Translated by: WuWang
Edited by: Imp-R
Chapter 220: Counterattack
Xiao Sui's heart sank upon hearing this and he quickly took a step forward.
Ma Huaizhen raised his hand expressionlessly, stopping his movement. "Continue."
Xiao Sui's face turned unpleasant. "Hall Master Ma."
Ma Huaizhen looked at Mu Xiaoxiao with a smirk and asked, "What? Is this so-called mirage dragon capable of hurting Mu Xiaoxiao?"
He dug his own hole and now he had to jump into it.
Ma Huaizhen stood firm and silenced all opposing views. Xiao Sui's face showed confusion.
"Xiao Young Master, I am the leader of Wenshi Hall. Since Precept Hall is absent, it falls upon me to make the judgment." Ma Huaizhen chuckled and said, "I just gave face to the Xiao family, does the Young Master really want to interfere in the affairs of my sect?"
Amidst the argument, a distant and majestic dragon roar suddenly echoed from outside the tent.
Ma Huaizhen frowned and immediately wheeled out of the tent. From afar, he spotted the dark red mirage dragon hovering in midair.
His gaze fell upon the young boy beneath the mirage dragon.
Lu Cixian stood with his hands down, facing the various expressions of the onlookers, and calmly said, "Hall Leader, I have brought the mirage dragon."
Whispers of discussion arose around them.
"Is that the mirage dragon?"
"How did Lu Cixian do it?"
Even Ma Huaizhen was a bit surprised. He didn't expect that Lu Cixian and their group could actually bring this mirage dragon here and looking at its scales going backwards...
It truly was a formidable ancient creature.
Ma Huaizhen, without showing any emotion, collected his thoughts. His gaze fell back on the mirage dragon, his eyes turning cold. He immediately released a spiritual consciousness, making such a swift move that no one else could take advantage of it.
Taking a chance with this spiritual consciousness was a gamble for Ma Huaizhen. Although Lu Cixian brought the mirage dragon here, there was no guarantee it wouldn't attack. But in this urgent situation, he was betting that if the mirage dragon made a move, his cultivation would be enough to withstand it.
However, what slightly surprised Ma Huaizhen was that the dragon in front of him showed no intention of resistance. It obediently handed over the memories of its consciousness from the past few days to him, which also blocked any further exploration from him.
It seems that Lu Cixian made some agreement with the mirage dragon on his way here.
Without thinking too much, Ma Huaizhen angrily threw the Souvenir Image to the ground after withdrawing his divine senses.
At this moment, other disciples from Kunshan were surprised to find Mu Xiaoxiao, who was being protected by Lu Pihan and Zhou Yan, suddenly pale and trembling as she took a few steps back.
Before others could recover from their shock, they looked at the contents of the Souvenir Image and were all dumbfounded.
This is Xiao Sui.
Although the figure is blurry, it is clearly Xiao Sui.
"Mu Xiaoxiao... divine senses... be aware... framing..."
"Qiao Wan..."
The truth is revealed.
Ma Huaizhen looked away from the Souvenir Image and turned his wheelchair, pushing aside Zhou Yan and Lu Pihan, and walked in front of Mu Xiaoxiao.
The girl in front of him bowed her head, with a pale face and no color in her complexion.
The man's sinister gaze fell on the girl, and he smiled sinisterly, saying, "So this is how your younger martial sister framed you?"
As soon as the words fell, there was a commotion among the others.
Just now, Ma Huaizhen couldn't help but overhear the faint sounds coming from outside the tent.
Since they could hear the noises inside the tent, they naturally heard the young girl ask her younger martial sister why she treated her like that.
Now it seemed that when Mu Xiaoxiao said these words, it was truly wicked.
Witnessing all of this, Xiao Boyang's expression became complicated as he silently watched Mu Xiaoxiao, whose face was pale as paper, retreating step by step under Ma Huaizhen's questioning.
After all, Ma Huaizhen was a fierce god who had fought his way out of the northern battlefield, and his imposing manner easily suppressed the young girl who had always been protected by her superiors.
Mu Xiaoxiao's head was buzzing.
Everyone was looking at her, staring in astonishment and discussing among themselves.
"Elder Martial Sister Mu said that Qiao Wan deliberately did something in her mind?"
"Isn't that just lying?"
Ma Huaizhen smiled as he turned his wheelchair, blocking Mu Xiaoxiao's path.
The Kunshan disciples who used to call her Elder Martial Sister Mu or Martial Sister Mu, now looked at her with complicated, surprised, and disgusted eyes.
Most cultivators are creatures who don't hesitate to take action. Compared to harming their fellow disciples, these secretive and unpredictable conspiracies played behind the scenes are obviously more detestable.
Especially when she had just cried so softly and pitifully, it was surprising that people believed her so easily.
"This clearly isn't the first time, right?"
"What about the spiritual master?" The Kunshan elder martial sister frowned. "Yuqing Spiritual Master couldn't possibly not see it."
No wonder Yuqing Spiritual Master hurriedly stopped Fairy Sumi from probing with divine consciousness earlier, it was to cover up for his disciple.
"I... I didn't... I don't know," Mu Xiaoxiao said with a helpless shake of her head while crying. "I couldn't remember at that time..."
Xiao Boyang's voice was dry as he looked at his beloved, who remained silent for a moment. "Even if you can't remember, you can't just push the blame onto Qiao Wan."
"Intending harm to their fellow disciples, they took them back to Precept Hall for questioning."
Ma Huaizhen’s voice suddenly became sharp and sinister as he threw out two strands of spirit threads. One strand bound Mu Xiaoxiao tightly and threw her in front of Zhou Yan.
The other strand bound Xiao Sui tightly and threw him next to Mu Xiaoxiao.
Xiao Sui’s face changed dramatically and he said, "Ma Huaizhen! Who do you think I am?!"
Before he could finish, the man calmly pointed his finger and lightly grabbed the empty space. The spirit thread became as heavy as a thousand pounds, smashing Xiao Sui into the ground.
The man spoke calmly, "Xiao Sui, I am the leader of Wenshi Hall in Kunshan. You have meddled in the affairs of our sect and now you even attempt to harm our disciples. Even if the old sect master is present, do you think I won’t tie you up?"
Upon hearing Ma Huaizhen mention the old sect master, Xiao Sui immediately panicked.
These spirit threads were thin as cicada wings, with a faint cold light, but they were as heavy as Mount Tai, pinning Mu Xiaoxiao to the ground and rendering her immobile.
The young girl looked up anxiously, her previous soft and charming demeanor gone. She looked towards Zhou Yan, crying out in panic, "Master... Master! Help me!"
Zhou Yan's expression quickly changed, and he took a slight step forward.
But he was stopped by a cold gaze. "Now that things have come to this, will the spiritual master still protect your little disciple?"
Seeing Zhou Yan frozen in place, tears streaming down her face, Mu Xiaoxiao turned to the weak and silent young man and said, "Elder Martial Brother..."
However, as soon as she met the man's icy and deep gaze, the words she was about to say got stuck in her throat.
The spiritual master was watching her, the Elder Martial Brother was watching her, Xiao Boyang was also watching her. Everyone was watching her...
The gazes of the Kunshan disciples were like they were looking at garbage.
Even Xiao Boyang's gaze, it seemed as if he had never known her before.
Her gaze caught sight of a young boy standing quietly in the distance. The boy had a bright and beautiful appearance, and he was looking down, watching this commotion.
Mu Xiaoxiao was stunned.
Pei... Pei Junior Martial Brother...
Her nightmares in the dream world became a reality...
Once you make one wrong move, you lose everything.
"Master." Just as everyone around was discussing, Zhou Yan suddenly spoke, his gaze scanning Mu Xiaoxiao, who was lying on the ground, looking exhausted.
"Xiaoxiao's consciousness was indeed tampered with. Influenced by this dream world, her thoughts were unclear, so it's natural for her to misunderstand Wan'er."
"In light of her youthful naivety and being taken advantage of, please allow me, Master, to bring Xiaoxiao back to the mountain, where she can be properly questioned and taken care of until her injuries heal. Then, we can send her back to Precept Hall to uncover the truth."
As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions of the other disciples from Kunshan changed.
They were truly determined to protect Mu Xiaoxiao.
Not only did they cover up for Mu Xiaoxiao earlier, now that the truth was revealed, they still wanted to protect her. Even those who had a dislike for Qiao Wan couldn't help but scold her.
This so-called master was clearly biased to an extreme extent.
Ma Huaizhen smirked, "Young and ignorant, with a muddled mind? But I see she is very clear-headed when it comes to framing her own younger martial sister!"
These words were like a bolt of lightning, causing the other disciples from Kunshan to witness Mu Xiaoxiao, who was lying on the ground, crying with disgust in her tear-filled eyes.
"I am the leader of Wenshi Hall. Now that I have taken this position, I cannot show favoritism. I kindly ask the spiritual master not to meddle in the affairs between Wenshi Hall and Precept Hall," Ma Huaizhen instructed the undercover disciples around him and waved his hand, saying, "Take them away."
It was widely known that Wenshi Hall was responsible for capturing people while Precept Hall was responsible for judging them.
Ma Huaizhen seemed to have no intention of considering Zhou Yan's reputation anymore.
As they watched Mu Xiaoxiao and Xiao Sui being taken away, everything happened so quickly that the remaining people felt as if they were in a dream. Only when they snapped back to reality did they suddenly realize, Where is Qiao Wan? Why didn't we see Qiao Wan come out just now?
Inside the tent, Qiao Wan sat on the ground in silence, leaning against the tent for rest.
Because Qiao Wan and Lu Cixian could communicate with their minds, Lai Fu recognized her with just one look. But at this moment, she clearly couldn't recognize Lai Fu.
Just then, someone from inside the curtain suddenly began to beat it.
Ma Huaizhen turned his wheelchair and stopped in front of her.
"You're not happy that your elder martial sister was taken away?"
Qiao Wan: "Senior."
"There's nothing to be happy about." Qiao Wan said quietly, with her eyes closed.
There was nothing worth making her happy about in this situation.
Ma Huaizhen silently looked at her and considerately didn't disturb her any further. He turned his wheelchair and left.
Just as she had told Ma Huaizhen earlier, there was nothing worth being happy about by being focused on this.
Perhaps because her mental energy had been depleted from using her mind earlier, Qiao Wan fell asleep in no time at all.
But her dreams were restless, her thoughts hazy, and she would drift in and out of consciousness.
At one moment, she dreamt of when Zhou Yan had brought her up the mountain, and at another moment, she dreamt of the execution platform from before. And then, she dreamt of Elder Martial Brother.
Perhaps deep down inside, Qiao Wan secretly envied Mu Xiaoxiao.
In a hazy state, a tall and upright figure appeared before her. Dressed in a simple blue robe, his messy hair was tied loosely in a low ponytail that hung down behind his head. The man squatted down, placing his large and gentle palm lightly on her head. Through his glasses, he carefully examined her, while the platinum chain of his glasses rested gently on his shoulder.
The man seemed to let out a sigh, his voice filled with a mixture of helplessness and affection. His thin lips moved as if speaking something.
"Wan'er... be good..."
It felt so warm...
His big hand repeatedly and patiently stroked her head.
It felt so warm...
With this comforting touch, Qiao Wan finally drifted off into a deep and restful sleep.
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