"Your junior sister will be leading the team in this sect competition. This is the first time she has appeared in the public eye as the young sect leader of the Flying Cloud Sect."

"You senior brothers must wholeheartedly assist her and not put too much pressure on her."

"I will not allow any mistakes to be made, understand?"

"Your disciples obey," the four replied in unison.

Although they weren't particularly enthusiastic, they knew the importance of the sect competition, which concerned the glory of the entire Flying Cloud Sect, so they would naturally take it seriously.

After leaving Lingxiao Zhenren's cave, Lu Shiqing limped towards his own cave.

"No, you..." Feng Heyun pointed at him, about to burst into a tirade.

"Senior Brother, let it go." Wen Xuan stopped him.

"He first beat you up for no reason, and then left without saying a word. What's wrong with me saying a few words to him? Does he even care about us fellow disciples?" Feng Heyun was seething with anger.

Wen Xuan simply shook his head and sighed softly.

"So, Second Senior Brother, why did you two fight?" Luo Chu finally had a chance to ask him, the person directly involved.

"It's not important." Wen Xuan didn't know the specific reason, but he was certain it was related to Shen Sanru joining the new sect.

Lu Shiqing didn't seem to dislike Shen Sangruo as much as they thought; on the contrary, he seemed to care more about Shen Sangruo having a new senior brother than they did.

He was too emotional at the time, but he has calmed down now.

He was no longer in the mood to argue with Lu Shiqing.

After such a venting session, Wen Xuan felt incredibly dejected, as if he had fallen from the peak to the bottom of a valley in an instant.

Perhaps because the fight had exhausted him, he seemed completely drained, with only his skin holding him up.

His eyes were filled with endless sorrow. Faced with the news that Shen Sanruo had joined the new sect, he had no idea how to adjust his mood.

"Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, then forget it." Feng Heyun's expression wasn't good either. "Go back and take care of your injuries first."

"No need, I have more important things to do right now. You will accompany me to a place." Wen Xuan walked step by step.

Feng Heyun and Luo Chu supported him on either side, and after walking a short distance, they learned where Wen Xuan was going.

Although they hadn't set foot on this road for a long time, they had walked it countless times before, so how could they not recognize it?

The three remained silent, never having walked this road with such feelings before.

Because of the heavy steps, it took an unknown amount of time to walk such a short distance, until finally arriving at the front of Chen Sangruo's cave.

Her cave dwelling was spotless; it was autumn, a season of falling leaves, yet not a single leaf had fallen.

Feng Heyun and Luo Chu looked somewhat surprised. Since Chen Sangruo left, this place had almost become a forbidden area for them.

But they soon realized that Wen Xuan had done it.

Wen Xuan said nothing and pushed open the door to the cave.

She took away all the important items that were originally in Shen Sangruo's cave, leaving only a mess.

But at this moment, everything inside the cave is as it was before, rearranged by Wen Xuan according to the traces of her former life.

Even the items they had given her, which she had piled up in the corner like clutter, were now neatly placed on the jade cabinet closest to her bed and carefully preserved.

It seems that a young girl would lie in bed, look at those items with bright eyes, and then fall asleep contentedly.

It was as if Shen Sangruo had never left.

Upon seeing this scene, Feng Heyun and Luo Chu were momentarily stunned and stood frozen in place.

"Second Senior Brother, you..." Luo Chu felt a lump in his throat.

Wen Xuan looked at everything in the cave with a mixture of cherishing and greed, a bitter smile playing on his lips, and walked toward the jade cabinet beside the bed.

His fingertips traced the objects on the jade cabinet.

Wine jars, rainbow butterflies, luminous stones, hairpins, snacks...

Finally, his gaze rested on the sachet of medicine he had given to Chen Sangri, his fingertips tracing its surface.

He lowered his head, his features hidden in shadow, making it impossible to discern his emotions.

However, the next moment, a sudden sob broke the silence of the cave.

Feng Heyun and Luo Chu's expressions changed.

Wen Xuan...cried?

His shoulders trembled, and tears streamed from his eyes before falling to the ground.

Once emotions break free, they are difficult to suppress.

The shaking of her shoulders intensified, and her sobs turned into uncontrollable wailing.

As the saying goes, a man doesn't easily shed tears, and anyone could see that he was emotionally broken down at that moment.

Feng Heyun and Luo Chu had spent many years with Wen Xuan and had almost never seen him shed a tear, let alone cry like this.

"I should have thought of it sooner... I should have thought of it sooner..." Wen Xuan's intermittent voice seemed to contain endless pain.

“She wanted to leave a long time ago…it was her own decision to leave…” He held his head tightly in his hands.

"From the moment she took everything with her, she never intended to stay..."

The excuse that she only wanted to clean the cave was just a ridiculous excuse he used to numb himself.

Now, he can no longer deceive himself.

Luo Chu's eyes also reddened. She stepped forward, patted Wen Xuan on the back, and comforted him:

"Second Senior Brother, Shen Sangluo might just want to join another sect to spite us. Things might not be as bad as we think. She still has a chance to come back."

He just felt that Wen Xuan was too pessimistic.

Wen Xuan shook his head, his trembling voice filled with certainty, "No, she won't come back."

He suddenly looked up, his face already streaked with tears, and looked at the two of them with red eyes, slowly repeating, "Senior Brother, Fourth Brother, Xiao Ruo will not be coming back."

Then her voice suddenly rose, filled with unbearable sorrow, "Xiao Ruo doesn't want us anymore!"

It sounded like a dying cry.

Then she sobbed until she could no longer speak, and even had difficulty breathing.

If Luo Chu hadn't been supporting him, he wouldn't have had the strength to even stand on his own.

Luo Chu couldn't bear to see Wen Xuan so despondent, so she looked to Feng Heyun for help.

He wanted Feng Heyun to say a few words to comfort Wen Xuan.

But the other person pursed their lips, silently took out a jar of wine from their storage bag, and drank it in a muffled voice.

The spicy flavor went down his throat, leaving a burning sensation on his chest.

He still felt the wine wasn't strong enough and couldn't relieve his sorrow.

Finally, Wen Xuan cried until he was exhausted, and coupled with the fact that he had just fought with Lu Shiqing, he fainted.

Feng Heyun silently wiped away his tears that had fallen to the ground, restored everything in the cave to its original state, and then the three of them left.

They took the unconscious Wen Xuan back to his cave.

"Let him rest well. Next, we need to prepare for the sect competition," Feng Heyun said calmly.

The strong liquor actually calmed him down.

They didn't have time to be distracted by this matter; the sect competition was the most important thing, and they could only think of a solution after the sect competition was over.

"Senior Brother, there's something we've been keeping from you, and Second Senior Brother told me not to tell you." Luo Chu's voice hesitated, then became firm. "But I feel I must tell you now."