“Bai Zihan, do you think you can get away with threatening someone in the Punishment Hall?”
Elder Shen asked angrily.
“Yes!”
Bai Zihan simply answered.
“Y-You!”
Even Elder Shen couldn’t keep his cool in front of Bai Zihan, who was giving him no face.
“You’re just adding to your list of crimes. I’m holding you for threatening a fellow disciple—inside the Punishment Hall, no less.”
Elder Shen said coldly.
“Do whatever you want.”
Bai Zihan replied, not caring in the slightest.
“Hmph! Let’s continue with the trial. Bai Zihan, you’ve heard the accusations. Do you wish to confess?”
Elder Shen demanded.
Bai Zihan stared at him like he was looking at an idiot.
“Confess?”
He gave a short laugh—dry, mocking.
“To what? Being blamed by someone clearly scheming against me?”
He turned to face the audience now—eyes calm, voice steady.
“I haven’t left my courtyard for two days. Ask the trees. Ask the birds. Hell, ask the teapot if you want.”
His gaze swung back to Elder Shen.
“This is clearly a setup.”
“Oh?”
Elder Shen raised an eyebrow slightly.
“And do you have any proof to support that?”
Bai Zihan shrugged, completely unfazed.
“Do you?”
There was a pause—brief, taut.
The room held its breath again.
Time and again, Bai Zihan was blatantly provoking Elder Shen. But for those who knew Bai Zihan, like Bai Xueqing, this was just his usual attitude.
Unless presented with undeniable evidence, there was no way anyone could do anything to him.
Even Clan Elders had suffered at Bai Zihan’s hands because of that.
That’s why Bai Xueqing saw Bai Zihan as someone completely shameless—someone who could lie without blinking, staring you dead in the eye like you were the crazy one.
Even when he knew he was lying, he’d act like you were wrong, gaslighting the victims.
He was someone who knew the rules well and how to use them.
“Elder Shan, apart from the victim’s testimony, do you have any other proof that Bai Zihan is truly the culprit here?”
Elder Shen asked, as if following the script that had already been planned.
Elder Shan nodded and replied.
“I had left behind some disciples to search Bai Zihan’s courtyard.”
He straightened his back confidently.
“All of it is recorded using the Memory Crystal Mirror.”
As soon as he said that, one of the inner disciples stepped forward, holding a smooth, translucent orb glowing faintly with spiritual light.
The Memory Crystal Mirror—a rare artifact used by the sect to record events in real-time and project them in holographic form.
It was often used for important trials like this, where evidence needed to be indisputable.
With a simple incantation, the disciple activated it.
A shimmering light appeared above the hall, like a mirage solidifying.
The recording began.
Everyone watched intently.
It showed the moment after Bai Zihan’s arrest—disciples respectfully entering his courtyard.
It started from there because they hadn’t tampered with the evidence by planting it themselves.
Their movements were cautious but methodical, sweeping the grounds, searching the rooms.
They even lifted the beds, overturned the wardrobes—without touching or disturbing anything unnecessary.
Then—
The image zoomed under Bai Zihan’s bed.
There, nestled in a dark corner, was a small ornate box.
One of the disciples in the recording pulled it out, opened it—
And the hall erupted.
Inside the box was a mess of delicate, colorful undergarments—some even embroidered with the names of their owners.
And sitting right on top, unmistakable even to the untrained eye, was a lacy violet piece that practically screamed Mei Ruolan’s name.
Some disciples gasped. Others grimace in disgust.
Bai Xueqing’s face turned black as the bottom of a pot, while Chu Ziyan didn’t show much change in her expression.
She just watched Bai Zihan, who was strangely calm for someone caught with “indisputable” evidence.
Shen Liang lowered his head, smirking to himself in secret triumph.
Elder Shen’s lips curled into a sneer as he leaned forward slightly.
“Well, Bai Zihan,” he said, voice dripping with righteous fury, “what do you have to say now?”
All eyes turned to Bai Zihan.
Some were gloating.
Some were disgusted.
Some—very few—were confused, not sure if things were as they seemed.
Bai Zihan, however, didn’t look rattled in the slightest.
He glanced up at the swirling hologram of the box.
Then he smiled.
A slow, lazy, devil-like smile.
“What do I have to say?”
He repeated, voice casual—as if he weren’t the one being questioned.
Bai Zihan took a step forward, completely ignoring the guards subtly trying to block him.
“Hmph! Since you have nothing to say, we will proceed with your punishment according to your crimes!”
Elder Shen’s voice echoed across the Punishment Hall, self-righteous and cold.
“First, for stealing the personal belongings of fellow female disciples, you shall have your right hand severed to atone.”
Murmurs broke out in the crowd.
Severing a cultivator’s hand was as good as crippling half their life.
It seemed excessive—but those who didn’t like Bai Zihan agreed with it.
Well, others thought that while it was excessive, an arrogant and shameless person like Bai Zihan deserved it.
“Second,” Elder Shen continued, raising his hand for silence, “for threatening Mei Ruolan within the walls of the Punishment Hall, you are sentenced to one year of solitary reflection in the Sect’s Reflection Cave.”
His voice was heavy, final.
Not only crippling Bai Zihan but also imprisoning him?
That was really a bit too much.
“And third… if after this punishment you continue to show disrespect or misconduct, you will be expelled from the Heaven Sword Sect without mercy.”
The hall buzzed, shock and disbelief rippling through the disciples like a stone thrown into still water.
Yet in the middle of it all, Bai Zihan stood there.
Still. No trace of fear or panic—even smirking at Elder Shen.
Looking at Bai Zihan, one wouldn’t know whether he was just that confident in his Clan’s influence—or just plain arrogant.
That nonchalance made some furious, others nervous.
But Bai Xueqing—
Her face turned ugly.
Not because she cared about Bai Zihan personally.
If he was guilty, then sure, punish him.
The Bai Clan wouldn’t cover for trash.
But this…?
This punishment was way too excessive.
Severing Bai Zihan’s hand?
The Bai Clan’s heir?
A direct descendant?
Was Elder Shen out of his mind?
Even if Bai Zihan was guilty, treating the Bai Clan’s heir like this was a slap across the Clan’s face.
They wouldn’t be able to avoid war with the Bai Clan if they go through Elder Shen’s punishment.
“Elder Shen, isn’t this going too far?”
Bai Xueqing finally spoke up. She couldn’t help it—Bai Zihan was still her younger brother, and his future was at stake.
“Disciple Bai Xueqing, although you are respected and highly regarded by the sect, that doesn’t mean you can protect your brother from his crimes.”
Elder Shen said stiffly.
“Still, this is too much. Expelling him from the sect should be enough.”
Bai Xueqing angrily said.
She thought that if Bai Zihan had truly committed the crime, it would be better for him to go back to the clan where he could still live as the arrogant young master rather than being crippled.
“My words are final. Those who commit these crimes will face the same punishment—even if they come from a prestigious clan.”
Elder Shen declared, as if righteous and unbiased.
This earned him favor from those with weaker backgrounds, who thought Elder Shen would protect them even against the powerful.
Bai Xueqing frowned.
It seemed like Elder Shen didn’t want to compromise at all—and it was getting on her nerves.
At that moment, Shen Liang thought it was the perfect time to step forward.
“Junior Sister,”
Shen Liang whispered to Bai Xueqing in a low voice,
“Perhaps I can help plead for mercy from my uncle.”
Bai Xueqing raised her eyebrow.
Indeed, although Elder Shen didn’t listen to her, he might listen to his nephew.
“However,” Shen Liang said, eyes flashing,
“I want Bai Zihan to apologize for what he did back at the Bai Clan.”
He was planning to gain favor with Bai Xueqing—and get revenge for what he suffered.
Bai Xueqing thought for a second and nodded.
She thought that Bai Zihan apologizing was better than losing his future.
Moreover, she also knew that Bai Zihan had surely messed with Shen Liang, even if the servants said otherwise.
Meanwhile, Bai Zihan simply stood there.
Finally, he opened his mouth—Voice lazy, mocking, full of disdain.
“Sever my hand?”
He chuckled—low and hoarse—as if he couldn’t believe the stupidity he was hearing.
“Is this really the punishment for my so-called crimes?”
Bai Zihan asked.
Elder Shen—and many others—thought that finally, Bai Zihan was coming to his senses, frightened by the punishment he was about to face.
“Yes!”
Elder Shen declared.
“Is that so?”
Bai Zihan paused for a moment before continuing.
“Then what if someone orchestrated the whole thing, and I was framed? Would the punishment be the same for them?”
Bai Zihan asked, voice steady and sharp.
“Yes! There’s no mercy for those who commit such crimes — and those who frame others should face the same punishment!”
Elder Shen said sternly.
“Good. I hope you remember those words.”