"Hm?!"
Xia Ping snorted coldly, a glint of frost flashing in his eyes. He had not expected Qian Shan's skin to be even thicker than his own—he actually dared to twist black into white, fabricate accusations out of thin air, and pin the blame on him.
"So that's how it is."
Hearing this, Qian Ba nodded. "It seems the matter is quite clear. You stole a treasure from my Qian Clan. My son, Qian Shan, pursued you, and when you stubbornly resisted, you killed the elite members of my Qian Clan."
"Though I don't know which family you belong to, no matter where this is, it is a grave crime."
"Of course, I will not kill you. But while the death penalty may be spared, punishment cannot be escaped. I will cripple all your cultivation, make an example of you with a small punishment, and imprison you in my Qian Clan's dungeon for a thousand years."
"As for whether you will be released afterward, that will depend on when your family sends someone over."
In just a few words, he had decided Xia Ping's fate.
The reason he did not kill Xia Ping immediately was that he feared there was a great power behind him. If he killed Xia Ping, it would truly mean an irreconcilable feud with that party.
Although Qian Ba was exceedingly arrogant, he was not a mindless fool. He would not make a powerful clan into a mortal enemy for no reason; it would bring the Qian Clan no benefit whatsoever.
But if Xia Ping remained alive, there would still be room to smooth things over, giving the other side a way to step down.
Moreover, crippling this brat and turning him into a complete cripple would also demonstrate the Qian Clan's authority.
Surely there was