boyutpedia Chapter 192 The Day of the Public Trial
Chapter 192 The Day of the Public Trial
Chapter 192 The Day of the Public Trial
Star City, inside the White Tiger Duke's mansion.
Zhu Man, lying on her sickbed, was emaciated, her face as pale as paper, and her violent cough seemed as if she could cough up her heart and lungs at any moment.
But when her trusted maid finished reporting the news from the palace and the movements of Shrek and Dai Hao in a trembling voice, she suddenly struggled to sit up, and a terrifying light burst forth from her cloudy eyes.
"Dai—Dai Youheng—is back?" Her voice was hoarse and shrill, filled with deep-seated hatred and a hint of barely perceptible fear. "Then where is my sister? Where did my sister go?"
Zhu Shu has been missing for nearly three months, with no news of her whatsoever. She has neither been found alive nor dead.
Zhu Man was already consumed by a sense of foreboding, but she refused to believe, or rather, dared not believe, that her sister, a peak agility-type Soul Douluo, could possibly be defeated by a mere Soul Emperor. Even if she couldn't kill him, with her sister's speed and strength, escaping unscathed should be a piece of cake!
However, now that Dai Youheng has returned safely and caused such a commotion, her sister is still nowhere to be found. This cruel contrast is like a cold awl, piercing through her last bit of hope.
"No—it's impossible! My sister must have been delayed by something, or she went somewhere else." Zhu Man gasped for breath, trying to convince herself, but her trembling fingers betrayed her inner panic.
Suddenly, she gripped the maid's arm tightly, her withered fingers digging almost into the maid's flesh. A near-mad obsession gleamed in her eyes. "Give me the medicine to forcefully restore my spirit! Help me up! I...I must go to that trial. I want to ask that little bastard Dai Youheng myself! I want him to look me in the eye and tell me, where is my sister?"
Her voice was shrill and obsessive, filled with the final madness born of despair.
Despite her frail health, she suddenly displayed astonishing strength, struggling to get out of bed. She needed to know the truth, even if it was a truth she couldn't bear.
Dai Youheng's return is not only a trial for her, but also an opportunity to force her to answer. Even if it costs her her last breath, she will go.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
The main hall of Xingluo Imperial Palace.
The atmosphere at the court assembly that day was far more somber and oppressive than usual. Civil and military officials stood in silence on both sides, their gazes involuntarily drawn to those few who held special seats.
Emperor Xu Jiawei sat high on the dragon throne, his crown tassels drooping, unable to conceal the deep, unfathomable light in his eyes. Princess Xu stood quietly beside him for a long time, her palace attire magnificent and solemn, her exquisite face revealing little emotion, only the slightly pursed lips betraying a hint of barely perceptible tension.
On the left side of the main hall, Shrek Academy Dean Yan Shaozhe and Vice Dean Cai Meier sat calmly.
Yan Shaozhe remained calm, his fingertips unconsciously tapping lightly on the armrest; Cai Meier, on the other hand, had sharp eyes like a hawk, silently scrutinizing everything in the hall. Her Evil-Slaying Dragon Soul Spear martial spirit gave her an extraordinary sensitivity to evil auras, but at this moment she frowned slightly, because since stepping into this hall, she had not sensed the evil that her husband had mentioned.
On the right side of the main hall, Duke Dai Hao of the White Tiger sat upright, his tiger eyes gleaming with a sharp light, exuding an imposing aura, but a layer of gloom shrouded his brows.
Duchess Juman, standing beside him, looked like she was terminally ill. Wrapped in a thick fur robe, her face was deathly pale. Only her eyes burned with resentment, anxiety, and a last shred of desperate hope as she stared intently at the entrance to the hall, her withered fingers almost digging through the back of the chair.
"Your Majesty," Yan Shaozhe broke the silence first, his voice steady, "the time has come. Please invite Dai Youheng to the palace. Right and wrong should be settled today."
Xu Jiawei nodded slightly, turning his gaze to the side of the hall, "Your Majesty Bingkong, thank you for your trouble."
Ling Ya, who had been standing silently to the side, vanished like a ghost with a slight sway. A moment later, steady footsteps echoed from outside the hall. Ling Ya entered first, followed closely by today's protagonist, Dai Youheng.
Today, he was dressed in a well-tailored, dark-colored outfit, not deliberately displaying any imposing presence, yet possessing an inherent, profound, and unwavering composure. He walked calmly to the imperial steps, cupped his hands in greeting, and said in a clear, resonant voice, "Dai Youheng greets Your Majesty and Your Highness the Princess!"
In an instant, all eyes were on him.
Yan Shaozhe's pupils suddenly contracted, and for the first time, an expression of disbelief and astonishment appeared on his face. The Dai Youheng before him was completely different from the one he had seen outside Maple Leaf City!
Back then, he exuded an aura of wickedness, like a demon crawling out of the abyss; but now, his aura was restrained, his radiance was self-contained, and no trace of evil energy could be sensed around him, only pure and powerful fluctuations of dark soul power, profound yet not unsettling.
Cai Meier frowned, looking at her husband with suspicion. Her Demon-Slaying Dragon Soul Spear showed no reaction; this was definitely not something an evil soul master could fake at such close range.
Xu Jiawei took in the reactions of the crowd below, his heart calming slightly. He said in a deep voice, "Dai Youheng, Dean Yan of Shrek Academy has accused you of having a corrupted martial soul, becoming a demonic soul master and threatening the continent. I have summoned you here today to clarify this matter. You have nothing to fear. If you are innocent, the Empire will be your backing, and no one can harm you in the slightest!"
Dai Youheng raised his head calmly, his gaze sweeping over Yan Shaozhe, and said loudly, "Your Majesty, Youheng is by no means an evil soul master. My martial soul, the Abyss Demon Tiger, is indeed of evil and dark attributes, but cultivation does not require harming others, nor has it ever affected my clear mind or my adherence to the bottom line of a soul master. How can I be called an evil soul master?"
"Nonsense!" Yan Shaozhe stood up abruptly, his tone filled with annoyance at being questioned. "Dai Youheng, that day you exuded an aura of evil and filled the wilderness with murderous intent. How could that be fake? You must have used some secret technique to cover it up! As the dean of Shrek Academy, would I falsely accuse you out of thin air?"
"Dean Yan, please calm down." Dai Youheng said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Although the evil aura on my body was heavy that day, it was not my true source, but rather due to the fact that I had just absorbed a 100,000-year-old spirit ring, which was beyond my level. This spirit ring originated from an ancient spirit beast called the Abyss Ice Prison Tiger. Shrek Academy has a vast collection of records, and there must be a record of this spirit beast. His Highness Ice Sky, who helped me hunt the spirit beast at that time, can also testify for me."
"Abyssal Ice Prison Tiger?" Cai Meier pondered for a moment, a look of realization flashing in her eyes. "I have indeed seen related records in the ancient books of the academy. This tiger is an extreme evil attribute soul beast, its evil aura second only to the legendary Dark Demon Evil God Tiger with the inheritance of an evil god. If it is truly a 100,000-year-old level, the evil energy contained in its soul rings and soul bones could not be completely refined in the early stages of absorption, and it adhered to its body surface, creating the illusion of overwhelming evil energy, which makes sense."
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