Chapter 443: Testimony under scrutiny

"Yun Po, what are you doing?! Is this treason?!"

"Calm down, old man. My men are here to help your Xue family. When our Qingyun City is in danger, isn't it natural for us to help each other?"

"Then, why didn't you try to destroy the barriers blocking us?! And why are you now putting yourself between me and the culprit?!"

"Old man, surely you're jesting. We couldn't attack the expensive and precious array formations of your noble lineage. Besides, how could we have even assumed that someone had turned them against you all?! No, we thought that you were using them to protect yourselves from some terrible threat within. So naturally, as soon as they collapsed, I assumed the worst. What wasn't my surprise when I discovered that the young alchemist Guai Mo was held in your residence..."

"Held?! Are you accusing us of something?! One my juniors just died! This really isn't the time to be playing games with me, boy!"

Although General Yun and Patriarch Xue had the same cultivation the latter had more than two centuries of seniority over the former. Obviously, General Yun knew perfectly well what was going on. In fact, he knew it better than Xue Liu himself. Thus, he was prepared and knew exactly what to say. For once, it was the old man who was more aggressive and he who was plotting. This was a nice change of pace for the battle-hardened general. However, he could see that he shouldn't push it too far. After all, he didn't want a real fight against Xue Liu. Such a battle could lead to a full-out war between the forces around the Xue residence.

There had been so much tension recently, that everyone was on edge. Moreover, Xue Liu had indeed lost a precious junior moments ago and was ready for blood. General Yun's goal was to calm everything down so Guai Mo wasn't killed without being able to explain himself. If Xie Liu were to kill the Young Sect Master of the Wubei Sect, things could get even worse within the Hongchen Kingdom. Unfortunately, Cao Yun had not been able to escape in time. Right now wasn't the moment to leave either or General Yun would be in a difficult position as well.

Hopefully the young man knew what he was doing. Anyway, General Yun was loyal to the Wubei Sect even though he had never been an inner disciple. In addition, his own son trusted Chen Guo with his life.

"Please, calm yourself. Believe it or not, I'm here to stop you from making a huge mistake. Don't you think there would be consequences if you were to kill a 1-star Human alchemist out of the blue. That junior even has ties with the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall. Such a rash judgment would affect us all in our relation with the Hall. You do know how difficult it had been for the Imperial City to convince them to build a Major Hall in our city."

"Just because of that, I won't excuse someone from trespassing in my residence, making a mockery out of all of us and killing my own blood!"

"Think, old man. How could a mere 3rd-grade Mortal Warrior do all of that?! There is another body in that room. Right now, we simply don't know what happened. With so many soldiers surrounding your residence, do you think there is any chance for that junior to escape? I understand your desire to kill him, but you don't know everything, unless you have some information I'm not privy to. Let the justice be dealt by the Governor in our presence."

"The Governor?! Your words would sound like reason if I didn't know you better than that! Is this your doing?!"

From Xue Liu's spatial ring, a large broadsword appeared.

"Old man, you would strike me down just because I'm trying to uphold the law?! You would betray the law of Emperor Nuwa?! You would turn on mankind?! I don't know what happened here, and I don't care whether your family suffer the consequences of your folly or not. But your anger is blinding you and we will all suffer from it. If you want to destroy your own lineage, please feel free to do so but do not implicate our Subei Province with your stupidity!"

General Yun already had his 'Demon's Bane' in hand. Technically, this was forbidden to draw one's weapon outside of their own residence or some training grounds. But right now, this was a special circumstance. General Yun could argue that he sincerely believed in a threat within their own city. Thus, his drawing of his weapon was natural and legal. On the other hand, Patriarch Xue had drawn his weapon on a general of the army. The two of them had the same official rank. Such an action could indeed be taken as an act of revolt against the Emperor, while General Yun's actions were all justified.

"Fine! But if you let that vermin escape...!"

"Come on, there is no way for a Mortal Warrior to escape us all. After all, aren't you already trying to kill him with your soul since we began talking?"

Indeed, Patriarch Xue's spiritual senses had been trying to crush Guai Mo as soon as he had been close enough. On the other hand, General Yun was protecting him. Technically, they had been fighting while they were talking. Since no one was around they could keep it a secret, but this was against the laws of the kingdom. Just by using that, General Yun could ask retribution from the Xue family. Of course, this wouldn't amount to much thanks to Governor Jiahe.

During their conversation, Guai Mo opened his eyes and looked around. At that moment, he let go of his 'Ashen Feather Seal' completely and bowed toward the two generals.

"Venerable generals, this humble one is Young Sect Master Chen from the Wubei Sect. Please listen to my words before doing anything rash."

"Chen...? Chen Guo?!"

General Yun didn't act quite that well, but Xue Liu was so enraged and surprised that he completely missed it.

"Boy, you invaded my house, took command of my own defenses against me, killed my own blood and my guest, and now you talk about being 'rash'?! What audacity! What insolence! If you think that your sect can defend you against my wrath, you are sorely mistaken!"

"Please, General Xue, let me explain. All those accusations are false. I am as much a victim as you are. If not for a gift of my master Sect Leader Xuan, I would have died today as well. The true culprit is the corpse behind me. Unfortunately, your house suffered the same fate that befell our modest sect. A demonic cultivator infiltrated it!"

"What?!"

"Patriarch, you see that this situation is too serious to come to a conclusion right here and now. Please, listen to reason. Or do you seriously want to kill Sect Leader Xuan's direct disciple?! Do you think that even you could survive such an offense?! Governor Jiahe would gladly offer your head to the Wubei Sect in order to preserve his seat and you know it. Well, maybe I would be the one chosen to lob off your head... That wouldn't be so bad then."

"Silence, boy! Fine! I demand that this Chen Guo or whatever his true name is be arrested. After all, what proof do we have that he is who he says he is. He presented himself as Guai Mo, didn't he? In order to enter our Subei Province, he had to give his name. Lying on official documents is fine now?!"

"Great general, I am giving myself in. I only ask that you let me explain what happened. And if my identity is in question..."

From his spatial ring, Cao Yun retrieved a small jade sculpture. It was the personal seal of Sect Leader Xuan. By pouring some of his own Qi within, Cao Yun activated it. Suddenly, the aura of Sect Leader Xuan permeated the entire area. Even beyond the limits of the Xue residence, every cultivator felt as though a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior had descended from above. Such a phenomenon calmed absolutely everyone. Of course, the seal couldn't replicate the strength of Sect Leader Xuan. But his prestige was enough so that no one would dare do anything to his disciple. And now Cao Yun's identity was confirmed.

If Xue Liu tried to do anything against him, General Yun was justified in taking him down. Besides, without any array formation to protect them, all the cultivators had heard the conversation. As much as Xue Liu had tried to conceal their voices with his spiritual senses, General Yun had made sure that they were heard.

Now that the news was known, Governor Jiahe was warned in an instant. Xue Rui had been killed and the Young Sect Master of the Wubei Sect was being accused of it. The mere fact that he was present was a huge event. But if Sect Leader Xuan's direct disciple was found guilty, the only sentence would be death. No matter, Governor Jiahe didn't want to be the one to hand out such a sentence. On the other hand, he could imagine that anything short from death wouldn't satisfy Patriarch Xue. Hopefully, Cao Yun could indeed prove that he was innocent.

"Minister Yong, go to the Xue residence immediately. We'll need your wisdom to deal with it."

Minister Yong accepted the order. For once, Governor Jiahe seemed to be able to act quickly, even though the act was to put all the responsibility on someone else's shoulders. At least, Minister Yong believed more in himself to avoid a crisis than in his own governor. Thus, he arrived to the Xue residence and asked Chen Guo to surrender to him. The young man agreed and even gave his spatial ring to Minister Yong under the watchful eye of General Yun.

"Fine. Young Sect Master, you claim that you can explain what happened. I am ready to listen to your explanations. What happened this day is very serious, I hope that you can convince Patriarch Xue of your innocence. Otherwise, we might be forced to hold a proper trial to determine everyone's responsibilities in the matter."

"I understand, Minister Yong. The truth is that I entered the Subei Province and even Qingyun City because I was after a demonic cultivator. The man I was chasing was the one who had violated the sanctity of the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute and had collaborated with those who tried to take down my Wubei Sect. Unfortunately, we had almost nothing on him except that he had had a disciple in that province. With so little, no official investigation could have been held. As such, I took it upon myself to come here under the guise of seeking a spot in the Alchemy Conference, which I do by the way."

"Then, you admit that you lied on official documents in order to sneak into our Subei Province!"

"Please, Patriarch Xue. If you have any question, you can tell me through telepathy and I will consider them. But right now, we just want to hear what Young Sect Master Chen has to say. Continue."

"Of course. Passing off as Guai Mo, I tried to put myself out there as some arrogant alchemist who was walking close to the line of the demonic path. That is why I was forced to antagonize Xue Rui so much. Please, Patriarch Xue, forgive my insults toward your junior. My hope was that Gu Song would be watching the alchemists competing for the Alchemy Conference spot. Even if I didn't bait him, at least I would have won a spot, that wouldn't be so bad. But my bait did work better than I thought. A young girl approached me. I knew right away that she was working for Gu Song and was trying to lure me to her master so he could do with me what he wanted. Unfortunately, I had no time to warn anyone as she demanded an answer right away. Had I refused, Gu Song might have escaped again or even killed me on the spot. Thus, I followed her and she brought me to the Xue residence. Of course I couldn't believe that the Xue family would knowingly harbor a known demonic cultivator. But here he was."

As he spoke, Cao Yun turned around to show the corpse of Gu Song. The Heart Reversing Tormentor poison, the Black Heart Flame, the Death Energy, the Ghost Energy and even the golden chains from the array formations were all gone. Now, his mangled corpse was bare for all to see. Each of his Dantian had been perforated and had then been completely ruptured. His flesh had been scorched here and there. In other words, he was in a sorry state. No one could have imagined that he was a former 4th-grade Spirit Warrior.

"Are you claiming that you killed a middle Spirit Warrior by yourself?! Preposterous!"

"Patriarch Xue, please! What happened when you met with this Gu Song?"

"He immediately tried to put a seal in my mind. Thankfully, Spirit Master Xiao had left her own protection in my soul. By attacking me, his Soul Embryo was wounded. Then, he completely lost it. I was quick enough to use a Spirit Condensation Barrier given to me by my master."

To support his testimony, Cao Yun asked to have access to his spatial ring and produced the spent Spirit Condensation Barrier he had used to survive Can Mouye. Since it had been used to the limit, it was almost impossible to tell who had created it. However, they could feel that a late Spirit Warrior's soul had indeed imbued this artifact with power by the past.

"I'm not entirely sure what happened next. Maybe because of the injury to his Soul Embryo, Gu Song became erratic. I saw all the array formations get activated around him. Then, he called a strange black flame to him and swore that he would kill everyone in this city. He seemed to be fighting himself for some time. In the end, the black flames turned on him and began to burn his own body. I could feel an intense pressure in my very soul despite the Spirit Condensation Barrier. Thus, I decided to meditate in order to alleviate the pain. My guess would be that Gu Song developed an inner demon and was killed, or that another demonic cultivator activated a seal in him to get rid of him before he could be captured. I'm not too sure on that point."