Hearing Xue Zhengyong's words, people from other sects got up angrily. "Can you shut up at the Life and Death Summit?! Your disciple has violated the taboo of the cultivation world by practicing the exquisite chess game. Logically speaking, your lousy sect should immediately disperse and get lost! We don't have time to argue with you now, but can you have some self-awareness? "
"Xue Zhengyong! You're still speaking for him? Don't tell me you're in cahoots with him! "
There were murmurs all around.
Whether it was a sect or a family, it was often like this. If one person became a god, everyone would ascend to heaven. However, once one person did something unforgivable, the entire sect or family would be regarded as a treacherous nest of devils.
"This is a punishment, not a punishment." Mu Yanli was indifferent. She talked about the matter and didn't judge the Life and Death Summit. "Sect Leader Xue, don't be anxious. After the punishment, it will also reduce the merits. The merits will offset the demerits. That's the final conclusion. "
After she finished speaking, she turned her head and looked at Mo Ran again. Her voice was cold. "Continue your punishment."
"I … once … deceived … my … master … and … ancestor …"
"Deceived your master and ancestor?"
These words were puzzling.
Mo Ran felt like his heart was on fire.
Deceived his master and ancestor. What he said was the crime of his previous life. This Water of Grievance would actually grind the serious crime he committed in his previous life out from his throat!
But he didn't want to say it … He didn't want to say it! Did he want to say how he humiliated Chu Wanning in his previous life under the gaze of countless pairs of eyes?
He imprisoned him as his exclusive property and made him his concubine.
He humiliated his pride and finally caused his death.
He didn't want to say it.
He felt that he couldn't live, but Chu Wanning still had a long life ahead of him.
Chu Wanning was the spirit of the sacred tree. He had the purest spiritual energy and was gifted. He hoped that Chu Wanning could go on well. In the end, he would definitely ascend and become an immortal. He would no longer have to suffer the pain of reincarnation and the pain of love.
His master was so good and so clean.
He wanted to protect him …
He couldn't let others think that they were connected or involved.
He could not let everyone think that Chu Wanning was dirty, that his body was stained with the Emperor Ta's sin and blood.
He had to protect him.
Protect him …
His abdomen seemed to be on fire, and the pain was so intense that his intestines were broken. He could vaguely hear Mu Yanli's cold interrogation, "What do you mean by deceiving one's master and destroying one's ancestors?"
He wouldn't say it, he wouldn't say it.
His fingertips were bleeding from the friction on the rough gravel floor. His forehead was red from the friction. He was hunched over and panting heavily, like a fish on the verge of death on the riverbank …
He didn't say anything.
Resisting the Water of Complaint was the same as resisting Heaven's Inquisition. As long as one clenched their teeth, they would be able to endure it in the end.
He struggled under the questioning of the Heavenly Music Parlor and the gazes of the crowd, howling like a trapped beast. This torture was too deep. Ordinary people couldn't even endure Heaven's Inquisition, and this was a hundred or even a thousand times more painful than Heaven's Inquisition.
He felt as if his intestines and intestines were being squeezed by a pair of invisible hands, torn and minced. The wounds on his flesh were flooded with salt water, and there was a burning pain. His wrists were in excruciating pain.
Mu Yanli's voice sounded so far away, as if it came from across the ocean.
"What do you mean by deceiving one's master and destroying one's ancestors?!"
He didn't say it. He bit his tongue and lips. His mouth was full of blood, but he didn't cry.
It was the same as when he was locked in the dog cage for seven days.
He didn't cry.
His tears would only make him a laughing stock.
No one would pity him, and he didn't want their pity.
Even if it hurt to death, even if it hurt so much that his liver and intestines were broken, he had to endure it.
Mu Yanli was still questioning him condescendingly, "What did you do to Chu Wanning?"
It was too painful. In the end, he started to hallucinate.
In a trance, he saw Chu Wanning's appearance when he ascended to immortality a hundred years later. He was still wearing snow-white clothes. His features were handsome, and his aura was magnificent. When he wasn't smiling, his eyes were sharp. When he smiled, the sharpness melted away, turning into gentleness.
"I didn't …"
Mu Yanli was stunned for a moment. Her red lips opened slightly, "What?"
Mo Ran's throat was crushed, and his voice was extremely hoarse. "I was wrong. I didn't … I didn't … deceive my master …"
He raised his eyes. They were bloodshot, but his pupils were bright.
"Destroying one's ancestors!"
He bit each word.
"…" Mu Yanli did not know what kind of expression she had on her face. There seemed to be a trace of shock and a trace of confusion. But she was too cold, so the shock and confusion quickly froze into ice. She paused for a moment and said, "Continue with the crime."
Mo Ran coughed up blood. His lungs seemed to be crushed, and when he breathed, there was a turbid smell.
He lay on the ground, waiting for the huge pain of the Water of Complaint to subside. His whole body was drenched, and his face was as pale as paper. His cheek was close to the ground, and his hair was stained on his cheeks. He gasped for breath.
Mu Yanli couldn't help but take half a step forward.
She stared at him. "Continue with the crime."
"Not guilty …" Mo Ran closed his eyes and said hoarsely, "But I can do it."
Mu Yanli ordered a disciple to go forward and take a little of Mo Ran's blood. Then, she smeared it on the exquisite weight. The weight was engraved with the words "merit, kindness, and virtue" in Xiaozhuan. It was used to measure a person's merit.
She threw the weight into the scale.
The scale slowly floated. Except for Mo Ran, everyone was looking at the golden needle —
"Shatter the soul" … it was still "shatter the soul" …
The needle was moving slowly.
Shatter the soul.
But it couldn't get out of the circle of shatter the soul.
Xue Meng held the scimitar of Dragon City on his knees. His face was extremely ugly. He stared at the scale. He tried to straighten his back because he knew that if he collapsed, it would be difficult for him to stand up again.
He trembled slightly. At this moment, his palm was colder than the black iron of Dragon City.
Mu Yanli's beautiful eyes stared at the golden scale without blinking. The needle moved slower and slower. It moved in the area of "shatter the soul" and almost stopped.
She flicked her sleeves and said lightly, "Okay, it seems that the situation is …"
"It's still moving."
"Young Master Xue …"
Xue Meng stared at her. He was talking, although his voice was trembling. He didn't know whether what he did was right or wrong.
"The needle is still moving."
Mu Yanli said, "It's going to stop."
"Then let's wait for it to stop."
Mu Yanli looked at him.
After a while, a cold and mocking smile appeared on her face. "Okay, then let's wait for it to stop."
The sun was scorching hot, and a layer of gray smoke rose from the sand and stone ground.
They waited. Everyone looked at the needle, waiting for it to stop. But strangely, the needle didn't stop for a long time.
It seemed that it couldn't decide how to deal with Mo Weiyu. It was wavering, hesitantly leaning toward the area of punishment. Slowly, bit by bit.
Mu Yanli didn't seem to have encountered such a situation. She didn't say anything. Her yellow dress fluttered on the ground as she quietly waited for the Divine Martial Scale's judgment.
Xue Meng's knuckles turned white. He stared at the needle. It seemed that what was about to be judged was not Mo Weiyu's life, but the years that he and Mo Ran had known each other.
From contempt to disgust, from disgust to acceptance, and from acceptance to approval.
Was it wrong to be cold at the beginning, or was it wrong to call him "brother" later?
He didn't know.
He stared at the needle. In his vast and helpless heart, he only had hope when he stared at the needle.
Don't stop.
I beg you.
Keep going forward. Look, there's still a little more …
No matter how wrong that guy was, he still broke his spirit nucleus and defeated thousands of soldiers.
How could he be sentenced to death?
How could he break his spirit …
A little more. A little more.
Until the end.
—
"Dig out the spirit nucleus."
Mu Yanli announced with an expressionless face. She looked extremely just and cold-blooded, which was completely different from the golden and warm gown she was wearing. Her whole person was colder than the frost and snow.
The needle stopped.
The tip of the needle pointed at the words "dig out the spirit nucleus".
That was the final judgment for Grandmaster Mo.
Mu Yanli looked at the spectators below, as well as the Ten Great Sects on the stage.
It was indeed the Ten Great Sects. The Heavenly Music Parlor still had the old seat of the Confucian Wind Sect. There was only one person sitting there. It was Ye Wangxi, dressed in black.
She carried Nangong Si's cloth quiver on her back. Naobaijin, who had lost her master forever, was lying on her knees. Her face was very haggard, but her eyes were clear. She was also watching everything on the stage.
Mu Yanli said, "The Heavenly Music Parlor has eyes, and a clear mirror hangs high above. The Heavenly Music Parlor has judged the merits and demerits. It has not been biased, nor has it deliberately made things difficult for Mo Ran and Mo Weiyu. Dig out the spirit nucleus. It will be announced in three days. If there are no objections, after three days — "
Xue Meng, who had been enduring with his eyes closed, finally couldn't hold it in anymore. He suddenly stood up, his silver-blue light armor shining. "I have objections."
"…"
"There's no need to wait for three days. I have objections now."
The uproar below became louder. "The Peak of Life and Death is a damn closed-door sect! What the hell! "
"Why don't we just interrogate Xue Zhengyong and Xue Meng together! In all likelihood, they're in cahoots. How can they still speak up for the devil at this point?! "
"When the Precious Dragon Chess appeared, how come it didn't kill many people at the Peak of Life and Death? Are you really not a devil's den? "
Xue Meng was so angry that his face turned ashen. However, he had no choice but to use all his strength to suppress his anger.
Mu Yanli naturally heard the angry roars of those cultivators, but she turned a deaf ear to them. She only said indifferently, "Young Master Xue, what do you want to say? I'm all ears."
Xue Meng opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say for a moment. Madam Wang was very worried. She quietly pulled him. "Meng 'er, there are still three days. Let's take our time and think about what to say …"
However, Xue Meng didn't seem to hear his mother. He stared at Mu Yanli for a while, then turned to look at the scale. Finally, his gaze landed on a small black dot in the distance.
That was Mo Ran on the execution platform.
Xue Meng's eyes suddenly trembled. It was as if a curtain was blown by the wind. His eyes wrinkled.
It was neither dark nor bright.
He said without rhyme or reason, "He doesn't have a spirit core anymore."
Mu Yanli asked, "What do you mean?"
Xue Meng suddenly became agitated. He looked back at her. "What do you mean? Don't you know? Isn't he the one who saved you at the Peak of Life and Death and the one who withdrew the chess piece? Pavilion Master Mu, I want to know how you want to execute him. His spirit core is already broken! What else do you want to do? Dig out his heart? "
His eyes were filled with tears. His fingernails dug deep into his palms.
"Dig out his spirit core alive, dig out his spirit core alive … He doesn't have a spirit core anymore. Are you going to kill him?!"
Mu Yanli narrowed her eyes. "The Heavenly Sound Pavilion has its own way."
"According to the rules, after the verdict is announced, the execution will be carried out in three days." Suddenly, a slightly hoarse voice sounded. Everyone looked up and saw that the person speaking was Ye Wangxi. "Pavilion Master, please explain clearly what method you have."
Immediately, someone from Bi Tan Village angrily rebuked, "What right do you have to speak? Who do you think you are? "
Some people even whispered, "Relying on the fact that she has Jiang Xi's support and Nangong Si's death in exchange for the Confucian Wind Sect's innocence, she really thinks she's something. On such a grand occasion, how can a nameless woman question the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Sound Pavilion like this? Is she even qualified?"
Ye Wangxi paid no attention to all of this.
Until someone who had a grudge with the Nangong family shouted at her, "Ye Wangxi, the Confucian Wind Sect has already perished. You're sitting there alone. Don't tell me you think you're the sect master of the Confucian Wind Sect?"
Ye Wangxi hugged Naobaijin, who was whimpering in her arms and hadn't recovered her spiritual power yet. She stood there alone, neither angry nor noisy. When those angry and mocking voices gradually calmed down, she said, "The commander of the Confucian Wind Sect is still here. Whether it's perished or not, it's not up to you to decide."
"You —"
Ye Wangxi didn't want to argue with others. She looked at Mu Yanli and said, "Pavilion Master, please enlighten us."
Mu Yanli said, "In this world, there's a way to reconstruct the spiritual core. The spiritual core is broken, but the fragments are still in the heart cavity. The so-called digging out of the spiritual core naturally doesn't require the spiritual core to be intact."
Xue Meng's face was as white as paper. "So what do you want?"
"Just cast a spell and dig out all the fragments of the spiritual core." Mu Yanli said, "The Heavenly Sound Pavilion won't want his …"
Before the word "life" could be said, Xue Zhengyong also stood up, his face dark. "Dig out all the fragments of the spiritual core?"
"That's right."
"Then how many times do we have to dig?" Xue Zhengyong glared at her. His hair had already turned white. "Five times? Ten times? Digging out the spiritual core hurts the heart. Every time is extremely painful. A few years ago, the Heavenly Sound Pavilion dug out a prisoner's spiritual core. She didn't make it and died the same day she returned to the prison. "
Mu Yanli said indifferently, "That's because she was weak. She can't blame the Heavenly Sound Pavilion."
"Then you might as well take his life directly!" Xue Zhengyong shouted angrily. "Mu Yanli, the fragments of the spiritual core! You said that if his spiritual core is broken into two pieces, you'll dig twice. If it's three pieces, you'll dig thrice … But what if it's broken into hundreds or thousands of pieces? Are you going to cut him into pieces?! You're going to cut him into pieces!! "
"If it's really broken into pieces like that, it's his own fate."
Xue Zhengyong was speechless.
Fate?
Everything was fate.
He suddenly felt that it was ridiculous.
What was fate?
Because of fate, he mistakenly raised this child as his own nephew.
He gave this child a family and a master. He gave this child a place to live and a home. But what was this child's original fate?
He was an illegitimate child who didn't have enough to eat since he was young. He followed his mother to beg and perform for a living.
After his mother died, he was a thin and weak child. He dragged her gradually rotting body to the mass grave and buried the only warmth of his childhood with his own hands.
He was beaten and scolded countless times. He was locked in a dog cage and framed to go to prison.
Everyone hoped that the world was fair. But from the moment of birth, fate was unfair to begin with.
Why was it that here, the young masters of aristocratic families had luxurious cars and expensive horses, and they exchanged money for a beauty's smile?
Over there, the poor people were displaced and had no choice but to live on insects and ants.
Why was it that some people could act spoiled to their mother without any worries?
Some people had to bring their mother's bones to the rich and powerful to ask for a sentence, "Fate is three feet long, but it's hard for you to ask for ten feet."
Why was it that some people had to be buried humbly?
Some people were born rich.
This was unfair.
When fate poured unfairness on those at the bottom, when a price adjustment order could take away the lives of those around them …
Where was justice?
They were all living people. How could they not hate? How could they be relieved?
Even if this child was wrong, even if he was not his flesh and blood, even if fate played tricks on him … When he thought of this, his heart still ached.
Xue Zhengyong closed his eyes.
He muttered, "It's too cruel. The Divine Martial Scale probably didn't take into account the situation of the broken spirit core … Hundreds of times, Mu Yanli."
He looked up and his voice was trembling.
"You have to take an awl and stab his heart hundreds of times."
"…"
The world was clear and bright. Everything in the Heavenly Music Parlor was strict, fair, and meticulous.
Xue Zhengyong raised his head and watched as the clouds slowly flowed past.
"Well, now he has repaid his sins. He should have repaid what he owed this world."
The wind started to blow.
Xue Zhengyong suddenly choked.
"But what this world owes him … Will anyone pay him back … Will anyone pay him back …"