Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Tiecheng’s expression showed that he was in a difficult position.
Even though he knew very well that Rong Yitie and son were most likely to have been the ones in the wrong, he had to be very careful. He was colleagues with Rong Yitie, and Rong Yitie’s family was very powerful in the clan.
He had hoped that by simply punishing them both, he could settle the matter.
People were now standing up against his authority, which made it difficult for him to remain calm.
Tiecheng snorted angrily and coldly asked, “And, who are you?”
There was an uproar from where the voice came from. The crowd automatically parted. Nobody was willing to take the brunt of Tiecheng’s fury or willing to get into trouble for nothing.
A lady in white stood proudly in the middle of the wide path. She wore a hat with an extremely wide brim that covered her face.
Everyone watching broke out into a cold sweat. Even though they couldn’t see the lady’s face, judging from her voice earlier, it was clear that she was probably fairly young.
The saying that calves were not afraid of tigers was right. This young man and young lady were bold beyond belief. They had actually dared to stand up against Tiecheng and made things difficult for this Discipline Hall Official.
They also felt bad for these two. Everyone knew that to maintain both the Discipline Hall’s and his reputation, Tiecheng wasn’t going to let them off easily.
But a completely unexpected thing happened.
When Tiecheng saw the lady in white with a wide-brimmed hat that covered her face, his expression became interesting to watch.
Tiecheng awkwardly smiled. He had no intention of punishing her or anything like that. Instead, he politely clasped his hands together and asked. “Lady Wang, why are you here?”
The lady slowly walked toward Tiecheng and looked at him with blazing eyes. The way she stared at him made Tiecheng start to feel guilty.
After a few moments, she said in a loud voice, “Official Tiecheng, I watched this entire squabble very carefully.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “This gentleman here, Rong Kaixuan, discovered a manual for sale in the marketplace and used five silver coins to buy it. After the deal was done, Rong Yitie and his son happened to come along. They…” There was a glint in her eyes. “They also realized that item was a manual, so they wanted to snatch it away. Unfortunately for them, they ran into a Spirit Gatherer, so they ended up losing instead of winning.”
Tiecheng’s expression immediately changed. He started exclaiming, “What? A Spirit Gatherer…”
The lady looked at him seriously and replied, “That’s right. Rong Kaixuan is the Spirit Gatherer who evoked that Spirit Body Fighter just now.”
Tiecheng’s expression started to become very strange.
He turned around and asked in surprise, “Rong Kaixuan, are you really a Spirit Gatherer?”
Rong Kaixuan replied calmly, “I went through a test in the Hall of Spiritualists today, and I am eligible to enter the hall as a spiritualist.”
Tiecheng’s eyes blazed as he spun around to glare at Rong Yitie. This fellow was wicked and had not told him such an important thing. If he had known that Rong Kaixuan was a Spirit Gatherer, there was no way Tiecheng would have sided with Rong Yitie.
Rong Yitie guiltily hung his head. He started lamenting because he knew that he wouldn’t get out of this.
Rong Yitie also knew what a Spirit Gatherer meant to the family. By the time he realized that about Rong Kaixuan, he had already injured Rong Yiyang and couldn’t take it back.
After taking a deep breath, Tiecheng a smile started to appear on his face. He said, “Young man, were you the one who evoked that Spirit Body just now?”
“That’s right,” Rong Kaixuan honestly replied.
“Ha-ha, I thought that you had used a Sealing Talisman to evoke that Spirit Body.” Tiecheng paused for a while before saying, “I was afraid that it would injure someone, so I had to destroy it immediately. I hope you don’t take offense.”
Rong Kaixuan was surprised at how Tiecheng had suddenly become so polite to him. He wasn’t used to it. His face twitched a little as he finally managed to reply, “Official Tiecheng, you don’t have to worry about it. Even if you didn’t destroy it in one shot, it wouldn’t have been able to stay around for too long anyway.”
Actually, the Spirit Body Fighter that Rong Kaixuan used his mysterious power to evoke was hardier than an ordinary Spirit Body Fighter. It was able to exist for a much longer time than an ordinary one, but Rong Kaixuan had no idea about any of that.
Tiecheng loudly laughed and felt relieved.
He looked over at Rong Yitie, who had hung his head in defeat and hadn’t said a word. Tiecheng said, “My brother, Rong Yitie and son were the ones who were in the wrong. The two of you only acted in self-defense, so you two do not have to bear responsibility for that. However…” Tiecheng hesitated for a while before saying, “Even though this father and son were in the wrong, they are also direct descendants of the family. It will be hard to punish them.”
Rong Yiyang managed to stand up with his son’s help. He vigorously nodded. “Official Tiecheng, you’re right. We don’t have any great feud between us, so we should just let this matter go.”
He had been banished to the rural estate for many years, so the sharp and aggressive horns on his head had already been filed into a round and harmless state. Earlier, he had gone on the offensive only because he saw that his son was being beaten up and rashly decided to attack. Now that he had calmed down, he chose the most diplomatic way of resolving the matter.
Rong Kaixuan straightened up. He pursed his lips and didn’t say anything.
Tiecheng frowned slightly and sighed in his heart. He made no comment regarding what Rong Yiyang had said. He asked Rong Kaixuan in a low voice, “What do you think, young man?”
To him, Rong Kaixuan was someone he had to treat with seriousness. Rong Yiyang was this young man’s father, but he wasn’t important. He was a person who could be ignored altogether.
Rong Kaixuan lifted his head. He spoke loudly and clearly, “Official Tiecheng, this father and son were blatantly unreasonable. It is clear that this is not the first time they have done something like this. If you continue to tolerate their behavior, then you’re only helping them to become worse. They will eventually only become bolder.” His eyes were bright and alert as he bowed deeply toward the young lady wearing the wide-brimmed hat that covered her face. “This time, I was fortunate enough to have Lady Wang stand up for me. What about next time? And the next time after that?”
Tiecheng started looking awkward as he was faced with Rong Kaixuan’s sharp gaze and pushy attitude.
He sighed deeply in his heart. This young fellow was still too immature.
There was obviously a good reason why Rong Yitie and his son were able to go around being so unreasonable.
Did this boy think that just anyone could do whatever they wanted and get away with it? If they didn’t have a background that made everyone fearful of them, the clan’s Discipline Hall would have gotten rid of these cancerous people by now.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Lady Wang gently clapped her pretty hands, which produced a clear and pleasing clapping sound. She said, “You said that well. If we continue to let such people bully the righteous and kindhearted, then the Rong clan’s reputation will be in ruins. They have to be punished.”
Tiecheng was now really in a spot.
Rong Yitie and son were only an Advanced Stage and a Middle Stage Martial Artists, but the power behind their family was incredible. Even Tiecheng wasn’t willing to offend them.
At the same time, Rong Kaixuan was the clan’s one and only Spirit Gatherer and had a bright future ahead of him. He couldn’t afford to offend him either. Lady Wang’s status was even more special. Even the power behind Rong Yitie would have to back off if they had to go up against her.
Tiecheng sighed quietly and helplessly nodded. “Young man, Lady Wang, both of you are right. If these two are not punished sufficiently today, the Rong family’s reputation will definitely suffer.”
He turned and looked coldly at Rong Yitie. “Yitie, do you have anything to say about what Lady Wang has said?”
Rong Yitie looked at Lady Wang, but he didn’t have any hatred in his eyes at all. Instead, they showed great fear and wariness.
He laughed bitterly and replied, “Tiecheng, indeed, it was us who were too greedy. We did something that hurt others.” He bowed deeply toward Rong Yiyang and his son. “I apologize for that.”
Tiecheng slowly nodded his head. They all knew that the moment Lady Wang stood up to testify, Rong Yitie and his son had no way out of this situation.
This was what special privilege meant.
If the one who testified was an ordinary person, nobody would have bothered about what the person said. If the witness was someone with a special status and of high standing, that in itself was a sign that nobody would dare to go against it.
Rong Kaixuan coldly scoffed and turned his head aside. Rong Yiyang managed to squeeze a smile out, but he didn’t look too happy either.
“Tiecheng, since everything is so clear before you, you’d better quickly settle it.”
A somewhat elderly voice rang out from among the crowd.
Everyone moved aside. They were so surprised that someone spoke so casually to an Official of the Discipline Hall.
Soon, a fairly ordinary-looking older man appeared in the crowd.
When they saw this older man, Tiecheng, Rong Yitie, and Rong Kaixuan all looked surprised.
While Rong Kaixuan was pleasantly surprised, Tiecheng was more shocked. Meanwhile, Rong Yitie’s face immediately paled.
Tiecheng solemnly bowed and said, “I will get it done right now.”
There was an uproar in the crowd. Who was this older man? Why did an official of the Discipline Hall behave so obediently and respectfully toward him?
Some people were able to guess who this older man was. In the Rong family, besides the elders who had great authority in the family, there weren’t any other people who could make someone like Tiecheng treat them with such respect.
Tiecheng turned around and said in a firm voice, “Rong Yitie, today I will strip you of your position in the Discipline Hall. For the next 10 years, you will not be allowed to step into the hall again.”
Rong Yitie’s face was pale, but he wasn’t angry anymore. He had no desire to fight back at all.
He hung his head and replied, “Yes, Sir.”
“You tried to snatch from your brother and made your fellow clansman an enemy, which is against the rules of the clan.” Tiecheng hummed for a while before saying, “I will sentence both of you to recover from your injuries. Afterward, take a month in the Water Prison to reflect on your actions.”
“Oh my…”
Everyone started murmuring among themselves. That was not a light punishment. The conditions of the Water Jail were so awful that not everyone survived a month inside.
Rong Yitie still had no courage to argue back, so he could only humbly agree.
Tiecheng waved his hand and said, “After your injuries are healed up, go and report to the Water Jail yourselves.”
Rong Yitie carried his unconscious son, endured the pain in his body, and bowed to the older man before quietly leaving the place.
Even though his heavy punishment was because of what this older man said, he didn’t dare to be rude to the older man.
Rong Jiexuan laughed loudly and flicked his hand. A small jade bottle immediately landed in Rong Kaixuan’s hands.
“There’s a healing pill inside. You will recover completely after taking it.”
Rong Kaixuan was overjoyed to receive the pill and quickly thanked Rong Jiexuan.
Rong Jiexuan stroked his long beard. “You two have been treated unfairly, and I feel very guilty about it.” He paused and said, “So, I’ve decided to grant you one wish. You can tell me what you want.”
Rong Kaixuan perked up and asked, “Anything?”
“As long as it’s within my means,” Rong Jiexuan replied with a laugh.
“Alright, then… I would like to read the manual on the Art of Sealing,” Rong Kaixuan gleefully replied.