Accepting an Evil Reputation with a Smile (Continued)

Conversely, it was Si Ming's sharp tongue that gave the aristocratic Aristocratic Clan the opportunity to plot and scheme, and they deserved to lose this battle.

At this moment, Hongdou had already come down from the mountain peak. She pursed her lips and said to Si Ming like a wronged student, "I didn't do it."

"I know."

I hate them.

"I'll help you get revenge later."

As for the conspiracy, Si Ming was also prepared. However, he was not so petty as to cheat in such a martial arts battle. When he saw Zhao Jiaren fall for the "honey trap", he thought of using it in reverse. For example, regardless of whether he won or lost this bet, when dealing with the Six Great Aristocratic Families in the future, he could only target the other five families and spare the Li Clan, where Li Xunrong was located. Then he could secretly reveal a few martial arts techniques that were suspected to be the Li Clan family's secret techniques.

In this way, even if some members of the Aristocratic Clan realize that this is a divisive tactic by the Heavenly Martial Alliance, they will still fall for it, because smart people are always in the minority, and fools are the majority.

Why should everyone else suffer losses while you benefit? You must have secretly colluded with the enemy. Explaining is just covering up, not explaining is admitting it.

Originally Si Ming felt that this method was not magnanimous enough and was too insidious. He thought it was better not to use it for the sake of his apprentice. But now he changed his mind. As the saying goes, if you do the first day of the month, I will do the fifteenth. What is an apprentice compared to the second wife!

After a while, the news of Zhou Qian's death from poisoning spread wider and wider, and almost everyone in the martial arts world present knew about it. Everywhere you could hear discussions about "the Heavenly Martial Alliance poisoning him" and "killing him to silence him." Although some people noticed something was wrong and raised objections, as mentioned before, most of them were confused and only a few were smart. Moreover, there were people from the Aristocratic Clan who were fueling the rumors, and their opinions were quickly drowned out by public opinion.

Seeing that the time was right, the Aristocratic Clan collected Zhou Qian's body and then came in a menacing manner, exuding an aura of righteous indignation.

Gu Changsheng, with a straight face, said, "Alliance Leader Sima, we clearly swore an oath beforehand that we would not use poison in the fight, nor kill our opponents. But your side not only poisoned him, but also knocked him off a cliff to his death after winning. You need to give us an explanation!"

Hongdou angrily said, "How could you do such a thing? I understand your desire to win, but why poison your own people, and in such a cruel way... You knew this competition was rock climbing, and that a fall would mean certain death, yet you still cruelly made him participate. Did you even consider his feelings? How heartbroken his family will be when they find out the truth?"

Gu Changsheng remained unmoved. "Your side refuses to admit your own actions and yet tries to pin the blame on us? You've gone too far!"

The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Si Shuiyun, who had been serving Si Ming as his maid, glared angrily at the false accusations and accusations, her eyes blazing with murderous intent. Kou Feng, Xue Huang, and the others also placed their hands on their sword hilts, ready to unleash a massacre at the leader's command.

"Hey, what are you doing? The atmosphere's so tense, like a fight's about to break out. Wasn't today's betting session held to minimize bloodshed? Don't let this peaceful situation go to waste."

Si Ming raised his hand to signal everyone to restrain themselves, then coughed a few times in a mock manner and said, "Sigh, it seems you all believe that I did everything. Poisoning someone during the competition, killing them after winning, and then smashing their corpse as a form of humiliation—do you really think I did something so ruthless and decisive?"

He paused for a moment, then nodded slowly but firmly, saying, "Yes, I did it."

Gu Changsheng sneered, "It seems that Alliance Leader Sima dares to do it but doesn't dare to..." Suddenly, a look of blankness appeared on his face, wondering if he had misheard.

"Dare to do it but not dare to? I took the blame, I already said it was me, so what? It's just that someone died, isn't it normal for people in the underworld to encounter misfortune? If you don't even have the awareness to die, what kind of underworld are you? Wouldn't it be better to go home and suckle?"

While mocking him, Si Ming took out a paper fan, opened it with a whoosh, and saw the words "If you're not convinced, then fight" written on the fan.

Gu Changsheng, as expected of a patriarch who had seen much of the world, immediately calmed down and said, "The alliance leader has openly violated the code of the martial world and has no credibility whatsoever. How can we believe that you will keep your promise according to the competition results with such an attitude?"

"What kind of code of honor have I violated? Does the code of honor forbid poisoning or murder?"

"The alliance leader's attempt to evade responsibility will fail. We agreed on three rules before the competition..."

"We did agree on three rules, but they weren't about forbidding poisoning or killing. The rule was that the side that poisons and kills their opponent would forfeit. That's right, we forfeited this round because I felt the match couldn't be one-sided; that would eliminate suspense. So I deliberately gave you a chance to tie again. What, I can afford to lose, but you can't afford to die? If you're afraid of dying, then don't stand up for yourself! Go complain, go whine, go beg for pity and revenge, you bunch of useless trash!"

Si Ming's eyes revealed undisguised contempt, which immediately stirred up the emotions of the Aristocratic Clan. They shouted, "Fight them!" and the sound of swords being drawn rang out. Now, it was the family heads who were scrambling to suppress the emotions of their clansmen, because if they made a move, they would truly be "unable to afford to die."

Gu Changsheng hadn't expected the other party to say such a thing. Originally, his side should have been in a position of righteousness to conduct a moral questioning and suppress the other party's momentum. However, after this turn of events, his side became the weaker party who was "insulted by the opponent but had no choice but to accept it," and their momentum was clearly at a disadvantage. This was completely different from the situation he had envisioned.

The most important thing in the code of chivalry is "trust." As for poisoning and killing, that is secondary. Just as Si Ming, who among those who venture into the martial world is not prepared to die at the hands of others? Although using poison is considered a despicable means, there are many people in the martial world who practice poison skills, and there are many famous poison masters. Everyone has long been used to it. At most, they will condemn it verbally, but they don't really care in their hearts.

Although the Heavenly Martial Alliance used poison to kill, Si Ming promised to forfeit this match, which is equivalent to accepting the consequences of using poison to kill. This is "trust" and does not violate the code of the martial arts world. On this basis, it is simply a matter of conduct.

The Heavenly Martial Alliance's actions were domineering and controversial, but morally justifiable. Furthermore, Si Ming portrayed himself as a bully, while highlighting the aristocratic Aristocratic Clan as "weak" victims openly humiliated and unable to retaliate. While the weak may garner sympathy, those who only cry and protest are easily looked down upon. Besides, the Aristocratic Clan weren't exactly weak; at best, the wicked would be punished by the wicked themselves. It's likely that most people would applaud this move.

For a time, the aristocratic Aristocratic Clan found themselves in a dilemma. If they didn't take action, they would have to endure the humiliation and be branded as useless cowards who dared not retaliate. If they did take action, they would be breaking the agreement and violating the code of the martial world, which was not the outcome Aristocratic Clan desired.

Why isn't this person playing by the rules?

Gu Changsheng glared at Si Ming with resentment. Normally, shouldn't he be desperately trying to deny that he did it and claim it was all a fabrication by his opponent? This man actually accepted the blame readily and even boasted about it smugly. Is there really such a tactic in the world?

Finally, Master Wuguo stepped in and Wuguo defused the matter. "Even if the Heavenly Martial Alliance lost the fourth match, the score is now tied at two to two. We will proceed with the fifth match. Do either of you have any objections?"

Gu Changsheng gritted his teeth, feigning resentment, and said, "No! We will use two victories to comfort Zhou Qian's spirit in heaven and avenge him!"

Si Ming continued his bullying taunts, "I'm afraid the more you seek revenge, the more grudges you'll accumulate. I can afford to lose, but can you? Heh heh."

The two groups separated again. The Heavenly Martial Alliance watched with an air of arrogance as the Aristocratic Clan returned in frustration. The onlookers also dispersed, taking the show they had just witnessed to share with their friends.

"Is this a case of trading substance for appearance?" Si Shuiyun said.

"The charge of killing Zhou Qian was already undeniable. Rather than accepting it resentfully as a framed person, it's better to arrogantly admit it as a bully. Anyway, we can't let them be happy. Besides, in the end, there's no difference between winning four to one and winning four to two."

Si Ming turned to Kou Feng and said, "Next, in order to show their determination to take revenge, the other side will definitely send out their strongest warrior, Shen Wumian, to create an atmosphere of 'a desperate army will surely win.' So your task is to suppress their desperate momentum and make them not a desperate army, but a group of mourning soldiers."

"I will certainly do my utmost."

Kou Feng lacked confidence. Although his strength had greatly improved in recent days, he only had a 40% chance of winning against Shen Wumian. Originally, he only wanted to give it his all, since there are no absolute winners in battle, and a 40% chance of winning was enough. But now that his opponent was fighting with the momentum of a desperate army, his chances of winning were even lower.

"Let me do it. I'm also very interested in this top expert from an Aristocratic Clan. Besides, when it comes to testing martial arts, it's more valuable to find a strong opponent. You won't be able to discover your own shortcomings by fighting a weak one," Si Shuiyun said.

Si Ming thought for a moment and said to Si Shuiyun, "Then you should go. Sect Leader Kou, I'm afraid you'll have to bear with it this time."

"It's alright, there will be plenty of opportunities to take on challenges in the future."

Kou Feng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but a trace of regret suddenly flashed through his mind, as if he had missed a rare fortuitous opportunity.

Both sides followed Master Wuguo to the foot of Yin River Waterfall, where Master Wuguo pointed to a small lake below the waterfall and said, "The fifth match will take place on this lake, and the rules will be the same as a regular duel."

The previous match resulted in a death, Wuguo Master Wuguo's hopes of setting an example. Moreover, given his wisdom, he naturally understood the role the Aristocratic Clan played in the matter. Too lazy to devise any more peaceful competition methods, he adopted the simplest and most direct approach—deciding the winner through martial arts.

Si Ming and Gu Changsheng had no objections. The latter believed that a resounding victory would be more likely to boost their morale. Moreover, using the lake as a battlefield would be a geographical advantage for Shen Wumian, who possessed an ice-attribute Cultivation Body. He could almost see victory beckoning to him.

In the center of the lake is a small island, only one and a half acres in size, which is the only place to stand on the lake.