Slinging Mud

The speaker's voice rang out, loud and resolute. In an instant, he drew everyone's attention, and the entire little courtyard fell silent once more.

Jiang Feng, who had been watching coldly from the corner, also turned his gaze toward that figure.

The man wore the same coarse linen clothes as the Medicine Hall apprentices, yet his body was abnormally bloated. Two mung-bean-sized eyes were set in his pancake-like face. He was the sort who made people feel uncomfortable from the bottom of their hearts after just one glance.

Once Jiang Feng saw who had spoken, his brows immediately furrowed.

"How is it him?"

Jiang Feng knew this man all too well. His name was Fan Qingyang, and he had deep grievances with Jiang Feng's previous self.

The two had known each other even before entering the Medicine Hall. They could be considered childhood friends who had grown up together.

By all rights, in this unfamiliar Medicine Hall, they should have watched out for and supported one another. Yet because of one woman, they had turned from friends into enemies overnight.

That woman was Jiang Feng's former childhood sweetheart—Li Yue.

Fan Qingyang liked Li Yue, while Li Yue and Jiang Feng loved each other.

After pleading in vain time and again, Fan Qingyang's love turned to hatred, and he came to hate Jiang Feng completely.

In the memories of Jiang Feng's previous self, there was not much resentment toward this former brother. There was even a trace of guilt.

But the current Jiang Feng did not see it that way.

Ever since arriving in this world, Fan Qingyang had made trouble for him time and again. Not only did he often make things difficult for him at work, but he also kept finding ways to trip him up in daily life.

Jiang Feng detested this man from the bottom of his heart. He even had a feeling that Fan Qingyang stepping forward now was, nine times out of ten, aimed at him.

Wu Tian's gaze fell on Fan Qingyang as he slowly spoke.

"Go on. So long as you can prove that your words are true, not a single bit of the reward owed to you will be withheld."

"Thank you, Young Master Wu."

Fan Qingyang first gave a deep bow. Then his face hardened, and he said with grave seriousness, "The person who ambushed Young Master Wu Han was Jiang Feng!"

The moment those words left his mouth, the courtyard first fell silent, then erupted in scattered murmurs.

"Is that true? Wasn't Jiang Feng beaten half to death by Young Master Wu Han's guards not long ago? How would he dare do something like this?"

"I don't think it's likely either. Jiang Feng doesn't seem like someone with that kind of nerve."

"Hmph, you can know a person's face but not their heart. I've always thought that kid was no good. He must have been holding back something nasty all along."

Wu Tian cast a sidelong glance at Xue Zhao beside him and asked coldly, "What is this Jiang Feng's status, and what is his martial realm?"

Xue Zhao promptly bowed and answered, "In reply to Young Master, Jiang Feng is merely a junior apprentice of the Medicine Hall.

"As for his realm, he was still at the first level of the Blood-Moving Realm when he was tested a month ago. By now, at most, he has only just brushed the edge of the second level."

Upon hearing this, the deep frown on Wu Tian's face turned into a mocking smile.

"Someone who has not even reached the second level of the Blood-Moving Realm can ambush Wu Han? Has my useless younger brother truly become that worthless?"

He knew his younger brother to some extent.

Although Wu Han was steeped in every vice and lustful by nature, his talent for martial arts was still passable. Half a year ago, he had already reached the great completion of the ninth level of the Blood-Moving Realm, only half a step away from the Skin-Refining Realm.

Not to mention a useless apprentice who had not even reached the second level—even someone at the sixth level of the Blood-Moving Realm could never get close enough to touch him.

Wu Tian looked at Fan Qingyang with an amused expression. "Explain yourself. What makes you so certain that Jiang Feng did this?"

"In reply to Young Master, I was the first person to discover that something had happened to Young Master Wu Han in the rear courtyard. But before I found Young Master Wu Han, I happened to hear Jiang Feng's voice in the rear courtyard storeroom, and I even saw his back as he fled with my own eyes!

"At that time, dawn had not yet broken. It was still far from work hours. So he must be connected to this matter!"

The more Fan Qingyang spoke, the more worked up he became. Spittle flew from his mouth, and the fat on his face trembled incessantly with excitement.

"Young Master, you do not often visit the Medicine Hall, so perhaps you do not know. This Jiang Feng has always harbored hatred toward Young Master Wu Han. Every apprentice in the Medicine Hall knows it.

"In my opinion, this was his long-planned revenge!"

His words were detailed and convincing, and Wu Tian's expression gradually turned serious as well.

He waved a hand at Xue Zhao beside him. Xue Zhao immediately understood and shouted sternly toward the crowd.

"Jiang Feng, how much longer do you intend to hide? Step forward at once!"

As his voice fell, every gaze in the courtyard converged on Jiang Feng.

Within those gazes were shock, confusion, mockery, and pity.

It was as though they had already pronounced his death sentence to his face.

Yet Jiang Feng's expression did not change in the slightest. He had long expected a scene like this. Following the narrow path the crowd made for him, he strode forward.

Wu Tian carefully examined him. As a martial artist, he could see at a glance that Jiang Feng differed from everyone around him. That bearing, that demeanor—he did not resemble some mud-legged peasant struggling bitterly at the bottom of society.

"You are Jiang Feng? Are his words true?"

A powerful presence spread from Wu Tian, pressing upon everyone and making them want to submit from the depths of their hearts. They barely dared lie before him.

But Jiang Feng did not hesitate at all. He decisively shook his head in denial.

"Young Master, this man is spouting nonsense.

"The work assigned to me these past few days has been extremely heavy. Every day, I returned to my room early to rest. There was no way I could have gone to the rear courtyard storeroom before work began.

"Besides, Young Master Wu Han was always accompanied by guards when he went out, and his own strength was unfathomable. What ability would a mere apprentice like me have to ambush him?"

These words were equally logical and well-founded, and quite a few people around them secretly nodded.

Jiang Feng turned his head and fixed Fan Qingyang's fat-filled face with a cold stare.

"You claim I went to the rear courtyard storeroom. Do you have any concrete proof?

"Just a voice and a silhouette?

"You said it yourself just now: the sky had not yet brightened at that time. Could it be that your eyes were playing tricks on you and you saw the wrong person?"

Fan Qingyang opened his mouth to argue, but Jiang Feng raised a hand and cut him off.

"Before answering those questions, can you explain this first? Why were you at the rear courtyard storeroom at that hour? Why did you head straight for the rear courtyard, and how were you able to find the exact place where something happened to Young Master Wu Han?"

He paused, his words ringing like iron striking stone. "In my view, you are the real attacker. You are crying thief while being the thief, framing and slandering me!"

Passing the buck was an essential skill for any workplace veteran, and Jiang Feng naturally wielded it with practiced ease.

At a time like this, he absolutely could not fall into the trap of proving his own innocence. He had to use offense as defense, seize upon the holes in his opponent's words, and fling even filthier mud straight back at him.

Fan Qingyang never imagined that Jiang Feng would turn the tables on him.

"You... you..."

His thick, fleshy face instantly flushed red. He pointed at Jiang Feng, yet could not force out a single word.

Why had he appeared in the rear courtyard at that hour? His intentions had naturally not been pure either.

For the past few days, all the work of sorting medicinal herbs in the rear courtyard storeroom had been piled onto Jiang Feng alone. Fan Qingyang had watched in secret and estimated that the job would be finished within a day or two.

So he had planned to slip in during this opening and steal some medicinal herbs. Not only could he pin the blame on Jiang Feng, he could also make himself a little extra money.

But now, that originally flawless plan had instead become his own fatal weakness. Explaining would not work, and refusing to explain would not work either. What had been a single straight road had abruptly become blocked at both ends.

Wu Tian's gaze fell upon him as well, his tone gradually turning cold. "So what he said is true instead?"

Seeing Wu Tian's expression grow increasingly displeased, Fan Qingyang's fat body immediately began to shake like a sieve.

"Young Master, it is not like that! I am Young Master Wu Han's loyal subordinate—everyone knows that. No matter what, I would never ambush Young Master Wu Han..."

He desperately tried to patch things up for himself, claiming how loyal he was, how obedient he was, and how deeply trusted he was by Young Master Wu Han.

But every one of those claims was empty and hollow. Not only did Wu Tian's expression fail to ease in the slightest, but the irritation in his heart caused threads of killing intent to emerge faintly in his eyes.

Fan Qingyang panicked completely. He suddenly turned around and dropped to his knees before Xue Zhao with a thud.

"Steward Xue, you know me! I would never betray Young Master Wu Han! That villain must be Jiang Feng—it is definitely him!"

Sweat began to bead on his forehead. His mung-bean eyes darted rapidly about, until he suddenly seemed to seize a lifeline and shrieked.

"R-right! Everything on Young Master Wu Han was taken by the thief. In so short a time, he definitely would not have had time to dispose of it!

"Steward Xue, restrain Jiang Feng right now! Search him, search his residence, and you will definitely find clues!"