Framed

Sang Ying saw it clearly. The moment there was a disturbance outside, Su Fuyun immediately put the ice lotus away.

The ice lotus meant a great deal to Sang Ying, and she could not allow it to come to any harm. So she immediately rushed to Su Fuyun's side.

"Junior Sister, did you come to save me?!" Seeing Sang Ying stand in front of her and shatter the falling rocks for her, Su Fuyun was rather happy for a moment.

Sang Ying: No, I came to save the ice lotus.

Naturally, though, she would not say that outright. She simply nodded along with Su Fuyun.

The ice flood dragon seemed to have been enraged. After following them all the way here, it began attacking wildly. The cave could not withstand it at all, and after just a few blows, it came crashing down.

A huge, bright yellow eye peered in through a gap in the cave. It shifted slightly, sweeping over everyone before finally settling on Sang Ying and Su Fuyun.

Sang Ying quickly understood. The ice flood dragon probably knew who had the ice lotus.

"It came for the ice lotus. If we give it back, perhaps we'll still have a sliver of hope!" What Sang Ying could see, Jun Heng could naturally see as well.

He knew better than anyone that if the ice flood dragon set its sights on them, none of them would be able to leave alive. The only thing to do now was give up the ice lotus to save their lives.

"Senior Sister, you should hand over the ice lotus!" At this point, Sang Ying had no choice but to give ground. Fortunately, she remembered there was more than one ice lotus in this secret realm, though the others were somewhat hard to find.

Sang Ying was not afraid of a difficult search. She was even less willing to lose her life over this.

Su Fuyun bit her lower lip upon hearing this, unable to make up her mind for the moment.

In that brief span of time, the ice flood dragon had already smashed the entire cave apart, forcing everyone inside out.

The ice flood dragon lashed its tail, and where it struck, a deep sinkhole instantly appeared in the ground. An underground river lay beneath it, though no one knew where it led.

"Junior Sister Fuyun, as long as the green mountains remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood. It seems we weren't fated to have this ice lotus after all. You should give it back!" If the others had shown Su Fuyun some tolerance before, all they felt for her now was resentment.

If she had not insisted on picking the ice lotus and bringing it back, how would they have ended up in this predicament?

Several of them had already been seriously injured and had yet to recover. Sang Ying and Jun Heng were too few in number and could not hold out much longer either. After everyone urged her again and again, Su Fuyun finally gritted her teeth and took out her Storage Bag once more.

Seeing this, the ice flood dragon stopped fighting the others and immediately charged straight at Su Fuyun. Its savage, terrifying head and sharp teeth were about to strike her face, and in that moment, Su Fuyun's mind went blank.

She could not hear a sound. All she wanted was to stay alive.

She instinctively stuffed the Storage Bag into the waistband of the blue-clad woman in front of her and shoved her forward.

Caught completely off guard, Sang Ying was pushed right in front of the ice flood dragon. Behind her, her good Senior Sister called out loudly, "Junior Sister, I'll leave the ice lotus to you!"

As soon as she said that, the ice flood dragon's gaze fell on Sang Ying. Dragon breath streamed from its nostrils, and it looked at Sang Ying as though she were already dead.

Sang Ying had no time to explain. She could only raise her sword to meet the flood dragon's tail.

"Fellow Daoist Sang Ying!" It was Jun Heng's voice, filled with alarm.

Her snow-white Ice Soul Sword shattered completely under the blow. In that instant, Sang Ying felt as though all her internal organs had split apart.

With the last shred of her consciousness, Sang Ying let the force of the flood dragon's blow carry her into the fissure behind her and into the underground river. Before closing her eyes, she did not forget to look back at Su Fuyun, and unexpectedly saw a look of guilt on her face.

Ha! Could she actually feel guilty?

Alas, I'm still too weak. That was Sang Ying's last thought before she fell into the underground river...

The graceful figure in blue fell into the fissure like a bird with a broken wing. Seeing this, the ice flood dragon showed no intention of continuing to fight the others and immediately moved to give chase.

The fissure was too small for the ice flood dragon to enter, so it followed the direction of the underground river, giving the others no time to react.

By the time they came to their senses, the ice flood dragon was long gone.

Those who remained silently helped their injured fellow disciples up and took them somewhere safe to settle them. There was no joy at having survived the ordeal on their faces, only hearts full of sorrow. They had thought that in a Foundation Establishment Realm secret realm, all they needed to do was look for spirit treasures. They had never expected to lose a fellow disciple only a few days after entering.

Only now did these former favored children of heaven realize that the Great Dao was merciless, and that they too were merely among the countless beings on the path of cultivation.

Jun Heng did not immerse himself in sorrow as they did. Instead, he dragged his weary body away, sword in hand, following the direction the ice flood dragon had taken.

Seeing this, Su Fuyun hurriedly asked, "Brother Jun Heng, where are you going? First, you

Jun Heng had not wanted to take issue with her; after all, Su Fuyun was only a female cultivator at the Qi Refining Realm. But she had chosen this moment to approach him, and Jun Heng naturally could not help venting some of his anger on her:

"No need. I still have to look for Fellow Daoist Sang Ying."

Su Fuyun grew anxious. "But Junior Sister has already..."

"Why did you give the ice lotus to Fellow Daoist Sang Ying back then?" Before Su Fuyun could say that word, Jun Heng suddenly pressed her. "Even if you gave it to her, why did you have to shout it so loudly?"

Su Fuyun was startled by his serious expression, and her face instantly turned deathly pale. "You were the one who said to give the ice lotus back, Fellow Daoist Jun Heng. So I wanted to give it to Junior Sister and have her take it to you."

She quickly changed how she addressed him.

"So are you suspicious of me, Fellow Daoist Jun Heng? Do you suspect that I deliberately tried to frame Junior Sister?" Su Fuyun's eyes reddened. Unlike the usual thunder without rain, her tears fell quickly this time.

Jun Heng looked away. "I didn't mean that. I was only asking."

Su Fuyun's words were full of grievance. "She's my junior sister! Even if Master was forced to take her in, after all these years together, how could I want to hurt her? I know my cultivation isn't high and my aptitude isn't good either, and that you all don't like me as much as Junior Sister, but I've worked hard at cultivation too. You can't think that of me just because my cultivation is inferior to hers!"

She spoke with such sincere feeling that even Jun Heng began to wonder whether he was prejudiced against her.

A senior brother nearby comforted her, saying, "Junior Sister Fuyun, don't be upset. I think Fellow Daoist Jun Heng only misspoke because he was anxious. We all know you're a kind person, and you certainly didn't do it on purpose. Perhaps Junior Sister Sang Ying was fated to face this tribulation!"

A few more people came over to console her, and only then did Su Fuyun's tears slowly stop.

"Now that things have come to this, may I ask what you plan to do next, Fellow Daoist Jun Heng?" someone asked.

Jun Heng made no attempt to hide it and said frankly, "I'm going to look for Fellow Daoist Sang Ying. Counting this time, she's saved me twice. No matter what, I have to find her."

The person who had asked had wanted to invite Jun Heng to continue traveling with them, but since he had said that, they were too embarrassed to bring it up.

The person cupped his hands. "In that case, let us part here. I wish you a safe journey, Fellow Daoist Jun Heng."

Jun Heng cupped his hands in return.

For them, "safety" was probably the best wish one could offer right now.