“No need. However, Elder, please tell me the evidence of what Jin Buque did to me. I will handle this myself, and at the end, I will ask the Elder to step in and conclude it.”
Putting away the Jade Slip, Qian Duoduo said to Wu Binghuo, “Do me a favor and have Cultivators from other Immortal Mountains who want to watch the show gather at the mountain gate. The more, the better.”
Wu Binghuo was startled. “Isn’t that inappropriate?”
“There’s nothing inappropriate about it. They want to kneel, they are shameless, so what do I have to fear?”
Seeing that he couldn't persuade Qian Duoduo, Wu Binghuo sighed and left.
After another half an hour, Qian Duoduo slowly walked down the mountain. Wang Dahei, Huang Guiren, and others, fearing he would suffer, followed him.
From a distance, the Outer Sect archway of the three gates and three towers was surrounded by a dense crowd. In front of the archway, eight people were kneeling. The one leading them was the bald Family Head Jin, Jin Yongqiang.
“We seek an audience with Purple-Gold Disciple Jin Buhuan of the Jin Family!” the eight people shouted in unison.
Their voices were neat, loud, and filled with grievance and a sense of righteousness, as if they were several respectable and kind Elders trying to summon a prodigal son who was ungrateful and didn't know what was good for him.
Coupled with the surrounding white snow and a few gusts of cold wind, the atrocities of this unfilial son were truly infuriating!
Many of the Disciple watching were whispering. Qian Duoduo’s Spiritual Awareness, which was part of his Ever-Rich and Ever-Noble Cultivation Technique, was coincidentally very sensitive and heard some of it completely.
“I never thought Senior Brother Jin would be such a cruel person, not even recognizing his own grandfather.”
“A Purple-Gold Disciple is truly formidable, able to force his own Clan Chief to kneel. Is this the so-called sacrificing oneself for righteousness, eternally immortal?”
“I also heard that as soon as Jin Buhuan returned, he had his own brother thrown into Jail. Doesn’t he care about brotherly affection?”
“His heart is too cruel. If he treats his own Elders and brothers like this, wouldn’t he be even more ruthless to those who are not his Elders or brothers?”
…
The footsteps on the mountain path were not quiet. Jin Yongqiang and the seven Elders knew that Qian Duoduo had come down the mountain, but no one looked up.
However, Qian Duoduo could guarantee that their peripheral vision was definitely locked onto him.
“Family Head Jin, seven Elders of the Jin Family, are you looking for me?” Qian Duoduo stopped about ten feet away from them and asked.
Jin Yongqiang cupped his fists towards Qian Duoduo, performing a salute between peers. “Family Head Jin Yongqiang, along with the seven Elders of the Jin Family, pays respects to the Purple-Gold Disciple.”
Qian Duoduo quickly dodged to the side, avoiding his salute, and deeply bowed to him. Qian Duoduo performed the Junior’s salute to an Elder; no matter what, Jin Yongqiang was older than Qian Duoduo.
A hint of a triumphant smile appeared on Jin Yongqiang’s face—the scheme had succeeded. Qian Duoduo ultimately didn’t dare to deny being a Junior. Since Qian Duoduo admitted he was a Junior, even though he was kneeling, he had already taken the moral high ground.
“If you have something to say, say it.” Qian Duoduo turned to the onlookers and said loudly, “Everyone listen carefully, no one on our Mengyuan Mountain forced them to kneel. I certainly don’t have the power to make them kneel. Here at the mountain gate, there are Jade Slips with recordings and Formation traces. Everyone is welcome to check.”
Turning his head, Qian Duoduo said to Jin Yongqiang and the others, “Clan Chief Jin, and all the Elders, in this icy and snowy weather, if your bodies are well, you can stand to speak, or you can kneel to speak, whatever is comfortable for you. No one dares to force you, and no one dares to compel you.”
Jin Yongqiang’s face stiffened, then he quickly regained his composure and spoke loudly: “The Jin Family is in decline, and now there’s a morally corrupt rebel like Jin Buque. We old folks are here to beg you, Purple-Gold Disciple, to accept the position of Young Clan Chief of the Jin Family, to lead the old and young of the Jin Family, to make the Jin Family prosper and grow, and to better serve our Refining Spirit Sect.”
He and the seven Elders remained steadfastly kneeling.
It was unclear whether the cold wind was too strong or his words were too righteous, but they somehow pressured Qian Duoduo to cough a few times.
If it weren't for Jin Buhuan's cold corpse still lying in the Golden Toad, Qian Duoduo might have been moved to tears by his words, which were both tender, passionate, and full of positive energy.
The eyes of the hundreds of onlookers fell on Qian Duoduo like snowflakes.
If Qian Duoduo didn’t answer, or answered poorly, these snowflakes would bury him, and a tombstone would be erected outside, inscribed with “Greatly Unfilial.”
“My name is Jin Buhuan, and my surname is Jin; that’s true,” Qian Duoduo said loudly. “However, from the day I was born until I stand here now, apart from my parents’ hard-earned money, I have never spent a single gold coin from the Jin Family, nor have I received any favor from the Jin Family.”
“You might not believe it, but the money for me to enter the Sect to Cultivate was raised by my mother selling herself. After entering the Sect, I had to figure out where my next meal’s money would come from, and where the money for my daily Cultivation would come from. I worked desperately, took on tasks desperately, earning every coin I could, one by one. Clan Chief Jin, Elder Jin, I’m not lying, am I?”
Jin Yongqiang and the others lowered their eyes, motionless like stones.
“Not giving money, not giving a good attitude, that’s fine. Who told us we weren’t direct descendants, who told us we were born into a poor Family? But, in the Refining Spirit Sect, the people who hated me the most were from the Jin Family, and the people who beat and scolded me the most were from the Jin Family. If you were me, Jin Buhuan, would you be grateful to this Jin Family, would you feel indebted to this Jin Family?”
“Some might say that the Jin Family has many members, and their quality varies, so it’s inevitable to have sharp-tongued and mean people, people who are jealous of the virtuous and capable, and squabbles among youngsters are unavoidable. But if someone wants to put you to death, is that still just a squabble?”
None of the onlookers spoke. Their gazes turned to the Jin Family members kneeling on the ground.
“Earlier this year, I left the Sect to perform a task. When I returned to the Sect, I was severely injured and then thrown into Jail, my cultivation crippled. Who was the mastermind behind this? I have evidence, and this evidence has been confirmed by the Sect… The one who wanted me in Jail has already entered Jail.”
Qian Duoduo’s voice echoed through the mountains. Someone spat on the ground. That spit was definitely not aimed at Qian Duoduo.
“With my cultivation crippled and confined in Jail, no one from the Jin Family came to visit. Instead, some even wished I would die faster and tampered with my prison food. The person who tampered with the prison food has also been found out. They forced me to participate in prison fights, almost dying from severe injuries. When I built my manor, the flood prevention Formation by the river was destroyed by someone, and I inexplicably encountered a flood…”
“In Kongfang City, our Refining Spirit Sect’s store was suppressed by the Ba Ling Sect and Shengling Sect, ranking last in commercial battles for a full hundred months. Our Refining Spirit Sect was mocked as the ‘Money-less Sect’ in the city. I went there, became the store manager, organized competitions, held events, and beat the Ba Ling Sect and Shengling Sect until they knelt and called me ‘Daddy’—”
At this point, the onlookers burst into laughter. Only then did Qian Duoduo realize that the Family Head Jin and the Elders were kneeling on the ground.
Jin Yongqiang’s legs trembled a few times, but he still controlled himself and didn’t stand up from the ground. Since he didn’t get up, the seven Elders also didn’t get up.
“After a few months, our Sect’s store assets increased tenfold, and our Refining Spirit Sect ranked first every month. However, someone else became displeased with me and wanted me to die early. Thus, there was the task of finding someone in the Chifeng Mountain Range, and thus there was the bitter escape of me, Senior Sister Yu Yixiang, and Senior Brother Wang Longyu.”
“Everyone, judge for yourselves, who is cruel, who is vicious? Should I, or should I not, be the Young Clan Chief of this ruthless, unrighteous, and lawless Family?”