“I don’t know him! I don’t know him!”
The disciple of the Five Seas Sect shouted in a panic, trying to distance himself from Ma Tie.
Ma Tie, his face currently smeared with blood, gave the Five Seas Sect disciple a sinister look, nursing a secret hatred in his heart.
If this man hadn’t given him twenty taels and asked him to do a favor—to kidnap the beauty by the side of the person he loathed—he wouldn’t have committed this act in Xianglai City.
Furthermore, the man had been vague, saying only “beauty” without clarifying whether it was a man or a woman.
He had already kidnapped the person and was prepared to “get to work” when he discovered it was a man.
If it had been a woman, he would have finished the job and left long ago.
He wouldn’t have been so frustrated that he tried to sell the person for silver, only to wait for that pimp in a ruined temple, dragging it out until the person woke up, got knocked out again, and finally resulted in his own capture.
The job wasn’t finished, and he had been caught. He couldn’t beat Yun Huizhou or Zhao Honglan, so who else could he hate but this disciple of the Five Seas Sect?
Since he had been caught, this “righteous” disciple shouldn’t think of washing his hands of the matter or having his sect rescue him.
If he was going to die, they would all die together. He might as well drag the reputation of this man’s sect through the mud while he was at it.
Thinking this, Ma Tie gave a cold snort. “You were calling me ‘brother’ this and ‘brother’ that when you came looking for me. The silver note is still with me, yet now you’re quick to cast me aside.”
As he spoke, he completely ignored the Five Seas Sect disciple’s shouting and began to recount, one by one, how the man had found him and what had been said.
“I was originally outside the city. This man somehow found my hideout and said he wanted me to do something.”
“He gave me a twenty-tael silver note—the one sitting right there—and told me to go to Heaven Room No. 5 of the Yunlai Inn to take away a beauty while the Martial Arts Alliance was busy holding the Champion’s reward ceremony, knowing everyone would return late.”
“As you all know, I, Ma Tie, have always only loved women. This man only said ‘beauty,’ so I didn’t think much of it. After I tied the person up and took them away, I discovered it was actually a man.”
“That silver note was given to me by his own hand. I specifically kept an eye out and, before he handed it over, I applied a powder to his hand that glows when it touches water.”
“Now, you only need to sprinkle a little water on the silver note to see the glow.”
The Five Seas Sect disciple retorted sharply, “The silver note was stolen by you and then powdered! I didn’t give it to you! And those two just brought it over; perhaps they did it to frame me…”
At this point, he suddenly paused.
Anyone present with even a modicum of wit wore an inscrutable expression. Weren’t the Five Seas Sect disciple’s words equivalent to self-incriminating, admitting that the twenty-tael silver note brought forward was originally his?
Although he claimed it was stolen, those present saw his reaction and knew it was impossible for it to have been stolen; he must have given it willingly.
The Five Seas Sect disciple clearly realized this as well and immediately changed his tune: “That’s not my silver note.”
At that moment, a pawnshop manager stepped forward.
The moment the Five Seas Sect disciple saw the pawnshop manager, his face turned deathly pale.
He suddenly remembered that the silver note he had received in exchange for hocking a jade pendant was recorded at the pawnshop.
The pawnshop manager cupped his hands to everyone present and spoke: “I can testify. This twenty-tael silver note was issued from our pawnshop three days ago. At that time, this… this person brought a jade pendant to pawn for twenty taels.”
“We issued two receipts: one for him and one for our pawnshop.”
“I have brought both the receipt and the jade pendant. I don’t know if he still has his receipt, but my copy records the item pawned, the price, the serial number of the silver note we gave out, as well as this person’s signature and thumbprint.”
As he spoke, the pawnshop manager opened a small box, revealing a pawn receipt and a jade pendant.
When the people from the Five Seas Sect saw the jade pendant, they felt a wave of dizziness.
That jade pendant belonged to the disciple under interrogation. Moreover, aside from them, many rogue martial artists present had seen that disciple wearing it.
Not to mention there was a pawn receipt…
The Five Seas Sect disciple was still struggling in his death throes: “Yes, I pawned a jade pendant. The signature and thumbprint are mine, but I don’t know why my silver note is on this man.”
“Yes, someone must have stolen my silver note.”
His words contradicted what he had said earlier, and no one present believed him anymore.
After all, from the moment Ma Tie appeared, this man’s behavior had betrayed his guilt.
He had definitely been in contact with Ma Tie.
Ma Tie gave him a sinister look and then spoke the words that drove him to despair: “That powder was placed on your hand. When you touched the silver note, it inevitably rubbed off on you. Coincidentally, you were wearing these exact clothes and carrying this purse that day.”
Now, without needing anyone to say a word, Yun Huizhou directly brought out a pot of water from the room and splashed it toward the Five Seas Sect disciple’s purse and belt.
The man tried to dodge, but Zhao Honglan pinned him down, leaving him unable to move. He could only take the full brunt of Yun Huizhou’s splash.
Everyone saw a faint fluorescence shimmering on the Five Seas Sect disciple’s belt and purse…
What was left to argue? Everyone present had seen it clearly.
In an instant, the Five Seas Sect disciple’s face turned ashen, like dead wood.
Yun Huizhou looked down at him, his hand gradually gripping the hilt of his blade. At that moment, Zhao Rong walked to his side and lightly pressed a hand on his shoulder.
Yun Huizhou released his grip and withdrew his gaze.
Zhao Rong lowered his hand and turned to the people of the Five Seas Sect, saying, “Matriarch Zhang?”
He didn’t finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear: He is your disciple; how do you intend to handle this?
At that moment, there was a commotion in the crowd, and a path was quickly cleared.
Lian Li was jogging over from the side. He was currently draped in an outer robe, wearing only his white sleeping inner robes underneath. His hair was tied up casually, and his face was still somewhat pale.
However, his eyes were flashing with a rage that was startlingly bright.
Seeing him run, Yun Huizhou instinctively looked at his feet.
Earlier, when he had carried the boy into the bedroom in the courtyard, he had only taken a cursory glance because he was in a hurry to bring Ma Tie and the others for judgment.
The fair soles of his feet had been covered in bloody streaks with dried grass stuck to them; some bits of sand had even burrowed into the wounds.
To martial artists like them, such injuries were nothing.
But he knew that Lian Li didn’t even have a prominent scar on his body; he likely hadn’t suffered any injuries since childhood.
Now, even though the wounds had been treated, they would still hurt. Especially on the soles of the feet, every step must be painful, yet this person was actually running over here full of energy.
As soon as Lian Li arrived, he walked to the Five Seas Sect disciple’s side, looked him up and down, and then stood with his arms crossed, staring at the group from the Five Seas Sect.
Qu Tingquan was also by his side, along with two other disciples from the Qinghong Sword Sect. Those two disciples had followed Zhao Honglan to the ruined temple.
Naturally, they had told Qu Tingquan about the situation. Upon hearing the names of Liufang Court and Ma Tie, Qu Tingquan’s expression was also quite grim.
