CHAPTER 182: HEARTBREAK (II)

Xie Daiyu also understood the gist of the situation after he finished listening to the murmurings of the people around him. He furrowed his brows as he realised that someone had obviously tried to cause trouble for Ruan Chanchan. His mate was working hard to look for supplies that could be stored in the winter and help their tribe, and yet she was being blamed for just looking out for the tribe. He said to Yuan Ni,

"Yuan Ni, tell the truth to everyone. What is going on, and how did you get poisoned? If you do not explain, then I am worried that no one will dare to eat these mushrooms, and mushrooms are a staple food that can be dried and eaten in winter; this can save the lives of many of the elderly and the orphans. Please think it over carefully and tell us the truth, or else there will be many deaths in the winter like always, but this time around it will be all on you."

Xie Daiyu knew that Yuan Ni was a bit silly and easy to coax, but he was not cruel. He knew the importance of the mushrooms for the tribe and would definitely tell the truth to everyone. Sure enough, when Yuan Ni heard the grave consequences of staying silent, his face turned pale. He knew that he could frame Ruan Chanchan but he couldn’t joke with the mushrooms. Mushrooms could save the lives of many tribe members, and their tribe was small to begin with.

He couldn’t become the sinner of the entire tribe. He just could not.

"Matriarch... it’s my fault. Actually, the mushrooms that I collected had some unidentified mushrooms. I wanted to show the tribe that what Ruan Chanchan could do, I could do it too. So...so I brought the inedible mushrooms and tried them on myself. I just couldn’t see Ruan Chanchan being treated like she was the saviour of the tribe. I am sorry. Please forgive me for causing trouble for all of you." Yuan Ni was disappointed in Shao Xia, but he still didn’t tell the truth. He was clearly distressed and hurt, but he didn’t dare to push Shao Xia to the centre of the storm.

This was under Ruan Chanchan’s expectations; thus, she was not disappointed. She had seen many people like Yuan Ni, who despite being hurt to the point of losing their lives, wouldn’t even think of harming the ones they loved.

She was not angry, but people who cared about her were.

Nan Zhi took a violent step closer to Yuan Ni, but he was pulled back by Nan Wu, who shook her head at him. Yuan Ni had already given his statement. If they tried to make him admit that Shao Xia was the one who harmed him, it would do them more harm than good. And clearly, Ruan Chanchan also seemed to have thought this through; thus, she was calmer than anyone in the square despite being the one who was wronged.

Ruan Zeqiu, however, couldn’t stop himself. "What do you mean by ’you couldn’t see my sister doing good? What kind of reason is that? We didn’t even know you before this—nor did we say anything to you. Why did you hurt my sister?"

"What are you hiding? Just tell the truth! You are even joking with your life."

"I am not... I am not hiding anything." Yuan Ni felt really guilty when he said those words, but he had already taken this path, and now, even if he broke a leg while walking on it, he could only suffer in silence. "I really didn’t like how Ruan Chanchan was getting all arrogant and shifty after she got better, and I ended up doing something foolish. I now understand my mistake, and I won’t do it again in the future." After he finished speaking, he pulled a silly smile and pushed away Shao Xia. This could be said to be the last favour that he could do for Shao Xia. She might not have loved him, but he had loved her with all his heart.

"You really don’t know how to differentiate bad from good," remarked Xie Daiyu coldly. He had once told Yuan Ni that Shao Xia was not the kind of woman he thought she was, but the mer had insisted that he was the one creating the tension between the two of them. Now look where it brought him.

Yuan Ni’s face flushed red. He lowered his head and clenched his fingers tightly in his lap. He knew what Xie Daiyu was thinking, and he had no answer to it.

Seeing that even now Yuan Ni was not saying anything, Xie Daiyu shook his head. He had never thought much of Yuan Ni, but now his impression of this mer went even down. No one with a proper head on their shoulder would think that Yuan Ni deliberately targeted Ruan Chanchan. From what he found out, the second Yuan Ni fainted, Shao Xia rushed to point fingers at Ruan Chanchan. This matter had nothing to do with Shao Xia, and everyone could see that she didn’t treat Yuan Ni seriously, other than the mer himself. Even if Ruan Chanchan wanted to kill Yuan Ni, Shao Xia had no reason to just blame Ruan Chanchan when there were so many people who touched the cooking pot.

In fact, Ruan Chanchan was not even in the square, and she had no intention to kill Yuan Ni. So why would she try to hurt Yuan Ni for no reason? Yuan Ni, a mer who had no connection to Ruan Chanchan – why would he target her? Even if Yuan Ni insisted that he did it because he wanted to take revenge on Ruan Chanchan, no one would believe it.

Other than Shao Xia, who wanted to blame Ruan Chanchan, no other person in the tribe would do such a thing.

Shao Xia could hear the taunt in Xie Daiyu’s tone, and her expression changed.