Chapter 285: Purging the Traitors

Two days later, in the council hall of Qinghefang, all the Foundation Establishment cultivators in Qinghe County—with the exception of the Huang family's newly established Huang Sipo—had arrived as promised.

The group sat together in the hall, while two Qi Refining cultivators knelt on the floor below, trembling.

A moment later, Lu Yuanfeng stood up, pointed at the two men below, and spoke: "Fellow Daoists, I have already investigated the matter of the attack on Qinghefang. The person who leaked information to the bandits was executed by Fellow Daoist Lu himself a few days ago. These two were deceived by that person and inadvertently leaked important secrets of our marketplace several times."

Looking at the two men below, Song Qingming felt no surprise. When Qinghefang's expedition to Eagle Nest Ridge returned empty-handed years ago, Song Qingming had already sensed something was wrong; there might have been a mole inside Qinghefang secretly leaking information to the bandits.

At first, Song Qingming suspected that something might be wrong on Lu Yuanfeng's side. After all, with the precedent of Hu Maocai, who was greedy for a few spirit stones, it was highly likely that one or two of those who had been stationed at Qinghefang for years could have been bought off by Eagle Nest Ridge.

However, after the great battle, hearing from Song Qingyu that Hu Maocai's subordinates had performed very bravely in this defense of the marketplace, and that Hu Maocai himself had died in battle on the spot, Song Qingming immediately changed his view and dismissed his suspicions regarding Lu Yuanfeng's side.

After this battle, not only Song Qingming, but almost everyone, including Lu Yuanfeng, had begun to suspect there was a mole in the marketplace. Although no one had spoken of it aloud, it was basically an open secret.

The enemy had been very well prepared for this battle. Even though they hadn't accounted for the variable of Gao Yubai, which caused them to retreat early, they still managed to snatch away many spiritual items and escape unscathed. Without sufficient intelligence, it would certainly have been difficult for them to time everything so perfectly.

After a vigorous investigation by Lu Yuanfeng, the mole was quickly ferreted out. The man's name was Lu Pingjiang, an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator of the Lu family. He had been bought off by Cheng Yilong's side many years ago and had secretly sold many of Qinghefang's secrets over the years.

Like Song Qingming, Lu Pingjiang was only a four-element spiritual root cultivator and was not valued by his family. After cultivating to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, he was sent by the Lu family to Qinghefang to manage a shop that purchased spiritual items.

Logically, an ordinary cultivator with no status like Lu Pingjiang would find it difficult to grasp the core secrets of Qinghefang, but he was very good at making friends. Not only was he popular within the Lu family, but he also had quite good relationships with many of Lu Yuanfeng's disciples.

It could be said that this person helped Cheng Yilong and the others a great deal in their successful attack on Qinghefang this time.

Without the intelligence leaked by Lu Pingjiang, even if Cheng Yilong and the others could have sent people to infiltrate, they could not have accurately located the several formation veins of the marketplace's grand formation. If the mountain-protecting formation had not been ambushed and had remained intact, even if Lu Yuanfeng were not there, Song Qingyu could have led everyone to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

The location of the formation veins of Qinghefang's mountain-protecting formation was generally unknown to cultivators who came to Qinghefang. Only the two Foundation Establishment cultivators guarding the marketplace and a few high-level members of the law enforcement team knew. Among the cultivators in the Song family's law enforcement team, only the thirteenth uncle, Song Changxiong, who served as the captain, knew the exact location where these formation veins were buried.

However, Qinghefang's mountain-protecting formation had not been changed for so many years. Besides the Song family, the Huang, Gao, and Lu families had rotated for so many years, so many people knew the location of the formation veins. But compared to the cultivators of the four rotating families, those who knew it best were Lu Yuanfeng's disciples. They had been stationed in the marketplace for years, and most of them already knew the location of the formation veins. Precisely because of this, when Song Qingming suspected a mole back then, he first thought that the problem might lie with Lu Yuanfeng.

Although Song Qingming's guess was not entirely accurate, the direction was correct. Among those who leaked these important secrets to Lu Pingjiang, there was indeed one of Lu Yuanfeng's disciples. However, this guy still didn't know that he had leaked the secrets of the marketplace formation. Kneeling below, he occasionally raised his eyes to look at Lu Yuanfeng pitifully, almost shouting that he was wronged. In the great battle to defend the marketplace a few days ago, he had been fighting bravely alongside Hu Maocai and had even been injured. He didn't expect that just a few days after rejoicing at his survival, he would be caught here.

The reason Lu Yuanfeng found this person was also by asking Lu Pingjiang. Besides him, a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator of the Lu family was also implicated. Like him, neither of them had intended to leak the secrets. Even Lu Yuanfeng's trip to the Huang family to attend Huang Sipo's Foundation Establishment ceremony was something Lu Pingjiang had inadvertently learned about when drinking with that disciple of Lu Yuanfeng.

To say these two were wronged—they weren't really wronged. They couldn't control their mouths and said everything, leading to the marketplace being breached. Even if they didn't do it intentionally, they had caused the deaths of so many people. Even if they were killed on the spot now, the Lu family and Lu Yuanfeng would find it difficult to plead for them.

"Since it was unintentional, I think it would be better to give them a slight punishment and give them a chance to turn over a new leaf."

Lu Xingde found it difficult to plead for mercy himself, so he gave Gao Jinhe a wink. As a long-time ally, Gao Jinhe hesitated again and again before finally speaking a word for them.

Seeing Gao Jinhe beside him suddenly speak up to plead for Lu Xingde's side, not only was Song Qingming surprised, but even Gao Yubai, who was sitting beside him and had come with him, showed a trace of surprise on his face.

Before retaking the marketplace, Gao Yubai had fought a battle with Cheng Yilong, the leader of Eagle Nest Ridge. Unfortunately, facing Cheng Yilong, whose cultivation had already reached the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment, Gao Yubai's cultivation was still quite a bit behind the opponent. In the end, he had no way to keep them there and wait for the support of Song Qingming and the others. He himself had also been injured. For this reason, Gao Yubai was in favor of severely punishing the matter. However, now that his own elder had suddenly spoken up to plead for mercy, although Gao Yubai was displeased, he held back and said nothing.

"Involving so many lives in the marketplace, if we only give a slight punishment, how will we be able to convince the public in the future?"

"Fellow Daoist Song is right. In this battle, my Huang family lost five fresh lives. This is not something that can be solved with a single sentence. Fellow Daoist Lu, don't you agree!"

Seeing Song Qingming take the initiative to stand up and oppose the Gao family's statement, Huang Shengyue naturally followed up immediately. This time, the Huang family had suffered the greatest losses among the four families. They owned the most shops in the marketplace, so naturally, they had also suffered the greatest loss of spiritual items in this turmoil.

"I also agree that we should punish them severely. Not only them, but we elders who failed to discipline them well also have some responsibility and should also be taught a lesson."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 286 =====