“No…no…” Zheng Menglong was sweating profusely from He Pingsheng's questioning. He said, “I wasn't there at the time!”
“Not there?” This time it was Yu Ning who asked, “Menglong, since you neither heard it from others nor saw it with your own eyes, why are you so certain that He Pingsheng is the murderer who killed Linglong?”
“Could it be that you secretly killed Senior Sister yourself and then framed He Pingsheng?”
“No, no…” Zheng Menglong immediately panicked, “Junior Martial Uncle, I didn’t…I’m only at the Qi Refining Stage Eight cultivation level, how could I possibly defeat Senior Sister who is at the Qi Refinement Stage Eleventh Level!”
“Oh!”
Yu Ning nodded and said, “You, at Qi Refining Stage Eight, can't defeat Linglong at Qi Refinement Stage Eleventh Level, so you mean my Disciple, at Qi Refining Stage Seventh Layer, can defeat Linglong?”
Zheng Menglong was almost in tears from the questioning.
That's right, all his information was based on speculation.
Why did he speculate this way?
Because Zheng Menglong knew very well.
Back in the Secret Realm, Linglong had once ordered him and three other Senior Brothers to continuously patrol and search for He Pingsheng, and then kill He Pingsheng.
But later, he didn't find He Pingsheng; instead, he received news from Linglong saying she had found He Pingsheng.
So he rushed over in a hurry.
When he arrived, he saw a chaotic battlefield.
The scene was too chaotic, so much so that Zheng Menglong himself didn't know who won, who lost, who lived, or who died. It wasn't until he left the Secret Realm and met his Master, Yu De, that he understood the whole story.
With such a simple judgment, he knew that He Pingsheng had killed Linglong.
But he indeed had no evidence.
However, no evidence didn't matter; he just needed to accuse, and Master would take action.
But just now, news of Master's demise arrived.
Zheng Menglong was already in a difficult position.
Now that he had no backing, what could he do?
He could only compromise.
“I…I…I…” He said, sweating profusely, “I don’t have any evidence. I just…I just felt that Junior Brother He’s suspicion was very high, because before, Senior Sister Linglong had tried to harm him!”
“I think he would seek revenge; he has the motive!”
Whoosh…
The hall erupted in an uproar.
Clearly, this accusation was not valid.
“Huff…” Elder Hong took a deep breath and said, “This…this simply doesn't make sense. You can't just conclude that He Pingsheng killed Linglong just because he had a grudge against her!”
“Furthermore, according to our investigation, there were a total of five people who followed Linglong into the Secret Realm to protect her, meaning Linglong's group consisted of six people in total!”
“To be honest, this Elder does not believe that He Pingsheng could have the ability to slay five out of these six people!”
Upon hearing this, He Pingsheng immediately showed a shocked expression and said, “What five?”
“Does Elder mean that five Disciples died?”
This shock was just right.
It would be problematic if He Pingsheng didn't show any shock at this moment.
And this was also the strategy discussed by Elder Hong and Daoist Nun Feng Daogu.
It was used to test He Pingsheng.
Unexpectedly, He Pingsheng broke it with a flash of inspiration.
“Humph…” Daoist Nun Feng Daogu snorted coldly.
Elder Hong nodded and said, “Yes…a total of five Disciples died, except for this Zheng Menglong who survived!”
“Elder Hong!” Yu Ning asked, “Now, can my Disciple He Pingsheng's suspicion be lifted?”
“No!” Elder Hong shook his head and said, “This Elder still has one question!”
“He Pingsheng…” Elder Hong asked again, “This Elder would like to ask, when did you leave the Secret Realm?”
“Also, after you came out, why didn't you return with everyone else?”
Elder Hong posed two questions.
Everyone looked at He Pingsheng.
He Pingsheng took a deep breath and said, “This Junior left the Secret Realm on the eve of the last day before it closed!”
“As for why I didn't return with everyone else, that's because I was afraid!”
“Afraid?” Elder Hong asked, “What were you afraid of?”
He Pingsheng said, “I was afraid of Linglong and Luoyu!”
“Hehe…Nonsense!” Daoist Nun Feng Daogu sneered and said, “Linglong and Luoyu were already dead by then, would you be afraid of them?”
He Pingsheng cupped his hands, “This Junior didn't know who had died at that time, isn't that normal?”
“Good!” Elder Hong said, “He Pingsheng, tell us, why were you afraid of them?”
He Pingsheng silently took out his hundred treasure sack, and from within the hundred treasure sack, he pulled out six golden apricots.
Water Essence Spirit Apricot.
“This is…”
“Water Essence Spirit Apricot?”
“Oh my god?”
“He actually got Water Essence Spirit Apricot?”
“And six of them?”
Everyone stared at He Pingsheng with wide eyes.
Elder Hong's eyes narrowed slightly and he said, “Good boy, your Opportunity is quite significant. Tell us!”
He Pingsheng said, “Yes!”
“This Junior arrived at Ice Peak Lake around the eleventh day after entering the Secret Realm!”
“Eleven days?” At this moment, Hou Muxian suddenly spoke, saying, “That’s not right, on the eleventh day, I was at Ice Peak Lake, and I didn't see you, Junior Brother!”
As soon as these words were spoken, they stirred up a thousand waves with one stone.
Yu Ning glared fiercely at Hou Muxian.
Only then did Hou Muxian realize he had said something wrong and quickly covered his mouth.
A slight smile appeared at the corner of Daoist Nun Feng Daogu's lips.
However, He Pingsheng remained very calm. He said, “It's normal that Senior Brother Hou didn't see me…I didn't see you either, Senior Brother!”
“Because I didn't go directly to the island in the middle of Ice Peak Lake!”
“This Junior entered the water from the lakeside and swam all the way to the center of the lake!”
“Then, after searching at the bottom of the lake in the center and obtaining six ripe Water Essence Spirit Apricots, I immediately used the Ren Water Escape Technique to leave!”
“Therefore, Senior Brother did not see this Junior!”
“This Junior, having obtained the Spirit Apricot, naturally wouldn't actively expose himself!”
With that explanation, it all made sense again.
Elder Hong nodded and said, “So you know the Ren Water Escape Technique?”
“Yes!” He Pingsheng said, “This Junior has Cultivated a Spell called the Ren Water Escape Technique. If the Elders don't believe me, I can demonstrate the Ren Water Escape Technique for you here!”
“I can testify to that!” Zhao Ling'er immediately raised her hand and said, “When we encountered danger and crushed the jade talisman to escape from the Secret Realm, Junior Brother didn't leave. He jumped off the cliff, and before I was teleported, I heard him say that he knew the Ren Water Escape Technique!”
“He even advised me not to leave!”
“Right, right, right!” Xu Kunlun said, “I can also testify to this!”
Elder Hong nodded, “It seems Junior Nephew He wouldn't make a big deal out of this; you should be proficient in the Ren Water Escape Technique!”
“Yes!” He Pingsheng continued, “But coincidentally, when this Disciple swam back to the water's edge and jumped out of Ice Peak Lake, I happened to run into Luoyu and Linglong!”
“They wanted to snatch my Spirit Apricot!”
“Senior Sister Luoyu even took out a golden bell and shook it at me from afar a few times, and this Junior's Divine Thought almost collapsed!”
“My Divine Thought is still in a severely injured state to this day!”
“This Junior used the Ren Water Escape Technique to leave through a river connected to Ice Peak Lake, which allowed me to escape their pursuit.”
“But this Junior knows that Senior Sister Linglong has always been domineering and unreasonable, and I was afraid that after leaving the Secret Realm, she would try to take my Water Essence Spirit Apricot again, and since they failed to kill me, they would definitely try to silence me by killing me!”
“This Disciple is alone on Xiuzhu Peak and has no backing!”
“To be honest with Elder, I thought about escaping the Secret Realm and never returning to Tai Xu Sect, running far away for the rest of my life!”
“So I disguised myself as a woman and used a Disguise Talisman to escape!”