Chapter 96

He spoke with a heavier tone, raising his gaze to glance at the statue of a phoenix soaring at the top of the City Lord’s Mansion. “Gentlemen, you are unaware that, due to the frequent disappearances of women in the city, the City Lord has deliberately set up a spell on the phoenix statue. It can monitor every move in every corner of the city and reproduce it through a mystic mirror—quick, take a look! The eye just happened to turn towards us, and everything that just happened must have been thoroughly recorded.”

Spells, surveillance, records.

He Zhizhou was about to vomit out of fear.

Following his line of sight upward, sure enough, he saw the emerald gemstone in the phoenix’s eye, staring directly at them, gleaming brightly in the sunlight.

Who would have thought that after so much scheming and plotting between the two of them, they would find themselves outsmarted, with the bird mocking them, clapping its wings, and shattering them into pieces? “Haha, didn’t expect that! There are surveillance cameras built into Luan City!”

Unexpected, indeed.

He Zhizhou trembled all over. “N-No need for that!”

Ye Zongheng’s eyes flickered. “This is too troublesome. Why don’t we settle this privately…”

The Chief Magistrate, with a righteous look on his face, chuckled loudly. “No worries! The heavenly principles are clear, and while people may be deceived, the heart cannot. Your dispute is so intense that ordinary means are unable to distinguish between good and evil. Today, I will reveal the truth to everyone and expose the wrongdoer!”

With that, he took out a mystic mirror from his storage pouch.

Dozens of pairs of eyes in the crowd stared at the mirror’s surface.

First was Ye Zongheng’s poor acting, tumbling down clumsily without even being touched by He Zhizhou.

Then there was He Zhizhou handing him the money pouch, followed immediately by his sinister cry of “someone’s stealing money.”

But the most spectacular was when Ye Zongheng’s sword intent surged and rushed towards him like a returning tide, lifting him off the ground.

The young man soared into the sky, landed gracefully in front of He Zhizhou, and the long robe fluttered like a dream.

Men would fall silent after watching, and women would shed tears. For a moment, there was complete silence at the scene, and the smile on the Chief Magistrate’s face dimmed as the scene progressed.

What was expected to be a tragic story with blood and tears turned out to be a competition of acting skills between two movie kings, rubbing the audience’s intelligence on the ground.

In this performance of staged accidents and counter-accidents, they played it perfectly.

After a while, someone finally hesitated to speak:

“Oh, this…”

“The behavior of sword cultivators is truly beyond the reach of ordinary people.”

“I wonder which sect’s disciple this is—truly extraordinary—Miss, do you know these two?”

Immediately following was a familiar female voice, extremely indifferent: “I don’t know.”

After her, a young man quickly interjected, “Seeing how close they are, they should be from the same sect. Our Wanjian sect has always behaved uprightly; how could our disciples act like this, haha.”

Ye Zongheng’s heart sank, and when he looked towards the source of the voice, he unexpectedly saw Su Qinghan and Xu Ye from the same sect.

Seeing him raise his head, the pair of hypocrites turned their heads together, pretending to be strangers.

He Zhizhou couldn’t close his mouth, laughing triumphantly. “Retribution! Pitiful! Such deep affection among fellow sect members! My fellow sect members would never—”

He hadn’t finished speaking when he suddenly became speechless, frozen in place.

Led by Zheng Weiqi, the dear fellow sect members, upon noticing his gaze, turned their heads away with complicated expressions, pretending to be indifferent and looking around.

And their waists were empty, without a trace of a sword.

—Why did you bastards hide your swords in your storage pouches! Are you so ashamed of being a sword cultivator that you don’t even want to admit it!

“The weather is really nice today.”

Zheng Weiqi, who turned her head first, said, “It’s perfect for studying. I love studying; it is cultured and refined. How nice!.”

Meng Jue expressed his regret: “I have heard that the ways of sword cultivators are extraordinary, and today I have seen it for myself—truly remarkable.”

The little white dragon’s face turned red, even his dragon horns were tinged with a faint pink. The thought of senior brother He’s previous actions made him so shy that he wanted to cry.

Ning Ning turned her face to the side, her gaze shifting from He Zhizhou to the nearby Pei Ji. “Causing a scene in public is truly excessive. Little Junior Brother, what do you think?”

Pei Ji: “…”

Pei Ji: “I have never seen such a shameless person.”

Tears glistened in He Zhizhou’s eyes—a mixture of vulnerability and injury.

Pei Ji! You traitor! Blinded by desire!!!

“Please follow me.”

The Chief Magistrate said, “At that time, I will inform the elders of the sects to come and claim you personally. May I ask which sect you two belong to?”

Ye Zongheng pretended to be strong, holding back his tears, his voice coldly snorting, “Can’t you tell? I am from the Xuanxu Sword Sect, the number one sect in the world.”

He Zhizhou’s eyes narrowed, and his mouth twitched. If someone didn’t know, they would think he had come from Mount Ivory to cultivate as an immortal: “Boss, I am a disciple of the Wanjian Sect. Please be gentle with the punishment later; we disciples of the Wanjian Sect are afraid of pain.”