Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Indeed, Mo Lingqiu was not intending to fight that hard to keep Jiang Yi alive. Of course, if he could keep Jiang Yi alive, Mo Lingqiu would still try to do his best. Mo Lingqiu’s ideal scenario was for Jiang Yi to be thrown into prison, forever!
Not long ago, Mo Lingqiu had gotten wind of the incident where Jiang Yi had offended the Jiutian Clan. Although Jiutian Ze had admitted defeat and the matter had been settled, Mo Lingqiu was still very frustrated.
He had already given Jiang Yi a city lord position; why couldn’t Jiang Yi keep to himself, cultivate, and enjoy the riches and wealth that came with that position? Why did he have to use the Mo Clan’s name and make enemies everywhere?
Mo Lingqiu could forgive the previous matter. However, only how much time had passed since then and something had happened again? This time, it was even more ridiculous. Jiang Yi had killed members of the Qin Clan and held a Qin Clan young mistress hostage. If Jiang Yi was allowed to remain the Divine Eagle City City Lord, Mo Lingqiu was afraid that he would do something even more ridiculous next time!
He promised Xiaonu that he would take good care of Jiang Yi. However, that did not mean that he was going to become Jiang Yi’s nanny, to clean up after him whenever something happened. He was the Earth Emanations Sovereign’s spokesperson, having a high rank and wielding great power. Precisely so, he had to be extra careful when it came to many things. Once he incurred the dissatisfaction of the various great family clans in the Earth Emanations Domain, he might even lose his Assistant Pavilion Lord position.
Hence, at this moment, if Jiang Yi had nothing to say to defend himself; he was prepared to sentence Jiang Yi to jail forever. Mo Lingqiu was, more or less, certain that the Qin Clan would be satisfied with such an outcome.
Jiang Yi quickly saw the problem and was naturally not going to sit back and do nothing. He thought for a while as he turned towards Qin Yuewen and said, “Young Mistress Qin, that time outside the city, only you and I were present; the elders in your clan were not. Shouldn’t it be us who explained what happened outside the city?”
Qin Yuewen’s glance looked towards the Qin Clan Head. After the latter nodded, Qin Yuewen then said coldly, “Jiang Yi, what else do you have to say? Isn’t it a fact that you killed my clan members? You kidnapping me and… even insulting my modesty, aren’t these facts?”
“They are!”
Jiang Yi did not wait for Mo Lingqiu and company to say anything as he interjected. “However, why did I kill them? Why did I abduct you? I know that your Qin Clan is powerful and influential; why did I go ahead and offend the Qin Clan? I am not a lunatic, and there is nothing wrong with my brain. I would like to ask who in this world would—for no reason whatsoever—abduct a great family clan’s young mistress? If it wasn’t due to desperation and at one’s wits’ end—if it wasn’t for the fact that the Qin Clan wanted to kill me, would I do so?”
“Hmph!”
Qin Yuewen mocked and replied, “That is because you had a guilty conscience. You were secretly harboring the Poison Spirit and were afraid that if we searched, we would expose the fact that you had committed a crime. Hence, you could only take the risk!”
“Very good!”
Jiang Yi revealed a sliver of a smile as he looked around, cupped his hands, and said, “Since Young Mistress Qin is certain that I had taken the risk of abducting her because I am harboring the Poison Spirit—if I am not harboring him, doesn’t that mean that I was forced into a corner? Does it mean that it was a fact that the Qin Clan wanted to kill me?”
Buzz!
Jiang Yi’s interspatial ring shone incessantly as he retrieved all his interspatial rings, the Chaos Essence Pearl, the Great Zen Pearl, and the Fire Spirit Pearl out. He raised both his hands high up and said, “All my interspatial rings and my spatial divine items are all here. I would like my Lords to examine them to see if the Poison Spirit is really inside? If the Poison Spirit was really being protected by me, I would like to ask my Lords to kill me immediately. If he isn’t… I would like to ask my Lords to help me seek justice.
“The Qin Clan is overbearing and too arrogant; they wanted to kill me without justifiable cause. Although I am but a small Hunting Envoy, a small City Lord—if the Qin Clan wants to kill me, do I actually have to accept fate and let them kill me? I would like to ask my Lords… if I didn’t hold the Young Mistress Qin hostage, I probably wouldn’t be alive talking to all of you, right?”
Jiang Yi’s voice had not been amplified, but every word he said was polite and proper. All the ten-odd people present heard his words and were all thinking the same thing: this Jiang Yi was too clever!
He had set a trap for Qin Yuewen to jump into it herself. He had also started to build his defense and rebuttal using the Poison Spirit. His point was clear and rational, and he had evidence to back it up. He had also proactively displayed all his interspatial rings and spatial divine items for everyone to inspect. That way, the Qin Clan would have nothing to say.
If the person he was talking to now was the Qin Clan Elder, he definitely would not have been tricked by Jiang Yi. However, how could the pure and innocent Qin Yuewen be Jiang Yi’s match? However, it was a pity that the Qin Clan Elder could not interject at this moment. After all, only Jiang Yi and Qin Yuewen were witnesses to what had happened outside the city.
On the surface, the Earth Emanations Hall was a place to settle disputes, where logic could prevail. Actually, that was not the case most of the time. All that mattered was which side or faction had more power and influence. Even so, for the sake of appearances, some procedures still had to be followed, right?
The Demon-Killing Pavilion Lord Di Ming, who had not spoken a single word yet, suddenly opened his mouth. He said, “In that case, let’s examine these items. If Jiang Yi is indeed harboring the Poison Spirit, we can kill him right away.”
The first half of Di Ming’s sentence seemed to want to sentence Jiang Yi to death. However, Di Ming was actually helping Jiang Yi. His intention was clear: If the Poison Spirit wasn’t within Jiang Yi’s spatial divine items, that meant that the Qin Clan was at fault this time.
Jiang Yi was a Demon-Killing Pavilion disciple; he was also a Hunting Envoy. Jiang Yi had also mentioned the fact that he was a Hunting Envoy first before mentioning his city lord position; that had touched Di Ming as that meant that Jiang Yi prioritized the Demon-Killing Pavilion more.
“Then, let’s search!”
Mo Lingqiu nodded as he looked at Jiutian Wu next to him and asked, “Brother Jiutian, could you go and check?”
Jiutian Wu was the Battle God Pavilion Lord. As his status was special, he was not going to side with either side. Hence, it was the most impartial choice. Jiutian Wu nodded expressionlessly as he walked towards Jiang Yi. Without needing Jiang Yi to remove his soul spirit mark on the interspatial rings, Jiutian Wu used one hand to scan each of them and could easily identify the contents.
“Eh?”
As Jiutian Wu detected the Fire Spirit Pearl, his eyes revealed a sliver of curiosity. He then asked, “What is this?”
“This is a special pearl belonging to my sword!”
Jiang Yi’s Fire Spirit Pearl lit up as the Fire Dragon Sword appeared, and the Fire Spirit Pearl automatically entered the sword. Jiutian Wu swept a few more glances as he turned and headed back to his seat. He looked at everyone else and said, “My inspection is complete. There is no one hiding within the items. That sword’s pearl also cannot hide anyone. If anyone doubts me, feel free to go and examine again!”
Jiutian Wu’s soul spirit was the strongest among the thirteen people present. Since he had said there was no one in the items, no one dared to think otherwise. Since the Fire Spirit Pearl was part of a sword, it definitely could not hide anyone inside.
Jiutian Ze had also a quarrel with Jiang Yi not long ago; Jiutian Wu had no reason to side with Jiang Yi. Furthermore, the incident with the Ink Feather Race, which had not given Jiutian Wu any face, was also something that everyone present knew well enough.
Di Ming revealed a slight smile as he opened his mouth and said, “Since Jiang Yi is not harboring the Poison Spirit, then this entire matter is a misunderstanding?”
“Keke!”
The Qin Clan Head suddenly laughed. His eyes were full of daggers as he swept them about and said, “Regardless of whether the Poison Spirit is related to Jiang Yi or not, Jiang Yi had killed people and had taken Little Yue captive. This by itself is a crime. Since this matter had been thoroughly investigated, I think there is no need for further discussion. Let’s make a decision immediately. Whether Jiang Yi is guilty or not depends on how many votes go which way. I will be the first to vote that Jiang Yi is guilty!”
“Uh—”
Xiao Hong’s soul spirit shook as a sliver of helplessness flashed on his face. Mo Lingqiu’s expression also darkened.
Jiang Yi had finally just managed to turn the situation in his favor; the Qin Clan Head’s words had turned it against Jiang Yi once again. The Qin Clan Head had immediately started to vote while there were only two options: Jiang Yi was either guilty or not!
The fact that the Qin Clan Head was so arrogant and overbearing could only mean one thing: he was reaching boiling point internally and wanted Jiang Yi dead. He was prepared to fight this to the end and whoever still wanted to help Jiang Yi at this moment would be utterly offending him and the entire Qin Clan.
Jiang Yi was nothing in the eyes of the remaining twelve people!
Although he and Jiang Xiaonu had considerable ties, the Eagle Empress and Green Eagle King did not look kindly upon Jiang Yi. If Jiang Yi was killed, the Green Eagle King might even think that that was a good thing.
Hence, Mo Lingqiu and Di Ming both fell silent and did not say another word. Jiutian Wu went next. “Guilty!”
“Guilty!”
“Guilty!”
“I reserve my opinion…”
Another three great family clan heads spoke out, and Jiang Yi’s heart utterly sank. Out of the five who had voted, four had determined him guilty while one had abstained. Although the remaining heads had not voted, the result was already clear.
