Chapter 252 The Bitter Flesh Scheme

Si Yanxiao's eyes flickered slightly, and he suddenly realized something. He turned to look at Jiang Ran with a somewhat ambiguous expression.

Jiang Ran noticed his gaze but didn't care. She smiled slightly and looked at the kidnappers with indifferent and slightly mocking eyes.

The kidnappers were surrounded by ghostly figures, their faces filled with terror, their complexions growing paler, and they kept muttering to themselves.

Seeing this, a cold glint flashed across Jiang Ran's face. She subtly circulated her spiritual energy in her hand and then sneered, "Still not telling the truth?!"

The kidnappers were somewhat disoriented by what they were seeing. These ghostly figures were clinging to them, impossible to avoid. A sharp shout rang in their ears, sinking deep into their minds and echoing repeatedly.

The lead kidnapper was startled and immediately felt a surge of fear. He hurriedly and incoherently replied, "I'll talk, I'll talk!"

"It was Miss Bai who secretly instructed us to put on this show; it has nothing to do with us!"

As he spoke, his hands continued to flutter in the air, as if there were some man-eating monster in front of him.

A subordinate chimed in, "Yes, yes...she's the mastermind!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Zhuwei was startled and quickly retorted, "Nonsense! What nonsense are you spouting?"

But the kidnappers seemed not to hear them and did not respond at all.

Seeing her anger and embarrassment, Jiang Ran's eyes flashed with disdain. Then she turned to look at the kidnapper and asked coldly, "Is that so?"

His tone was cold and aloof, but with the aid of spiritual incantations, it sounded like a booming bell to the terrified kidnappers.

“Every word is true!” the kidnapper hurriedly said. Suddenly, a ghostly figure attacked him head-on. Startled, he stumbled backward and collapsed to the ground.

He covered his face with his hands, not daring to open his eyes to look at the scene before him; the ghostly figure with a blue face and fangs lingered in front of him.

In their extreme fear, everyone could only flee in panic, crashing into tables and chairs in their haste. Some even fell to the ground. In no time, the room was a complete mess, a truly horrific sight.

The lead kidnapper was terrified and, without realizing it, revealed the whole truth.

"She orchestrated this whole thing to sow discord among you, and even pressured us to offer a hostage exchange so I could take this opportunity to eliminate you completely!"

"Unexpectedly, the plan was exposed, and she had no choice but to send someone to tell me to put all the blame on you."

"If you don't believe me, you can check it out for yourself! I absolutely haven't lied a single word!"

After saying this, the kidnapper kept his eyes tightly closed and dared not open them.

Upon hearing this, Si Yanxiao frowned slightly, his face showing surprise, and he looked coldly at Bai Zhuwei.

Bai Zhuwei's eyes, which had been filled with ruthlessness as she looked at the kidnapper, snapped back to reality upon noticing Si Yanxiao's gaze. She instantly concealed her emotions, feigning grievance, and shook her head repeatedly, denying, "No...it really wasn't me..."

Jiang Ran glanced at her, looking down at her as she pretended to be a victim, her eyes slightly red, as if she had suffered a great injustice.

A slight smirk played on his lips, followed by a cold laugh.

With a slight turn of his palm, he formed a hand seal, and the talisman suddenly transformed into beams of light that shot swiftly toward their foreheads.

Everyone felt a wave of dizziness and their vision suddenly went dark. But it only lasted for a moment, and when they opened their eyes again, everything had returned to normal.

All the demons and monsters vanished, as if it had all been a hallucination.

Only those who experienced it firsthand know how terrifying it was.

The leader of the kidnappers knew he had already told the truth, and there was no point in making any further explanations.

A moment of silence fell over the surroundings. Seeing that Si Yanxiao remained unmoved, Jiang Ran's face flashed with a mocking smile, and she coldly scoffed, "Didn't you want to hear the truth?"

"Now that the truth is right in front of us, with witnesses and physical evidence all gathered, why are they all keeping silent?"

Bai Zhuwei sensed the sarcasm in her words, her eyes flashed, and she looked at Jiang Ran with eyes full of grievance, directly accusing her: "These are all fake! How could they suddenly overturn the case?"

As he spoke, he pointed angrily at Jiang Ran, his face contorted with rage, and then said in a deep voice, "It must be you!"

"You deliberately orchestrated this trip so that they could overturn the verdict in front of Ayan and pin the blame on me for the murder!"

Seeing that she was still unrepentant even at this point, a cold glint flashed in Jiang Ran's eyes.

He replied coldly, "The kidnappers said I was the mastermind, and you sounded so confident. Now they're changing their story, saying you orchestrated the whole thing."

"But you say I coerced you into designing it. What? Do you only listen to testimonies that are beneficial to you?"

He paused slightly, a hint of disdain flashing across his face, before continuing, "If that's the case, then what's the point of the kidnapper's confession? Why not just nail me to the pillar of shame for framing you?"

Jiang Ran continued to mock him coldly, and Bai Zhuwei's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, her face becoming increasingly unpleasant.

His brow furrowed, he looked up and stared directly at Jiang Ran, his expression turning cold: "You're twisting the truth!"

"Why would I risk my life for no reason? I left because I had decided to separate from Ayan and not disturb your lives!"

Jiang Ran lowered her eyes and looked at her coldly, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. She raised her eyebrows slightly and showed disdain. Then she sneered, "Heh... what a hypocrite."

She paused slightly as she spoke, then looked up at Si Yanxiao with a scrutinizing gaze. She parted her thin lips and sneered, "Only some people are blinded by their own limited perspective and don't understand the principle of retreating to advance."

Si Yanxiao sensed the sarcasm in her words, his expression turned cold, and he pursed his lips, revealing his displeasure.

When Bai Zhuwei saw that Jiang Ran had revealed her true thoughts, a moment of panic flashed through her mind, but it was only for a moment before she forcibly suppressed her panicked emotions.

Seeing that Si Yanxiao remained silent and looked at him with scrutiny and doubt, his mind raced and a sudden inspiration flashed in his head.

He stopped arguing and the anxious expression on his face vanished instantly.

Then, she raised her eyes and looked at Si Yanxiao seriously, her tone calm and cold as she asked, "Ayan, you don't believe me either?"

Si Yanxiao pursed his thin lips, met her gaze, but did not respond.

Without uttering a single word, he implicitly expressed his attitude.

Clearly, doubts have arisen about this matter, and they will no longer blindly favor one side.

Seeing this, Bai Zhuwei felt a pang of disappointment, then her eyes turned cold, and she said with a self-deprecating laugh, "Since even you don't believe me, what's the point of arguing anymore? I might as well jump off a building and prove my point with my death!"

After saying that, her face darkened, and she turned and ran towards the door. Si Yanxiao, hearing the meaning in her words, couldn't help but feel worried and quickly followed behind her.

As he passed by Jiang Ran, he turned his head and glanced at her almost imperceptibly, his brows furrowing slightly and a strange glint in his eyes.

Then he turned and left.

Jiang Ran watched the farce with a cold eye, a sneer playing on her lips, her face full of disdain.

In this world, whoever shows weakness is in the wrong, and there's no point in distinguishing right from wrong.

Knowing he was in the wrong, he deliberately staged a self-inflicted injury to gain sympathy from others.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ran's eyes flashed, and she suddenly let out a cold sneer.

Putting everything else aside, one has to admire her ability to adapt to the situation; she is extremely thoughtful and truly makes full use of the Thirty-Six Stratagems.

Seeing that things had ended this way, the kidnapper's eyes flickered, and a hint of hesitation flashed across his face.

When that situation just occurred, only Jiang Ran's voice echoed in my ears like a booming bell, which shows that those ghosts must be related to her!

The people looking at Jiang Ran now had a hint of fear in their eyes.

The lead kidnapper, who had been so arrogant, lowered his head timidly and remained silent.

Jiang Ran didn't care about them. Thinking of how obvious Bai Zhuwei's disguise was, Si Yanxiao seemed not to see through it, and she followed closely behind.

A strange emotion welled up in her heart. On one hand, she despised Si Yanxiao for his poor judgment of people, but on the other hand, she clearly felt a sense of loss lingering in her heart.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ran shook her head violently, trying to get rid of these unrealistic thoughts that suddenly rushed into her mind.

Then he coldly looked at the kidnappers. As soon as their eyes met, the kidnappers lowered their heads instantly, a look of panic flashing across their faces.

Seeing this, Jiang Ran frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "Now that you have revealed the truth, I don't want to hear you go back on your word."

"No, no..." The kidnappers shook their heads repeatedly, afraid of provoking this "plague god" again.