"Ridiculous. Lü Meng, how are you regressing as you get older? Shan Luo has only been in the valley for how long? Not to mention he doesn’t even know everyone here—even if he did, do you think he’d be stupid enough to send someone he barely knows to kill Lü Jidao?"
At this moment, Sikong Yanguang was furious. He hadn’t expected that Lü Meng, the elder who usually stayed out of valley affairs and was known for his calm, strict, and restrained demeanor, would so recklessly attack the new valley master without any regard for the facts.
"Even if she didn’t order it, she’s still connected to it. Before she came to the valley, everything was peaceful. But the moment she arrived, trouble after trouble, big and small, never stopped." Lü Meng’s eyes were bloodshot, clearly seething with rage.
Ye Linshan, seeing him about to break free, quickly slapped another immobilizing talisman on him and said coolly, "So, by that logic, even if you found out who killed your disciple, you’d still pin the blame on me."
"Hmph." Lü Meng fell silent.
"Then what use are you to me? I think you should know everything that Sikong Kuang—my master, your former former valley master—suffered in the Sikong family."
Ye Linshan watched him, as if he’d tacitly accepted everything, and suddenly realized: if Sikong Yanguang knew all about Sikong Kuang, then this man, who oversaw all punishments and had top-tier intelligence, couldn’t possibly be unaware of Sikong Kuang’s ordeal.
"Sikong Kuang? Ha, what could he have suffered? I’m talking about your problem right now—it’s because of you that my disciple died tragically. Why drag him into this? Do you think using him as a shield will make me let you off?"
What a joke. What could Sikong Kuang possibly have suffered?
Well, Lü Meng clearly didn’t know about Sikong Kuang’s plight.
"Fine, let’s just talk about me. I don’t even know who he is—how could I have ordered him to kill Lü Jidao?" Ye Linshan picked up the suicide note and read aloud:
"I can’t take it anymore. These past few days, I’ve been tormented by guilt. I was utterly bewitched to listen to the valley master and kill Lü Jidao. But after I did the deed, the valley master didn’t give me what he promised. Instead, he washed his hands clean of it, all but pointing at me and calling me the murderer."
"Elder Lü, please forgive me for killing your beloved disciple. But it was all orchestrated by the valley master. I know that no matter what I say, I can’t escape death. Rather than be tortured to death by you, it’s cleaner to take my own life. But before I die, I must tell you the real culprit, or I won’t rest easy even as a ghost. Elder Lü, you must kill the valley master."
"Not only because he’s the true murderer of your disciple, but also because a treacherous, hypocritical scum like him doesn’t deserve to be valley master."
"Just a few lines, and all of you have decided I’m the murderer?" Ye Linshan finished reading the note and looked at the crowd with amusement.
"This isn’t just a few lines—it’s evidence left at the cost of a life. If we don’t kill you now, we’ll have no face to face the dead." Luo Yongwu said sanctimoniously.
"Ha, evidence left at the cost of a life? I don’t even know who he is—how could I have ordered him to kill Lü Jidao? Besides, I have no grudge against Lü Jidao. Why would I take such a huge risk to kill him? And have someone else do it for me? Don’t you think that reasoning is laughable?"
Ye Linshan almost laughed out loud. It seemed Sikong Feiyu wouldn’t rest until he pinned the crime on her.
"I believe the valley master isn’t that kind of person." Lin Chen pushed through the crowd and loudly supported Ye Linshan.
"What, are you questioning my judgment in choosing the valley master?" Sikong Yanguang also looked at the crowd with authority, his tone dripping with displeasure.
"I can testify that the valley master’s grudge with Lü Jidao was settled on the spot. There were no further conflicts afterward. The valley master had no reason to kill Lü Jidao. If anything, Lü Jidao should have been the one trying to kill the valley master." Zhou Zizhi added weakly.
"That’s true—the valley master has no motive to kill Ye Linshan, right? It’s probably someone framing her."
"Exactly. When Lü Jidao died, the words written were ‘Shan Luo.’ Then Lin Su suddenly killed himself and left a note saying the valley master ordered it. But if the valley master really sent him, why would Lü Jidao write the valley master’s name on the ground instead of his own? It’s clearly someone setting the valley master up."
The crowd buzzed with discussion, and now hardly anyone believed Lü Jidao was killed by the valley master.
Only Lü Meng still struggled, his eyes blazing with murderous intent, as if he wanted to tear Ye Linshan apart.
Luo Yongwu’s eyes flickered with frustration. He had thought Ye Linshan would surely die at the hands of the enraged Lü Meng, but he never expected her to survive even against a Xuan Emperor and turn the tide against him.
"Even if you didn’t kill him, so what? If not for you, he wouldn’t have become a pawn and died." It turned out Lü Meng had known all along that Ye Linshan wasn’t the one who killed Lü Jidao, yet he still vented all his fury and hatred on her.
"Since you know that, you should go find the real murderer for revenge. Why keep fixating on me?"
Ye Linshan said softly. Her light blue robes fluttered gently in the sunlight, her ethereal figure like a deity. No one would believe such an elegant, pure person had blood on her hands.
Even Luo Yongwu was momentarily dazed, but he snapped out of it the next second, forcing himself not to look at her.
"All the leads are cut off. How am I supposed to find them?" Lü Meng finally calmed down. He stopped his frenzied attacks on Ye Linshan, and his bloodshot eyes returned to black.
Ye Linshan curled her lips but said nothing. Instead, Sikong Yanguang spoke up: "It doesn’t matter if the leads are cut off. My Anxiang birds aren’t just for show. Within three days, I’ll find you the real culprit."
"Anxiang birds?" She hadn’t expected that the flocks of Anxiang birds in the valley were raised by people. When she first entered, she thought they were wild.
"Yes. If not for this matter, I wouldn’t have wanted to reveal my trump card."
Are you really okay with casually revealing your trump card in front of everyone like that? Sikong Feihe screamed internally, looking at Sikong Yanguang in near despair.
"Then I’ll leave this matter to you, Uncle-Master." To avoid raising suspicion, Ye Linshan kept calling Sikong Yanguang her uncle-master.
Originally, Sikong Yanguang didn’t dare let her call him that, but Ye Linshan had her own reasons. Unable to oppose her, he just went along with it.
"I need to go to the forbidden ground. For now, I’ll leave the valley’s affairs to you. Sikong Cheng won’t come after me in the short term, and I assume you can handle Sikong Feiyu."
After the matter of Lü Jidao was settled, Ye Linshan told Yun Di, Sikong Yanguang, Sikong Feihe, and Cangzhu about her plan to visit the forbidden ground.