Chapter 74 - Hall Master
The Punishment Hall was located on top of a mountain. It was three stories tall, and the entire hall was blood-red.
Perhaps it was because they had killed too many people and this place was completely barren. There were once disciples who thought that this place was desolate and could not grow, but after a few days, the plants withered and withered. They repeated trials after tests, and finally resigned themselves to their fate.
From then on, the killing intent became denser and some disciples were even more unwilling to approach.
Under the lead of two elders, Zi Chen slowly walked up the stone steps. A merciless killing intent blew over him, causing him to uncontrollably shiver.
This was the only Punishment Hall of the Spirit Martial Sect. Even if the elders made a mistake, they would be punished here.
The two elders kept silent all the way until they brought Zi Chen to the main hall. The hall was three stories high, but it was extremely s.p.a.cious. The entire hall was like a fountain of fresh blood, the killing intent was like a sharp blade, cutting into Zi Chen"s willpower, and was simply a punishment hall. A few cowardly disciples had made a mistake, and before they could even ask, they could not stand the killing intent, and admitted it.
But Zi Chen had not done anything wrong, so he did not think that he had made any mistakes to admit to.
Walking into the hall, there were already dozens of people gathered, following their gazes, Zi Chen saw many familiar faces, among them were Luo Men, w.a.n.g Meng, and many others who survived from the spirit medicine garden, but the ones who were truly familiar with Su Mengyao, Lin Xue, and Miao Kong were not there.
"Zi Chen, are you guilty?"
Suddenly, a cold voice sounded, interrupting Zi Chen"s gaze.
In the main hall sat an old man. He was as thin as a match and there were only a few dozen strands of white hair left. His eyes were deeply sunken into his eye sockets and his skin was full of wrinkles just like chicken skin.
"This person should be the hall master, right? I didn"t expect him to be alarmed." Zi Chen thought in his heart, as he was extremely shocked at the Palace Master"s revered appearance.
The person was dressed in black and was sitting in the middle of the hall. He looked like a huge black hole, a terrifying sight to behold. He looked like a ghost that accidentally broke out of the Nether Realm, causing people to feel fear towards him.
"Zi Chen doesn"t know." Zi Chen took a deep breath, trying his best to maintain his calm.
"You colluded with outer sect disciples to kill a fellow sect disciple, yet you still don"t know the crime?" Hallmaster"s voice was cold, but he did not use his power to suppress them. The killing intent in his tone made people tremble in fear.
"Reporting to Hallmaster, that day, the ten inner disciples were ordered to join hands and try to kill me. If I wasn"t smart, I would have died long ago. Killing people was purely for self-defense out of helplessness." Zi Chen was neither humble nor arrogant, his entire body was releasing many rays of silver light, blocking the hall master"s killing intent and coercion. )))
"Then you admit it?" The hall master"s voice turned cold.
Zi Chen raised his head, stared at the hall master who was like a ferocious ghost, and said: "It is said that the Punishment Hall Lord hates evil, and has killed several large core disciples. If the hall master persists in asking, Zi Chen will admit defeat, but he will definitely not accept it."
"Hmph, Zi Chen, what do you have against me? I saw you kill Xu Yan with my own eyes, and you still dare to argue?"
"Yeah, you"re even stealing our spiritual medicine?"
"You even killed Luo Mu and the others."
Just as Zi Chen finished speaking, some of the disciples by the side could not help but ask.
"Zi Chen, you don"t have to quibble about that. We already found out what happened, and today is the day you die." Chen Feng also walked out and said coldly.
Zi Chen did not even look at them, his calm gaze merely looking at the hall master, and said: "Hall Master, I was the one who killed the nine sons of the inner sect, but Xu Yan did not die by my hands, but rather died in the mouth of the giant python. Hundreds of people saw it with their own eyes, and they are obviously slandering him."
Now, Zi Chen did not care about it at all, and directly said: "The ten inner sect disciples relied on Chen Feng"s support, and actually surrounded and killed one of my disciples, it is extremely shameless, and when we fought, he said that Chen Feng was jealous of my high talent, and was afraid of threatening him, so we arranged for them to attack, and even said that after death, they would turn into wraiths, and would not look for them, and look for Chen Feng."
"I was lucky enough to survive in the end, but I would like to ask, Palace Chief, if I died that day, would there be anyone who would plead for an explanation for me?" Zi Chen raised his head, his voice resounding loudly.
"Bullsh * t, you"re spouting nonsense, slandering me. I will be jealous of your talent. Chen Feng shouted in anger.
Zi Chen looked at Chen Feng, with a tinge of ridicule in his eyes: "Xu Yan died in the python"s mouth, there were at least a hundred people who saw it, and yet you say that I killed him, and why can"t I believe what I hear? The ten disciples of the inner sect have no enmity with me, so why do you want to kill me?
"I am only a year old and am already at the fifth level of Innate Qi. What talent do you think I have? If I don"t have talent, then what are you? " Zi Chen indifferently replied, indifferent and ridiculing.
Gasps sounded from all directions. Only now did everyone remember that Zi Chen was still a kid at the fifth level of True Qi a year ago, but after a year, he had already stood at the peak of the True Qi Realm and became the first person below the Innate Realm.
The Chen Feng back then, naturally did not possess such talent like Zi Chen.
Zi Chen"s gaze turned cold and he said: "If you want to kill people, then you must have the awareness of being killed. They have evil intentions and deserve to die in the first place."
Dozens of people here are able to testify against this villain, Zi Chen. As for the jealousy and talent of the people here, it is purely a rumor. As a dignified Innate Realm, how would I care about a mere True Qi Realm. Chen Feng was furious, he turned and bowed towards the Palace Mistress, asking her to do things impartially.
"Hmph. A bunch of vile people who talk righteously and pull justice as the flag. If they can believe their words, then it"s better to find a bunch of beasts. Although they can"t speak, they will absolutely not do anything that goes against their own hearts." Zi Chen said coldly.
For today"s matter, he had to show an overbearing att.i.tude, or else there would be no chance at all.
Hallmaster swept his gaze over the audience, not uttering a single word.
"Zi Chen, you don"t need to quibble. We do not know who you are, the reason why you colluded with the outer sect to kill the ten inner sect disciples was to s.n.a.t.c.h the spirit medicine."
"That"s right. You have killed quite a number of sect disciples in the valley. Don"t tell me that they also want to kill you? Have you been quibbling all this time?"
"You are ruthless and do everything you can to rob our spiritual medicines, and you even want to silence us by killing us. If we didn"t run fast, we would have already died by your hands and we wouldn"t have been able to testify against you here."
"You are just a demon wearing a kind coat. Spirit Martial Sect has trash like you, it"s really a misfortune for our sect."
The others started to speak, wanting to kill Zi Chen with their vicious words.
"Zi Chen, you kept saying that killing people is just to protect yourself, do you have any witnesses? Are you trying to protect yourself by killing all the disciples in the valley?" Hallmaster suddenly spoke out, his ice cold eyes staring straight at Zi Chen.
Zi Chen felt a wave of killing intent attack him, and he could not help but take a few steps back. The silver light around his body showed signs of dissipating, and he was shocked in his heart, this hall master"s strength was truly terrifying.
"Reporting to Hallmaster, he has no witnesses, because what we said was the truth. In front of the truth, there is no one who can defend him."
"We are on the side of justice." Some disciples spoke up.
"If there are no witnesses, who can prove that what you say is true? Do you think I believe them, or do you believe one side of it?" The hall master asked coldly.
All the disciples sneered, as if they had already witnessed the scene of the hall master personally killing Zi Chen.
"Humph!" Chen Feng snorted, and retreated.
The current situation was completely powerless against Zi Chen, and Hallmaster was known to be a murderer without blinking an eye, so the moment he determined that Zi Chen was a villain, he would definitely kill him on the spot.
"I can testify for him." Suddenly, a cold voice rang out from outside the great hall.
"I can also prove that Zi Chen is innocent." Another crisp sound rang out.
Footsteps could be heard, and two beautiful figures appeared. Su Mengyao, dressed in white, with a slender figure, leisurely walked over, with her beautiful face looking straight at Zi Chen. Lin Xue"s legs were straight, her skin jade-like, and her jade-like feet stepped on her Barbarian Boots, which made clattering sounds when she stepped on the ground.
"It"s you guys?" Seeing Lin Xue and Su Meng Yao, Chen Feng"s face changed. He did not understand why the two of them had appeared, he had clearly arranged for people to restrain the two of them.
"If it"s not us, then who are we, could it be the trash that you sent? Chen Feng, I never thought that you would actually be so despicable. Zi Chen has no grievances and no enmity with you, yet you repeatedly want to kill him. It is simply a vile act of a vile person like you to become the sect master of a Spirit Martial Sect, it is simply the misfortune of a Spirit Martial Sect. " Su Mengyao said coldly as soon as she came up.
"You …!" Chen Feng was furious, his expression was extremely ugly. This was the first time Su Mengyao spoke to him in this tone.
"You are simply a shameless person." Lin Xue also coldly said: "In the spirit medicine garden, you made the ten disciples of the inner sect kill Zi Chen, and now you find these villains just like you to testify, you guys are practically the same as each other."
The sudden appearance of these two people was beyond everyone"s expectations. They looked at each other in dismay and wanted to retort.
"All of you, don"t speak. I feel disgusted when I hear your voices. They"re using the cover of righteousness to do something shady." With just one sentence from Su Mengyao, everyone was left speechless.
"In the Spiritual Medicine Garden, if it weren"t for Zi Chen, you would have died a few times. But now, you are harming him instead. Lin Xue also rebuked angrily.
The crowd did not say a word, not knowing how to refute.
"Spirit Martial Sect is a sect, and has its own rules. This is not your home, nor is it a place where you can do as you please. The Punishment Hall is the most sacred and impartial place in the entire Spirit Martial Sect. If you all lie here, you will be severely punished. "
Su Mengyao"s voice was cold, her words causing everyone"s hearts to tremble, and the faces of some timid people to change.
"There are many elders who have died here. You better take care of yourselves." Su Mengyao warned again.
Everyone lowered their heads and no longer spoke.
Turning her head, Su Mengyao looked at the Palace Master and smiled: "Palace Lord, you should have a rough idea of what"s going on right now."
His ghost-like face shook, and the Head Palace Master said coldly: "Men, bring them down for questioning. If there are any mistakes, execute them immediately."
The hall master"s voice was ice-cold, the killing intent instantly gushed out, in an instant, the entire hall seemed to have fallen into an ice cellar, ice cold to the extreme and filled with killing intent, as though a G.o.d of death had descended.
A few of them even fell to the ground, their faces filled with fear. After crawling to the center of the great hall in a few steps, they continuously cried out: "Hall Master, please spare me, I was bewitched by Chen Feng and only after a moment of confusion did I slander Zi Chen."
"Zi Chen, spare us, we were wrongly accused, we were a.s.signed by Chen Feng."
There was a second person as well. On that day, they were able to see Lin Xue and the others being humiliated and not save them, and even spoke their views righteously. It was reasonable for them to betray Chen Feng under the endless killing intent.