Chapter 320

Chapter 320: They Were Wrong

Master Ling Xiao rushed to explain: “What happened just now was all because of that wicked girl. I was bewitched by her, so I struck and hurt you.”

Shen Sang Ruo gave a cold laugh, her voice icy: “Hurt me? Wasn’t your real thought to kill me? You spared my life only to ease your guilt and repay Bai Mu Mu.” She narrowed her eyes and said, “If Immortal Maiden Azure Luan hadn’t arrived in time, I might not even be standing now.”

She stepped closer and spoke each word clearly: “You keep saying Bai Mu Mu confused you. Did she really use a System to cloud your minds? Everything that happened was done by you. Blaming her is just your excuse.”

Her words tore open Master Ling Xiao’s pale defense. He faltered and muttered, “I, I… I should not have hurt you. I was wrong. I will make it up to you and give you the best of everything.”

[He wished he could go back to that moment and slap himself.] He could not understand why he had trusted Bai Mu Mu so much or why he had raised such a cruel hand against Shen Sang Ruo. But other than regret, there was only more regret. [If she had really been harmed, he would have gone mad.]

He tried again, voice low: “I never hated you. Before this, I was waiting every day for you to return to Flying Cloud Sect. I even formed a Heart Devil over you. You know all this. I truly lost my senses. I wanted you back so much. How could I truly wish to kill you? Sang Ruo, believe me.”

Shen Dao Chen joined in with soft words: “Father knows you have suffered a lot these years. We were wrong. We admit it. We will properly apologize to you.” He bowed his head and continued, “Now we know you are innocent. You have always been a good child. We failed you. Please come back. Father promises this will never happen again. You will be the one we love most. We will give you all our care to make up for your years of pain.”

He added, eyes searching her face: “You worked so hard to prove that wicked girl was tied to a Malevolent Spirit. Wasn’t it to prove we were wrong, to make us regret what we did, so we would treat you as before? You still care about us, don’t you? Father knows you are angry with us. We already regret it. Please come back.”

Beside them, Feng He Yun and Lu Shi Qing stayed calm. They did not cling to Shen Sang Ruo like the other two. Even after seeing their behavior at the Sect Grand Tournament, Immortal Maiden Azure Luan was still shocked by how thick their skin was. They actually believed that since Bai Mu Mu was dead, Shen Sang Ruo would return and everything would be warm and happy again.

Azure Luan’s gaze was sharp as a blade as she said, “If you owe a debt, you repay it. If you kill, you pay with your life. You have lived so long and still do not understand such a simple truth?” She tipped her chin and continued, “You talk every day about compensation and think you can gloss over the past?” Her voice turned harder: “When you have suffered every wound she suffered, then you have the right to ask whether she forgives you.”

“You!” Shen Dao Chen bristled at Azure Luan’s words. This was his family’s business. How could an outsider cut in? He knew what they had done to Shen Sang Ruo was terrible. If they had to suffer it all in return, they might not endure it. In the end, he remembered the fear of being hammered into the ground by her earlier and did not dare speak to Azure Luan again. Instead, he turned to Shen Sang Ruo and forced a frown: “She used a heavy hand on your father and your Master. Look at us now, beaten like this and losing face before all the Disciples. And her cultivation came from who knows where. Daughter, it’s best you keep your distance from her.”

Shen Sang Ruo had not planned to answer him, but when he belittled Immortal Maiden Azure Luan, her temper flared. She asked in a cold voice: “Do you know why Bai Mu Mu died today?” Without waiting for his reply, she said, “Because a few days ago she tried to harm Immortal Maiden Azure Luan. That is why she died today.”

The meaning was clear. If he dared speak against Azure Luan again, the next to suffer would be him. She glanced at Shen Dao Chen, and the warning was plain.

He had not expected her to shield an outsider so fiercely. In the past, he would have put on his father’s authority and scolded her. Now, as he started to erupt, he remembered their current situation and swallowed his anger with a deep breath. They were in the wrong, so they could only endure it. Flying Cloud Sect was in trouble. If Shen Sang Ruo came back, at least they could stop the loss.

In Shen Dao Chen’s mind, she had to come back. Bai Mu Mu was dead and even her soul scattered, and Shen Sang Ruo had scattered it herself. The grudge was paid and her anger vented. What reason did she have not to return? [Best if she also brought back a Spirit Vein, some ore, and the Living Spirit Tea Tree to help the sect through this crisis.]

He put on a strained smile and a helpless look: “Even if you are angry, you should not talk to Father like this. Come back, Little Ancestor, Father is begging you.”

Immortal Lord Chang Li and Immortal Maiden Azure Luan both fell silent: “…” [It felt like petty payback for Shen Sang Ruo refusing to return.] Their act made people’s stomachs turn. It was the kind of thing that would give you nightmares if you remembered it at midnight.

Shen Sang Ruo’s eyes were colder than ice as she said, “Some people should stop calling themselves ‘Father’. It is disgusting.” Her voice did not waver as she added, “We share no blood. Our adoptive tie is already cut. You are not my father. He is not my Master.”

She swept her gaze over Shen Dao Chen and Master Ling Xiao: “I dragged Bai Mu Mu into the light for Immortal Maiden Azure Luan, for Linglong Pavilion, and for the whole Cultivation World. It had nothing to do with you. I did not expect you to be shameless enough to claim it for yourselves.”

She finished without mercy: “What Azure Luan said is my view. When you have suffered what I suffered, then we can talk about the rest. If you still only think about compensation, then from now on, do not appear before me. Stop pestering me. That will be the best compensation.”

“I have cut ties with you. This has nothing to do with Bai Mu Mu. However I treated you before is how I will treat you now and in the future. Everything is settled. From today on, I will not step into Flying Cloud Sect again.”

Chapter 321: The Remaining Two Learn Her Emotions Were Extracted

Shen Sang Ruo finished speaking and, without pausing, turned and left. The resolve and disgust in her eyes made it look like this was the last time she would ever speak to them. After this, she would not waste a single word.

Master Ling Xiao and Shen Dao Chen were cut deep by her words. They had lowered their heads and admitted fault, yet she still refused to forgive them. They tried to stop her for one more talk, but when they felt Immortal Maiden Azure Luan’s warning gaze, a chill ran down their backs. They did not dare block the way.

They could only watch her walk past them, leave Flying Cloud Sect, and fade from sight. No matter what they did today, they could not keep her.

Both men wore the same look of hurt and gloom. They did not understand why Shen Sang Ruo was so heartless to them. And since she walked out of Flying Cloud Sect today, it would be even harder to bring her back later.

If Master Ling Xiao had not been stripped of his cultivation by Bai Mu Mu, he would not fear Ninghua Sect. But now he had nothing, and even Flying Cloud Sect lay in ruins.

“Sigh.” Shen Dao Chen looked over the wreckage inside Flying Cloud Sect and felt stifled. He was the head of the number one sect in the Cultivation World. How had he fallen to this miserable state?

His eyes landed on Feng He Yun and Lu Shi Qing, and his anger flared. He snapped, “Why didn’t you two speak just now? She refused to come back out of anger. Why didn’t you help persuade her? Weren’t you the ones who wanted her to return? You are her Senior Brothers. What use are you?”

He needed to vent his anger on someone. He also blamed them. If they had known Bai Mu Mu’s true face, why hadn’t they warned him and Master Ling Xiao earlier, instead of letting that witch toy with them?

Feng He Yun and Lu Shi Qing stayed calm, as if everything was under control. Feng He Yun said in a mild tone, “Sect Master, please be calm. Do not rush.”

The look only fueled Shen Dao Chen’s rage, and he was about to curse him out. Master Ling Xiao, who had been just as angry, suddenly froze as if remembering something.

Lu Shi Qing’s mouth curved slightly, though the smile never reached his eyes: “From Master’s look, he remembered.”

Shen Dao Chen’s gaze cut between them: “What do you mean? Stop talking in riddles.”

Master Ling Xiao’s expression turned strange, but since it was about Shen Sang Ruo, he still said it: “After the Sect Grand Tournament, when I went to the Confinement Chamber to see them, besides telling me that Bai Mu Mu was a Malevolent Spirit, they also said…”

“What did they say?” Shen Dao Chen stared at him.

Master Ling Xiao looked like he hated to speak the words, or could not accept them. After a long struggle, he forced himself to say it: “They said all of her feelings for us were extracted.” He paused, then added his guess: “It should have happened the time she was locked in the Confinement Chamber.”

What he once thought impossible turned out to be true. “What?” Shen Dao Chen’s eyes widened. “How can she have no feelings left? How? What happened?”

If she had no feelings for them, all of her coldness made sense. That only made Shen Dao Chen more frantic, because those feelings held their years of ties. Feelings create bonds and reluctance. That was the key to getting her back. Such an important thing, how could she throw it away? And since they had no blood relation, those feelings were the proof of their father and daughter bond. Without blood and without feelings, he was nothing to her.

[He had always disliked that she was not his real daughter. Now he would give anything for her to be truly his child. He would even wish that his blood ran in her veins.]

His glare slid toward Lu Shi Qing. If Lu Shi Qing had not secretly used a Seven Emotions Gu on her, how would she have steeled herself for Severing Emotions? A man like that dared covet his daughter? [Breaking his legs would be mercy.]

Feng He Yun spoke again before the fury exploded: “Sect Master, do not worry. You see how calm we are. We must have a way. If we fill her biggest regret with each of you, we can bring back the feelings that were taken. This is Heaven giving us a chance to atone. That is why we kept quiet earlier. The one standing there now is not the old Shen Sang Ruo. Those hurtful words do not need to weigh on your hearts. When the feelings return, the old her will return.”

His tone was light, his face full of confidence. Master Ling Xiao and Shen Dao Chen began to think about Shen Sang Ruo’s deepest regrets.

Shen Dao Chen soon grew excited: “The Young Sect Master’s Token. Yes. It must be the Young Sect Master seat of Flying Cloud Sect. She trained for it since she was little. In that Young Sect Master trial, she won all three contests.” His face darkened as he admitted, “I trusted that witch and not only kept the Young Sect Master’s Token from her, I drove her out of Flying Cloud Sect. Ninghua Sect picked up the bargain. Seeing all they gained because of Shen Sang Ruo makes my eyes burn with jealousy.”

He clenched his fists and declared, “Find a chance to hand the Young Sect Master’s Token back to her. Then her feelings will return.”

Master Ling Xiao also had an answer, but his look showed trouble. He was sure Shen Sang Ruo’s regret with him was his cultivation art, the Profound Fire True Dragon Art. With her Single Fire Spiritual Root, she matched it perfectly, yet during all her years under him, she never received his legacy.

That was what worried him. Shen Sang Ruo was already near the Mid Nascent Soul Stage. How could she change her foundation now? If she were strong enough, she could still learn the Profound Fire True Dragon Art as a support art. But pride burned in Master Ling Xiao’s chest. How could he accept his proudest art being treated as someone else’s support? Worse, the creator of that art was the person he hated most.

If they wanted her to switch, they would have to cut out her ties to Sunset Glassfire Art and Fanning Wind and Stirring Fire Art. It would be like pulling out bone and tendon. A shadow of pain crossed his face. He had already done too many wrongs and owed her too much. How could he bear to make her suffer again, and suffer in such a tormenting way?

Yet if he did not pass the Profound Fire True Dragon Art to her, the feelings she had for him might never return. Thinking of this, Master Ling Xiao fell into deep struggle, unable to decide.