“Chu Feng, don’t you speak venomous slander of me,” Hearing those words, Yin Chengkong immediately denied it and appeared extremely angry.
However, Chu Feng ignored him completely. Instead, he looked to Baili Xuankong and asked, “Ancestor, if my guess is correct, it is a.s.sembly Master Yin Chengkong who requested that you return to the Cyanwood Mountain, right?”
“Yin Chengkong, is what Chu Feng saying the truth?” At that moment, Baili Xuankong became enraged. What Chu Feng had said was correct. That Golden Flash Bird that was dispatched to him requesting his return to the Cyanwood Mountain was precisely sent by Yin Chengkong.
Yin Chengkong had said that he had an important matter that he needed Baili Xuankong for and requested Baili Xuankong’s return to the Cyanwood Mountain.
At that time, Baili Xuankong had thought that something major had really happened. After all, there was only one Golden Flash Bird, and he had told Yin Chengkong to only use the Golden Flash Bird to find him should something major happen to the Cyanwood Mountain.
Thus, after Baili Xuankong received the Golden Flash Bird, he immediately rushed back to the Cyanwood Mountain without even stopping to rest. However, upon his return, he discovered that nothing serious had happened, and that the situation in the Cyanwood Mountain was something that Yin Chengkong could take care of himself without the need for his return.
At that time, Baili Xuankong had been extremely angry. After all, for the sake of rus.h.i.+ng back, he had abandoned Chu Feng. However, upon thinking about how Yin Chengkong was someone that he had nurtured, and was also the current a.s.sembly Master of the Cyanwood Sacred a.s.sembly, how he was someone who would take charge of the Cyanwood Mountain after his death, Baili Xuankong did not say too much about it.
Afterward, Ximen Baiyuan led the Ximen Imperial Clan’s army to the Cyanwood Mountain and captured all of them.
Baili Xuankong had already known at that time that he had been sold out. Else, how could the Ximen Imperial Clan’s army come to the Cyanwood Mountain and capture all the people related to Chu Feng?
At that time, the first person that he thought to be the traitor was Yin Chengkong. However, upon thinking further, he felt that Yin Chengkong was not someone who would do this sort of thing.
Furthermore, he didn’t have any conclusive proof. As such, it was unsuitable for him to say anything about this matter. That was why he did not interrogate Yin Chengkong. After all, at that time, the thing that he was worried about the most was Chu Feng’s safety.
After being saved by Chu Feng, Baili Xuankong had planned to investigate who the traitor was after returning to the Cyanwood Mountain. That being said, the person that he suspected the most was still Yin Chengkong.
And now, Chu Feng had actually declared Yin Chengkong to be the traitor. As such, he naturally could not elect to remain silent anymore.
“Lord Baili, please uphold justice for me. You know me very well. I grew up in the Cyanwood Mountain, and I was nurtured by you. I hold the Cyanwood Mountain in even higher importance than my own life. How could I possibly betray our Cyanwood Mountain?” Glistening tears were flickering in Yin Chengkong’s aged eyes. He appeared to be extremely wronged.
“.......” Hearing what Yin Chengkong said, Baili Xuankong appeared to have grown soft hearted. After all, after all these years, Baili Xuankong possessed a very deep sentiment for Yin Chengkong. Furthermore, Yin Chengkong had also contributed enormously to their Cyanwood Mountain. Else, he would not have let Yin Chengkong become the Cyanwood Sacred a.s.sembly’s a.s.sembly Master.
However, even though he had grown soft hearted, Baili Xuankong did not answer Yin Chengkong. Instead, he looked to Chu Feng and said, “Chu Feng, I know that you are not someone who accuses another without reason. Since you have accused Yin Chengkong of being the traitor, you must have your reasons. Tell me, what are they?”
“It is Ximen Baiyuan who told me that the person that betrayed our Cyanwood Mountain was Yin Chengkong,” Chu Feng said.
“Impossible, Ximen Baiyuan clearly did not say anything. Everyone here can bear witness to that.”
“Furthermore, even if he said that I was the traitor, he might be lying,” Yin Chengkong tried his best to defend himself.
“Heh…” Chu Feng smiled with contempt. Then, he said, “Indeed, he didn’t say anything. After all, if he were to publicly announce the traitor, it would make their Ximen Imperial Clan look extremely disloyal. In the future, who would be willing to cooperate with their Ximen Imperial Clan?”
“However, in order to express his Ximen Imperial Clan’s sincerity in reconciling with me, he wrote a brief note to me. The name is on the note here,” As Chu Feng spoke, he took out a note.
That note was not written on ordinary paper. Instead, it was a golden-bright and dazzling piece of golden paper with a dragon and phoenix drawn on it. It was the special paper that the Four Great Imperial Clans used.
On that piece of paper were three vigorous characters, ‘Yin Chengkong.’ [1. Yin, Cheng, Kong. 3 characters.]
“It’s really you?” At that moment, Dugu Xingfeng and the others from the Cyanwood Mountain all looked to Yin Chengkong with extremely furious expressions.
Not only was that golden paper something that only the people from the Four Great Imperial Clans possessed, the handwriting on that paper was also clearly not written by someone ordinary. It was not that the handwriting was extremely beautiful. Rather, it was not beautiful at all. After all, as not many Martial Cultivators were proficient in the four arts, their handwriting was generally quite ugly.
[2. Four arts = zither, weiqi (Go, the j.a.panese name), calligraphy and painting]
However, the characters on the golden paper contained extremely powerful strength. From a glance, one could tell that they were written by someone with a very high level of cultivation. Furthermore, Martial Cultivators were able to tell that the characters seemed to be written by a rank five Martial Emperor. As such, it was evident that what Chu Feng had said was true, that this was indeed a note given to him by Ximen Baiyuan.
“Lord Baili, please spare me. Lord Baili, please spare me,” At that moment, with concrete evidence before him, Yin Chengkong did not try to deny it anymore. With a ‘putt, he kneeled before Baili Xuankong and started to beg for forgiveness.
“It really was you,” Even though Baili Xuankong was already skeptical of Yin Chengkong, his body still started to s.h.i.+ver, his complexion became ashen, and his breathing hurried after Yin Chengkong actually admitted to it. The struggle within his heart was evident in his twisted expression. It could be seen that he was truly enraged.
“Lord Baili, please spare me, please spare me. I was muddled, I was muddled.”
“These are the rewards that Ximen Baiyuan gave me. They’re all here. However, there’s simply no Imperial Armament at all. That Imperial Armament was a scam.”
“Lord Baili, they’re all yours. Please, please give me another chance,” Yin Chengkong was kowtowing nonstop while begging Baili Xuankong for forgiveness. Furthermore, he was ruthlessly slapping himself to manifest his determination to repent.
Baili Xuankong accepted the Cosmos Sack with all the rewards from Yin Chengkong. However, he then slapped Yin Chengkong ruthlessly. His slap was so ferocious that it deformed Yin Chengkong’s face.
“If I am to spare you, how am I to face the elders and disciples of our Cyanwood Mountain?” Baili Xuankong shouted angrily. He was truly enraged by Yin Chengkong.
“Lord Baili…” Yin Chengkong still wanted to continue begging for forgiveness. However, Baili Xuankong was already determined, and appeared extremely cold.
“I really know that I was wrong. I know that my death is deserved. Lord Baili, please kill me,” After calming down, Yin Chengkong knew that he would not be able to live. Thus, he closed his eyes and revealed an expression of waiting for the arrival of death.
However, before he was killed, he actually faced toward the sky and shouted, “Ximen Baiyuan, I never would’ve expected you to betray me in the end. You went back on your promise, you unfaithful traitor! Even if I am to become a ghost, I will still not let you get away with this!”
His voice resonated through the vast sky and slowly spread to the horizon. From this, Yin Chengkong’s unreconciled heart was clearly manifested.
Right at this moment, Chu Feng said, “Don’t randomly declare that. Although Ximen Baiyuan is not any sort of good man, you shouldn’t wrongly accuse him either. He never betrayed you.”
“Chu Feng, what did you say?” Hearing those words, Yin Chengkong abruptly opened his already closed eyes. With an extremely confused expression, he looked to Chu Feng. At the same time, the other people present were also looking at Chu Feng with the same sort of confused expression.
“I wrote this myself. Ximen Baiyuan did not betray you,” Chu Feng fiddled with the note and looked to Yin Chengkong with a beaming smile. He had a gaze of someone looking at a fool.