Chapter 980: Face-to-Face Confrontation

In truth, there was no need to ask. Gong Lince could already guess who Niu Youdao meant. The man had only just returned from Sacred Realm, and now suddenly he wanted to investigate a spy. If this was not aimed at the matter directly before them, what else could it be?

But Gong Lince was the Sect Leader of Zijin Cave. The moment Niu Youdao spoke, he had boxed him in.

This was no anonymous accusation and no furtive whispering behind closed doors. Someone had publicly declared that the sect contained a spy. As Sect Leader, what could Gong Lince do? Could he refuse to ask for clarification? Could he say the matter should not be investigated?

He had assembled manpower precisely to overawe Niu Youdao, to make the man understand the consequences of acting recklessly, and to force this whole affair to be buried.

Who could have known it simply could not be buried? With a single sentence, Niu Youdao cut in from an entirely different angle and forced Gong Lince, as Sect Leader, to keep digging into the very matter he wanted to end.

Leaving everything before this aside, only at this moment did Gong Lince truly experience it for himself. Or rather, only now did he fully understand what Yan Li had warned him about before. Yan Li had not been overthinking matters. There was every reason to be extremely cautious around this bastard.

Yuan An and the other Zijin Cave Elders exchanged subtle glances. Their thoughts were much the same.

The people on the Maolu Annex side, however, felt their spirits rise. Zijin Cave had left them frightened and stifled before. Now that Master Dao was back and had stepped forward, everyone could plainly feel the beginning of a counterattack.

Niu Youdao and Gong Lince stared at one another. The other side had wanted to brush the matter aside, and Niu Youdao had dragged it back again. Now that Gong Lince had asked the question, Niu Youdao raised a hand and gestured. "Hongniang, in front of everyone here, tell us exactly what happened when someone slapped you and deliberately started trouble. Tell the truth. Say what happened exactly as it happened. Do not embellish anything and do not spout nonsense. If even one sentence is false, I won't spare you!"

"Yes!" Guan Fangyi answered and stepped forward. Facing the people of Zijin Cave, she spoke in an orderly manner. "Early this morning, Ju An of Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion picked a basket of wild fruit and brought it to the Maolu Annex for Wen Mo'er. Afterward, Wen Mo'er went out and was stopped outside the Annex by Guan Qingya..."

She gave a detailed account of the entire incident: how Guan Qingya later stopped Ju An, what he said to Ju An, what she herself interjected, how Guan Qingya suddenly lost his temper after Ju An left and slapped her, and how he then falsely accused her. She recounted everything from beginning to end.

Naturally, Niu Youdao had already reminded her how to present the matter.

Yan Li inwardly cursed Guan Qingya after hearing it. That bastard had still claimed it had nothing to do with Wen Mo'er.

Among the people on Zijin Cave's side, Yan Li knew better than anyone whether Guan Qingya had falsely accused Guan Fangyi. Guan Qingya had admitted the false accusation himself. The only thing he refused to admit was that jealousy over Wen Mo'er had driven him to it. He had insisted he was merely venting anger on behalf of his master.

By this point, everyone from Zijin Cave had already formed some estimate of where the truth lay.

Once Guan Fangyi finished, Niu Youdao said calmly, "Hongniang, that's only your side of the story. It isn't enough to be trusted. Do you dare confront Guan Qingya face-to-face?"

Guan Fangyi dipped slightly toward him. "I am willing to confront him and prove my innocence!"

Niu Youdao nodded and turned to Gong Lince. "Sect Leader, please give the order. Have Guan Qingya and those two witnesses come out and confront her face-to-face."

Gong Lince asked, "What does this have to do with a spy?"

Niu Youdao replied, "If someone truly acted maliciously and deliberately stirred up trouble inside Zijin Cave, then could that person be a spy? Of course he could! The disciples of Zijin Cave are upright and honorable. Could they really do something so sinister and deliberately harm their own sect? Does Sect Leader not want to determine whether Guan Qingya is a spy? Is it not even permissible to summon him for a face-to-face confrontation? Something happened, and now we're not even allowed to understand it clearly?"

Gong Lince's cheek tightened. Then he abruptly turned his head and barked, "Bring Guan Qingya and the others here for confrontation!"

Things had reached this point, and Niu Youdao was plainly demanding an explanation. If he could truly prove that Guan Qingya had deliberately caused trouble, then Guan Qingya would have to be punished. Given Niu Youdao's present status and the interests bound up with him, once he personally stepped forward, that much face had to be given.

If Guan Qingya truly had harbored malicious intent and deliberately created an incident at a time like this, Gong Lince was angry about that himself. If disciplining Guan Qingya could placate Niu Youdao and reduce a major affair to a minor one, while also teaching the disciple a lesson, there was nothing wrong with it.

But if the matter remained deadlocked, Gong Lince expected Guan Qingya's side would still refuse to admit anything. The truth would probably remain impossible to uncover. If Niu Youdao could prove nothing, Gong Lince did not believe he would truly dare create chaos on a large scale. The many people of Zijin Cave standing here were not decorations. No one could simply run wild as he pleased!

The moment he heard that Guan Qingya was being summoned, Yan Li secretly groaned.

Once the Sect Leader gave the order, someone naturally went to carry it out.

After waiting for a while, they saw the two disciple witnesses arrive. One was named Guo Miaosheng and the other An Taihua. Guan Qingya himself, however, did not appear.

The two men took one look at the scene and saw the sect's senior leadership gathered together, with Niu Youdao personally presiding over the matter. Both became intensely uneasy. They appeared cautiously before the crowd and stood with their hands at their sides, meek and deferential.

"Which one is Guan Qingya, the man who hit you?" Niu Youdao turned his head and quietly asked Guan Fangyi.

Guan Fangyi replied in a low voice, "Neither. These two are the men who gave false testimony for Guan Qingya. The one on the left is Guo Miaosheng, and the one on the right is An Taihua."

The Zijin Cave disciple who had gone to summon them was also whispering beside Gong Lince, explaining that Guan Qingya was not there. He had gone out on an assignment.

"What assignment?" Gong Lince asked quietly.

The disciple replied, "No one seems to know clearly. He only said before leaving that he was going out on an assignment. No one knows where he went." After speaking, the disciple deliberately added, "I asked when he left. It was after Elder Niu arrived."

Gong Lince immediately understood what had happened. Guan Qingya had clearly learned Niu Youdao was back and gone into hiding.

Almost instinctively, Gong Lince turned his head and gave Yan Li a sidelong stare. It happened to meet Yan Li's somewhat guilty gaze. Yan Li had been watching for his reaction too.

That single look told Gong Lince everything. Yan Li was definitely involved.

A sudden blaze of fury erupted in Gong Lince's belly. Inwardly, he cursed the idiot over and over.

He wanted to ask Yan Li in front of everyone what the hell he had been thinking. What had Yan Li himself warned Gong Lince about Niu Youdao in the first place? He knew perfectly well how difficult this man was to deal with, yet he had still allowed Guan Qingya to hide?

The moment Niu Youdao opened his mouth, he had already sealed off every avenue of retreat for Guan Qingya. He had directly slapped the label of "spy" onto the man's head. Guan Qingya had no choice but to appear and explain himself. Where could he possibly hide?

After so many years together, Yan Li knew from Gong Lince's eyes that his Sect Leader Senior Brother was angry.

Yan Li felt bitter inside too. Who could have known Niu Youdao would open his mouth and suddenly produce a "spy," directly framing Guan Qingya in a way that could get him killed? Now Guan Qingya had no choice but to appear and explain himself.

Gong Lince could punish Guan Qingya, but he could not cut off one of his own fingers and let the fire spread all the way to Yan Li. He therefore ignored Guan Qingya for the moment and turned to the two disciples. "Regarding what happened here earlier, are the two of you willing to confront Hongniang face-to-face?"

Guo and An both cupped their hands. "Naturally."

Gong Lince raised his chin. "Then explain to Elder Niu exactly what happened when the incident began. Do not distort the truth."

"Yes!" The two accepted the order, then looked at one another. Each seemed to be waiting for the other to speak first.

"Hm?" Gong Lince suddenly gave a questioning grunt from his nose.

The sound frightened both men badly enough that their legs nearly weakened. Guo Miaosheng immediately spoke first. "At the time, Senior Brother Guan encountered Hongniang and warned her to follow the rules and not wander around Zijin Cave..."

He had barely said two sentences when Niu Youdao suddenly cut in. "Shut your mouth!"

"..."

Guo Miaosheng fell silent at once. He looked at Niu Youdao, then turned toward Gong Lince.

Gong Lince said heavily, "Junior Brother Niu, weren't you the one who asked for a confrontation? Why won't you let him speak?"

Niu Youdao said, "There's already a problem right here. Hongniang says that when Guan Qingya struck her, these two were not beside him. In other words, neither of them heard the words Hongniang supposedly said that caused Guan Qingya to teach her a lesson. Yet these two claim they were beside Guan Qingya and heard Hongniang speak disrespectfully. Each side tells a different story, and there's no way to settle it. Testimony from the people of the Maolu Annex would hardly be trusted either. At the start of the incident, Wen Mo'er and Ju An both saw Guan Fangyi and both had contact with Guan Qingya. We may as well gather every person involved and reconstruct the matter from the beginning!"

He turned and instructed, "Have Wen Mo'er come out. Send someone to Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion and invite Ju An over."

Only Niu Youdao could force the matter to this level. Had it been anyone else from the Maolu Annex, Zijin Cave would probably never have bothered with such trouble.

"Yes!" Duan Hu immediately accepted the order and rushed toward Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion.

Wen Mo'er was simple enough. She was inside the Annex and was quickly brought out.

After another short wait, Ju An came flying over with Duan Hu.

Ju An's mood was heavy. Zhong Guzi had already explained the matter to him very clearly: he was a disciple of Zijin Cave and could not favor either side with his testimony.

Once Ju An arrived, Niu Youdao said, "We're still missing one person. Where's Guan Qingya? After this long, he should have been able to crawl here by now. Why hasn't he shown his face? Did he run because he has a guilty conscience?"

The Zijin Cave disciple who had gone to summon him was just about to explain that Guan Qingya was away on an assignment when Gong Lince stopped him with a timely gesture.

Gong Lince turned instead and said, "Elder Yan, Guan Qingya is your disciple. You should be able to find him. Bring him here as quickly as possible. Go find him personally!"

He had no choice but to stop the other disciple from speaking. Niu Youdao was already pulling on the thread and unraveling the whole knot. At a time like this, saying Guan Qingya had suddenly gone away on an assignment would fool no one. The incident had only just happened. If they said he had been sent out, Niu Youdao would certainly ask who sent him and what assignment he had gone to perform.

As long as Niu Youdao refused to let go of the "spy" question, the investigation would keep following the trail. One lie would have to cover another. With no preparation and no time for everyone involved to coordinate their stories, sooner or later a gap would appear in front of someone like Niu Youdao. At that point, the matter might implicate far more than Guan Qingya alone.

From the moment Gong Lince learned Guan Qingya was absent and had gone out on an "assignment," he had already understood. Guan Qingya definitely had a problem. Otherwise there would have been no need to hide.

Other people might not know where Guan Qingya had gone, but Gong Lince believed Yan Li certainly did. Guan Qingya could not completely sever contact with Zijin Cave. Others might be unable to find him, but Yan Li should have a way.

"Yes!" Yan Li knew there was no escaping the matter now. He accepted the order and left.

They waited.

Niu Youdao was in no hurry whatsoever. Both hands resting on his sword, he simply stood there and waited.

Only when the sun was sinking westward and evening clouds covered the sky did Yan Li finally return, bringing Guan Qingya with him.

The man had actually been hiding in the deep mountains.

Yan Li had already explained the situation to him. Guan Qingya was deeply frightened. His intestines practically turned green with regret that he had let a moment of impulse over a woman drive him into this situation. Yet when certain emotions between men and women surged up, people often found it difficult to control themselves.

He could hear from his master's words that the moment Niu Youdao stepped forward, even Yan Li himself had lost confidence. How could Guan Qingya not panic?

Outwardly, however, Guan Qingya acted as though nothing were wrong. Calm and composed, he saluted the assembled seniors.

After Guan Fangyi quietly confirmed that the newcomer was Guan Qingya, Niu Youdao extended a hand and pointed directly at him.

"You. Come here!"

[End of Chapter 980]