Conviction

Amid the crowd's uproar, Fang Qiong arrived with a group of Punishment Hall disciples and surrounded Ye Xiu.

"Senior Brother, what is the meaning of this?"

A trace of astonishment appeared on Ye Xiu's face, as though he had never expected to be accused of such a crime.

"Three days ago, Fang Ye accepted a mission with you and entered Soul-Mystifying Valley. Three days have passed; the other four who went with you have vanished without a trace, yet you returned. Shouldn't you give an explanation for that?"

Fang Qiong fixed his eyes on Ye Xiu. When he learned from the disciples keeping watch that Ye Xiu had appeared again, he had basically concluded that Fang Ye was dead.

He knew full well that Fang Ye's cultivation was inferior to Ye Xiu's. Even with careful plotting against an unsuspecting target, success was not guaranteed.

And sensing the abundant spiritual power within Ye Xiu, Fang Qiong became even more certain that the other man's injuries had definitely not been as serious as they had imagined.

"Senior Brother, how can you slander me so viciously!"

Naturally, Ye Xiu would not admit it. Though the Yin Harmony Sect was a demonic sect, it was not entirely without rules.

The sect did not forbid internal strife, but it strictly prohibited deaths. If one wanted to dispose of someone openly and aboveboard, there had to be an overwhelming gap in cultivation and status between the two.

He was only an outer-sect disciple now. If he were saddled with the charge of murdering a fellow disciple, the punishment would be exceptionally severe.

"Everything I say and do is naturally based on evidence."

Fang Qiong sneered.

"You accepted a mission with Fang Ye and the others and entered Soul-Mystifying Valley. Is that correct or not?"

Ye Xiu nodded.

There were far too many people in the Mission Hall who could testify to that, so naturally he would not deny it.

"You had also obtained the hooked tail of the Soul-Severing Scorpion earlier. That is correct as well, isn't it?"

Fang Qiong asked again.

"That's right. We watched him hand it in with our own eyes."

The disciples watching the spectacle at the side chimed in.

Fang Qiong's gaze turned cold. "Everyone knows that although the Rift-Soul Scorpion is a first-rank demon beast, its physical body is exceptionally powerful, and it bears grudges like a dog gnawing a bone. Once provoked, it will fight to the death."

"Moreover, after it dies, the poisonous gas it releases can seal a cultivator's meridians and rob them of their spiritual power."

"But in order to take its hooked tail, someone must step forward to dismember it. Otherwise, once the poisonous gas dissipates, all the essence within the hooked tail will be lost as well."

"You brought back the hooked tail, proving that you must have slain that Soul-Extinguishing Scorpion. But if the Soul-Extinguishing Scorpion was already dead, who killed Fang Ye and the others?"

Following Fang Qiong's words, the disciples present naturally continued the deduction.

"In other words, Fang Ye and the others must have been murdered!"

Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted.

Fang Qiong looked at the somewhat flustered Ye Xiu before him, his tone turning grim.

"That's right, Ye Xiu. It was you. You took advantage of Fang Ye and the others being poisoned while retrieving the hooked tail and attacked them. Unable to use spiritual power, Fang Ye and the others were no match for you. You killed them, seized the hooked tail, and only returned today because the mission was about to expire!"

"Is that so or not!"

At the final words, Fang Qiong secretly infused his voice with spiritual power. His furious roar burst forth like muffled thunder.

Faced with his interrogation, Ye Xiu's face flushed red with rage, and his entire body trembled.

"No, I... I didn't!"

Just as Ye Xiu was about to speak, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted loudly.

"Framing fellow disciples! A life for a life!"

With someone taking the lead, those who knew nothing of the matter immediately began shouting along with them.

For a moment, accusations came crashing down like a tidal wave, drowning Ye Xiu so completely that he did not even have a chance to defend himself.

Fang Qiong looked smugly at the sea of people before him.

In a demonic sect, there was no shortage of people eager to kick someone when they were down. Even if his words were merely speculation without evidence, did Ye Xiu have any evidence to prove that he had not done it?

Since neither side had evidence, it was simply a matter of following the crowd.

As long as everyone believed you had done it, then even if you had not, you still had.

"But I have no reason to do such a thing!"

Ye Xiu's face reddened as he faced the crowd's accusations.

"No, you do!"

But the moment those words left his mouth, Fang Qiong cut him off.

"The Soul-Severing Scorpion mission was issued by Senior Sister Li. She has always been generous, and she is one of the foremost alchemy geniuses in the inner sect. With the outer-sect advancement tournament approaching, if you could obtain her pills to aid you, your chances would rise greatly."

"But if the reward were divided among five people, it would not be enough to persuade Senior Sister Li to help. So you harbored the intention of killing Fang Ye and the others, all so you could swallow the reward alone!"

"Otherwise, if an accident had truly occurred, why didn't you first come to the Punishment Hall and inform me? Why did you sneak here alone to the Mission Hall to exchange the reward?"

Hearing Fang Qiong lay out the reasoning, the onlooking disciples who had originally been half-convinced and half-doubtful now believed more than half of it.

Li Feiyu, an inner-sect genius, was famous far and wide, while the benefits brought by the advancement tournament were simply too immense.

If they had been in Ye Xiu's position, they certainly would not have let such an opportunity slip away.

"The motive, the process, the result—I've analyzed them all crystal clear. Ye Xiu, what else can you possibly argue?"

Seeing that he had the situation completely under control, Fang Qiong gave the people behind him a look, signaling them to act while the crowd's indignation was running high.

As the Punishment Hall disciples raised their shackles and moved to seize Ye Xiu, a cold smile curled across Fang Qiong's lips.

This was a dead end. If Ye Xiu did not resist, then after they took him back, they could naturally mold him however they pleased. But if Ye Xiu resisted, that would directly confirm that he had indeed killed someone.

You dared touch one of my men. Did you think that after gaining a little fortuitous opportunity, you could swagger through this sect sideways?

Fang Qiong thought viciously.

But suddenly, he noticed a smile playing at the corner of Ye Xiu's mouth.

It was not the helpless smile of someone resigning himself to capture. Instead, it looked more like the calculating smile of a hunter watching his prey fall into a trap.

Fang Qiong felt as if his heart had skipped a beat.

He hurriedly urged the Punishment Hall disciples to act quickly, but before the shackles could be placed upon Ye Xiu, Ye Xiu's storage pouch lit up first.

The onlookers only saw a blur before their eyes. When they finally saw clearly what Ye Xiu had taken out, an uproar erupted.

Beside Ye Xiu, a battered and scarred corpse had appeared.

Everyone present recognized that face; it was none other than Fang Ye, who had been missing for days.

"What's going on? Didn't Senior Brother Fang say that Ye Xiu had killed Fang Ye in Soul-Mystifying Valley?"

"The injuries on Fang Ye's body clearly weren't caused by a person."

The crowd stared at Fang Ye's corpse before them and broke into heated discussion.

Fang Qiong instinctively sensed that something was wrong. He strode forward, intending to collect Fang Ye's corpse, but Ye Xiu beat him to it and grabbed his hand.

"Senior Brother Fang, your conjecture is not without reason. But what if I truly have a clear conscience?"

Looking at Fang Qiong, whose eyes were splitting with fury, Ye Xiu tightened his grip.

Watch carefully. What comes next is my performance.

He gave Fang Qiong a strange smile.