Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Did Bai Mu Mu push Shen Sang Ruo on purpose?

Red Peak Fire Sea was a fire-aligned Secret Realm, so it wasn’t strange that someone with a Fire Spiritual Root like Shen Sang Ruo would find a chance there.

Bai Mu Mu forced down her anger and put on a smile as she said: “Congratulations, Fifth Senior Sister. Meeting a chance in such danger makes me envy your luck. Sadly, my Senior Brothers and I gained nothing this time.”

She sighed and looked lonely: “We were chased by the Fire Phoenix the whole way. All of us were injured, and we even lost the Fire-Scale Vine.”

Even if things between the two women were already torn, in front of the three men Bai Mu Mu still had to keep up her act.

Shen Sang Ruo raised a brow. That actually counted as good news. [Nice going, Fire Phoenix.] Fire-Scale Vine? She still had a pile in her Cosmos Pouch. She would hide them well. If the others found out, they would surely force her to give some to Bai Mu Mu. She would rather keep them to rebuild a nest for the Fire Phoenix than hand any to Bai Mu Mu.

Bai Mu Mu kept up the gentle act, saying with a look of envy: “As long as Fifth Senior Sister is fine, we don’t mind.”

Shen Sang Ruo, dressed clean and sharp with a powerful air, was a striking contrast to the four black-faced, low-spirited, and utterly bedraggled people across from her. The always proud Feng He Yun and the others had never been this shabby in front of her.

Bai Mu Mu’s words were meant to quietly stir the men’s resentment toward Shen Sang Ruo. With such a huge gap between them, most people would feel jealous. If they “guessed” that Shen had lived well in the Secret Realm yet didn’t come help them while they were in danger, and if she even refused to tell them she was alive, then she had fooled their feelings and made them sad for nothing. The most important part was that it wrecked Bai Mu Mu’s strategy of building favorability.

But under Bai Mu Mu’s needling, Feng He Yun and the others only frowned a little. Maybe their favor toward Bai had dropped. Maybe they still hadn’t recovered from the grief of losing Shen Sang Ruo. At most, they asked a few times why Shen hadn’t sent a message to say she was safe. They didn’t grow resentful like Bai hoped. If anything, they felt even more protective of Shen. Alone and split from the senior brothers she relied on, how scared must she have been.

Shen Sang Ruo looked at Bai Mu Mu. She hadn’t even started settling the debt, yet Bai wanted to pick a fight first. Her gaze deepened as she said slowly: “I still haven’t asked you, Sixth Junior Sister. Why did you deliberately push me into the Fire Phoenix’s attack that day?”

All three men turned to look at Bai Mu Mu.

Feng He Yun spoke at once: “Junior Sister pushed you away from the attack. How could you say she did it on purpose?” He and Lu Shi Qing had both seen it clearly. It was Shen Sang Ruo who failed to react in time.

Bai Mu Mu’s eyes filled with tears as she said: “Why slander me, Fifth Senior Sister? The Fire Phoenix had already swung its attack. I saw you focusing on the array, and in a panic I pushed you aside. Did I mean to save you or harm you? Senior Brothers saw it clearly.” She no longer hid the injury on her arm from pushing Shen Sang Ruo, wearing the sad look of someone who tried to help and got stabbed in the back.

She added, voice trembling: “Fifth Senior Sister, I know you don’t like me. You think I took our Master’s and Senior Brothers’ care from you. But I didn’t expect you would hate me so much that you would smear me like this.”

This kind of accusation without proof didn’t scare her at all. As long as she denied it, they would never find out about the System. If Shen Sang Ruo wanted to topple her with this, it would only backfire and make the others dislike Shen for lying.

Wen Xuan said carefully: “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Little Ruo, could you have felt it wrong?”

Feng He Yun agreed: “Yes. Junior Sister threw herself in to save you and even got hurt. If she meant to do it, the risk would be too great.” The Fire Phoenix was too unpredictable. Could Bai Mu Mu really control it?

Wen Xuan tried to ease the tension: “Think it over again. This must be a misunderstanding.” They knew Shen Sang Ruo had always had a bias against Bai Mu Mu, but they didn’t expect Shen to come back and use a life-and-death event to accuse her. It was true the Fire Phoenix had been brought by Bai Mu Mu, but she had tried her best to save Shen. For Bai, this was a disaster she hadn’t asked for.

Wen Xuan attempted to soothe her further: “Little Ruo, why don’t you—” but Shen Sang Ruo didn’t even look at him. She said to Bai Mu Mu, voice light: “You know why the Fire Phoenix suddenly chased you. You know what you did. Everything leaves traces once it’s done. Sixth Junior Sister, be careful. Don’t let yourself be found out.”

Her gaze held open scrutiny.

Only Bai Mu Mu understood the hidden meaning, and her heart suddenly tightened. [Does Shen Sang Ruo know something? No. Impossible.] The System was extremely well hidden. Maybe Shen had felt something strange when she got pushed and was frozen in place, so now she was testing her.

Bai Mu Mu steadied herself, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said without a quiver: “You’re right, Fifth Senior Sister. Since I didn’t do anything, there won’t be any evidence.”

Wen Xuan looked at Shen Sang Ruo and said firmly: “If you say Junior Sister tried to harm you, then bring proof. We can’t judge her based only on your words. We’re not taking sides. If you can show evidence, we will believe you.”

The meaning between his lines was that it was more likely Shen Sang Ruo was accusing unfairly. He knew her temper. If they didn’t believe her, she would keep bringing it up, do anything to make them believe, and beg them to stand up for her. If they still didn’t believe, she would probably take it to Shen Dao Chen and Master Ling Xiao. He could understand. They were the people closest to Shen Sang Ruo, and she wanted them to stand with her without question. But Junior Sister was family too. They could only stand on the side of reason.

And if Shen refused to let it go and blew it up, it would be bad for Bai Mu Mu’s reputation. Rumors like that could ruin a person.