Wei Yunxi did not spare Elder Han's startled face a glance. She handed him her identity jade tablet. Only after he took it in a mechanical daze did she speak.
"This Zhēnjūn will represent Lingxue Peak in the Five Region Grand Tournament. Help me register. Also add one note. Master Yu Ling has bestowed upon me the dao title '苒曦' (Rǎn Xī)."
By now Elder Han had recovered. He respectfully took the tablet to file Wei Yunxi's registration and inscribe the dao title, then returned it with care and cautiously asked, "May the news of Zuo Qiu's defection be passed along outside?"
Wei Yunxi waved a hand. "Elder Han is not an outsider. It is enough that you keep it in mind. It is not a glorious matter, so there is no need to trumpet it.
As for Wei Yunqing being invited to the Law Enforcement Hall for questioning, that does not need to be concealed. The Law Enforcement Hall always conducts itself in the open."
She hung the updated tablet at her waist and left the inner hall.
Elder Han stood where he was, savoring Ran Xi Zhēnjūn's words until he grasped the hint. He straightened his robe and stepped out as well.
By then, several busybodies were already sidling up to Elder Han to probe for news. Hao Yan Zūnzhě had not been seen in the sect for a long time. Why had this grand figure appeared the moment the two Wei Zhēnjūn arrived one after the other at the inner hall? And three people had gone in but only two had come out. Clearly one of the Wei Zhēnjūn was missing. They had seen it all and wanted to know what had happened. As the only one present, Elder Han was their target.
"Elder Han, this is my completed mission. Please help me settle my sect points."
The first to squeeze forward, a Golden Core cultivator, grinned as he passed over his identity jade and storage pouch.
Elder Han processed the task briskly and settled the points.
"Elder Han, what happened in there just now? Why even alarm Hao Yan Zūnzhě, who has not shown herself in ages?"
Elder Han sighed and deliberately raised his voice so all could hear. "I do not know the ins and outs. I only know the two Wei Zhēnjūn came one after the other to find me. Wei Yunqing advanced to Nascent Soul outside and came to replace her identity jade. Wei Yunxi Zhēnjūn came to sign up for the Five Region Grand Tournament and had me record the dao title bestowed by Yu Ling Zūnzhě.
One moment the two sisters were exchanging a few words. The next, Hao Yan Zūnzhě appeared, said she would bring Wei Yunqing to the Law Enforcement Hall for questioning, then swept her away."
"Hiss."
A chorus of sharp inhales. Anyone in the Disciples Hall with ears pricked had heard every word.
The Golden Core man who had tasted this first-hand gossip could not help pressing on. "Did Wei Yunqing violate the sect rules?"
Elder Han shook his head. "That I do not know. Besides, Hao Yan Zūnzhě only said she was taking Wei Yunqing Zhēnjūn for questioning. She never said there was a violation.
If there had been, I suppose she would have been arrested before she even stepped into the sect." He was telling the truth, plain and simple.
But cultivators could not resist filling in the blanks. The Golden Core man muttered, "That is hard to say. If it is only questioning, why ask Hao Yan Zūnzhě to act? She has not moved within the sect for years. Is it not because they fear she might hurt someone by relying on her cultivation, or run?"
Elder Han neither confirmed nor denied. He returned the jade to the man and said, "Next." Then he added a reminder: "Matters concerning Yuányīng Zhēnjūn should not be idly discussed."
The man re-hung his tablet and left. The other disciples who had heard the whole exchange finished their business and drifted out as well.
Within a short time, the news that Lingbeast Peak's personal disciple Wei Yunqing had been taken to the Law Enforcement Hall for questioning had spread throughout the sect.
Back at Lingxue Peak, Wei Yunxi sipped a cup of Xueling Wine, listened to Dian Dian's gossip, and said with good humor,
"Elder Han is a clever one. Not a single false word, yet Wei Yunqing is swept into a whirlpool of talk and branded 'problematic.' When Zuo Qiu's defection is officially announced later, Wei Yunqing will likely be isolated. Let her taste being universally reviled, so she stops jumping about in front of me."
Meanwhile, matters were indeed unpleasant for Wei Yunqing in the Law Enforcement Hall. Hearing that Zuo Qiu had arranged an evil formation, attempting to ruin Yu Ling Zūnzhě by exploiting the Divine Transformation tribulation, left her gaping.
No wonder Wei Yunxi had risked her life to shoulder lightning for her master. She had always been protecting herself. As it turned out, the prime culprit was her nominal master.
Wei Yunqing cursed Zuo Qiu's incompetence in her heart. If he had managed to kill Yu Ling, Wei Yunxi would have lost her backing. Then would she not have been trampled under her foot? As it stood, Zuo Qiu had thrown himself away and dragged her down with him. Worse, after his plot failed, he had not even bothered to clear suspicion, and instead ran off to kill Wei Yunxi. The most ridiculous part was that he failed.
She wanted to grab Zuo Qiu by the collar and demand how a Divine Transformation Zūnzhě could fail to kill an unconscious, half-crippled cultivator. Was he reluctant to spend spiritual power?
Watching Wei Yunqing's face turn from shock to fury to regret and back again, Hao Yan propped her chin and said lazily, "Wei Yunqing, tell me what you know. Best not hide anything. Also hand over everything Zuo Qiu gifted you. The Law Enforcement Hall will examine it."
Wei Yunqing drew a deep breath. "Zūnzhě, I am willing to swear a Heavenly Oath that I did not know what Zuo Qiu Zūnzhě did. As for the apprenticeship, it was Zuo Qiu who approached me. At that time I had cultivated an Enlightenment Fruit—"
In order to leave the hall smoothly, she laid it all out, bamboo tube tipping out beans. Zuo Qiu had sought her out to obtain her Enlightenment Fruit to break into Divine Transformation. Not wanting to leave himself open to gossip, he had offered the status of personal disciple in exchange.
After speaking, she straightforwardly produced everything Zuo Qiu had given her, explained which items were already used, and swore a Heavenly Oath to prove her innocence.
Hao Yan Zūnzhě listened, yawned, then waved Wei Yunqing's storage gear into the hands of nearby Law Enforcement cultivators. "Will you open it yourself, or shall I do it for you?"
Stifling her grievance, Wei Yunqing removed the divine-sense imprints and allowed inspection.
A sweep of divine sense, and the inspectors' eyes narrowed. There were quite a few fine items in Wei Yunqing's hands. They recorded everything one by one. Finding no anomalies, they returned the gear intact.
Only then did Hao Yan Zūnzhě rise. "I will take you to see Zuo Qiu."
Before Wei Yunqing could react, Hao Yan swept her away to the dungeon.
On Dan Peak, Ye Tianhua smiled at last when he heard that Wei Yunqing had been taken for questioning. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. He felt his chance for payback had arrived and sent out several message talismans.
Not long after, a fresh rumor spread through the Inner Sect. It said the reason Wei Yunqing had been taken for questioning was that she had embezzled her fellow disciples' heavenly materials and treasures.
===
Chapter 400 already… can you believe it?! (≧▽≦)
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