Lin Yin watched like a bystander, revisiting everything from her own perspective.
Silently observing as it all unfolded, the following events played out like a rehearsed script.
At that time, Lin Yin’s feelings toward Jiang Che were not as they are now; her identity was the First Seat of Lingjian Peak.
And Jiang Che’s status as Master was secondary.
Beside them, the Grand Elder approached Jiang Che after the charges were announced.
A smug smile curled faintly at the corner of his lips, while vicious thoughts churned in his heart.
“Hmph, what is that little girl Lin Yin? Barely a hundred years old and already seated as First Seat. In terms of seniority, when I was a Grand Elder here at Lingjian Peak, she was still playing with mud!”
“Over the years, she’s only focused on secluded cultivation, completely ignoring sect affairs—practically an idle occupant of her position.”
“Now, I’ll use this wicked disciple Jiang Che to drag her down.”
“If he confesses that it was Master’s instruction, then I can rightfully force her to step down and take her place!”
The Grand Elder Han Peng crouched down, looking down coldly at Jiang Che, his eyes as venomous as a snake’s.
“Jiang Che, you have committed an unforgivable crime! However—”
He deliberately dragged out the tone and leaned in closer.
“If you say someone ordered you, we may be lenient!”
Supporting his nearly shattered body, Jiang Che’s breath was faint but his voice was clear:
“No one… ordered me.”
A cold gleam flashed in Han Peng’s eyes as he snorted, and an invisible spiritual force slammed down onto Jiang Che’s back!
“Pfft—!” Jiang Che was struck as if hit by a heavy hammer, collapsing to the ground and coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood, staining the cold floor—a shocking sight.
“Stop.”
Lin Yin finally spoke from her seat at the head of the hall; her icy voice instantly silenced the room.
“Grand Elder, to torture my disciple in my presence—isn’t that a bit presumptuous?”
Han Peng’s heart skipped a beat when he met Lin Yin’s unfathomably cold gaze, and his arrogant spirit momentarily faltered.
He reluctantly withdrew his spiritual force and took a half step back, forcing a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“First Seat, please forgive me. I was merely anxious because this wicked disciple is stubborn and unrepentant…”
Lin Yin no longer looked at him, instead fixing her gaze on the barely standing Jiang Che, her voice calm and unshaken.
“Jiang Che, are the crimes the Grand Elder described true?”
Jiang Che painfully lifted his head, each breath dragging on his wounds. Gritting his teeth, he spoke firmly and deliberately:
“I… have never stolen pills! Nor have I killed fellow disciples! The sect’s Secret Treasure, I only borrowed it! Afterwards… I returned it to its place!”
“Utter nonsense!” The Grand Elder interrupted harshly.
“Your two junior sisters saw with their own eyes you fleeing from the Medicine Hall with the Resurrection Pill! Junior Brother Zhao Zi’ang, who was injured trying to stop you from stealing the treasure, also testified that it was you! The Star Divination Array Breaker is nowhere to be found!”
“And you killed two disciples guarding the treasury! Witnesses abound. What excuse do you have left?”
Jiang Che weakly but resolutely retorted, “The Resurrection Pill… was alchemized by myself! Junior Brothers Yu Qiong and Yun Jian… I did not harm them…”
“Hahaha! Ridiculous beyond belief!”
“The Resurrection Pill is a fifth-grade spiritual pill! No one at Lingjian Peak can refine such a pill. Only the First Seat of Xuandan Peak, a Seventh-grade Alchemist, could possibly manage that. And you dare to brag shamelessly!”
Whispers immediately spread among the disciples.
“The Second Senior Sister, who always looks up to Senior Brother as a role model, testified as well? Does that mean Senior Brother is really lying?”
“Right? Our Lingjian Peak specializes in sword cultivation. Although our alchemy has improved in recent years, no one has refined a fifth-grade pill yet.”
“Senior Brother should at least make his lies sound believable…”
As memories replayed, even now Lin Yin found it hard to believe Jiang Che.
Jiang Che’s cultivation had already broken records at Lingjian Peak, and his swordsmanship was nearly matching her own from back then.
How could he possibly have had time to learn alchemy?
Next, the Grand Elder summoned the witnesses.
Everything proceeded exactly as Lin Yin remembered.
The atmosphere inside the hall thickened. As the heavy doors opened once again, three young figures slowly stepped into view.
Leading was a woman clad in a snow-white, waist-fitted Dao robe, tall and cold—the Second Senior Sister Bai Rushuang.
Her delicate features were like frost-covered flowers, with sharp, detached eyes beneath slender willow leaf eyebrows, full of unwavering conviction.
A half step behind her was the younger Third Junior Sister Jiang Lianwan.
Jiang Lianwan was petite and exquisite, her oval face still carrying traces of youthful innocence.
Most eye-catching, however, was the one they carefully supported—Junior Brother Zhao Zi’ang.
He staggered, barely able to stand without the aid of his Senior Sisters.
He appeared gravely injured internally.
His presence silently confirmed the Grand Elder Han Peng’s earlier accusation of him being struck by Jiang Che.
“I am Bai Rushuang, and I witnessed it with my own eyes.”
“At that time, Senior Brother Jiang Che hurriedly left the Medicine Hall, looking panicked.”
“Suspecting something, I went to check and found one Resurrection Pill missing from the three stored in the Medicine Hall!”
Her tone was resolute, her gaze sweeping over the fallen Jiang Che, filled with a painful, unyielding coldness.
Jiang Lianwan also mustered courage, her voice trembling slightly but clear.
“Yes… yes, Master! When I and Second Senior Sister chased after him, just outside the Treasure Pavilion, we saw Senior Brother strike Junior Brother Zi’ang with a single palm!”
Zhao Zi’ang said nothing, but a faint, unnoticed smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
The ironclad testimony of the three undoubtedly nailed Jiang Che in the position of “criminal.”
Jiang Che did not continue to refute. Without evidence and sensing from the Grand Elder’s expression that no chance would be granted, he fell silent.
Lin Yin’s fists clenched tightly at her seat.
At this moment, in her eyes, Jiang Che’s guilt was sealed.
She was all too familiar with what would come next.
“Jiang Che, do you acknowledge your crime?”
Lin Yin’s tone already carried the weight of certainty.
But Jiang Che merely looked at Lin Yin with a calm gaze.
Seeing this look again, Lin Yin still found it strange.
It seemed to carry something hidden, but back then she could not understand, nor even now.
Jiang Che stubbornly insisted, over and over, that he had not done those things.
Originally, Lin Yin intended for Jiang Che to admit his mistakes properly. As his Master, she wanted to find a way to save him.
But Jiang Che’s stubbornness was like a fire that completely ignited Lin Yin’s anger.
So Lin Yin cut off Jiang Che’s eyesight and spiritual root with a sword and expelled him from the sect.
She even felt that she had spared his life.
She gave the others an explanation and strictly forbade anyone from ever mentioning the matter again.
Yet, ironically, the one who brought it up the most afterward was herself.
Lin Yin held her breath, focusing deeply.
Such tactics could not threaten her; the surrounding illusions twisted and vanished.
She calmly faced it all—it was only meant to break her mentally.
Just then, a voice carrying faint mockery sounded.
“You still don’t believe in your disciple? Even after discovering his character… knowing he simply couldn’t have done these things?”
“Who?!”
Lin Yin was startled.
The voice was eerily familiar—it sounded exactly like her own!
But every word was laced with strange, sinister sarcasm that sent chills down her spine.