Chapter 22

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Chapter 22: Ironclad Evidence

The Red-Robed Immortal and the scoundrels who had shown their skills now dripped with cold sweat, their earlier arrogance gone.

The witnesses who’d testified regretted their words bitterly. Some slapped their own faces, muttering, "Why’d I open my mouth? We’re doomed!"

As predicted, Fang Lie sneered, "Law Enforcer Yuan Qing, with evidence this solid, shouldn’t you announce judgment?"

Yuan Qing sighed, turning to the group. "Esteemed seniors and Dao friends… any last words?"

"That’s fake evidence!" the Red-Robed Immortal blustered.

"Fabricated nonsense!" others chorused.

Admitting guilt meant Fang Lie’s wrath. Denial was their only path.

Fang Lie shattered their hopes with one sentence: "If it’s fake, let the Ancestral Hall verify it through divine skills and Dao magic."

The cultivators paled. The Ancestral Hall’s truth-detecting methods were legendary.

Yuan Qing wiped his brow. "You insist it’s forged? Then I must invoke Dao magic verification per sect rules."

The accused erupted in wrath. "Whose side are you on, Yuan Qing?"

"We avenged your murdered family! Yet you help their killer?"

"Spineless coward!"

Even spectators from the Eight-Hundred-Generation Families jeered:

"Maybe Xiao Huan cheated! Why else would Yuan Qing protect his family’s murderer?"

"A man’s three joys: promotion, riches, dead wife! Fang Lie did Yuan Qing a favor!"

"Bow to your new father, Yuan Qing!"

Yuan Qing’s vision swam crimson. He smashed the table, tears falling. "SHUT UP! You think I don’t burn for vengeance? I’d tear his throat out! But he holds the Ancestor’s Token! Even Thunder Tribulation Immortals must kneel before it!"

The crowd fell silent, pity stirring. Here stood a man forced to protect his family’s killer, sanity unraveling.

Fang Lie’s cold voice cut through: "Apply sect rules. Now."

"What rules?" Yuan Qing stammered.

"The three unyielding tortures!" Fang Lie snapped. "Let them endure if innocent. Survive, retrieve the Ancestor’s Token from Cycle of Fire, then judge me freely."

"Madness!" The Red-Robed Immortal shouted. "Use those tortures and the Yuan family burns!"

"One clan against many? Choose wisely!"

Yuan Qing trembled, trapped.

Fang Lie played his trump card: "Handle this unjustly, and I’ll fetch the Ancestor’s Token myself from Cycle of Fire. You’ll join Li Feng in disgrace."

Caught between the Eight-Hundred-Generation Families’ threats and Fang Lie’s ultimatum, Yuan Qing writhed like a roasted boar – despised by all, escape impossible.

But it was clear neither side would give him any chance to delay, especially Fang Lie, who simply began walking toward the main hall of the Mo Sect Ancestral Hall.

Yuan Qing immediately panicked and shouted, "Fang Lie, what are you doing?"

"Since you refuse to act, I’ll handle it myself!" Fang Lie replied calmly, continuing his steady pace.

Yuan Qing knew that once Fang Lie activated the Cycle of Fire, his own death would be inevitable.

Under the threat of death, the dignity and alliances of the Eight-Hundred-Generation Families meant nothing.

Offending Fang Lie meant certain doom, but offending those families would only lead to isolation and minor harassment after apologies—not death.

Realizing this, Yuan Qing reluctantly yielded. "Enough! I’ll obey you!"

He then addressed Red-Robed Immortal and the others. "You’ve seen it. I can’t help you. Face it—you’ve already lost. Even if I freed you, Fang Lie could reverse the verdict with the Ancestor’s Token. This sacrifice is pointless. Why force me to die with you? My apologies."

"Guards!" Yuan Qing slammed the judge’s wooden hammer. "Verify the Shadow Record Stone’s authenticity with Dao magic!"

A Law Enforcement Heavenly Soldier stepped forward to inspect the stone.

Shadow Record Stones were nearly impossible to falsify—any edits left obvious marks. Fang Lie’s stone was untouched, the original recording.

The soldier soon confirmed, "Law Enforcer, the Shadow Record Stone is genuine. No alterations detected."

Yuan Qing turned coldly to Red-Robed Immortal. "Confess now, or face the three unyielding tortures."

The group sighed, bowing their heads in surrender. None wished to endure those torments.

Relieved, Yuan Qing declared, "Your attack on Mo Sect disciple Fang Lie is unforgivable. But since he lives, your punishment is reduced: thirty strikes with the flaming and watery great rods."

The accused relaxed—painful, but survivable. They accepted.

Then Fang Lie’s voice cut through. "I reject this verdict. These scoundrels ambushed a Mo Sect disciple openly—a heinous crime! They should be beaten to death as a warning!"

"Death? Impossible!" Yuan Qing protested. "You’re unharmed—they only attempted murder. Mo Sect rules demand punishment, not execution!"

"Dozens of seniors ambushing a disciple near the Ancestral Hall—this spits on Mo Sect rules!" Fang Lie retorted. "As Law Enforcer, don’t you know their crimes warrant death? Or are you feigning ignorance?"

Yuan Qing stammered, silenced.

True, attempted murder alone didn’t merit death. But aggravating factors piled high:

First, a premeditated attack by Golden Pool Masters and higher.

Second, committing it near the Ancestral Hall—a direct insult to sect authority.

Third, celebrating afterward, lying under oath, refusing remorse.

Each factor increased the sentence. Combined, death was justified.

Yuan Qing knew this yet ignored it, issuing a laughable thirty strikes instead.

As Yuan Qing sweated, Fang Lie sneered. "Think me some country bumpkin who can’t read sect laws? Hear this: include the perjurers too. Either execute them all with rods, or I’ll execute you alongside them. Decide now."