Chapter 21

Chapter 21: The Truth Pill Saves the Day

He confessed in a rush: “I copied your handwriting on purpose and used a Disguise Elixir to change my voice and shape to be close to yours. Of course it was so I could dump the blame on you.”

He even snorted: “With such a simple disguise, I played those fools in my palm, hehe.”

The shopkeepers he called “fools” all turned red with anger and stared daggers at him.

Luo Chu panicked inside, but he could not stop talking.

He kept going: “I didn’t think I would cause so much trouble this time. I was so scared I ran back to make you take the blame.”

“It just so happened you were badly hurt and unconscious. Truly, when it rains, it pours.”

“I thought I would be exposed, but luckily no one believed you. I was scared to death.”

“I’m so smart, hehe.”

At his silly laugh, the whole place fell into a weird silence.

Listening to his own mouth spill every truth, Luo Chu wanted to bite his tongue off.

Seeing the situation slipping away, he tried to attack first: “What did you make me eat, some kind of mind fog pill? You forced me to confess with tricks!”

He was hinting that none of that was his true will.

But some people were no longer buying it.

The man whose hen laid a spirit egg roared: “You stole my old hen and even mocked me, calling me a fool. How is that fair!”

Luo Chu snapped back without control: “Shut up! Your old hen tasted awful. I didn’t even want to eat it. You were born a fool, bleh!”

Hearing that, the hen’s owner nearly exploded. He whipped out an egg and smashed it into Luo Chu’s face.

Luo Chu tried to swallow his anger, but he could not hold it in: “Peh! You dare hit me? If I had known, I would have roasted the egg too!”

“I can’t stand you, you brat!” the hen’s owner lunged in fury.

The crowd worked itself into an uproar.

Shen Sang Ruo smiled lightly and said: “Whether it’s a Truth Pill or a charm, everyone can judge for themselves.”

At the words Truth Pill, the crowd buzzed again.

A fifth-grade pill was rare. Very few Alchemists could refine one.

Luo Chu had never imagined she would have a Truth Pill.

Shen Sang Ruo turned her eyes to Bai Mu Mu. She remembered Bai Mu Mu had helped push things along.

She was not someone who forgot favors or grudges. She would “repay” her properly.

That look made Bai Mu Mu uneasy. But then she thought: how could this drag her in? Her heart settled again.

Shen Sang Ruo said in a quiet tone: “So, Fourth Senior Brother likes hairpins and things like Night-Luminescent Pearls.”

Luo Chu blurted with a foolish grin: “I’m a real man. Of course I don’t like those things. I gave them to Junior Sister. Junior Sister loved them.”

She asked on: “Oh? So Sixth Junior Sister knew about this too?”

“Of course! Junior Sister is my closest partner!”

Luo Chu was finished. He did not dare look at Bai Mu Mu at all.

Bai Mu Mu’s face turned pale at once. She only shook her head at the Senior Brothers with teary eyes.

It was not that she did not want to explain. She was afraid this fool would blurt out even more truth.

At last, Shen Sang Ruo was satisfied and stopped asking.

She turned to Wen Xuan and the others and said: “Fourth Senior Brother has admitted it with his own mouth, and the physical evidence is with Sixth Junior Sister. I believe a simple search will find it.”

She lifted her chin slightly: “Can this prove I had nothing to do with it?”

Wen Xuan shot Luo Chu a fierce glare, then softened a little toward her: “We misunderstood you. I will report this to the Master right away.”

When he heard it would go up to Master Ling Xiao, Luo Chu howled: “No, Second Senior Brother! The Master will kill me! Please don’t!”

Wen Xuan’s tone turned hard: “If you knew it would end like this, why did you do such shameful things and try to push the blame onto Fifth Junior Sister? You knowingly did wrong. This must be reported to the Master.”

Luo Chu twisted with hate and shouted: “It’s all your fault, Shen Sang Ruo! If you had obediently taken the blame for me, none of this would have happened! If I ever talk to you again, I’m a dog!”

That part, at least, was his true feeling.

Right now he truly loathed Shen Sang Ruo. He was furious.

Since things were broken, he might as well smash everything and spit out his Baleful Miasma.

He yelled: “From now on, I’ll act like you aren’t my Junior Sister. No matter how you beg me, it won’t work!”

She answered without a ripple: “As you wish.”

These words were almost a clean break.

The old Shen Sang Ruo would not have stayed so calm.

A sour, uneasy feeling rose again in Wen Xuan’s chest.

He chopped the back of Luo Chu’s neck with his palm, knocking him out.

Things were already ugly enough today. How could Luo Chu keep saying such things? If he kept talking, he really would damage what was left of his tie with Shen Sang Ruo.

He turned to her: “Fifth Junior Sister…”

Shen Sang Ruo cut him off: “I plan to enter Closed-Door Cultivation at Clearheart Pavilion for one year. I can’t stay. I’ll take my leave.”

Without the slightest hesitation, she turned and walked away.

Clearly, she did not want to be involved any longer.

Wen Xuan felt a wave of loss, but there were still many matters to settle.

He did not expect First Senior Brother Feng He Yun to handle all this.

In the end, he did not go after her.

After Wen Xuan calmed the furious Shopkeepers and promised they would get a proper answer, the Shopkeepers finally left Flying Cloud Sect one by one.

He rubbed his aching temples. Looking at the unconscious Luo Chu made him even more stifled.

Then something came to mind. He straightened and looked at Bai Mu Mu: “Junior Sister, you knew the inside story. Why didn’t you speak up?”

Feng He Yun chimed in: “Yes. Luo Chu almost got away with it. Good thing Fifth Junior Sister had a Truth Pill.”

Lu Shi Qing frowned and said mildly: “Hear her out first. I believe she wouldn’t collude with Luo Chu.”

[Alert: Detected strong mood swings from capture targets Wen Xuan and Feng He Yun. Favorability is dropping.]

[Please, Host, stabilize the targets’ emotions at once.]

Bai Mu Mu’s eyes reddened as she said: “Fourth Senior Brother only asked someone to bring me some things. I didn’t know where they came from.”

“And I kept them in my storage pouch. I hadn’t had time to check them.”

“If you don’t believe me, I can prove it.”

She took out a storage pouch. It truly showed no sign of being opened.

Only then did Wen Xuan and Feng He Yun’s faces relax a little.

Bai Mu Mu added tearfully: “If I had known how he got those things, I would never have accepted them. I’ll return them right now.”

Wen Xuan pushed the pouch back into her hands and said: “Since Luo Chu gave them to you, you can keep them. He alone did this, and he alone should face the consequences.”

He let out a long breath: “I didn’t expect Luo Chu to do something like this. From now on, we should trust Little Ruo more.”

Luo Chu’s line about how lucky it was that no one believed Shen Sang Ruo, along with the way she left without looking back, stung him deeply.