"I have a major case to report," Jiang Li placed Jiang Yixing on the ground and saluted Mayor Zeng.
"Go on."
"I am Jiang Li, a native of Qingcheng, and a self-cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage. This is my companion, Yuan Wuxing, a self-cultivator in the Golden Core stage. We heard that many children have gone missing in Qingcheng in recent years and the local authorities are understaffed. Therefore, we conducted a private investigation and finally captured the mastermind."
Jiang Li paused and pointed to Jiang Yixing on the ground.
"The mastermind is the ancestral elder of the Jiang family, Jiang Yixing!"
The crowd outside the hall was stunned when they heard Jiang Li's words.
The dozen parents who had lost their children burst into tears. If the guards hadn't stopped them, they would have rushed into the hall to demand Jiang Yixing's life. They were informed by Yuan Wuxing that their children had been used in blood rituals.
"Jiang Li, be cautious with your words. The Jiang family has always been virtuous, and they produced a hero like Jiang Renhuang. If you speak without evidence and make baseless accusations, I will charge you with defamation," Mayor Zeng said calmly but with a hint of threat.
"Naturally, I have evidence. Why is the Jiang family repeatedly stealing babies? Jiang Yixing has mediocre talent and barely reached the Golden Core stage. Therefore, he thought of using black magic to sacrifice infants, using their forms to nourish his Golden Core and extend his lifespan."
Ignoring Mayor Zeng's threat, Jiang Li calmly analyzed the situation.
"I don't know if what I said is right, Jiang Yixing?" Jiang Li leaned down to look at Jiang Yixing's old face, which had turned red due to absorbing the vitality of infants.
"Who are you!" Jiang Yixing lay injured on the ground, unable to move, greatly shocked. Except for those of his generation in Qingcheng, who else would know about his mediocre talent and his aspiration to reach the Golden Core stage?
Jiang Li transmitted his voice, "You use my name to stir up trouble, and yet you don't recognize me, cousin?"
Jiang Yixing's eyes widened, reflecting the ever-changing appearance of Jiang Li. Finally, he vaguely saw the face of the person who had once left home.
A wave of immense fear engulfed Jiang Yixing. If Jiang Li personally took action against the Jiang family, he would have no chance of survival. Even if the Lord of Qingcheng protected him, it would be of no use, let alone the Emperor of Great Zhou!
He wanted to scream Jiang Li's name with all his might, but Jiang Li secretly used a spell to knock him unconscious. It would be days before he woke up.
Upon hearing Jiang Li's revelation about Jiang Yixing practicing black magic, the onlookers began to murmur and discuss the matter. The fact that the ancestral elder of the Jiang family and the Emperor's cousin was practicing black magic was a significant scandal. If it spread, they would be ridiculed by people from other dynasties for their pride in the law and their lax governance, as well as the rampant practice of black magic in the Emperor's birthplace.
The head of the Jiang family, leaning on a cane, slowly walked toward them. The crowd automatically made way for him. Seeing the ancestral elder faint on the ground, they quickly stepped forward to check on him and found that he was just unconscious, with no damage to his foundation. They then turned to Jiang Li and angrily said, "Are you implying that our family's ancestral elder used the vitality of infants in cultivation? Fine, go ahead and investigate, but remember, if you cannot find the infants' resentments, you will pay a price for insulting the Jiang family and Qingcheng!"
The head of the Jiang clan said that it is a common method for inspecting the sorcery on the Jiuzhou continent. Sorcery cultivation harms others and benefits oneself, so most of the practitioners will have resentment in their bodies. Not to mention someone like Jiang Yixing, who uses several hundred babies for cultivation; the amount of resentment in his body is likely to be overwhelming.
Jiang Li lightly laughed, "The head of the Jiang clan is really confused. It seems you have forgotten that you used the power of faith to dissipate the resentment inside Jiang Yixing's body."
The head of the Jiang clan was exposed by Jiang Li's words and turned pale.
The power of faith can dissipate resentment, which is a rare thing known to few. He could not understand how Jiang Li knew about this.
But it's useless to think about these matters now; the most important thing is to quickly suppress this matter.
"Resentment can be dissipated, but the infant corpses are still there. I happened to discover a space node, filled with infant corpses. Perhaps the adults could take someone to have a look."
"Sir, you must not listen to this person's nonsense. This person just entered the city today and has never been to Qingcheng before. How could anyone by chance discover a space node in one day and claim it is from our Jiang family? This person must be sent by another clan to discredit our Jiang family. I implore the sir to see through it!"
The reason the head of the Jiang clan arrived late was because he had sent someone to secretly investigate Jiang Li's identity and handle the evidence. Unfortunately, it was too rushed, and they only found out that Jiang Li had just arrived in Qingcheng, and the space node had not been cleaned up.
"It's late in the day. This case is complicated and difficult to come to a conclusion. To find out the truth, we will revisit this another day." Lord Zeng glanced at the unconscious Jiang Yixing and then at the tricky Jiang Li, fearing that he might come up with something else. He paused and continued, "For now, Jiang Yixing will be detained in the dungeon."
"Adjourn!"
...
After adjourning, Lord Zeng no longer maintained his previous steady demeanor and hurriedly went with the head of the Jiang clan to a secret chamber for urgent discussions.
"I've told you to stop, but you didn't listen. Now it's a mess, and someone has found out!" complained Lord Zeng.
"What can I do? The ancestors insisted on doing this. Who can stop them?" The head of the Jiang clan weakly retorted, with little confidence.
"But you told me that this matter was secretly instructed by Jiang Renhuang," Lord Zeng glanced at the head of the Jiang clan.
"It was the ancestor's insistence, and Jiang Renhuang reluctantly agreed," quickly added the head of the Jiang clan to complete his statement.
"Why not ask Jiang Renhuang to personally intervene and suppress the matter? With his involvement, the emperor would also save face," Lord Zeng suggested.
"It's difficult. Jiang Renhuang has always acted on a whim. When he wants to come, he will come. The Jiang family doesn't have means to contact him." In fact, the head of the Jiang clan really wanted to say, "Where is this Jiang Renhuang coming from? If we could really contact Jiang Renhuang, we wouldn't have to go to great lengths to deceive one lord after another." Of course, such thoughts couldn't be spoken aloud.
"So, what should we do now?"
"We should be prepared on both fronts. The ancestors are cautious. The only evidence is the space used for the blood sacrifice of infants. I have sent people to handle it, but there's no guarantee they won't do anything unexpected. As for Yuan Wuxing, he's easy to deal with, timid and lacking determination. But that person named Zhang Li is not easy to handle. I've never heard of him before, but his combat power is extremely high, and from the way he captured the ancestor, it's not an exaggeration to say he is the top expert in Qingcheng."
"Violence is out of the question. I will go find him personally tonight and see if I can persuade them to leave. This matter concerns the reputation of the emperor, and this person should not be so reckless as to file a lawsuit against the ancestor, disregarding the emperor's reputation."
"That's good." Lord Zeng nodded thoughtfully. "But there's still a problem."
"What is it?"
"Who is Yuan Wuxing?"