Chapter 26 Question 1: I acted in self-defense!
The Pure Terrace, the Secluded Pavilion.
Two people are playing chess, while one person stands by.
A woman dressed in a snow-white robe, her eyes veiled by a plain silk cloth, knelt before a chessboard. Opposite her sat a handsome man, who was smiling and waiting for her next move.
After a long silence, the woman spoke softly, "Take out the chess set you just put in your sleeve."
Her voice was clear and melodious, like jade. The handsome man who had been cheating felt no shame at all. Instead, he scrambled the chessboard and said lazily, "I knew I couldn't hide it from Fairy Fushuang."
Fu Shuang loosened her slender fingers slightly, and the white chess piece fell into the chess box with a crisp sound.
"You're the only one who can play chess with a blind man."
"I heard that the Immortal Academy recruited a disciple with five spiritual roots, but unfortunately, his cultivation is lacking, far inferior to yours back then..."
Fu Shuang stood up, her wide robe sleeves fluttering in the wind, giving her an ethereal and otherworldly air. "The Immortal Dao Academy is not under the jurisdiction of the Punishment Hall. Is Lord Jin Chu so idle that he is paying attention to the Immortal Dao Academy?"
"but……"
Her eyes, covered by a silk veil, remained closed. She looked up at the sky and said, "Your Excellency will soon be very busy."
"Um?"
Jin Chu looked up with interest. The next moment, his expression changed slightly. He raised his arm and used his spiritual power to catch the man's corpse that was about to fall onto the Qingjingtai and carried it outside the Zuoyin Pavilion.
Spots of blood oozed out, stretching out as a thin line outside the pavilion, strikingly conspicuous.
"Sword energy? Still immature, yet already possessing sharpness, what a pity..."
Jin Chu's voice turned cold, "How dare you make a move within the Jade Cloud Sect, Wei Ze, go and deal with it."
"yes!"
Fu Shuang remained silent for a moment, then spoke again, "He has the aura of someone who practices evil magic. You can see it, so why bother..."
Jin Chu shrugged, saying indifferently, "Attack a fellow disciple within the sect is a crime, but to have such filth seen by a fairy is an even greater crime. Regardless of whether the person who attacked him was in the right, the Punishment Hall will not forgive him!"
“However…” he raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Since Fairy Fushuang has spoken, I will ask Wei Ze to be gentle.”
A young male disciple dressed in black punishment hall attire bowed respectfully and vanished from the spot with the corpse in an instant.
Fu Shuang, on the other hand, transformed into a streak of light and gracefully departed.
Jin Chu leaned against the pavilion with his arms crossed, his gaze sweeping over the red line drawn with blood on the ground. Had these disciples forgotten the dignity of the Punishment Hall after living in peace for too long?
Daring to practice evil arts in secret...
They should be told to remember this.
As dusk fell, Fan Sutan passed by the entrance of the Immortal Academy and caught a glimpse of a silver-winged roc perched outside, but she paid it no mind.
Just as he was about to look away, he noticed that the little disciple standing on tiptoe next to the Roc looked somewhat familiar.
Xu Xing?
Fan Sutan recalled that they had been teammates in the Xuan Shuo Trial. She was puzzled as to what Xu Xing was talking about with the roc. As the mount commonly used by the Jade Cloud Sect, cultivators should return to the Beast Taming Field promptly after riding the Silver-Winged Roc.
Fan Sutan hesitated for a moment, about to step forward to remind him, when suddenly a giant golden net appeared in the sky, enveloping the roc and Xu Xing together. Then, golden light shone, the net contracted, and bound the man and beast into a giant dumpling.
A man descended through the air, his voice icy cold, "Disciples of the Immortal Dao Academy have committed violence within the sect. By order of the Chief of the Punishment Department, they shall be immediately brought back to the Punishment Hall for interrogation!"
A spirit-binding net? A punishment hall?
If I remember correctly, Xu Xing was only a Qi Refining Level 1 disciple. How could he have committed a crime that attracted the attention of the Punishment Hall?!
The Punishment Hall is not what it used to be. Now it acts more and more recklessly. If a disciple with low cultivation enters that place, he will be severely injured even if he doesn't die!
Watching the man put the Spirit-Binding Net into his sleeve and fly towards the Hall of Punishments, Fan Sutan no longer hesitated and quickly ran towards Yaoguang Academy.
Trapped in the net along with the Silver-Winged Roc, Xu Xing soothed the frightened bird by stroking it. During her battle with Yao Dong, the Roc had taken several attacks while protecting her, and Xu Xing had been bandaging it up, which was why she had been delayed for a while.
He originally planned to report that he had been ambushed by Yao Dong, thinking that turning himself in would get him a lighter punishment. Who knew that the people from the Punishment Hall would arrive so quickly!
Could it be that Yao Dong's body fell on their heads?
Otherwise, how could they have been discovered so quickly and traced back to her so fast?
Frustrated, Xu Xing made wild guesses, unaware that she had stumbled upon the correct answer: the corpse had indeed fallen into the hands of the most powerful figure in the Punishment Hall!
"Master Wei, the disciple who committed the crime has been brought here! He is a disciple of the Yao Guang Academy of the Immortal Dao Academy, named Xu Xing."
After the executioner reported, he released Xu Xing and the roc together.
The petite girl was hung from a pillar, while the silver-winged roc was dragged down. Xu Xing's spiritual power was sealed, leaving her limp and powerless. Fearing that the roc would be abused, she still managed to lift her head, saying, "It has nothing to do with it..."
The executioner, his brow furrowed, said coldly, "You'd better worry about yourself first! Speak, why did you slaughter your fellow disciples?"
Xu Xing argued, "He used tricks to bewitch me and tried to rob me of my property. When that failed, he tried to kill me to silence me. I was acting in self-defense!"
"What self-defense? What nonsense! Look at those weird eyes of yours, I think you're the one using trickery!"
The executioner, intent on impressing Wei Ze, twirled his whip, his eyes blazing with threat. "He's a Foundation Establishment cultivator, while you're merely a Qi Refining Stage 1 cultivator. To lay a hand on you would be as easy as crushing an ant! Who gave you that sword energy?!"
"If he wants to kill me, am I not allowed to fight back? That sword energy was just a gift from a friend for self-defense, what's wrong with that?"
"You are unharmed, while that Foundation Establishment cultivator is dead, and you still say you're right?!"
Seeing that she was still going to argue, the executioner snorted coldly. Everyone who entered the Hall of Punishments thought they were right, but after a few lashes, they still had to obediently admit their mistakes.
He raised the whip high and swung it down suddenly, intending to beat this arrogant girl until her skin was torn and bleeding.
Hearing the sound of the whip cutting through the air, Xu Xing turned his head and closed his eyes.
But after waiting for a long time, the whip never fell on him. Instead, a deep male voice, tinged with displeasure, asked, "Is this how you usually interrogate people?"
Wei Ze gripped the whip with one hand. The dead cultivator had many storage bags on his body. They had no basis to torture him without verifying whether Xu Xing's words were true.
When did the punishment hall develop such a style, where no matter who is right or wrong, you have to be whipped a few times as soon as you come in?
It had been quite some time since any disciples had committed offenses and been brought to the Punishment Hall. The executioner was itching to take action, and when he saw that the one caught this time was just a weak Qi Refining cultivator, he got carried away and forgot that the Chief Executioner was standing next to him.
Guessing that Wei Ze intended to take action personally, the executioner quickly offered the whip with both hands, saying, "This subordinate has overstepped his bounds, Master Wei, please..."
"..."
Wei Ze rubbed his temples and said coldly, "I'm asking you, has the identity of this corpse been confirmed?"
"It's been confirmed! He is an outer disciple named Yao Dong, who has not yet formally joined the sect."
"Have you looked at these storage bags on him, which clearly belong to several cultivators? Have you looked at the 'Soul-Capturing Sound Technique' hidden in those storage bags?!"
"this……"
The executioner was speechless for a moment, feeling a little regretful. He had only hit Xu Xing because he saw that Xu Xing was a Qi Refining cultivator without any background, but who knew that Wei Ze would not be swayed by such tactics.
What crime should be committed to harm a fellow disciple using evil magic?
The executioner's feverish mind cooled considerably. He understood Wei Ze's meaning, and his voice weakened, "He should... be executed..."
"Now that you know, do I need to teach you how to interrogate her, line by line?"
Jin Chu ordered a severe punishment. Wei Ze knew, of course, that his master was referring to Yao Dong, the guy who tried to harm people by practicing evil arts but ended up being killed instead. He had just said that on purpose because his master often liked to contradict Fairy Fu Shuang.
This young disciple named Xu Xing has done nothing wrong and should not be punished. The Punishment Hall is not an unreasonable place.
A disciple like Yao Dong who went astray deserves to die, but this matter cannot be left unresolved.
Before Yao Dong deliberately approached Xu Xing and waited for an opportunity to make his move, he deliberately forged his identity and asked a cultivator from the Weapon Refining Academy. That cultivator still remembered the "brother and sister" pair. With his testimony and the things found on Yao Dong, the whole story became clear.
"Thank you, Chief of the Guards."
After the interrogation ended, Xu Xing was released. She rubbed her swollen wrist and felt relieved. The executioner had been so fierce that she thought she was going to get a beating.
Fortunately, this handsome guy surnamed Wei is reasonable.
"This was an undeserved disaster. I've troubled you with this ordeal, so I'll have someone send you back."
"Lord Wei! True Person Feng of Qingling Peak requests an audience!"
Qingling Peak?
Feng Ling has never had any dealings with the Punishment Hall, so why would he...?
"Chief Wei, I hope my uninvited visit hasn't disturbed you?"
No one dared to stop Feng Ling, who strode into the house and looked straight at Xu Xing. Seeing that she was alright, she breathed a sigh of relief.
It turned out that after Fan Sutan discovered that Xu Xing had been taken away, she immediately went to Yaoguang Courtyard. After Wen Yao and the others learned of this, they sought help from her again because Wen Lu was not in the courtyard.
"The interrogation room is a secret area within the Hall of Punishments, and outsiders are not allowed to enter. If Master Feng has something to discuss, please come to the main hall for a talk."
Wei Ze's tone was indifferent.
The cultivators in the Punishment Hall, mindful of Feng Ling's identity, dared not stop him. However, even if a Dharma Protector Elder himself came, he could not enter, let alone Feng Ling, the daughter of a Dharma Protector Elder.
"No need, I'm here to take her away."
Feng Ling waved to Xu Xing, and seeing that she wasn't tied up, he knew the matter had been investigated.
Xu Xing hurriedly stepped forward. She hadn't expected Feng Ling to stand up for her. After all, they had only met through fishing and weren't really familiar with each other.
Seeing the two leave, Wei Ze did not stop them, but he looked at the disciple who came to report with a very indifferent gaze.
The Punishment Hall has been peaceful for too long, and people's hearts are restless. Since the Master went into seclusion, the current Deputy Hall Master's style is completely different from the Master's. It really needs to be rectified.
However, it was quite unexpected that this young disciple named Xu Xing could resist the Soul-Capturing Sound Technique...
After leaving the punishment hall, Feng Ling asked, "What exactly happened?"
Xu Xing then explained Yao Dong's situation, and she said with lingering fear, "Thanks to Senior Brother Shen's sword energy, otherwise I'm afraid I would have become the corpse of the Roc after falling from its body..."
"Senior Brother Shen? Shen Du?"
Feng Ling's voice, which had been full of concern, suddenly turned icy.
"Yes, I don't know when Senior Brother Shen gave it to me, I had no idea."
Xu Xing didn't notice her unusual behavior and muttered to himself, "I wonder if the Roc is alright. Since I'm fine, it should have been released back into the Beast Taming Arena, right?"
Feng Ling stopped, and Xu Xing, who was walking behind her, almost bumped his nose into her back.
"So, you and Shen Du are very close?"
Actually, there's no need to ask this question. The sword energy capable of killing a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator must be Shen Du's original sword energy. Giving such a powerful thing to Xu Xing speaks volumes about their relationship.
Xu Xing nodded.
The employer and the thugs could be considered to have a very good relationship, right?
But why is Senior Feng asking this?
Xu Xing finally realized that something was wrong.
Feng Ling stared at Xu Xing for a long time. Seeing her confusion, he hesitated before saying, "You haven't been a disciple for long, so you probably don't know what kind of person he is. He..."
“Senior Feng, I have heard the rumors in the sect, but I trust my own judgment more. Senior Brother Chen Du is not an ominous person. Why should you care about these words?”
Xu Xing didn't understand. It was one thing for the disciples to be cautious, but Feng Ling was a Golden Core cultivator. Did he really believe these baseless rumors?
"An ominous sign?"
Feng Ling chuckled briefly, his voice extremely strange, "He's not just unlucky, he's also a disloyal, unfilial, and unjust scoundrel!"
Xu Xing frowned. "Senior Feng, I am very grateful that you were willing to come to the Punishment Hall to save me, but it is really inappropriate for you to say that about Senior Brother Shen. I..."
"good!"
Feng Ling interrupted Xu Xing. She seemed to have calmed down and looked at Xu Xing, saying each word clearly, "If you befriend him, you'll be going against me. You'd better watch yourself!"
"I will make it clear to Elder Guo that you must not go to Yunlinxi again!"
Feng Ling turned and left, while Xu Xing remained standing there, staring blankly at her retreating figure. If they couldn't go to Yunlin Creek, wouldn't that mean they wouldn't have any fish to eat?
No! No! Is now the time to eat fish?
Xu Xing rubbed his face and then remembered that Zuo Qiuxu and Xiang Yuquan were imprisoned in Qingling Peak for solitary confinement, which seemed to be because of Shen Du.
Why does Senior Feng harbor such great hostility towards Shen Du?
If these high-level cultivators and peak masters all have this attitude, how difficult it must have been for Shen Du to stay in the sect all these years. No wonder a cultivator who is about to form his core doesn't even have the spirit stones to rent a spiritual vein.
Xu Xing never imagined that she would encounter a treasure hunt within the Jade Cloud Sect. Knowing her cultivation level was low, she didn't know how many sword energies Shen Du had left for her. It seemed that she could never let her guard down, no matter where she was.
She only hoped that Shen Du would soon complete his Core Formation and emerge from seclusion. With a Golden Core cultivator protecting him, she would have fewer worries and could finally enjoy playing with her life skills...
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Author's Note: Thank you so much, little cutie Catle, for the nutrient solution! [shy]
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