Chao Xiaotu looked at Chao Jinsui standing above, grabbed Shi Chunqiu, and said anxiously, “Grandfather, why don’t you just arrest her directly? Make her stop talking.”
Shi Chunqiu’s face was ashen, but he still shook his head. “At this point, she cannot be stopped.”
If Taixuan Wuji did not let her speak, it would only make things even worse.
Sure enough, from atop the enormous stone statue, Chao Jinsui’s voice sounded out calmly:
“Ten years ago, Madam Zi joined forces with the Su family to exterminate the Hehuan Sect, leaving no survivors among thousands. The crime is unforgivable. I demand that Taixuan Wuji reopen this case.”
Auntie Ping stood at the very front of the elders and said in a deep voice, “Other than that recording pearl, do you have any more evidence?”
Sitting on the stone statue, Chao Jinsui gave a light laugh:
“A personal confession still isn’t enough? What, do you want me to make a Heaven and Earth Oath too?”
The tense atmosphere around them was diluted, and the onlookers immediately burst into laughter.
The people of Taixuan Wuji looked at one another, and Chao Xiaotu’s face flushed red with anger.
After all, just now, it had been a single Heaven and Earth Oath that fixed Chao Jinsui’s guilt.
Only Auntie Ping remained the most composed. “In the case of the Hehuan Sect’s extermination back then, there was dense demonic qi left behind. If it was not the doing of the demon race, why was the demonic qi so overwhelming?”
Sitting atop the stone statue, Chao Jinsui tossed the recording pearl up and down, feigning surprise. “Could it be that Taixuan Wuji does not know that the Su family is of half-demon blood?”
Everyone around widened their eyes.
Shi Chunqiu was shocked. “How is that possible!”
But when he looked at Chao Xiaotu, he noticed her slightly evasive gaze. Shi Chunqiu’s heart immediately sank with a thud.
Sure enough, a mocking smile curled at Chao Jinsui’s lips. “What? If you don’t believe it, just bring over the two Su family members who are still alive and testified earlier, and take a look. Wouldn’t that settle it?”
All the elders of Taixuan Wuji looked grim. But at this point, they were riding a tiger and unable to dismount, so they could only invite the Su family witnesses up once again.
But how could a half-demon body withstand close inspection? The truth was already beyond doubt.
Back then, Taixuan Wuji could not find any clues, and they did not want to waste time on the matter. Because of that demonic qi, they naturally thought of Demon Venerable Yan Xueyi. After all, that demon was a notorious great demon lord, and the Demon Venerable was busy with countless affairs and would not concern himself with such trivial matters.
Shifting the blame to him was naturally the simplest and easiest method. The matter had long been considered concluded, who would have thought Chao Jinsui would dig it up again!
Moreover, Madam Zi had personally confessed, the Su family’s half-demon identity had been exposed, and the evidence from that year had been explained. Taixuan Wuji’s misjudgment back then was already set in stone.
Having wrongly judged two cases in a row, the elders of Taixuan Wuji felt their faces burn under the strange looks from those around them.
Auntie Ping took a deep breath, suppressing her anger. “Miss Chao, what exactly do you want to do?”
The person above spoke in a very gentle tone, carrying an air of harmless innocence:
“Auntie Ping, I am only a red-rank wanted criminal.”
“If I don’t prove my innocence, I won’t be able to walk out of Taixuan Wuji.”
“After all, once a wanted order is issued, everyone under heaven is obligated to kill me.”
The implication: you forced me into this.
If you hadn’t forced me, would I be sitting here?
Auntie Ping took a deep breath.
“This matter is indeed our fault. We will re-examine the case and will also restore Miss’s innocence.”
“No rush. I’m not finished. I still have grievances to report.”
Auntie Ping and Shi Chunqiu exchanged a glance.
Auntie Ping held back her breath. “What other grievance do you have?”
You’re not Dou E from mortal opera, whose injustice brought snow in June!
Where would there be so many grievances!
But behind her, an elder sent by the Jade Sword Alliance to oversee this matter spoke up: “Let her speak.”
Auntie Ping took a deep breath. Chao Jinsui’s voice came from above:
“I accuse the Su family and Madam Zi of treating human lives like grass, using thousands of the citizens of Yuanyang City as feed to raise the Hehuan Sect’s Gu King, bringing disaster upon the region.”
What? When did that happen?
“I also accuse Madam Zi of attempting to exchange the lives of two hundred men to bring Su Liuyun back from the dead.”
Inside the overcrowded Guangming Hall, only her voice rang out with force.
The matters contained in those words were too shocking; the cultivators began whispering among themselves.
“So be it!”
Chao Jinsui raised her hand and once again pointed at the surviving Su family members pressed to the ground. “Whether it is true or not, search the souls of these two half-demon bodies. I believe they should remember exactly what happened.”
She smiled. “Elder of the Jade Sword Alliance, please.”
The Jade Sword Alliance elder nodded and extended his hand. Under the terrified gazes of the two Su family members, he directly entered their sea of consciousness and searched their souls. A moment later, he opened his eyes and nodded.
The Guangming Hall fell instantly silent enough to hear a pin drop.
The smile that had just been on Chao Jinsui’s face gradually faded. She stood up, her expression turning solemn.
Her tone remained as gentle as ever, yet her words pressed forward relentlessly—
“Taixuan Wuji bears the duty of supervision. Why was the matter of Yuanyang City not discovered for a hundred years?”
“Why was the entire Su family half-demon, yet Taixuan Wuji knew nothing of it?”
“Why was the Hehuan Sect tragedy hastily concluded? Has Taixuan Wuji always judged cases this way—”
“Either relying on Heaven and Earth Oaths, or shifting the blame onto the demon race?”
Laughter immediately erupted below.
“But if those who hold the scales of justice treat truth and righteousness as a joke, then beneath this bright daylight, what rolls forward—clearly revealed crimson blood, or snow formed from aggrieved souls?”
Gradually, no one could laugh anymore.
Because her voice suddenly turned incomparably cold, nearly shouting:
“Today it is I who was wronged, what about tomorrow?”
“I dare to storm Taixuan Wuji. But those others who have been wronged, would they dare?!”
Silence fell all around.
In a thousand years, there had only been one person who dared to storm Taixuan Wuji.
If tomorrow, it were oneself?
Incompetence, negligence, wrongful accusation of the innocent—three great crimes pressing down, nearly suffocating.
Was this the standard of the cultivation world? Was this its scale of justice?
At this very moment, what Taixuan Wuji had maintained for a thousand years stood on the verge of collapse.
Auntie Ping knew she had to say something—
But not one of Chao Jinsui’s questions could be answered by Taixuan Wuji.
And once this matter spread, how would all under heaven view Taixuan Wuji?
Would they begin to doubt every judgment Taixuan Wuji had ever made? Would they look back and re-examine every case over the years?
More importantly—who in the world would still dare to trust Taixuan Wuji?
Auntie Ping’s face turned pale. Behind her, Shi Chunqiu and the other elders stood in dead silence. Standing at the very front, she knew she had to say something, even though her palms were drenched in sweat. She looked around slowly and struck her staff against the ground:
“Everyone, Taixuan Wuji will certainly give everyone an explanation within three months.”
“After we verify everything, we will revoke Miss Chao’s wanted order. We will also re-examine the old cases and resolve the matter of Yuanyang City.”
A fierce glint flashed through Auntie Ping’s eyes:
“If it is indeed our fault, Taixuan Wuji will apologize to all under heaven! We will absolutely not deny it in private. We will execute the elders who judged the case back then, to answer to the world!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding discussions quieted. For the moment, Taixuan Wuji’s reputation was barely salvaged. The situation was smoothed over.
But the very next moment—
Chao Xiaotu shouted, “So what! Does that mean Su Liuyun wasn’t killed by Chao Jinsui? Why isn’t she being punished? This isn’t fair!”
Shi Chunqiu: …
They wished they could cover Chao Xiaotu’s mouth! Especially today—the two surviving members of the Su family she brought had directly become ironclad evidence condemning Taixuan Wuji. As early as the soul search, the people of Taixuan Wuji had already begun to resent Chao Xiaotu.
Chao Xiaotu shrank back under Auntie Ping’s and her grandfather’s stares, but she still could not help saying:
“The Su family may be guilty, but does that mean she is blameless? Chao Jinsui, killing someone means paying with your life!”
Chao Jinsui smiled.
She said softly to Chao Xiaotu, “Just look up.”
Everyone raised their heads.
On the main hall of the Guangming Hall, two rows of golden characters were inscribed—
“Eradicate treachery and eliminate evil.”
“Hang the bright mirror high.”
In that instant, the great characters carried a power that shook the heart.
Chao Jinsui asked, “My sword strikes down unjust villains and kills treacherous evildoers—what fault is there?”
In public matters, she killed unjust villains and eliminated those who persecuted cultivators—her killings were righteous and justified;
In private matters, she suffered wrongful accusation and dared, with her own strength alone, to stand against Taixuan Wuji.
Even a powerful authority capable of turning the tide could not withstand the earth-shattering words of a single fool.
Auntie Ping closed her eyes, wishing she could strangle Chao Xiaotu to death!
Even after the crowd dispersed, and still seeing that Chao Jinsui had not been taken away, Chao Xiaotu stood there, lost and distraught, wanting to chase after Auntie Ping. Yet Auntie Ping, who had always doted on her, glanced at her once and flicked her sleeve as she left. She left behind only one sentence: “Shi Chunqiu—raising without teaching is your fault!”
Shi Chunqiu’s face was ashen, yet he said nothing in the end, only grabbing hold of Chao Xiaotu.
The other elders’ gazes toward Chao Xiaotu were also terrifying, as if they wished they could crush her to death.
After all, if she had not provoked this great trouble named Chao Jinsui, how could Taixuan Wuji have lost such face today?
And today Auntie Ping had said that one elder would certainly be pushed out for execution to answer to the world. So many had been involved in the Hehuan Sect case back then, who knew who would be the unlucky one?
Chao Xiaotu was bewildered and afraid.
Shi Chunqiu looked at Chao Xiaotu with an extremely complicated expression.
Born of the same father, Chao Xiaotu was like a flower grown in a greenhouse. Her experience was too shallow, her actions too impulsive—though she had lived a hundred years, she was still like a teenage girl; while Chao Jinsui could already contend with this group of old foxes without falling behind, able to toy with Taixuan Wuji and spin them in circles.
Shi Chunqiu let out a deep sigh. “Xiaotu, come with me to apologize.”
Chao Xiaotu: “What?”
Shi Chunqiu: “Come with me, bring heavy gifts, and go apologize to the elders and also… Chao Jinsui.”
Chao Xiaotu’s pupils widened. “I won’t!”
Making her apologize to Chao Jinsui would hurt her more than killing her!
Shi Chunqiu flew into a rage. “Whether you want to or not, you will go! If you don’t, I’ll break both your legs!”
Chao Xiaotu still had not figured out what had really happened.
She simply did not understand that with just a few words from Chao Jinsui, she had already completely lost Taixuan Wuji as her backing. It was only because she was Shi Chunqiu’s own granddaughter that she could still stand here unharmed.
Now, it was no longer about what Chao Xiaotu wanted to do to Chao Jinsui.
It was whether she was willing to let Chao Xiaotu go.
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
On the way back to the resting warm pavilion, a familiar and pleasant voice sounded lazily from behind Chao Jinsui:
“This seat is not like you hypocritical human cultivators. I don’t care about reputation at all, so why did you go to such trouble?”
Truth be told, after being defended by her like that today—seeing her so decisive and cleanly overturn his case without hesitation—on one hand, he felt this human cultivator was foolish beyond belief. Who would want to clear the name of a notorious demon lord? After all, he was already thoroughly wicked, wasn’t he?
Yet on the other hand, the way she defended him made him unable to help but want to laugh.
