Chapter 30 - 5: Ironclad Evidence

Ye Zhaozhao suppressed the panic in her heart. With tears in her eyes, she spoke in a soft, delicate voice, "Manager Qiu, you mustn’t spout such nonsense. At most, I’ve purchased some Magic Artifacts from the Spiritual Artifact Pavilion, but I’ve never had any private dealings with you. I... I don’t know why you’ve suddenly decided to slander me so maliciously..."

As she spoke, she gave Li Shuang a wronged look.

Her gaze was a silent accusation, suggesting Li Shuang was the one secretly orchestrating everything.

Master Lingxu’s expression instantly turned cold. "Li Shuang! What deep-seated hatred do you have for Zhaozhao that you must harm her like this, time and time again!"

Li Shuang remained composed. She looked at Master Lingxu with some curiosity. "Peak Master Lingxu, didn’t you say you believed in Manager Qiu’s character? Didn’t you say that if no one had done anything wrong, Manager Qiu wouldn’t have come knocking?"

Both were Master Lingxu’s exact words.

When he thought Manager Qiu was there for Li Shuang, Manager Qiu’s character was suddenly beyond reproach, and there was surely a valid reason for his visit.

But upon discovering Manager Qiu was there for Ye Zhaozhao, it suddenly became a case of Ye Zhaozhao being undoubtedly innocent, and Li Shuang must have been pulling strings from behind the scenes.

Master Lingxu’s double standard was on full display.

Even Meng Yifei couldn’t help but sigh as he watched.

’How had I never noticed before?’

’Ling Xu is this blatantly biased?!’

If even the Sect Leader felt this way, the surrounding disciples couldn’t help but break into fervent discussion.

They couldn’t help but wonder.

’Did Ye Zhaozhao save the entire families of everyone from Lingxu Peak in a past life? Otherwise, how could they be so blindly biased?’

’They used to say Li Shuang was jealous of Ye Zhaozhao’s talent and constantly tried to hold her down. For Ye Zhaozhao to have such a rapid Cultivation speed under all that pressure, she had to be a peerless genius.’

’But now, they couldn’t see how Ye Zhaozhao had been wronged in the slightest.’

’The person under immense pressure was probably Li Shuang!’

Master Lingxu looked a little discomfited under everyone’s gazes. He said in a cold voice, "This Manager Qiu is just making wild accusations. Am I not allowed to question him?"

This time, Li Shuang didn’t even need to speak.

Hong Sheng said indifferently, "Manager Qiu has already told me the whole story. If I didn’t have solid evidence, I wouldn’t have accompanied him on this trip."

Hong Sheng gave Ye Zhaozhao a detached glance, and the next moment, a blue butterfly appeared on his fingertip.

The butterfly circled in the air, and as it flapped its wings, white powder rained down.

When the powder touched the others, there was no reaction.

Except for Ye Zhaozhao...

"Huh... why does Ye Zhaozhao’s dress have sparkling blue powder on it?" Luo Mingyue said with a chuckle.

Everyone looked over.

Sure enough, as the powder fell, a blue glow inexplicably appeared on Ye Zhaozhao’s pale-yellow skirt.

Ye Zhaozhao’s expression changed drastically.

’This... what’s happening?!’

She whipped her head toward Manager Qiu!

’It was him!’

’He’d planted something on me!’

Hong Sheng said with a half-smile, "Ye Zhaozhao, is it? Did you think just any Loose Cultivator could get Manager Qiu to cooperate with them? You thought your disguise was perfect, but in reality, years ago, the very first time you went to the Spiritual Artifact Pavilion to discuss your partnership, Manager Qiu placed Tracking Powder on you. He knew from early on that you were Master Lingxu’s Direct Disciple, which is why he continued to work with you. After all... you might be able to run, but Master Lingxu can’t."

"Every time you met afterward, Manager Qiu would habitually sprinkle some Tracking Powder on you. And today, it came in handy, didn’t it?"

Hong Sheng’s voice turned slightly cold. "This Tracking Powder only lasts for half a day. If you truly never left Lingxu Peak, how do you explain the traces on your dress?"

The group from Lingxu Peak all turned to look.

"Zhaozhao! What’s going on?!" Chang Le’an couldn’t help but ask.

Ye Zhaozhao’s heart panicked even more, her eyes rimmed with red. "I, I don’t know either. I really haven’t left Lingxu Peak."

’Plotting against a fellow disciple in private... I can never, ever admit to something like that!’

Hong Sheng smiled. "Still won’t admit it? That’s fine. Manager Qiu has always been cautious. Every time you met, he secretly placed a Memory Stone in the room. Manager Qiu, bring it out."

Manager Qiu agreed without hesitation.

He took out a Memory Stone.

"This must be another trick! Zhaozhao said she never did such a thing, so it’s absolutely impossible!" Chang Le’an shouted. "Don’t think you can scare people with this! If you’ve got the guts, play the Memory Stone!"

Chang Le’an spoke, filled with righteous indignation.

Ye Zhaozhao glanced at him, a trace of resentment in her eyes.

’Good thing I’ve always known Chang Le’an is naturally dense.’

’Otherwise, I’d really suspect he was deliberately trying to sabotage me.’

Ye Zhaozhao said, "There’s no need to bring out the Memory Stone. Manager Qiu, there must be some misunderstanding between us. We can discuss this... privately..."

Chang Le’an cut in, "Privately? What privately? Zhaozhao, are you still trying to save face for him? Tell him to play it! I want to see how he can possibly fake it with the Sect Leader and Master right here!"

Chang Le’an’s eyes were filled with what he believed was wisdom. For his junior sister, he had to expose these people’s treacherous tricks in public.

Ye Zhaozhao’s heart trembled. She opened her lips, wanting to say something.

But Chang Le’an was already urging them on relentlessly.

Ye Zhaozhao was suddenly overcome with a sense of powerlessness.

’Such an idiot.’

’He’s certainly useful as a weapon.’

’But sometimes... he really is just too stupid.’

’Doesn’t he realize why Eldest Brother and Master have suddenly gone silent?’

Now that it had come to this, Manager Qiu no longer hesitated. He let out a cold laugh and played the scene from four hours ago.

A woman wearing a veiled hat soon appeared in the Memory Stone’s projection.

Although her face was hidden, her dress was unchanged, and when she opened her mouth to speak, her voice was perfectly clear.

Combined with some of her usual small mannerisms, who else could this person be but Ye Zhaozhao?

In the Memory Stone, Ye Zhaozhao’s voice was venomous, vowing to utterly ruin Li Shuang.

This was the "gentle and kind" junior sister the members of Lingxu Peak always talked about?

The crowd’s expressions shifted.

Lin Qingling and the others watched the scene, so furious they couldn’t contain it, glaring at Ye Zhaozhao as if they wanted to kill her.

Li Shuang herself, however, was very calm.

She had experienced Ye Zhaozhao’s malice toward her long ago.

There was nothing to be surprised about now.

"The great Spiritual Artifact Pavilion, resorting to such unscrupulous means to deal with our junior sister! How did you fake this recording? Confess at once...!" Chang Le’an began to shout.

"Shut up." Master Lingxu squeezed two words through his teeth.

Master Lingxu’s tone was foul, and Chang Le’an couldn’t help but shut his mouth, looking bewildered.

’Isn’t this recording a fake?’

’The person in it looks a lot like our junior sister, but it must be someone else in disguise!’

’Could our junior sister really do something like this?’

Chang Le’an couldn’t help but look at Ye Zhaozhao.

Ye Zhaozhao’s face was deathly pale.

She opened her lips several times to say something, but in the end, her lips just trembled, unable to form a single word.