Lin Xiao was clear in his heart.
Last night, he sent Chu Youwei to tempt Ye Chen at Tiandang Peak. It was highly likely that she would encounter other disciples from Tiandang Peak.
So instead of beating around the bush, it was better to openly admit it.
After all, in his upcoming layout, this was just an insignificant detail.
However, when he openly admitted it,
The various chiefs present, including the elders and stewards, hissed collectively.
They had thought that this infamous senior disciple from Divine Phoenix Peak would be an eloquent speaker, desperately making excuses for himself.
But they didn't expect...
That he would so readily admit it?
Weren't the time and place just right for Ye Chen's accusation?
Su Mei also frowned slightly and said, "Martial Nephew Lin, please recall carefully whether or not you sent your junior sister, Chu Youwei, to Tiandang Peak and at what time exactly. Don't make any mistakes."
"Thanks for the reminder Martial Uncle Su, but it's unnecessary."
Lin Xiao shrugged and said, "Last night, I did indeed send my third junior sister to visit Brother Ye at Tiandang Peak and asked her to apologize to him on my behalf."
"After all, some friction had occurred between us during the disciple acceptance ceremony earlier in the day, and I thought, since we are now fellow disciples, it's natural that we should eliminate the gap between us and move forward together."
His words were impeccable and sounded honorable.
It made the elders onstage look at him in a new light.
The inner sect disciples of Dragon Head Peak standing outside the hall began to whisper among themselves:
"Strange, wasn't it rumored that Chief Xiao's eldest disciple is insensible and stubborn, a real blockhead? But how come his speech is smooth and steady, demonstrating the demeanor of a chief disciple?"
"Ha, can you believe all the rumors? I heard before that this Chief Lin has mediocre talent, is lazy in cultivation, and his strength is not as good as his junior sisters! But the result? Yesterday, he caused a thunderstorm with a single sword strike, and that Ye Chen was begging for mercy, wasn't that incredibly domineering!"
"You're right, the rumors said that Chief Xiao has been paying the most attention to this eldest apprentice in these years! It seems that he is indeed the secret weapon of Divine Phoenix Peak!"
"Ha, I bet it's more than just paying attention! I had visited Divine Phoenix Peak once, and I saw Chief Xiao eyes were soft as water when looking at this eldest apprentice! It's completely different from how she looks at the other female disciples! You should know, she hasn't had a partner for two hundred years, and this Chief Lin is so handsome, maybe..."
"Wow! Isn't that taboo? Master-disciple relationships are thrilling! Please tell us more, Senior Brother!"
"I like this kind of story too!"
"Shh! Keep your voices down! If this gets to Chief Xiao's ears, dying a thousand times wouldn't be enough!"
....
"SILENCE!"
During the uproar, a clear and majestic cold shout sounded.
It was Sect Leader True Master Ziyun on the stage who spoke out: "Chief Su, continue with your questioning."
"Yes."
Su Mei nodded, but, with her mesmerizing phoenix eyes fixed on Lin Xiao, did not immediately ask a question.
Lin Xiao certainly understood her meaning.
This beautiful martial aunt was suggesting that he deny everything. After all, it was not necessarily the case that Chu Youwei was seen by other disciples when she went to Tiandang Peak last night.
However, his objective was not just to clear his name!
Lin Xiao cleared his throat and said, "Martial Aunt Su, venerable elders, my original intention was to have my third junior sister accompany Brother Ye for a walk to familiarize him with our Qinglan Sect's environment, and try to mediate between him and me, but I didn't expect——"
He paused for a moment, then continued, "Around the third watch, my third junior sister suddenly returned looking quite anxious. She told me she had unintentionally got separated from Brother Ye while they were flying to Bright Moon Cliff, and despite looking around, she couldn't find Brother Ye..."
"Now it seems that Brother Ye had accidentally entered the forbidden area of Phoenix Caw Peak, the Fairy Pool..."
"Ah, this all seems to be nothing but a big misunderstanding~~"
He looked up towards the sky at a 45-degree angle, showing a lamenting expression. Each microexpression he made was the epitome of a great actor.
"Lin Xiao! You're talking nonsense!"
Just then, a cold voice was heard.
Ye Chen from afar couldn't sit still anymore, and shouted, "You deliberately sent Chu Youwei to lure me into a trap! What apology? You despicable, shameless, and full of lies!"
"Shut up!"
Su Mei's rosy cheeks suddenly fell, her phoenix eyes flamed as she turned her head to the black-robed young man beside her, "I am still in the middle of interrogating, where do you get off interrupting!"
"Brother Yun Yi, please control your disciple!"
Then, her gaze fell sternly on the short, fat Daoist beside her.
At this moment, a shadow of a fire phoenix emerged behind her, and she burst out with a terrifying aura, which covered the whole scene, much like a raging wave!
Even the supposedly high-ranking and half-asleep Punishment Elders could not help but open their eyes in horror.
Lin Xiao was somewhat dumbfounded!
Originally, according to the original setting of the novel, Su Mei was a woman with a story!
On the surface, she was the chief of Phoenix Caw Peak, but in actuality, she was the daughter of the previous sect leader and the legitimate Saintess of the Hehuan Sect, one of the Eight Great Demon Sects!
However, her purpose in hiding within the Qinglan Sect was not the same as that of the hidden demonic cultivator Daoist Yuan Yi.
She and Nangong Wudao had a false marriage and hid their identities in Qinglan Sect just to investigate clues and to find her twin sister's daughter!
Therefore, in order not to expose her identity, she was gentle and kind to others. Her character set in the early part of the book was that of an empathetic, pure, and desired big sister.
Apart from Xiao Hongling, she had never quarreled with any chairman or elder!
But now...
She was having a fallout with Yuan Yi, this old sly fox, just for the sake of my insignificant role?
"My gosh, following my several junior sisters, Martial Aunt Su's character has also thoroughly collapsed!"
A sense of dread welled up in Lin Xiao's heart.
On the other side.
Under Su Mei's oppressive gaze, Daoist Yuan Yi laughed dryly and hurriedly pulled Ye Chen aside.
"I apologize for my disciple's rudeness, Chief Su."
"Please continue with your interrogation."
He clasped his hands together with a look of apology, but in the depths of his eyes, a hint of murderous intent flashed by.
Su Mei snorted coldly, couldn't be bothered to spare another glance at the master and disciple duo, and redirected her attention to the handsome and calm Martial Nephew in front of her. Her tone softened again:
"Martial Nephew Lin, even if I take your words as the truth, how are you going to prove it to the elders present here? In other words, after your Junior Sister and Ye Chen parted ways, did she meet anyone on the way to find Ye Chen who could vouch for her?"
"Well...."
Lin Xiao squinted his eyes, his deep pupils cast towards the distance, where among a group of short and chubby elders stood an icy beauty, Zhu Wanning, who stood out among them.
Their gazes crossed within a moment.
This silent moment spoke volumes.
"Miss Zhu, you should help me, right? Probably... hopefully..."
Lin Xiao was praying silently in his heart.
He admitted that there was a gamble in this move.
"I can vouch for him!"
Just when everyone's attention was focused on Lin Xiao, a chilled feminine voice spoke, "I testified that what Senior Brother Lin said is indeed a fact!"
The crowd looked at the source of the voice.
It turned out to be none other than one of the key figures in this case.
The Chief Disciple of Phoenix Caw Peak, Zhu Wanning!
"Senior Brother Lin, we've never met before, and all I know about you is from hearsay."
"But in the Dao drama, you were the first to see through Ye Chen's falsehood with your insightful eyes!"
"Despite your modest aptitude and weakness, you tried various ways to save the Qinglan Sect and expel Ye Chen, only to bear all the slanders and even be despised by your own master and junior sisters!"
"In the end...you even lost your own life!"
"In my life, Zhu Wanning, I had few people to respect, but you, you deserve to be among the first!"
"Therefore, while everything hasn't happened yet...."
"Please allow Wanning to fight alongside you and send this demon, Ye Chen, to hell!"