Look closely. The woman before us, her heart ashes, was named Su Wan.
At this moment, she was kneeling before the main hall after being falsely accused.
"Fourth Senior Sister, I don't know what grudge you hold against me for you to strike at me so viciously."
The beautiful young woman sobbing miserably was named Jiang Luoshui.
Jiang Luoshui wept like a pear blossom ravaged by wind and rain, tears spilling freely like floodwaters bursting through a breached dam. Her delicate body trembled faintly, like a flower swaying in the wind, ready to wither at any moment. She was pitiful beyond measure.
Then there was Fourth Senior Sister Su Wan, her face cold as ice.
She looked at Jiang Luoshui with disdain.
Her again. She was framing her again.
She was weary, exhausted, and no longer willing to explain herself.
The Law Enforcement Elder looked at Jiang Luoshui, then at Su Wan.
"Su Wan, the wound on Luoshui bears the distinctive mark of your sword. What explanation do you have?"
Everyone watching turned to look at Su Wan.
Su Wan looked instead at Senior Brother Murong Mo, hoping he would speak up for her...
But Murong Mo remained silent, and Su Wan's heart died.
"This disciple... has no defense!"
An uproar broke out.
The Law Enforcement Elder said gravely, "Su Wan, do you know that Luoshui was at the critical stage of a breakthrough when your strike nearly claimed her life? Harming a fellow disciple warrants expulsion from the sect.
"I also have evidence that you colluded with the demonic cult. What do you have to say to that?"
"This disciple does not wish to explain. I am willing to accept punishment."
Su Wan no longer wished to defend herself.
The moment those words fell, the surrounding discussions grew even louder.
"This... how is that possible?"
"Fourth Senior Sister colluded with the demonic cult?"
"Su Wan has always been jealous of Junior Sister Jiang. It is understandable that she might have gone to extremes in a moment of madness..."
"Yes. Not only is Junior Sister Jiang more talented than Senior Sister Su, she has always overshadowed her. Most importantly, ever since Junior Sister Jiang arrived, Senior Brother Murong no longer seems to treat Senior Sister Su with the same affection."
For a time, rumors sprang up on every side, with everyone telling a different tale.
Su Wan let out a cold laugh.
"Su Wan, you have violated sect rules. By law, your cultivation shall be abolished, and you shall be expelled from the sect!!"
Su Wan noticed Jiang Luoshui's gaze.
For a brief instant, she caught the trace of smug satisfaction in Jiang Luoshui's eyes.
Yes, she had succeeded.
Back then, Jiang Luoshui had been brought back to the mountain gate by Su Wan and Senior Brother Murong together.
They had saved her life.
Su Wan could be considered her savior. When Jiang Luoshui had first entered the sect,
Su Wan had given her the finest cultivation resources, taught her how to cultivate, and had even descended the mountain to seek life-saving medicine for her after she gained favor, suffering grave injuries because of it.
Yet now, Jiang Luoshui repaid kindness with enmity.
She had even driven a wedge between Su Wan and Senior Brother Murong.
What left Su Wan most despairing was Senior Brother Murong's attitude toward her.
Even if everyone in the world refused to believe her, he alone could not...
Just then, a voice rang out.
"Wait, I have something to say!!!"
"..."
One incense stick earlier.
Silver Sword Peak.
Li Xuanxiao was cultivating within the peak.
Before his death, the sect master had left a box to Eldest Senior Brother. Before Eldest Senior Brother departed from the sect, he gave it to Li Xuanxiao.
Li Xuanxiao then opened the box.
The box was a magical artifact similar to a storage pouch.
Inside was a Sword Box containing four treasured swords: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
There was also a sword manual and two Marrow Cleansing Pills.
With Li Xuanxiao's current strength, he could only wield the Spring Sword among the four swords of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
Spring symbolized the growth of all things, brimming with vitality.
"Senior Brother, Senior Brother, something terrible has happened!"
A breathtakingly beautiful face burst into Li Xuanxiao's field of vision.
That face was like exquisitely carved jade, its fine, smooth skin giving off a faint glow, as warm and lustrous as mutton-fat white jade.
Her brows were like distant mountains tinged with dark green, her eyes like shimmering autumn waters, and her nose bridge straight and delicate.
Zhao Lu reached out to tug Li Xuanxiao's sleeve, only for him to lightly brush her hand away.
"If you have something to say, say it."
"Senior Brother, something happened to Fourth Senior Sister."
"When does Fourth Senior Sister ever go a day without something happening?" Li Xuanxiao said helplessly.
As the sect's greatest pure white lotus,
she was sweet and naive to the point of foolishness.
Li Xuanxiao had long seen that Jiang Luoshui, whom she had brought back to the mountain gate years ago, harbored ill intentions. He had even hinted at it to Fourth Senior Sister Su Wan several times.
But Su Wan had paid no heed.
Li Xuanxiao could not help recalling the female-oriented novels he had read before.
Following the usual plot, the next step should be the junior sister framing her senior sister.
The senior sister would suffer everyone's condemnation, becoming the target of a thousand accusing fingers.
Her cultivation would be abolished, her spiritual roots stripped away, and she would endure countless cruel tortures.
All carried out by the man she loved, Senior Brother Murong.
Then the senior sister would leave Shu Mountain in despair.
After that, she would be reborn from the depths of despair and reverse her fate.
Since the whole world has betrayed me, what meaning is there in clinging to the righteous path? Then she would turn around and join the demonic cult.
Didn't you suspect that I colluded with the demonic cult?
Then I'll truly collude with them!!
In the end, she would wipe out all of Shu Mountain...
And in the very end, Senior Brother Murong would emerge to stop Fourth Senior Sister.
The two of them would love and kill each other...
As for Shu Mountain, and innocent people like himself, they would probably have already finished reincarnating by then.
Why did Li Xuanxiao know so much about novel plots?
There was no other reason! It all looked far too familiar.
In his previous life, paralyzed in bed, his greatest daily pleasure had been reading novels.
He knew this kind of plot all too well.
Even if there were only a one-in-ten-thousand chance of this happening, he had to do everything in his power to stop it.
"They said Fourth Senior Sister ambushed Senior Sister Jiang Luoshui and colluded with people from the demonic cult!" Zhao Lu rattled off like a string of firecrackers.
"I already know what happened."
Li Xuanxiao nodded calmly.
"Let's go see what's going on. This sect really never lets me have a peaceful day..."
Then he headed for Tongtian Peak with Zhao Lu.
"..."
"I have something to say!"
Having listened to everything, Li Xuanxiao stepped forward at this moment, and everyone's gazes turned toward him.
Fourth Senior Sister Su Wan had already closed her eyes, but now she opened those autumn-water eyes again and looked at her junior brother in confusion.
Li Xuanxiao cleared his throat. "Junior Sister Jiang, when you were attacked, did you personally see Senior Sister Su do it?"
"That's right. I saw it with my own eyes, and the wound on my body proves it as well."
"That's right, I saw it too."
At that moment, another female disciple spoke cautiously.
"When were you attacked?" Li Xuanxiao asked again.
"During the Hour of the Tiger today."
"Fourth Senior Sister was cultivating in her cave residence during the Hour of the Tiger today. She never left."
Jiang Luoshui looked darkly at Li Xuanxiao, who had jumped out halfway through.
She gave the female disciple who had just spoken a meaningful look.
The female disciple said, "Can your one-sided claim prove that she never left her cave residence? Besides, Su Wan herself admitted it."
"Senior Sister Su, my apologies," Li Xuanxiao said.
Su Wan did not understand why Li Xuanxiao had suddenly apologized to her.
Li Xuanxiao raised a paired Image Stone. "I have been monitoring every movement in Senior Sister Su's cave residence since five years ago. Her actions have all been within my grasp. I can prove that Senior Sister Su did not leave during the Hour of the Tiger."
Su Wan: ...
Li Xuanxiao's words plunged everyone present into silence.
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