Ma Hongyu couldn't help letting out a sigh.
This time.
If Yun Jin hadn't warned him in advance, he would likely have fallen into the trap here.
A faint sadness welled up in his heart, sadness for Zhao Wuji, and even more for himself.
Ma Hongyu could only feel fortunate that he had prepared beforehand.
He looked at Zhao Wuji and said calmly, "I'm not twisting black into white, nor am I speaking without proof, I have evidence."
"Evidence?" Zhao Wuji glanced at Ma Hongyu with some suspicion.
What evidence could there be for something like this?
Ma Hongyu slowly produced a Recording Stone.
"When Ye Danxia came to find me, I felt like something was off with the rules, so I recorded everything. From yesterday on, the entire process of my meetings with Ye Danxia is backed by the Recording Stone. After I met her, I never even touched the storage pouch, so there's no way I could have stolen the spiritual plants."
Ma Hongyu handed the Recording Stone directly to Lin Ya.
Zhao Wuji's face darkened again.
A Recording Stone?
Ye Danxia looked at the stone, and her whole being went numb!
Last time, Yun Jin had also produced Recording Stones, not just one or two, she had prepared around a hundred of them!
And this time, Ma Hongyu also took out a Recording Stone!
Dead memories suddenly lunged at her. Ye Danxia seemed to see Yun Jin's shadow in Ma Hongyu!
She gritted her teeth. This Yun Jin, even without showing her face, still had ways to make her utterly miserable!
Lin Ya accepted the Recording Stone and played it on the spot.
Zhao Wuji scowled and wanted to stop him, but he realized that he's no longer a match for Lin Ya, not only in cultivation, but in prestige and personal ties as well.
At present, he only held the title of Sect Leader. If Lin Ya really wanted to act, he could no longer stop him!
Ma Hongyu's Recording Stone had been rolling since the first time Ye Danxia came to find him.
It included how Ye Danxia volunteered for the task, and then how she produced the Sect Leader's Token.
That alone still wasn't enough.
It didn't prove Ma Hongyu had never touched the storage pouch.
But Ma Hongyu had also recorded the next day.
From when he met Ye Danxia and urged her to go submit the spiritual plants, all the way until Zhao Wuji summoned them inside, the entire process, complete and without a gap.
During that time, the storage pouch containing the spiritual plants had always been in Ye Danxia's hands, Ma Hongyu kept far away and never laid a finger on it.
When the recording finished, Lin Ya looked toward Zhao Wuji, "Sect Leader, it appears that before paying respects to you this morning, the storage pouch remained in Ye Danxia's possession the whole time, Ma Hongyu never touched it. If we're to say Ma Hongyu embezzled the spiritual plants, did he perhaps perform some heaven-defying secret art during the audience with you, and, without gods or ghosts knowing, remove the contents? If so, then we must really interrogate Ma Hongyu in detail."
Though he said to interrogate Ma Hongyu, Lin Ya's sarcastic tone made it clear he meant to interrogate someone else.
Ye Danxia stood there, already on the verge of collapse.
Han Xiaoyu, seeing her like this, felt a pang of heartache and blurted, "Master, Junior Sister, she—"
"Silence!" Zhao Wuji gritted his teeth and barked.
This Ma Hongyu had proven insidiously cautious, he had recorded everything from start to finish.
How was Zhao Wuji supposed to speak up for Ye Danxia now?
If he kept forcing the frame-up, not only Ye Danxia, but he himself would get dragged under!
Being shouted at by Zhao Wuji, Han Xiaoyu froze.
Since becoming Zhao Wuji's disciple, he had never been scolded like this!
Han Xiaoyu felt a sudden wave of grievance.
But Zhao Wuji had no time to care about him.
Expressionless, he looked at Ye Danxia, "Danxia, I entrusted you with such an important matter because I believed in you! Now that so many spiritual plants are missing, and you alone held the storage pouch, what do you have to say for yourself?"
Ye Danxia finally felt fear and her face turned pale, "Master, I… I don't know how it happened. Maybe-maybe someone took it while I wasn't paying attention, secretly removing the storage pouch. I truly don't know."
"'Don't know'?" Lin Ya raised a brow. "I thought you were deliberately trying to frame Steward Ma! These spiritual plants are no small sum. For whomever such a charge falls upon, their entire life would be ruined. Sect Leader, wouldn't you say so?"
Lin Ya pressed without mercy.
The other Peak Masters remained silent, but that silence was a stance.
Even the three, Huo Lie, Long Yi, Du Wuqing, said nothing now.
They might follow Zhao Wuji, but that didn't mean a mere Qi Refining disciple could run rampant like this!
Zhao Wuji clenched his jaw tightly.
He's already at a disadvantage, with only those three remaining at his side. If he mishandled Ye Danxia's case, even they might drift away.
By then, he would be utterly alone.
He might as well collapse before his father could stage any comeback!
Gazing at the tottering Ye Danxia, Zhao Wuji hardened his heart and shouted, "Ye Danxia, you already bear a criminal status and now you've committed another offense. With multiple crimes combined, do you realize what fate awaits you? As for those spiritual plants, you're a Qi Refining disciple, you couldn't possibly use that many! Speak, where are they? If you hand them over now, I can still deal with you leniently. If they're uncovered later, your crimes will only multiply!"
Zhao Wuji still offered a hint to Ye Danxia. Hand over the plants, and he would mediate on her behalf.
But right now, Ye Danxia heard none of that.
All she knew was!
Zhao Wuji was forcing her!
She had only taken a little bit of spiritual plants. As Sect Leader, couldn't Zhao Wuji just make up the difference himself?
Did he really have to blow this up?
After so many years of accumulation, could he really be short of this little?
What kind of master fails to shield his beloved disciple like this?
Resentment toward Zhao Wuji sank even deeper in Ye Danxia's heart.
This time, she'd made up her mind, she would not admit to anything, no matter what.
Anyway, the herbs were already with Yang Yun, they wouldn't be able to find any evidence…
Just as Ye Danxia was thinking that.
The doors of the great hall suddenly swung open.
A figure was thrown inside.
Ye Danxia reflexively dodged to the side.
That person landed right beside her, letting out a pained groan.
Ye Danxia's pupils shrank.
The one who'd been thrown in was Yang Yun.
Yang Yun's face was deathly pale, red stained his chest, clearly he had just coughed blood. His hands and feet were bound, treated entirely like a prisoner.
Ye Danxia was stunned.
Wasn't Yang Yun the Demon Lord?
Even when fallen on hard times, the legendary Demon Lord shouldn't end up like this, should he?
Ye Danxia's mind reeled and she looked toward the doors.
Yun Jin was walking in with a smiling, narrowed gaze.
"Yun Jin! This is a council session, how can a mere disciple like you barge in at will!" Zhao Wuji frowned and barked a reprimand.