Chapter 93: Resolving Grudges

Fei Yun had known Zhen Zhen for quite some time, and her guess was indeed correct. Upon hearing that Su Che demanded an oath in person, Zhen Zhen’s expression changed again—her carefully cultivated kind demeanor reverted to one filled with coldness.
“Su Che, you’re using your kindness to blackmail me!”
Zhen Zhen tried to control her anger and maintain calm: “I, Zhen Zhen, have always kept my word. I never need oaths to bind me. I said I would avenge myself on you, and today, I’ve come after you. Now that I’ve said we’ll forget past grievances and that I’ll remember your kindness in saving my life, then…”
Before she could finish, Su Che cut her off mercilessly, waving his hand: “Don’t talk to me about integrity. I really have no trust in yours. You traveled thousands of miles just for such a trivial matter—do you have so much free time? Are you idle?”
At that, Su Che drew his magic sword and thrust it into the ground firmly, saying, “You also don’t understand me, do you? Then let me tell you—I’d rather kill someone by mistake than let any threat to my life go unchecked.”
“You, Zhen Zhen, are a threat right before me! I’d rather act decisively and eliminate this threat now than take chances and let it return to haunt me. Killing you and living a life on the run is better than being trampled and tortured again because of your heartlessness in the future.”
“I ask you—if we were in each other’s shoes, would you easily trust the other person’s promises?”
“Is letting you utter a few oaths considered an insult? Then, spending most of the day today being chased like a rat, hiding underground too afraid to show my face… does that count as an insult too? I’m not even bothering to care anymore—what more do you have to be upset about?”
“One last warning—don’t force me to be ruthless. You have pride, and so do I!”
Su Che spoke rapidly before stopping, finally venting all the resentment and frustration he had accumulated from hiding underground during the day.
On the other side, Zhen Zhen was speechless, unable to think of any appropriate words to counter him.
Fei Yun was equally stunned, her eyes glowing with an inexplicable light. She never expected that this young man, when angered, could be so imposing, and his words were all logical, leaving no room for argument.
“You…”

Zhen Zhen started to speak hesitantly, yet still couldn’t think of the right words. After struggling for a while, she forced herself to overcome her reluctance, took a deep breath, and then said, “Alright, Su Che, I can swear. But I have to tell you it’s not because I’m afraid of death, but because you’re in the right.”
“Fine, if you’re reasonable, that’s great,” Su Che said, though inwardly he thought disdainfully: Pretending, huh? Of course she’s not afraid of death!
So, Zhen Zhen swore under the influence of her inner demons that she would never trouble Su Che in any way again…
Although the oath sounded a bit forced, Su Che still accepted it. After all, there was no irreconcilable hatred between them, and no matter how petty she was, it wasn’t worth risking breaking the oath to continue troubling herself.
Ordinary people might disregard oaths, but cultivators cannot. Moreover, the more self-important a cultivator is, the more they value such oaths. Because those who consider themselves superior are extremely confident in their future, believing that one day they will reach the highest level of cultivation, overcome the heavenly calamities, and ascend to the immortal realm.
The terror of the heavenly calamities is well-known, especially the perilous trial of inner demons. On that day, all the oaths taken under the influence of inner demons will come true—any violation will surely lead to failure!
“Alright, alright, it’s all settled now,” Fei Yun said cheerfully, standing up and running over to Zhen Zhen’s cosmic bag. She then turned back, looking at Su Che like a obedient young wife, and asked softly, “Is it okay?”
Only after getting Su Che’s silent approval did she pick up the cosmic bag.
Seeing her like this, Zhen Zhen thought to herself, “It seems that whenever I’m face to face with Su Che, the symptoms of being trapped by emotional bonds become worse.”
Even though things had reached this point, Zhen Zhen still had to consider Fei Yun’s feelings, so she had no choice but to brave herself and tell Su Che about planting emotional bonds.
Fei Yun sat aside, her face red, head bowed, not daring to look at Su Che again.
“Is there really such a thing?”
Su Che frowned and asked inwardly, “Lao Hei, with such an emotional bond already in my body, how could you fail to detect it?”
In the Immortal Prison, Lao Hei laughed heartily at this: “Master, isn’t this great? Just let this emotional bond stay. It has no effect on you anyway.”
“Stop talking nonsense!” Su Che snapped. “This isn’t something to joke about. Hurry up and remove that emotional bond.”

Lao He shrugged and said, “It’s not possible, master. This kind of thing is quite strange; it seems to have no physical form at all. I can’t even sense it. How can it be removed?”
With no other choice, Su Che had to ask Zhen Zhen how to dissolve these emotional threads.
“The one who tied them must untie them,” Zhen Zhen replied. “These threads were formed by Fei Yun, so she must perform the ritual again to extract them from you.”
The word “extract” made Su Che frown, and he asked, “Is the process complicated?”
Zhen Zhen glanced at Fei Yun first before nodding and saying, “It probably is.”
Hearing this, Su Che certainly wouldn’t allow them to perform any ritual on him. Who knew what tricks they might try again? So he said, “How about this? When we return to the mountain temple later, and with Senior Brother Yu Qing present to supervise, we can deal with this issue then.”
Before Zhen Zhen could respond, Fei Yun raised her head with a red face and said, “It’s okay. It doesn’t matter if it takes a few more days. It’s all my own fault.”
After saying that, she quickly lowered her head again.
Lao He laughed in the Immortal Prison and said, “Master, isn’t this great? There’s a girl who’s deeply in love with you. Even if you don’t want to accept her, it’s not a bad thing.”
“Nonsense!” Su Che scolded. “Putting aside logic for now, having someone who knows exactly where I am and can find me wherever I go—do you think that’s good?”
“That’s true,” Lao He nodded. “It’s master who thinks things through thoroughly.”
For now, there was nothing more to be done regarding the emotional threads. Only when Yu Qing was present could Su Che trust Fei Yun to perform the ritual on him.
Since that was the case, he could leave. Without saying goodbye or uttering a word, Su Che turned and walked away. Even though he had resolved his differences with them, since they weren’t his companions, there was no need for courtesy.
“You…”
Behind him, Fei Yun called out, “Don’t leave!”
“What else?” Su Che asked in a deep voice, stopping briefly without turning around.
“It’s already dark. Senior Sister is seriously injured. We need to stay at least one night to control her injuries before we can fly back to the temple,” Fei Yun said softly as she stood up. “During that time, if any villains come again, I’m afraid I’m not strong enough to protect her fully. So, I hope you can stay for one night and leave tomorrow, okay?”
“You’re right. I’m just worried about encountering more evil people, so I want to leave quickly to avoid being dragged down by your bad luck,” Su Che refused without hesitation, his words merciless.

“Huh?”
Not only Fei Yun was stunned, but Zhen Zhen was also extremely surprised.
In terms of both appearance and talent, they were both admired as the finest daughters among everyone, always sought after and fawned over by the male disciples in the sect. Usually, none of their requests were ever refused. Today, facing Su Che’s cold attitude out of the blue, they must have been utterly unaccustomed to it.
Yet the more so, the more Zhen Zhen, who usually looked down on men, held him in even higher regard. She thought to herself, “Birds of a feather flock together—this Su Che really has the same kind of character as Yu Qing…”
With that thought, Zhen Zhen said softly, “Younger brother Su, in such a situation, I don’t want to act tough either. I really need you to stay and protect me. Of course, I won’t ask you for help for no reason…”
Saying this, she took out a magic artifact in the shape of a Dharma wheel from her Qiankun Bag and continued, “You’re already at the later stage of Qi cultivation and can control top-tier magic artifacts. This ‘Red Flame Dharma Wheel’ is one such artifact—useful for both offense and defense, with great power. It’s also an excellent flying artifact, much faster than riding a sword.”
Although Zhen Zhen was proud by nature, she was also very afraid of death. On the path of cultivation, she had a bright future ahead of her. If she died needlessly in these desolate mountains just for pride, it would be a terrible waste. That’s why she asked Su Che for help in such a humble manner.
“A top-tier magic artifact?”
Su Che immediately turned around and said, “May I take a look?”
“Of course.”
Zhen Zhen nodded and handed the ‘Red Flame Dharma Wheel’ to Fei Yun, who then passed it to Su Che.
Unexpectantly, they had run into a scoundrel today. Su Che didn’t even take a look before stuffing it into his own Qiankun Bag, claiming outright, “This artifact is compensation for chasing me during the day. Do you know how many Earth-Diving Pills I used?”
“Ah, you…” Fei Yun stood in front of him, stomping in anger, but her tone remained gentle and soothing, “Please don’t do this, okay?”
On the surface, Su Che remained unmoved, but he secretly sent her a message, “Don’t worry about this. It’s already a concession that I didn’t take her entire Qiankun Bag. Don’t worry—being a favored direct disciple, she doesn’t lack such a thing.”
Fei Yun blinked and pouted slightly, but obediently stopped talking. Ever since they teamed up to deceive Zhen Zhen, her heart had largely leaned toward Su Che.

Actually, the reason for begging Su Che to stay overnight was not only the need for his protection but also a deeper desire not to see him leave too soon. Though she knew these feelings of affection and reluctance were created by “emotional threads,” she simply couldn’t control her heart.