Chapter 82

Chapter 82: She Had Suffered So Much

Lu Shi Qing began to defend himself, starting to say: “It was not just my imagination, it was…” But Shen Sang Ruo met his eyes and demanded: “What gives you the right to think I liked you? Just because I walked a little closer with you? You used your dirty thoughts to judge me with malice?”

Lu Shi Qing’s mind echoed with her question and his breath stalled. [How could that be? She must have liked me then. I could not be wrong. Dirty mind? Malicious guessing?]

He opened and closed his mouth, then listed the signs he took as proof, saying: “You clung to me, you always liked to hold my arm, and… If you did not like me, why do all those things?” As he spoke, his tone grew more firm, as if he was convincing himself.

Shen Sang Ruo answered without a ripple: “I was only fifteen. I treated you like an Elder Brother; which of those things crossed the line?” She looked at him, as if already knowing what he would say, then pressed on: “Fine, if you insist my actions were impure, then what about Bai Mu Mu? She treated you the same way. Why do you not think she liked you? Is it really so hard to admit you were self-absorbed and stubborn?”

Lu Shi Qing stood there as if struck by lightning, frozen for a long time. [Was I… wrong?]

Shen Sang Ruo’s voice turned colder as she said: “Because of your narcissism, you spread news across the whole sect that I liked you, you pushed me to the center of gossip, and you made thousands spit on me. Lu Shi Qing, you are disgusting.”

Her last words hit him like a heavy blow to the chest. His face fell into despair, his eyes dimmed, and he was badly shaken. [Disgusting? She actually called me disgusting?] He did not even have the strength left to explain why he had put the Seven Emotions Gu on her those last two times.

Shen Dao Chen and Master Ling Xiao knew of this matter, but neither had expected the truth behind it. Shen Sang Ruo had suffered a disaster for nothing, all because Lu Shi Qing made baseless guesses.

Shen Dao Chen’s chest rose and fell hard; he was clearly angry. He remembered the day he first heard the rumor. It was the first time he felt disappointed in Shen Sang Ruo, and he even locked her up for a month to reflect. Now he was being told all of it had been started by Lu Shi Qing.

He lifted his hand and used Spiritual Power to write Lu Shi Qing’s crimes into a Confession Scroll in midair, then forced Lu Shi Qing to brand it with his personal mark.

Then he turned to Luo Chu. His voice carried weight without needing anger as he asked: “And what did you do to Sang Ruo?”

He already understood that the four Senior Brothers writing Confession Scrolls for her was not for show. It was all real. Though Shen Sang Ruo was only his adopted daughter, he would not allow anyone to degrade her like this.

Luo Chu stammered, answering with guilt: “N nothing big…” Compared to the other three, he had indeed only made Shen Sang Ruo take the blame for small things. He had not threatened her life or cultivation, nor made her suffer pain. Even his biggest trap had been turned around, with the blame landing back on him. He muttered at last: “Sometimes I sneaked out to play and made small mistakes, and I had her take the punishment for me…”

Shen Dao Chen’s face eased a little.

Shen Sang Ruo cut in, her tone icy, saying: “Why not be exact. How many so-called small mistakes did you make?”

Luo Chu wanted to warn her not to pile trouble on him, but under the double stares of Shen Dao Chen and Master Ling Xiao, he hunched his neck and admitted: “Less than a hundred times.”

Shen Dao Chen felt his temples throb as he said: “What?”

Luo Chu had slipped out about once a month on average. That meant Shen Sang Ruo had covered for him for years. Shen Dao Chen finally understood why she obeyed rules everywhere else, yet somehow made endless trouble outside the sect.

Grinding the words out through his teeth, he said: “So that is how it was, so that is how it was…” He could not count how many times he had punished Shen Sang Ruo for these things, and all of them were for crimes she carried for Luo Chu.

He went through the same process again, writing Luo Chu’s crimes on a Confession Scroll and searing Luo Chu’s mark into it.

Wen Xuan, after hearing each matter, turned as white as paper, with only one thought: [The sky is falling.] Without even noticing, they had done so many things that hurt Little Ruo. Of the four Senior Brothers, not one had managed to avoid harming her from start to finish. Shame and regret washed over Wen Xuan, along with blame for the others. He wondered how they could ever make it up to Shen Sang Ruo.

Shen Dao Chen faced Master Ling Xiao with a Sect Master’s steadiness and said: “Ling Xiao, is this the disciple you taught? Sang Ruo was treated like this under your roof. Do you not owe me an answer?”

Master Ling Xiao was the strongest Cultivator in the Cultivation World, but Shen Dao Chen was his Senior Brother and had once saved his life. That was why he had trusted him with Shen Sang Ruo in the first place. Now it seemed that leaving Thunder-Scale Peak was the right choice.

Master Ling Xiao’s gaze frosted over as he said: “Go to the Disciplinary Hall yourselves. Do not make me act by hand. Get out.” He flicked his sleeve and swept the four out of the cave.

He had sworn Thunder-Scale Peak had never wronged Shen Sang Ruo, yet all four Disciples had just slapped him in the face with the truth. Even so, he did not change his view of her. In his eyes she was jealous by nature and vicious at heart, and he still believed she had watched his Junior Sister die out of spite. The pain she suffered did not, to him, change those facts.

Shen Dao Chen raised his hand, and the four Confession Scrolls drifted down into Shen Sang Ruo’s hands. He said in a rare tone of warmth: “Sang Ruo, you have been wronged for years. I will win justice for you. Child, why did you keep it all inside and not tell me? I am the head of our sect and your father. I can speak for you.”

Shen Sang Ruo only let out a mocking smile and said nothing. He had clearly forgotten that she had once cried to him. She had won her justice by herself. What did that have to do with Shen Dao Chen?

Seeing Shen Dao Chen’s attention fixed on her, Master Ling Xiao had to remind him, saying: “The Fire-Scale Vine. You can bring it out now.”

Shen Dao Chen then remembered that his Mu’er still lay in bed, and his feelings toward Shen Sang Ruo turned complicated.

Shen Sang Ruo said calmly: “Take me to Bai Mu Mu. When I see her, I will hand over the Fire-Scale Vine.”

Neither man thought much of it and led her to Bai Mu Mu. Master Ling Xiao did not think she could harm Bai Mu Mu under their eyes. Shen Dao Chen thought even better of it. He believed Shen Sang Ruo had woken up and wanted to mend her relationship with Bai Mu Mu.

In the mortal-style house on the main peak that belonged to Bai Mu Mu, Bai Mu Mu saw them come in and struggled to rise, saying: “Greetings, Father and Master…”