Chapter 43: Steward Hall Standoff

The disciples chatted as if no one else were there, discussing how to deal with He Lu and the others; upon hearing the Divine Sword Peak disciples' words, He Lu and company each turned pale with fright.

Is this really a disciple of the Dao Yi Sect, the leader of the righteous path in Dongzhou? They're always talking about killing and wiping out traces.

He Lu had his mouth stuffed and couldn't speak, while the other Luo Xia Sect disciples hurriedly spoke up.

"Wait a minute, this has nothing to do with us."

"Exactly, we just came along to the Dao Yi Sect; we didn't do anything."

From the expressions of those Divine Sword Peak disciples, it seemed they weren't joking at all, and the Luo Xia Sect disciples also panicked.

But just then, He Lu's master Yu Li and the Third Elder arrived in time; with their cultivation levels, they could hear the Divine Sword Peak disciples' conversation from afar.

Yu Li's face was grim, while the Third Elder's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but shout coldly.

"Shut up, all of you!"

As the shout rang out, the two descended from the sky, glanced at He Lu and the others tightly bound with ropes and even their mouths stuffed; Yu Li gave a cold snort, waved her hand, and only then released the bonds tying everyone.

Upon seeing Yu Li arrive, the Luo Xia Sect disciples felt as if pardoned, hastily rising to stand behind her, as if only then could they feel safe.

"Elder, we............"

"Shut up."

It was utterly disgraceful; Yu Li didn't want to hear the disciples' explanations, merely turning her gaze toward He Lu.

Facing his master's gaze, He Lu glared viciously at Ye Zhangqing and said.

"Master, it's all Ye Zhangqing—he used some vile means to bribe the Divine Sword Peak senior brothers and sisters to attack us."

Blaming everything on Ye Zhangqing, upon hearing this, Yu Li and the Third Elder's gazes fell on Ye Zhangqing; facing the scrutiny of the two big shots, Ye Zhangqing was speechless.

"I say, if you want to frame someone, you'd better use your brain—I'm just a menial disciple; what could I use to bribe so many senior brothers and sisters? Besides, there's also Senior Brother Xu Jie and Senior Sister Liu Shuang, who are inner disciples."

"Could something like this be done by a lowly menial disciple like me?"

Ye Zhangqing was truly speechless; he had done nothing at all.

Upon hearing this, Yu Li and the Third Elder also didn't believe Ye Zhangqing could have done that; Yu Li glanced at the grim-faced He Lu, who persisted in his insistence.

"Ye Zhangqing, even now you still want to deny it?"

No one believes this has nothing to do with Ye Zhangqing; in response, Ye Zhangqing couldn't be bothered to say more, merely giving He Lu a look of pitying a fool.

Each side held to its own account, and just then the Law Enforcement Hall's steward arrived with a group of disciples.

Afterward, Ye Zhangqing, He Lu, the Luo Xia Sect disciples, and more than ten Divine Sword Peak disciples who had been singled out were all brought to Zhu Feng's Law Enforcement Hall.

This matter naturally falls to the Law Enforcement Hall to handle.

Inside the Law Enforcement Hall, the presiding Second Elder of the main seat sat in the chief position, with Yu Li and the Third Elder on either side below, while Ye Zhangqing, He Lu, and others stood in the center of the hall.

The Second Elder also roughly understood the situation; from what He Lu and the others said, it was clearly the fault of the Divine Sword Peak disciples.

At this moment, looking at Xu Jie, Liu Shuang, and the other Divine Sword Peak disciples, the Second Elder spoke in a low voice.

"Xu Jie, Liu Shuang, what the Luo Xia Sect disciples said is true—do you have any explanation?"

"Hah, sheer nonsense."

Upon hearing this, Xu Jie snorted coldly; as for Liu Shuang, she had no intention of answering.

Having spoken, without waiting for anyone else to reply, Xu Jie turned his gaze toward He Lu and the others and spoke loudly.

"This incident is entirely the Luo Xia Sect disciples' own doing."

"Everyone knows that our Dao Yi Sect and the Luo Xia Sect are on close terms; originally we treated the Luo Xia Sect disciples with utmost friendliness from our Divine Sword Peak, but who would have thought that these Luo Xia Sect disciples, each harboring ill intentions, actually wanted to secretly harm our Divine Sword Peak disciples?"

"You're spouting nonsense; we didn't do anything."

"If one wants to add a crime, there's no lack of excuses."

Upon hearing Xu Jie's words, the Luo Xia Sect disciples each spoke up to refute; in the Law Enforcement Hall, they seemed to regain their backbone.

As for this, Xu Jie merely gave them a glancing look and then continued speaking to the Second Elder above.

"Whether it's true or not, you know it yourselves; justice lies in people's hearts. I'll ask you: why did the Luo Xia Sect come to our Dao Yi Sect this time?"

"Because of the engagement between Senior Sister He Lu and Ye Zhangqing."

"Are you trying to break off the engagement?"

"Yes."

"Since that's the case, there's nothing more to explain—you yourselves have admitted it outright."

As soon as that was said, the Luo Xia Sect disciples were all dumbfounded—what did we admit? What did we say?

Facing the bewildered Luo Xia Sect disciples, Xu Jie gave a cold snort.

"The engagement between He Lu and Junior Brother Zhangqing has existed since childhood, set by the family elders."

"As the saying goes, marriage is decided by parents; although He Lu now wants to unilaterally break the engagement—whether right or wrong aside—if she truly wants to break it off, she should go to the Ye family, not come to our Dao Yi Sect."

"But you insist on coming to the Dao Yi Sect and personally seeking out Junior Brother Zhangqing."

"Who could endure the shame of a broken engagement? Are you trying to make Junior Brother Zhangqing unable to hold his head up in the Dao Yi Sect thereafter?"

"You are deliberately doing this, intending to destroy Junior Brother Zhangqing's Dao heart."

"Is this not harming our Divine Sword Peak disciples?"

"Even if destroying one's Dao heart were enough, you—yes, you—I clearly heard you and the person beside you say that once Junior Brother Zhangqing's Dao heart is destroyed, you'll look for a chance to kill him."

"Destroying a Dao heart isn't enough; you also want to kill and silence. You Luo Xia Sect disciples are so ruthless—how can we, as fellow sect brothers and sisters, stand by and do nothing?"

The Luo Xia Sect disciple pointed at by Xu Jie now wore a blank expression, wondering when he had ever said he wanted to kill Ye Zhangqing.

He was just tagging along to watch the fun, at most thinking of flattering He Lu, the newly promoted inner disciple.

But now how did he suddenly become the murderer intent on harming the Dao Yi Sect disciples?

"I... I don't have..."

Having come to his senses, the disciple tried desperately to defend himself, but Xu Jie wouldn't have any of it; he turned, bowed to the Second Elder, and then spoke with righteous vigor.

"So, seeing our fellow sect brother being harmed, as a senior brother of the Divine Sword Peak, I stepped in to protect him—what's wrong with that?"

These Luo Xia Sect disciples are audacious and wicked; the disciples even suspect they have colluded with demons, coming here this time solely to secretly sow discord between our Dao Yi Sect and the Luo Xia Sect, to achieve some shameful aim.

Such a scum of the Human Race, the disciple earnestly pleads with the Second Elder to conduct a strict investigation, first imprison them in the black jail, and subject them to harsh interrogation.

No, we are innocent!

The more they spoke, the more outrageous it became; even threatening to throw them into the black jail. Upon hearing Xu Jie's words, the Luo Xia Sect disciples all fell to their knees, crying out their innocence, insisting they were not demon spies at all and had never thought of harming Ye Zhangqing.