Chapter Forty-Six: Suspicion Arises

Shen Yanchu stared at Jiang Huaiyu. "What standpoint are you speaking from?"

Jiang Huaiyu replied, "Not long after An'an entered the sect, she was framed by Jiang Heng and nearly lost her life after accidentally straying into the spirit beasts' enclosure. Eldest Senior Brother, have you forgotten what Shizun said to us back then?"

Shen Yanchu certainly had not forgotten.

Immortal Lord Yunyin had been furious, severely rebuking and punishing Jiang Heng.

He had also commanded the rest of them to take good care of and protect the Junior Sister from then on, ensuring that An'an would never be bullied again.

With Shizun's words ringing in their ears, they had gradually and openly begun to favor Xu Ning'an, pushing Jiang Heng further and further away.

Jiang Huaiyu continued, "I know Eldest Senior Brother has always strived to be fair and just, but not everyone deserves to be treated with a completely even hand."

"Jiang Heng has never truly apologized to An'an. Instead, she has stubbornly twisted the facts and shifted the blame. Someone like that is not worth your effort to mend ties with. No matter how innocent and kind-hearted An'an is, it is impossible for her to feel nothing at all toward the person who harmed her. You are being too hard on her."

The former Shen Yanchu would have thought the exact same way deep down, but the present him no longer felt that way.

He gazed steadily at Jiang Huaiyu. "Tell me, is there a possibility that the reason Jiang Heng has consistently refused to apologize is simply because she didn't do anything wrong in the first place?"

Jiang Huaiyu furrowed his brows slightly. "What are you implying?"

Shen Yanchu clenched his fists, keeping his tone as calm as possible. "Lately, when I look back on that incident, the more I think about it, the stranger it feels."

"If a cultivator truly wanted someone dead, there are countless silent methods available. Junior Sister has never been a foolish child. If she genuinely wanted to murder her own Junior Sister, how could she possibly choose a method so conspicuous and impossible to escape suspicion from?"

"Besides, back then, she was the one who insisted on having her spiritual consciousness examined to prove her innocence. If she had a guilty conscience, how could she dare to bring that up? It was An'an, on the other hand, who inexplicably collapsed..."

In truth, the line separating the truth of certain matters from the illusion is razor-thin.

Yet once emotional bias becomes involved, one's eyes are completely blinded, causing them to miss the truth entirely.

A trace of displeasure crept into Jiang Huaiyu's voice. "Is Eldest Senior Brother suggesting that An'an staged the whole thing herself just to frame Jiang Heng?"

Shen Yanchu gave a slight shake of his head. "My concern is that An'an might have been too frightened at the time and misspoke, or perhaps, like the rest of us, she harbored a preconceived bias against Junior Sister, mistaking a misunderstanding for fact and thus misleading us."

"After all, none of us witnessed Junior Sister committing those acts with our own eyes. There are simply far too many suspicious points surrounding this matter."

Only then did Jiang Huaiyu's expression soften a fraction. "Perhaps precisely because she guessed you would think this way, Jiang Heng deliberately acted in reverse, using such a seemingly clumsy tactic."

"As for inspecting her spiritual consciousness—once that is done, regardless of the outcome, it is tantamount to publicly declaring our suspicion of her. Eldest Senior Brother, you are too gentle; naturally, you wouldn't want to humiliate her in front of everyone, and she knew that."

Shen Yanchu remained silent for a moment before lifting his gaze to Jiang Huaiyu. "How about a wager? Let's bet on whether Junior Sister was truly innocent in that past affair."

Jiang Huaiyu asked him how he proposed to bet.

Shen Yanchu answered, "Right now, Junior Sister is extremely distant from us. Coaxing her over to have her spiritual consciousness examined will likely not be easy. Instead, let us privately examine An'an's."

"Whether Jiang Heng actually spoke those deceitful words to her, and what the exact circumstances were at the time, only An'an as the direct party involved knows for certain, doesn't she?"

Jiang Huaiyu's face immediately darkened. "Are you still doubting An'an?"

A flicker of mild anger surfaced on Shen Yanchu's face. "How could you think that of me? I would doubt anyone before doubting her. I am merely worried that An'an was too terrified at the time and misunderstood Junior Sister's intentions, while simultaneously verifying other possibilities. Some matters are seen much more clearly from a bystander's perspective."

Jiang Huaiyu's expression remained ambivalent.

Shen Yanchu added one final condition. "If this matter proves that Junior Sister lied, I will never harbor any expectations for her again, and I will voluntarily apologize to An'an, serving as her sole Senior Brother from then on."

Jiang Huaiyu lowered his gaze slightly and finally agreed.

After all, this was precisely the purpose of his visit today.

After Jiang Huaiyu left, the daylight within the cavern dwelling dimmed according to the preset hour, plunging Shen Yanchu's face into deep shadows.

A moment ago, he had lied to his Junior Brother.

In reality, Shen Yanchu did indeed suspect Xu Ning'an.

He suspected that, driven by personal motives, she had failed to tell the whole truth and had intentionally or unintentionally led them to misunderstand Jiang Heng.

If she could be cold-hearted enough to let him abandon Jiang Heng's life and death, she was clearly not the innocent, pure, and flawless child everyone believed her to be.

Perhaps Xu Ning'an was merely an ordinary person with her own selfishness and dark sides.

It was their blind, overwhelming affection that had cast an overly dazzling halo over her, masking many of her inherent flaws and vulnerabilities.

This matter was soon discovered by the other two.

Harboring different ulterior motives, both of them insisted on being present to witness the event with their own eyes.

Especially Huo Shiqing, who had cast aside his newly blazing dao companion without a second thought and hurried over in a rush.

He inexplicably recalled the words Jiang Heng had spoken to him that day, and a tight, painful knot formed somewhere deep in his heart.

For a moment, even Huo Shiqing himself no longer knew whether he hoped Jiang Heng was innocent or guilty.

Of course, the explanation he offered outwardly was entirely different from the thoughts churning within his mind.

Completely unaware of what was about to befall her, Xu Ning'an remained listless in her cavern dwelling, weeping at regular intervals.

She deliberately refrained from using cultivation techniques to heal herself, leaving her eyes red and swollen so as to evoke even greater sympathy from them.

"An'an, look what Fourth Senior Brother brought for you!" Xia Zhiyu burst into Xu Ning'an's cavern dwelling with a bright grin, holding a large lotus-leaf package in his hand.

Xu Ning'an glanced at it despondently and said feebly, "I don't feel like looking."

Xia Zhiyu unpeeled the lotus leaf and smiled mindlessly. "Didn't you always love the Ruyi pastries from the Drunken Immortal Tower? Fourth Senior Brother went out of his way to make a detour just to buy them back for you. These are the most expensive kind, you know!"

As he spoke, Xia Zhiyu inexplicably thought of Jiang Heng and the inexpensive little treats she used to like.

Sure enough, the difference between a Junior Sister and a Minor Junior Sister was vast.

One was constantly afraid of being a burden to them and would only ask for things that weren't expensive.

The other only cared for lavish things, turning her nose up at anything slightly cheap.

Xu Ning'an was in no mood to eat pastries right now, but Xia Zhiyu directly shoved a piece against her lips, leaving her no room to evade. She had no choice but to take a reluctant bite.

"It doesn't taste good." She took the rest, casually tossed it onto the floor, and refused to look at it again.

Xu Ning'an's original intention was to retaliate against Xia Zhiyu for his remarks about her being insensible the other day, administering a small reprimand.

At the same time, she wanted to let Xia Zhiyu witness her unhappiness, subtly pressuring him to act as a lobbyist before Shen Yanchu.

Yet this action, in Xia Zhiyu's eyes, only made her seem all the more unreasonable...