Chapter 163

Chapter 163: For Her, Wen Xuan Kneels to Bai Mu Mu

Wen Xuan’s face was calm, even cold, as he spoke: “Junior Sister, when will you return my Access Jade Token?”

He no longer spoiled her. In his mind, the debt they owed Shen Sang Ruo had been paid.

He had asked Bai Mu Mu many times, but she had stalled him with all kinds of excuses. “You said that once you finished the training matters, you would give it back. That time is now, right?”

This token was Little Ruo’s. He had to take it back for her, even if she had joined another sect.

Hearing this, Bai Mu Mu did not grow angry. Instead, a slight smile rose to her lips.

Wen Xuan frowned, confused.

“Sorry, Second Senior Brother, I cannot give it to you,” Bai Mu Mu said, raising her brow.

Before, she would have circled around the question with him. Now, she refused him head on.

“You—” Wen Xuan almost choked on the breath he drew.

He stared at her in disbelief for a long moment before he managed to speak: “How can you go back on your word?”

“I went back on my word? Second Senior Brother, when did I ever promise to return the Access Jade Token?” Bai Mu Mu’s smile stayed gentle.

“Since you gave me the Access Jade Token, it became mine. What reason do you have to take it away?”

Wen Xuan’s brows knitted tighter, and just as he opened his mouth to argue, Bai Mu Mu continued: “If you want it back, go ask Master. If Master agrees, I will return the Access Jade Token to you.”

She lifted her eyes to him, open mockery inside them: “What is it? Do you not dare?”

“Let me guess. You want the Access Jade Token only so you can give it back to Shen Sang Ruo, right?”

“You know if that is your reason, Master will never agree,” Bai Mu Mu pressed, closing in on him. “After all, Shen Sang Ruo is no longer of Thunder-Scale Peak. She has no use for this token. So is it not just right for me to keep it?”

“In that case, each of us siblings has a token,” she said with bright delight. “Second Senior Brother, is that not good?”

Seeing this side of Bai Mu Mu made Wen Xuan’s heart twist. She still looked pure and kind, but it felt like her mask had ripped, showing a feverish face beneath.

“Junior Sister, I do not want to argue with you, but that jade token is Little Ruo’s. It always was and always will be. I must take it back for her,” Wen Xuan said, voice firm. “What belongs to someone will always belong to them. No one can steal it.” He spoke with another meaning too: “Little Ruo was once our Junior Sister. In our hearts, she will always be our Junior Sister.”

“I advise you, Junior Sister: do not covet what is not yours.”

Bai Mu Mu almost laughed. If no one could steal it, why was it in her hand?

“If I refuse to give it, what can you do to me?” Her eyes challenged him. She had stopped pretending.

Wen Xuan’s expression changed as he looked at this Junior Sister anew. He pressed his lips tight, his gaze flickering as his thoughts raced. Then his body went still.

Bai Mu Mu seemed to have expected this result: “You have realized you truly have no way to deal with me, right, Second Senior Brother?”

She walked to a nearby chair and sat with easy confidence. “No one else is to blame. You personally took the jade token from Shen Sang Ruo and handed it to me.”

“If you must blame someone, blame yourself.”

“You chose a dead end.”

Her words pierced him. Wen Xuan’s fingers curled tighter and tighter. [No. That is not what I wanted.]

Right now, she seemed like a different person entirely.

“Bai Mu Mu, how did I not see it before? You are this kind of person. We were all fooled by you!” he said.

“Then do you see clearly now?” Bai Mu Mu asked slowly.

Wen Xuan’s chest rose and fell hard. For someone like this, he had done those things to Little Ruo. He had misjudged her. He had wronged Shen Sang Ruo. Regret flooded him without end.

“Second Senior Brother, let it go,” Bai Mu Mu needled him. “Shen Sang Ruo is not coming back. Even if you take the Access Jade Token, will she want it?”

Her words stabbed his heart. “She will want it! She definitely will!” Wen Xuan said, lips trembling. It sounded like he was speaking to her and to himself.

“Junior Sister, Second Senior Brother begs you, please return the Access Jade Token to me,” Wen Xuan said, his face full of grief and his tone carrying a touch of pleading. “Whatever you want, I can give it to you.”

“Little Ruo has already left Flying Cloud Sect. Everything of hers is yours now. She has given her life back to you. You got your wish. What more do you want? Why cling to this jade token?”

“Junior Sister, I beg you.”

Watching Wen Xuan weep and lower himself so much, Bai Mu Mu felt a sharp thrill of pleasure.

“Second Senior Brother, did no one teach you that when you beg someone, you should kneel?” she asked.

“W-what?” Wen Xuan’s eyes shot up, pupils shaking.

She actually wanted him to kneel? As Master Ling Xiao’s second Disciple and her Senior Brother, that would be a crushing humiliation.

Wen Xuan clenched his teeth, torn to the core. He wanted the Access Jade Token back, but he—

“If Second Senior Brother is unwilling, then forget it,” Bai Mu Mu said, turning to go.

Wen Xuan threw everything aside and hardened his heart. [I wronged Shen Sang Ruo. I deserve this shame.]

“I will kneel,” he said. At once, his face turned paler.

As long as he could take back the Access Jade Token, he would do anything, even give up his pride.

Bai Mu Mu said nothing and only watched him with amused eyes, the mockery in them deep. He loved Shen Sang Ruo that much? For a single jade token, he would kneel to her? How laughable. Her expression twisted for an instant.

Wen Xuan lifted his robe and moved as if marching to his doom, about to kneel: “Second Senior Brother begs you! Give me the Access Jade Token!”

Bai Mu Mu laughed a little wildly and flicked out a thread of Spiritual Power to stop him before his knees hit the floor. “Second Senior Brother, I was only joking. How could I really make you kneel? We are siblings.”

Yet at this point, kneeling or not made no difference. The shame he suffered was the same. In front of Bai Mu Mu, Wen Xuan had no dignity left.

He smiled bitterly and held out his hand: “The Access Jade Token.”

“There is no need to rush,” Bai Mu Mu said. “Help me do one thing. When it is done, I will return the Access Jade Token to you.”