Chapter 262

Chapter 262: Seven-colored Butterfly is not her true regret?

Both of them had met Shen Sang Ruo’s terms, and the chains on the Heavenly Flame vanished on their own.

She held the Heavenly Flame in her palm; when her fingers closed, the Heavenly Flame slipped into her body for now. [This Heavenly Flame will be useful. I’ll make other plans after I leave the Starfield Plain.]

Lu Shi Qing stood there with his arms still open, stunned.

She glanced at Lu Shi Qing with confusion and disdain, then lifted her hand and crushed the Seven-colored Butterfly without mercy; rainbow scales drifted away on the wind.

Lu Shi Qing’s eyes flew wide. The Seven-colored Butterfly he had spent so much effort repairing, the one he had filled with hope, was crushed by Shen Sang Ruo, just like when he once lifted his foot and crushed a Seven-colored Butterfly in front of her.

Crack.

He seemed to hear his own heart break, and a choking pain swept through him.

Meeting her still-cold eyes, Lu Shi Qing’s emotions collapsed. He roared at the top of his lungs: “Why! I already fixed the Seven-colored Butterfly to make up for the regret, so why haven’t I brought back your feelings!”

Feng He Yun had not expected this and froze, panic rising. [Did the Skywatch Pavilion Master lie to us?]

He grasped at an answer, speaking as if to explain to Lu Shi Qing and also to convince himself: “Maybe this isn’t her biggest regret. That’s why her feelings didn’t return.”

They had paid with their souls for this sliver of hope. How could he accept that it had shattered? “Yes, that must be it!” Lu Shi Qing forced himself to calm down a little, though his mood was still wild. “Besides the Seven-colored Butterfly, she must have other regrets!”

Shen Sang Ruo’s gaze turned thoughtful as she looked between Lu Shi Qing and Feng He Yun. [So I guessed right. They want to fix a regret to bring back my feelings? Then their method is the problem.]

She raised a brow and asked: “I’m curious. How did you learn that my feelings were taken away, and where did you get the way to retrieve them?”

Only a few people in the Ninghua Sect knew she had undergone Severing Emotions. Through the Seven Emotions Gu, Lu Shi Qing only knew she felt nothing for them. Even she hadn’t known her feelings could be recovered, so how did they?

Since the truth was out, Lu Shi Qing stopped hiding it and said, strong as ever: “You only need to know this: no matter what, I will bring your feelings back!”

Shen Sang Ruo gave a short, cold laugh and said: “And you only need to know this: even if my feelings return, my attitude toward you will be exactly the same.”

“Impossible!” Lu Shi Qing snapped without thinking. In his mind, her current coldness came from Severing Emotions. She had once felt so deeply for them; if her feelings came back, she could not stay unmoved.

“It’s not for you to decide what’s possible,” Shen Sang Ruo said as she looked at the two stubborn men. “Believe it or don’t; either way, you’re the ones wasting time and energy. But if you come to pester me again, I won’t show mercy.”

She ended it with a wave: “The deal is over. Don’t let me run into you again.”

With that, she ignored the two madmen, turned, and left.

[If those stripped feelings come back, I don’t know what they will do to me.] But she was sure of one thing: she would never return to the Flying Cloud Sect, never return to Thunder-Scale Peak. [In fact, I hope they hurry up and find my feelings. Maybe then they’ll give up completely and stop getting in my way.]

Lu Shi Qing watched her vanish from sight, and the red in his eyes turned into stubborn madness. He shouted toward where she disappeared: “I won’t believe a single word you said! Not one! When I bring your feelings back, I will bring them back!”

He lowered his voice and muttered: “What other regret… which regret can really bring back your feelings…”

Wen Xuan had been locked in confinement for ten years. Lu Shi Qing still hadn’t found the real method. Luo Chu was still searching for tickets to the Floating Light City Fireworks Festival. For now, it seemed Feng He Yun had the best chance to bring back her feelings faster than the others.

Clutching his wine jar, he whispered: “Please let this bring back her feelings.”

—

Shen Sang Ruo walked on, thinking about the emotions that had been stripped away. [When I leave the Starfield Plain, I’ll ask Sect Master Wu Wei about my feelings.]

Her feelings had been extracted by Daoist Wu Wei; he should know the details. She hadn’t wanted to bother with that part of herself. To her, those scraps were worthless trash. But since they had brought it up, she needed to understand it clearly so she could handle it with ease.

She remembered that Daoist Wu Wei had asked if she wanted to keep those feelings, and she had said there was no need. After that, those feelings became six rays of light and flew out of the Sect Master’s Hall; they hadn’t vanished. [Maybe they really can be found.]

She pulled her thoughts back. [I’ll deal with this after I get out. For now, keep hunting treasures.]

The Spirit Jade Marrow had repaired Little Koi’s soul a lot, so her luck would only get stronger. She aimed to stockpile treasures for every branch so they could be self-sufficient and no longer fear the Flying Cloud Sect’s pressure. She also needed to rebuild Linglong Pavilion. [Time is tight and the task list is long.]

A thin crying sound reached her ears, and she stopped, alert. Listening closely, it sounded like a little girl sobbing.

“How is there a little girl in the Starfield Plain?” she murmured, frowning but not dropping her guard. This place was far from the Barrier Ward, so she couldn’t have come from outside. That meant she might belong to the Starfield Plain itself.

That was even more suspicious, because there had been no signs of Human Race activity in here. Of course, maybe she just hadn’t run into them yet.

The crying grew louder and tugged at the heart. “Wuu… wuu…”

“Go take a look,” Shen Sang Ruo decided. If the girl was truly ordinary, she wouldn’t live long alone here. If she wasn’t ordinary, Shen Sang Ruo had plenty of trump cards, and the other side wouldn’t gain anything from trying her.

She followed the sound and, behind a waist-high rock, found a little girl in a pink jacket and skirt, with two simple horn braids. She looked about five. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, her eyes were wet, and her nose was red.

Seeing Shen Sang Ruo, the girl blinked in a daze. She looked at Shen Sang Ruo, then at the little black and white cub on Shen Sang Ruo’s shoulder, and after a moment she tried, soft and hoarse: “Elder Sister?”

The child was as cute as carved jade. Shen Sang Ruo crouched to meet her eyes and softened her voice: “What’s your name? Why are you here? Where are your Father and Mother?”