Chapter 285: Eliminating Traitors

Two days later, in the council hall of Qinghe Market, every Foundation Establishment cultivator in Qinghe County—with the exception of the Huang family's newly established Huang Sipo—had arrived as requested.

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, and spoke: "Fellow Daoists, I have investigated the attack on Qinghe Market. The person who leaked information to the bandit cultivators was executed by Fellow Daoist Lu a few days ago. These two were deceived by that person and inadvertently leaked important secrets of our market on several occasions."

Looking at the two men below, Song Qingming felt no surprise. Years ago, when Qinghe Market sent troops to crusade against Eagle Nest Ridge and returned empty-handed, Song Qingming had already sensed something was wrong; he suspected there might be a traitor within Qinghe Market secretly tipping off the bandits.

At first, Song Qingming suspected there might be an issue 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 someone among those stationed at Qinghe Market for years had been bought off by Eagle Nest Ridge.

However, after the great battle, Song Qingyu told him that Hu Maocai's subordinates had fought very bravely during the market defense, and Hu Maocai himself had died in battle. Song Qingming immediately changed his mind and dismissed his suspicions regarding Lu Yuanfeng's side.

After this battle, not only Song Qingming but almost everyone, including Lu Yuanfeng, began to suspect there was a traitor in the market. Although no one had said it aloud, it was essentially 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 forced them to retreat early, they still managed to plunder many spiritual items and escape unscathed. Without sufficient intelligence, it would have been very difficult for them to time everything so perfectly.

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

Like Song Qingming, Lu Pingjiang was only a four-element spiritual root cultivator. He was not valued by his family, and after cultivating to the middle stage of Qi Refining, he was sent by the Lu family to Qinghe Market 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 Qinghe Market. However, 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 Qinghe Market.

Without the information leaked by Lu Pingjiang, even if Cheng Yilong and his group had managed to infiltrate, they could not have so accurately located the several array veins of the market's grand formation. If the mountain-protecting formation had not been sabotaged and had remained intact, even if Lu Yuanfeng were absent, Song Qingyu could have led everyone to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

The location of the array veins for Qinghe Market's mountain-protecting formation was generally unknown to cultivators visiting the market; only the two Foundation Establishment cultivators guarding the market 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 captain, Thirteenth Uncle Song Changxiong, knew the exact location where these array veins were buried.

However, Qinghe Market's mountain-protecting formation had not been changed for many years. Besides the Song family, the Huang, Gao, and Lu families had rotated duties for so many years that quite a few people knew the locations of the array veins. But compared to the cultivators from the four rotating families, those who knew it best were the disciples under Lu Yuanfeng. They had been stationed in the market for years, and most of them were clear on the locations of the array veins. It was precisely because of this that when Song Qingming suspected a traitor years ago, he first thought the problem might lie with Lu Yuanfeng.

Although Song Qingming's guess wasn't 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 fellow didn't even know he had leaked the secrets of the market's grand formation. Kneeling below, he looked up at Lu Yuanfeng with a pitiful expression from time to time, nearly crying out to declare his innocence. In the great battle to defend the market a few days ago, he had fought bravely alongside Hu Maocai and even sustained some injuries. He hadn't expected that just a few days after rejoicing in his survival, he would be apprehended here.

The reason Lu Yuanfeng found this person was also through questioning Lu Pingjiang. Besides him, a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator from the Lu family was also implicated. Neither of them had actually intended to leak the secrets. Even Lu Yuanfeng's recent trip to the Huang family to attend Huang Sipo's Foundation Establishment ceremony was something Lu Pingjiang had inadvertently learned from that disciple of Lu Yuanfeng while they were drinking.

To say these two were wronged—they weren't really wronged. They couldn't control their mouths and said everything, leading to the market being breached. Even if they didn't intend it, they caused the deaths of so many people. At this point, even if they were killed directly, Lu Xingde 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 for a long time before finally speaking up to plead for them.

Seeing Gao Jinhe suddenly speak up to help Lu Xingde's side, not only was Song Qingming surprised, but even Gao Yubai, who was sitting beside him, showed a trace of astonishment on his face.

Before retaking the market, Gao Yubai had fought a battle against the leader of Eagle Nest Ridge, Cheng Yilong. Unfortunately, facing Cheng Yilong, whose cultivation had already reached the eighth level of Foundation Establishment, Gao Yubai's cultivation was still somewhat lacking. In the end, he couldn't hold them back until Song Qingming and the others arrived to support him, and he himself sustained some injuries. For this reason, Gao Yubai supported punishing the matter severely. However, now that his elder had suddenly spoken to plead for mercy, Gao Yubai, though displeased, held his tongue.

"This involves so many lives in the market. If we only give them a slight punishment, how will we convince the public in the future?"

"Fellow Daoist Song is right. In this battle, my Huang family lost five fresh lives. This cannot be resolved with just a few words. Fellow Daoist Lu, don't you agree!"

Seeing Song Qingming take the initiative to stand up against the Gao family's argument, Huang Shengyue naturally followed suit immediately. Among the four families, the Huang family had suffered the greatest losses in this battle. They owned the most shops in the market, so naturally, they suffered the greatest loss of spiritual items in this turmoil.

"I also agree that they should be severely punished. Not only them, but we elders also have some responsibility for failing to discipline them well, and we should also receive some punishment."