Chapter 109
Chapter 109: Initial Clarity
***
“So what you’re saying is, you had no knowledge whatsoever of Ye Fan’s actions from beginning to end?”
The Enforcement Hall Elder sat upright at the front of the hall, his fingertips lightly tapping the desk before him, his voice calm yet carrying undeniable authority.
Although they had already learned that Ye Fan had fled in fear of punishment, the involved Ji Jiaying was still within the sect’s territory, currently standing with her head bowed in the hall below, her dress hem trembling slightly.
This was because Lin Muyu had already revealed the entire account of how Ji Jiaying had guided and subsequently harmed her.
At this moment, Ji Jiaying was desperately trying to portray herself as an innocent victim.
She slightly lowered her eyelids, moisture gathering on her lashes, and when she looked up again, her eyes were already severely reddened.
“Replying to Elder, this disciple’s every word is truthful.”
Ji Jiaying’s voice carried just the right amount of choking emotion.
“My parents originally lived in that small village, but everyone in that village… they were all harmed by Ye Fan!”
As she finished speaking, she could no longer hold back, tears rolling down her cheeks, her shoulders trembling slightly, presenting a picture of utter grief.
“First, wipe away your tears.”
The Elder’s voice showed no fluctuation whatsoever, clearly unmoved by this display.
“Explain clearly how Ye Fan knew that you had asked someone to do this thing?”
“It was… it was Ye Fan who actively recommended that I find those people for help.”
Ji Jiaying cried even harder, her already unremarkable face scrunching up due to her emotional agitation.
Seeing her in this state, the Elder unconsciously furrowed his brows, a few traces of scrutiny appearing in his eyes.
Now that Ye Fan had already escaped, the Enforcement Hall had no way to confront him for verification.
Although Lin Muyu and the others suspected Ji Jiaying, they also couldn’t produce solid evidence that she had intentionally assisted Ye Fan.
After pondering for a moment, the Elder finally spoke his judgment:
“Ji Jiaying, considering there is currently no clear evidence of you being an accomplice, you are sentenced to face the wall at Reflection Cliff for 3 years to quietly reflect on your actions.”
Upon hearing this, Ji Jiaying’s expression suddenly darkened.
She was crystal clear in her heart that these people simply had no evidence to prove she had colluded with Ye Fan.
If they truly had solid evidence, according to sect law, her lightest punishment would be having her cultivation destroyed and being expelled from the sect.
She had been extremely careful when planning this matter, leaving no flaws whatsoever. Now the Enforcement Hall clearly knew they had no evidence yet still wanted to punish her.
This was obviously to curry favor with Fairy Xinlian and those two bitches, even though Xinlian wasn’t currently in the sect.
Indeed, even Qinglan Sect couldn’t escape worldly personal relationships.
“This disciple… obeys the command.”
Ji Jiaying lowered her eyes, suppressing the unwillingness and resentment in her heart.
She had no powerful master to back her up, unlike Ye Fan.
When Ye Fan had made mistakes before, he only faced the wall for 7 days and that was it, and his master had even paid no small price for him.
It seemed that now with Ye Fan’s escape, that master of his should also be implicated and have suffered some hardship.
However, 3 years of facing the wall was merely a snap of the fingers for her.
When she came out, those two bitches Lin Muyu and Su Wanqing, she had plenty of patience and plenty of methods to make those two pay the price.
In fact…
She could even turn those two women into excellent demonic puppets~
…
Night gradually deepened, the lights in the village were sparse and scattered, with occasional dog barks breaking the silence.
Lin Muyu’s figure flickered, appearing silently in front of a dilapidated thatched hut, her gaze falling on the young girl in the courtyard:
“During the day today, you were hiding behind a tree watching me, as if you had something to say to me?”
The girl suddenly turned around, and when she saw clearly that it was Lin Muyu, she collapsed to the ground with a thud, her body trembling uncontrollably.
“Hmm?”
When the village chief had shown evil intentions earlier, Lin Muyu had not acted rashly.
She was afraid of alerting the enemy, so she prepared to investigate in secret.
And the first target of her investigation was this suspicious girl.
At this moment, the villagers outside were still searching everywhere for Lin Muyu’s whereabouts, yet she had suddenly appeared before her. The girl was both shocked and frightened, her lips trembling as she couldn’t speak a complete sentence:
“I… I…”
Seeing how frightened she was, Lin Muyu frowned slightly, softened her tone, slowly walked to the girl’s side, gently patted her head, and spoke warmly:
“Don’t be afraid. Just tell me directly if there’s anything. I won’t harm you.”
The girl raised her tear-stained face, seemingly finally mustering courage, her voice timid yet carrying a trace of pleading:
“Sister… I can tell you everything I know, but can you… can you save my sister?”
“Your sister?”
Lin Muyu was somewhat surprised. She had just examined this run-down house, and it was empty inside with no sign of other people. She had thought this girl was living alone.
On second thought, in this village full of ill-intentioned people, if there was no one to rely on, it would indeed be difficult for a little girl to survive.
“Yes!”
The girl nodded vigorously, tears flowing down again uncontrollably, her voice choking with sobs.
“My sister, like my parents, are all good people, but they… they were all offered to the monster by that bad village chief!”
Speaking to this point, the girl’s voice became even more choked with emotion, and she added:
“I only escaped disaster because one of the village chief’s lackeys took a fancy to me and wanted me as his child bride… but my sister was just offered up yesterday, and I don’t know how she is now…”
After hearing this, Lin Muyu’s expression darkened, thinking to herself:
“Indeed, the situation in this village isn’t that simple.”
She rubbed her temples, feeling somewhat of a headache.
On this trip down the mountain, she clearly hadn’t brought any female leads with her, so how did she get involved in such a troublesome situation?
She clearly just wanted to simply eliminate a demon and exchange for a Foundation Establishment pill.
“About 3 months ago, a wolf demon suddenly appeared in the mountain forest nearby.”
“That wolf demon is different from ordinary demonic beasts. It has human intelligence and is particularly cunning. Somehow it found our village chief and wanted to cooperate with him.”
The girl sat on the cold ground, her voice carrying a barely perceptible tremor, yet she still tried her best to narrate the whole story from beginning to end.
Moonlight streamed through the holes in the thatched hut onto her face, reflecting a heaviness inappropriate for her age.
“But that damned village chief… he doesn’t deserve to be village chief!”
Speaking to this point, the girl’s tone suddenly became agitated, anger that had been suppressed for a long time bursting forth in her eyes.
“I don’t know what method the wolf demon used to bewitch him, but he actually agreed to help the wolf demon sacrifice villagers.”
“As long as he offered people to the wolf demon, the village chief could get many benefits from the wolf demon.”
“My father was furious at the time. He was the most principled person in the village and led several villagers who refused to compromise to confront the village chief, wanting him to stop being an accomplice to evil, but who would have thought…”
The girl’s voice suddenly choked up, tears beginning to well up in her eyes again.
“The village chief had already conspired with the wolf demon. They lured my father and those uncles to the back mountain, and in the end… in the end they were all killed by the wolf demon.”
She sniffled and continued:
“From then on, the village completely became the domain of the village chief and the wolf demon. When they said one, no one dared say two.”
“Now everyone in the village is terrified. If anyone dares to oppose, the village chief might find some excuse the very next day to offer them up as a sacrifice to the wolf demon.”
Lin Muyu listened quietly, her brows slightly furrowed, finally gaining a clear understanding of this village’s strange circumstances.
She crouched down to be at eye level with the girl and asked softly:
“So those villagers earlier didn’t dare speak to me and even deliberately avoided me because they were afraid the village chief would take his anger out on them and offer them to the wolf demon?”
“It’s not just that!”
The girl quickly shook her head, and while speaking, she unconsciously looked around the thatched hut, her eyes as alert as a frightened small beast.
She gripped the door frame, using the weak moonlight to confirm there were no suspicious figures outside the courtyard wall. Only then did she relax, lean close to Lin Muyu’s ear, and lower her voice:
“The village chief also sent several people to watch you!
Since you entered the village yesterday, there have been his people watching from the shadows.”
The matter of the village chief sending people to monitor her was something Lin Muyu had actually noticed long ago.
Hearing the girl confirm this now, she immediately understood.
However, she actually had another question in her heart.
Since the village chief had already colluded with the wolf demon and even controlled the entire village through the wolf demon, why did he still actively report to Qinglan Sect about a demon causing trouble and request the sect to send someone to eliminate it?
This action was truly unreasonable.
Could it be that the wolf demon’s strength far exceeded the scope of an E-rank mission?
It even had full confidence that it could keep all the disciples sent by Qinglan Sect here, turning them into its sacrifices?
Lin Muyu’s expression grew serious as she muttered to herself:
“This wolf demon is far too bold, isn’t it? Is it really at the Qi Refining stage?”