"Is that really true?"
Much of the fear in Xiao'er's eyes dissipated. "We can compete at anything?"
The others were somewhat surprised too, but they greeted Lin Ke's gesture with kindly smiles.
Wen Meng, Gao Yan, and Wu Jun exchanged glances, understanding shining in their eyes.
They understood!
Clearly, Lin Ke was helping Xiao'er!
Apparently, they were not the only ones who believed Xiao'er was innocent. Even the prodigious Sword Cultivator Chen Anping thought so.
There was a saying that if you cut the weeds without pulling out their roots, they would grow again in the spring breeze. But there was also a saying that those who did not know were innocent.
They knew Lin Ke had chosen the latter, rather than making Xiao'er share the blame for A Shui's actions.
"Young Master Chen, your magnanimity deserves a bow from this humble woman."
Wen Meng gracefully bent in a bow. "Xiao'er seems a bright child. I asked him, and he is willing to come to my household and find work to make a living."
As she spoke, Wen Meng stroked Xiao'er's head and said gently, "Just take Young Master Chen's words as encouragement, Xiao'er. But remember, you must not hate him. He counts as your benefactor too."
Wen Meng could hardly explain just then how Lin Ke had shown mercy, much less explain that, with his offer of a contest, the Prefect would probably show leniency to Xiao'er's family as well.
Otherwise, even if they had been unaware of the circumstances, privately sheltering a Fourth Realm scholar of the Demon Race would still have made them liable.
Worse still, this unregistered scholar of the Demon Race had been a Fierce Demon. If responsibility were pursued, the people would probably demand that Xiao'er's entire family be killed to vent their anger.