Chapter 1030: Framing?

Chapter 1030: Framing?

These guards' answers made the air stagnate once more. Feng Huituo spoke in a sorrowful tone: "Nephew Yun, even these worthless men under my command couldn't fully protect you. I am truly incompetent... May I ask, where did Nephew Yun go during that half-hour? Did you encounter any danger?"

His voice still carried courtesy, but anyone could hear the grief and hatred within it. Clearly, Feng Huituo had already determined that the person who killed Mu Hanyi was Yun Che. As he said, the only person who could make Mu Hanyi willing to open the treasure vault's hidden passage without telling anyone was Yun Che, and Yun Che had just happened to be missing for that half-hour before everything happened.

Yun Che's brow twitched. He was about to speak, but Mu Xiaolan blurted out in panic: "No... it's not like that. Yun Che and Senior Brother Hanyi had such a good relationship, and Yun Che's profound strength is only at the Divine Origin Realm, Level 1. It's impossible for him to kill Senior Brother Hanyi. You... you've made a mistake."

"And... and..." Mu Xiaolan's voice grew softer: "And during that half-hour, actually... actually... actually... Yun Che was... in my room the whole time..."

As Mu Xiaolan spoke, her voice became as faint as a mosquito's buzz, and she hung her head deeply, not daring to meet anyone's eyes. To outsiders, it seemed like a young girl's shyness... but Yun Che knew it was because she was terrible at lying, especially such a big one.

But this girl, at a critical moment, was unexpectedly loyal, willing to sacrifice her own reputation and lie to protect him... It wasn't in vain that he had been "cherishing" her all along!

Mu Xiaolan's words stunned everyone. Situ Xiongying was first startled, then his eyes lit up with wild joy, almost jumping up in excitement. He quickly stepped forward and said with feigned guilt: "Well... Lord of Bing Feng, everyone, actually, Nephew Yun and my daughter have already... ahem, been in love for some time. The reason they traveled together this time is exactly that. It's just that my daughter is merely a disciple of the Ice Phoenix Palace, and her status really doesn't match Nephew Yun's. Moreover, the Great Realm King just betrothed Feixue the Maiden to Nephew Yun, making this matter even harder to speak of. So... but since things have come to this, we have to say it. Earlier, Nephew Yun was indeed in my daughter's room. This... I hope you won't laugh at us."

As an independent domain master, Situ Xiongying was naturally not a naive novice like Mu Xiaolan. His tone, expression, and even the flicker in his eyes were perfectly natural, with flawless wording, logic, and reasoning. Overall, it was seamless.

After he finished speaking, everyone showed looks of sudden understanding. Yun Che's profound strength was only at the Divine Origin Realm, Level 1, which anyone could sense. But Mu Hanyi was at the Divine Tribulation Realm, Level 5. Yun Che became a personal disciple because his ice talent far surpassed Mu Hanyi's. If they actually fought, a hundred Yun Che wouldn't be Mu Hanyi's match, so how could he kill him... especially without alerting anyone?

Thus, the speculation that Mu Hanyi was murdered by Yun Che was already hard to believe. Feng Huituo's accusation was merely a guess. In comparison, Situ Xiongying's explanation was much more reasonable. Many people had already been wondering why Yun Che, with his extremely noble status, would bring such a female disciple to Bing Feng Empire. If they had that kind of relationship, then it was perfectly logical.

As for Yun Che not letting anyone follow him when he left the Bingyi Palace half an hour ago, that was even more natural.

"I see. Lord Situ... congratulations!" A middle-aged man closest to Situ Xiongying responded, with a face full of envy and jealousy. His daughter had gotten involved with the Great Realm King's personal disciple... damn, that was eighteen generations of accumulated virtue!

"Oh, not at all, not at all." Situ Xiongying quickly waved his hands, but his face was beaming like a flower.

"Youth, after all, full of vigor, so... normal, normal." The speaker had been stern-faced in front of Situ Xiongying during the day, but now his words carried a hint of flattery.

"Alas, I have failed in teaching my daughter, failed indeed. Once a daughter is raised, she eventually belongs to someone else. Oh well, let them be." Situ Xiongying put on a helpless expression.

"Ah, I said so. How could someone like Young Master Yun commit such an evil act? So that's it... Lord of Bing Feng, that villain should still be unable to escape the imperial city. You should immediately order the city sealed and launch a full search."

Mu Xiaolan kept her head down, her fingers twisting at her sash until they were almost tearing it apart.

"Hmm? It seems the Thirteenth Prince has something in his hand!"

The old man Yan, who was examining Mu Hanyi's body, furrowed his brow and quickly picked up Mu Hanyi's left hand. Between his completely deformed fingers, there was clearly a white short silk ribbon clutched.

Old Yan carefully removed this silk ribbon from Mu Hanyi's hand.

It was about three inches long, embroidered with an exceptionally delicate Ice Phoenix pattern, and the broken edge at the lower end was clearly torn off by force. Moreover, judging by its color, it had been torn off only recently.

Seeing this silk ribbon, Yun Che's gaze sharpened, and he quickly glanced at his own right hand.

"This is... the sleeve ribbon of the Bing Huang God Sect, and clearly just torn off!"

After Old Yan finished speaking, his eyes quickly swept around, and almost everyone's gaze instinctively turned to Yun Che... Then, all their pupils contracted sharply, as if pricked by needles.

The sleeve ribbon on Yun Che's left arm was intact, but on his right arm... there was no sleeve ribbon at all, only a brand-new torn edge.

"!@#$%..." Yun Che felt a hundred thousand alpacas galloping through his heart.

He recognized at a glance that it was indeed his sleeve ribbon... but there was absolutely no way Mu Hanyi had torn it off his body. It must have been someone else who tore it off him... and done so without him sensing a thing!

That was a hundred times harder than killing him silently!

Yun Che's heart raced, cold air rushing between his teeth.

Moving Mu Hanyi's corpse silently, then silently tearing off his right sleeve ribbon—this was clearly the work of the same person. Who was this terrifying person hiding in the shadows, and why were they doing this?

Making Mu Hanyi's corpse discovered immediately, directing suspicion toward him, and using his sleeve ribbon as irrefutable evidence—this was clearly a "framing." But if they wanted to harm him, with that terrifying strength that sent chills down his spine, they could have killed him instantly, leaving no trace at all... so why go through all this trouble!?

The sleeve ribbon in Mu Hanyi's hand and the torn edge on Yun Che's snow-white robe became irrefutable evidence seen by everyone. The scene instantly froze, and no one dared to speak for a moment. Situ Xiongying, who had been overjoyed moments ago, stiffened, and Mu Xiaolan's eyes widened in utter panic.

"Nephew Yun..." Feng Huituo took the sleeve ribbon from Old Yan, his hand and voice trembling violently: "You are the Great Realm King's personal disciple, with supreme and unmatched status. My Bing Feng regarded you as an honored guest, never daring to show the slightest disrespect. Hanyi always respected you greatly, speaking of you only with praise..."

"What has my Bing Feng done to wrong you!? What unforgivable crime has my Hanyi committed!? That you would resort to such vicious means!"

Feng Huituo's voice was somewhat restrained at first, but by the end, it became a hoarse roar.

In a calm state, he certainly wouldn't dare show the slightest disrespect to Yun Che... but with his most beloved son dead before him and the national treasure stolen, and when they had done no wrong, how could he remain rational!? How could he restrain himself!?

In his current fury, grief, and breakdown, it wasn't impossible that he would order Yun Che killed. Although the consequences would be catastrophic, potentially dooming the entire Bing Feng Empire to be buried with Yun Che, he could become a ruined emperor while also being a father who died with a smile.

But if Feng Huituo, under uncontrollable rage, chose the latter, then the guests present would also likely be implicated, which was what they deeply feared. Situ Xiongying hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Lord of Bing Feng, please calm down first! There are many flaws in this matter. Not to mention that Nephew Yun, in terms of strength, could never have killed Prince Hanyi, but just this sleeve ribbon—if it were forcefully torn off, how could he not have noticed? Moreover, since Prince Hanyi had the strength to tear off the ribbon, why didn't he shout to alert someone? And that sleeve is from the right arm, while..."

"Shut up!!"

Situ Xiongying's voice was cut off by a hoarse roar. Feng Huituo's face twisted in a terrifying grimace: "Just because he is the Great Realm King's personal disciple, he can kill anyone at will!? And you can ignore the most basic principles of heaven and humanity!?"

Feng Huituo's terrifying demeanor made Situ Xiongying hastily retreat, not daring to say another word.

"Enough, don't speak for me anymore." Since things had come to this, Yun Che had instead calmed down and said with extreme indifference: "I'll admit it generously. Mu Hanyi... I indeed killed him."

These words shocked everyone, their faces changing drastically. Even with irrefutable evidence, a confession was a completely different concept.

"Yun Che..." Feng Huituo stepped forward, extending a trembling finger: "I am no fool. From the start, I felt something was off... My small birthday celebration, how could it deserve such great favor from the Great Realm King? So... so... it was all for my Bing Feng's national guardian treasure!"

"Ha, hahahaha..." Feng Huituo laughed, a bitter laugh: "If the Great Realm King had just said a word, if you had just said a word, even for the national guardian treasure, my small Bing Feng would have no right or courage to refuse. Hanyi brought you secretly to the treasure vault, surely thinking of me, fearing I would be put in a difficult position, so he wanted to bear it all himself... And you!! Since you already obtained the national guardian treasure, why did you have to kill Hanyi so cruelly!! Why!!"

"Give me a reason!!"

"A reason!!!?"

"Father!" Feng Hange hurried over to support him. Feng Huituo was panting like an ox, his body swaying, his aura in utter chaos. If he suddenly attacked Yun Che, no one would be surprised.

"Yun Che... what... what should we do?" Mu Xiaolan stood beside Yun Che in fear. With Yun Che's status, he could indeed act arrogantly throughout Yin Xue Realm. But now, they were isolated and weak on the other's territory, and the opposite side's Feng Huituo had completely lost control.

And compared to the almost maddened Feng Huituo, Yun Che sneered: "Since you insist on knowing the reason, I'll grant your wish. I hope that after you know it... you won't regret it!"

————————————

[Master is just being playful, look how excited you all are.]

[Next up, the first tragic character of the entire story will make his appearance... absolutely tragic enough to break your heart and make you weep.]

**Chapter 1031: Returning to the Sect**

Yun Che finished speaking, casually touched his body, and between his fingers appeared a small piece of jade with traces of profound light flowing on its surface.

"Mysterious Shadow Stone!?" Someone nearby immediately recognized what Yun Che held: "Could it be..."

"Hmph, Feng Huituo, see for yourself!"

Yun Che snorted, flicked his finger, and threw the Mysterious Shadow Stone to the ground. The formation within it activated the moment it landed, projecting clear images and sounds upward.

The first image projected showed the figure of Mu Hanyi. However, his expression was dark and sinister, utterly unfamiliar and unbelievable to everyone. His voice carried a ferocity that should never have appeared in him.

"...I will personally present it to Master. As for you, you won't live to see that moment, because you... will die here right now!"

The image from the Mysterious Shadow Stone could not be faked. Feng Huituo instantly turned ice-cold, unable to believe his eyes and ears.

"What did you say? You... you want to kill me? You dare kill me!?"

"No, no, of course not, I wouldn't dare. Senior Brother Yun Che is Master's personal disciple. Even if Hanyi had the audacity, he wouldn't dare touch a single hair on your head. Of course, you weren't killed by me, but... while attempting to steal the Qilin Horn, you unfortunately triggered the traps here and died!"

"Senior Brother Yun Che, no need to be nervous... I will cover it up well. Even if Master personally comes, they definitely won't see any flaws. You can rest assured on that."

..........................

The atmosphere at the scene shifted drastically again. Shock appeared on everyone's faces. The image in the Mysterious Shadow Array was undoubtedly Mu Hanyi. His appearance, his words... everyone saw and heard it clearly. He had deliberately lured Yun Che into the treasure vault, then planned to kill him!

To plot against the Great Realm King's personal disciple—what a heinous crime, what audacity!

Feng Huituo's anger and grief vanished. Every muscle on his trembling face showed only extreme terror. He staggered, and with a "thump," fell heavily to the ground, his eyes quivering as if they would pop out of their sockets: "No... no... impossible... this can't be true... this can't be true..."

Just moments ago, he had been furiously roaring at Yun Che... but if Mu Hanyi had plotted against Yun Che first, then not only his violent death, but even a thousand or ten thousand deaths would not be enough to atone for his crime.

Feng Hange knelt there, his eyes losing color, as if frozen solid. But compared to Feng Huituo, he wasn't as shocked. He still clearly remembered the words Mu Hanyi had said to him before nightfall—words that had nearly made his heart jump out of his chest in terror.

And the Mysterious Shadow Stone's images continued.

"Are you... insane!?" It was Yun Che's voice: "This... this is your Bing Feng Empire. If I die, even if Master truly believes I died from a trap, given Master's temperament, all of you will be buried in her fury!"

"Oh! Well said, very well said." Mu Hanyi nodded, smiling nonchalantly: "Even if you 'died trying to steal my Bing Feng Empire's national guardian treasure,' it would be perfectly normal for Master to raze the entire imperial city in anger... But even if all of Bing Feng is destroyed, Master will definitely not kill me!"

..................

"If it achieves my goal alone, what does it matter if all of Bing Feng is buried?"

..................

"...You shook off your guards. No one knows where you went or who you were with. Meanwhile, I left through a secret passage in my bedchamber, meaning no one knows I left. Everyone will know that you 'broke into' the treasure vault and died from traps while I was sound asleep in my bedchamber."

"I've even thought up how you got in. It's just... I'll have to sacrifice my poor imperial sister."

"Enough... enough!!"

Feng Huituo's heart and soul finally completely collapsed. He let out a wail and lunged toward the Mysterious Shadow Stone, smashing it with his palm radiating chaotic aura, shattering the stone into pieces and scattering all the light.

A deathly silence fell, broken only by Feng Huituo's heavy, ragged breathing. Beside Yun Che, Mu Xiaolan stood frozen as if in a dream. On the other side, Feng Hanjin had already lost all color from her face. The last words from the Mysterious Shadow Stone made her body slowly go limp, her hands clutching her shoulders as she trembled incessantly.

To Mu Xiaolan, Mu Hanyi was her most respected senior brother.

To Feng Hanjin, he was her most beloved and admired elder brother.

To Feng Huituo, he was his proudest son...

To everyone present, even though he hadn't become the Great Realm King's personal disciple, he was still the unparalleled favored son of heaven in Yin Xue Realm...

Who could have imagined that this perfect and flawless noble young master, in every field, could be so sinister, vicious, and unscrupulous? All for the possibility of becoming the Great Realm King's personal disciple—just a possibility—he was willing to assassinate Yun Che, willing to doom his own mother country, willing to poison his own blood sister!

Yun Che did not stop Feng Huituo from destroying the Mysterious Shadow Stone. He lowered his eyes and said coldly: "Didn't you insist on knowing the reason? Now that you have it, are you satisfied?"

Feng Huituo lay collapsed on the ground, completely unresponsive to Yun Che's words, as if he had lost his soul.

"He wanted to kill me, and I killed him in self-defense. It's that simple." Yun Che's brow was tightly furrowed: "If my Master finds out that Mu Hanyi tried to murder me, given Master's temperament, she might implicate all of Bing Feng, at the very least bringing disaster upon the imperial family."

Yun Che's words made Feng Huituo's body tremble violently, and a great terror surged into the eyes of all the imperial family members... They understood perfectly well that Yun Che's words were by no means an exaggeration.

"So, I intended to keep this matter hidden to avoid making a big deal out of it. After all, it was merely the ambition and vicious hand of Mu Hanyi himself, unrelated to others. There's no need to doom all of you." Yun Che's eyes turned cold: "But you insisted on pressing me. Hmph! Now you have your wish!"

Feng Huituo shuddered all over, scrambled to Yun Che's feet, his face streaming with tears: "I was foolish, I was blind, not realizing I had raised such a beast... and I wronged Nephew Yun's benevolent mercy... I deserve to die... I beg... I beg Nephew Yun never to tell the Great Realm King about this. I... will remember your great kindness for the rest of my life..."

Agony of losing a son, shock, regret, fear... Feng Huituo felt as if he had sunk into purgatory, full of regret and unbearable pain. If the clear images from the Mysterious Shadow Stone hadn't been right before his eyes, he would have never believed that his most proud son could have such terrifying ambition and heart...

They say a father knows his son best, and he was even an emperor of a nation. Yet at this moment, he painfully realized he had never truly known his own son.

And along with this realization came the possibility that the entire Bing Feng imperial family would be implicated by Mu Hanyi and face annihilation. The matter of the sacred artifact...

Feng Huituo prostrated himself directly: "I... trouble Nephew Yun to present the sacred artifact to the Great Realm King. If this item can please the Great Realm King, that is its fortune, and I will only feel boundless joy."

"That would be for the best."

Yun Che nodded, then turned directly and said: "If there is nothing else, I should go back to rest. I will set off to return to the sect early tomorrow morning; no need to see me off."

Without waiting for any response, Yun Che leaped into the air and headed straight for the Bingyi Palace.

This night, the Bing Feng imperial palace would surely have no peace. How the Bing Feng imperial family would handle the aftermath, he didn't care at all, because he had achieved his goal in this trip, much faster than he had anticipated, despite a few twists and turns.

Far away from the Bing Feng grand hall, Yun Che's expression slowly relaxed, and then he let out a sigh: "Master was right. In this world, there is never fairness, only survival of the fittest. Sigh."

"Right now, I'm just borrowing the tiger's might," Yun Che laughed self-deprecatingly as his figure quickly disappeared into the night.

In the extremely distant sky, unnoticed by anyone, a long sigh suddenly sounded, and then a trace of ice figure flickered, vanishing like a fleeting star.

——————————————

"I still can't believe that Senior Brother Hanyi could be that kind of person."

On the ice boat speeding through the air, Mu Xiaolan rested her chin on her hands, her gaze vacant, clearly still unable to fully accept what had happened the previous night.

They had already left the Bing Feng Empire far behind. In a few more hours, they would return to the Bing Huang Realm.

"It seems you didn't listen to a word I said before," Yun Che said, standing on the other side of the boat and rolling his eyes.

"If someone said that about Senior Brother Hanyi, no one... no one would believe it." Mu Xiaolan's voice trailed off at the end, then she turned around: "It's so strange. In the sect, everyone especially liked and respected Senior Brother Hanyi. They never thought he was... a bad person. And you've only been in the sect for such a short time, so why did you suspect he was a bad person so early? I remember... the first day you met him, you said something strange."

"If I were as naive as you, I'd be dead a thousand times over," Yun Che said matter-of-factly.

"See, you're making fun of me again." Mu Xiaolan pouted, but this time her protest wasn't strong. She glanced at Yun Che and suddenly said, "Yun Che, you seem distracted... Could it be that you also can't let go of Senior Brother Hanyi's matter?"

"I wouldn't dwell on a dead person." Yun Che rubbed his forehead: "I can be sure now that there's someone in the sect who secretly followed us to Bing Feng."

"Ah!?" Mu Xiaolan stood up in surprise.

"And a pretty formidable person at that!" Yun Che gritted his teeth slightly. Last night, he had been startled several times, his hair standing on end. But after returning to the Bingyi Palace and calming down, he thought it over... That person didn't touch him or the Qilin Horn but stole Mu Hanyi's corpse, framed him with a high-skill but flawed method, left the aura of the Ice Phoenix God-Sealing Canon on Mu Hanyi's body, and then nothing happened after leaving the Bing Feng grand hall...

Taken all together, he concluded that the hidden person had cooked up a "prank" on a whim! Definitely not to harm him, but simply to cause him trouble and then enjoy the show.

"Junior Sister Xiaolan, is there any palace or hall master in the sect who is, well... a bit playful, loves to have fun, and enjoys pranking people?" Yun Che asked with considerable difficulty.

"How could there be!" Mu Xiaolan denied without thinking: "Hall masters and palace masters are cold and serious people. Master is the gentlest, how could they be like that?"

"I think... you're right." Yun Che scratched his head vigorously. This was also the puzzle he couldn't solve: "That kind of method feels like something a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl would do, but at that age..."

In the treasure vault, not only did he not sense the person in the shadows, but Mu Hanyi was also completely unaware. That proved the person's strength was far above Mu Hanyi's, at least a major realm higher... and that level of strength definitely wasn't a disciple.

And since he was the sect master's personal disciple, the person bold enough to mess with him like that would at least be on the level of a Cold Snow Hall master.

"Who could it be?" Yun Che pondered again and again.