"Mei Suhua, tell the truth. You... did you truly see Yue Zhuoqun enter the valley?" Abbess Jingyi barked sharply.
Mei Suhua shuddered. There seemed to be an imposing authority in that rebuke. "This disciple, this disciple..." Her voice carried a sob. "This disciple... had arranged it with Senior Brother Yue. This disciple was to draw Zhang Ping'er and the others' attention, so Senior Brother Yue could enter amidst the chaos. This disciple... this disciple... did not actually see Senior Brother Yue enter the valley!"
"Outrageous!" Abbess Jinggang sprang to her feet... "Outrageous~~" Another voice immediately rang out. "Elder Jinggang, this is Mocu Palace. Time and again, you have provoked our cult. Could it be... that you simply know our cult will not punish you?"
"You..." Abbess Jinggang ground her teeth. "Cult Master, Yue Zhuoqun is my direct disciple, and also your martial nephew. You... are you going to keep shielding an outsider? I beg the Cult Master for mercy—allow me to cut this bastard down with one stroke of my sword and see whether he still dares to talk tough!"
"Shut up!" Abbess Jingyi rebuked her. "Elder Jinggang, although Ren Xiaoyao is not a direct disciple of our Incense-Passing Cult, he is now, after all, a Protector disciple. If there is no solid evidence, how can we simply put him to death and convince others?"
"Then torture him severely! Our Incense-Passing Cult has countless methods for extracting confessions. This old woman refuses to believe he will not speak the truth!"
Abbess Jingyi shook her head slightly. "Senior Disciple Sister, I understand how you feel, but governing a cult is like governing a nation. We cannot act according to our tempers. Our cult cannot subject a disciple to severe torture merely based on a few groundless words."
"Besides, though Ren Xiaoyao's