Chapter 065

Chapter 65: So Many Grievances

No one knew when it started, but the belief that Heavenly One Sect was not easy to mess with had sunk into people’s hearts. Right now, no one wanted to offend the people with Ye Wan Wan.

They were strong. They held grudges. And most of all, they were united.

There was a quiet, firm bond among the five of them, like an unseen rope tying them together. Even the boy who stood a little apart kept his eyes on his four fellow disciples. No one doubted that if anyone hurt one of them, all five would strike back together until the enemy could not even fight back. If you were on the other side of that unity, you could only feel fear.

Ye Qian walked up to them step by step, then suddenly dropped to her knees in front of Ye Wan Wan with a thud. Everyone was stunned.

Ye Qian lifted her tear filled eyes and choked out: “Please, show mercy and spare my senior brother.”

Ye Wan Wan froze. Fang He An and Li Wan Zhi snapped their heads around, reacted in a heartbeat, grabbed Ye Qian by the arms, lifted her, carried her seven or eight steps away, turned her to face Glimmerstone Gate, and set her kneeling there.

Ye Qian went silent. Everyone else went silent too.

After they finished, the two men walked right back to Ye Wan Wan and Bai Jian. Li Wan Zhi put one hand on his waist, pointed toward the gate with the other, and said: “Hey, what are you doing, begging at random? My junior sister is only a simple, innocent junior sister. She is not a god or an immortal. Why are you begging us? Beg the Dark Nether Sect to open the gate.”

Fang He An shook his head and said: “Junior sister from another sect, did you look at the wrong place? Do not kneel to just anyone. My junior sister does not take disciples. Besides…” He looked Ye Qian up and down and added, “With your talent, Heavenly One Sect would not take you anyway. It is a bit lacking.”

“Exactly,” Li Wan Zhi said.

Someone nearby could not stand it and blurted out: “She is lacking? She broke through to Golden Core at fifteen. How is that lacking?”

Fang He An looked puzzled and asked: “Breaking through to Golden Core at fifteen, is that really something to brag about?”

The crowd fell speechless.

Fang He An tucked his hands into his sleeves and said: “When we entered Heavenly One Sect, our senior uncle told us that in one hundred and one generations of disciples, none broke through to Golden Core later than fifteen. Reaching Golden Core within three years of cultivation is our Heavenly One Sect’s…” Li Wan Zhi stepped forward and shouted with him: “Tradition.”

People could only laugh and fume. Ye Qian’s face turned white.

Li Wan Zhi spoke in an easy, open voice: “I am an exception, sure, but I only joined the sect the year before last. If you count it, I have only cultivated for two years. Compared to this junior sister… oh right, how long have you cultivated? When did your spirit root awaken? How many years did it take you to go from Qi Refining to Golden Core?”

His quick questions stirred up a storm. Now everyone’s attention was on what age a normal cultivator should reach the Golden Core Stage. Why Ye Qian kneeling to Ye Wan Wan had started this, no one cared anymore. Ye Qian had been kneeling for quite a while, and no one even noticed she was still there on her knees.

Li Wan Zhi debated anyone who spoke up and answered every challenge with confidence. He said: “I am the youngest at home and was naughty and lazy, so I only awakened my spirit root at twelve. My father called me a late bloomer, so I took three years to reach level three of Qi Refining. He could not stand it, so he sold me… I mean buried me in the dirt for three days and nights to think about my life, then sent me to Heavenly One Sect.”

“Heavenly One Sect is truly a place of outstanding people and Earth Spirit. I, a former wastrel,” he thumped his chest, “am now at Golden Core.”

Faces in the crowd shifted green and white with anger and disbelief. They wanted to call him a liar, but when he released his aura, it was clearly Golden Core. Darn. They had nothing to say.

From the moment Ye Qian kneeled to the end of this noisy back and forth, Ye Wan Wan had not spoken. She just watched as her two senior brothers guided the entire scene.

Fang He An saw she had been quiet for a long time and thought she was worried. He whispered: “People like her are best at moral blackmail. Do not be afraid. Senior brother will take care of it for you.”

Li Wan Zhi heard and lowered his voice with a cold little laugh: “There are a lot of people here, and some sects focus on healing. She is not begging any of them. She comes to beg our junior sister instead. Who cannot see her real goal?”

“She wants everyone to blame our junior sister, right?”

“Ugh.”

“If she were not a girl, I would have slapped her already.”

Ye Wan Wan stared at the two of them for a long time, so long that Fang He An and Li Wan Zhi both felt their faces go hot. They scratched their heads and asked: “Junior sister, what is wrong?” [Did we hold back too much? Should we go kick her a few times?]

Ye Wan Wan’s eyes were a little red, but she smiled and said: “Thank you.”

“Hey, why are you crying,” Li Wan Zhi said. He wanted to wipe her tears, but he was afraid his hands would dirty her pretty face and veil. Fang He An hurried to say: “Do not cry. Do not cry.”

She did not say why, but both of them knew. She had gone far too long without anyone standing up for her. As long as Ye Qian kneeled, people would think the one in the wrong was the senior sister, Ye Wan Wan. As long as Ye Qian cried, people would say the senior sister had bullied her. The junior sister could not be wrong. It must be the senior sister who failed to teach well, the senior sister who had no room in her heart.

But Ye Wan Wan, the senior sister, was only one year older than Ye Qian. She was still at an age when she needed care too. Why did she have to carry this burden?

Bai Jian took out the last of the Snowfruit and stuffed them into Ye Wan Wan’s hands, saying: “Eat. It is sweet.”

Ye Wan Wan took them, but her tears would not stop. She said in a small voice: “Sorry…” She did not want to cry, but she could not help it. Her silent tears turned into big drops. Then a sound broke out of her, and she started to sob. Bai Jian hugged her right away and said: “Do not be afraid. Senior sister is here.”

Fang He An and Li Wan Zhi both turned red eyed. Ye Wan Wan could hide all her hurts and face everything alone: the sect’s betrayal, the master’s coldness, the senior brother’s scolding, being forced to wander, falling into the demonic path by herself. She could do all of that. Even when the Seven Swords pierced her heart and killed her, she had not cried.

But when someone saw her grievance and stood up to guard her, the moment she opened her mouth, all the pressure she had held down for so long rushed out like a wave. She could not control it. She had held on for too long. Far too long.

Her sobs were restrained but broken, and many people heard them. In front of the stone gate, everyone slowly grew quiet. They did not know the reason or what had happened, but under those broken, held back sobs, they kept silent without thinking. Quite a few people’s eyes turned red too. They thought: [She must have suffered so many grievances.] So many that she could not hold them anymore, and had to bury her face in Bai Jian’s shoulder and cry hard.