NOVPUB
Chapter 2077 - Have I Been Unjustly Accused?
Luo Xuanji understood what Su Yi was getting at.
Looking at this from another angle, Qin Wenxiao really was fearless. He couldn’t even be bothered to formulate a more plausible pretense to target Su Yi.
Qin Wenxiao just glanced expressionlessly at Su Yi and said, “Di Bao!”
“Present!” Di Bao said gravely.
“Take Su Yi into custody and imprison him in the manor’s dungeons,” Qin Wenxiao said coldly. “If he dares to resist arrest, it’ll prove his guilt. Any resistance will be a violation of the rules, an act of defiance against the entire City of the Beginning, and all shall condemn him!”
His murderous voice boomed throughout heaven and earth. A commotion ensued outside the city lord’s manor.
Meanwhile, within the manor, the Greater Gods rose, their gazes playful.
Whether he resisted or not, Su Yi’s fate was sealed, but of course, they’d much prefer to see Su Yi resist! That way, he’d be suppressed and executed on the spot.
Chief Libationer Fa Tianming furrowed his brow, his eyes flashing with uncertainty. He most certainly didn’t believe that Su Yi would just sit around and wait to die, but he couldn’t for the life of him guess how Su Yi planned to get out of this.
Di Bao stepped forward, his eyes flashing like cold lightning, and glared at Su Yi. “Come quietly, and you can escape death! Otherwise, I’ll execute you on the spot!”
Then, he raised his hand and reached for Su Yi.
Crunch! Bang!
Su Yi waved his sleeve through the air. Di Bao’s extended right arm broke, and he was sent flying backward. He slammed into the dirt, his face racked with agony.
“Impudent!” Qin Wenxiao bellowed in fury.
But his expression was full of undisguised delight. Su Yi had actually chosen to resist! And he’d injured someone in front of the crowd! That was enough to warrant killing him on the spot, no other reason needed.
The Greater Gods couldn’t help but laugh coldly.
The Chief Libationer’s eyelids twitched, and he stared intently at Su Yi.
Meanwhile, outside the city lord’s manor, many of the onlookers’ hearts sank. He’s finished!
Who could have failed to realize the consequences Su Yi would soon face for his actions?
“Chief Libationer, I am now about to execute this criminal in the name of the city’s rules. Do you have any objections?” Qin Wenxiao said expressionlessly.
The Chief Libationer glanced at Lie Xingqu, who’d yet to say anything in all this time. “And how do you view this matter, Third Libationer?”
Whoosh!
All eyes were on Lie Xingqu.
Lie Xingqu, meanwhile, looked extraordinarily conflicted, as if his heart were tied up in knots.
Before he could say anything, Qin Wenxiao said, “There’s no need for the Third Libationer to take a stance. Your input isn’t needed either, Chief Libationer. Su Yi has violated the rules and must be put to death by the staff!”
“That’s right! He must be put to death!” the Greater Gods and city guards chimed in to express their thirst for Su Yi’s blood.
Su Yi’s gaze remained as calm as ever, but his eyes were cold. This show was crude and not the least bit interesting.
But then, it was obvious that these people had no interest in putting on a proper show for him.
Su Yi laughed. “I heard that, throughout the ages, you’ve been able to determine whether someone was falsely accused or not by beating the Drum of Injustice.”
But before he could say any more, Second Libationer Qin Wenxiao laughed coldly. “Were the Drum of Injustice still in operation, a criminal like you would have been put to death a long time ago!”
He sighed. “Alas, its mallet was lost long ago. Otherwise, there’d be no need to waste all this time on talking. I could have put a criminal like you to death immediately!”
“You’re wrong.” Su Yi shook his head. “The mallet has gone missing, but that doesn’t mean the Drum of Injustice is useless.”
He looked at Third Libationer Lie Xingqu. “Fellow Daoist, might I trouble you to beat the Drum of Injustice and see whether or not it responds?”
The request left the crowd stunned. Countless people looked on in bewilderment. Is Su Yi desperate? Why else would he pin his hopes on the Drum of Injustice?
Luo Xuanji was stunned too. Last night, she’d realized that Su Yi was entirely fearless and completely confident. She would never have guessed that Su Yi would pin his hopes on a long-defunct divine artifact.
“This...” Lie Xingqu’s expression shifted erratically, but in the end, he gnashed his teeth and rose to his feet. “Very well!”
“Stop!” Qin Wenxiao said coldly. “What’s all this talk of injustice? As everyone can see, Su Yi isn’t just the most likely culprit behind Zhou Bing’s murder. Earlier, he injured the commander of the guards in public for all to see! That alone warrants the death penalty!”
He fixed his cold gaze on Lie Xingqu. “Don’t you think, Third Libationer?”
The threat was readily apparent.
The Chief Libationer suddenly said gravely, “The Drum of Injustice has lost its mallet, and it is no longer usable. Still, if the Third Libationer really wants to try it, there’s no reason to stop him.”
Qin Wenxiao furrowed his brow and disregarded the Chief Libationer. Instead, he stared expressionlessly at Lie Xingqu. “You’re the Third Libationer of the City of the Beginning. If you want to try it, I naturally won’t stand in your way.”
Lie Xingqu fell silent, then gnashed his teeth and left the hall.
When Su Yi saw this, he inwardly nodded. Outwardly, he said, “Please wait, Third Libationer.”
Lie Xingqu stopped in his tracks. “You don’t want to test it after all, Fellow Daoist Su?”
Su Yi laughed. “I fully intend to try it, but there’s no need for you to beat the drum personally.”
With that, he turned around, faced the Drum of Injustice, and, beneath countless flabbergasted gazes, said, “Tell me, have I been unjustly accused?”
Splurt! Several of the onlookers couldn’t help but burst into sputtering laughter. Has Su Yi gone insane? How could he be so desperate and insane as to talk to a long-defunct divine artifact?
Jeering laughter arose throughout the crowd.
Even Fa Tianming, Qin Wenxiao, and Lie Xingqu were stunned. All of them had strange looks on their faces. They were the city’s libationers. They naturally understood that the Drum of Injustice was useless without its mallet!
Thus, Su Yi’s question seemed downright ludicrous.
But it was then that——
Boom!!!
The dense, heavy beat of a drum resounded throughout the surrounding area, like a sudden thunderclap. Heaven and earth shook, and the entire City of the Beginning quivered.
The laughter came to an abrupt halt.
The beating of the drum was so vigorous that it resonated with the surrounding space, suppressing the voices of everyone present. It went off in the crowd’s ears like a thunderclap, making their hearts shake and their bodies tremble.
Everyone present, both the group inside the manor and the crowd watching from outside, froze, their eyes wide with shock. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
The Drum of Injustice, a divine artifact long covered in dust, now erupted with countless strange and inscrutable talisman markings.
Firelight interwove, and yet another drum beat rang out with earthshaking volume.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Everyone’s expression shifted, and startled cries arose on all sides.
Who could have imagined that the long-dormant, mallet-less Drum of Injustice would awaken, much less that its drumbeats would resound throughout the nine heavens?
Finally, the Drum of Injustice scattered a rain of light, and a massive line of black text appeared in midair.
“You’ve been unjustly accused!”
The text was like a miniature mountain, so heavy and so eye-catching that it crushed the skies around it!
As the heaven-shaking beat of the drum receded into stillness, the crowd fell completely silent, their eyes wide and their jaws hanging slack.
Within the city lord’s manor, Chief Libationer and City Lord Fa Tianming murmured, “The Drum of Injustice has awakened?”
Second Libationer Qin Wenxiao’s expression darkened, and his face filled with rage and surprise. This unexpected development had caught him completely off guard.
The Greater Gods exchanged glances. All of them realized that this didn’t bode well.
Third Libationer Lie Xingqu was instantly overwrought. He said in a quavering voice, “The Drum of Injustice... has always been here!”
So, he really was relying on the Drum of Injustice this entire time. Luo Xuanji batted her eyes. It seemed highly likely to her that the Drum of Injustice had reacted like this on account of Su Yi’s Epoch Spark and powers of reincarnation.
There had to be secrets behind it!
Su Yi, meanwhile, was still looking at the drum. He said calmly, “How so?”
No one dared laugh now. Everyone gazed intently at the Drum of Injustice. The divine artifact erupted with mysterious light, as if it had come to life.
It outlined new lines of text in the sky. “Treacherous schemers planted evidence to frame you. Such an injustice is an affront to both men and gods! The heavens’ wrath will not be quelled unless your good name is restored!”
Uproar ensued. Everyone was stunned.
The Drum of Injustice was far too mystical. It was obvious to everyone that the Second Libationer was the “treacherous schemer!” who’d framed Su Yi!
This divine artifact called Su Yi ‘His Excellency’.... Luo Xuanji’s eyes flashed, and she sank into thought.
“Impudent!” Qin Wenxiao couldn’t suppress his fury. He bellowed, “Su Yi must be controlling the divine artifact in secret. It would never write such nonsense otherwise. This is blatant slander!”
Then, he looked at Su Yi, his gaze imposing. “Right and wrong have long since become clear! According to the city’s rules, Su Yi must be put to death!”
The Greater Gods seethed with murderous intent. “That’s right. He must be put to death!”
The atmosphere was instantly hostile.
The Chief Libationer immediately rose and said gravely, “Second Libationer, please, calm down. It won’t be too late to decide after we’ve investigated thoroughly!”
Third Libationer Lie Xingqu gnashed his teeth and said, “That’s right. The Drum of Injustice has already revealed a false accusation. We have to scrupulously re-investigate. To do otherwise would be a violation of the city’s rules!”
Two libationers had now made their positions clear. Both opposed the Second Libationer.
Just like that, the situation turned on its head.
Seeing this left the onlookers’ hearts quivering with fright.
“What is there to investigate? Don’t tell me you’ve gone blind? Didn’t you see him resist arrest and attack Di Bao?” roared Second Libationer Qin Wenxiao.
“To interfere with the Second Libationer is to shield the criminal Su Yi. None of us will agree to that!” said Ren Beiyou of the Three Purities Daoist Court.
The other Greater Gods glared murderously. The atmosphere was instantly as tense as could be!
But Su Yi just stood there as if all of this were perfectly normal. “There’s no need for your intervention. I’d actually just love to see how Qin Wenxiao intends to execute me.”
“See that? The boy does not repent even in the face of death! His crimes are unforgivable!” bellowed Qin Wenxiao. He swung his sleeves through the air.
Boom!
A bundle of divine radiance erupted from his palm, and a blood-red wooden staff floated into the air. It was fully ten feet long and covered in strange, mystical, blood-red markings that shone with eye-catching, intense radiance.
A terrifying murderous aura emanated from the blood-red staff.
Everyone in the crowd held their breath. All of them sensed intense pressure bearing down on them, and their whole bodies went taut.
When they faced this treasure, they felt the despair of convicts soon to be sentenced to death.
This was the Staff of Divine Punishment! One of the three great divine artifacts of the City of the Beginning, and the only weapon among them. It could suppress both gods and demons and execute all evildoers within city limits!
