Ma Hongyu couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh.
This time...
If it hadn't been for Yun Jin's warning, he would've walked straight into the trap. He felt a faint bitterness rise in his chest—sorrow for Zhao Wuji, and even more for himself.
Still, Ma Hongyu was grateful he had come prepared. He looked at Zhao Wuji and spoke in a steady voice. "I'm not distorting the truth, nor am I making baseless accusations. I have evidence."
"Evidence?" Zhao Wuji cast Ma Hongyu a skeptical glance.
How could there be evidence in a situation like this?
Ma Hongyu slowly pulled out a recording stone.
"When Ye Danxia approached me, something already felt off. So I recorded everything. From yesterday until now, every interaction I had with Ye Danxia is backed up by this stone. After meeting her, I never once touched the storage pouch. There was simply no opportunity to steal the spirit herbs."
He handed the recording stone directly to Lin Ya.
Zhao Wuji's face darkened even further.
A recording stone?
Ye Danxia's expression twisted as she stared at the stone.
Last time, Yun Jin had done the same—whipping out not just one or two recording stones, but over a hundred of them. Now Ma Hongyu was pulling the same move.
The memories she'd tried to bury came crashing down on her. In that moment, Ye Danxia could almost see Yun Jin's shadow behind Ma Hongyu's calm demeanor.
She clenched her teeth. Yun Jin didn't even need to show her face anymore. She could still make Ye Danxia suffer beyond measure.
Lin Ya took the stone and played it on the spot.
Zhao Wuji instinctively wanted to stop him, but quickly realized he didn't have the power. He was no longer Lin Ya's equal—not in cultivation, not in reputation, and certainly not in influence.
All he had left was the title of sect master. If Lin Ya truly wanted to act, there was nothing he could do.
Ma Hongyu's recording began from the moment Ye Danxia first approached him. It showed how she had volunteered herself for the task, how she presented the sect master's token... all of it.
That alone wasn't enough to prove he never touched the storage pouch.
But the recordings from the second day began immediately after they met again—showing Ye Danxia being urged to hand over the spirit herbs, and then Zhao Wuji summoning them into the main hall. Every moment was captured with complete clarity.
And throughout the entire process, the storage pouch containing the spirit herbs remained firmly in Ye Danxia's hands. Ma Hongyu never even got close to it.
Once the playback ended, Lin Ya looked toward Zhao Wuji.
"Sect Master, it appears that until this morning—when they came to greet you—the storage pouch never left Ye Danxia's possession. Ma Hongyu never touched it. So, if we're claiming he secretly stole the herbs, are we to believe he somehow used a heaven-defying secret technique right here in the great hall, taking the contents without anyone noticing? If that's the case, we really ought to interrogate him in detail."
Though Lin Ya said "interrogate Ma Hongyu," his tone made it painfully clear who he was truly targeting.
Ye Danxia stood there trembling, nearly collapsing.
Han Xiaoyu stepped forward, eyes filled with concern. "Master, Senior Sister, she—"
"Silence!" Zhao Wuji snapped, voice sharp with fury.
So this was how deep Ma Hongyu's scheming went—he had recorded everything from the very beginning. What was he supposed to say in Ye Danxia's defense now?
If he pushed the false accusation any further, not only would Ye Danxia fall, he'd be dragged down with her.
Han Xiaoyu froze.
Since becoming Zhao Wuji's disciple, he had never been scolded like this before. A pang of grievance rose in his heart.
But Zhao Wuji had no time to worry about Han Xiaoyu's hurt feelings.
He turned to Ye Danxia with a cold, expressionless face. "Danxia, I trusted you. That's why I gave you such an important task. Now so many spirit herbs are missing, and you were the only one to handle that pouch. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Ye Danxia finally began to panic. Her face had gone ghostly pale.
"Master, I... I don't know what happened. Maybe... maybe someone stole it when I wasn't paying attention. I really don't know."
"You don't know?" Lin Ya arched an eyebrow. "And here I thought you were deliberately framing Deacon Ma. These spirit herbs aren't trivial. If you accuse someone of stealing them, that could ruin their life. What do you say, Sect Master?"
His words cut straight to the bone.
The other peak lords remained silent. But silence itself was already a statement. Even the three who followed Zhao Wuji—Huo Lie and the others—didn't speak.
Yes, they supported Zhao Wuji. But that didn't mean they would blindly support a Qi Refining disciple acting this recklessly.
Zhao Wuji clenched his jaw.
He had little support to begin with—just those three. If he mishandled Ye Danxia's case, he risked losing even them.
And if that happened, he would be completely alone.
His father's political comeback would be meaningless if he couldn't hold his own position.
He stared at Ye Danxia, who could barely stand, and steeled his resolve.
"Ye Danxia," he said coldly. "You're already a convicted offender. And now you commit another crime? These are cumulative charges. Do you know what fate awaits you?
A Qi Refining disciple like you has no use for those herbs. Tell me, where are they? If you confess now, I may grant you leniency. But if we discover the truth later... your punishment will only be harsher."
It was a veiled offer. As long as she gave the herbs back, he'd help cover it up.
But Ye Danxia couldn't hear the subtext anymore.
All she knew was—
Zhao Wuji was forcing her hand.
She had only taken a few spirit herbs. Couldn't Zhao Wuji, as the sect master, just make up the difference?
Why did he have to turn this into a public spectacle?
After everything he had, after all his years of accumulation, he couldn't spare even this?
What kind of master was he, if he wouldn't protect his own disciple?
Her resentment toward Zhao Wuji grew deeper and more vicious.
She made up her mind. No matter what, she wouldn't confess.
The herbs were already in Yang Yun's hands. They wouldn't find any evidence.
Just as Ye Danxia was thinking this—
The great hall doors slammed open.
A figure was thrown inside.
Ye Danxia instinctively backed away.
The person landed beside her, groaning in pain.
Her pupils shrank.
It was Yang Yun.
His face was deathly pale, his chest stained with patches of red—it was obvious he had just vomited blood. His wrists and ankles were tightly bound like a prisoner.
Ye Danxia was stunned.
Wasn't Yang Yun supposed to be a Demon Sovereign?
A legendary figure like him... even if he had fallen from grace, how could he end up like this?
She looked toward the entrance, her mind teetering on the edge of collapse.
Yun Jin strolled in with a cheerful smile.
"Yun Jin! This is a formal meeting. How dare a mere disciple barge in uninvited!" Zhao Wuji barked, scowling.