Chapter 1939: Elder Lu Arrives!

The image continued.

These guards, dressed in bandit attire, crept along the street and stealthily entered Shan Xiaotian's residence.

“This image seems the same as the one he released earlier…”

“Yeah… I thought they were real bandits, but it turns out they were guards from the city lord’s mansion…”

“Guards from the city lord’s mansion disguised as bandits, deliberately killing people…”

…

Soon, someone recognized that the scene recorded in the image was exactly the same as the testimony from the earlier witness.

They had thought it was bandits, but after seeing the full content, they realized… it was actually guards from the city lord’s mansion in disguise!

Whoosh!

The guards entered the residence, and the image stopped. Cao Chengli held the recording jade crystal in his palm and looked again at Xue Chen before him: “Do you have anything else to say?”

“You… this is forged!”

Xue Chen’s face turned pale.

Clearly, he had never dreamed that such a thing would be followed and recorded.

“Forged? Try forging one yourself!”

Shan Xiaotian stepped forward.

The content recorded in the recording jade crystal was all real and could not be forged; that was precisely why it was impartial.

“I…” Xue Chen stepped back: “You and the Third Miss are engaged. Since you are strong, that is naturally best. Why would we want to kill you? Doing so would only tarnish the city lord’s mansion’s reputation…”

“That’s true too…”

The crowd was startled and turned to look.

Since they were engaged, it would be simple to break off the engagement—why hire bandits to kill?

Would they bring trouble upon themselves?

“Why would you want to kill me? If you’ve forgotten, take a look at this!”

With a light laugh, Shan Xiaotian also took out a recording jade crystal from his bosom, tapped it with his finger, and released the image within.

“What? You know why I’ve come, yet you don’t come out yourself. You think sending a servant with the marriage contract can fool me?” In the image, Xue Qin looked cold and proud, as noble as a princess.

“It’s simple. I want you to announce to the whole city that you are unworthy of me and that you are the one requesting to break off the engagement. My city lord’s mansion will decline repeatedly, then respect your wishes, and only then will the engagement be ended… Otherwise, by directly producing the marriage contract, are you trying to tell everyone that I, Xue Qin, don’t want to marry you? To make everyone point fingers at the city lord’s mansion?”

“If you don’t agree, it’s simple too! The Shan family has made many enemies over the years. Without the alliance with the city lord’s mansion, and given that you are a waste, you should have been wiped out long ago… If these people decide to act, can you and your single servant withstand them?”

Xue Chen sneered repeatedly.

“Public opinion? After you die, the city lord, in deep grief, will personally send people to avenge you. Then the young lady will weep for many days, and eventually leave this place in sorrow to enter the Lingyun Sword Pavilion…”

…

The jade crystal recorded every detail of their arrogant visit to the Shan residence, without a single omission!

“This…”

“So she wanted to break off the engagement, but even after the other party agreed, she wasn’t satisfied—she wanted to preserve her own reputation, even to the point of killing…”

“What a viper’s heart!”

“The city lord’s mansion has had an excellent reputation over the years; I never thought they would do such a thing…”

“Shameful! I’m ashamed to be associated with them…”

…

After watching this scene, everyone understood what had happened and looked at Xue Chen and Xue Qin with hostility.

“You, you…”

Her pretty face pale, Xue Qin felt her whole body go limp and collapsed to the ground.

She had thought she could not only break off the engagement and get rid of this waste but also gain a good reputation. She never dreamed… that it would be so nakedly exposed before so many people.

From this moment on, her reputation was thoroughly ruined!

She didn’t want to marry, so she colluded with bandits to murder her fiancé…

If such a reputation spread, who would dare marry her?

If someone did marry her, what if bandits came knocking… Wouldn’t that be disastrous?

“Lies! Today I’ll teach this blabbermouth a lesson…”

Gritting his teeth, Xue Chen leaped and charged at Shan Xiaotian.

The wind howled, his palm strike fierce.

In this situation, he was completely on the defensive. The only way out was to kill Shan Xiaotian and Cao Chengli, leaving no evidence.

With his strength at the third level of the Ancient Sage, as soon as he struck, the room seemed to freeze. The two men turned ice-cold and could not move.

“How dare you!”

Unexpectedly, the man dared to kill in his presence. Huo Jianghe’s eyes turned cold.

He was blatantly disregarding this disciple of the Lingyun Sword Pavilion.

With a flick of his wrist, he drew his longsword. Just as he was about to stop the man, he felt his arm sink. The city lord Xue Qian, seated at the lower seat, smiled warmly and looked over: “Nephew Jianghe, don’t be anxious. Xue Chen is just trying to scare them; he won’t do anything rash. As a member of the Sword Pavilion, interfering in the affairs of my city would be beneath your dignity.”

Huo Jianghe’s eyes narrowed.

Xue Chen’s killing intent was palpable; it was certainly no bluff. If he didn’t act and let the palm strike land, the two men in front would surely be killed!

Then City Lord Xue Qian could claim negligence in supervising his subordinates, at most imprisoning Xue Chen as a warning…

By then, Shan Xiaotian and Cao Chengli would both be dead, and the city lord’s mansion could say whatever it wanted!

Soon, Xue Chen would surely be released, and nothing would happen…

“No…”

As Huo Jianghe was stopped, Cao Chengli, seeing the terrifying palm strike, turned pale and nearly fainted from fear.

He had come to help Shan Xiaotian seek justice on the book’s orders, but that didn’t mean he wanted to die…

Just as he felt he could not escape and was doomed, the palm strike dissipated in an instant. He quickly looked up and saw that the city lord’s sword arts chief instructor, a third-level Ancient Sage powerhouse, had somehow fallen to the ground, his breath gone, with a green blade of grass stuck in his forehead.

“Dead?”

His body stiffened. He looked closely and saw that the blade of grass had pierced through one eye and out the other ear, completely penetrating the brain, destroying all life—instant death!

Such a soft blade of grass, piercing through the eye and brain… killing a third-level Ancient Sage…

What kind of strength was that?

Chilled to the bone, Cao Chengli dared not move.

Beside him, Huo Jianghe also stood up abruptly, full of disbelief.

His cultivation was at the early fourth level of the Ancient Sage, the same as City Lord Xue Qian, but… even he could not accomplish such a feat.

A blade of grass is soft, cannot be used with force or infused with true qi, yet it instantly broke through the protective true qi of a third-level Ancient Sage and pierced through the head…

Most importantly…

With his eyesight, he hadn’t even seen who made the move or from which direction the blade of grass came!

It was as if the thing had appeared out of nowhere.

Not only was he shocked, but City Lord Xue Qian, who had stopped him, was also frozen.

Clearly, he too hadn’t seen where the blade of grass came from.

After careful thought, even he would not have been able to block it!

“Teacher… is so strong!”

Shan Xiaotian breathed a sigh of relief.

His teacher had told him not to worry, but the scene just now had still made him break out in a cold sweat.

He had known his teacher was extraordinary, but he hadn’t expected such power!

Suppressing his shock and excitement, Shan Xiaotian was about to continue when City Lord Xue Qian suddenly stood up, his face full of righteous indignation: “Xue Chen, as my sword arts chief instructor, actually did such a thing. It is my negligence in supervision, and I am unworthy of being city lord… Such a scoundrel must be killed as a warning!”

Shan Xiaotian was stunned.

From his tone… did he kill Xue Chen?

How shameless!

“Nephew Xiaotian, I knew nothing of this. Fortunately, you were clever and alert, exposing this scoundrel’s schemes! Only then did my city lord’s mansion preserve its reputation!”

Xue Qian strode over to Shan Xiaotian, putting on the air of a kindly elder: “Your engagement to my daughter was personally arranged by your father and others. Now that our predecessors have passed, how can we, the younger generation, go against their wishes? Besides, Xiaoqin’s decision must have been influenced by Xue Chen’s instigation. That man is an expert at manipulating people…”

Seeing him react so quickly and say these things, Shan Xiaotian sneered inwardly.

No wonder he was city lord—a true old fox.

His teacher was low-key and unwilling to reveal himself.

Now that Xue Chen was dead, among everyone present, this city lord had the highest cultivation. Everyone would naturally think he had made the move.

With the man dead, all the blame could be shifted onto him, and with some excuse, the city lord’s mansion would have little to do with it… Then, by offering favors, the public opinion in the city would not last long!

To be able to do this so quickly under such disadvantage, this Xue Qian was truly ruthless.

“City Lord, you jest…”

Unable to hold back, Shan Xiaotian snorted: “Fifty elites from the city lord’s mansion died in one night. Do you expect anyone to believe that it was a subordinate’s unauthorized action?”

Fifty elites were no small number for the city lord’s mansion. How could he not have known?

By saying this directly, Shan Xiaotian had torn away the fig leaf.

“Hmph!”

Unexpectedly, the other party did not appreciate his words and even spoke like this. Xue Qian’s face darkened, and his eyes narrowed as he transmitted his voice: “What? Xue Chen’s death isn’t enough? You want to bring me down too? Do you have evidence that I was involved in this?”

Shan Xiaotian was speechless.

Xue Qin had only broken off the engagement; everything else was done by Xue Chen. There was no evidence linking the city lord to the matter. Even Xue Qin could deflect the blame, at most being guilty of breaking off the engagement!

If she found it unsuitable and sought her own happiness by breaking off the engagement, she would at most face moral condemnation, not legal punishment!

“Without evidence, you’d better keep your mouth shut! I know you have a strong backer who killed Xue Chen so easily. But I, as city lord, am appointed by the Lingyun Sword Pavilion! Only its elders have the authority to deal with me… If the expert behind you dares to touch me, it would be slapping the Sword Pavilion in the face. Do you think they would let anyone who challenges the authority of the six great sects off? Or do you think that person behind you can withstand the pressure from the six great sects?”

With a cold laugh, Xue Qian continued his voice transmission: “If you don’t want that person behind you to suffer because of you, then do as I say and let this matter rest today! Everyone will be happy. Your engagement will remain unchanged…”

Shan Xiaotian’s eyes turned red, his fists clenched so tightly they creaked, but he could not utter a word.

In truth, he knew that City Lord Xue Qian was deeply involved in the deaths of his parents and others, and he had long wanted revenge!

But… the other party was right!

In the city lord’s mansion, this man was the strongest. If pushed too far, he could mobilize troops and massacre everyone. He and his teacher would be powerless to stop it!

If his teacher truly acted and killed the man, it would mean offending the Lingyun Sword Pavilion…

Although his teacher was very strong, he did not believe he could contend with one of the six great sects of the continent!

“Alright, I don’t need to say more. You should understand what to say!”

Seeing him waver, Xue Qian snorted: “If you want to move against me, unless an elder of the Sword Pavilion hears your prayers and appears before you, don’t overestimate yourself…”

Whoosh!

Before he finished speaking, the cry of a sacred beast sounded in the air, and several figures landed from the beast’s back.

“Elder Lu!”

Seeing these people, Huo Jianghe’s eyes lit up, and he quickly stepped forward, bowing with cupped hands.

Elder Lu Yun had arrived from Xingyao City!

His body stiffened, and Xue Qian’s words caught in his throat.