In less than half an hour, all the people in the He family who could use spiritual energy were summoned to the He family ancestral hall. They stood in a row and took turns to pour spiritual energy into the glazed stone to see if any black energy would overflow.
Just as Lu Ming thought, after testing dozens of people, the glass stones all released something similar to black demonic energy. Everyone was shocked. It seemed that the young master's words were almost right. There really was someone who wanted to ruin his reputation and even let him die with a bad name.
He Qingqiu stood in the crowd, his face pale. He had never expected that such a meticulous plan would still be discovered by He Qingci. If the plan could be implemented smoothly, not only would He Qingci be branded as a demon cultivator, he might even be killed by the He family, and his soul would be scattered. Then he would eliminate the major worry in his heart and smoothly inherit the position of the head of the He family. Such a plan that killed several birds with one stone, but it put him in a dangerous situation.
"He Qingqiu, it's your turn." A cold voice suddenly came from the front.
He Qingqiu raised his head suddenly, a trace of fear and resentment flashed across his eyes, and he looked at He Qingci who was looking at him calmly not far away, and his heart was surging. He moved his lips, and his whole body seemed to be immersed in an ice cave and cold pond. He took a slightly shaky step and slowly walked towards the glass stone.
He Qingqiu stood in front of the glass stone, refusing to raise his hand to inject spiritual energy into it for a long time. Instead, he was sweating profusely and shaking all over.
When He Yuanqi saw He Qingqiu's expression, he frowned and asked, "Qingqiu, what's wrong with you?"
He Qingqiu's expression was horrified, his heart was beating like a drum. He tried hard to suppress the fear in his heart, and said in a trembling voice: "Father, I am not feeling well, and I can't use my spiritual energy. I want to take my leave first."
He Yuanqi glanced at him, nodded and said: "You really don't look very well, why don't you leave first."
He Qingqiu was overjoyed when he heard this, and nodded quickly, saying, "Then Qingqiu will go back first."
"Wait a minute!"
A cold voice suddenly sounded. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was the eldest young master He Qingci who spoke. Although his face was calm, his eyes were so cold that they almost frightened people. He said slowly: "Let's test first and then leave."
He Qingqiu's face changed, and he pretended to be angry and said, "I already said that I'm not feeling well and can't use my spiritual energy for the time being, why do you still want me to test it?"
Lu Ming glanced at him and said calmly: "Since the spiritual energy cannot be used, there are other ways to find it."
He Qingqiu asked angrily: "What method?"
Lu Ming raised his lips, pointed at the corpse of the demon, and said, "The demon and the master have a master-servant contract. Even if they die, the mark on the master will not disappear so quickly. If you are innocent, show your arm so that everyone can see whether there is a mark of the master-servant contract."
He Qingqiu felt as if he had suddenly fallen from heaven to hell, his whole body shivering. Signing a master-servant contract with a demon would indeed leave a dark red diamond mark on a certain part of the body, but the location would vary from person to person. But he never expected that this person would know so much about demons that he could clearly point out the exact location of the master-servant mark attached to his body. Could it be that someone had betrayed him so that He Qingci could catch him in the trap?
However, He Qingqiu guessed wrong. No one betrayed him, because the culprit was Lu Ming's pet 233. It lay lazily on Lu Ming's shoulder, and its chubby body looked like a ball from a distance. 233 smiled proudly and said, "My brain stores the physical characteristics of all creatures in this world, which is much more useful than an entire encyclopedia, and the information of demons is even more of a piece of cake. Master, do you often feel extremely honored to have a pet like me who is both beautiful and intelligent?"
Hearing this, Lu Ming helplessly whispered: "If only you would stop talking so much nonsense, I would feel even more honored."
233 curled his lips unwillingly and said: "If I were you, I would definitely wake up laughing when I think about it in the middle of the night."
Lu Ming said coldly: "Quickly shrink back!"
233 blinked his big black eyes in pain and shrank back into space aggrieved. Lu Ming calmed himself down and saw He Qingqiu standing there motionless with a pale face. He smiled coldly and said, "Why, you don't dare?"
He Qingqiu was sweating profusely. He moved his lips but didn't dare to speak. His mind was in a mess. He Yuanqi saw the scene in front of him and saw some clues. His eyes were dark and he said to He Qingqiu in a stern voice: "Roll up your sleeves!"
He Qingqiu's whole body trembled, his legs softened, and he fell to his knees with a plop, his voice filled with tears and fear: "Father, I...I did it all! Please forgive me!"
Everyone was in an uproar, all of them were shocked beyond words by the scene before them. They never expected that the person who wanted to harm the eldest young master was the second young master!
He Yuanqi couldn't hold it in any longer and cursed angrily: "Evil creature!"
He Qingqiu was frightened by his furious father and immediately fell to the ground, trembling and crying loudly: "Father, I was just confused for a moment, please let me go! I won't dare to do it again!"
He Yuanqi closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and asked the judge beside him in a deep voice: "According to the sect rules, what crime should be punished for privately raising evil creatures like Chiyao and attempting to frame and blame my brother?"
The judge hesitated for a moment, then clasped his fists and whispered, "Master, according to the He family's rules, the second young master will inevitably die this time. And because raising evil spirits is a serious crime, his soul should be locked up with a soul-locking chain after his death, and he will be imprisoned for a hundred years before he can be reborn again."
Lu Ming was slightly stunned. He did not expect that the He family's rules were like this. He did not want He Qingqiu to die. However, harming others will eventually harm oneself. If he had not discovered the difference in the stone tablet earlier, he would have exposed this person's conspiracy in front of everyone. Otherwise, all these punishments would have fallen on his head.
When He Qingqiu heard that the punishment was so severe, he collapsed to the ground in fear, crying and saying, "Father, since this is my first offense, please forgive me this time!"
He Yuanqi snorted coldly and said nothing. The clan elders standing by could not sit still any longer and said with some reluctance: "Sect Master, Qingqiu just strayed into the wrong path for a while. As the saying goes, a prodigal son who returns is worth more than gold. If he truly repents, give him a chance."
He Qingqiu nodded hurriedly and said, "Father, I really know I was wrong, and I will never do this again!"
He Yuanqi pondered for a moment, then sighed and said, "Qingqiu, today I will consider that this is your first offense, so I will punish you to go to Chiyu Mountain to reflect on your mistakes. You are not allowed to take a single step out of the mountain for fifty years."
He Qingqiu heard that he would not have to die, and fearing that He Yuanqi would regret it, he kowtowed and said, "Thank you, father, for not killing me. Qingqiu will definitely turn over a new leaf in the future."
He Yuanqi waved his hand wearily and said, "Take him away."
◆◆◆
Since such a big event happened in the ancestral hall that day, He Qingci's status in the He family has become even more precious. He Qingqiu was punished to Chiyu Mountain for fifty years, which means that He Qingci naturally became the only candidate for the next heir of the He family. Moreover, now that his spiritual energy has been restored and his ability to refine weapons has reached perfection, he is simply a genius that is hard to come by in a century. The entire cultivation world is shocked by this. For a time, He Qingci's house became extremely lively. Every day, people came to visit him and wanted to make friends with him. This made Lu Ming miserable. God knows that what he hates most is socializing.
When Liu Xuyun learned that her son was imprisoned in Chiyu Mountain, she fainted on the spot. After waking up, she went to He Yuanqi and begged him for several days, but all her requests were in vain. In just a few days, she seemed to have aged several decades, and she locked herself in the house every day and cried.
After Lu Ming learned about this, he felt a little emotional. If he had known this would happen, he would not have done it in the first place. As the saying goes, there is a god above your head, the cycle of heaven and earth, cause and effect, it is better to do things with a clear conscience.
"Brother, you are distracted again." A childish voice suddenly sounded.
Lu Ming came back to his senses and saw the young man in front of him. He couldn't help but smile slightly, stretched out his hand to rub his soft hair, and asked softly: "How was your spiritual practice today?"
The boy looked about eleven years old, with fair and delicate cheeks and two shallow dimples when he smiled, which made him look very cute. His eyes were clear and bright, shining brightly, and he smiled with curved eyebrows and said to Lu Ming, "I have already mastered most of it."
This child was the boy who collected firewood and sold it that day, named Jing Mo. When Lu Ming returned to the house that day, he found that Sang Wusheng had disappeared, but he ran into the boy who was bullied by the servant that day at the door. Lu Ming thought about it and decided to take Jing Mo with him, take care of his daily life, and pay him a salary every month so that he could have money to buy medicine for his sick mother.
Lu Ming nodded and said, "That's good. You need to practice hard every day."
Jing Mo nodded, then walked over and placed the cake in his hand on the stone table in front of him, and then said: "This is the chestnut cake that the new cook just made. Brother likes it, so I quickly brought some back for you to try."
Lu Ming's ears moved, and he stretched out his slender fingers to pick up a piece and put it in his mouth to chew. He squinted his eyes slightly as if enjoying it, and said slowly: "It's delicious."
Jing Mo immediately became happy when he heard this, and his whole face seemed to be radiating brilliance: "If you like it, I will make it for you myself in the future. I guarantee it will be more delicious than this."
Lu Ming was surprised and asked, "You can actually do these?"
Jing Mo blushed, looked away and said, "Of course I will."
Lu Ming said with some amusement: "You are only eleven years old. You don't need to learn those things. You should practice your spiritual energy well."
Jing Mo stiffened his neck and said, "Anyway, I will work hard to learn. When I learn it, my brother will only be able to eat the food and cakes I cook."
Lu Ming patted his head hard, and Jing Mo cried out, rubbing his head in grievance. Lu Ming shook his head helplessly and said, "You kid never thinks before speaking. What do you mean I will only eat the food you cook in the future? If you are not by my side, then I will have to starve?"
Jing Mo pouted unhappily and muttered to himself, "I won't let my brother have the chance to leave me."
Lu Ming: “…”
233 saw how the two of them got along, and couldn't help but sigh and said, "Master, do you think it's appropriate to let an eleven-year-old child take care of your food and daily life?"
Lu Ming said awkwardly: "This won't attract other people's attention, and it will also make his life better. This is killing two birds with one stone."
233 said helplessly: "Okay, let's not talk about this for now, let's talk about business. Do you think there is something wrong with He Yuanqi?"
Lu Ming recalled He Yuanqi's words and actions that day, especially the look in his eyes when he looked at him, as if he was determined to catch his prey. He felt a little weird and uncomfortable in his heart: "This person is very cunning and good at pretending. His attitude towards He Qingci is also quite weird. Let's observe him for a few more days. It's time to find an excuse to completely leave the He family."
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