Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Leaving Ninghua Sect

Shen Sang Ruo hurried over to stop them, saying: “Enough, enough, stop packing.”

If she did not block them, at this rate they would empty this whole floor. She had agreed to look for a magic tool, but she did not need this many treasures.

Su Xi Yu would not listen and kept tossing pills into a storage pouch without thinking, saying: “Not enough, not enough. This little bit will not even fill the gaps between our teeth.”

She added with a huff, waving Shen Sang Ruo aside: “Junior Sister Shen, move over, you are blocking me from grabbing the pills.”

[Who in their right mind treats fourth grade pills like food?]

Song Wei Yan did not stop either, explaining while his hands moved fast: “It is hard to avoid danger when searching for a magic tool. Bring more of everything so we are ready for anything.”

Ye Huai, as usual, said nothing. But wherever he passed, he left nothing behind.

Bai Ruo An nodded and praised: “Second Senior Brother is right.”

He smiled gently and told Shen Sang Ruo, “In the past I could write a hundred talismans with a casual stroke. This is nothing. Do not feel pressured.” Then he added with soft warmth: “If you do not like these talismans, just use them as firewood and burn them.”

[Are you telling me to burn talismans worth a fortune as firewood?] [Even the richest clan in the cultivation world would not waste like this.]

Bai Ruo An tapped his chin, thinking hard, and said with complete seriousness, “Talismans have spiritual power, so they burn longer than normal wood. But if they are going to be firewood, then these talismans are not enough.” He lifted a finger to his temple. His eyes lit up; he had an idea: “Pack more talisman paper!”

Seeing Shen Sang Ruo’s complicated look, Su Xi Yu patted her shoulder and said: “These things have sat here gathering dust for a long time. We want to see them used.” She added with sincere care, “Do not feel you are getting something for nothing. We all like you. Think of the extra as welcome gifts.” She laughed lightly: “We might ask you for help with many things later.”

Their open concern touched something deep in Shen Sang Ruo’s heart. [Her heart felt soft.]

She could not help giving a true smile: “Then I thank Senior Sister Su and all my Senior Brothers.”

She had striking beauty. Her bright eyes curved when she smiled, and her smile grew even more radiant.

Su Xi Yu felt as if an arrow had hit her heart. [She is exactly the sweet, soft junior sister I always dreamed of doting on.] She also felt a small loss inside. [What a pity. If only I could bring Junior Sister Shen back to our sect.]

After that, Su Xi Yu told Shen Sang Ruo some things about Ninghua Sect. Since the Blazing Heart had recognized Shen Sang Ruo, there was no need to hide.

Ninghua Sect had been a great sect many years ago, though Su Xi Yu did not know exactly how many. The sect suffered a huge calamity and was sealed by a formation, freezing the whole sect at the moment of sealing.

A few months ago, Shen Sang Ruo activated the old Sect Master’s Divine Sense in the Darkwood, and Ninghua Sect finally woke. So Su Xi Yu did not know how much time had passed in the outside world. But one thing was sure: Ninghua Sect had existed for longer than Shen Sang Ruo’s two lifetimes put together.

Because of the formation’s limits, they could not leave. Just as Shen Sang Ruo had guessed, Ninghua Sect lay deep underground beneath Moonshadow Valley. When she entered, she had fallen through darkness for a while. Immortal Lord Chang Li had also been sealed during that calamity and had fallen asleep. They and the Sect Master were all hurt to different degrees. Only they remained in Ninghua Sect.

When they finished speaking, the time for the formation to open arrived. Only Shen Sang Ruo could pass through it. Su Xi Yu and the others could not.

“We can only send you this far. See you next time, Junior Sister Shen,” Su Xi Yu said with clear reluctance. Shen Sang Ruo nodded to them and said: “Take care.”

The storage pouches were not heavy, yet the four pouches in her hand felt especially weighty. [Next time we meet will be at least a year from now.]

Shen Sang Ruo stepped into the formation and turned into a streak of light.

Daoist Wu Wei stroked his beard and walked to the dejected Su Xi Yu, asking: “In less than half a day, you have grown this close to her?”

Su Xi Yu sighed with a melancholy face and answered: “It is not that our feelings are so deep. It is just so rare to meet a new female cultivator who fits us this well. Of course I cannot bear to part.”

“Oh, I see.” Daoist Wu Wei’s eyes turned sly. He asked with a twist of humor: “Then, how about we bring her back as your junior sister. Would you like that?”

Su Xi Yu’s eyes lit up at once, but she looked at Daoist Wu Wei with a hint of doubt: “Sect Master, do you mean it?”

“Of course. When has this Sect Master ever lied to you?” Daoist Wu Wei huffed with pride and then snickered, “That girl already cultivates a technique your Master created. When your Master wakes, who else could she take as her teacher?”

He grinned like a fox.

Su Xi Yu’s eyes went wide. Right, why had she not thought of that? [It is a little immoral. Sorry, Junior Sister. To bring you back, I will collude with the Sect Master just this once.]

—

Shen Sang Ruo hid the Blazing Heart well. She had planned to return to her cave, then head straight to Clearheart Pavilion for closed-door cultivation.

She had just reached her cave when she saw a dense crowd.

All four senior brothers were present, along with Bai Mu Mu.

Luo Chu’s voice boomed as he pointed and shouted: “See? She is too guilty to show her face!”

“It was her doing. If you do not believe it, wait until she comes. We will confront her!”

Hearing Luo Chu, Shen Sang Ruo’s mind turned clear as a mirror. [I know exactly what happened.]

An hour earlier:

On Luo Chu’s cue, the shopkeepers came forward one by one to cry about Shen Sang Ruo’s “crimes.”

“Shen Sang Ruo bought on credit one Azure Luan Feather Hairpin worth 150 high-grade spirit stones and has stalled for more than three months without paying.”

“Shen Sang Ruo ‘borrowed’ our shop’s treasure, a Night-luminescent Pearl, left an IOU, and then vanished without a trace.”

“Yes, yes! I also have an IOU from Shen Sang Ruo!”

“Me too!”

“And me!”

There was even a hen, the only one a family had that laid spirit eggs, which had been roasted and eaten. Someone’s orchard of fresh, ripened spirit fruit was ruined. Someone’s pregnant spirit beast was frightened into giving birth early.

It was like a twelve-volume book of crimes, each volume stamped with her name. Villainous and hateful to the extreme.

Hearing all these “crimes,” Luo Chu looked away with guilt. He had stayed out playing too long and caused a lot of trouble. He could not admit any of it. If he did, his lifetime of glory would be ruined. So he had to push it onto Shen Sang Ruo.

He had always done this before. She had taken the fall for many of his messes. This time the trouble was bigger, and these pots were heavy for Fifth Junior Sister to carry. But he believed she could do it. She would not want to see him lose face.

He swore that next time he would take her out to have fun, bring tasty food, and make it up to her for sure.