This was also a way out Elder Ning had thought of for Fu Fengyuan-if he could no longer wield a sword, at least he could become a medical cultivator.
After that, Qiaoqiao went a long time without seeing her fourth senior brother. He remained a disciple of Ethereal Peak in name only; in reality, he had not returned there for a long time.
Seeing her sorrow, Fu Fengyuan drew his handsome brows together slightly. Traces of blood from where he had just bitten his lip still lingered at his mouth, and his robes were covered in dust and dirt. He looked utterly bedraggled.
After being sent away, he could no longer pick up the sword he regarded as his faith. The agony of his blocked meridians made him wish he were dead.
True Person Yao treated him very well, regarding him as a personal disciple. But the wastrels who had set their sights on him and treated him as a plaything for their amusement were all sons or disciples of the sect's elders and Peak Masters. True Person Yao could not afford to offend them, and he did not want to cause trouble for him.
He usually avoided appearing before others as much as possible so they would not come looking for him. Today, because of the sect master's birthday banquet, Medicine Peak's disciples had more work than they could handle, so he had come to the main peak to help deliver medicine.
Hearing that his junior sister had taken first place in the trial and even obtained a sword immortal's inheritance, he was genuinely happy for her. The little girl in his memories had grown up. She could even stand in front of him and protect him now.
He was deeply heartened.
Precisely because of that, he could not drag her into trouble with these people.
Enduring the pain, Fu Fengyuan gave a brilliant smile, as though he were still the cheerful fourth senior brother of her memories. "Junior sister, they were only joking around with me. I still have to return to Medicine Peak, so I'll be going."
He turned to leave, and Wu Fang, still kneeling on the ground, offered an ingratiating smile. "See? It was all a misunderstanding. Shouldn't you let me go now?"
"Shut your mouth!" The immortal crane rewarded him with a solid slap from its large wing.
Wu Fang spun around on the ground like a top, then collapsed with mosquito-coil spirals in his eyes.
Fu Fengyuan was just about to leave when he heard a soft sob.
His steps halted.
He turned back with difficulty and saw the little girl in her apricot-yellow dress, her shoulders shaking like autumn leaves trembling in a cold wind.
Fu Fengyuan's heart instantly ached as though it had been crushed to pieces. He could no longer take another step.
When her senior brothers and sisters arrived, they found their junior sister with reddened eyes and immediately grew anxious. Who had bullied Qiaoqiao?!
"Qiaoqiao, why are you crying?" The immortal crane also came closer.
[Sob, sob, sob, I remember everything now...]
[Because that strange illness blocking his meridians never got better, and those wastrels kept bullying him, they thought of every possible way to torment him. They even made Fourth Senior Brother be their slave...]
[The hidden injuries on Fourth Senior Brother's body never healed, and his body and mind kept getting worse.]
[Later, during one flare-up, Fourth Senior Brother finally couldn't bear it anymore. In his little room, he pierced his own Dantian with his sword, draining all the Spiritual Qi from his body. Senior Brother killed himself, sob, sob, sob...]
Remembering her fourth senior brother's end, Qiaoqiao could not stop her tears at all.
Fu Fengyuan's eyes dimmed slightly. Seeing his junior sister looking at him with misty, tear-filled eyes, he could not help thinking-Was that how I ended?
He was someone submerged in darkness, walking alone for so long, never able to hope a single ray of light into shining upon him.
He was better off dead than alive. Only, he did not want to see his junior sister's tears.
"Junior sister, don't cry," he said hoarsely.
The other senior brothers and sisters wore complicated expressions. None of them had imagined that the optimistic, cheerful fourth junior brother they remembered would ultimately reach this point...
As they looked at Wu Fang kneeling dizzily to one side, a little more hatred entered their eyes.
These people deserved to die for wantonly humiliating their fourth junior brother.
Wu Fang jumped in fright. This bunch from Ethereal Peak were all freaks. What had suddenly gotten into them? Their gazes had turned so fierce all at once...
Xiao Tingyu came up to him and pressed a dagger that could slice through iron like mud against his neck. "Talk. Where did that group just run off to?"
"Y-you... what are you doing?"
"What do you think?" She moved the dagger slightly.
Wu Fang shuddered and threatened, "I'm warning you, don't touch me! My master is Flowing Cloud Peak's grand elder. Even Immortal Venerable Wanghan has to yield to him! If he finds out, he definitely won't let you get away with this!"
[This grand elder...]
[Why does he sound a little familiar?] Qiaoqiao pondered.
The immortal crane thought, Could it be... there's melon to eat?!
"Talk when I tell you to! Cut the crap!" Xiao Tingyu grew angry.
"Second Senior Sister, I have a Truth Pill here. If that isn't enough, I also have Excruciating Pain Powder. Make him suffer through twenty-four hours of agony, and he'll tell you anything," Wen Zhi said gently from beside her.
Wu Fang broke out in a cold sweat. They were actually serious!
"I'll talk, I'll tell you everything..." Trembling, he gave them the location. Xiao Tingyu took the Excruciating Pain Powder and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Mmph, mmph-you, are you all insane?!" He had already told them, yet they were still poisoning him?!
Watching him roll on the ground in agony, the senior sisters felt a rush of satisfaction. "You deserve to hurt to death!"
Fu Fengyuan looked at his two senior sisters in some surprise. The personal disciples of Ethereal Peak could not be considered close. His senior brothers and sisters were not warm, outgoing people, and they rarely interacted. He had not expected his two senior sisters to step forward to defend him.
He had thought he no longer counted as part of Ethereal Peak.
While he was lost in thought, Shen Ji took him by the shoulder. "Come on. Let's go demand justice from them."
"Eldest Senior Brother, I..."
Shen Ji said, "Since you call me Eldest Senior Brother, I can't leave you to fend for yourself."
Fu Fengyuan's eyes grew warm.
Qiaoqiao said, "A Xue, let's go! We're off to uphold justice!"
The immortal crane said, "Honk!"
Off we go, to eat melon!
Looking at his senior brothers, senior sisters, and junior sister, Fu Fengyuan suddenly felt that the ray of light he had awaited for so long had shone upon him.
Chapter 20: He was in such a hurry
According to Wu Fang, the wastrels had arranged to sample wine together at the birthday banquet. Qiaoqiao and the others promptly headed for the banquet venue.
The birthday banquet had not yet begun, but most of the guests had already arrived, and it was bustling with activity.
The wastrels sat at a large table beneath a peach blossom tree. The disciple who had kicked Fu Fengyuan earlier took out a jar of fine wine, planted one foot on the stool beside him, and boasted, "Take a look! I went to a lot of trouble to get this-a jar of Flying Jade Wine worth a hundred thousand Spirit Stones!"