2!

There’s now fanart for this novel! Pijon linked me a really cute art they drew of our three main characteres, please take a look here~

Also, this is the 3rd chapter in a row that someone has asked Sect Master Feng what he thinks should be done. But, how will our hero survive this crisis in the end? Find out next time on VRP!

Chapter 28:

Although the Ice Cloudburst’s speed couldn’t compare to a Snow Flamma’s, it was extremely fast nonetheless. Ling Xia was dragged along upside down by that disciple, his head throbbing in pain, and even thinking was incredibly difficult. A lot of thoughts ran through his mind, and connecting the situation to those who recently arrived from YunXiao City, it should be that Shang Yan’s matter had been discovered. His chest abruptly seized; in that case, what about Yu ZhiJue?

Shang Kai’s eyes were blood-red and close to spitting flames as energy converged and took shape in his palms. With the flick of his wrist, he could blow this villain into thousands of pieces!

Cui TianCheng lightly gestured with his hand, signaling for Shang Kai not to be impatient.

Feng ShuMing spoke in a stern voice, “Are you aware of matter for which you have been called?”

Ling Xia shook his head and replied, “This disciple does not, and asks for honored Sect Master’s explication.”

Unable to continue holding back his wrath, Shang Kai sharply tore off the cloth covering Shang Yan’s body and exposed a half rotten face. All that was left of his eyes were two black holes, and Shang Kai turned those empty cavities directly towards Ling Xia, shouting brazenly, “You don‘t know? Did you, or did you not, kill my Yan’er?!”

That day, Shang Yan had tailed behind them to enter another sect’s restricted domain. That was already his wrong, something he should not have done. They had attacked him for the sake of protecting themselves, and in this world where strength was justice, there was nothing unreasonable about that. Not to mention, Yu ZhiJue was also Feng ShuMing’s favorite disciple and the one he had the most expectations for.

But on the other hand, that principle only applied in ordinary situations. When circ.u.mstances involved those with status or powerful backers, it held less weight than a single energy coin. Even if Feng ShuMing had the heart to protect his disciple, but should YunXiao City blindly apply pressure, he might just hand Yu ZhiJue over!

Shang Kai roared, “Speak!”

Ling Xia straightened his back and disclosed in a grave tone, “The day this disciple came to ChongMing City to sign up for the sect’s registration, we previously had a one-time encounter on the lake outside the city. An unpleasant incident took place, and as for this matter, YunXiao City’s senior brothers had all personally witnessed it.”

After he said this, Cui TianCheng’s second disciple Mo Dai did, in fact, recall this event. On that day, due to Shang Yan’s own willfulness, he used a lightning-attribute artifact to attack a small, ordinary boat, and this youngster before him and Yu ZhiJue were both on that boat. Mo Dai nodded and confirmed, “Such a thing did indeed happen, but that couldn’t have been enough for you to bear so deep a grudge as to kill Junior brother Shang Yan, right?”

Ling Xia dispa.s.sionately glanced his way, and answered, “Nothing as serious as that. It’s just, later, during the second examination round, I unexpectedly ran into Senior brother Shang Yan again in a small cave within the compet.i.tion grounds.”

When he reached this point, he gave a bow and addressed Feng ShuMing, “Honored Sect Master, this disciple remains puzzled to this day. Why would Senior brother Shang Yan appear inside our Myriad Beast Forest? Furthermore, he was dressed in disguise, pretending to be one of the examinees.”

With this question of his, some awkwardness emerged on Cui TianCheng and Mo Dai’s faces. Without needing much effort, Mo Dai could guess up to 80% of what happened. It was definitely related to the subject of Youngest junior sister’s crush on Yu ZhiJue! Therefore, this abnormally headstrong junior brother probably covertly infiltrated the testing site, wanting to murder Yu ZhiJue, but ultimately ended up getting offed instead.

However, if this was brought into the light, it’d probably lead to Shang Kai and Cui TianCheng bearing a grudge, and his master would ferociously chastise him too…

Thus, he walked forward and explained, “This matter is rather embarra.s.sing, and I beg Martial uncle Feng for forgiveness. Junior brother Shang has always been very interested in Myriad Beast Forest, wanting to go explore it. This disciple had tried to stop him many times, and I reckon that somehow, he found a chance to furtively sneak in of his own accord.”

Feng ShuMing sarcastically sneered in his heart; these people from YunXiao City really looked down on his ShaoYang Sect way too much!

However, his merely remarked, “This is no big deal. The curiosity in children is strong, and it’s also hard to avoid.” He then quietly clicked his tongue in wonder at the disciple standing below. Although the boy hadn’t been alive for many years and was confronted with heavy pressure, he still responded evenly and thoroughly, logically and appropriately, truly one that possessed a seldom seen mettle.

Shang Kai had long become impatient, so he demanded, “Get to the point, was Yan’er killed by you or not?”

Ling Xia flicked his gaze at him then turned away, focusing on Feng ShuMing as he continued, “This disciple is incompetent. Following that, due to getting into a dispute with Senior brother Yan, a fight broke out, and I had no choice but to retaliate in self defense. This disciple is endowed with Herculean Strength, and accidentally struck Senior brother Shang. Afterwards, my heart filled with panic, and thus I buried Senior brother Shang.”

He deliberately left out a majority of the details, and in saying it this way, everybody would naturally a.s.sume that he was the one to slay Shang Yan.

Shang Kai saw that the other’s eyes were sincere, and correlating what he heard with his own son’s personality, believed about 70% to 80% of this confession. But looking at his son’s remains, the sorrow and anger in his heart was still difficult to quell.

Recalling a different issue, Feng ShuMing sternly asked, “The knife that belongs to Holy Maiden Peak, where did you acquire it from?”

Ling Xia blinked, then calmly replied, “This disciple does not know the origins of such a knife, nor has he ever seen a member of Holy Maiden Peak.” Yu ZhiJue obviously wasn’t considered a member of Holy Maiden Peak.

After he finished this response, he stood up, lifted his right hand, and vowed, “This disciple is willing to swear a Heart Devouring Covenant that every sentence I just said is true, and if there is even half a lie, may the Heavens end my life.”

At these words of his, the faces of everyone in the hall changed. A Heart Devouring Covenant was the highest of all spells and curses that had the ability to devour its caster. If the person pledging this oath uttered even a single falsity, they would immediately suffer the deadly consequence, the annihilation of their soul.

Feng ShuMing asked, “You do realize what the penalty for lying is?”

Ling Xia nodded and resolutely confirmed, “Every word this disciple said was true, so what reason would I need to fear?“

Feng ShuMing raised an eyebrow, then proposed, “Senior brother Cui, since he is willing to swear, then why don’t we let Martial nephew Mo write down a Heart Devouring Covenant for him to seal with a mark of blood?” Him suggesting it this way was also to avoid arousing unnecessary suspicion.

Cui TianCheng lowered his head in consent, and Moi Dai very quickly drew out the magic spell. He brought it down for Ling Xia to repeat everything he said earlier, followed by stamping it with his blood. No one else seemed to have realized this, but Mo Dai had discerned some hints and possible loopholes within Ling Xia’s words, as if the other wanted to forcefully shoulder all the responsibility alone. He was a bit moved by such actions, for he had never seen this type of person before. And in the end, exposing the other’s omission wasn’t very beneficial to himself, so he kept his silence.

Ling Xia pressed down a b.l.o.o.d.y fingerprint, and sure enough, there wasn’t any indications of him receiving divine retribution.

Shang Kai knew that his son was at fault, yet he still stood up like a shot and loudly clamored towards Feng ShuMing, “Sect Master Feng, how do you think this matter should be settled?”

Feng ShuMing looked at Ling Xia and secretly sighed. This young man was promising, and if properly nurtured, would undoubtedly become one of ShaoYang Sect’s valuable forces in the future. It was honestly such a pity…

But, he had to give YunXiao City some face.

Standing up slowly, he heavily intoned, “Since Ling Xia caused Martial nephew Shang to pa.s.s away, then I shall use a life to exchange a life, and hand Ling Xia over to Brother Shang.”

Hearing this, Ling Xia’s breath hitched, and only after a long time did he deeply exhale, lower his head, and murmur, “This disciple accepts his punishment.”

f.u.c.k, couldn’t you have let me take my own life? I’m afraid of pain ok!

Hearing these words, Shui Yue abruptly interjected, “Martial uncle Feng, Martial uncle Cui, please pardon my manners. There is a certain matter this disciple failed to understand, so would it be possible to inquire on it further?”

Feng ShuMing paused, then consented, “No harm. Esteemed nephew,[1] please ask.”

Shui Yue gave Ling Xia a look as he questioned, “This disciple only wants to know, if an outsider intruded into ShaoYang Sect’s restricted areas, what kind of punishment would they receive?”

With these words, everyone was taken aback for a beat. Feng ShuMing also hesitated a while before slightly raising his voice and declaring, “My ShaoYang Sect’s restricted area, how could it be a place where anyone who wanted to enter, could enter? If someone trespa.s.sed inside, they will indisputably be treated as a hostile invader and executed as such!” As he said this, he threw a glance at Shang Yan’s corpse, fury rapidly acc.u.mulating in his heart.

What an excellent kill! What an auspicious death!

Shui Yue nodded as he pensively mused, “In that case, on the day of the second examination, this Junior brother Ling ought to have received permission to enter and compete. Thus, he should have been considered half a ShaoYang Sect disciple, no? However, that Junior brother Shang had, on the contrary, barged in without authorization, no?”

Everyone could understand his implications, and Shang Kai’s face changed as he bellowed, “You!…” If not for his apprehension towards the Shui family’s prestige, he would have already smacked this little whelp into the dirt for speaking out of turn.

Feng ShuMing faintly inclined his head and affirmed, “Naturally, that is so. As long as one pa.s.ses our first exam, it is guaranteed that they will become a member of my ShaoYang Sect.”

The little lady Shui Ling was exceptionally quick-witted and had long perceived the purpose behind her older brother’s words. So putting on an innocent and naive demeanor, she timely chirped, “Oh, in that case, then it should have been that this Senior brother Ling had protected the order and laws of ShaoYang Sect instead. Uncles, don’t you all agree that what my brother said is correct?”

Hearing this in a young girl’s cute and innocent voice, both Cui TianCheng and Shang Kai’s complexions twisted, but it wasn’t like they could bicker with a little girl.

Feng ShuMing was inwardly pleased, but on the outside, he deplored, “Usually that is the case, but Martial nephew Shang was still my ShaoYang Sect’s honored guest. Granted, his conduct was inappropriate and out of bounds, but he was quite young, and it’s a pity that he departed from us like so.”

[1]: in case it hasn’t been obvious, none of these people calling each other uncle/nephew are related,
and it’s just a courteous form of address