Getting What She Deserved
Su Fuyun spoke with such certainty and sincerity. Besides, everyone had been so intent on staying alive at the time that none of them had noticed what had happened between the two fellow disciples.
They had only heard Su Fuyun shout those words, then seen Sang Ying attacked by the Ice Flood Dragon.
Now that Su Fuyun had explained, everyone quickly understood. No wonder Junior Sister Fuyun had given Sang Ying the Ice Lotus. Sang Ying had asked for it herself out of arrogance.
Lin Shu asked, "Why didn't you explain it to us at the time, Junior Sister? You let us misunderstand you for so long."
Su Fuyun lowered her head, looking aggrieved. "Junior Sister lost her life because of it. How could I bear to say these things and bring criticism down on her?"
At once, everyone felt even more sympathy for Su Fuyun, and their opinion of Sang Ying worsened.
Some thought Sang Ying had probably overestimated herself and wanted to return the Ice Lotus on her own. Others believed Sang Ying might have set her sights on the Ice Lotus and wanted to take it amid the chaos.
No one questioned Su Fuyun's words. After all, the person who knew the truth was already "dead." Besides, given the image she had cultivated over the years, no one would doubt the truth of what Immortal Venerable Yanchen's eldest disciple said.
Everyone began comforting Su Fuyun, telling her that the path of cultivation was simply this cruel and that she need not grieve for Sang Ying.
"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have given her the Ice Lotus." Su Fuyun repeated those words over and over, her tears making everyone's hearts ache for her.
Off to the side, Elder Yanhua held the disciples' life stones and picked out the one belonging to Sang Ying. He played with the stone, which still glowed white, occasionally glancing at the farce before him and watching everyone grieve sincerely over Sang Ying's death.
Tsk, they're still too young. They had so easily concluded that their fellow disciple was dead without even thinking to ask him, an elder. Elder Yanhua shook his head. He decided that once they returned, he would make these little brats work hard on their fundamentals.
"Don't be sad, Junior Sister Fuyun. Junior Sister Sang Ying had bad luck, and nothing could be done about it. Besides, she was always bullying you. Now that she's died trying to snatch a spirit treasure, she got what she deserved." Lin Shu patted Su Fuyun's shoulder and comforted her softly.
"How come I don't know when I ever bullied Senior Sister Su? And what's this about 'snatching a spirit treasure'?"
A clear female voice suddenly rang out in everyone's ears. They turned toward it and saw a strikingly beautiful young woman in blue looking coldly at Lin Shu. Her delicate brows were slightly knitted, and a hint of anger lay in her eyes.
Under her unrelenting stare, Lin Shu instinctively averted his eyes. As a result, he failed to notice the flash of terror on Su Fuyun's face.
"Why have you stopped talking, Senior Brother Lin? How did I bully Senior Sister Su? How did I snatch a spirit treasure? How did I get what I deserved?" Sang Ying walked toward the two of them step by step, and the others instinctively made way for her. "What terrible crime did I commit that I had to pay for it with my life?!"
Sang Ying had not intended to make a scene out here. She had planned to wait until she returned to the sect and explain everything to the sect master. She had not expected to hear someone slandering her like this the moment she left the secret realm.
All these years, Sang Ying had deliberately kept her distance from Su Fuyun and avoided contact with her. Moreover, because of Gu Huaiwei, Sang Ying had always been the one wronged in their dealings. Whatever Su Fuyun took a fancy to, Gu Huaiwei would obtain it for her.
Just like the Frost Condensation Flower not long ago.
Sang Ying knew she and Su Fuyun were destined not to get along, so she had never tried to befriend her in front of outsiders. She had thought that, in other people's eyes, they were merely a pair of fellow disciples who were overly distant. She had not expected that, in these people's eyes, she had always been the vicious junior sister who bullied her senior!
This unexpectedly matched the plot of the original book.
Sang Ying could not help wondering how much of what the book said was true and how much was false.
Questioned relentlessly by Sang Ying, Lin Shu felt he was losing face. He had never liked Sang Ying much to begin with, and the strange looks from the others further provoked him. At once, he threw caution to the wind. "You've got the nerve to ask me? Do you dare say Immortal Venerable Yanchen took you as his disciple of his own free will? Do you dare say you haven't bullied Junior Sister Fuyun all these years? Do you dare say you didn't make Junior Sister Fuyun give you that Ice Lotus?!"
As Lin Shu fired questions back at her, he also recalled the grievances Su Fuyun had shared with him over the years. The more he spoke, the more justified he felt. "An orphan like you was already blessed beyond measure to become Immortal Venerable Yanchen's disciple, yet you were jealous that your senior sister was doted on by the Immortal Venerable, so you targeted and bullied her at every turn. Aren't you afraid the Immortal Venerable will find out and expel you from his tutelage?!"
"Ha!" Sang Ying truly could not hold back a cold laugh. "I admit that Immortal Venerable Yanchen was indeed unwilling to take me as his disciple at first..."
Lin Shu's lips curled up, and he gave Sang Ying a look of contempt and triumph.
"But I wasn't the one who asked to become his disciple, either. The sect master took pity on me for losing both my parents and made the arrangement to protect me. If you're unhappy about it, do you think the sect master was wrong?" Sang Ying had not wanted to say much about this matter, but Lin Shu had already come bullying her to her face, so she had little choice but to explain.
She continued, "Second, I have never bullied Senior Sister Su. Everyone knows that Senior Sister Su is the Immortal Venerable's favorite. I am not favored by him, so how would I dare bully his beloved disciple? Besides, I've devoted myself to cultivation since I entered the sect and have had little contact with her. Where would I find the time to bully her?"
Su Fuyun had already quietly put some distance between herself and Lin Shu, but he had not noticed and still wanted to speak up for her.
Sang Ying gave him no chance. Before he could open his mouth, she cut him off. "And as for the Ice Lotus, I never asked Senior Sister Su to give it to me. What she pressed into my hands at the time wasn't the Ice Lotus, but this Demon Beast."
Sang Ying brought out the Gale Hound she was holding so everyone could see.
Many people had seen Su Fuyun buy the Demon Beast, and afterward she had often brought the cub along to play with others. Everyone present could recognize that the beloved demon pet in Sang Ying's arms belonged to Su Fuyun.
"Amo, there you are! I thought you were missing!" Su Fuyun immediately came forward, reaching for the little black bundle in Sang Ying's arms.
It had been sleeping peacefully in Sang Ying's embrace and had only just woken up slowly when she moved it.
Seeing Su Fuyun reach out, Sang Ying held the Gale Hound and stepped back, unwilling to let her touch it. To her surprise, however, the moment the Gale Hound saw Su Fuyun, it became wildly excited and tried to break free of Sang Ying's arms.
It struggled so violently that Sang Ying instinctively let go.
As soon as the Gale Hound landed, it ran happily to Su Fuyun and circled around her. Sang Ying had never seen it act so affectionate.
Sang Ying clenched her hand, wiping away the warmth the Gale Hound had left in her palm, as though wiping away the things they had been through together.
Su Fuyun picked up the Gale Hound and held it in her arms. Looking at Sang Ying with tear-filled eyes, she said, "I'm sorry, Junior Sister. I must have been in such a hurry that I took the wrong Storage Bag and accidentally gave you the one holding the Raising Beast Ring instead of the one holding the Ice Lotus."
Once again, she had found an excuse for herself.