Xiao Yan's tearful accusations immediately set the scales in the hearts of the Xiao Clan members ablaze. Although he had now lost all his Dou Qi and become "trash" in other people's eyes, he was still Clan Leader Xiao Zhan's biological son, a born-and-bred member of the Xiao Clan with its blood flowing through his veins. And Xiao Yi? He was merely an outsider the clan leader had just brought home, his origins unknown and his every action steeped in strangeness.
Then there was the scene before them: Xiao Yan had been beaten black and blue and was covered in filth, while Xiao Yi wore bizarre clothing and held a "weapon," with all sorts of clearly sinister props scattered beside him. By comparison, Xiao Yi's explanation about an "exorcism combining Eastern and Western methods" sounded utterly absurd and feeble. Who would believe such nonsense? This was plainly a malicious assault!
"Yes! The Third Young Master is right! This brat did it on purpose!" A girl around Xiao Yan's age was the first to shout from the crowd. "What exorcism? I think he's just jealous of the Third Young Master and wanted to strike under cover of night!"
"That's right! Look at his outfit and all that junk. He clearly planned this! He even claimed he'd beaten the 'unclean thing' out of him. I think he wanted to beat the Third Young Master to death!" another guard chimed in, regarding Xiao Yi with wary, hostile eyes.
Questions and condemnation surged toward Xiao Yi like a tide. Moments earlier, they had merely thought his behavior bizarre; now, almost everyone was convinced he had deliberately harmed Xiao Yan.
"Maybe... maybe he wanted to kill the Third Young Master and take his place!" Someone suddenly shouted an even more chilling theory! At those words, even the Second Elder's expression grew grave. Although Xiao Yan had lost his abilities, as long as he lived, he remained the clan leader's third son. If Xiao Yan died, might this "adopted son," whom the clan leader had likewise brought home, harbor other ambitions? The possibility was slim, but combined with Xiao Yi's crazed actions tonight, it left them no choice but to entertain doubts.
That earth-shattering theory stunned both Xiao Yi and Xiao Yan, who lay on the ground. Xiao Yi had never imagined that his well-intentioned exorcism gone wrong would be twisted into murder for the sake of stealing someone's position! He gaped, wanting to defend himself, only to find that his throat seemed blocked.
"N-no! That's not it! I didn't! I really was catching a ghost... uh, driving out evil!" His voice sounded so powerless that even he found the explanation ridiculous under these circumstances. "You saw that old... that apparition just now! That's the evidence!"
"Apparition? We didn't see anything!" someone immediately retorted. "I think you're spouting nonsense now that you've been exposed! Apart from you and the Third Young Master, what apparition was here?"
Indeed, apart from him, Xiao Yan, and possibly Ling Ying hiding nearby, no one else had been present during the brief moment when Yao Lao appeared. Before the furious clansmen, Xiao Yi's defense seemed feeble and futile. They were more willing to believe the "facts" they had seen with their own eyes-Xiao Yan had been injured, and Xiao Yi was the attacker.
Xiao Yan, lying on the ground, had initially been startled by the theory of "murdering him to take his place." But when he saw Xiao Yi besieged by the crowd, unable to clear his name no matter what he said, a flicker of satisfaction rose in his heart.
Although he knew Xiao Yi had a sense of law and probably would not commit murder, who had told the fellow to torment him in such an outrageous fashion in the middle of the night? Letting him suffer a little would serve him right! Xiao Yan simply shut his mouth and adopted an expression of profound hurt and suffering. With a few perfectly timed moans and sobs, he successfully cast himself as a victim through and through.
"Wah... Second Elder... look at me... I'm still Father's son, after all... Now that my Dou Qi is gone, I have to suffer this kind of humiliation too... How am I supposed to go on living...?"
As he wiped the grime from his face-a mixture of dirt, blood, and some unknown liquid-he gazed pitifully at the Second Elder, his eyes red and his voice choked with sobs, giving a flawless performance of a fallen genius's tragic plight.
Sure enough, Xiao Yan's performance won enormous sympathy from the clansmen present. Their gazes toward Xiao Yi grew even more hostile, their contempt and anger almost taking tangible form.
"How pitiful... The Third Young Master already had it bad enough, and now this outsider is bullying him too!" "Exactly! Why did the clan leader bring home something like this? He's nothing but a scourge!" The crowd's fury was fully ignited, every spearpoint aimed at Xiao Yi, who stood surrounded and looking rather at a loss.
Just then, someone's gaze fell on the crude yet eerie "Ritual Altar" nearby, the incongruous Daoist robe Xiao Yi wore, and the strange props scattered everywhere.
"Look at those things of his... What the hell are those drawings? And that strange platform... Could this be some kind of dark sorcery?" someone a little bolder speculated in a hushed voice. That theory seemed to open Pandora's box, and all manner of even stranger ideas began spreading through the crowd. "An evil cult? Could... could he have been trying not to beat the Third Young Master to death, but to use some dark sorcery... to possess his body?!"
Body possession?! At those words, everyone sucked in a breath! Compared to simply murdering someone to take his place, the legendary evil art of body possession was undoubtedly far more spine-chilling! It also seemed to explain Xiao Yi's entire string of incomprehensible, bizarre actions! He had not gone mad-he wanted to seize Xiao Yan's body!
"Seize him! We can't let him succeed!" "Yes! Leaving a fiend like this alive will only bring disaster! Execute him on the spot!" The crowd seethed with fury. Several hotheaded young guards had even tightened their grips on their weapons, itching to capture Xiao Yi immediately.
Just as Xiao Yan revealed a delighted smile at having his revenge, an aged voice suddenly rang out. "Wait! Do you think... is it possible... that the possession has already been completed?"
The speaker was an old woman who was always a little given to mystical ramblings. "I just saw Xiao Yan smile, and it was such an evil smile that it made my skin crawl. Now this Xiao Yi... looking so utterly dumbfounded... perhaps... the soul inside his body is actually the Third Young Master's? And inside that 'Xiao Yan' on the ground, beaten so badly, is the outsider?"
That world-shattering conjecture sent the already chaotic scene boiling over completely! For a moment, everyone looked at both Xiao Yi and Xiao Yan with suspicion and uncertainty. Murder? Body possession? Even swapped souls? What on earth was all this?!
Watching the situation spiral further and further out of control, the Second Elder felt his head swell to twice its size. There was simply no way to determine the truth now. If these people were allowed to keep speculating wildly, who knew what greater trouble they might stir up? He took a deep breath and drowned out all the clamor with a booming voice infused with Dou Qi.
"Enough! All of you, shut your mouths!" The elder's authority silenced the crowd. "There are many unanswered questions here. Until the truth is clear, no one is to speculate wildly, much less take matters into their own hands! Guards! Take both Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi away and place them in custody for now! Once I have reported to the clan leader and uncovered the truth, we will decide how to deal with them!"
"What?!" Hearing that he would be locked up too, Xiao Yan was dumbstruck. He pointed at his own nose, his face filled with disbelief. "Second Elder! I... I'm the victim! Why are you locking me up too?!"
Xiao Yan had never imagined that, after putting so much effort into his performance, he would end up imprisoned alongside Xiao Yi! What kind of nonsense was this?!
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