Who Do You Believe?
The sect master had long since ordered the hall's doors shut, worried that someone might barge in.
But the doors meant nothing to Immortal Venerable Yanchen. The two of them barged right in, and the sect master swallowed the words of persuasion he had been about to say.
"Master!" The moment Su Fuyun saw Gu Huaiwei, her eyes reddened again.
Anyone who didn't know better might have thought the sect master had put her through some terrible ordeal.
Seeing Su Fuyun take shelter behind Immortal Venerable Yanchen like a fledgling, the sect master rolled his eyes inwardly, not bothering to watch her put on an act.
Gu Huaiwei naturally shielded Su Fuyun behind him, unwilling to spare Sang Ying even a shred of attention.
"Weren't the disciples due to return from the secret realm today? I waited a long time on Crimson Snow Peak, but my disciple never came back. Only after I asked a Dao attendant did I learn they were all here with you. Might you tell me what exactly is going on?" Gu Huaiwei's voice was light, but anyone could hear that he was angry.
At this, the sect master's headache grew worse. He hadn't expected Immortal Venerable Yanchen to come in person to demand his young disciple back.
He had no choice but to explain the matter again. "I've now decided on punishments for the two disciples. Once Sang Ying agrees, the matter will be settled."
"This matter is far from settled!" Before Gu Huaiwei could speak, the Third Elder hurried to remove the restriction on Lin Shu.
Once freed, the first thing Lin Shu did was complain to his master about his grievances and the injustice he had suffered.
"You're a male cultivator, yet two young girls reduced you to this state. You've truly made me, your master, lose face!" At the Third Elder's words, everyone present except Su Fuyun had a change of expression.
Sang Ying had heard about the Third Elder before. He had always been on bad terms with her father. His dao companion had abandoned him in his early years, and he had developed a prejudice against all female cultivators in the world. The disciples on his Seeking the Dao Peak were all male, and even the Dao attendants responsible for sweeping and cleaning were boys.
The disciples even joked that the insects, ants, birds, and beasts on Seeking the Dao Peak were probably all male too.
The Third Elder saw nothing wrong with this, and he even forbade his disciples from finding dao companions. In his eyes, love would only hinder cultivators in their pursuit of the Great Dao and had no benefit to anyone.
Everyone in the Flowing Light Sword Sect knew about this failing of his, so even though his words were unpleasant, the sect master and Gu Huaiwei merely frowned, with no intention of taking issue with him.
But though they weren't going to take issue with the Third Elder, he intended to take issue with them. "My disciple went to the secret realm for training perfectly fine. How did he get tangled up in so much trouble when he came back, and why must he be punished with secluded reflection? Sect master, you'd better give me an explanation!"
As he spoke, the Third Elder's gaze swept over Sang Ying and Su Fuyun in turn, seeming at once appraising and threatening, making both of them somewhat uncomfortable.
His interrogating manner also angered the sect master, who replied impatiently, "Third Elder, instead of questioning me, you'd be better off asking your disciple. It was a matter between two martial sisters, so what was a man like him doing meddling in it? A fellow disciple was in danger, her life or death unknown, and what did he do? He declared in front of everyone that she deserved it. Is that something one should say about a fellow disciple?!"
The Third Elder gave a cold snort, plainly unconcerned.
"If there truly was no discord between the two of them, why would Lin Shu talk nonsense? I say it was clearly true, and they framed Lin Shu to save their own faces!" the Third Elder shouted angrily.
"Mind your words, Third Elder!" Gu Huaiwei's expression was grave. "Lin Shu may not know better, but don't you? Disputes between martial sisters are minor matters, yet Lin Shu made a great fuss over this and spoke ill of a fellow disciple. I think the sect master was quite right to punish him. Even three months of reflection is a little too little!"
It had to be said that, when dealing with outsiders, Gu Huaiwei was still of some use as a master. At least for now, he had protected Sang Ying in front of the Third Elder.
"Hmph! You've both benefited from Sang Zheng, so naturally you'd take his daughter's side. We of Seeking the Dao Peak will count ourselves unlucky this time and accept the punishment!" Seeing that the sect master and Gu Huaiwei were of one mind, the Third Elder knew he couldn't prevail against them and could only grit his teeth and accept it.
Then, without waiting for the sect master to say more, he took Lin Shu and left the main peak.
Once those two were gone, only the matter of Sang Ying and Su Fuyun remained unresolved in the hall.
"Sang Ying, what have you decided about what I said earlier?" the sect master asked, returning to the subject.
Sang Ying had guessed that Gu Huaiwei would come to back Su Fuyun up, but she hadn't expected him to arrive so quickly. Still, that was just as well; it saved her another trip to find him later.
She knew the sect master was implicitly asking her to relent and accept this resolution. With Gu Huaiwei interfering, the sect master's arrangement was probably the harshest punishment he could give Su Fuyun.
Sang Ying should have known when to stop. After all, the sect master had already decided to give her the Ice Lotus that Su Fuyun had gone to so much trouble to obtain.
But Sang Ying refused. She intended to bring the matter into the open and expose Gu Huaiwei's favoritism completely before everyone.
"Master," she called softly, "do you believe Senior Sister, or do you believe your disciple?"
Gu Huaiwei frowned slightly, seemingly unable to understand what Sang Ying was so fixated on.
Su Fuyun timidly grasped Gu Huaiwei's sleeve, like a drowning person clutching the last piece of driftwood, unable to let go no matter what.
His thin lips parted, but the words that came out were cold and merciless. "This was nothing more than a misunderstanding. Don't you know what kind of person your senior sister is? Let the matter rest!"
Sang Ying lowered her lashes, avoiding their expressions. "Very well. Your disciple will accept the sect master's arrangement."
At the sect master's and Gu Huaiwei's orders, Su Fuyun reluctantly brought out the Ice Lotus.
Sang Ying knew that even though she had brought it out now, if she got the chance later, she would still use Gu Huaiwei to get the Ice Lotus back.
Rather than let that happen, she might as well use the Ice Lotus to do someone a favor.
Sang Ying turned to the sect master and said, "This Ice Lotus was hard to obtain, but I've only just reached Foundation Establishment. Even if I had it, it wouldn't be of much use to me. It would be better to give it to the sect and put it in the hands of someone who needs it more!"
At that moment, Sang Ying clearly saw out of the corner of her eye that Su Fuyun's eyes had reddened with anger. How unusual—it was the first time she had seen her eyes redden without tears falling.
No matter how angry Su Fuyun was, the sect master, at any rate, was pleased.
He wasn't the sort to stand on ceremony for the sake of appearances. Seeing that Sang Ying genuinely wanted to give the Ice Lotus to the sect, he declined only twice before accepting it.
Still, he didn't take it for nothing. In return, he gave Sang Ying a sizable sum of "pocket money."
This made Su Fuyun, whose pockets were empty, even angrier.
"Then that settles today's matter. Fuyun, enter the quiet chamber to serve your punishment in three days," the sect master instructed.
Sang Ying and Su Fuyun quietly assented, and Gu Huaiwei then took them back to Crimson Snow Peak.
After the group returned, Sang Ying had no patience for the other two and immediately asked to be excused. But, contrary to his usual behavior, Gu Huaiwei ordered Sang Ying to stay and told Su Fuyun to leave first.
Before leaving, Su Fuyun kept looking back, probably worried that Sang Ying would say something she shouldn't to Gu Huaiwei.