389: Trial

Inside the Zhou Family Great Hall.

A White-robed figure stepped into it.

Behind her followed a Middle-aged Cultivator with dull, vacant eyes.

"Senior Li."

Zhou Leyi rose and went to greet her.

"Family Head."

Li Shuwu returned the bow.

Before Zhou Leyi could ask.

Li Shuwu briefly explained what had happened.

She only spoke of what she had witnessed, saying nothing more about other matters.

Then, she handed the Middle-aged Cultivator following her over to Zhou Leyi.

Zhou Leyi's expression grew heavier.

"Thank you, Senior Li, for your assistance."

Finally, Zhou Leyi thanked Li Shuwu.

"Family Head, you're too kind. I won't stay here much longer."

Li Shuwu knew the Zhou Family must be planning a major move.

She had no intention of staying to watch.

After all, she was, in a way, just a prisoner at first.

The saying goes, 'Family shame should not be aired,' and Li Shuwu was no stranger to the sordid affairs between these great families and powers.

There were countless Cultivators who had fallen into her hands or been protected by her in the past.

Zhou Leyi did not try to make her stay.

Inviting Li Shuwu over was merely to confirm things once more.

Below the great hall.

Xu Zhiyi did not speak.

He merely bowed when Li Shuwu left.

"Don't worry, I've already sent Elder Heavenly Scorpion to look for Steward Xu."

Zhou Leyi watched Li Shuwu leave, then turned to Xu Zhiyi and offered a word of comfort.

"Thank you, Family Head."

Xu Zhiyi thanked him sincerely, feeling a little more at ease.

Zhou Leyi left the middle-aged woman below the great hall.

He returned to the main seat and sat down again.

Time flowed on.

Buzz~

Streaks of air-splitting sounds came.

Zhou Family Cultivators, both direct descendants and those of other surnames, with cultivation above Foundation Establishment, gathered one after another, arriving in the Zhou Family Great Hall.

Confusion was in their hearts.

However, seeing the Family Head's solemn face seated at the head, they did not speak.

They found their usual seats, sitting on both sides of the great hall.

Elder Beihai, Zhou Xiuyuan, Zhou Xiukang, Zhou Xiuyun, and other figures appeared one after another.

In a short while, the seats on both sides of the great hall were filled.

Buzz~

At this moment, two figures arrived together.

"Ancestor Yue, True Monarch."

Upon seeing the two, all the Zhou Clan members rose and bowed.

Zhou Liyue and Zhou Leren said nothing more.

They came to the head of the hall and sat down.

"Everything is arranged by you."

The two had clearly already learned the cause of the matter.

Zhou Liyue, being the most Senior, set the tone with her words.

"Yes, Third Aunt."

Zhou Leyi assented.

"Law Enforcement Elder, bring him in!"

Zhou Leyi's face was solemn as he shouted towards outside the hall.

The hall doors opened.

As the sound spread.

A purple figure entered from outside.

Behind her, two Disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall escorted the distraught Zhou Nangu into the great hall.

"Is that, Gu'er?"

"What happened?"

"I don't know..."

"..."

Seeing Zhou Nangu in such a state, the Zhou Family Cultivators above Foundation Establishment looked at their fellow Clan members beside them.

However, most of them were unaware of what had happened.

"Zhou Nangu, do you have anything to say?"

Zhou Leyi's voice showed no emotion, seeming merely a flat narration.

"I..."

Zhou Nangu's face was pale, his hair disheveled, his robes untidy, and his heart filled with fear.

He looked at the familiar figures sitting at the back of the great hall and on both sides, constantly scrutinizing him.

Zhou Nangu's emotions were inexplicable.

His lips trembled.

With a ruthless resolve, he was about to claim he knew nothing, when he saw the woman with a five-colored tail standing in front of him, devoid of any Aura.

"I, plead guilty..."

Zhou Nangu's eyes completely dimmed.

"Good, it's good to plead guilty, haha, at least you have some backbone..."

Zhou Leyi was utterly disappointed.

He basically paid attention to every outstanding Disciple of the Zhou Family.

He usually didn't care about the open and secret struggles.

As long as they didn't cross the red line of the Clan rules, these were unavoidable.

He just hadn't expected such a thing to happen.

Some of the Zhou Family Cultivators sitting nearby had wanted to speak, to ask something.

However, they were held back by the person beside them.

"Tell us."

Zhou Leyi's disappointment in his eyes receded.

After a long silence.

Zhou Nangu finally spoke slowly, his voice hoarse.

"That day, in Tianning City, I saw Hu Yi of the Thousand Charms Fox Clan..."

"..."

Zhou Nangu seemed to have detached himself.

Word by word, from beginning to end, he recounted all his schemes with Hu Yi, his discussions with his Great-Grandfather, the people involved, and the methods used, leaving nothing out.

The expressions of the figures sitting on both sides finally changed as Zhou Nangu recounted his tale.

The Foundation Establishment Steward who had wanted to speak earlier felt a surge of relief and cast a grateful look at the Clan friend who had held him back.

This junior, whom he admired, had actually colluded with outsiders to harm a fellow Clan member.

This was something that absolutely could not be allowed to happen.

"How dare he be so audacious!"

An Steward slammed the table and glared angrily.

At the head of the hall.

Zhou Liyue's gaze was complex.

Zhou Nangu had also been taught by her.

With many Clan members, even with Clan rules and the fairest possible distribution of resources.

The Family's upward mobility was never cut off, and the provisions for each Clan member were never lacking.

But clearly, some people were not satisfied with this.

"How is Steward Xu?"

Zhou Leyi finished listening, ignoring everyone's shock and whispers, and continued to ask.

"He's dead."

Zhou Nangu had completely lost his spirit by this point.

Boom!

Xu Zhiyi, who had been listening quietly, panicked. The immense blow impacted his exhausted mind, and Xu Zhiyi could no longer hold on, collapsing.

A blue figure gently embraced Xu Zhiyi's falling body, her eyes filled with worry.

"Nan Feng..."

Xu Zhiyi struggled not to close his eyes; he wanted to personally witness Zhou Nangu's fate.

Bang!

Zhou Leyi's heart trembled.

"Why was no one here to report this!"

Whether direct descendants or those of other surnames, all Zhou Family Cultivators had a life lamp burning.

If a Clan member's life lamp extinguished, according to Clan rules, it had to be reported to him.

"It was suppressed by Great-Grandfather."

"Good, good, good, Zhou Mingyang, a Task Hall Steward, actually has such great capabilities."

Zhou Leyi laughed in extreme anger.

"Please punish me, Family Head!"

A Middle-aged Cultivator in a crimson robe turned pale and knelt in the great hall.

This was Zhou Mingcun; during this period, he led the Disciples guarding the Life Lamp Hall.

"No rush."

"Zhou Nangu, you colluded with an outside Clan, harmed a fellow Clan member, and caused Steward Xu's death, this is crime one."

"You personally committed murder, carrying out an act of silencing, this is crime two."

"You made groundless accusations and twisted black and white, this is crime three."

"You disregarded Clan rules and ignored Clan teachings, this is crime four."

"You instigated and incited, forming factions for personal gain, this is crime five."

"..."

"For all the above, multiple crimes shall be punished together."

"The judgment!"

"The punishment of bone scraping and marrow extraction."

"Your name shall be revoked, you shall be removed from the Clan register, and your name struck from the ancestral stele."

"All other participants shall be dealt with according to Clan rules."

"Does anyone have any objections?"

Zhou Leyi's face was stern, his words forceful, as he looked at the Cultivators below, whose expressions varied.

"We obey the Family Head's order!"