Upon hearing those murderous words, even Magistrate Song Zhiyi, who had remained calm behind the official desk, changed color.
"Good, good, good! Lin Qingbai, what gall you have! In broad daylight, beneath the clear sky, within Qingyang County Territory under my jurisdiction, you actually dared to declare that you would kill someone!" Magistrate Song Zhiyi raged.
Lin Qingbai repeatedly shook his head and denied it. "Magistrate Song, I did not! Meng Haoran is spouting nonsense—he is trying to smear me with filth!"
Meng Haoran said solemnly, "Magistrate, I have not thrown any filth at him. At the time, I was together with Meng Xiaoran, a junior of the Meng Family. Magistrate, you may summon him at any time!"
Magistrate Song Zhiyi lowered his voice and said to Master Hu, "Summon Meng Xiaoran!"
Before long, Meng Xiaoran entered from outside the hall. Kneeling beside Meng Haoran, he cupped his fists and said, "This commoner, Meng Xiaoran, greets Magistrate."
Magistrate Song Zhiyi asked, "Meng Xiaoran, I ask you this: why did you and Meng Haoran flee the moment you saw Lin Qingbai?"
Meng Xiaoran replied, "I merely found Lin Qingbai's appearance somewhat frightening. Besides, not long ago, Brother Haoran and I had ruined Lin Qingbai's business of selling inferior Spirit Beasts. Our cultivation was also far below his, so I could only flee separately from him!"
Magistrate Song Zhiyi asked again, "Flee separately? Why? Would it not have been better for the two of you to join forces against Lin Qingbai?"
Meng Xiaoran replied, "If we had both stayed behind, we might both have died at Lin Qingbai's hands. Only if one of us escaped could we deter Lin Qingbai, making him afraid to strike for fear of breaking the rat-catching vessel!"
After thinking for a moment, Magistrate Song Zhiyi asked, "Since