Chapter Three

Cen Yan pressed his thin lips together into a line. He stepped forward two paces, his voice tinged with urgency: "Forgive my impudence, but may I ask the Sect Master — is there perhaps something wrong with the Truth Pearl?"

Otherwise, how could the Truth Pearl respond in Chu Rong's favor when he was speaking nothing but lies?

The question was somewhat presumptuous, but Lian Ci had seen the account book himself — the evidence was plainly obvious, yet the Truth Pearl had judged Chu Rong's words to be true.

To be honest, Lian Ci was beginning to feel uncertain himself. Could it truly be that the Truth Pearl had some kind of malfunction?

Lian Ci spread his five fingers, recalled the Truth Pearl, channeled a stream of spiritual energy into it, and examined it carefully. After a moment, he let out a helpless sigh: "No."

The Truth Pearl had no problem.

In other words, what Chu Rong had said was genuinely, unmistakably true.

Chu Rong took in everyone's reactions without letting anything show, and quietly let out a breath of relief. It seemed he had gambled right.

The Truth Pearl could indeed detect truth from lies — but at its core, it was nothing more than a lie detector in a different form.

Could a lie detector catch a liar?

It could — but not always.

As long as one's psychological resilience was strong enough and one's ability to withstand mental pressure was sufficient, a lie detector was nothing more than an inanimate object. And as it happened, Chu Rong, as a person of the modern world, had no shortage of the ability to handle pressure.

Besides, it was the original owner who had done wrong. He had only somehow ended up inside the original owner's body, suffering this entirely undeserved disaster.

What the original owner had done had nothing to do with him whatsoever. So Chu Rong felt not the slightest bit of guilt.

Hidden behind the mask, his expression was unreadable. Chu Rong asked in return: "Now — can you prove my innocence?"

There were still many more charges on the list. They refused to believe Chu Rong hadn't committed a single one of them.

Lian Ci's eyes darkened slightly. He studied Chu Rong for a long moment, then raised his hand and sent the Truth Pearl floating back, asking through the charges one by one.

Yet, to everyone's dismay, the reality was the exact opposite of what they had expected. The Truth Pearl glowed every single time.

The dazzling white light passed through the gaps between Chu Rong's fingers, illuminating each one in perfect clarity — translucent and radiant, as though carved from the finest jade.

Beautiful enough to make it impossible to look away, and devastating enough to shatter every last hope.

A strange silence crept bit by bit across the space before the hall. Everyone watched as the light of the Truth Pearl gradually faded in Chu Rong's palm, and not a single person spoke.

Chu Rong released the Truth Pearl. His upward-tilted peach blossom eyes were tinged faintly crimson at the corners, his gaze sliding one inch at a time across the faces of those assembled.

"So then — I've proven my innocence now, haven't I?" Chu Rong looked toward Lian Ci, a trace of careless laughter threading through his voice: "What do you say, Sect Master Lian?"

Everyone knew the rules of the Truth Pearl.

No matter how much evidence there was against Chu Rong, no matter how damning it appeared, they could only declare him innocent.

Lian Ci was the head of a sect and had his reputation to uphold. He delivered the final verdict with absolute authority: "Chu Rong is innocent. From this day forward, no one within the sect is to speak of this matter again!"

The disciples erupted in an uproar, but there was nothing they could do. The Sect Master had spoken. They had no choice but to comply.

"Sect Master Lian is wise. However, you dragged me here without a shred of justification and doused me in filth without cause." Chu Rong forced himself to remain composed, ignoring the gazes from every direction that looked ready to tear him apart. He glanced down at his arm hanging at an unnatural angle: "And then you injured my arm. How is this account to be settled?"

"The creed of cultivators is to protect all living beings. Your duty is to shield me — yet this is what you have done to me instead." Chu Rong's tone paused briefly. He was speaking to Lian Ci, but his gaze drifted sideways to He Ming's blackened expression, and it was perfectly clear who his words were aimed at: "A cultivator injuring someone without cause — surely Sect Master Lian won't simply let this pass?"

"Enough of your slander!" He Ming's face went dark, his eyebrows standing on end as he bellowed furiously: "With all the evil you've done, I confined you to Cloud Ridge Peak out of exceptional mercy, to spare your life. Not only are you ungrateful, you have the nerve to turn things around and point the finger at me!"

Gratitude?

In the original storyline, He Ming had always looked down on the original owner. The original owner had been locked up in Cloud Ridge Peak and subjected to untold torment, all with He Ming's tacit approval.

Setting aside the original owner's deeds entirely — just He Ming's words just now, the way he had glossed over the truth and twisted everything on its head, were more than enough to make Chu Rong furious.

Chu Rong laughed coldly, the warmth in his eyes dropping degree by degree: "Elder He, are your eyes too dim to see the Truth Pearl glowing, or are your ears too dull to hear what Sect Master Lian just said? I am innocent. Dragging an innocent person away to be confined — and Elder He still wants me to be grateful?"

If he hadn't fought back with everything he had, he'd likely already be sharing the original owner's fate, locked up on Cloud Ridge Peak.

"You—!" He Ming was left completely speechless, his face flushing red all the way down to his neck with rage.

"Enough." Cen Yan clenched both fists, forcibly suppressing the seething killing intent in his chest. He stepped forward and positioned himself in front of He Ming, his pale face blanketed in frost: "All of this began with me. I apologize to you."

Cen Yan bent at the waist and bowed deeply toward Chu Rong: "The injury to your shoulder — I will take responsibility for it."

Lian Ci also stepped in at the right moment to smooth things over, pointing at Qing Ming: "You — go to the Discipline Hall and accept your punishment on your own."

Chu Rong understood perfectly well when to stop. What he had sought was nothing more than a chance at survival.

After all, it was genuinely the original owner who had acted wrongly first. His goal had been achieved, and if he kept pressing further, it would only backfire.

Chu Rong kept his composure, gave a slight bow to Lian Ci, and turned to leave.