The Ice-Cold Beauty Senior Sister Keeps Falling for Her Own Theories - Chapter 33

“He’s wrong!”

The voice arrived before its owner.

Feng Jie, panting heavily, rushed through the last stone archway into the courtyard and couldn’t help but refute the statement, not even realizing she was contradicting her own master.

“I pawned my sword and the pouch myself, at the Jianghai Pavilion, the largest auction house across the Nine Provinces and Three Realms. If you don’t believe me, you can check their records. An organization that big surely keeps detailed ledgers. Besides, you can look through their recent auction items. I’m sure you’ll easily spot the Coldwater Sword.”

“You absolutely cannot jump to conclusions!”

Feng Jie stepped over the final threshold, her resolute voice seeming as if it would echo through the heavens the next moment.

“Senior Sister, I’m here. Are you alright?”

Feng Jie’s gaze immediately locked onto Gongsun Muhan’s slender yet upright figure. She walked over and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with her.

“Junior Sister, you…”

Gongsun Muhan didn’t finish her sentence. She thought that asking would be redundant, for how could her junior sister, who adored her so much, not come?

“Feng Jie!”

Dao Xuanzi was so furious his beard seemed to bristle. For a moment, he wished he could kick Feng Jie back into her room, but he restrained himself.

His face darkened, yet he forced a smile and said, “Xiao Jie, come here. This is not the time for your antics.”

“Sect Leader, though I respect you as my elder, you cannot slander Senior Sister without cause. Her kindness toward me is genuine.”

“And I, too, am sincere. I will not allow anyone to maliciously speculate or harm her.”

But a fake Bixin Sword? Feng Jie thought to herself that if she were in the same position, she wouldn’t want to hand over her own belongings either. Perhaps she, too, would choose to offer a counterfeit Bixin Sword.

Senior Sister’s actions were only human. No matter what, in Feng Jie’s eyes, they were justified.

If everyone insisted on holding her accountable, then she,

“If she is at fault, then I am willing to share the blame.”

She took Gongsun Muhan’s hand, wanting to reassure her senior sister not to be afraid, that she would stand by her.

But when she turned her head, she saw Gongsun Muhan smiling faintly, her eyes curved as she gazed at her.

Feng Jie tugged at Gongsun Muhan’s hand, leaned closer, and whispered, “Senior Sister, why are you smiling? Don’t you believe me? I mean it. If they insist, ”

“I know.”

Gongsun Muhan cut off her unfinished words and gently tucked the stray strands of hair behind Feng Jie’s ear.

Yes, she knew. If she let Feng Jie finish speaking, she might not be able to leave. Gongsun Muhan had always been one to take risks, but at this moment, she began to doubt whether she could still choose to feign death and depart without hesitation after hearing her junior sister’s words.

Feng Jie stood frozen in place, unmoving. She felt that in the moment Gongsun Muhan lowered her gaze to brush her hair aside, her tenderness was like that of a celestial maiden casting a spell, gently scattering a shimmering glow all around.

“I, I…”

For some reason, at that moment, Feng Jie felt her heartbeat thunder in her ears, and a warm, tingling sensation spread across her cheeks. Unable to bear it, she turned her face away.

The figure seated in the main position was likely the Alliance Leader of the Immortal Alliance. However, she looked so young, could it be that cultivating immortality truly reversed aging? Feng Jie silently pondered.

At that moment, Tang Xianyu spoke up with a hint of doubt, asking her, “What is your relationship with Gongsun Muhan?”

“She is my senior sister.”

Feeling that this statement was too plain and insufficient to justify her standing up, Feng Jie hurriedly added, “My very best senior sister!”

When Gongsun Muhan first heard Feng Jie say she was merely her senior sister, for some reason, her heart fluttered with unease, making her involuntarily anticipate what would follow.

Fortunately, her junior sister clarified that they shared the best of relationships.

Thinking that “best” implied uniqueness, her heart inexplicably settled. Her junior sister, as always, adored her, and only her…

“Oh? Is that so?”

Tang Xianyu noticed how Gongsun Muhan, standing beside Feng Jie, had tensed up the moment the question was asked. She couldn’t help but chuckle softly. Beneath the facade of “the best relationship,” there must be quite a bit hidden, she thought.

“However, you’ve only refuted one possibility, that she obtained the materials for the forged sword from you. How can you be certain it wasn’t her who provided the fake sword?”

Her tone was gentle and unhurried, but the content was sharp and incisive.

This question immediately stumped Feng Jie, as she truly couldn’t produce any evidence at that moment to completely exonerate her senior sister from the suspicion of switching the sword.

Just as she was about to think further, her peripheral vision caught sight of Tan Feng.

Yes, the same logic applied.

Second Elder, I’m sorry, but since I’m on my senior sister’s side, I’ll just state the facts objectively.

“As the Alliance Leader pointed out, I’ve only refuted one possibility regarding my senior sister obtaining materials to switch the sword. However, the Second Elder, who was in charge of safeguarding the Bixin Sword, had endless opportunities and possibilities to switch it as well. With his high status and cultivation level, wouldn’t it be even easier for him to do so? After all, who among those present can honestly swear they’ve never coveted a divine artifact?”

“Moreover, there is currently no evidence to guarantee that the Second Elder did not switch the sword during the escort of the Bixin Sword.”

“Is he truly innocent?”

After listening, Tang Xianyu nodded in agreement and turned to Tan Feng, asking, “Elder Tan, do you have anything to say?”

Upon hearing this, Tan Feng turned and gave Feng Jie and the others a deep look. For reasons unknown, he seemed to have made up his mind, to deny everything and shift the blame.

After all, he had dedicated years of loyal service to the sect leader and the Bixia Sect. Surely, his senior brother, the sect leader, wouldn’t let him die. At worst, he would sacrifice his cultivation. As long as he could keep the Bixin Sword and ensure Xing’er’s lifelong happiness, he was willing to do anything.

“Reporting to the Alliance Leader, from the moment I received the Bixin Sword, I never let it out of my sight. I can guarantee that no one else interfered during this process. Furthermore, to be frank with you, Alliance Leader, during my early years of training and cultivation away from the mountain, I suffered a deviation in my cultivation. Although I was barely saved, my spiritual meridians have been fragile ever since. If I were to form a contract with the Bixin Sword, its divine power would inevitably clash with the residual demonic energy I once suppressed, causing me to explode and perish. Thus, I reveal this secret today and beg the Alliance Leader to see the truth, I absolutely did not tamper with anything.”

Tan Feng knelt on the ground, his entire body pressed against the floor, tears streaming down his aged face as he cried out loudly, “If the Alliance Leader does not believe me, I am willing to abandon all my cultivation and live out the rest of my days in disgrace, if only to prove my innocence!”

Tang Xianyu remarked lightly, “Oh? A deviation in cultivation?”

At the same time, the hearts of all the elders present were roiling like turbulent waves.

Elder Tan had actually experienced a deviation in cultivation! In the world of immortal cultivation, once a cultivator deviates, they are despised by all and expelled from the cultivation world. In severe cases, they may even be judged by the Immortal Alliance, as the cultivation world absolutely cannot tolerate the existence of a cultivator who has lost their Dao Heart and treads the path of a demonic practitioner. The reason is simple: all who walk the path of cultivation must cultivate their Dao Heart. Once they deviate, it signifies that their Dao Heart is broken, and their path of cultivation is destined to go astray, turning them into pawns of the demonic realm.

A person who has lost their Dao Heart is unworthy of being called a cultivator anywhere.

Yet, he had just revealed such a secret and even staked his entire cultivation as proof. It seemed unlikely that he was the one who had secretly kept the Bixin Sword.

However, with the exposure of this stain, having once deviated in cultivation, and it being brought before the Immortal Alliance, he was destined to be unworthy of continuing on the path of cultivation and immortality.

As the elders pondered this, some felt regret that a Purple-tier cultivator’s years of hard work would be destroyed in an instant, while others gloated, pleased that the strength of the Bixia Sect would be weakened once again…

After Tan Feng finished speaking, he noticed that the crowd seemed to be leaning in his favor, as if they believed him.

He abruptly raised his hand and, without hesitation, struck his palm toward his dantian.

Just half an inch away, Tan Feng’s hand could advance no further.

“No need.”

Feng Jie and Gongsun Muhan exchanged a glance, it was Tang Xianyu who had intervened.

For now, they would wait and observe.

But things often go against one’s wishes.

While preventing Tan Feng from destroying his cultivation, Tang Xianyu once again turned her gaze toward Gongsun Muhan.

For some reason, Feng Jie, standing beside Gongsun Muhan, felt that this lofty, pure, and transcendent alliance leader harbored a strong sense of curiosity toward her senior sister. It felt as if someone was coveting and peering at her most beloved toy.

Feng Jie felt somewhat displeased. She deliberately took half a step forward, slanting herself to block most of Tang Xianyu’s line of sight.

“He was willing to expose the stain of his deviation and abandon his cultivation to prove his innocence. If it were you, how would you prove yourself?”

A few weeks ago, she might have maneuvered carefully and earnestly tried to prove her innocence to survive, but now, these hypocrites were not worthy.

Gongsun Muhan curled her lips into a cold smile and said, “Prove myself? If I am innocent, why should I need to prove anything?”

“If the innocent must prove themselves, then across the Nine Continents and Three Realms, everyone is guilty.”

“I will not prove myself!”

That was the Alliance Leader of the Immortal Alliance, the foremost immortal in the Nine Continents and Three Realms! How dare Gongsun Muhan, a person without any cultivation, act this way? Did she have the courage of a bear and the boldness of a leopard? No, it seemed more like she had the heart of a dragon and the gall of a phoenix!

Feng Jie stood by, her eyes wide with astonishment. She never expected her senior sister to be so impressive! She had always thought her senior sister was the type to be aloof, gentle, and reserved, someone who would silently endure hardship and suffering. She never imagined that her senior sister could be so bold when confronting others. If not for the inappropriate setting, she would have given her a thumbs-up.

This was the first time Tang Xianyu had been so openly defied. She did not react, but merely stared expressionlessly at Gongsun Muhan, as if trying to pierce through her very soul.

Apart from Feng Jie’s starry-eyed gaze still fixed on her senior sister, the surrounding air had frozen to sub-zero temperatures. A palpable tension, thick with the threat of imminent bloodshed, permeated the space.

At that moment, Hu Yu, seated in her wheelchair, wore a worried expression. She had initially thought the alliance leader was on Gongsun Muhan’s side, but now she dared not gamble any further.

Gently tugging at her grandmother’s sleeve beside her, she turned and cast a pleading look in her direction.

Hu Xinzhi, the elder of Danwen Pavilion, sighed inwardly. Lightly tapping the ground with her cane, she broke the tense silence.

“This old woman believes the most pressing matter is not who swapped the sword, but rather locating the true Bixin Sword as swiftly as possible.”

Considering the Bixin Sword’s origins traced back to the Tang Clan, she turned and bowed respectfully toward Tang Xianyu, asking amiably, “Might the alliance leader have any suggestions?”

Tang Xianyu’s gaze remained unmoved, still fixed distantly on Feng Jie and the other standing at the center of the hall.

For a moment, she said nothing. Though no one could decipher what the alliance leader was thinking, none dared to rush her. Instead, they lowered their brows and heads, waiting quietly for her to speak.