Hushed chatter immediately arose from the crowd.
Hearing about it was one thing, but actually seeing the public trial commence still served as a huge shock to them.
"Plaintiffs, please step forward," En Yongping said.
Mo Mian and Chu Han allowed a guard to guide them forward, until they were standing directly beside the kneeling Hui Shajing.
"Is it possible to let everyone know the case that you wish to bring to court today?" En Yongping asked carefully.
His subdued tone immediately drew the attention of the audience.
Be it inside or outside of court, since when had the most powerful man in Mountainhorn Town ever spoken in such a manner?
At the very least, no one here had ever seen this side of him before!
"The accused – Hui Shajing and his men – acted without regard for the sanctity of life and the morality of man, wantonly killing defenceless people and not even sparing the modesty of the women before killing them," Mo Mian answered. "I am here to demand punishment for his sins."
"Nonsense! Enough with your lies!"
"That's right! Young Noble Hui will never do something like that!"
"Who are you? Why are you framing Young Noble Hui?"
Hui Shajing's admirers in the crowds immediately flew into a rage.
Of course, their words fell on deaf ears as Mo Mian completely ignored them.
On the other hand, En Yongping could not bear to see this continue. Who knew what would happen if the cultivators were to be enraged?
"Silence!" En Yongping bellowed, silencing the crowd. "This is my first and final warning – those who cannot maintain a basic level of civility shall be removed from the public trial!"
The rowdy ones fell silent, albeit reluctantly so.
As the magistrate of Mountainhorn Town, En Yongping was still someone whom everyone both feared and respected at the same time.
His words definitely carried weight in their hearts, so they had no choice but to comply, despite how unhappy they were about it.
Seeing this, En Yongping nodded in satisfaction before turning to Hui Shajing. "What do you have to say to the accusations, Young Noble Hui?"
Silence descended upon the Magistrate Hall as all eyes fell upon Hui Shajing, and it lasted far longer than what most people had expected.
After all, these were rather serious accusations that had been laid out against him.
Each of the two matters – be it killing defenceless people or outraging the modesty of women – would lead to a heavy sentence.
Therefore, the natural response here was to deny all accusations.
On top of that, it was not as though this was the first time such accusations had been brought up against members of the Hui Family. Whenever that happened in the past, the Hui Family had denied all accusations and managed to get off scot-free.
But this time, Hui Shajing actually remained silent instead of doing so, seemingly ruminating over what he should say.
Such an action, or inaction in this case, caused many of those within the crowd to exchange looks of surprise.
They could not help but feel that there was something different about Hui Shajing this time.
After a good few minutes, Hui Shajing finally opened his mouth and spoke.
"I... my men are innocent. Please spare them."
Everyone present was taken aback by his words.
After all, this was as good as not just admitting to the crimes. Not only that, but also taking full responsibility for them!
One had to remember that these were heinous crimes that could land one in prison for years to come!
"...Does that mean you admit to all the accusations that have been laid out against you?" En Yongping said with a sigh.
En Yongping himself had not expected this either.
After all, his impression of Hui Shajing had always been that of an arrogant young master born into a powerful family.
Who would have expected that he would also be able to think of the big picture now that things have come down to it?
That's right.
It was better to directly take responsibility for the crimes since cultivators from the Black Tortoise Sect had gotten involved.
Denying the crimes here would only result in further complications. Worse came to worst, even his Hui Family and the entire Mountainhorn Town would be implicated!
Seeing that Hui Shajing understood this, En Yongping could not help but feel slightly proud of him.
Unfortunately, this change might have came a little too late for the lad.
In return, Hui Shajing raised his head and looked at En Yongping with a determined light in his eyes.
"That's right, I admit to the accusations," Hui Shajing said with conviction. "But I am the only one responsible for the crimes. My men are innocent."
"Young Noble Hui..." members of his entourage could not help but feel touched by his decision to bear the responsibility alone.
Even then, none of them stepped forward to volunteer to bear the responsibility along with him, not even his closest aides, Uncle Hei and Uncle Bai.
Perhaps this was a testament to their loyalty towards the young master, or the lack thereof.
"I see," En Yongping nodded. "In that case, if there are no further objections, I hereb-"
"Wait, that's not going to work," Mo Mian interjected. "I said that all of them are involved, not just Hui Shajing."
Those words were like cold water that had been poured over the members of Hui Shajing's entourage, instantly robbing them of the relief that Hui Shajing's words had given them just moments earlier.
"I-Is that so?" En Yongping said awkwardly. "What do the rest of you have to say about the accusations?"
Uncle Hei and Uncle Bai exchanged glances and sighed in resignation.
They knew that this was the end.
If even Hui Shajing was not able to escape the consequences, they could forget about doing so either.
"We admit to the accusations..." Uncle Hei and Uncle Bai answered together.
"I see," En Yongping let out a sigh of relief. "In that case, if there are no further objections, I hereb-"
"Wait!"
En Yongping's verdict was interrupted once again, though Mo Mian was not the one who did so this time.
In fact, the culprit was not even in the hearing chamber, and had shouted from outside of the Magistrate Hall.
"Who is it?!" En Yongping bellowed in anger.
No matter what, he was still the most powerful man in Mountainhorn Town.
Being interrupted by Mo Mian was one thing, but how could he tolerate being shown such disrespect by others?
As he was thinking that, loud chatter arose from the crowd once more as they seemed to be excited by the turn of events.
The crowd parted, creating an open path for a group of men to stride straight into the Magistrate Hall.
"The Hui Family!"
Most people present recognised this group of men immediately.
They were none other than the head of the powerful Hui Family – Hui Guoquan – and his closest aides.
And right now, Hui Guoquan definitely did not look pleased as he arrived at the Magistrate Hall.
En Yongping could not help but let out a silent sigh.
He had held onto a faint sliver of hope that things would not come down to this, but it seemed that things would not go too easily for him.
"Greetings, Magistrate En," Hui Guoquan said upon entering the Magistrate Hall, though the expression on his face showed anything but courtesy.
But before En Yongping could say anything, Hui Shajing quickly interjected.
"Father! Please leave!" Hui Shajing pleaded. "I know what I am doing!"
"Silence!" Hui Guoquan immediately shouted at Hui Shajing. "If you know what you are doing, then you will not be kneeling here right now!"
"I have gotten myself into this, so I will bear responsibility myself!" Hui Shajing retorted. "Please leave already! You don't know who we are dealing with!"
"Enough of your nonsense! Shut up and let me handle this!" Hui Guoquan turned away from him to face En Yongping. "Pardon me for asking, but on what grounds is my son being charged right now?"
"Your son Hui Shajing has admitted to accusations of killing defenceless people and not sparing the modesty of women..." En Yongping explained.
"Just because he admitted to it? Who knows if he is being intimidated or blackmailed into this?" Hui Guoquan spoke while glancing over at Mo Mian. "Anyone can claim anything. But without evidence, who knows what is real and what is fake?"
"Are you saying that I am blackmailing your son into admitting to his crimes?" Mo Mian said with a smile.
It was a smile that brought chills to En Yongping, Hui Shajing, and their respective subordinates.
However, Hui Guoquan was not intimidated.
"I'm simply asking you for the evidence," Hui Guoquan answered. "My Hui Family might not be much in the grand scale of things, but I still refuse to simply stand by and keep watching my people get bullied by others. Without substantial evidence, I'm afraid that I cannot accept any unfair sentencing against my son this time!"
The public could not help but exchange glances upon hearing this.
It had always been the Hui Family bullying others. Since when had they ever been the ones being bullied?
"Master Hui, please just step outside for now," En Yongping tried to persuade him. "Don't worry, this is a public trial. If there is any unjust sentencing, the public will not accept it either."
"Pardon me for saying this, Magistrate En," Hui Guoquan scoffed. "But how can you say that when you were just about to pass a verdict without looking into actual evidence?"
"Your son has already admitted to it, what other evidence do you need?" En Yongping frowned.
He might not wish to shred all pretences with the Hui Family, but he did not intend to let the other party step all over him either.
By repeatedly questioning him in front of everyone, En Yongping was starting to feel like Hui Guoquan was undermining his authority.
"As I said earlier, he is just a kid. Who knows if someone is blackmailing him into saying this?" Hui Guoquan replied. "If there is no concrete evidence to prove his guilt, I humbly beseech Magistrate En to postpone the sentencing till more information is uncovered."
"Please, just leave!" Hui Shajing pleaded once more, only to have his words fall on deaf ears.
"Enough of this farce. I don't have the time and energy to deal with your drama," Mo Mian said with a sigh. "So, what's the verdict, magistrate? Or are you going to keep entertaining this clown?"
"Brat, what did you just call me?" Hui Guoquan sneered. "Just that display of disrespect alone is deserving of dea- heavy punishment!"
Since becoming the head of the Hui Family, this was actually his very first time being spoken to in such a frivolous way, not to mention by someone in his twenties!
"And who is going to punish me?" Mo Mian smirked. "You?"
"Are you going to just let him insult me like this, Magistrate En? Is there no longer a need for order in the Magistrate Hall?" Hui Guoquan questioned.
"Please calm down, Master Hui," En Yongping's frown deepened. "As I said, please leave. The Magistrate Hall will handle this."
"I do not doubt that the Magistrate Hall is fair and just," Hui Guoquan said. "However, I have to say that all I see now is you standing on their side without question. For example, how can you not care when your residents are being called names in court? According to the norm, shouldn't there at least be some warning issued?"
"What do you mean by this, Master Hui?" En Yongping narrowed his eyes. "Are you questioning my integrity right now?"
"I'm not saying that, but perhaps you have been lied to by rats and is thus momentarily blinded to the truth," Hui Guoquan answered. "Since the very beginning, these suspicious men have provided zero evidence of the supposed crime. No matter how I look at it, they are the ones who need to be trialled instead. And since the Magistrate Hall is unable to see the truth this time, let my Hui Family interrogate the true criminals in front of the people!"
Before anyone else could react, one of the men who had entered along with Hui Guoquan suddenly dashed out from behind him, his arms reaching straight for Mo Mian!