Feng Zhan looked at Yan Ruyu at a loss.
Yan Ruyu obviously hadn't accepted Zhao Shuning's drastic change for a moment.
In his impression, no matter when, Zhao Shuning had never cried so heart - rendingly.
This was the first time.
"What on earth are you crying about, girl?"
"You used to be so articulate when you were with me. You never even groaned no matter how badly you were hurt. But now, what's wrong with you? You just burst into tears without any sign?"
The more Feng Zhan talked, the louder Zhao Shuning cried.
Fortunately, the place they were in was the top - level attic in the sect meeting, and no one dared to approach here. So Zhao Shuning's crying didn't attract any onlookers.
"Xiaoning'er, what's wrong with you?"
Zhao Shuning's body was still heaving. Maybe because she was sobbing too hard, she couldn't stop for a while.
"Ning'er, stop crying, okay?"
When Yan Ruyu called Zhao Shuning "Ning'er", it was just like when Ye Ling turned twenty - two, he gently called her "Ling'er".
Zhao Shuning stopped sobbing.
"Master, is what he said, hic — is it true?"
"What's true or not?"
"Your leg?"
"It's okay. It will recover in about three years."
Feng Zhan clicked his tongue beside them.
Bu Ran (Yan Ruyu) used to be able to deceive him so easily, but when it came to this girl, he couldn't tell a lie.
He finally saw clearly.
For Bu Ran now, brothers were like clothes while his wife was like his own limbs.
Zhao Shuning's tears stopped at this moment.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Zhao Shuning hugged Yan Ruyu, sobbing.
"Master, you scared me to death. What would I do if something happened to you?"
A warm current welled up in Yan Ruyu's heart.
"Ning'er, it's getting late. Shouldn't you go back?"
"Master—"
"Go. Now that we're both in the sect meeting, it'll be easy for me to find you and for you to find me."
Zhao Shuning nodded.
Yan Ruyu wiped the tears from her face and said softly, "Go."
"Okay."
After Zhao Shuning left, only Yan Ruyu and Feng Zhan were left in the room.
Feng Zhan said, "Bu Ran, this is the first time I've seen you be so gentle with someone."
"Brother, Ning'er may seem carefree on the surface, but actually she's extremely delicate - minded. If you're free, don't tease her."
"Are you feeling protective?"
Yan Ruyu glanced at Feng Zhan, which was a tacit admission.
Feng Zhan continued, "Bu Ran, I really think that Zhao Shuning is really good to you. You don't know that before she knew my relationship with you, her attitude towards me was unyielding. As long as she was in the right, she never gave an inch."
Yan Ruyu smiled faintly.
This kind of special - treatment relationship felt very special and comfortable to him.
"On the way here, for every word I said, that girl would at least retort ten times. And when it came to others, as long as it didn't harm anyone, she'd use any means."
"Brother, Ning'er is a simple person."
Feng Zhan almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.
Simple?
If it was someone else, Feng Zhan might believe it.
But for Bu Ran to say that Zhao Shuning was simple was simply a joke.
Feng Zhan still remembered that in the border area of Daliang, how this girl had used her delicate appearance to deceive those five masters, making them abandon the two big families and join the Zhao family instead.
With such a skill of changing expressions, if you said she was simple, Feng Zhan would never believe it even if you beat him to death.
Seeing that Feng Zhan didn't believe it, Yan Ruyu just smiled and didn't argue.
After leaving the room, Zhao Shuning tiptoed, planning to return to her own residence.
But when she was going down the stairs on the third floor, she heard two people arguing.
That place should be where the elders stayed.
The people arguing inside should be the elders of the sect meeting. In that case, inside should be Ji Qinglin and Xia Wanning, those two kids.
It had been a long time since she last saw these two kids. They should be adults by now and able to hold their own in the Dongze Wilderness.
But just as Zhao Shuning's foot reached the door and before she stepped into the room, she heard her own name coming from inside.
Zhao Shuning stopped in her tracks at the door.
"Wanning, you really don't know you've done anything wrong."
"What did I do wrong? What should I admit?"
"Xia Wanning, don't you forget that your name was given to you by the empress. 'Sang Yu is not too late, and Ning's eyes are like the wind'. But what about you? You didn't even show the slightest respect to her just now and directly called her by her first name."
This kid Ji Qinglin cared too much about reputation. In her previous life, she also hoped that these kids would call her Ye Ling, but they all affectionately called her Sister Ling.
"Ji Qinglin, my name is not as good as yours. 'Sang Yu is not too late'. Didn't she just mean that my efforts were in the wrong place? Didn't she just mean that I wouldn't achieve much in the field of spiritual power?"
"You're over - thinking."
This was exactly what Zhao Shuning wanted to say. When she gave Xia Wanning this name back then, it was purely because it sounded nice.
Moreover, she had specifically asked someone to look at this name, and it was an excellent name.
Wanning was a gentle girl. How could she say such things?
Could it be that she had another argument with this little kid Ji Qinglin?
Thinking like this, Zhao Shuning felt that this was not the right time to visit them. It would be better to come another time.
With that thought, she left the room.
She walked slowly alone in the spacious venue downstairs.
Did she do something in the past that made Xia Wanning think too much? But when Zhao Shuning recalled every bit of her past interactions with Xia Wanning, she felt that she had done nothing wrong and had never let her down.
So, was Xia Wanning really just throwing a tantrum with Ji Qinglin just now?
After walking around for a long time, suddenly there was a person behind Zhao Shuning.
She turned around, and it was Xia Wanning, who had just argued with Ji Qinglin.
Seeing Xia Wanning, Zhao Shuning immediately smiled and was about to say hello to her and comfort her not to argue with that impulsive kid Ji Qinglin.
But before Zhao Shuning could speak, Xia Wanning looked extremely unpleasant.
"Who are you?"
Such a harsh tone was nothing like the gentle and elegant little girl in Zhao Shuning's memory.
"I, I'm—"
"Get out of the way."
Zhao Shuning was stunned. Xia Wanning, how could she become like this?
"I—"
Seemingly realizing that her words and actions were a bit out of control, Xia Wanning said again, "I spoke a bit too loudly. As a low - level alchemist, don't wander around in the venue if you have nothing to do."
"Okay."
"Go and receive your punishment from the senior brothers who manage you newbies."
Zhao Shuning was still a bit surprised, but Xia Wanning walked straight past her.
This wasn't the Xia Wanning she remembered.
Was this her true nature? Had she never noticed before?