Clearing His Name

The sunlight on the horizon still had a lingering glow.

Yet Fang Qiong felt cold all over.

He looked up at Ye Xiu before him. The other's face was filled with grief, as though that mocking smile from earlier had been nothing but an illusion.

"Everyone, take a look. Junior Brother Fang Ye's body is right here. Use any means you wish to examine it. Is there even the slightest trace of an injury caused by human hands?"

Ye Xiu looked straight at the crowd, supporting Fang Ye's body with one hand as he walked out and displayed it for anyone present who wished to inspect it.

"His body is covered mostly in scrapes and bruises. Clearly, they were caused by falling during close combat."

"His pupils are unfocused and purple. That is the mark of the Soul-Severing Scorpion's deadly poison, but that alone would not kill him."

"What truly took his life was the tearing wound that pierced his chest. Hiss—such a massive wound, yet the corpse has not fallen apart. Only a Soul-Severing Scorpion's hooked tail could do that!"

As a demonic sect, the Yin Harmony Sect naturally had no shortage of experts who played with corpses. After only a cursory inspection, someone in the crowd immediately came to a conclusion.

"This senior brother is right. Junior Brother Fang indeed died beneath that Soul-Severing Scorpion's hooked tail."

A sorrowful expression appeared on Ye Xiu's face.

Supporting Fang Ye's corpse, he strode quickly before Fang Qiong.

"Senior Brother Fang, you are also a ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivator. Take a look yourself—are there any traces of techniques on Junior Brother Fang's body?"

Fang Qiong found himself unable to answer. After stammering for quite some time, he forcibly changed the subject.

"Fang Ye was also at the seventh level of Qi Condensation. In a life-or-death crisis, could he not have used techniques to resist?"

Ye Xiu sneered inwardly.

Unable to explain the cause of death, he wants to drag me into the accusation of standing by and watching them die?

Unfortunately, I had already accounted for that.

"What if we were unable to use techniques at all at that time?"

Ye Xiu took a deep breath.

"After entering Soul-Mystifying Valley three days ago, the five of us spent two entire days finding that Soul-Severing Scorpion."

"Because of the mission requirements, we could not use techniques against the Soul-Severing Scorpion. We could only fight it in close combat. We battled desperately before finally killing that beast."

"But who could have expected..."

"What happened?"

Someone in the crowd, whose appetite had been thoroughly whetted, asked.

A tragic smile appeared on Ye Xiu's face.

"Just as we were dealing with its hooked tail, another Soul-Severing Scorpion appeared."

"We had not realized that the Soul-Severing Scorpion was in heat. Aside from the female Soul-Severing Scorpion we killed, there was also a male scorpion!"

At those words, everyone present let out low cries.

The poisonous gas released when a Soul-Severing Scorpion died would seal a cultivator's spiritual power. Ye Xiu's group had just dealt with one Soul-Severing Scorpion, and while exhausted and poisoned, they had been ambushed by another.

Just imagining it, the disciples present could understand why Fang Ye had died at the hands of that Soul-Severing Scorpion.

"If that is truly what happened, then it cannot be held against him."

"Exactly. They had just gone through a fierce battle and had no spiritual power left. Who could possibly deal with another Soul-Severing Scorpion?"

As the crowd's opinions gradually shifted toward Ye Xiu, Fang Qiong suddenly seized upon a crucial gap.

"Then by your account, should you not have found it difficult to escape as well?"

"Yet not only did Junior Brother Ye return, you even came back in one piece with two hooked tails!"

"How do you explain that?"

Hearing the doubt Fang Qiong had raised, everyone was taken aback.

After all, Soul-Severing Scorpions held grudges. Ye Xiu and the others had killed the male scorpion's mate and had been poisoned besides. How, then, had Ye Xiu escaped?

Upon hearing this, the grief in Ye Xiu's eyes deepened.

He looked at Fang Ye's corpse, his tone solemn.

"I was able to return alive entirely because Junior Brother Fang and the others risked their lives in battle."

"That beast launched a sneak attack from the shadows. Caught off guard, I suffered grievous injuries, while another junior brother died on the spot."

"Junior Brother Fang and the other two junior brothers risked their lives to lure that beast away with the hooked tails. Only then did I luckily keep my life."

"That beast pursued us relentlessly. In the end, with no other choice, Junior Brother Fang used the talisman bestowed by the inner sect. But to activate the talisman, those two junior brothers also..."

As he spoke with mounting emotion, the crowd even saw tears fall from Ye Xiu's eyes.

Although none of those present who knew Fang Ye believed he would be so self-sacrificing, seeing Ye Xiu's agitated state, the onlooking disciples could only echo a few words of consolation.

"You say Fang Ye used an inner sect talisman. Where is the proof?"

However, Fang Qiong did not intend to let the matter pass so easily.

If Ye Xiu truly settled the matter like this, then would Fang Qiong not have come to seize him today with neither reason nor justification on his side?

"The proof is this beast's shell."

Of course, Ye Xiu had left no gaps.

He took a tightly wrapped piece of scorpion carapace from his storage pouch.

The moment it was brought out, its rotting stench made everyone present change expression.

"It was only through the talisman Junior Brother Fang used at the cost of his life that we finally killed that beast."

"If I truly harbored malicious intentions, then why did Junior Brother Fang not attack me directly when he held a talisman?"

Ye Xiu added another sentence, completely cutting off Fang Qiong's retreat.

An inner sect talisman was absolutely impossible to forge, and this carapace also proved that Fang Ye had indeed used one.

According to Ye Xiu's account, if he had truly harbored ill intentions, Fang Ye could have taken him down along with the scorpion.

Looking at the speechless Fang Qiong, Ye Xiu sneered inwardly and flipped his hand, producing another pill bottle.

"As for Senior Brother's accusation that I coveted the reward and harmed several junior brothers, I, Ye Xiu, swear to Heaven that I had no such intention!"

"The Origin-Restoring Pills inside were bestowed by Senior Sister Li after the mission was handed in. There are five in total; Senior Sister Li can verify the number!"

"For this mission, I relied entirely upon Junior Brother Fang risking his life to save me. I am willing to hand all these Origin-Restoring Pills to Senior Brother as compensation for Junior Brother Fang's family!"

As Ye Xiu brought out the pills and everyone sensed the strange medicinal fragrance in the air, their eyes immediately burned with envy.

Treasures like Origin-Restoring Pills had always been things one could encounter but never seek. In the outer sect, Li Feiyu truly was the only one who could produce them.

To put it bluntly, this bottle of Origin-Restoring Pills was worth far more than the lives of Fang Ye and the others.

Ye Xiu's willingness to produce them without the slightest reluctance instead thoroughly refuted Fang Qiong's suspicions.

And now that the matter had been laid bare, it was Fang Qiong who appeared utterly unreasonable.

Without absolute proof, he had accused Ye Xiu of murdering fellow disciples, when Ye Xiu had clearly already done all he could.

Faced with such a sudden accident, he had not only successfully retrieved the hooked tails and protected the interests of those who had taken part in the mission, but had even tried his utmost to bring back Fang Ye's corpse so he could be laid to rest.

If Fang Qiong still blamed Ye Xiu after this, then who would dare interact with anyone from Fang Qiong's faction in the future?

After all, if another accident happened, what if Fang Qiong again decided that their companions harbored sinister intentions?

Under the strange gazes of the crowd, Fang Qiong understood for the first time what it meant to sit on pins and needles.