This Is What a Villain Is Like

Chapter 145: Chapter 88: The Seed of Disappointment Has Been Sown; Where Did That Big Jiang Lan of Hers Go?

"You can rest assured, Han."

She Mou, Caiyun, Qi Heng, and the other young Celestial Prides all spoke up.

No one wanted to be needlessly dragged into matters with the Blood Immortal Sect at a time like this. If the situation proved serious, even their families and Sects would be implicated.

Had one of their own fellow disciples been the culprit, it would have been impossible for them not to sense the commotion.

Ling Zhuyun nodded. With her powerful perception, she could tell with a single glance who was lying.

’The young Celestial Prides from the major sects had neither motive nor reason to do this. Unless they were complete fools, why would any of them act at such a critical juncture?’

"The most likely culprits are those Loose Cultivators. It would be best to have them open their Seas of Consciousness for our inspection."

"The matter of the Blood Immortal Sect is too great to overlook a single person," She Mou said, his eyes cold as his gaze swept over the crowd of Loose Cultivators.

The Loose Cultivators all looked panicked, unable to conceal the anger beneath their fear.

Just then, Qi Heng’s gaze suddenly landed on Ye Ming, who was trailing behind the group. "We can all swear on our Heart Demons that we never left our rooms last night," he said coldly. "But I wonder, where did this Lin go last night? And who was he with?"

At his words, many people immediately turned to look.

Ye Ming knew this incident would cast suspicion on him. He had deliberately hung back a few steps to think of how to handle the situation.

Ling Zhuyun, too, looked at Ye Ming in surprise, her delicate brows knitting together unconsciously.

"Could it be that you were with Saintess Zhu Yun again last night, Ye?"

Jiang Lan asked with a light chuckle, his smiling gaze turning to Ling Zhuyun.

’Again?’

Ling Zhuyun was puzzled for a moment, then she suddenly recalled the excuse she’d made at the tea gathering.

’That had been the first lie she had ever told, all to cover up the truth of Ye Ming’s assassination attempt on Jiang Lan.’

’After all, Ye Ming had acted with good intentions. He’d done it to save the Jasper Pool Sect disciples, for her sake. She had a duty to repay that favor.’

’But Jiang Lan’s slightly mocking tone... did he know she had broken her principles and lied that day? Or was it just an offhand comment?’

"I left the village last night for some business and went into the mountains," Ye Ming said, taking a silent, deep breath to compose himself. "I thought I’d scout the route in advance to avoid delaying everyone..."

"How kind of you, Ye," Qi Heng sneered. "You clearly expended a great deal of mental energy on the journey here, yet you still had the strength and presence of mind to go out scouting and breaking arrays."

"Even the seniors from the Celestial Craftsmanship Creation Institute stated that deducing how to break the arrays would require immense mental effort. You must be remarkably talented, Ye, to not only show no fatigue but also find time to scout the path afterward. How impressive..."

He’d disliked Ye Ming from the start, and now, feeling the man was shrouded in suspicion, he began to mock him openly.

"Every word I said was true," Ye Ming stated, his expression unchanging.

"You claim it’s true, but who knows if you’re connected to the remnants of the Blood Immortal Sect? Do you dare swear it on your Dao Heart?" Qi Heng snorted.

Ye Ming’s expression faltered. While he had been to the Blood Red Plateau and acquired some items related to the Blood Immortal Sect, he genuinely had no connection to its remnants.

The problem was that he had omitted the most crucial detail from his explanation: the truth about the arrays here.

’He was counting on using these arrays to set a trap and kill Jiang Lan.’

"Ye was only trying to help. Qi Heng, why must you be so aggressive? If he were truly guilty, why would he leave such an obvious hole in his story for everyone to question?"

Just then, Jiang Lan raised a hand to stop Qi Heng. He turned to Ye Ming with a look of keen interest. "I, for one, trust in Ye’s character," he said. "However, to convince everyone else, why don’t you simply prove your innocence, Ye?"

Ye Ming looked at him, his brow furrowed slightly, but he remained calm as he asked, "And how would I do that?"

"It’s quite simple. Just open up your Sumeru Ring and other such items. If you have any ties to the Blood Immortal Sect, there will surely be something related to it inside."

"Of course, a Sumeru Ring is a personal item, and we would not presume to inspect it ourselves. So, let’s trouble Saintess Zhu Yun to conduct the examination. I trust none of you would doubt the Saintess’s integrity, would you?"

"And you, Ye, should trust Saintess Zhu Yun as well."

Jiang Lan spoke leisurely with a smile on his lips, his last two sentences clearly directed at Ling Zhuyun.

Qi Heng protested, "Young Master Jiang, you know perfectly well that Saintess Zhu Yun is the one who brought him here, and yet you still..."

"Are you suggesting Saintess Zhu Yun would be biased?" Jiang Lan asked with a faint smile.

Qi Heng was struck speechless.

Ye Ming hadn’t expected Jiang Lan to propose this solution. Of course, from any angle, it was indeed the best and most convincing way to resolve the situation.

But it just so happened to be the one solution he was most unwilling to accept.

Ling Zhuyun glanced at Jiang Lan with some surprise and silently pondered his intentions.

’After all that beating around the bush, was his ultimate goal just to have me inspect Ye Ming’s Sumeru Ring? Does his ring really contain something that shouldn’t see the light of day?’

’He’s placing this much trust in me... isn’t he afraid I’ll just cover for Ye Ming again, like last time?’

As these thoughts ran through her mind, Ling Zhuyun noticed Ye Ming’s hesitation.

It was obvious he had a secret and didn’t want her to inspect his Sumeru Ring.

A guess formed in Ling Zhuyun’s mind. She let out an imperceptible sigh and prepared to refuse.

’She wasn’t interested in other people’s secrets.’

’But she also understood now that Ye Ming wasn’t as forthright and magnanimous as he pretended to be.’

’If she were in his shoes, faced with the same accusation, she would have presented her Sumeru Ring without a second thought to prove her innocence.’