Was it you that night?
Chapter 162 - 160: He Smiles as He Stabs a Knife into Her Heart

Chapter 162: Chapter 160: He Smiles as He Stabs a Knife into Her Heart

Rong Yu and An Lu were simultaneously astonished, finding themselves surrounded by flat land; there were neither the jumbled rocks nor the hole they had fallen into the night before.

But they had indeed fought with the boulders all night long.

It was An Lu who recovered first, exclaiming loudly, "I know, it’s Shen Qinghe taking revenge on us in this way!"

It had to be the case, otherwise how could such a bizarre event occur?

Female Cultivator Chang frowned upon hearing this, "Do you have any evidence?"

An Lu was momentarily at a loss for words.

From start to finish last night, only the boulders were striking them; they hadn’t seen a single person’s shadow. With that being the case, from where would she get evidence to prove that it was Shen Qinghe playing tricks behind the scenes?

After hearing An Lu’s words, Rong Yu uttered in a hoarse voice, "It’s Qinghe playing tricks!"

It must have been Shen Qinghe seeking retribution for Shen Zhiyao.

The tactics were clearly the same.

They had teamed up with Nan Sheng to make Shen Zhiyao suffer in silence, rendering her unable to argue back, so Shen Qinghe had used the same method to leave them without an argument—there was no doubt it was Shen Qinghe getting back at them.

Over the years, they had witnessed just how close the feelings between Shen Qinghe and Shen Zhiyao, the two sisters, were. With Shen Zhiyao undergoing such adversity, how could Shen Qinghe possibly let the matter slide?

Shen Qinghe was simply dishing out to others the treatment her sister had received!

"If there’s no evidence, you can’t make such baseless accusations," Female Cultivator Chang retorted coldly, "You said you didn’t see anyone, earlier you also said you fell into a hole, and were hurt by stones. But we see neither hole nor stones, yet you sling mud on Qinghe, what is this?!"

She had already been feeling indignant on behalf of Zhiyao since yesterday.

Zhiyao was a person who could not tolerate injustice and would not make unfounded accusations. Ironically, it was these two women who joined with Nan Sheng to bully Zhiyao, and in the end, the affair had to be let go unresolved.

If it really was Qinghe who took action to punish An Lu and Rong Yu yesterday, then those two women rightly deserved it; they should experience the taste of being unable to speak for themselves!

An Lu and Rong Yu were left utterly humiliated by Female Cultivator Chang’s rebuke, and with their bodies covered in blood and wracked with pain, they found themselves without the means to voice their suffering.

Once Female Cultivator Chang had left, An Lu ground out through clenched teeth, "That Black Rope of Shen Qinghe can transform into anything, right? If it was transformed into a boulder to hit us yesterday, wouldn’t that make sense?!"

Rong Yu felt there was logic in this, but she also knew they had no evidence, and thus they were powerless against Shen Qinghe.

"Stop talking about it, even if it was Shen Qinghe secretly plotting against us, do we have any evidence?" Rong Yu said, her emotions getting the better of her, aggravating her wounds.

"But the elder has already punished us to menial servitude, why should Shen Qinghe be allowed to take matters into her own hands?" An Lu seethed.

Rong Yu sneered, "That’s because she has a Magical Treasure like the Black Rope, which allows her to do whatever she pleases. We were pummeled last night and there’s nothing we can do but swallow this humiliation."

She no longer wanted to associate with An Lu.

If it weren’t for An Lu’s associations with Nan Sheng, and for Xiao Chen, she wouldn’t have gotten close to Nan Sheng, nor would she have suffered this ordeal.

Even if at that time Nan Sheng wanted to kill Shen Zhiyao, what did it have to do with her? She was clearly dragged down by Nan Sheng’s dispute.

An Lu hated Shen Qinghe because of Mr. Wuya, and Nan Sheng had old grievances with Shen Qinghe, but she herself had very little to do with the Shen sisters.

Nan Sheng had offended Shen Qinghe, and with a single strike from Shen Qinghe’s Magical Treasure, Nan Sheng’s Golden Core was on the verge of shattering—showing that Shen Qinghe was no longer the sickly ordinary woman she had once been; she was not easy to deal with!

The news of An Lu and Rong Yu ending up covered in bruises overnight soon spread throughout the entire sect, sparking a flurry of speculation. Everyone was guessing whether this was a just retribution for false confessions made by An Lu and Rong Yu, or if it was Shen Qinghe who had taken action to punish the two.

Qinghe, having grown up under many watchful eyes, was known by many as a person who was always gentle and kind.

If even Qinghe can’t tolerate it, then it must be due to An Lu and Rong Yu’s actions being intolerable to Qinghe, which means that An Lu and Rong Yu indeed fabricated their testimonies.

Moreover, such a tactic is indeed drastic—fight others with their own methods. It’s only fair to let An Lu and Rong Yu taste the frustration of being unable to clear their names.

This matter quickly reached the ears of Dongfang Wuya. Upon hearing it, his lips curled upwards, "If it truly were Shen Qinghe’s doing, she was still too merciful. Were it I, I would have taken the lives of those two directly."

Xiao Bai, however, felt that his master’s thinking was overly simplistic.

After all, this was the Sky Pole Sect, the number one Immortal Sect on the South Desolate Continent. If a life were actually lost, the incident would surely be thoroughly investigated.

But should anything happen to his master, his master could kill anyone on a mere whim. Fairy Qinghe, however, didn’t have the freedom to act on her desires.

Meanwhile, thanks to the lifesaving efforts of several elders, Nan Sheng’s Golden Core rapidly healed, and by this morning, it had returned to normal.

Elder Wang felt proud, believing he had saved a cultivation prodigy.

Only Nan Sheng herself knew that although her Golden Core had healed, she always felt a dull pain where she had been whipped, as if it were a brand scorched into her body, making her feel uncomfortable all over.

What she found most unbearable was that, until the next day, Xiao Chen had still not come to visit her.

She didn’t understand what Xiao Chen’s attitude meant and decided to go to the Spring Breeze Pavilion to confront Xiao Chen for a clear explanation.

Xiao Chen was sitting alone in the pavilion as if he had anticipated her arrival. He said to her, "Come, have a seat."

Upon seeing Xiao Chen’s smile, Nan Sheng suddenly felt uneasy, and the thought of turning around and leaving crossed her mind.

Yet, she remained standing in place, not fleeing.

It took a while before she went to the pavilion and sat down opposite Xiao Chen.

"Are you wondering why, after such a big incident yesterday, I didn’t come looking for you?" Xiao Chen broke the silence.

Nan Sheng looked directly at Xiao Chen, "Why?"

"I knew you had intentionally harmed Zhiyao and worried that I wouldn’t be able to restrain myself from accusing you if I went to the Council Hall. But you are still my fiancée, and I didn’t want to kick you while you were down," Xiao Chen said calmly, his countenance clear and elegant as he started to speak.

This was also the last bit of dignity he was willing to leave her.

In Nan Sheng’s view, the man before her was as gentle as he was yesterday, with the same smile. Yet, his tender mercy sent chills throughout her body.

She even felt that in the next moment, Xiao Chen would smile as he plunged a knife into her heart.

She struggled to begin speaking, "I didn’t..."

"Do you remember the day Zhiyao was injured, when I returned from Simple Residence Courtyard and you asked me a question? Later, I also asked you if you had seen Zhiyao," Xiao Chen said, looking straight at Nan Sheng as if he could see through the darkness in her heart.

All of Nan Sheng’s prepared defenses caught in her throat, and she became speechless.

That day, out of overwhelming guilt, she wanted to probe for information from Xiao Chen’s mouth.

Likewise, it was she who took the initiative to admit to the sect leader that she mistakenly hurt Shen Zhiyao, yet she told Xiao Chen that she hadn’t seen Zhiyao that day.

If she weren’t feeling guilty, why would she have probed Xiao Chen for information, and why did she lie to Xiao Chen?

"I, I just accidentally hurt Zhiyao that day and was too panicked to lie to Brother Xiao. Please forgive me this time, alright? It wasn’t on purpose..." Nan Sheng said, tears streaming down her face as she became agitated and grabbed Xiao Chen’s hand, "Brother Xiao, I was truly panicked that day, I didn’t mean to lie, nor did I mean to hurt Zhiyao..."

——

I reckon Brother Xiao is about to lose his mind too.