Faced with everyone's accusations, Valley Master Nie merely kept silent. Nie Qianyu, seated below, had tears glimmering in her eyes and looked exceedingly wronged. Beside her, Nie Qianrong held her hand, seemingly comforting her.
After they spoke for quite a while longer, every word was one of blame. Unable to bear it any longer, Nie Qianyu stood and walked before the hall, then bowed all around. "Honored uncles, it was this niece's poor handling of matters that brought disaster upon Hui Chun Valley, but... but I do not think Brother Ren was necessarily the one who caused this trouble. Brother Ren's martial arts are formidable and his wit unmatched. How could he..."
"Alas, things have already come to this, Xiao Yu. Why are you still speaking up for that Ren Xiaoyao?" Zhen Xuan of the Artifact Refining Gate seemed furious at her refusal to live up to expectations.
"Enough!" Valley Master Nie rose and waved his hand. "Brothers, I invited you here not to investigate the causes of this matter. If that were the case, Hui Chun Valley could simply close its gates and investigate on its own. Why would I... Alas, although Young Hero Ren may indeed have been one cause of this, he truly did Hui Chun Valley a great favor. Hui Chun Valley has no way to repay him, so we could only do this."
"Of course, if any brother feels that I, Nie, have acted improperly and dragged the entire Jade Standing Alliance into the water, then you may..."
"Second Brother!" Si Yakong of the Weapon Forging Gate rebuked him. "What kind of words are those? We have been brothers for many years. If we were afraid of trouble, who would still be sitting here? We all brought a good number of our sects' elites. Aren't