Yun Shu quickly ran his mind, and then he hurriedly answered with respect, "Yesterday, I read the steles on the square and was thus inspired. Afterward, the breakthroughs just happened naturally."
Yun Shu said those words rather carefully. Growing up in the Fire Mystic Sect, he knew how important those three steles were. Hence, indicating that he might have a special connection to them would make the two elderly men look at Yun Shu with quite different eyes.
And just as he expected, after hearing his explanation, the two old men instantly exchanged a look of surprise.
"Don't you lie, boy!" Old He remained suspicious.
Yun Shu pretended he didn't understand. "Lie about what?"
Old He snorted. "Let's see!"
With that, he quickly reached out his hand towards Yun Shu's wrist, whose heart started thudding. It was the fiend technique that had helped him make such tremendous progress.
As an immortal sect, Fire Mystic Sect strictly forbade all its disciples from practicing the fiend technique.
Bang!
Before Yun Shu could react, his wrist had been gripped by Old He's hand. Yun Shu's heart sank to the bottom of the abyss, thinking that it was the end of him. However, to his great surprise, Old He soon let go of his wrist.
"How was it?" asked Old Du.
"His Spirit Qi is solid. It is indeed the technique of our sect," said Old He, frowning.
Yun Shu didn't expect this at all; even Old He couldn't spot the difference!
"Although you didn't lie about the steles, you still have to explain why you killed them," continued Old He coldly. However, Yun Shu could tell that his tone had softened.
"Seniors, I never wanted to kill them on purpose. The reality is that they tried to kill me first!"
Yun Shu then elaborated everything to them. First, what he had said was entirely true. Second, his narration was descriptive and sincere. As a result, his words sounded persuasive to the two elderly men.
After hearing Yun Shu's explanation, even the expression on Old He's face had eased considerably. Nonetheless, this was still a rather one-sided statement.
"You have any proof?" asked Old He.
Yun Shu spent a second to ponder about it and then swiftly answered, "I do! The poisoned food is still in my room! Please go with me to take a look!"
Old He and Du immediately agreed.
In Yun Shu's shelter, when he showed the two elderly men the food bucket, they quickly came to a conclusion: Yun Shu was right. There was indeed poison in the food.
Everything made sense now.
"Bastard! This is brutal! How dare he do such a filthy thing in this valley!" Old Du was furious.
Yun Shu could finally relax a bit, his taut nerves loosening. The two elderly men had found the truth, so he should be safe now.
However, Old He cast a glance at Yun Shu and said, "It's true that you were in danger. And killing the man who brought you the food should have been enough to make yourself safe. Therefore, before you killed the other man, you could've reported this to us first."
Yun Shu tried to say something but eventually remained silent.
Old Du tried to help from the side. "Come on. You can't be too hard on him. Just forget it."
"A rule is a rule, and it shall be broken by no one," declared Old He seriously.
Seeing his adamant attitude, Old Du sighed. "Then what do you want?"
Old He snorted. "Your name's Yun Shu, right?"
"Yes, senior!" Yun Shu gave Old He a hold fist salute.
"Killing is regarded as a felony in the valley, and thus, a punishment must be given. However, since there is a proper reason for the crime, the punishment you deserve should be less severe. You are grounded for a month!" announced Old He.
Then he turned around and left.
Yun Shu eventually could put his heart at rest.
Committing murder in the Valley of Crime was always improper, no matter what kind of reason one had.
The punishment was rather light, which meant that the two elderly men had already regarded Yun Shu as someone special!
After Old He left, Old Du grinned and said to Yun Shu, "Don't be mad, boy. Old He's also doing this for you!"
Yun Shu didn't really understand.