Chapter 49 Are You Fooling Us?

"I didn't say that."
"No, I..."
For a moment, she had no idea how to reply or counter the statement, her mind going completely blank.
Su Yunching let out a cold laugh, even mocking her, "Changing your story every minute, aren't you a bit too fickle?"
"Anyway, if you're not willing to hand over what belongs to me, don't argue with me." She cast a cold glare at Su Yunqi, then turned her gaze to the others, saying, "In that case, hand over the Qingling sword."
Her patience had reached its absolute limit, and looking at their shameless expressions only filled her with nausea and disgust.
The elders present were momentarily at a loss for how to retort and turned their eyes toward Su Zhentian one after another.
Someone even said with a worried expression, "Patriarch, the Qingling sword cannot be given away! That was reserved for Yunqi!"
"Uncle, that clearly belongs to my father; you have no right to interfere!" She looked at the speaker with intense disgust. He was her father's older brother, her uncle, and also the father of Su Yunqi.
"You can't put it that way. Only when Yunqi holds the Qingling sword can it exert its maximum power, and only then would it not disgrace the blade. Therefore, I believe my approach is entirely correct!" He spoke with a righteous air. In his eyes, his daughter was naturally the most outstanding person in the family, and therefore that sword was worthy of his exceptional daughter.
He felt a sense of repulsion and annoyance toward Su Yunching for daring to claim the sword.
"Spouting shameless nonsense and acting like a common bandit—you are truly bringing disgrace to the Su family!" Su Yunching made no effort to conceal the disgust in her eyes. Hearing his words only made her detest him even more.
"You are impertinent! Utterly lacking in manners and respect for your elders, what kind of behavior is this?" Enraged, the man slammed his hand on the table beside him and stood up.
"If you want my respect, you first need to act like an elder. When you yourself fail to behave with dignity, why should I respect you?" She was not afraid in the least. She no longer needed to rely on the Su family for survival, nor did she need to live by their moods, so she no longer had to act as submissive as she once did.
"Patriarch, look at her! Just because she managed to enter a major sect, she has become arrogant and completely lawless!" Infuriated, he immediately complained to Su Zhentian, anger flashing in his eyes.
In his opinion, she deserved a harsh lesson so she would understand the consequences of disrespecting her elders.
However, Su Zhentian was thinking far ahead of him. Instead of reprimanding Su Yunching, he maintained a stern expression and said, "Tell us honestly everything you know, and we will give you what you want."
The Qingling sword had been used by others in the family before, but none of them could wield it smoothly. The only one whose spiritual resonance matched it was Su Yunqi, which was why they had originally intended to keep the sword for her.
Yet now, Su Yunching was demanding it. Besides, the sword had originally belonged to his second son, so it was only natural for it to be taken by his son's daughter.
Furthermore, he had always felt indebted to Su Yunching. In the past, whenever he thought of her, he would think of his deceased son; combined with the fact that she had been deemed a good-for-nothing, he had placed all the blame on her head. For years, he had ignored and neglected her, leaving him with a lingering sense of guilt deep in his heart.
Therefore, he could understand why she was unwilling to return or acknowledge him. After all, what he had done as a grandfather was indeed wrong. Even if he wanted to make amends now, it was already too late.
Returning the sword to her could be considered returning it to its rightful owner.
"Fine. Didn't you want to ask about Su Yunyue? She did indeed block my path at the academy back then, but I ignored her. As for where she went afterward, I have no idea!" Indeed, she truly had no idea where Su Yunyue had gone now—after all, even her ashes had been scattered to the winds; who knew where they had drifted?
"Is that all?" Su Zhentian paused, then carefully scrutinized her, trying to read in her eyes whether she was lying.
To his surprise, her gaze remained calm and steady. "That's right. If you don't believe me, you can ask the academy students. Several of them must have heard, as she made quite a scene when she came looking for me."
She wasn't afraid of them investigating at all. Back then, Su Yunyue had been extremely cautious in her attempt to kill her, and she herself had deliberately lured them to a deserted place before making her move, leaving nothing to fear.
Moreover, the academy had investigated for days without finding anything, let alone this family.
If anyone was to blame, it was Su Yunyue herself for digging her own grave. Her plot had backfired, turning her into a stepping stone that benefited Su Yunching instead.
"No, this won't do! She's just fobbing us off. Trying to take the Qingling sword with mere words like this is pure daydreaming!" Naturally, someone immediately voiced their objection.
Another person cast a meaningful look at Su Zhentian. "Patriarch, you must consider this carefully!"
"Enough, you don't need to say anymore. We must keep our promise; since we gave our word, we must fulfill it."
"Besides, the Qingling sword originally belonged to her father, so giving it to her now is just returning it to its rightful owner."
"The Qingling sword is not communal property of the Su family, so stop harboring ideas about this blade."
In the beginning, it was indeed meant for Su Yunching, but she had been useless and lacked potential, leading them to think that giving it to her would be a waste, which was why they considered giving it to Su Yunqi instead.
Although they didn't know what method she had used to break through to cultivation, her cultivation level was not low now. Thus, he naturally had no reason to deny her. Furthermore, the Su family owed her family far too much; to still covet this sword after all that would strip them of their humanity.
Some people were still unconvinced and wanted to protest, but a single glare from Su Zhentian silenced them.
After all, they still dared not cross the patriarch. Even though resentment lingered in their hearts, they forced themselves to swallow it.
Having secured what she wanted, Su Yunching had no intention of lingering and urged impatiently, "When are you going to take me to get it?"
In any case, Su Yunqi was not going to get her hands on the sword this time. She lifted her chin and looked over, seeing Su Yunqi glaring at her with jealous and furious eyes.
A faint smile touched the corners of her lips as she returned the look with a provocative gaze.
"Is there really no more specific detail? For instance, what was her condition at the time?" Su Zhentian still wanted to inquire further, as Su Yunyue was, after all, his granddaughter.
Su Yunching glanced at her indifferently, then drawled slowly, "I found her quite annoying at the time, so why would I bother caring about her condition? I just left, of course."
Of course, this was the truth; she had indeed found Su Yunyue annoying and deeply despised her, which was why she couldn't be bothered to exchange words with her, lest she was overcome by the urge to kill her on the spot.
Su Zhentian frowned. These pieces of information were hardly useful and provided no clues for tracking her down.
Su Yunching didn't care what he was thinking and simply pressed on, "Can we go now? When are you taking me to get the sword?"
"Let's go." Su Zhentian stood up, unwilling to look at her impatient face any longer for fear of working himself into a rage.
Just as she had said, she could neither be beaten nor locked up right now. Keeping her here would only raise his blood pressure, so it was better to send her on her way sooner rather than cutting years off his own life from anger.