Chapter 123

Chapter 123: Drag Everyone Down

Li Shuang glanced at Long Yan and answered calmly: “Yes. Long Yan did betray me.”

Answering these three questions was not hard for her. She only had to speak the truth. Telling the truth is much easier than making up lies.

Red light shone in the Xiezhi’s eyes again.

Truth. Again.

For all three questions, Li Shuang had told the truth.

The crowd broke into a stir.

By now, right and wrong were clear.

If Li Shuang told the truth, then the ones who lied could only be…

People turned to Ye Zhao Zhao and Long Yan.

Ye Zhao Zhao looked ashen. She closed her eyes and said in a hopeless voice: “Yes…”

Long Yan’s Spirit Body flickered with fear. When lightning began to crackle on the Xiezhi’s horn, he panicked and said: “Y-yes, I betrayed Li Shuang.”

He did not dare lie. Lightning is the most terrifying thing for a Spirit Body. Ye Zhao Zhao could barely survive two strikes; he could not endure even one.

The red light flashed again.

Ye Zhao Zhao and Long Yan had spoken the truth too.

“Extract the related images from their memories and show them to all,” the Xiezhi said calmly.

Images formed again.

In the scene, Li Shuang poured her last thread of spiritual power into a talisman. She looked like a lamp that was about to go out. She used a Message Talisman to reach the Master she respected most. She believed Immortal Ling Xu would come save her.

But what awaited her?

It was Immortal Ling Xu’s scolding without asking the facts, the complaints of Sheng Yuan and the others, and the words from Ye Zhao Zhao that turned black into white.

Now everyone knew those were lies.

Such flimsy lies would not fool even people who barely knew Li Shuang.

But the people of Ling Xu Peak had believed them without a pause.

In the image, everyone saw clearly how the light in Li Shuang’s eyes went out little by little, and their hearts twisted in pain for reasons they could not name.

Lin Qing Ling’s eyes turned red.

She knew Li Shuang must have suffered a great wrong to step onto the Emotionless Path. She had even guessed the shape of it.

But seeing the whole story still made her chest ache like she could not breathe.

This child.

She had done all she could.

She likely did not understand.

Why?

Why did everyone reject her when she did nothing wrong?

Why, when she spoke only the truth, did no one believe her?

She tried again and again, yet was pushed away each time.

At last the light of the Message Talisman died, and so did her heart.

Li Shuang had never asked for much. If the people of Ling Xu Peak had given her a little trust, even a little, she would have cherished it.

But they did not dare give her even that small warmth.

With the talisman extinguished, Li Shuang was so weak she could hardly finish a sentence.

Lin Qing Ling did not dare keep watching, because she knew it was not over.

In the scene, Li Shuang placed her very last hope on Long Yan. And now they all knew that hope would be destroyed.

Master had pushed her to death.

Her Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters hated her.

In that moment, Li Shuang must have thought that the partner who had stayed with her for so many years would not betray her.

But Long Yan controlled the Dragon Roar Sword and drove it into her dantian.

Li Shuang lifted her head and stared at Long Yan in a daze.

She never imagined the Sword Spirit she had nurtured for ten years would give her the final strike.

The image froze on Long Yan’s twisted face, then slowly faded.

Silence fell.

They all knew what came next. At the edge of life and death, Li Shuang grasped the Supreme Emotionless Art and barely kept her life. After such despair, her feelings were sealed away.

Even just watching, the three scenes pulled by the Xiezhi made them feel sick at heart.

Yet on the Heart-Inquiry Platform, Li Shuang looked calm, as if she were watching a stranger’s story.

“The three questions are over,” the Xiezhi said with a burp, and the Phantom Stage sank back into the statue.

The light faded. The statue returned to lifeless stone.

The Heart-Inquiry Platform closed once more.

Ye Zhao Zhao’s body shook without control.

The three questions had laid bare all her meanness and schemes.

She could even feel it.

The most hateful stares were coming from Ling Xu Peak.

The Master and Senior Brothers she had flattered for ten years would likely hate her to the bone from now on.

A thin sense of grievance rose in Ye Zhao Zhao’s heart.

Maybe she had wronged Li Shuang.

But toward Immortal Ling Xu and Sheng Yuan, she had been carefully pleasing for ten years. They had gained much from her.

So why did they get to look at her like that now?

“With the three questions of the Heart-Inquiry Platform, everything is clear,” Lin Qing Ling said, then glanced at Meng Yi Fei: “I don’t know how much wrong Little Shuang has suffered these days. Now the truth is out. Late justice should finally arrive.”

Meng Yi Fei looked at Immortal Ling Xu.

Immortal Ling Xu’s face was stiff. After a long moment, he looked at Li Shuang and softened his tone: “Little Shuang, I only just learned the truth is like this. I was deceived by that wicked disciple too.”

He cut ties with Ye Zhao Zhao at once and glared coldly at her: “I, Ling Xu, have no disciple like you. From now on, you are no longer my disciple or a person of Ling Xu Peak. Choose your own path.”

Ye Zhao Zhao trembled even harder.

She knew that after the Heart-Inquiry Platform, she had no place left in the Sword Sect.

But why did Immortal Ling Xu get to speak so righteously?

Rage surged up. Forcing herself upright, she glared at him: “What kind of trash Master are you? You think I actually wanted to be your disciple? Even if I’m not a good person, what about you? What kind of good thing are you?”

“Forget everything else. About the Tianshan Snow Lotus. Did you really have an unstable mind and need that medicine?” Her voice was sharp.

Immortal Ling Xu’s expression changed at once. He shouted: “Nonsense!”

He raised his hand to seal Ye Zhao Zhao’s mouth.

Lin Qing Ling gave a cold laugh and blocked his force: “Let her finish. I want to see what comes out when you dogs bite dogs.”

Called that, Ye Zhao Zhao no longer cared. She had only one thought now. Even if she died, she would drag the hypocrites of Ling Xu Peak down with her, one by one.

Things had come this far. Was it really all her fault alone?

Had these people truly been fooled only by a great villain like her?

It was laughable.

Locking her eyes on Immortal Ling Xu with a wild look, Ye Zhao Zhao said: “Do you think I don’t know? You never made a cultivation mistake, and your mind was never unstable. You spread the message that you needed the Tianshan Snow Lotus only because it is worth a fortune and you coveted it. The Snow Fiends on that mountain grow stronger against strong foes. You couldn’t get the Snow Lotus yourself, so you wanted us to fetch it. Only Li Shuang was foolish enough to risk her life to pick it for you.”

“Utter nonsense!” Immortal Ling Xu exploded and moved to strike again.

This time Meng Yi Fei stepped in to stop him.

“Sect Master, she is talking nonsense,” Immortal Ling Xu said, a little flustered.

“There is no harm in listening,” Meng Yi Fei said calmly.

He had thought that because of his cultivation path, Immortal Ling Xu was only a bit stingy and greedy by nature. Now it seemed his path had already gone astray. They would have to judge carefully how to deal with the Peak Master of Ling Xu Peak from now on.

A flash of satisfaction crossed Ye Zhao Zhao’s face. She opened her mouth and continued: