Chapter 1043: The Anti-Traitor Conference (Twenty-three)

"This is absolutely not allowed..."

"Xunyi, don't forget what you just promised me?"

Before Liu Xunyi could stand up to defend himself, Xie Xuan had already grasped his arm tightly, and whispered to him word by word: "Today's situation is not only a contest of strength, but also a contest of reputation. Even if you resort to violence, you must do it with good reason, so that those who support you... can have a legitimate reason and not become rebels in the martial arts world. After all, there is a long way to go, and everyone still has to make a living in this land. Even if you don't plan for your own future, you must consider their future."

While saying this, Xie Xuan intentionally or unintentionally cast his gaze towards the anxious Xiao Zhirou, Teng Sanshi, and Qin Ku. The deep meaning was self-evident.

"But……"

"I'm different from them. After the death of the mansion master, I have no relatives or friends in the world, and I have no ties to anyone. I can live to this day with humiliation and shame, and nothing else." Xie Xuan seemed to see Liu Xunyi's reluctance, so his eyes softened and he comforted her kindly, "I'm different from you too. You are still young and have a bright future. I'm getting old, and my energy and spirit are not as good as before. Even if I live, it's hard to achieve anything else. I'm just waiting to die. What's more, your father treated me with great kindness when he was alive, but I never found a chance to repay him. Now I can use my own broken body to help you get through this disaster, which can be regarded as repaying your father's kindness to me."

Xiao Zhirou looked at Xie Xuan, who was laughing about life and death, with complicated eyes, and said hesitantly: "I can't believe you can go to such lengths to find your clothes, I..."

"Master Xiao, there is no need to do this. I am just repaying a favor."

After saying that, Xie Xuan slowly let go of Liu Xunyi's arm, and gently waved his hand at him who was hesitant to speak, to show that he had made up his mind and there was no need to persuade him anymore.

"Thank you, Master. How could I just watch..."

"Xunyi, if you don't want to disappoint Xie Xuan's painstaking efforts and don't want more innocent people to suffer as a result, you must stay rational at this moment and never act on your emotions." Xiao Zhirou straightened her eyes and took over from Xie Xuan to hold Liu Xunyi's arm, forcibly pulling him aside with reluctance.

At this moment, Qingfeng felt mixed emotions and his face changed color. Xuanming, Yin Baimei, Zhonglimu, and Tang Yuan looked around, at a loss. Teng Sanshi, Qin Ku, Xue Huzi, and Yun Zhuiyue were either impressed, or angry, or sighed, or relieved... their thoughts were different.

Xunzhen was both moved and annoyed by Xie Xuan's selfless rescue.

What was touching was that Xie Xuan took all the blame on his shoulders, clearing Liu Xunyi cleanly without dragging Prince Shao Qin and himself into the water. He really did his best.

What annoyed her was that Xie Xuan openly proposed that Liu Xunyi should draw a clear line between herself and the Prince of Shao Qin. This move would undoubtedly make Xunzhen's painstaking plan fail. How could she be willing to accept this?

"As the saying goes, 'A dying man's words are kind'. My time is coming to an end, and I would like to have a few heartfelt words with Master Xuanming, Master Yin, Master Zhongli, and Manager Tang before I die." Xie Xuan ignored the gloomy Qingfeng and the chilly Gu Ri and Gu Yue, and walked to the restless Xuanming and the other four, clasping his fists and bowing, and said sincerely, "All four of you were Luo's best friends during his lifetime, and Luo relied on your help to successfully take the throne of the martial arts leader. Of course, Luo had great respect for Shaolin and Kunlun during his lifetime. "Lun, Kongtong, and Tang Sect are also extremely generous. This section can be seen from the fact that Lord Luo recommended you as the 'Earth Sect'. Xie still firmly believes that the four of you are well-known big names in the Central Plains martial arts world, and are definitely not heartless and ungrateful people, let alone those who curry favor with the powerful. You must sincerely want to avenge Lord Luo, want to maintain the bright and righteous path of the Central Plains martial arts world, want to distinguish right from wrong, and reveal the truth. However, today, perhaps due to some reasons... you are afraid to act rashly and have to turn a blind eye..."

"Xie Xuan, stop spreading rumors and misleading people here!" Gu Yue could no longer bear it and scolded angrily, "Do you think that you can cover up Liu Xunyi's despicable crimes by risking your life? Do you think that your nonsense can change the fact that you openly attacked the leader of the martial arts world and colluded with foreign races to fight against the Central Plains martial arts world? Do you think that you can make the heroes of the world forget that your hands are stained with the blood of men, women, old and young of the Gan family in Luzhou by pretending to be righteous? How much is your life worth? How can it make up for the blood debt you owe..."

"Master Xie did use the Gan family of Luzhou to deceive Qingfeng and his followers, and he did owe the Gan family of Luzhou something. However, what he owed to the Gan family of Luzhou was a huge favor, not the blood debt you mentioned."

Just as Gu Yue and Xie Xuan were confronting each other, and everyone present had their own ulterior motives, and the people around them had different opinions, Xunzhen's cold voice sounded quietly, immediately breaking the deadlock in the bluestone square. At the same time, it lifted the spirits of everyone who was full of thoughts, and they all cast suspicious glances at her.

"What do you mean?" An anxious Liu Xunyi hurriedly broke free from Xiao Zhirou's restraints and asked impatiently, "Could it be that... there is another hidden reason for the extermination of the Gan family in Luzhou?"

Xunzhen glanced at Liu Xunyi, who was frowning and covered in blood, with an inexplicable look in her eyes. Suddenly, she changed her expression, stepped forward, looked around without being humble or arrogant, and said seriously: "In fact, I didn't harm any man or woman of the Gan family in Luzhou. The massacre of the whole family was just an illusion I deliberately created."

"what?"

As soon as these words came out, the whole audience was in an uproar. Xie Xuan, Qingfeng and others who were at the center of the vortex were all dumbfounded by Xunzhen's explanation and were stunned.

"Miss Xunzhen, you...you..." "Xiao Yang, Su Hu, please ask Master Gan to come out."

"As ordered!"

Following a response, Xiao Yang and Su Hu quickly dived into the crowd and picked out a trembling and uneasy old man from among the more than a thousand disciples behind Lei Zhen, Yan Shun and Hong Si.

When this old man, who was as strong as an ox but behaved timidly, stepped into the bluestone square with the support of Xiao Yang and Su Hu, Xie Xuan's trembling eyes suddenly changed, and the muscles on his face twitched violently. He was surprised and surprised and blurted out subconsciously: "Brother Yonglin, you are alive?"

However, in the face of Xie Xuan's ecstatic exclamation, Gan Yonglin's reaction was far less excited than his. His erratic eyes looked back and forth at Xie Xuan, Qingfeng, Liu Xunyi, Xiao Zhirou and others, and his lips and teeth opened and closed vaguely, as if he wanted to greet the people present, but his throat was dry due to his inner anxiety, and he couldn't make a sound for a long time.

Just now on the sidelines, he heard everything clearly.

When Gan Yonglin gradually learned that he had unknowingly led the Luzhou Gan family into an unprecedented and brutal fight in the Central Plains martial arts world, his inner horror, confusion of thoughts, fear, and entanglement of positions were all unprecedented complex feelings in his life of more than sixty years.

If he had known in advance that his generous help would actually be against the current leader of the Central Plains martial arts world, he would probably rather die than agree to Xie Xuan's request.

Unfortunately, the matter was done. Even if Gan Yonglin was unwilling, the fact that the Gan family of Luzhou colluded with Xie Xuan to fight against the leader of the Central Plains martial arts world was already established, and no one could change it.

Even if Gan Yonglin kneels down and begs for mercy from Qingfeng now, it is afraid that there will be no good result. After exhausting his remaining shred of rationality and weighing the pros and cons repeatedly, Gan Yonglin finally decides to "go all the way" and fight with Xie Xuan and Liu Xunyi to the end.

Although he was forced, in the eyes of Qingfeng and others...what's the difference?
"This... How is this possible?" Ling Xiaoxiao stared blankly at the timid Gan Yonglin, and said in astonishment, "I clearly sent people to the Gan family in Luzhou to inquire..."

"If the master is so careless in his work, how can his subordinates be so meticulous?" Xunzhen teased with a half-smile, "Madam Luo, why don't you ask your subordinates carefully what they saw in Gan's house?"

"This……"

"A fire reduced the Gan family to ashes. Your people only saw some charred corpses and insisted that the entire Gan family had died tragically, but no one ever investigated the origins of these corpses." Abaolu mocked without hesitation, "In fact, those skeletons in the ruins of the Gan family were corpses we found overnight from the mass grave to fill the gap. If your men had been more careful and found an experienced local coroner, they would have immediately discovered something strange. It's a pity that the people you sent to the Gan family are just like you... they look smart and capable, but they are actually stupid."

"Ha ha……"

As soon as Abaolu said this, there was an immediate burst of laughter, which made Ling Xiaoxiao feel ashamed and angry. Her face turned red. She wanted to refute him, but she didn't know how to start.

"No one in the Gan family was harmed, so how can we talk about exterminating the whole family?" Xunzhen waved his hand to interrupt Lei Zhen and others' commotion, and said seriously, "Therefore, Palace Master Xie only owes the Gan family a favor. Burning down their house and forcing them to leave their hometown, he will have to apologize in the future. But as for killing innocent people and paying blood debt with blood... that is totally unnecessary."

Although Xie Xuan already had the answer in his mind, he still cast his burning gaze towards the anxious Gan Yonglin and asked in disbelief: "Brother Yonglin, is what Miss Xunzhen said... true?"

"Gulu!"

Amid the eager anticipation of Liu Xunyi, Xie Xuan, and Teng Sanshi, the sharp gazes of Qingfeng, Gu Ri, and Gu Yue, and the hesitation of Xuanming and Yin Baimei, Gan Yonglin swallowed hard, mustered up his courage, and answered hesitantly: "Miss Xunzhen... every word is true. All the children of the Gan family... are safe and sound."

"So, of the four major charges Qingfeng just listed, apart from the lack of evidence for the first two, there is another one that is completely false." Seeing the situation reversed, Teng Sanshi's momentum became more and more tough. "If Xie Xuan was just helpless and had to seek the help of the young Qin King to protect my grandson from Qingfeng's harassment... it seems far from being a capital crime of 'colluding with foreign races and plotting against the law'. I don't know what the young Qin King thinks, but I can assert that my grandson will never go against the ancestral etiquette. "I will never betray the Central Plains martial arts world. You all have sharp eyes. The four crimes that Qingfeng just listed are completely groundless and none of them can stand. This shows that this person is targeting my grandson everywhere, and his purpose is to consolidate his power and eliminate dissidents. From now on, I hope that everyone can put aside their prejudices and deal with things impartially. Don't make groundless accusations, and don't add insult to injury. If anyone dares to make false accusations without any evidence, don't blame me for not cherishing our old friendship and turning against him!"

……

(End of this chapter)