The sound of footsteps and voices seemed to drift past Liu Ruyan, who stood frozen, staring vacantly at the crimson dragon in her hand. Her pupils were unfocused, lost in thought.

"Junior Liu, we’ve come to ask you some questions. Please come with us," a disciple from the Law Enforcement Hall spoke as he approached her directly.

At this moment, these disciples still treated Liu Ruyan somewhat kindly, but their eyes held a gleam of satisfaction. After all, she had committed many small wrongs in the past. While they were not severe, punishment was still necessary. But since she was Elder Qingyue's disciple and her senior, Gu Han, would often cover for her, the Law Enforcement Hall had turned a blind eye to her transgressions. Now, they could finally invite her to the hall with a justified cause.

"What's going on? Why is a disciple from the Law Enforcement Hall here to take Liu Ruyan? Isn't she worried about Gu Han causing trouble?"

"Tch, you don’t know? Liu Ruyan fabricated evidence. It’s because of her that Gu Han was punished in the Infernal Gorge."

Many people knew about Gu Han's mistakes, and the news was hard to suppress. The Elders simply sealed his statements within the Law Enforcement Hall.

Hearing this, the surrounding disciples looked at Liu Ruyan with disdain.

"Gu Han dotes on her so much, and this is how she repays him—a white-eyed wolf."

"Liu Ruyan doesn’t seem like that kind of person, though. Who doesn’t know she clings to Gu Han all the time?"

"Knowing people by face, not by heart. Maybe she’s hiding some vicious intentions."

The crowd split into groups. Some felt that there must have been a misunderstanding and that Liu Ruyan wouldn’t frame Gu Han. Others remained skeptical, while a small few, driven by jealousy, spoke venomously.

Liu Ruyan, of course, heard these words, and her face turned pale.

Everyone believed that her senior could never have made a mistake. But as his junior sister, she was being accused of framing him, and if it was true…

Her heart was conflicted. She wanted to clear her senior's name and spare him from unjust punishment, but deep down, for some inexplicable reason, she almost wished there would be no new revelations. In that case, she could still remain the cherished junior sister in her senior's eyes, merely defending the sect's laws.

Upon arriving at the Law Enforcement Hall, she saw several Elders standing nearby. In the center of the hall was a copper mirror hovering in the air.

The Tianji Mirror?

As the name suggested, the Tianji Mirror could reveal secrets of the heavens. Strong cultivators at the Life-and-Death realm, when preparing to face tribulations, would use this mirror to foresee their weaknesses and prepare for the coming trial.

It could peer into the future and capture the past—this was the power of the Tianji Mirror.

Liu Ruyan hadn’t expected Elder Cang He to bring a Tianji realm cultivator here. An uneasy feeling began to rise in her heart.

"Senior Elders," she said, suppressing the unease in her chest as she bowed deeply to Elder Cang He and the other Elders.

Elder Cang He, who was focused on gathering evidence, spoke directly. "Junior Liu, step under the Tianji Mirror."

Liu Ruyan was taken aback and immediately angered. "Are you all suspecting that I fabricated evidence?"

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"You have only reached the Spirit Sea realm, but the enemy you faced was a mid-level Dao Palace cultivator. I think you may have fallen under their illusion," Elder Cang He said bluntly.

The weaker one's cultivation, the more susceptible they were to illusions. Only Gu Han had reached the first layer of Dao Palace during that trial, so it was likely that they had all been affected by the enemy’s illusion.

Liu Ruyan froze. An illusion?

Had she fallen under an illusion?

Her mind was in turmoil, but she still walked to stand under the Tianji Mirror.

The Elders simultaneously infused their spiritual power into the mirror. Not long after, a projection appeared in the hall, showing several figures standing in mid-air, anxiously rushing forward.

Gu Han was at the back, desperately holding off a powerful Dao Palace realm demon in the sky.

"Into the forest!" Gu Han shouted as he fought.

The demon was a flying beast, and only by hiding in the dense forest could they possibly escape. Though the disciples were weak, they trusted their senior’s orders absolutely and quickly dove into the forest below.

The projection was seen from Liu Ruyan’s perspective, so it began when they saw Gu Han's figure, with flashes of spiritual energy occasionally exploding in the sky—a sign of the battle's intensity.

Suddenly, Elder Cang He noticed a slender, three-meter-long poisonous snake in the shadow of the forest, beside which a brilliant flower bloomed.

"The Mandala, the Mandala Snake!" Elder Cang He cried out.

The other Elders noticed the Mandala Snake as well. Though the snake itself was only at the Spirit Platform realm, they had already guessed why Liu Ruyan would see Gu Han attacking his fellow disciples.

The Mandala Snake possessed an innate illusionary ability, enhanced by the Mandala flower, which could deceive even those at the peak of the Spirit Platform realm.

Sure enough, the Mandala struck like a reaper in the dark of night, heading straight for the disciples. The disciples seemed unaware of the snake, their faces first lighting up in joy before disbelief spread across their faces as they collapsed to the ground, poisoned.

"Junior Sister!!"

Suddenly, a voice of alarm rang out from the projection. A figure descended from the sky—Gu Han, stunned at first, then filled with rage. However, by that time, the Mandala Snake had vanished, and he was severely wounded, with a powerful enemy still lurking in the sky. He immediately made a decision, grabbing Liu Ruyan and the other surviving disciples, and fled swiftly.

Half an hour later, reinforcements from the sect arrived.

The projection ended there, and the hall fell into a long silence.

"The evidence is clear now. We should clear Gu Han's name," Elder Cang He spoke solemnly.

Without the Mandala, all the disciples should have returned. These disciples were the future of the Zixiao Sword Sect.

"Facing a Dao Palace Sixth Stage demon without retreating, to have such a disciple is the sect's fortune," the other Elders said almost simultaneously.

Gu Han had only just broken through to Dao Palace, his foundation still unstable. Yet, when faced with a Dao Palace Sixth Stage demon, he showed no fear. He even dared to face the demon directly, all to protect the weak Spirit Sea realm disciples.

Though many disciples had perished, Gu Han had no fault in this. He even had great merit. If it were any other disciple, could they have saved so many under such circumstances?

Elder Cang He nodded. "Now that everything is clear, I will immediately report to the Sect Master and clear Gu Han's name. You all recorded the contents of the Tianji Mirror on the Stone of Memory, correct?"

One of the Elders nodded.

"Good. Please make the information public. Although the sect’s disciples believe in Gu Han's innocence, there is still no concrete evidence."

"No need to tell me. I'll handle it. Gu Han is the future of our sect," the Elder replied quickly before leaving.

With the Elders gone, only Elder Cang He and Liu Ruyan remained in the Law Enforcement Hall. Cang He remembered the disdainful expression Gu Han had shown her the day before outside the hall.

He glanced at Liu Ruyan, who had red eyes and was slumped to the ground. He said nothing, putting away the Tianji Mirror before leaving.

He understood everything now. And all he could think was:

She deserved it.

Had it not been for her testimony, Gu Han would never have suffered such humiliation.

The projection had clearly shown it. Gu Han had many fatal wounds, yet if he had truly wanted to survive, he could have run away. How could these Spirit Sea and Spirit Platform disciples escape from a Dao Palace Sixth Stage demon?

There would have been no evidence, and it would have been easy.

But he did not flee. He fought to the death, protecting them. And yet, what did she do?

She killed her fellow disciples?

Even if it was an illusion, why didn’t she think? The contrast in behavior was so stark that anyone could see there was something wrong.

Now, he needed to ask the other surviving disciples why they returned a life-saving favor with betrayal. Could they not think for themselves?

Where did the conclusive evidence come from?