Chapter 128: Elder Shan Li Refuses

Chapter 128: Chapter 128: Elder Shan Li Refuses

When everyone heard the voice, they immediately turned toward its source.

The newcomer wore dark green robes, his long black hair tied neatly in a half-up ponytail. His refined features were complemented by a pair of sharp phoenix eyes that carried a naturally cold gaze. Even without saying another word, his aloof presence was enough to make those around him instinctively straighten up.

It was Elder Shan Li.

Seeing him arrive, Jiang Huan immediately brightened. He had been waiting for someone who could resolve the situation, and now that Elder Shan Li was finally here, he wasted no time in calling out to him, seemingly having forgotten the elder’s earlier rebuke.

"Elder Shan Li, please hurry and save my Junior Sister! She’s been trapped by the vines of the Spirit Jade Fruit Tree!"

However, Jiang Huan soon realized that things were not going as he had expected. Instead of immediately stepping forward to help, as he had assumed he would, Elder Shan Li merely glanced at him coldly.

"Oh? And why should I help you?" he asked, his voice devoid of warmth. "If someone harbors ill intentions toward the things I care about, I don’t see why their troubles should concern me. Besides, who gave you the right to speak to me like that?"

Jiang Huan was taken aback.

Only then did he seem to realize how disrespectfully he had spoken to the elder. Under normal circumstances, such a mistake might not have been enough to provoke Elder Shan Li so openly, yet today, the elder’s attitude seemed particularly colder. Jiang Huan couldn’t quite understand why. After a brief hesitation, he turned toward his mother and cast her a meaningful glance, silently signaling her to step in and smooth things over.

Madam Jiang immediately understood. She quickly stepped forward with an amiable smile, attempting to ease the tension.

"Brother Shan Li, you’ve misunderstood A-Huan. Please forgive his recklessness. He’s simply worried about his Junior Sister. After all, the two of them have always been close friends," she explained gently.

Hearing her explanation Elder Shan Li merely raised his left eyebrow.

"Oh?"

Seeing that Elder Shan Li was willing to listen, Madam Jiang continued, her expression remaining gentle and amiable.

"Yes, and as for the current situation, I believe this is also a big misunderstanding. Aiyah, I knew that my niece, Chu Ran, and Disciple Sui Sui weren’t on good terms, but who would have thought their disagreement would escalate to this?" She sighed softly before adding, "How about helping Chu Ran down first? We can discuss the rest of the matter afterward."

Her words sounded reasonable on the surface, as though she were merely trying to resolve the situation without taking sides. However, a closer look revealed the cunning hidden beneath her seemingly innocent suggestion. By bringing up the strained relationship between Chu Ran and Sui Sui, she was subtly implying that Sui Sui might have deliberately caused all this out of spite, hoping to damage his reputation in front of Elder Shan Li.

Unfortunately for her, Sui Sui caught the insinuation immediately and had no intention of letting her get away with it.

"Oh?" Sui Sui raised an eyebrow. "Madam Jiang, your words are certainly clever. If I didn’t know any better, I might think you were suggesting that I, a mere Qi Refining cultivator, somehow managed to scheme against not one, but two Foundation Building cultivators."

He glanced toward Chu Ran and Disciple Leng, who were still entangled in the vines, before turning back to Madam Jiang with an innocent expression.

"That’s quite an impressive accusation. I wonder how I managed to accomplish something even cultivators at a higher realm might struggle with?"

Madam Jiang’s expression darkened at his retort. She clearly hadn’t expected Sui Sui to challenge her so openly. Nevertheless, she quickly suppressed her displeasure and maintained the gentle smile on her face.

"Of course, I didn’t mean to accuse you. We still need to investigate the matter properly before drawing any conclusions." She then turned back toward Elder Shan Li, her tone as polite as ever. "So, Brother Shan Li, why don’t we have them brought down first? We can discuss everything else afterward."

However, Madam Jiang’s expectations were quickly dashed by Elder Shan Li’s response.

"No. I refuse to help anyone who has wronged me. Until this matter has been thoroughly investigated and the truth brought to light, don’t expect me to lift a finger to help them." His voice remained cold and unwavering, leaving no room for negotiation. "Don’t mistake my past leniency for endless tolerance. I’ve let things slide before, but that doesn’t mean I’ll continue turning a blind eye forever."

Madam Jiang’s smile nearly faltered and the amiable expression she had carefully maintained threatened to crack. Nevertheless, she quickly composed herself and continued speaking in the same gentle, conciliatory tone.

"Th-this... What does Junior Brother Shan mean by that?" she asked, deliberately emphasizing her concern. "Are you truly going to stand by and let these two disciples suffer like this? Regardless of what happened, they’re still members of our sect. Surely we shouldn’t leave them hanging there without helping them?"

Her words were carefully chosen to put Elder Shan Li in an unfavorable position, making it seem as though he were being unreasonable and deliberately neglecting two injured disciples simply because of a personal grievance.

Unfortunately for her, Elder Shan Li had no intention of playing along.

"Then perhaps they should have thought twice before courting death."

His reply was blunt, without the slightest trace of sympathy.

In the cultivation world, where strength dictated much of one’s standing and the principle of an eye for an eye was widely accepted, his words were hardly unreasonable. If someone deliberately offended a powerful cultivator or harmed something that belonged to them, they could hardly expect to escape the consequences simply by appealing to morality afterward.

Madam Jiang’s expression stiffened further, but before she could come up with another argument, Jiang Huan finally lost his patience.

He had been watching the exchange from the side, growing increasingly agitated as he saw that Elder Shan Li had no intention of helping Chu Ran and Disciple Leng. Seeing Chu Ran still trapped in the vines, her face contorted with pain, he could no longer hold back his anger.

"How can Elder Shan Li be so unreasonable?" he blurted out, his voice rising with indignation. "Chu Ran was only trying to help you, yet this is how you treat her? If you want someone to blame, then blame that useless fool standing beside you! He’s the real culprit!"

The moment those words left his mouth, Sui Sui raised an eyebrow.

He had been waiting for this.

"Oh?" he asked calmly, turning toward Jiang Huan. "And what proof do you have?"

Jiang Huan immediately seized the opportunity, seemingly convinced that he had finally found a way to turn the situation in his favor.

"Didn’t my Junior Sister already explain everything? She knew you were embezzling the Spirit Stones, so she came to investigate. But you discovered what she was doing and deliberately sent your spirit beast to play tricks on them, provoking the Spirit Jade Fruit Tree into attacking them!"

He pointed toward Sui Sui, his expression full of righteous indignation, as though he had already uncovered the entire truth.

"Besides, just look at the ground! The Spirit Stones used were clearly Low-Grade Spirit Stones. You’re the one responsible for tending to the tree, so how do you explain that? If you weren’t the one who replaced them, then who else could it have been?"

Sui Sui almost laughed at Jiang Huan’s reasoning.

He had to admit, this fellow was remarkably talented at twisting the truth. With just a few words, he had somehow turned Sui Sui into the culprit, Chu Ran into an innocent victim, and the entire incident into a case of righteous disciples exposing corruption.

Unfortunately for Jiang Huan, Sui Sui had no intention of accepting such a ridiculous accusation.

"Oh? That’s interesting," he said, tilting his head slightly as he regarded Jiang Huan. "If I remember correctly, I’ve never even told Chu Ran that Elder Shan Li gave me the Spirit Stones for tending to the Spirit Jade Fruit Tree. So how did she know I had them in the first place?"

His tone remained light, but his gaze sharpened.

"Unless she’s been deliberately keeping an eye on me?"

Chu Ran who was still hanging on the side, her expression changed slightly, but Sui Sui did not give her a chance to interrupt.

"Besides, your reasoning doesn’t make any sense. If I had really embezzled the Spirit Stones, wouldn’t Elder Shan Li have been the first person to notice? He’s the owner of this courtyard, and he checks on the Spirit Jade Fruit Tree from time to time. Do you honestly think I could secretly replace the Spirit Stones without him noticing anything? plus why is it that of all the day this case happened, it just had to be the day when neither Elder Shan Li and I, were present"

Sui Sui paused, allowing his words to sink in before continuing.

"And even if someone really did replace the Spirit Stones, why does that automatically mean I was responsible? Why couldn’t it have been Chu Ran?"

He glanced toward the woman still struggling within the vines, then calmly turned back to Jiang Huan.

"Think about it. She already knew I was responsible for tending to the tree, and she clearly isn’t on good terms with me. What if she deliberately replaced the Spirit Stones to frame me? By doing so, she could make it look as though I had neglected my duties or embezzled the resources entrusted to me. Wouldn’t that be a convenient way to get me into trouble?"

Jiang Huan’s expression stiffened.

Sui Sui had not even finished speaking, yet the situation was already becoming much less straightforward than Jiang Huan had expected.

"More importantly," Sui Sui continued, raising another finger, "what reason would I have to do such a thing in the first place? The spirit stones? did you even pause to consider who my family is? Do I look like I would lack spirit stones"

He spread his hands, his expression practically asking whether Jiang Huan had considered the matter at all. Although he did indeed need the spirit stones in real life, but he wasn’t so poor as to think of stealing, specially since it was much easier to just ask his parents rather than stealing it

Sui Sui’s reasoning was straightforward. He had no obvious motive, and the fact that he was responsible for the tree did not automatically prove that he was the one who had sabotaged it. There were still too many unanswered questions to draw any conclusions.

Jiang Huan opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to refute him, but for a moment, he couldn’t find anything convincing to say. So rather than reconsidering his accusation, he quickly resorted to another excuse.

"Who knows? Maybe you’re just greedy!" Jiang Huan retorted. "Perhaps you thought you could get away with stealing the Spirit Stones without anyone finding out!"

Sui Sui stared at him.

Then he let out a small, incredulous laugh.

"Wow. When it comes to Chu Ran, you assume she’s innocent without a shred of proof. But when it comes to me, you immediately decide I’m greedy and guilty?" He raised an eyebrow, his voice dripping with disbelief. "Where exactly is the logic in that?"

"You!" Jiang Huan’s face flushed with anger.

He wanted to argue, but before he could come up with another accusation, Elder Shan Li finally spoke again.

"Enough."

His voice was not particularly loud, yet it immediately silenced the surrounding commotion. His sharp phoenix eyes swept across the gathered disciples, lingering briefly on Jiang Huan before moving toward Chu Ran and Disciple Leng, who were still entangled in the vines.

"Since everyone seems so eager to find the culprit, why don’t we settle this matter with a test?"

The crowd fell quiet.

Elder Shan Li continued, "This incident concerns the Spirit Jade Fruit Tree, so why not let the tree itself judge the matter?"

He turned his gaze toward the enormous tree, whose jade-like leaves rustled faintly despite the absence of wind.

"As you all know, the Spirit Jade Fruit Tree is no ordinary spiritual plant. After cultivating for so many years, it has developed its own awareness and judgment. It can distinguish between those who approach it with good intentions and those who harbor hostility toward it."

He paused briefly before looking at Sui Sui.

"Let Sui Sui approach the tree and attempt to appease it. If the tree accepts him and allows him to approach, that will demonstrate that it recognizes no hostility toward him, meaning it is impossible for him to be the one deliberately harming the tree. If it attacks him instead, then we will have reason to believe that it regards him as an enemy."

Elder Shan Li’s expression remained composed as he delivered his final words.

"Whatever the outcome, we will accept the tree’s response as the basis for our judgment. What does everyone think?"

Hearing Elder Shan Li’s proposed method, Jiang Huan’s eyes suddenly lit up. He had been racking his brain for a way to turn the situation around, and now an opportunity had practically presented itself.

He still remembered what the other elders had discussed during their investigation. Elder Shan Li might not have known the full extent of the tree’s condition, but they did. The Spirit Jade Fruit Tree had become so unstable that, aside from Elder Shan Li himself, no one had been able to calm it down.

If Sui Sui stepped forward and failed to appease the tree, wouldn’t that only strengthen their case against him?

Jiang Huan’s confidence returned almost immediately. He turned toward his mother and exchanged a glance with her. Judging by the subtle change in her expression, it seemed she had reached the same conclusion.

Madam Jiang promptly stepped forward, concealing her satisfaction behind a composed expression. "Since that is the only way to settle this matter, then let us proceed as Brother Shan Li suggests."