Do You Dare Swear a Heart Demon Oath?

Su Fuyun was full of helplessness, playing the part of a pitiful senior sister misunderstood by her junior sister to perfection.

Sang Ying let her speak. "I have never poured out my troubles to Senior Brother Lin. Junior Sister and I may not be close, but we are hardly hostile to each other as Senior Brother Lin said. I only complained to him that Junior Sister was aloof and unwilling to grow close to me. I don't know why Senior Brother Lin misunderstood."

The implication was clear: Lin Shu had gotten everything wrong and misconstrued Su Fuyun's meaning.

Lin Shu looked at Su Fuyun in disbelief, as if he could scarcely believe those words had come out of her mouth.

Su Fuyun continued, "As for the Ice Flood Dragon, I've been even more unjustly accused. Fellow Daoist Jun Heng of the Purple Firmament Sect was there too, and he was the first to suggest returning the Ice Lotus. I was only at the Qi Refining Realm. How would I have dared make that decision on my own? Then I heard Junior Sister suggest giving her the Ice Lotus. In my panic, I took the wrong Storage Bag and mistakenly gave her the one holding the Raising Beast Ring. I really didn't do it on purpose. I didn't want Junior Sister to die!"

Sang Ying believed that last sentence. After all, Su Fuyun wasn't that bold yet, and Sang Ying's Spirit Root hadn't been dug out. How could Su Fuyun bear to let her die so early?

"Wasn't that newly purchased Demon Beast cub your favorite, Senior Sister? How did you spend a whole month in the secret realm without noticing it was gone?" Sang Ying suddenly asked.

Su Fuyun paused, then explained without thinking, "The secret realm was so dangerous. I was worried about Amo's safety, so I never dared let him out, for fear he'd cause trouble. That's why I didn't realize I'd made a mistake."

She turned to Sang Ying. "Do you think I took the wrong Storage Bag on purpose to frame you, Junior Sister?"

"Yes!" Sang Ying said bluntly. "That's exactly what I think."

Her frank answer left Su Fuyun at something of a loss.

Su Fuyun turned her head away, avoiding Sang Ying's dark eyes. Those eyes seemed capable of seeing straight through a person's heart, and Su Fuyun hated them.

"In any case, I didn't do those things. If you want to suspect me, Junior Sister, you'll have to produce evidence." Now that things had come to this, Su Fuyun couldn't be bothered to keep up the act. She was certain Sang Ying had no evidence and wasn't at all worried that her secret would be exposed.

She touched the jade pendant at her throat, and her heart settled a little.

Sang Ying said, "I really don't have any evidence..."

Su Fuyun and Lin Shu both breathed involuntary sighs of relief.

But Sang Ying quickly continued, "I'm willing to swear a Heart Demon Oath that every word I've said is true. When we encountered the Ice Flood Dragon, Senior Sister Su pushed me. So, Senior Sister, do you dare swear a Heart Demon Oath to the Heavenly Dao that you've never tried to frame me?"

Su Fuyun's hand slowly clenched around her skirt. She had actually forgotten about Heart Demon Oaths.

Cultivators feared heart demons above all else. Once one took root, even a Devil Cultivator would find it difficult to overcome. But if it wasn't eliminated, one would have no hope of attaining the Great Dao in this lifetime.

"Do you dare?" Sang Ying asked coldly. "Swear that you didn't deliberately switch the Storage Bags, falsely accuse me, or push me toward that Ice Flood Dragon. Otherwise, may your cultivation never advance another inch, and may you remain stuck at the Qi Refining Realm for the rest of your life. If you do, I'll believe you, Senior Sister, and kneel and apologize to you before everyone in the Flowing Light Sword Sect!"

Su Fuyun's lips gradually turned pale. She gritted her teeth and refused to answer Sang Ying.

To the sect master, her behavior betrayed a guilty conscience. He wasn't the only clever person in the hall, and the others naturally saw that something was amiss with Su Fuyun too.

At the critical moment, Lin Shu stepped forward after all. Pointing at Sang Ying, he shouted, "You're Immortal Venerable Yanchen's disciple too. Why are you forcing your senior sister so maliciously? Don't you know how serious the consequences of a Heart Demon Oath can be for a cultivator? Yet you want Junior Sister Fuyun to swear such a dreadful oath. What are you up to?!"

"What are you up to?!" Sang Ying shot back without the slightest fear. "If Senior Sister didn't do those things, as she says, then swearing a Heart Demon Oath won't affect her in the slightest. What I'm doing would even let Senior Sister. As for you, not only did you deliberately sow discord between us, but now you're stopping Senior Sister from swearing an oath to prove her intentions. I think you're the one trying to harm her!"

"You!" Lin Shu was furious, and even looked ready to strike.

The sect master could see exactly what he intended. With a sweep of his sleeve, he cast a trapping formation and restrained Lin Shu. To everyone watching, this meant the sect master had believed Sang Ying and determined Lin Shu's guilt.

With things having come to this, the sect master found it a terrible headache as well. He had long known that Immortal Venerable Yanchen disliked Sang Ying, but he had thought the man would at least look after her somewhat for the sake of Sang Zheng and his wife.

But it now seemed that Immortal Venerable Yanchen treated Sang Ying as nothing more than an ornament, with no intention of looking after her at all. The child had probably suffered a great deal over the years.

The sect master suddenly felt some regret for sending the child to Crimson Snow Peak.

Seeing the disciples below watching the spectacle with relish, the sect master immediately frowned and said, "This is an internal matter of Crimson Snow Peak. What does it have to do with you? You've just returned from the secret realm. Why have you all come here instead of returning to your peaks to see your masters first?"

He waved his hand and promptly ordered them to leave.

The disciples had no more spectacle to watch. Though somewhat disappointed, they dared not defy the sect master's wishes and soon departed.

The noisy hall fell quiet once more, but the attitudes of the few people inside showed no sign of softening.

Although the sect master knew Sang Ying had suffered this time, he still tried to persuade her. "Sang Ying, as I see it, what happened today was a misunderstanding."

For some reason, when he spoke that last word, the sect master found he didn't dare look Sang Ying in the eyes. Her eyes were what most resembled Sang Zheng's, and whenever the sect master met them, he would have the fleeting impression that Sang Zheng was standing before him.

"How about this? I'll make the decision to give you this Ice Lotus as compensation. Lin Shu misconstrued Fuyun's meaning and misspoke, so I'll punish him with three months of reflection behind closed doors. Although Fuyun didn't do it on purpose, she still caused you considerable suffering, so she'll be punished with six months in the meditation chamber. We'll settle the matter here and never bring it up again. What do you think?"

This was already the most appropriate arrangement the sect master could make, but even so, he was still shielding Su Fuyun.

Even though Sang Ying had long prepared herself for this, she couldn't help feeling somewhat disappointed.

If not for her good luck, she would probably no longer be in this world. Moreover, the injuries she had sustained from the Ice Flood Dragon's attack had yet to fully heal. Yet in the end, Su Fuyun only had to spend six months in the meditation chamber to cancel all of it out.

Sang Ying remained silent and gave no answer.

Sang Ying wasn't the only one dissatisfied with the sect master's arrangement; even Su Fuyun felt wronged. In her view, Sang Ying had no evidence, so she herself was blameless. By punishing her, wasn't the sect master indirectly telling everyone that she had done wrong?

Su Fuyun was unwilling. The meditation chamber was bleak and had no Spiritual Qi. How was she supposed to cultivate if she had to stay there for six months? Besides, she was the one who had picked the Ice Lotus and carried it all the way back, yet the sect master had casually given it to Sang Ying. Without the Ice Lotus, how was she supposed to reach Foundation Establishment?!

The sect master knew nothing of Su Fuyun's complaints. He was waiting for Sang Ying to answer.

Unfortunately, before Sang Ying could answer, Immortal Venerable Yanchen and the third elder arrived.