Jiang Che pondered for a long while before slowly speaking:
"We cannot believe everything Zhao Bo reported. Though he came in person to make his report, already casting life and death aside, his is ultimately only one man's testimony. We cannot convict a deacon on that basis alone. There is no justification for that."
Cao Jian's expression eased slightly. He was about to speak and seal Zhao Bo's guilt, but Jiang Che spoke first, continuing:
"As for Zhao Bo, let me make this clear from the outset: he must not be allowed to die."
"Since he dared to report this under his own name, keep him under proper guard. Give him adequate food and clothing. No torture, and certainly no sudden death from illness."
"My duty is only to inspect. I have no authority to pass judgment on any of you. I can only record the facts and report them when I return to the mountain. How to decide the matter is the sect's business. If Zhao Bo dies, all I can write is that you silenced him out of a guilty conscience."
In truth, Jiang Che's words had almost no decisive effect on the situation.
But that was precisely his intention.
Had he come here to serve as a judge?
Of course not.
Even now, he was merely an Embryonic Breath cultivator. He could speak here on equal terms with three Qi Refining cultivators because the sect had appointed him Inspector, not because he truly possessed any strength that frightened them.
What to do next was secondary. As long as Jiang Che returned safely to the sect, he could report the affairs here however he wished. But the one thing he could not allow was for everything to blow up right before his eyes, for the two sides to