Chapter 190: 不错不错

"What a bold claim! And it's an elder from Jieyun Mountain who has arrived."

Considering this person had previously knocked down Bai Shuchuan with a single slap, Shi Chun and the others were both skeptical and intrigued. They turned their heads to look at the top of the city wall. The flickering lights and dimness made it hard to see clearly, but they could vaguely discern many figures lurking in the shadows, looking down.

Stunned by such an arrogant statement, Wu Handong felt a slight chill in his heart and also looked towards the top of the wall.

Even Bai Shuchuan, who had just recovered from the slap, vaguely sensed that something was amiss and felt growing unease.

Bian Jixiong and the others, who arrived shortly after, happened to overhear Young Master Nan's audacious words. They instinctively moved towards Shi Chun and his group, gesturing for Shi Chun and the others, who were bowing, to rise. Then, Bian Jixiong whispered to Bian Weiying, "What's going on?"

In front of everyone, Bian Weiying found it difficult to say much. Some matters, even merely stating the facts, could offend people, so they were best discussed privately.

She subtly shook her head at her father, and Bian Jixiong and the others understood, so they said no more.

Just then, a figure descended from the city wall, immediately followed by a group of others.

The first to land was dressed in a ginger-yellow gauze robe, with a square face, a three-strand beard, and a properly placed gauze hat. He was expressionless. It was none other than Wei Mo, the Lord of Shengzhou.

These people who suddenly descended all possessed extraordinary bearing, and Shi Chun and his group didn't recognize any of them.

Wu Handong, Bian Jixiong, and most of the others didn't recognize them either, but they certainly knew Wei Mo. They quickly bowed to him in greeting, "Lord!"

This time, Wu Handong and the others were genuinely nervous. They hadn't expected that the disheveled man's so-called "gentlemen" would actually include the Lord of Shengzhou. This meant his words were likely not empty boasts after all.

"The Lord?" Shi Chun and the others were also secretly startled, and quickly pretended to bow in deference.

Wei Mo waved a hand to signal them to dispense with the formalities, then ignored the others and walked directly to Young Master Nan. With his hands clasped in front of his abdomen, a faint smile appeared on his otherwise expressionless face. "Young Master Nan," he said, "why such extreme words? You're not a three-year-old. It's a minor issue; there's no need to get so worked up."

As the Lord of Shengzhou, with Jieyun Mountain being the largest sect under his command, and moreover, as they were all from Shengzhou, he naturally had to side with his own people.

"Young Master Nan?" Those who hadn't known him before instantly remembered the name and the person.

Some who had heard the name before inwardly flinched, realizing, "So, this is the renowned Young Master Nan from the capital?"

Wu Handong, for instance, felt a sudden pang of frustration. He couldn't help but glance at Bai Shuchuan and the others, wondering what on earth these fellows had done. How had they managed to offend this person right after leaving Xiji?

Young Master Nan also smiled. "Lord Wei," he began, "I've already made such a grand statement. Are you suggesting I should retract my words, simply accept being yelled at and humiliated, and just admit bad luck? I didn't provoke anyone from start to finish; I was actively bullied. I've completely lost face. If it were you, what would you do?"

"Oh, you," Wei Mo said, patting his shoulder with an expression of playful indulgence. He then turned to Wu Handong and continued, "Elder Wu, even if you don't know him personally, with your experience, you must have heard of the renowned Young Master Nan from the capital. If this issue isn't resolved today, I'm afraid Jieyun Mountain disciples won't dare to come to the capital anymore. He has many friends. I saw it all; you were in the wrong first. Be sincere, admit your mistake, and it will be over!"

"Yes," Wu Handong replied without hesitation. He then turned to Young Master Nan, bowed, and clasped his hands. "This old man was reckless and ignorant," he said, "unaware I was offending Young Master Nan. I beg Young Master Nan to be magnanimous and not take offense at an old fool like me."

"So old, yet still so short-tempered, alright," Young Master Nan grumbled, flicking his sleeve. Then he lifted his chin towards Bai Shuchuan, whose face was swollen on one side. "Whichever arm he used to touch me, just break that one, and this matter will be over."

"Huh?" Bai Shuchuan immediately panicked. He knew he had provoked an important figure, but he truly didn't want to become disabled. He frantically appealed to Wu Handong, "Grand Elder, I didn't know, I truly didn't mean it! Grand Elder, save me!"

Wu Handong frowned, finding the matter quite difficult. He immediately shifted this burden to Wei Mo, bowing and pleading, "Lord, considering Bai Shuchuan risked life and limb fighting for Shengzhou in the Western Extremities, and considering he barely escaped with his life, please forgive his ignorance and grant him another chance!"

Wei Mo paused for a moment, then slowly said, "Young Master Nan, he was ignorant, and you've already knocked out two of his teeth, which served as a lesson. Please, grant me this favor; let this matter pass. In the future, if there's anything on Shengzhou's side that I can help with, you can come directly to me."

Young Master Nan immediately broke into a wide smile. "No problem, no problem," he said cheerfully. "Since Lord Wei has spoken, what else can I say? Very well, your word is law. If you say it's over, then it's over. I wouldn't dare to object."

"Thank you, Lord, for your leniency."

"Thank you, Young Master Nan, for your generosity."

Bai Shuchuan profusely expressed his gratitude, almost moved to tears.

Wu Handong also bowed to both of them again, expressing his thanks.

Actually, there were some things Wei Mo didn't understand. Since he had already made an appearance, he decided to ask directly. He turned to Bai Shuchuan, "Inside and outside the city, I've noticed you're always blocking Shi Chun and his group. What's going on? Is there a past grievance?"

Shi Chun froze at the question, his eyes wide with surprise as he looked at Wei Mo. This Lord actually knew his name?

A cold glint flashed in the eyes of Bai Shuchuan, who had been listening with his head bowed. He believed that if it weren't for Bian Weiying and the others, he wouldn't have suffered such a grave humiliation. Since the Lord had asked him directly, and Bian Weiying was unwilling to yield to him, he had nothing left to hide.

He immediately clasped his hands and reported, "To answer the Lord, at this conference, my Jieyun Mountain initially assembled a team, and Wukang Mountain also joined us. As the leader, I considered Wukang Mountain my right-hand, relying heavily on them.

"However, Wukang Mountain, from top to bottom, proved to be cowardly and afraid of death. They abandoned us and fled midway, which completely disrupted our plans and led to significant, unexpected losses, resulting in the deaths of many Shengzhou sect disciples!

"We suffered countless casualties and barely escaped with our lives, while they simply hid until the conference ended and then safely escaped. It's truly a pity for those Shengzhou individuals who died in vain, I..."

Seeing Bai Shuchuan exaggerate, Bian Weiying grew anxious and was about to interject and offer a rebuttal. Unexpectedly, Wu Handong was the first to lose patience, shouting directly, "Shut up!"

Those who had seen the previous mirror image knew that Shi Chun and his group had collected numerous bug-core crystals. To claim they were cowardly and hid until the end of the conference was a blatant lie. If he allowed Bai Shuchuan to continue, Wu Handong feared that Jieyun Mountain's reputation would be irrevocably tarnished.

"..." Bai Shuchuan was slightly bewildered, staring blankly at the Grand Elder.

The others looked at him with strange expressions, especially Young Master Nan, who felt that his earlier slap had been too light.

Wei Mo's gaze swept over the faces of everyone present. Not wanting to prolong the trivial discussion, he asked Shi Chun directly, "Shi Chun, how many bug-core crystals did you all obtain this time?"

This was the question he, or rather, the group of Lords, were most concerned about when they came here. Who cared about those trivial, useless matters? Did they think they had nothing better to do?

Shi Chun was slightly stunned, another unexpected turn. He hadn't expected the Lord to address him directly. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "More than forty thousand, I think..."

He didn't remember the exact numbers, only that his own count was 22,005 crystals.

"How many?" Bai Shuchuan's eyes widened. He wanted to curse, thinking Shi Chun was spouting nonsense.

Xiang Lan'er tried to add, "A total of 44,839 crystals."

"That's impossible!" Bai Shuchuan didn't believe it. Had he not just been inexplicably ordered to shut up by the Grand Elder, he would certainly have jumped out to refute it.

Young Master Nan was already beaming with excitement.

Many of the observing Lords were visibly moved.

Wei Mo immediately followed up with another question, "Under which state were they registered?"

"Which state?" Shi Chun was a bit confused. Did they need to be registered under a specific state?

Wu Jinliang and the others also couldn't quite understand the question.

Their reaction immediately made Wei Mo nervous. Why were they hesitant to speak? Had something truly changed?

Chi Rang, the Lord of Xuanzhou, had his eyes light up slightly, revealing an expectant gaze.

Many Lords also showed a hopeful expression, anticipating a potential windfall.

Shi Chun recalled the registration process and hesitantly replied, "When registering, the presiding armored guards didn't mention needing to register under any specific state. We only registered under our own names. May I ask, Lord, is there a problem?"

Chi Rang immediately interjected, "Are you sure you didn't register with Xuanzhou?"

These words made Shi Chun and his group break into a slight sweat. What was going on? Why mention Xuanzhou out of the blue? Had they been exposed so quickly?

But it didn't really matter. Since they dared to do it, they hadn't expected to keep it a secret afterward; it was impossible to hide at all.

Shi Chun cautiously replied, "During the counting and registration, the identity recorded on our bracelets was used. The emblem on our bracelets indicates we are disciples of Wukang Mountain from Shengzhou. No matter how much discrepancy there might be, I don't think the armored guards responsible for registration could possibly falsify it to be under Xuanzhou, could they?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Wei Mo felt relieved. The weight in his heart finally lifted, and a knowing smile spread across his face.

Young Master Nan was absolutely beaming with joy, smiling so widely that he swung both arms like wings preparing for flight.

However, at this moment, Wu Handong interjected with a discordant voice, "Lord, I heard that someone from Wukang Mountain resorted to unscrupulous means to win, even daring to attack their own Shengzhou people, killing five Luoyue Valley disciples in front of the royal court's forces. The evidence is conclusive and undeniable!"

He saw that the Lord was very pleased, and he didn't want to spoil the Lord's mood at this moment, especially since the Lord had just helped him out.

But there was no alternative. He was an elder of Jieyun Mountain, and he had personally come here to oversee things. He couldn't just stand by; when a situation arose, he certainly had to fight for Jieyun Mountain's interests.

If Wukang Mountain were to win the championship, Jieyun Mountain would gain nothing. Therefore, he wanted to seize this opportunity to create trouble and strip Wukang Mountain of its right to claim victory.

The group of Lords immediately became interested in watching the drama unfold.

Young Master Nan's gaze towards Wu Handong was clearly displeased.

Bian Jixiong and the others didn't react much; they hadn't thought about winning the championship from the start, so they didn't care whether they won or not.

In other words, as they all operated in the same region, they didn't want to make an enemy of Shengzhou's largest sect.

Taking advantage of a position one doesn't deserve could lead to disaster!

Wei Mo's brows furrowed slightly, and his eyes grew cold. He was indeed annoyed by Wu Handong's imprudence, but everything had its rules. As the Lord, he himself was the one who least wanted rules to be broken. For this very reason, he had even personally admonished Elder Ke of Wukang Mountain.

Now that someone had brought it up publicly, and with irrefutable evidence, it was impossible not to address it.

He said calmly, "Shi Chun, about killing the five people from Luoyue Valley, that wasn't a false accusation, was it? How do you explain?"

Since it had been done in front of the royal court's forces, Shi Chun had no intention of denying it. He respectfully replied, "Before encountering them, we had never even heard of Luoyue Valley, nor did we want to provoke them. There would be no benefit in doing so.

"They were the ones who were too aggressive; they ambushed us on the road simply because they knew we were from Wukang Mountain and wanted to seize the immobilizing talismans from us. We narrowly escaped death and managed to capture them instead. They were the ones who first tried to kill us. I implore the Lord to investigate clearly!" He bowed in appeal.

Wei Mo lightly said, "Alright, I understand. It will be handled."

His gaze flickered to Wu Handong, as if asking, "Do you have any more opinions?"

Wu Handong groaned inwardly, lowered his head slightly, and remained silent.

"Hmph." With a cold snort, Chi Rang flicked his sleeve and ascended into the air, flying away.

With the truth revealed, the group of Lords lost interest. The spectacle they anticipated hadn't materialized, so they each disappeared, attending to their own affairs.

"Very good, very good," Wei Mo said, nodding slightly at Shi Chun, his eyes filled with undisguised admiration. He smiled, unfurled his sleeves, and flew into the sky.

With the one who had kept order now gone, Wu Handong cast a cold gaze at the Wukang Mountain group. The prestige of Shengzhou's largest sect was not to be trifled with.

Before he could provoke them, Young Master Nan sneered, walked up to Shi Chun, patted his arm, and said, "Brother Chun, in the capital, as long as you don't cause trouble yourselves, I guarantee that you are not someone just anyone can touch. Don't worry, you have me. Relax!"