Don't Regret It

Gu Huaiwei brought Sang Ying into his residence. Sang Ying rarely set foot here; she had only spent a few days here when she first came to Crimson Snow Peak. Later, Su Fuyun had gone to Gu Huaiwei and cried to him once, and he had never allowed Sang Ying to come again.

Walking in again now, Sang Ying felt herself taking every step with the utmost care, afraid of picking up the scent of a place where she did not belong.

Gu Huaiwei brought her into a courtyard. He swept up his robes and sat down lightly, then said without looking at Sang Ying, "Sit."

Sang Ying shook her head. "Once Master has finished speaking, this disciple will leave. It won't take long."

Her resistance to Gu Huaiwei was as plain as his dislike of her.

Her unexpected answer finally made Gu Huaiwei glance at Sang Ying. But he soon looked away again, toying with a porcelain-white teacup. "I already know what happened today. I understand your resentment, but since the sect master has already dealt out punishment, I hope you will put this matter behind you and stop targeting your senior sister from now on."

Sang Ying could scarcely understand what he meant by "targeting." She even wondered if Gu Huaiwei was blind.

All these years, on so many occasions, Su Fuyun had always been the one racking her brains to snatch her things. When had Sang Ying ever taken the initiative to pay Su Fuyun any attention?

Yet in Gu Huaiwei's telling, she was the one targeting Su Fuyun?

"This disciple doesn't understand what Master means. As far as I know, I have never provoked senior sister. If she hadn't kept her teeth sunk into me, I wouldn't have crossed swords with her," Sang Ying replied coldly.

How could Gu Huaiwei fail to hear that Sang Ying's "kept her teeth sunk into me" likened Su Fuyun to a dog? He felt an instinctive dislike for Sang Ying and also felt that the conflict between the two was not Su Fuyun's fault alone.

But Sang Ying had nearly come to harm this time, after all, and Su Fuyun had gone a little too far.

With that thought, Gu Huaiwei tried again. "I know you have been wronged. If you want compensation, you may ask for it. You need only stop opposing your senior sister from now on."

So, after all was said and done, he was here to cut her down and rid Su Fuyun of a future threat.

Fortunately, Sang Ying had long grown used to his unequal treatment and no longer felt sad about it.

Since Gu Huaiwei had brought it up, Sang Ying took the opportunity to answer. "There is nothing this disciple wants. I only hope that once I reach the Golden Core Realm, Master will allow me to return to Settled Frost Peak."

Settled Frost Peak was where Sang Ying's parents had lived. The couple had not yet had time to take on apprentices, and had only brought a few inner disciples to live on the peak. Later, something had happened to the couple, and Sang Ying had come to Crimson Snow Peak. Those inner disciples had soon gone over to others, and Settled Frost Peak had naturally fallen quiet.

But Sang Ying meant more than simply returning to Settled Frost Peak. She wanted to inherit it and cease being a disciple of Crimson Snow Peak.

No matter how much Gu Huaiwei disliked this disciple, he had acknowledged her as his apprentice himself. Now Sang Ying had told him so plainly that she would leave in the future, acting as though she cared nothing for him as her master, and it stirred a subtle feeling in his heart.

"Don't speak in anger." Gu Huaiwei was willing to give Sang Ying another chance. As long as she agreed to what he had said, she would remain his second apprentice.

But once again, the result disappointed Gu Huaiwei. Sang Ying said bluntly, "This disciple isn't speaking in anger. I know exactly what I'm saying. Master never liked me to begin with, and only agreed to take me as an apprentice out of regard for the sect master and the elders. Now that I'm asking to leave of my own accord, Master should be pleased."

Though she had exposed his thoughts so bluntly, Gu Huaiwei's expression did not change in the slightest.

"Cultivation at the Golden Core Realm is nowhere near enough to support an entire peak on your own. Don't be willful." Everything Gu Huaiwei said seemed to be for Sang Ying's own good.

But Sang Ying would not accept his "kindness." "Master needn't worry. That is my affair, and I will handle it."

Gu Huaiwei fell silent for a moment, then looked at his youngest apprentice again. The child he had forgotten at the foot of the mountain, who had stubbornly climbed it step by step against the wind and snow, had now grown up. Yet in her features, he could still see the resolute, stubborn look she had worn back then.

For some reason, Gu Huaiwei's heart suddenly softened a little.

But the moment he thought of Su Fuyun, he forcibly suppressed his feelings. "You're so obstinate. I'm afraid you'll suffer for it in the future."

"Has Master ever considered that someone is even more obstinate than I am, yet doesn't realize it?" Their eyes met again, and once again it was Gu Huaiwei who looked away first.

For a moment, Gu Huaiwei actually did not know whom Sang Ying was talking about.

Since so much had already been said, Gu Huaiwei stopped trying to persuade her. "In that case, I agree. I only hope you won't regret it."

"This disciple will never regret it!" Sang Ying seemed to say this to him with particular force, hoping this would be the last time the two of them had such a conversation.

Once again, the two parted on bad terms. Once the conversation was over, Sang Ying did not want to stay a moment longer and immediately left Gu Huaiwei's residence.

His and Su Fuyun's cave abodes were both built in the spots on Crimson Snow Peak with the finest scenery and richest Spiritual Qi. Sang Ying, by contrast, had only been able to choose a place on the back mountain, where she had to fall asleep each night to the howling mountain winds.

Before Sang Ying could get there, someone came out to block her path.

"And here I thought that after three years, your temperament might have changed. I never imagined you'd still be so vicious, using a scheme like this to frame senior sister Fuyun!" The youth was only at the Qi Refining Realm and could not yet withstand the wind and snow on the mountain. His face was red from the cold, but he refused to give an inch.

The scene felt somewhat familiar to Sang Ying, just like when she had first come up the mountain.

Zhou Heng'an was truly furious this time. He had waited with a heart full of joy for Sang Ying and Su Fuyun to return, and had even, for once, prepared a gift for Sang Ying.

To his surprise, no sooner had they returned than rumors spread that Su Fuyun had framed Sang Ying. What was more, the sect master had actually sentenced Su Fuyun to six months in the meditation chamber.

That was the meditation chamber! A tiny room with neither Spiritual Qi nor light. What unbearable torture it would be to spend six months inside! Senior sister Fuyun was already frail; how could she stay in the meditation chamber for half a year?

Zhou Heng'an had immediately thrown away the gift he had meant to give Sang Ying and come to Crimson Snow Peak to intercept her. "Hurry and find the sect master. Explain everything clearly and have him revoke senior sister Fuyun's punishment!"

Perhaps she had endured too much today, but facing Zhou Heng'an, Sang Ying suddenly no longer wanted to put up with it.

She gave Zhou Heng'an a malicious smile. "You tell me to go, and I should go? I won't, just because you say so. You can watch your senior sister Fuyun spend half a year in the meditation chamber!"

Zhou Heng'an was startled by her, and when Sang Ying took a step forward, he instinctively moved out of her way.

By the time he came to his senses and heard Sang Ying's mocking laugh, he angrily shouted at her retreating back, "Don't even think about hurting senior sister Fuyun! I'll always protect her! Just you wait. Once I reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, I'll help senior sister Fuyun defeat you!"

"Wait until you reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, then!" Sang Ying did not take his words to heart, because by the time he reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, she would probably already have touched the threshold of the Golden Core Realm.