiritual Root. Even if we made up for it with another Golden Core, we had to use a Core Turning Pellet. How big will the aftereffects be? Can any of us predict that?”

“If Qian’er’s cultivation suffers because of this, how will the Supreme Sect answer to my daughter?”

The air in the room grew heavy. Ji Chang Huai looked tense. Even bold Dou Ming did not dare breathe too loudly.

The Supreme Sect’s Sect Master tried to soothe him as he said: “Fellow Daoist Ye, there is no need for such anger. Since this happened in our Supreme Sect, we will take responsibility for Ye Qian’s future path.”

As he spoke, he looked at Yan Ding, asking for a clear stance.

Yan Ding said one word: “Kneel.”

He did not name anyone, yet under his crushing aura there was a thud, and only Ye Wan Wan dropped to her knees.

Ye Cong Ying gave a cold laugh.

“Admit your fault,” Yan Ding said.

Expressionless, Ye Wan Wan turned her eyes to Ye Qian and said: “Junior Sister Ye Qian and I agreed to a spar. Everything followed the rules. I do not know where I was wrong.”

As everyone looked over, Ye Qian panicked and blurted out: “Master, this really isn’t Seventh Senior Sister’s fault. The spar was set by the two of us. As for her shattering my Golden Core, it was… it was me… It was my lack of skill that caused this.”

Ye Cong Ying slammed the table again.

Smack. A teacup shot from Yan Ding’s direction and struck Ye Wan Wan’s forehead. Blood ran down, blurring her right eye.

“This time it was your forehead,” Yan Ding said with a cold smile. “Next time, you choose where.”

Ye Wan Wan did not wipe the blood away. Lowering her eyes, she answered, calm as still water: “I am not wrong. Ye Qian asked me to fight. My counterattack was proper and within the rules. Her Golden Core shattered because her Core Formation was unstable and broke on its own. It has nothing to do with me.”

She curved her lips and said: “Do not think you can dump the blame on me.”

Ye Qian turned deathly pale. [How does she know?]

Everyone in the room sucked in a breath. Master’s face grew darker and darker until Ji Chang Huai suddenly stepped forward.

“Junior Sister!” he called.

Ye Wan Wan lifted her head.

Slap. His palm landed across her cheek. She had no time to dodge. She froze.

Word by word, Ji Chang Huai said: “Junior Sister, you did not say that inside. You clearly said you were here to admit fault.”