Chapter 39: How Long Will You Keep This Up?
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Xia Zhiyu was furious, and for a moment he wanted to throw the date-paste cake in his hand.
In the end, he did not. After standing there stiffly for a while, he gritted his teeth and left.
It was no wonder everyone favored An’an. Jiang Heng was simply too ungrateful.
With that stubborn nature of hers, how could she possibly be as lovable as innocent, soft, sweet An’an?
The more Xia Zhiyu thought about it, the more vexed he became. Before he knew it, he had arrived at Shen Yanchu’s cave abode and begun complaining about what had happened.
Shen Yanchu was taken aback, then gave a faint, bitter smile. “You should try to understand Junior Sister. Han Junior Brother has not been gone for long. It is only natural that she is in a poor state of mind.”
Xia Zhiyu pressed his lips together. “I know. That is why I did not lose my temper and argue with her. Honestly, how long had that fellow Han even known her? How could she possibly attach such importance to him? She does not even care about my feelings anymore!”
He had been Jiang Heng’s senior fellow disciple for hundreds of years. They had grown up together as childhood companions. Did he truly count for so little beside someone who had come later?
Shen Yanchu lowered his eyes. “Perhaps that is a question Junior Sister has asked herself countless times.”
Xia Zhiyu froze as though he had been struck.
His expression shifted several times before he finally lowered his head in defeat.
Shen Yanchu gazed at the branches of the flowering tree swaying outside the window, his expression desolate.
His cave abode had been transformed through illusion magic into an elegant residence. Plum blossoms grew in the courtyard; there were cranes, and an ancient qin.
Anyone unaware of the truth might have thought that a refined young gentleman fond of poetry lived there.
Ever since realizing his own prejudice and mistakes, Shen Yanchu had, deliberately or otherwise, distanced himself from everyone else—An’an in particular.
Only after withdrawing from the crowd and looking back on many matters from an outsider’s perspective had he realized how hateful he had once been.
It was bad enough that he had failed to treat everyone fairly; he had even thrown the water at the one who had suffered the most neglect.
Shen Yanchu still doted on An’an, but he no longer wished to seek her out without reason.
Fortunately, Xu Ning’an now spent most of her time clinging to Jiang Huaixu and the rest of it pestering Huo Shiqing, so she had not noticed anything unusual about her eldest senior brother.
Jiang Heng did everything she could to emerge from the shadow of Han Jie’s death.
She meditated and cultivated as usual, went out to purchase large quantities of spiritual medicine, then returned to her cave abode and silently consumed it all.
One day, while she was circulating her energy and regulating her breath, the faintly familiar voice of a woman suddenly came from outside.
“Senior Sister Jiang, would it be convenient for you to come out for a moment?”
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She ceased her cultivation, rose, and stepped out of the cave abode.
It was the junior sister from the Medicine Hall who had taken her to Han Jie’s cave abode last time.
“What is it, Junior Sister? Is something the matter?” Jiang Heng asked.
The junior sister took out a small bundle and handed it to her. “I went to the Boundless Sea on a mission earlier, remember? When Senior Brother Han heard about it, he asked me to find some spiritual medicine from that region for you. I heard it can treat damaged meridians. Try it when you have time.”
Jiang Heng’s hand paused. She thanked her, then invited her inside to sit for a while.
The junior sister shook her head and said she still had matters to attend to. She would visit another time. With that, she smiled brightly and took her leave.
Judging by her travel-worn appearance, she had clearly only just returned from the Boundless Sea and had not yet heard that Han Jie had died.
Jiang Heng gazed at the small bundle in her hands, her spirits sinking.
It had merely been an excuse to deceive outsiders, yet Han Jie had kept it in mind all along. He had even remembered to ask a fellow disciple to look for medicine while she was away on a mission.
If only she had been a little stronger then—if only she had been able to break free of Huo Shiqing’s restraint and forcibly bring Han Jie onto the lotus platform.
Jiang Heng went to the entrance of Han Jie’s cave abode.
It was as desolate and deserted as ever. Nothing suggested that anyone had once lived there.
Jiang Heng drew the precious sword Han Jie had given her and scratched several lines into the ground, outlining the beginnings of a grave mound.
Bit by bit, she gathered the earth into place. Then she broke apart a large stone and used magic to smooth it flat, turning it into a gravestone.
When it came time to carve the inscription, she did not know what wording would be appropriate.
The Tomb of Han Jie, Her Friend?
No. While he had been alive, he had revealed that he wanted to become her senior brother, and she had agreed.
She would carve the title “Senior Brother,” then.
Jiang Heng had just begun carefully carving the words when a cold, disdainful laugh came from behind her.
“You have even erected a cenotaph for him. Are you planning to guard his grave for a hundred years as well?”
She did not need to turn around to know whose persistent, loathsome voice it was.
Huo Shiqing.
Without saying a word, Jiang Heng continued carving, stroke by stroke.
Huo Shiqing examined the inscription on the gravestone. “Senior Brother? When did Master take him as a disciple? Why do I not remember?”
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Jiang Heng finally stopped moving her hand. “What exactly do you want?”
Huo Shiqing narrowed his eyes. “In a few days, come with me to the Huo family estate.”
Jiang Heng frowned. “Why?”
“I found the renowned healer my clansmen were helping me search for. He can treat a cultivator’s damaged meridians.”
Jiang Heng fell silent for a moment, then brushed the stone dust from the gravestone. “There is no need.”
Huo Shiqing sneered. “I am not discussing this with you. I am informing you. The damage to your meridians was not intentional, yet you have continued to harbor resentment. Your conduct has grown increasingly willful, and you have shown no regard for our sect.”
“Once your meridians are healed, I will take you with me on missions from now on. If anyone in the peak says anything unpleasant, I will discipline them.”
Huo Shiqing was arrogant by nature. In his eyes, saying such things already amounted to a great concession.
It was also an unmistakable attempt at reconciliation.
Jiang Heng gave a cold laugh of her own. “Second Senior Brother, do not forget that I am now a Core Formation cultivator as well. Although I cannot defeat you, do you truly think you can force me to comply to this extent? Is that not a little too fanciful?”
“You call this informing me? If I insist on refusing to cooperate, then let alone going on missions together, are you not afraid that I will take the opportunity to stab you in the back and end your life?”
Huo Shiqing’s expression darkened. “How long do you intend to keep throwing this tantrum? You have done so many things wrong and refuse to reflect on them. Are you going to cling forever to someone else’s unintentional mistake?”
Jiang Heng retorted, “What have I done wrong?”
The moment she brought it up, Huo Shiqing grew furious. “When An’an first joined the sect, we merely said a few words of encouragement to her. Yet you deliberately led her to the spirit-beast pens and locked the door from outside. If Eldest Senior Brother had not arrived in time, one of her arms would have been devoured!”
“And on her first birthday at the sect, I deliberately took your feelings into consideration. I gave her a second-rate Radiant Flowing Light Dress, not even half as good as the ones I gave you. Yet you still could not tolerate it. You cut it into pieces and made An’an cry until her eyes were swollen.”
“We overlooked matters like these out of consideration for our bond as fellow disciples, but you only became more excessive, practically leaving An’an no way to survive. After all that, how can you still have the audacity to ask what you did wrong?”
Jiang Heng closed her eyes, then slowly opened them. “As for the pens, she insisted on seeing the newborn spirit beasts. I warned her repeatedly not to go near them, and I never locked her inside.”
“As for those dresses, they had already been torn to pieces by the time I saw them. I proposed that Eldest Senior Brother investigate whose spiritual sense had done it, but she cried until she fainted, and the matter was dropped.”
“There were many other incidents like that. You never listened to my explanations. The moment I opened my mouth, you accused me of making excuses. And now you want to pin all of it on me?”
Huo Shiqing grew even angrier. “So you are saying someone else did all of it? Other than you, who would harbor such deep malice toward An’an and target her again and again?”
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