Chapter 88

Chapter 88: How Could Shen Sang Ruo Choose to End the Master-Disciple Bond?

Bai Mu Mu lowered her eyes, already planning how to make them give up on Shen Sang Ruo and turn all their attention to her. She spoke softly, eyes wet at the corners: “Senior Brothers, there is no need to go beg Master.”

Feng He Yun looked at her, confused as he asked: “Why?”

If Bai Mu Mu were not still recovering, they would have dragged her along to plead with Master Ling Xiao already. Bai Mu Mu steadied her voice and said: “The request to end the master-disciple bond came from Senior Sister Shen herself, so begging Master is useless.”

Shen Dao Chen had visited her and told her what happened that day. Bai Mu Mu pressed on, as if afraid the blow was not heavy enough: “When Senior Sister Shen gave me the Fire-Scale Vine, one of her conditions was that Master must end his master-disciple bond with her. So there is no point going to Master.”

She added in a low voice: “Right now Senior Sister Shen has already left the Flying Cloud Sect to train outside.”

Her eyes turned a little red, like she hated to say it but had to.

Boom. It felt like something exploded in Wen Xuan’s head, the pain so sharp he almost fainted. He stared blankly and asked, voice shaking: “You mean it was Little Ruo herself who wanted to leave Thunder-Scale Peak?”

Shen Sang Ruo had kept the Fire-Scale Vine hidden on her person for so long and had refused to take it out. Yet to leave Thunder-Scale Peak, to leave them, she used it as a bargaining chip.

The deeper Wen Xuan thought, the more his head throbbed. He had always sworn that Thunder-Scale Peak was Shen Sang Ruo’s home. Even if she got mad at them, he was sure she would never leave. He never thought the one who proposed ending the bond would be Shen Sang Ruo herself.

That meant from this moment on she had drawn a line between herself and Thunder-Scale Peak. Whether it was them or Master Ling Xiao, none of them had any tie to her anymore. [Does she really feel no attachment to us at all? Thunder-Scale Peak holds so many of our memories, so much of our friendship. Little Ruo, are you giving all of this up?]

He tried to ask her in his mind, but in the images from the past two or three years, Shen Sang Ruo was always cold and distant. He searched his memories and could not find a single time she smiled at them. He went still, then pulled up a bitter, mocking smile.

He finally understood she had never been sulking or throwing a tantrum. [Little Ruo does not want us anymore. She has given up on us.] It was their fault for the many excessive things they did, and they had driven her away. Wen Xuan’s chest ached with fresh regret.

[Forget it, at least she is still in the Flying Cloud Sect,] he told himself, though the pain in his heart did not stop.

Across from him, Feng He Yun kept pressing Bai Mu Mu, his voice growing tight: “Junior Sister, did you hear clearly? She truly brought it up herself? You were not there. Could Sect Master Shen have made a mistake when he told you? How could Shen Sang Ruo say she wanted to leave Thunder-Scale Peak of her own will? She would not.”

He stared hard at Bai Mu Mu, hoping she would say she was wrong. Bai Mu Mu dabbed at her eyes and answered: “Senior Brother, Father spoke very clearly, and I heard every word. I know it is hard to accept for now, but this is the truth. Maybe we offended Senior Sister Shen somehow, so she left without mercy.”

Feng He Yun’s face shifted. If it was about “offending” Shen Sang Ruo, the four Confession Scrolls had already laid out everything in black and white. Each item, taken alone, was shocking. Even so, he did not want all the blame to land on them. Forcing their Junior Sister away was a terrible name to bear.

After a long struggle, he squeezed out: “She really is too heartless. We had years of friendship. We were wrong, yes, but she did not have to leave outright.”

[Could she not show us some grace for the sake of what we had?] He thought they had already recognized their mistakes. They could talk it out. Why go this far? She used to speak of friendship every day, and now she walked away without looking back. In Feng He Yun’s eyes, Shen Sang Ruo’s decision was rash.

He was unhappy, yet he made a silent vow. He would find Shen Sang Ruo and make her think it over again. They could make it up to her. As long as they compensated her well, she would change her mind.

Lu Shi Qing, who had been silent, stood up suddenly and said without turning his head: “You keep talking. I am going back to Gu Refinement.” He left without looking back.

Watching Lu Shi Qing’s retreating figure, Feng He Yun sighed: “Lately Third Junior Brother has grown stranger and stranger. He shuts himself in his cave all day and only does Gu Refinement. He does not go out or talk to us, so we have become distant.”

He rubbed his brow, at a loss for why Thunder-Scale Peak had become so broken. He muttered, voice meant as care but sounding unlucky: “Seeing him like this, I fear he will have a serious cultivation mishap one day.”

He turned to the quiet Luo Chu and asked: “Fourth Junior Brother, what do you think?”

Luo Chu propped his chin in one hand and gave a few casual replies, his gaze fixed on Bai Mu Mu with that same unreadable look. In the past, he and Feng He Yun talked the most on Thunder-Scale Peak, and he and Shen Sang Ruo were like water and fire, always at odds. If a matter touched Shen Sang Ruo, he would rush out to stomp on her twice. Now, after hearing that she left by her own choice, he went silent. Maybe the blow hit him hard.

Seeing him like that, Feng He Yun smacked his forehead. Great, another one gone dull. Shen Sang Ruo’s departure had hit all four of them hard.

“What should we do now?” he muttered, frowning.

Bai Mu Mu lowered her lashes, guilt in her voice as she said: “I know Senior Sister Shen has never liked me. I must have made her unhappy, so she would not take out the Fire-Scale Vine. To save me, Master had no choice but to agree to her demand and end the master-disciple bond.” She sighed again, playing the victim: “In the end, Senior Sister Shen left because of me.”

Because Shen Sang Ruo had left, they had already softened their judgment of Bai Mu Mu hiding the Fire-Scale Vine. Bai Mu Mu needed them to notice that she was the victim from start to finish, and she wanted to deepen the picture of Shen Sang Ruo as narrow-minded and malicious.

As she spoke, she felt a clear gaze settle on her. She looked over and found it was Luo Chu. She thought he was worried about her, but in truth, Luo Chu agreed with what she had said.

Wen Xuan listened with mixed feelings. The mess between Shen Sang Ruo and Bai Mu Mu was already a knot no one could untie. He lowered his eyes to the medicine in his hand. He had lost one Junior Sister already. He could not lose another.