Monstrous Sins! Twisting Black and White!

"Haah... haah..."

A handsome man in star-patterned robes was breathing heavily.

He lowered his head, his starry eyes trembling as he looked down.

Beneath his feet was a long street after the rain, its bluestone paving covered in water that had yet to drain away.

The water was deep, rising above his ankles.

"Blood..."

The water reflected in the star-robed man's eyes was crimson.

At first, there had only been a few streaks of blood.

The farther he walked, the deeper the water's scarlet hue grew!

Every so often, he could see severed fingers bobbing with the ripples.

Their owners had clearly been young.

"Ugh!"

The star-robed man slowly raised his head, his starry eyes now filled with shock.

He saw them!

Mutilated corpses in fine clothes lay piled together on the flooded street.

Arms, legs, organs, and heads were jumbled together in a mountain, impossible to match to their owners.

Only the terror in each pair of eyes was almost the same.

"Xiao Xuanxing, Xiao Yunyi, Xiao Su'e, Xiao Mingxi, Xiao Leyan, Xiao Ningdie, Xiao Chu..."

The star-robed man looked at the mutilated corpses and spoke their names, his tongue trembling.

With each name, his Adam's apple bobbed, as though he had to swallow something before he could continue.

He was Jiang Xinghai, master of the Three Stars Pavilion.

The names of these Xiao Clan disciples from the Three Stars Pavilion often reached his ears. They were all renowned geniuses.

"Xiao Shangyuan, Xiao Yunting, Xiao Fan, Xiao Yan, Xiao Chen..."

Jiang Xinghai's eyes continued to tremble.

The frightened, despairing faces of the mutilated corpses made even someone like Jiang Xinghai's scalp tingle after he looked at a few of them.

"Xiao Yao'er..."

When Jiang Xinghai spoke the name of this person with "high compatibility," his mouth trembled too.

"Pavilion Master Jiang, are you reciting a menu?"

A young, raspy voice suddenly came from atop the pile of corpses.

Jiang Xinghai nearly suffocated. He slowly raised his head and looked-

A black-clad youth sat atop the pile of Xiao Clan geniuses' corpses, blood streaming all over him.

He braced himself on a black wooden sword, barely managing to stay seated. His tangled hair hung down, still dripping with a mixture of rain and blood...

Amid that tangled hair, however, his eyes were clear and sunny.

It was as if he and the blood and corpses strewn across the ground existed in different dimensions.

"Qi Lin..."

Jiang Xinghai's voice trembled slightly. "Did you kill these thirty-five Xiao Clan disciples?"

"Yes, but Pavilion Master Jiang..."

Qi Lin nodded, his face utterly honest.

"I acted in self-defense."

Hearing that, Jiang Xinghai didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He was the master of the Three Stars Pavilion, and the dead were all its disciples. He could hardly escape blame, so he felt a little like crying.

As for laughing...

Well.

Deep down, it felt a little satisfying.

Really, just a tiny bit, a tiny bit satisfying...

Jiang Xinghai was having a little trouble keeping the corners of his mouth down.

How on earth had this kid done it?

Jiang Xinghai truly hated it.

He hated that he had arrived too late!

He hadn't seen a thing.

This kid was clearly at the Mystic Sea Realm Second Layer. How had he accomplished a feat that would shake the entire kingdom?

This slaughter had dealt the Xiao Clan a heavy blow, both by cutting the weeds and pulling out the roots and by striking at their prestige and authority.

No.

It was two heavy blows!

Like two thunderbolts crashing down on their heads.

"This kid... has something to him."

The way Jiang Xinghai looked at Qi Lin had completely changed.

"Monstrous sins! Twisting black and white!"

An aged, trembling voice suddenly exploded behind Jiang Xinghai.

An old man with meticulously combed white hair stood there, his whole body trembling and his face twisted as he looked at the scene before him.

After roaring those words, he fixed his gaze on Qi Lin, his eyes blazing like pillars of fire.

"You little fiend, you must have joined forces with demons to murder these meritorious Xiao Clan disciples! How can you call that self-defense?"

The old man's strength was surely at Heavenly Dominion. His thunderous shout left the exhausted Qi Lin dizzy and seeing stars.

Besides the One Yang Pavilion, Two Moons, and Three Stars Pavilion, the Divine Strategy Manor also had a Kingdom Law Pavilion.

The Kingdom Law Pavilion accepted no disciples.

The Great Cang Kingdom Law had once been born in the Kingdom Law Pavilion!

To this day, the Kingdom Law Pavilion was also responsible for upholding law and discipline within the Divine Strategy Manor.

The Law Enforcement Hall was an institution under the Kingdom Law Pavilion.

This old man was Lan Hai, the current master of the Kingdom Law Pavilion.

All the Divine Strategy Manor's penal officers were under Lan Hai's authority.

It could be said that he held the power to pass judgment and conduct trials within the Divine Strategy Manor, and was the interpreter of the Great Cang Kingdom Law!

Of course, he was also a high-ranking official at court.

The fact that this major case had directly prompted him to come in person spoke for itself.

Behind him were more than twenty other penal officers, martial instructors, and teachers from the Divine Strategy Manor, all of whom had hurried over.

At that moment, they all stared in shock at the youth atop the pile of corpses, their eyes trembling.

They were all at a loss for breath.

"No... that's not right!"

Tang Biao was there too.

He finally managed to wrench his gaze away from the mutilated corpses covering the ground. Gasping for breath, he suppressed the storm raging in his heart, along with his admiration for Qi Lin, and declared before everyone, "I'm a witness! After Qi Lin and I came out of the Hall of Law Enforcement, these thirty-five Xiao Clan members surrounded him and said they were going to hack him to pieces, one sword strike each!"

The crowd fell silent at his words.

"Nonsense!"

Lan Hai's stern voice was like a cold wave.

"Every word I said is true!" Tang Biao threw caution to the wind and gritted his teeth. "I swear on my identity as a Tang Clan member that these Xiao Clan people attacked and bullied him in a no-fighting zone. Only then did Qi Lin act in self-defense, forced to kill them! I've already reported everything to the Tang Clan. If Pavilion Master Lan has any objections, you can go to my father, my uncle, my other uncle, my grandfather, my aunt..."

"Shut up!" Lan Hai's brow twitched in fury. "Regardless, I will take this boy to the Kingdom Law Pavilion today to await an investigation."

"You can't take him," Jiang Xinghai suddenly said.

Lan Hai froze and looked at Jiang Xinghai in utter incomprehension. His voice turned chilling. "Jiang Xinghai, your usual misbehavior is bad enough. If you act on impulse again today, I won't indulge you."

"Who's acting on impulse? You can't take him away in the first place. This matter is beyond your authority," Jiang Xinghai said mildly.

"As master of the Kingdom Law Pavilion, how could I lack the authority to handle such a heinous murder case within the Divine Strategy Manor?"

As Lan Hai spoke, he seemed unwilling even to argue with Jiang Xinghai and was about to order his men to seize Qi Lin.

"Because..."

Jiang Xinghai smiled faintly. "His Majesty summoned him by name."

With that, he raised an eyebrow at Lan Hai. "Pavilion Master Lan, as master of the Kingdom Law Pavilion, surely you don't intend to commit treason against His Majesty? Could it be that you were involved in the late emperor's calamity as well?"

"You insolent brat! Stop spouting nonsense!"

Lan Hai was so angry that his face twisted.

But he soon took a deep breath and gave Jiang Xinghai a profound look. "You unfilial son, you insist on standing against the prevailing tide merely because you want to oppose your father. It's utterly childish."

"You're mature, all right. You're almost in the ground—you're certainly ripe enough," Jiang Xinghai said with an easy smile.

"I'll give your father a full account of this!" Lan Hai sneered.

"Go find him, then." Jiang Xinghai shrugged. "I can't find him anyway. Maybe he dropped dead in some deserted corner. That old man has committed so many sins, he's liable to be struck by lightning."

"You!"

Lan Hai looked at him and shook his head deeply.

He had watched Jiang Xinghai grow up.

But now, his eyes held nothing but disappointment, profound disappointment.

"Compared to your elder brother, you fall short-far, far short!"

With that, Lan Hai sighed, turned, and walked away.

"Don't leave just yet."

Jiang Xinghai pointed at the mutilated corpses covering the ground.

"Someone still has to collect the bodies, right? Surely you don't expect me to collect them for the Xiao Clan? You're close to them, so I'll leave it to you!"

"If you gather them up cleanly and do a good job, won't they reward you with a few dog bones?"

Lan Hai stopped where he was, his brow tightly furrowed and veins bulging on his neck.

"Qi Lin, come with me."

Jiang Xinghai couldn't be bothered to look at Lan Hai anymore and waved to Qi Lin.

But the black-clad youth had barely risen when he toppled in Jiang Xinghai's direction.

As it turned out, he had long since exhausted his strength and lost too much blood...

He had merely been holding himself up by force.

"So young, yet truly a warrior."

Jiang Xinghai sighed in admiration, then flashed aside, keeping Qi Lin from crashing into him...

Smack!

Qi Lin hit the ground.

Tang Biao froze for a moment and looked at Jiang Xinghai. "Pavilion Master, why didn't you catch him?"

"If I caught him, would you wash my clothes for me?" Jiang Xinghai smacked him on the forehead. "Carry him away."

"Oh, right!"

Tang Biao hurriedly picked Qi Lin up and followed Jiang Xinghai away. Soon, they disappeared.

The dozens of martial instructors, penal officers, and teachers present continued to stare at the bloody, mutilated corpses covering the ground... in profound silence.

They looked in the direction Qi Lin had gone.

"From this moment on, the entire Great Cang Kingdom will know the name Qi Lin."

"A thunderclap in a violent storm—he's stunned the world with a single feat..."

The martial instructors and teachers continued to marvel.

The penal officers, meanwhile, were fretting over how to deal with the mutilated corpses.

It was too difficult!

They had to be buried, didn't they?

Then whose finger was this?

And whose arm was that?

Would it be proper if they mixed them up?

Why not let the Xiao Clan collect them themselves?

That was what they thought, but they didn't dare say it.

Just then, a penal officer suddenly spoke in a somewhat peculiar tone. "Pavilion Master, I've discovered something."

"Speak."

Lan Hai was still looking in the direction Jiang Xinghai had gone, his anger surging.

"All the belongings the thirty-five Xiao Clan disciples had on them have been taken."

"That means the kid had already anticipated everything before we arrived and maximized his gains before exhausting his strength."