Chapter 13 |
As expected, the disciple distributing food discovered the three corpses in the stone house district. Upon reporting the incident, it immediately caused a huge commotion.
The law enforcement disciples of the stone house district entered in formation, the morning class was canceled, and all Spirit Slaves were placed under strict surveillance. The three main stewards arrived together, and a dramatic scene began to unfold.
Steward Liu, who had been riding high lately, stood at the front with his hands behind his back, face dark as iron, staring at the three corpses of Spirit Slaves as if their bodies had been pierced by ten thousand swords.
He narrowed his eyes, sharply sensing a chilling aura from the scene.
“Ice Sword Technique...”
He instinctively turned to look at Steward Duan beside him, whose face bore an indifferent expression. His tone was icy.
“Fat Duan, was this your doing?”
Steward Duan paused, frowned, and replied.
“What does this have to do with me?”
“You damned fatso, do you think I’m blind? You're the only one who knows the Ice Sword Technique. If the frosty aura on these wounds wasn’t your doing, then whose was it?”
Their argument did not escape Steward Liu of the Liu surname, who remained silent, quietly taking a few steps back, appearing unwilling to get involved.
Fatty Duan snorted coldly, shoved Liu aside, and after carefully examining the corpses, his expression changed instantly. Cold sweat unconsciously dripped from his forehead. His eyes darted about as he spoke.
“There are others in the stone house district who know the Ice Sword Technique.”
“You mean that Spirit Slave? Hah—”
Although they had a prior grudge and Wang Yu was under Steward Duan, and had indeed studied the Ice Sword Technique, Steward Liu did not buy this explanation.
The last time he saw it, Wang Yu's Ice Sword Technique was still in the early stages. The ice swords he formed were thick and crude, and the resulting wounds were jagged and imprecise.
But the three corpses today showed clean, narrow wounds that could only have been made by a perfectly executed Ice Sword Technique. This kind of devastating, unstoppable power could only come from Fatty Duan.
A mere Spirit Slave, only at Qi Refining Layer Two, still struggling to condense Spirit Sand, could not possibly have such mastery of this technique.
“Not going to admit it? Then come with me to drag that boy out for interrogation.”
Upon hearing this—
Steward Duan fell silent. Just now, he had only been thinking of clearing his own name and had forgotten about the mission given to him by the True Disciple Su, to win over loyal subordinates. Wang Yu was the best example for this plan.
Now that trouble had come knocking again, it was indeed a difficult choice to make.
In his mind, Wang Yu was undoubtedly the culprit. There was no other possibility.
He hardened his heart. He wasn’t about to take the fall.
“Then bring him here for confrontation. Who’s afraid of whom?”
“He’s one of yours. Of course you’re not afraid of a confrontation.”
Steward Liu sneered repeatedly, ordered the corpses to be carried along, and led the way toward stone house No. 83, where Wang Yu resided. In just a short while, they arrived at the door.
His eyes were sharp, and he instantly noticed that the iron door showed signs of being damaged. His heart trembled slightly.
“Could it be... Fatty Duan already prepared a countermeasure? Is he trying to deliberately undermine my authority?”
At that moment, not only did Steward Liu have such thoughts, even the third steward, surname Liu—who had been silently observing all along, felt the same.
“Wang Yu, get out here.”
Fatty Duan didn’t care about any of that. With a loud shout, Wang Yu timidly shuffled out. Before the three men could speak, his knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground.
"I was the one who killed them. I accept any punishment from the respected stewards."
Steward Liu’s expression turned grim. As expected.
Although he had little fondness for Wang Yu, that beast Duan had stooped to such despicable tactics, willing to harm his own interests just to damage Liu’s authority.
Precisely because of that, he couldn’t allow Duan to succeed. After thinking for a moment, he finally spoke.
"Wang Yu, is it? Are you aware of the punishment for killing a Spirit Slave and damaging the property of Cold Blood Peak?"
Wang Yu deliberately glanced at Steward Duan, then shook his head and remained silent.
So he doesn’t know.
Steward Liu felt even more confident and explained coldly.
"The Blood Reversal Sect has nine major tortures: Death by Thousand Cuts, Bronze Bull, Oil Cauldron, Insect Devouring, Sensory Severance, Heavenly Lantern, Soul Extraction, Roasting, and Yang Pillar.
"If you confess, you’ll still face at least three of them. You’ll first be thrown into the oil cauldron to suffer the pain of deep frying, then restored by the sect’s medical arts, followed by steaming in the Bronze Bull. In the end, your soul will be extracted and refined into a Ghost Slave for the Seventh Peak—forever a servant and slave, with no chance of reincarnation."
This was Wang Yu’s first time hearing the sect’s punishment laws, so he didn’t need to act. His genuine shock and disbelief showed naturally as he stared blankly at Steward Duan.
It was as if he were waiting for an explanation.
Fatty Duan wasn’t very clever, but he wasn’t an idiot either. He immediately realized what Wang Yu was trying to do and couldn’t help speaking up.
"Why are you looking at me? Don’t you dare make false accusations. Words can bring disaster—"
"Quite the impressive authority you wield, Steward Duan!"
Steward Liu interrupted, his Qi Refining peak-level presence bursting forth unmistakably.
"In front of fellow stewards, you still dare to spout lies and threaten a Spirit Slave into taking the blame for you. Lawless!"
"No, that’s not—"
Fatty Duan wanted to cry but had no tears, feeling utterly wronged.
His evasive gaze suddenly caught sight of the damaged iron bars of stone house No. 83. Like discovering a loophole, his voice sharpened.
"That damage must be from Wang Yu sneaking out at night. He definitely killed those three people!"
Steward Liu’s gaze turned even colder.
"So you're saying the night watch law enforcers were negligent, that they couldn’t even keep an eye on a mere Spirit Slave? Do any of you believe that?"
The patrolling law enforcement disciples weren’t willing to take that blame.
"All of us are at least mid-stage Qi Refining. Our spiritual sense can leave the body. I swear, the Spirit Slave Wang Yu was in his stone house all night."
See? That’s the trend of the situation. No one wanted to carry this blame. They only needed to side with Steward Liu.
Just then, the food-distributing disciple who discovered the corpses stepped forward.
"This was my fault. During morning food distribution, the Spirit Slave was still sleeping in bed. I saw that he wasn’t working hard to condense Spirit Sand, so I kicked the iron bars at the corner. That break was caused by me."
Steward Duan: "…Ah?"
How many spirit stones did they take to cooperate this well?
In his eyes, this was a setup, Wang Yu conspiring with Steward Liu in a deliberate move against him, a betrayal.
Right now, he couldn’t do anything to Wang Yu. But if True Disciple Su so much as said one word, Duan would never have a chance to enter the outer sect and become a true disciple of the Blood Reversal Sect.
"Heh…
"Birds of a feather.
"Wang Yu, don’t forget whose hand pulled you from Disciple Su’s side. What did this Liu guy give you? That you'd rather help him frame me!"
Steward Liu’s eyes narrowed.
"Still trying to slander and bite back? Men, seize this fat pig."
Just as he was about to have Steward Duan taken to the Cold Blood Peak’s Discipline Hall, a law enforcement disciple hurried over, handed him a cloth bag, and whispered in his ear.
In that instant, it was like a bolt from the blue. Steward Liu stood frozen, and his hand holding the bag trembled uncontrollably.
Inside was none other than Spirit Sand.
Each Spirit Slave in the stone housing area was required to turn in one tael of Spirit Sand per month. Everyone knew exactly who the extra sand always ended up going to.
Now that things had blown up and so many law enforcement disciples had arrived, it was too late to cover it up.
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