Ning Ningyun continued, “Besides, all the Junior Sisters were doing the same thing. I just followed along.”
“And what exactly were you doing?”
“Nothing really… just that none of us stayed in touch with Senior Brother.”
Zhao Xueyi’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean you didn’t stay in touch with Senior Brother?”
“I mean, we didn’t contact him,” Ning Ningyun said, as if it were completely normal. “He was already a cripple, so what was the point?”
Zhao Xueyi recalled that after Senior Brother’s cultivation fell, he had dropped to the Qi Refining Realm. At that time, he was living on Misty Peak. Cultivators at the Qi Refining Realm were basically ordinary people. They still needed food and water, and they couldn’t fly on swords.
Only after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm could one rely on true qi to perform flight.
But someone at the Qi Refining Realm had no such ability.
Misty Peak towered three thousand feet into the sky, surrounded by sheer cliffs. How could an ordinary person climb down? How could he even find food?
Zhao Xueyi’s expression shifted. “Let me ask you—was Senior Brother living on Misty Peak back then?”
Ning Ningyun thought for a moment and nodded. “I think so.”
“What do you mean, ‘you think so’? Are you sure or not?”
Ning Ningyun responded impatiently, “That was so many years ago, how could I remember clearly? I think Master sent him to Misty Peak.”
“After that, Master told us to let Senior Brother cultivate on his own, and not to disturb him anymore. So we just didn’t contact him.”
Zhao Xueyi’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re telling me Senior Brother lived on Misty Peak for ten whole years? And you never contacted him even once?”
Ning Ningyun nodded. “Yes. I think I was in seclusion back then. You know how cultivators can remain in seclusion for years—even decades. Just like you, Senior Sister.”
Ning Ningyun fell silent. She had indeed gone into seclusion. But she hadn’t taken care of Senior Brother. What she didn’t expect was that no one else had taken care of him either.
After a brief silence, Zhao Xueyi asked, “Senior Brother’s cultivation had fallen to the Qi Refining Realm, and he was living on Misty Peak. Who brought him food?”
Ning Ningyun froze, unable to answer. “He needed food? Wasn’t there Fasting Pills?”
At her current cultivation of the Void Refinement Realm, Ning Ningyun hadn’t needed real food for a long time. She absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and ordinary grains were just waste to her. Cultivators above the Foundation Establishment Realm mainly relied on Fasting Pills to eliminate hunger. But those at the Qi Refining Realm couldn’t use such pills.
Qi Refining Realm was practically the same as being a mortal.
Zhao Xueyi sighed. “Senior Brother was at the Qi Refining Realm. He needed to eat real food, not Fasting Pills. Fasting Pills are only for Foundation Establishment Realm and above.”
Ning Ningyun smiled awkwardly. “I forgot.”
“You forgot to bring Senior Brother food. Then who fed him?”
“Maybe Third Junior Sister… or Fourth… or Fifth. Otherwise, he would’ve starved to death by now.”
Zhao Xueyi frowned. She would have to ask them directly.
She took out a communication talisman and summoned Fourth Junior Sister Ying Zihan, Fifth Junior Sister Tang Bingtong, and Sixth Junior Sister Yin Lanying.
Soon, the three arrived at Misty Peak.
The three looked at each other in confusion.
Zhao Xueyi looked at Ying Zihan first. She shook her head. “Not me. I was in seclusion at the time.”
She then turned to Tang Bingtong.
Tang Bingtong said, “I delivered food once, but I ran into Master, and she told me not to disturb Senior Brother anymore—that he should cultivate on his own. After that, I didn’t go again.”
Zhao Xueyi was stunned. “Only once?”
“Yes.”
She then turned to Yin Lanying. Yin Lanying also shook her head. “Fifth Senior Sister told me not to go. I was afraid of getting punished, so I never went either.”
Zhao Xueyi looked at them in disbelief. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. No one had brought Senior Brother food. Then what did he eat?
These were all Junior Sisters whom Senior Brother had raised himself! How could they treat him like this?
Her heart felt as if it were being torn apart—she could barely breathe from the pain.
She looked at them all with a complex expression. “None of you brought him food. Then what did he eat on Misty Peak?”
“Didn’t he have Fasting Pills?”
Zhao Xueyi’s expression turned to rage. “Fools! Fasting Pills are for Foundation Establishment cultivators—not for someone at the Qi Refining Realm. Senior Brother had already lost his cultivation!”
“He could’ve gone down the mountain to find food. He couldn’t have just starved to death.”
That only made Zhao Xueyi angrier. “He was in the Qi Refining Realm—the same as an ordinary mortal. Tell me, how could he climb down a three-thousand-foot mountain?”
The girls were stunned. Only now did they realize—
Right!
Someone in the Qi Refining Realm couldn’t fly on a sword. They were no different from mortals.
Descending the mountain was impossible.
Misty Peak was tall, surrounded by cliffs. An ordinary person couldn’t even reach the top, let alone climb down.
“Good. Very good,” Zhao Xueyi said through gritted teeth, looking at them all. “No wonder Senior Brother refuses to return. You’ve all forgotten him.”
“He was a mortal, and none of you cared for him. You didn’t even contact him. How generous of you.”
“Have you forgotten how Senior Brother took care of you?”
“You’re all heartless! You abandoned him.”
“He was alone at the top of that mountain, worried about where his next meal would come from.”
Ying Zihan suddenly brightened. “Wait, weren’t there a lot of fruit trees on Misty Peak?”
“Yes, that’s right! There were fruit trees. He could’ve eaten those.”
Everyone was shocked.
If the fruit trees were gone, then what did Senior Brother eat?
“Ning Ningyun, how could you do that? You moved all the fruit trees from Misty Peak? Did you do it on purpose?”
“We all know you love spiritual fruits, but taking all the trees? What was Senior Brother supposed to eat?”
“Exactly! I think you did it intentionally. You wanted to starve Senior Brother!”
The others began to look at Ning Ningyun with contempt.
Ning Ningyun was furious. “Don’t forget, all of you helped! When Senior Brother lost his cultivation and couldn’t take care of the trees, you said it was wasteful to keep them there!”
“I only suggested moving them to my peak. You all cheered and said it was a great idea!”
She pointed at Ying Zihan. “You were the first to agree!”
She pointed at Tang Bingtong. “You were the first to start digging!”
“And you, Yin Lanying—you helped too!”
The girls fell silent. As they recalled the past, they realized it was true.
They remembered—
“Senior Brother, you’ve lost your cultivation. Since you won’t be tending to the trees, why don’t we move them to Lanlin Peak?”
“Sure!”
Excited, they all transplanted the fruit trees. They didn’t notice the sorrow and disappointment in Li Chen’s eyes.
He had simply sat silently on a chair, watching them uproot the trees—down to the last sapling.
They had emptied Misty Peak of all its fruit trees.
From that day on, they never saw Li Chen again.
He was left to live alone on Misty Peak.
Ying Zihan rolled her eyes. “You were the one who made the suggestion. If you hadn’t, would we have helped?”
“Yeah. You’re the greediest one—you even took the trees.”
Ning Ningyun was furious. So what if she loved eating spiritual fruit?
Li Chen had agreed to it, hadn’t he?
Besides, they had all eaten those fruits too!
Zhao Xueyi watched them argue, growing impatient. “Enough! None of you brought Senior Brother food. Then who did?”
“At the very least, it wasn’t Master. Come with me—we need to ask her.”