Entrapment

Entrapment

Thousand Mechanism Hall, Kunlun Mirror.

The image of Luo Qiuzhen bowing his head in assent froze on the mirror's surface.

Looking at that sly face, Ning Ye chuckled.

"Wang Sen, the Wood Puppet Sect? Ha ha, good idea. As expected of the Black and White Divine Palace. This trick of turning black into white is truly played to perfection."

Wang Sen was certainly innocent. The problem was that Ning Ye wasn't the only one who knew it. Luo Qiuzhen and Fu Dongliu knew it too, and even Yue Xinchans might not have been fooled.

But the Immortal Sect cared about its reputation. If they said they wanted someone handed over within three days, then someone had to be handed over within three days. Even if they couldn't find the culprit, they'd have to pin the blame on an innocent person.

Ning Ye wasn't surprised in the slightest by the Black and White Divine Palace's way of doing things. The only thing that had exceeded his expectations was Luo Qiuzhen.

He hadn't expected Luo Qiuzhen to be the one to propose this plan. After all, he had seemed quite professional before.

This also confirmed another thing: ability and character had never had anything to do with each other. Luo Qiuzhen might have been devoted to the truth, but that didn't mean he wouldn't fabricate evidence. Perhaps his pursuit of truth was meant to make lies more convincing. Without this kind of cunning, he probably wouldn't have gotten far in the Black and White Divine Palace.

Besides, this would also dispel Fu Dongliu's jealousy of him.

As expected, it wasn't a capable opponent you had to fear, but one who was capable and had no bottom line.

Still, no matter how formidable Luo Qiuzhen was, he could never have imagined that the real culprit wasn't merely absent from the list of suspects, but was even able to monitor their conversation.

With Fu Dongliu's level of strength, Ning Ye couldn't monitor him yet. The reason he could do so this time was that he had taken part in building the Inspection Hall—he had planted Moon Shadow Cold Sand inside it.

When he first invented the stuff, his master had called it a useless bit of clever trickery. But the truth was, what set Ning Ye apart from everyone else was precisely the unique way of thinking no one else had ever possessed.

That was why Ning Ye had planned the Inspection Hall arson.

He certainly hadn't done it to destroy evidence. That was just a smokescreen. His real aim was to take part in rebuilding the Inspection Hall and scatter Moon Shadow Cold Sand through the hall.

Since he had invented the stuff himself, even if someone else discovered it, they wouldn't understand what it was.

Compared with the poisoning, the arson had a much clearer purpose. But without the outburst of frustration brought on by the poisoning, Ning Ye might not have been able to think so calmly. Sometimes, mistakes were the necessary foundation for success.

Sure enough, it had only been two days, and Ning Ye already knew how they planned to respond.

"Wang Sen..." Ning Ye fell into thought.

Wang Sen was destined to become his scapegoat.

But could he use him to make something of this? Ning Ye couldn't help wondering.

Wang Sen was an ordinary outer disciple of the Black and White Divine Palace, with no master.

That was one of the main reasons he had been chosen as the scapegoat.

As usual, Wang Sen was cultivating at home that night when he suddenly sensed something. He darted out of the house, just in time to see a shadow flash in the distance. Something came flying toward him.

Wang Sen dodged, only to see that it was a letter.

Wang Sen was cautious enough to probe it with a spell first. After confirming the letter hadn't been tampered with, he opened it and read. When he finished, he trembled all over in shock. "How could..."

The letter described something so shocking that it was almost unbelievable. But remembering what had happened earlier, Wang Sen knew it was probably true. He was about to put the letter away when he saw the writing vanish from the page, leaving him no chance to keep it.

Knowing he didn't have much time, Wang Sen began to make preparations.

Early the next morning, Wang Sen left for the herb fields as usual. Disciples without masters usually had extra work to do. Since Wang Sen cultivated the wood path, he had naturally chosen to work in the herb fields.

After finishing his work that afternoon, Wang Sen headed back home.

As soon as he reached the entrance, he saw a crowd surrounding his house.

People from the Inspection Hall.

Just as he'd expected!

Wang Sen cursed inwardly.

A disciple from the Inspection Hall walked over. "Wang Sen, you've been found out. Come with us."

Wang Sen feigned ignorance. "What have I done?"

The disciple snapped, "You poisoned a fellow disciple and set fire to the Inspection Hall."

Wang Sen smiled. "Do you have evidence?"

"The evidence is right here." A disciple stepped forward, holding a Jade Bottle and a Wooden Bird.

The disciple said, "We found these in your room. The bottle contains Three-Wither Pollen, and the Wooden Bird is what you used to start the fire. There's also a secret letter from the Wood Puppet Sect. What more do you have to say for yourself?"

By now, quite a few disciples had gathered to see what was going on. At those words, an uproar broke out, and they all glared furiously at Wang Sen.

Wang Sen smiled. "This is a case of trumped-up charges—what excuse could you possibly need?"

"You still dare deny it!" A disciple lunged at him.

Wang Sen didn't resist. He simply said, "In that case, I demand a public trial."

"Of course."

The Inspection Hall was bound to announce the capture of a Wood Puppet Sect spy to reassure everyone. Now that the evidence was conclusive, what harm was there in a public trial?

Only Luo Qiuzhen, watching from the sidelines, felt a faint unease at Wang Sen's response, though he couldn't tell what was wrong.

An hour later, in the main hall of the Inspection Hall, Yue Xinchans appeared on the dais. Below him, countless disciples packed the hall to watch.

Yue Xinchans said, "Wang Sen, I hear you asked for a public trial. What do you have to say?"

Wang Sen answered loudly, "Grand Hall Master, this is a frame-up. I'm innocent!"

Yue Xinchans wasn't surprised. "The evidence is conclusive. How could this be a frame-up?"

Wang Sen smiled. For some reason, that smile sent a chill through Fu Dongliu and Luo Qiuzhen, who stood beside him.

Wang Sen said, "Neither of the two things found by the Inspection Hall belongs to me. At least, they weren't there before last night. So if I'm not mistaken, someone deliberately planted them in my room during the day, while I was working in the herb fields, to frame me."

Yue Xinchans asked, "What proof do you have?"

Wang Sen answered, "Grand Hall Master, the place I live in is just a shabby hut, and my abilities are limited. I can't set up powerful wards. So, to keep myself safe, I used the simplest method: I installed an Image Recording Stone in the roof beams. It can record everyone who enters or leaves my room each day."

What?

Fu Dongliu nearly lost control.

A sharp glint flashed in Yue Xinchans's eyes. He reached out, and Hand of the Chess Player appeared in the sky. It crossed the vast distance and landed above Wang Sen's home. With a single grab, he snatched up the roof along with the house.

Amidst a shower of dust, an Image Recording Stone appeared in his hand.

Yue Xinchans didn't activate the Image Recording Stone directly. Instead, he made the footage play only on the stone's surface, keeping it from view of everyone else.

The images sped up before Yue Xinchans's eyes. Soon, he saw a figure sneaking into Wang Sen's room around noon and planting the Wooden Bird and Jade Bottle there.

At the sight of this, Yue Xinchans flew into a rage. He clenched his hand, crushing the Image Recording Stone to powder. A monstrous fury radiated from him, pressing everyone in the hall to their knees.

Seeing this, Fu Dongliu finally understood what had happened. He trembled with fear.

But the fury came and went in a flash. The next moment, Yue Xinchans had regained his calm. "I've seen it. As you said, someone framed you. Unfortunately, the culprit didn't show his true face. It must have been a spy hiding within the sect, and he'll be difficult to find. Fu Dongliu!"

Fu Dongliu shuddered and stepped forward, dropping to his knees. "I'm here!"

"Look what you've done! You nearly harmed an innocent disciple of our sect. Find the real culprit at once and clear Wang Sen's name!"

With that, Yue Xinchans rose and vanished into the distance.