Chapter 168: Farce
***
“What’s going on?”
As the Mission Hall was a high-traffic area within the sect where disputes frequently occurred, disciples from the Enforcement Hall were always stationed there.
At this moment, seeing the commotion stirring up here, they immediately grabbed their Enforcement Hall tokens and hurried over.
“They attacked us first!”
Seeing the Enforcement Hall disciples arrive, a flash of cunning quickly passed through the Young Master’s eyes, before he put on a pitiful expression and pointed at Lin Muyu and her companion, turning the accusation back on them.
“Fellow daoist, is what he says true?”
The Enforcement Hall disciple’s gaze turned to Lin Muyu and the unfamiliar young woman beside her, his tone measured, wanting to hear their side of the story first.
Lin Muyu’s eyes fell on the young woman beside her, a trace of worry surfacing in her expression.
She naturally understood that the one who had indeed made the first move was this girl she’d never met before, yet the other party had acted to help her out of a predicament.
Just as Lin Muyu took a deep breath, preparing to explain, her wrist was gently clasped by the young woman.
“He was publicly harassing her just now, and I taught him a lesson, how is that attacking someone? This is called a hero saving a beauty, no wait, a beauty saving a beauty!”
The young woman pointed at the Young Master, then at Lin Muyu, her tone completely righteous and confident.
These words made even the originally stern-faced Enforcement Hall disciples pause, momentarily hesitant.
“She admitted to attacking me herself! Hurry up and arrest her!”
The Young Master, having finally caught them red-handed, quickly stepped forward, urgently pressing them to act.
“Heh, the sect rules state clearly that when disciples are harassed, they have the right to defend themselves on the spot. Don’t tell me you haven’t read them?”
The young woman remained calm and even casually draped her arm over Lin Muyu’s shoulder, a single sentence leaving the Young Master speechless.
Feeling the arm draped over her shoulder, Lin Muyu turned her head somewhat dazedly to look at the young woman’s delicate face, somewhat wanting to ask.
Sister, are we that close?
“I was harassing her, not you! When is it your turn to meddle in other people’s business?”
The Young Master’s expression instantly darkened as he suppressed his anger to retort.
“So you’re admitting that you were indeed harassing her just now?”
The young woman suddenly smiled, her eyes carrying a sharp edge.
Lin Muyu stood to the side, watching the confrontation unfold, feeling that things were taking an increasingly strange turn. Clearly the incident had started because of her, yet she seemed unable to get a word in.
“Stop twisting the facts here! Where’s the evidence? Everything requires evidence. You say I harassed her, then show me the proof!”
The Young Master’s complexion grew increasingly ugly, fine sweat even appearing on his temples as he hastily denied it.
He was well aware that even if he was hit, since there weren’t even obvious injuries on his body, at most it would be judged as an ordinary dispute between disciples, something that could be settled with a few spirit stones.
But if the charge of harassment was confirmed, not only would it be publicly posted within the sect, his reputation would be completely ruined, and the subsequent impact would be even more serious than facing the wall at Reflection Cliff.
“Well said. Then you say I hit you, where’s your evidence?”
The young woman slightly raised her eyebrows, a playful smile curving her lips.
“…”
The Young Master was instantly choked speechless, opening his mouth but unable to find a rebuttal. After a good while, he finally spoke in a somewhat uncertain tone.
“Then… then how about we just forget about this?”
That’s it? Resolved just like that?
Lin Muyu looked at the Young Master’s sudden show of weakness with surprise, unable to help stealing glances at the young woman beside her.
With just a few words, the other party had forced this difficult narcissist into such a corner. This young woman’s tongue was truly formidable.
“Forget about it?”
The young woman seemed to have heard something amusing and gently shook her head.
“Just because you can’t produce evidence doesn’t mean I don’t have any.”
As soon as the words fell, the young woman retrieved a recording stone from her storage ring, and after injecting a thread of spiritual energy, the surface immediately displayed the scene from moments ago.
“How utterly shameless.”
The surrounding disciples all looked at the Young Master with disdain, estimating that today’s scene would quickly spread.
“When… when was this recorded?”
The Young Master looked at the images on the recording stone, instantly dumbfounded, his face full of disbelief.
Lin Muyu was just as shocked as the Young Master. She instinctively recalled the earlier scene, only belatedly realizing what had happened.
At the time, her attention had been entirely on the Young Master, and she hadn’t noticed anyone recording with a recording stone at all. Could it be that the young woman’s technique was too covert?
“Guess?”
The young woman playfully winked, then tossed the recording stone in her hand to the Enforcement Hall disciples, her tone light but carrying a threatening undertone.
“Please, you two, escort him back to the Enforcement Hall. Remember to investigate thoroughly, don’t miss any details, okay~”
A hint of deeper meaning flashed in her eyes, making the Enforcement Hall disciples’ hearts skip a beat.
What surprised the Enforcement Hall disciples even more was that while catching the recording stone, a jade token carved with special patterns had also quietly fallen into their palm.
“Heh, so what if you have evidence? With just them, they wouldn’t dare arrest me!”
Seeing the Enforcement Hall disciples still hadn’t moved, the Young Master simply decided to brazenly double down, showing a shameless expression on his face, relying on the power backing him and certain they wouldn’t dare touch him.
“Oh~ really? Are you sure they won’t dare?”
The young woman looked at him with a smile, but her eyes held a pitying expression.
The next second, something happened that was completely beyond the Young Master’s expectations.
The Enforcement Hall disciple directly stepped forward, the binding rope in his hand instantly wrapping around his wrists, the movement clean and decisive.
“Publicly harassing a female disciple of the sect with clear evidence, please come with us.”
The Enforcement Hall disciple’s expression was particularly serious, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.
“What? Do you know who I am? My father is…”
The Young Master completely panicked, hastily bringing up his backing, trying to use his status to suppress them.
But the Enforcement Hall disciples weren’t buying it at all, only tightening their grip and coldly repeating.
“Please cooperate and come with us!”
Lin Muyu stood in place, quietly watching this farce that had started because of her, feeling that the development of events had completely exceeded expectations. She was even somewhat confused.
“Wait! You can’t arrest me!”
The Young Master struggled to pull out a communication jade token from his chest and hastily injected spiritual energy into it.
A moment later, the jade token lit up with a faint glow, and he immediately looked up at the Enforcement Hall disciples with satisfaction, asking proudly.
“Who is your Elder?”
“Why are you asking that?”
The Enforcement Hall disciple frowned, his tone wary.
“This is a message from your Elder. You take it!”
The Young Master handed over the jade token with a smile on his face. Almost simultaneously, an aged and authoritative voice came from the jade token, gently ordering.
“Xiaojie, today’s incident is just a small friction between disciples, no need to make it a big deal. How about we just let it go?”
Hearing this voice, Lin Muyu’s heart immediately sank.
Why did this scene feel so familiar?
She was momentarily reminded of similar plots she’d seen in TV dramas in her past life.
The Enforcement Hall disciple called Xiaojie didn’t dare be negligent and quickly took the communication jade token, speaking in a low voice for a few sentences.
But in just a moment, the voice from the jade token suddenly changed. The original authority vanished, replaced by a tone carrying several parts of fear.
“This matter concerns the sect’s reputation and absolutely cannot be tolerated! Xiaojie, follow the rules, arrest him immediately!”
The watching disciples, seeing this, immediately erupted into commotion.
This was the first time they’d seen the Enforcement Hall compromise with a disciple!
Could it be that this young woman was truly extraordinary?