novelraw Chapter 22 – The matter has been exposed
Chapter 22 – The matter has been exposed
The crowd immediately understood and began to unleash various spells towards Kong Tianjiao.
"Ah! Who said that? Damn it!"
Kong Tianjiao cried out in pain as he was attacked.
"Stop!"
A powerful aura swept over everyone in the marketplace, and Qin Yu almost fell to the ground just from being brushed by it.
'What incredible strength!'
Everyone looked up to see a young man in a white robe descending from the sky on a majestic tiger.
Everyone bowed in respect.
"Greetings, Senior Brother!"
The young man wore the attire of an Inner Sect disciple, marking him as a member of the Xuantian Sect's Inner Sect.
Seeing this person, Kong Tianjiao seemed to see a savior and stood up, shouting loudly.
"Senior Brother Wang Li, please save us!"
"These Outer Sect disciples have teamed up to bully us from the Beast-Taming Peak!"
The crowd looked a bit uneasy, not expecting an Inner Sect disciple from the Beast-Taming Peak to suddenly appear.
Wang Li's gaze swept over the crowd like lightning, finally resting on the filthy Kong Tianjiao.
'Is he here to avenge Kong Tianjiao?'
Qin Yu slowly moved his feet, ready to pull Li Zhengtong, Xiao Zhi, and others away if things went south.
No matter how formidable an Inner Sect disciple was, he couldn't control everyone at once.
Wang Li leaped off the tiger and landed in front of Kong Tianjiao.
He instinctively fanned his nose, then showed a kind smile and asked gently, "Junior Brother, who might you be?"
Kong Tianjiao: "Senior Brother Wang, it's me, Kong Tianjiao!"
"Tianjiao?" Wang Li was quite surprised. "How did you end up in such a sorry state?"
"Senior Brother!" Kong Tianjiao pointed at everyone, tears and snot streaming as he complained, "They beat me up."
"Kong Tianjiao, stop slandering us. You jumped into the manure pile yourself; what does that have to do with us?"
"If you hadn't chased me, would I have jumped into the manure pile?"
"Senior Brother, they ganged up on us from the Beast-Taming Peak for no reason. You must avenge us!"
Wang Li turned to look at the crowd.
"Is it coming?"
Qin Yu gathered all his spiritual energy, having already retreated several hundred steps.
If the Outer Sect disciples were this arrogant, the Inner Sect disciples couldn't be much better.
If a fight broke out, Qin Yu planned to escape during the chaos.
But Wang Li didn't make a move. Instead, he continued to ask gently, "May I ask why you are bullying my junior brothers?"
'Because they deserve it!' many thought to themselves.
But they couldn't say that out loud. A senior brother stepped forward, saluted Wang Li, and pointed at the mess on the ground to explain:
"Senior Brother Wang, this marketplace is a public space for us to set up stalls and stroll around. The Sect Rules clearly state that spirit beasts are prohibited here. But last night, they rode their spirit beasts and made this place a mess. How could we tolerate that?"
Wang Li nodded, "That's reasonable. It's our Beast-Taming Peak's fault."
Kong Tianjiao panicked, "Senior Brother, don't listen to their one-sided story. Our spirit beasts were in the courtyard last night and never came here."
"We're being framed!"
Other Beast-Taming Peak disciples echoed.
"Senior Brother, please stand up for us!"
"This is slander, please investigate thoroughly, Senior Brother."
"Enough!" Wang Li waved his sleeve, silencing everyone.
Wang Li said sternly, "Even if this is slander, why are you the ones being slandered? Why has no one investigated the truth? Why is there such a strong response? Ultimately, it's because of your arrogance and making too many enemies, leading to this lesson."
Upon hearing this, all the Beast-Taming Peak disciples lowered their heads in shame.
They reflected on themselves, realizing that under Kong Tianjiao's leadership, they had indeed gone too far in some matters over the years.
Only Kong Tianjiao's eyes were full of defiance.
'You're just a Supreme Spiritual Root. Wait until my talent improves, and I'll trample you underfoot.'
Wang Li cupped his hands to everyone, "This is our Beast-Taming Peak's fault, and we will take full responsibility."
"We will clean up this mess within a day and offer five thousand contribution points to the merchants and stall owners. Although it can't compensate for your lost time, it shows our sincerity in admitting our mistake."
The Beast-Taming Peak disciples winced at the mention of five thousand contribution points.
There were about a hundred of them, averaging fifty contribution points each, equivalent to a month and a half of their allowance.
But since Senior Brother Wang had spoken, they dared not disobey.
Wang Li's actions left everyone feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Senior Brother Wang is fair and just, admirable!"
"We were impulsive in this incident, acting without investigation, which was indeed wrong."
Watching this harmonious scene, Qin Yu felt a bit out of place.
Why wasn't this guy following the usual plot?
Outer Sect disciples were so arrogant, yet Inner Sect disciples were so humble and courteous.
Is there such a big contrast at the Beast-Taming Peak?
One must admit, Wang Li's methods were indeed brilliant. In just a few words, he turned a big issue into a small one and eased the tension between the Beast-Taming Peak's Outer Sect disciples and everyone else.
However, Qin Yu's goal was achieved this time. The Beast-Taming Peak people had been beaten enough, giving the servant disciples a breath of relief.
With this lesson, these Beast-Taming Peak disciples would likely restrain themselves in the future.
At the very least, they should properly dispose of their spirit beasts' manure and not let it fall into others' hands again.
The most arrogant of the Beast-Taming Peak, Kong Tianjiao, also received the harshest lesson.
He brought it upon himself; he could have just taken a few hits, but he chose to make such a big sacrifice.
The key is that even so, Kong Tianjiao didn't escape this beating.
It's utterly embarrassing.
If it were Qin Yu, he would have left the sect and gone home by now; it's too humiliating.
For a long time to come, Kong Tianjiao would likely be the butt of jokes.
'Heh heh heh, it's great being behind the scenes!'
Qin Yu, with Li Zhengtong, Xiao Zhi, and others, swaggered out of the crowd.
"How was it? Wasn't it satisfying this time?"
Li Zhengtong's chubby face quivered as he said, "Satisfying, extremely satisfying, especially seeing Kong Tianjiao rolling in the manure pile. I'd say it's worth shoveling manure for another month."
"Yu Ge, you're amazing. Even Outer Sect disciples are like little brothers in front of you!"
Xiao Zhi and the others flattered Qin Yu.
Qin Yu laughed heartily, "The Cultivation World isn't just about fighting; it's about using your brain. Knowledge is power, understand?"
"Understood, understood!"
"Now go clean up the mess!"
"To celebrate my victory over my first enemy in the Cultivation World, I'll treat everyone to grilled fish tonight, by the river next to Maple Leaf Plaza!"
"Long live Yu Ge!"
While Qin Yu's side was harmonious, things were grim at the Beast-Taming Peak.
Kong Tianjiao and others were laboriously cleaning up the mess with tools.
Taking advantage of the cleaning, Kong Tianjiao approached a small, round-headed cultivator with eyes full of wisdom.
"Li Fen, who do you think is framing us? Zhou Shuhai from the Pill Refining Peak, Li Ming from the Body-Training Peak, or Ye Changming from the Law-Enforcing Peak, or maybe these shop owners?"
Li Fen was the strategist for this small group of Beast-Taming Peak's Outer Sect disciples.
Over the years, the Beast-Taming Peak had managed to do all sorts of bad things while perfectly avoiding sect rules, all thanks to Li Fen's clever mind.
"None of them!" Li Fen shook his head lightly, pretending to be profound as he dabbed a bit of manure with his finger and observed it closely.
"What do you see from this?"
"Stop beating around the bush and just tell me the answer!" Kong Tianjiao waved his fist angrily in the air, saying, "There's a head for every grievance and a debtor for every debt. If we don't retaliate for this, I'm not human."
Li Fen slowly said, "This manure is still fresh and well-formed."
"It was likely produced yesterday. The method used was intentional collection, and it had to be collected carefully to maintain its integrity."
Kong Tianjiao held back his anger, "I don't have time to listen to you analyze this stuff."
Analyzing this with someone who just fell into a manure pile is understandably infuriating.
"Don't you get it? The people you mentioned would find it hard to get such intact manure."
"The manure would have been destroyed during the cleaning process!"
"Since the opponent used this method against us, they must have three characteristics."
Kong Tianjiao: "What three?"
"First, they have a grudge against us!"
"Second, they are weak and can't confront us directly!"
"Third, they can easily obtain our spirit beasts' excrement!"
A gleam of insight flashed in Li Fen's eyes, "Based on these three points, the ones framing us are those servant disciples who clean up!"
"Only they have the motive, and only they can easily get such intact 'tools of the crime.'"
"Servant disciples!" Kong Tianjiao's eyes burned with rage, "How dare they!"