The credibility of Chao Xiaotu’s words rose sharply, and the elders nodded one after another.
Her gaze swept across those familiar Kunlun disciples. Chao Jinsui lowered her eyes and listened expressionlessly.
Chao Xiaotu looked pleased with herself, staring at Chao Jinsui maliciously. Suddenly, she raised a communication talisman: “There is another witness who cannot appear in person, but I have a communication talisman here.”
Chao Taichu’s voice rang through the hall: “Unfilial child, you are deranged and ungrateful—confess your guilt at once!”
Only when she was accused in public by her own biological father did Chao Jinsui finally lift her eyes and fix her gaze on the communication talisman in Chao Xiaotu’s hand.
Chao Xiaotu looked at Chao Jinsui with extreme satisfaction, her eyes like she was looking at a loser: you see, Chao Jinsui—even your own father will not defend you. Just how much of a failure are you?
The smile in Chao Xiaotu’s eyes grew more and more obvious.
In her previous life, Chao Jinsui had died early. To win Su Liuyun’s heart, Chao Xiaotu had dressed in white every day like her, learned to wield the sword like her, nearly losing herself entirely; in this life, she had racked her brains, clearly seizing the initiative, yet still had everything ruined by Chao Jinsui.
This person was like an unavoidable stumbling block in her life.
Now, this stumbling block was finally about to be cleared away.
The smile at the corner of her lips widened further as she delivered the final blow: “Every word I have spoken today is true. Chao Jinsui killed Senior Brother Su first, then destroyed the Su family’s main lineage! If there is even half a sentence of falsehood, may I be struck by heavenly lightning and die a miserable death!”
Such a vicious oath made everyone gasp.
Yet the oath summoned neither heavenly thunder nor the slightest abnormal sign.
Everything was settled.
Still unsatisfied, Chao Xiaotu pressed forward step by step: “Do you dare swear you did not kill Su Liuyun?”
She asked again: “Do you dare swear that the deaths of Madam Zi and the Su family elders have nothing to do with you?”
“I dare to swear. Do you?”
Relentless, almost crushing in force.
The surroundings fell silent. Everyone looked toward the person standing at the very front of the hall, waiting for her answer.
Chao Jinsui’s gaze swept across the crowd. She saw Taixuan Wuji’s disciples already resting their hands on their waists; she saw the onlooking cultivators secretly doing the same; she saw Hongniang quietly take out her fan, Lingyun placing her hand on her sword.
Clearly, whether her own people or others, everyone already knew the truth.
Though everything seemed quiet, the air thick with tension had reached the point where a single spark could ignite it.
She had only three people; the opposing side had far more than those present here.
Yet just as she thought this, Chao Jinsui lifted her head and looked toward the opposite side of Guangming Hall.
—Only from her angle could she see countless strands of black qi appearing above the great hall.
Figures in black stood ready, each one taller than ordinary humans, their bodies radiating fierce, bloody killing aura. The one at the front was also dressed in black. He slowly raised his eyes, long hair flowing like water, two broken demon horns on his head, calmly surveying the people below. Sensing her gaze, he keenly swept his eyes toward her. When he realized it was her, he slowly raised a brow at her.
That lawless aura made it seem as if he might descend at any moment, snatch her up, and leave.
The chill in her eyes gradually melted away.
Every time she wanted to stake everything on a gamble, he would always stand by her side.
—Forget it. She would forgive him for disturbing her sleep.
Others did not understand why she smiled, but the next moment, they heard her say softly:
“It was me who killed them.”
Everyone present thought they had heard wrong.
Even Chao Xiaotu, who had been watching Chao Jinsui the entire time, didn’t react in time.
She had thought Chao Jinsui would deny everything to the bitter end, or fly into helpless rage. Almost by reflex, she said, “You still want to quibble?”
Chao Jinsui adjusted her sleeves. “No. Are you deaf?”
“I’m saying, I killed them.”
As if seeing the stunned expressions of the people around her, she patiently explained her methods, speaking unhurriedly:
“Su Liuyun was killed by me, and his soul was burned on my orders; I was also involved with Madam Zi. Su Baiyin’s cultivation was too low, he was accidentally beaten to death. As for Su Baishan…”
She smiled. “I fed him to my snake.”
“My snake said he tasted terrible.”
What kind of brazen maniac was this?
This was probably the first murderer in Taixuan Wuji’s history to speak so fluently about their own crimes.
And her attitude was far too arrogant!
Everyone looked at one another. Watching her smile, they seemed to be looking at a deranged killer, and all took a step back in unison.
The demons surrounding His Excellency, however, were filled with solemn admiration.
The smugness on Chao Xiaotu’s face gradually vanished without a trace. In disbelief, she said, “You still have the face to say that?! You still have the face to admit it?!”
She should have been delighted that Chao Jinsui confessed—but her attitude was too strange, too arrogant. Chao Xiaotu’s satisfaction sharply diminished, even turning into confusion.
Chao Jinsui even praised her: “I killed them. Your evidence is quite complete.”
This time even Aunt Ping and the other elders gasped.
Chao Xiaotu gained not the slightest pleasure of crushing her enemy. Instead, she felt a suffocating frustration—something stuck in her chest that would neither rise nor fall. Even if Chao Jinsui were killed today, she felt she would still be so choked with irritation that she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.
Shi Chunqiu, who had been observing from the side, also coughed, reminding them.
Aunt Ping immediately said, “Since that is the case, then—”
Chao Jinsui: “No, I haven’t finished speaking.”
Aunt Ping: “You’ve already confessed. What else is there to say?”
With the same calm expression, she spoke another shocking sentence: “I want to reopen the case of the Hehuan Sect’s extermination ten years ago.”
What did that have to do with the Hehuan Sect case??
The surrounding people were completely baffled.
Chao Xiaotu immediately sneered in rebuttal: “What’s there to say? Wasn’t it done by the demon race? Who in the cultivation world doesn’t know that!”
Aunt Ping made a prompt decision. Keenly sensing something was wrong and unwilling to let things continue, she interrupted: “This matter is unrelated to the present case. If there are other grievances, it will be reviewed another time.”
—She clearly didn’t want her to continue speaking. She intended to settle everything here and now.
Aunt Ping and Shi Chunqiu had judged cases for many years; they were old foxes with centuries of experience. Chao Xiaotu hadn’t noticed anything, but they had already sensed something amiss and vaguely guessed what Chao Jinsui intended to do. Exchanging a glance, they reached a near-silent agreement: they absolutely could not let her continue!
“Seize her first! This case ends here!”
Yet before Taixuan Wuji could act, and before the demon on the rooftop opposite could make a move—
Chao Jinsui tapped lightly with the tip of her foot, her body drifting like an autumn leaf out of the encirclement.
She leapt directly onto the massive stone Xiezhi1Xiezhi (獬豸) is a mythical beast from ancient Chinese legend, strongly associated with justice, law, and truth. It’s traditionally described as a one-horned creature (sometimes lion-like, ox-like, or goat-like in appearance) that can instinctively tell right from wrong. According to legend, if two people argued or stood trial, the Xiezhi would charge or gore the guilty one. among the crowd outside, and amid cries of shock, stood atop it.
By the time Shi Chunqiu, Aunt Ping, and the others rushed out in anger and alarm, Chao Jinsui had already reached back and taken out a bead.
All sound stopped abruptly.
The crowd fell silent—as if muted—
Because within that recording bead, Madam Zi’s ferocious face had already appeared.
From within, Chao Jinsui asked, “Madam Zi, do you know about the extermination of the Hehuan Sect ten years ago?”
Two sentences—like a massive stone hurled into a still lake.
Shi Chunqiu’s expression changed drastically. Aunt Ping halted, her face equally grim. They both knew: it was over.
She had seized the initiative.
Chao Jinsui had never intended to play any word games with Chao Xiaotu, nor had she ever thought about proving her innocence!
—“Proving one’s innocence” was the most foolish thing in the world.
Taixuan Wuji’s rule back then was, in truth, a huge trap:
It was easy to accuse someone of wrongdoing, but to prove one had not done something was extraordinarily difficult.
And so Taixuan Wuji was always correct, never making a mistaken judgment.
She would never fall into this trap of “proving innocence”!
If she wanted to clear her name, all she had to do was prove that the people she killed deserved to die.
Standing atop the stone Xiezhi, Chao Jinsui showed Aunt Ping and Shi Chunqiu a harmless smile—
One had to remember: when the entire Hehuan Sect had been slaughtered years ago, such a catastrophic extermination had also been judged by Taixuan Wuji!
And back then, the moment they saw demonic qi, Taixuan Wuji had immediately concluded it was the Demon Lord’s doing, issuing a red-level wanted order without a second thought!
How similar to today?
Aunt Ping thought of this. Shi Chunqiu thought of it too.
But Chao Jinsui already stood atop the stone Xiezhi at the very center of the crowd, under everyone’s gaze.
Their faces were ashen, yet they could do nothing.
The surroundings erupted in an uproar, voices buzzing everywhere.
Who could have imagined that this matter would actually be connected to the extermination of the Hehuan Sect ten years ago!
If Chao Jinsui’s case was merely an extremely severe personal dispute;
Then the Hehuan Sect incident was the most brutal case in the cultivation world in a thousand years!
The two could not be compared at all!
From the beginning, the red-level wanted order against Chao Jinsui had been issued because Shi Chunqiu harbored personal motives.
But the Hehuan Sect—thousands of people wiped out in a single massacre!
Back then, the incident had thrown the cultivation world into panic. People thought a mass killer had appeared. Taixuan Wuji investigated for a year before finally declaring: it was all the work of the Demon Lord Yan Xueyi!
Yet Madam Zi’s voice from the bead still echoed, like a resounding slap across Taixuan Wuji’s face.
“Didn’t you say the Demon Lord did it?”
“Didn’t you say the case was beyond doubt? Then why did Madam Zi confess herself?”
Things were spiraling out of control.
Aunt Ping, Shi Chunqiu, and the others all felt their hearts drop at the same time.
Chao Xiaotu stood there, bewildered, completely unable to understand how things had developed to this point. Even now, she did not realize just how enormous a problem she had caused for Taixuan Wuji.
The demon on the opposite side also looked rather strange, glancing at her from time to time.
Of course he knew—if it were only to overturn her own case, she had no need to circle back to the extermination of the Hehuan Sect ten years ago.
This would not only thoroughly offend Taixuan Wuji, but would also be far more difficult.
After all, the significance of the two matters could not be compared. Taixuan Wuji’s authority would be far more affected—they might very well refuse to admit anything no matter what.
She could clearly have started with Yuanyang City alone, making it merely a private grievance.
But she did not.
She did not even know anyone from the Hehuan Sect.
Then who was it for?
He felt a bit pleased, yet also thought this human cultivator acted on impulse, unable to judge the situation—truly foolish to the extreme. He wanted to glare at her, yet also felt somewhat like someone who had gained an advantage but still complained.
After all—think about it. Who was she doing this for?
The corners of his lips could not help but rise, and he lifted his chin.
—Ah, it was for Yan Xueyi.
Ever since the day she learned that the extermination of the Hehuan Sect was not his doing, Chao Jinsui had been thinking: this demon was indeed bad—that much was true; but if it wasn’t something he did, why should he bear the blame?
—Back then, she had truly believed Taixuan Wuji’s words. From that moment on, she regarded him as an inhuman exterminator, and had wronged him for a long time because of it—even speaking harshly to him.
The entire cultivation world knew that Taixuan Wuji saw everything with perfect clarity, how could they be wrong?
That demon was steeped in evil, his reputation wretched. If they said he had committed a massacre, who would doubt it?
But in truth, though this demon acted crude and direct, he had no interest in slaughtering the human race.
Deep in her heart, there had always remained a trace of guilt for having wronged him.
She knew he didn’t care.
She could already imagine him dismissively saying—who among the demon race cared about reputation?
Notoriety might even be a kind of glory.
Perhaps that demon would even boast to her about how awe-inspiring and fearsome he was.
No one cared. After all, he was already infamous—being a bit worse seemed to make no difference.
—But she cared.
She cared that she had misunderstood him, that she had wronged him.
Footnotes
1
Xiezhi (獬豸) is a mythical beast from ancient Chinese legend, strongly associated with justice, law, and truth. It’s traditionally described as a one-horned creature (sometimes lion-like, ox-like, or goat-like in appearance) that can instinctively tell right from wrong. According to legend, if two people argued or stood trial, the Xiezhi would charge or gore the guilty one.
