Chapter 126: A Voice In Her Mind!!
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
They all started murmuring around the hall, they hadn't really considered the masks before and now that they are reminded, they couldn't help but wonder how the witnesses are supposed to check the guardians and their young mistress, all eyes were fixed on sect ma'am Huo at the moment as they were all expecting her to say something in regards to sect leader Meng's comment.
"Sect leader Lin, what sect leader Meng has just said is indeed the case, it has been the tradition of the flame sect disciples to always wear the flame mask and it is also the first rule of our sect, I am sorry but they cannot remove their mask," Sect madam Huo said in a resolute manner.
"This matter affects every sect here, I hope you will take into consideration that if the witnesses are unable to check your guardians, you might be convicted," Sect leader Lin threatened but he made it sound like a friendly reminder.
"Sect leader Lin, are you trying to threaten me....or are you trying to threaten my sect?" she asked with a blank look on her face while she faced him with no emotion whatsoever in her eyes, which made him unsure of what kind of tone she is speaking with.
"Junior sister, you have misunderstood me, I am just trying to remind you, your disciples not showing their faces might make everyone suspect that you have something to hide, to prevent that, I ask that your disciples remove their mask," Sect leader Lin persuaded, while he convinced others at the same time that he really wants to give them a just and fair trial.
"Alliance leader, even before I was born, it has always been a rule for every disciple to wear the mask unless they fall in love, the only way for the mask to be removed is for the sect patriarchs to remove it after the love test, this is has been the rule for decades, you can't expect us to violate our sect rule just because of your accusations," Huo Ying stated with her resolution resounding in her voice while the elder and her mother nodded in agreement to her statement.
"Alliance leader, why are we even bothering with them, why don't you just remove the mask by force, the mask can't be removed but it can be shattered..." Sect leader Wu suggested while raising his voice.
"I dare you!!!!" Sect madam Huo shouted with her hand slamming the handle of the chair, the handle immediately fell off the chair, they were all alarmed by her outburst to the point that the hall became as quiet as a graveyard while everyone's eyes fell on the wooden handle that has been shattered to pieces by her.
"Junior sister, you should really learn to control your temper, sect leader Wu surely didn't mean what he said, don't take it to heart" Sect leader Zhou interceded while he fans himself casually despite the graveyard atmosphere in the hall.
"I hope that is the case because if anyone tries to forcefully take off the mask, I will make sure that I break that person's hand and render the person useless....." she fixed her eyes and sect leader Wu who was already feeling threatened by her warning then she slowly turned her eyes towards sect leader Lin...
"Whosoever that might be...." She concluded with her eyes boring into him.
Seeing as the atmosphere had changed, the two witnesses have already started fretting, they wondered if they should be standing in the hall despite the trouble that seemed to be brewing in the hall at that moment.
"Everyone....ehmmm...I don't think it is necessary to see their faces, there were two males and one female, I do have a way to recognise one of them, but I will not say it now, in case if the culprit tries to get rid of it" the man quickly put forth before their anger explodes and they start fighting, he surely didn't want to be barbequed by the flame or sect or be blown away by the wind sect.
"oooh.....is that so?" sect leader Zhou questioned casually which annoyed them that he just kept fanning himself and taking all that was going on the hall unseriously.
"It is indeed as I have said, if Sect leader Lin would trust me, I will make sure that I find the culprit and when I do, I will show you my means of identification," the man assured confidently, the look in his eyes showed that he is as desperate as they are to find the culprits. This greatly disturbed Huo Ying and the others, if the man is speaking the truth and he has a way to identify them, then it would be troublesome for them, she turned to glance at Huo Qiang nervously but he nodded his head at her to assure her that nothing is going to go wrong while he was also feeling nervous.
The elders fixed their eyes on the sect madam but she ignored their stare and continued glaring at sect leader Lin confidently...
"If that is so, then you should start now" they were now confused at her confidence, she was even telling the witnesses to start examining them, does it mean that the flame sect really has nothing to do with the incident?
Sect leader Zhou and sect leader Lin were more confused, her confidence hasn't faltered ever since she came in through the door despite all that has been said and even the witnesses present, sect leader Lin had already started regretting that he didn't bribe the witnesses at the beginning to point out the flame sect disciples from the beginning, if the result doesn't turn out to be what he thought it would be then all his planning and scheming would be for waste and he will have to see the arrogant look on Huo Jingyu face...
"You may start" Sect leader Lin ordered
"Alright" the both of them replied
"Remember, you have to look carefully, so you don't point out the wrong people" Sect leader Lin cautioned as soon as they took one step forward.
"We understand" the man replied then he walked to the middle of the hall.
" I would like to ask that all the young people part from the elders and sect leader should step forward," the man requested humbly. All the youths in the hall stepped forward, they all lined up in front of their sect leaders and elders while they wore a confident look on their faces, all the disciples were out except for the vitality sect disciples.
"Sect leader Yang, why are you disciples not stepping forward?" Sect madam Huo questioned
"Do you think we would rob our own sect?" Sect leader Yang answered
"In this world we live in, nothing is impossible, what if this is an act that your sect has carefully planned out so that you can remove my sect from the world even after we have been in seclusion?" she hinted straightforwardly.
"Are you trying to say that I lied about my sect being robbed and I even sent my disciples to wreak havoc in Yu-Shan city just to incriminate the flame sect?"
"Nothing can be decided yet, sect leader Yang, you should send your disciples forward now" she answered calmly.
"You...."
"Sect leader Yang, send your disciples forward" Sect leader Lin ordered, he turned back and gave a nod to the disciples behind him then they stepped forward to be examined, coincidentally, they were standing opposite Huo Ying and both guardian, as soon s they stepped forward, she gave them an evil smirk which put them off, they would have rushed forward to hit her at that moment but the situation didn't allow them to.
"You may begin now" Sect leader Lin instructed.
The woman first stepped forward to examine them, she walked past them one after the other while carefully examining their faces, she examined their faces, their height and their build but she still couldn't find the culprits, not long, she was already standing in front of the vitality sect disciples.
She walked back and forth round them to fully examine them but she didn't find anything that could point them out to be the culprits then she moved on to Huo Ying and the others, she was slightly afraid of them, after all, they were the strongest sect and they are known for numerous evil despite the help they offered the people in the past, but their goodness couldn't outdo their evils.
"Madam, you don't have to be afraid, as we cannot remove our mask, please make sure you examine us closely after this is over, we will provide whatever you need for your children's treatment," Huo Ying said knowing that the others would be infuriated by her kind gesture.
"Huo Ying, what are you trying to do, are you trying to bribe the witness right in front of us all," Tang Fan snapped at her kind gesture, she quickly got rid of the warm smile on her face and change it into a deep frown while she glared at Tang Fan.
"Who are you?" She inquired in a very belittling manner, the other youths have already begun chuckling at the indirect insult she directed at him while the elders in the hall frowned at her.
"Since you don't know then I will tell you, I am Tang Fan, the young master of the thunder sect, now that you already know my identity, answer my question, what are you trying to do by offering to pay for her children's treatment?" he queried with arrogance written on his face but she didn't need much energy to burst his bubble.
"You are not qualified to receive my answer!" she replied without even looking at him in the face, his face turned red immediately and his face almost as if he was going to explode at any minute, even sect leader Zhou had a serious reaction this time.
"Junior sister, you should caution your daughter....the newborn calf doesn't fear the tiger but it should be careful of the danger..." sect leader Zhou cautioned with his fangs bared and his claws brandished at her insult towards his son.
"Senior brother, you don't need to be angered by her comment, the alliance leader invited the witnesses to point out the culprit but their worries were not resolved beforehand when they have such a heavy burden in their heart, how can they find the culprits, my daughter is only trying to make sure that they don't feel pressured so that they won't point out the wrong person but your son didn't hesitate to make a careless assumption, he should be the one to caution himself," Sect madam Huo replied making him unable to make an argument, he folded his fan in anger while he dropped the issue.
"You may continue" Sect leader Lin instructed after waiting for their stupid interjection to end.
The woman went around them as she examined them, her intuition told her that they are the culprits and she felt like she has seen them before even though she couldn't see their faces but she couldn't be sure of her guess, besides their offer to help really moved her, if she ends up accusing them wrongly then she wouldn't be able to handle the guilt, she decided to leave it to her husband since he saw them more clearly then she did.
"Sect leader Lin, I am sorry but I am unable to identify the culprits among those who are present here, maybe my husband will be able to" she apologized then she moved on to stand beside her husband after which she gave him a handover nod, he stepped forward and started examining the youths.
He moved around them and examined their hands unknownst to them but sect leader Zhou, sect leader Lin and sect madam Huo noticed it, she suddenly remembered something, she quickly turned to look at Huo Qiang's hand, then she saw the old scar on the back of his hand, her eyes immediately widened, sect leader Lin and sect leader Zhou were both alerted at the sight of the slight change in her confident expression but she had already moved her eyes away from his scar before they traced her gaze to it knowing fully well that they were monitoring her.
"Sect madam, what is it?" the first elder whispered in her ear when he noticed her alarmed expression.
"It is nothing" she lied but he knew that she wasn't telling the truth, he decided to not ask further.
The man passed by the disciples of the Wudang sect then he moved on to the disciples of the vitality sect, he couldn't help but agree with what sect madam Huo has said before, humans are indeed unpredictable so the vitality sect cannot be excluded from the list of suspects.
He shook his head when he checked their hand which slightly alarmed their sect leader but he moved past them making him relieved, as soon as he got to Huo Mei's front, his brows furrowed slightly as though he didn't approve of the flame sect, after checking her hand and confirming that his means of identification isn't present on her hand, he moved on to Huo Ying.
He specially examined her hand carefully, longer than he did for the others, this showed his bias towards the flame sect but Huo Ying didn't feel the need to be bothered, he later moved on to Huo Qiang. Strangely, he didn't examine his hand first, as soon as he stood in front of him, he felt sure that he has seen him somewhere before, he glanced at the mask first then his eyes landed on his hand.
His back was turned at the others and blocking their sight so only Huo Ying, the two guardians and one of the disciples of the vitality sect can see them from that angle, the others were stretching their necks to monitor them to avoid being misled by the flame sect tricks.
As the man took a closer look at the back of his hand, his eyes widened at the sight of the large scar on Huo Qiang's hand, Huo Ying noticed the change in his expression so she traced his gaze to Huo Qiang's hand, her eyes gaped when she noticed the distinctive feature on his hand and the attention the man was paying to it.
"Sec...."
"Sir!" Huo Ying quickly called before the man could make his report, the man turned to look at her with a deep frown on his face, his eyes met hers immediately he looked at her, her eyeball turned red at the moment but the man was blocking their view so they didn't notice it.
{You don't remember the scar on his hand and you will not be able to recognise the rest either, you couldn't find the culprits no matter how hard you searched, you will forget anything you know about this case}
A voice in her mind said!!
his pupils began shrinking at her compellation while he stood in front of her soullessly.
it went on for about ten seconds and they had already started wondering what was happened, Huo Qiang and Huo Mei noticed the man's pupils shrinking but they couldn't understand what was going on either, they raised their eyebrows in confusion while they stared at Huo Ying who also seemed to be standing soullessly.
"Sir, what is it?" Sect leader Lin questioned when he noticed that something went wrong the moment Huo Ying called him.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
They all started murmuring around the hall, they hadn't really considered the masks before and now that they are reminded, they couldn't help but wonder how the witnesses are supposed to check the guardians and their young mistress, all eyes were fixed on sect ma'am Huo at the moment as they were all expecting her to say something in regards to sect leader Meng's comment.
"Sect leader Lin, what sect leader Meng has just said is indeed the case, it has been the tradition of the flame sect disciples to always wear the flame mask and it is also the first rule of our sect, I am sorry but they cannot remove their mask," Sect madam Huo said in a resolute manner.
"This matter affects every sect here, I hope you will take into consideration that if the witnesses are unable to check your guardians, you might be convicted," Sect leader Lin threatened but he made it sound like a friendly reminder.
"Sect leader Lin, are you trying to threaten me....or are you trying to threaten my sect?" she asked with a blank look on her face while she faced him with no emotion whatsoever in her eyes, which made him unsure of what kind of tone she is speaking with.
"Junior sister, you have misunderstood me, I am just trying to remind you, your disciples not showing their faces might make everyone suspect that you have something to hide, to prevent that, I ask that your disciples remove their mask," Sect leader Lin persuaded, while he convinced others at the same time that he really wants to give them a just and fair trial.
"Alliance leader, even before I was born, it has always been a rule for every disciple to wear the mask unless they fall in love, the only way for the mask to be removed is for the sect patriarchs to remove it after the love test, this is has been the rule for decades, you can't expect us to violate our sect rule just because of your accusations," Huo Ying stated with her resolution resounding in her voice while the elder and her mother nodded in agreement to her statement.
"Alliance leader, why are we even bothering with them, why don't you just remove the mask by force, the mask can't be removed but it can be shattered..." Sect leader Wu suggested while raising his voice.
"I dare you!!!!" Sect madam Huo shouted with her hand slamming the handle of the chair, the handle immediately fell off the chair, they were all alarmed by her outburst to the point that the hall became as quiet as a graveyard while everyone's eyes fell on the wooden handle that has been shattered to pieces by her.
"Junior sister, you should really learn to control your temper, sect leader Wu surely didn't mean what he said, don't take it to heart" Sect leader Zhou interceded while he fans himself casually despite the graveyard atmosphere in the hall.
"I hope that is the case because if anyone tries to forcefully take off the mask, I will make sure that I break that person's hand and render the person useless....." she fixed her eyes and sect leader Wu who was already feeling threatened by her warning then she slowly turned her eyes towards sect leader Lin...
"Whosoever that might be...." She concluded with her eyes boring into him.
Seeing as the atmosphere had changed, the two witnesses have already started fretting, they wondered if they should be standing in the hall despite the trouble that seemed to be brewing in the hall at that moment.
"Everyone....ehmmm...I don't think it is necessary to see their faces, there were two males and one female, I do have a way to recognise one of them, but I will not say it now, in case if the culprit tries to get rid of it" the man quickly put forth before their anger explodes and they start fighting, he surely didn't want to be barbequed by the flame or sect or be blown away by the wind sect.
"oooh.....is that so?" sect leader Zhou questioned casually which annoyed them that he just kept fanning himself and taking all that was going on the hall unseriously.
"It is indeed as I have said, if Sect leader Lin would trust me, I will make sure that I find the culprit and when I do, I will show you my means of identification," the man assured confidently, the look in his eyes showed that he is as desperate as they are to find the culprits. This greatly disturbed Huo Ying and the others, if the man is speaking the truth and he has a way to identify them, then it would be troublesome for them, she turned to glance at Huo Qiang nervously but he nodded his head at her to assure her that nothing is going to go wrong while he was also feeling nervous.
The elders fixed their eyes on the sect madam but she ignored their stare and continued glaring at sect leader Lin confidently...
"If that is so, then you should start now" they were now confused at her confidence, she was even telling the witnesses to start examining them, does it mean that the flame sect really has nothing to do with the incident?
Sect leader Zhou and sect leader Lin were more confused, her confidence hasn't faltered ever since she came in through the door despite all that has been said and even the witnesses present, sect leader Lin had already started regretting that he didn't bribe the witnesses at the beginning to point out the flame sect disciples from the beginning, if the result doesn't turn out to be what he thought it would be then all his planning and scheming would be for waste and he will have to see the arrogant look on Huo Jingyu face...
"You may start" Sect leader Lin ordered
"Alright" the both of them replied
"Remember, you have to look carefully, so you don't point out the wrong people" Sect leader Lin cautioned as soon as they took one step forward.
"We understand" the man replied then he walked to the middle of the hall.
" I would like to ask that all the young people part from the elders and sect leader should step forward," the man requested humbly. All the youths in the hall stepped forward, they all lined up in front of their sect leaders and elders while they wore a confident look on their faces, all the disciples were out except for the vitality sect disciples.
"Sect leader Yang, why are you disciples not stepping forward?" Sect madam Huo questioned
"Do you think we would rob our own sect?" Sect leader Yang answered
"In this world we live in, nothing is impossible, what if this is an act that your sect has carefully planned out so that you can remove my sect from the world even after we have been in seclusion?" she hinted straightforwardly.
"Are you trying to say that I lied about my sect being robbed and I even sent my disciples to wreak havoc in Yu-Shan city just to incriminate the flame sect?"
"Nothing can be decided yet, sect leader Yang, you should send your disciples forward now" she answered calmly.
"You...."
"Sect leader Yang, send your disciples forward" Sect leader Lin ordered, he turned back and gave a nod to the disciples behind him then they stepped forward to be examined, coincidentally, they were standing opposite Huo Ying and both guardian, as soon s they stepped forward, she gave them an evil smirk which put them off, they would have rushed forward to hit her at that moment but the situation didn't allow them to.
"You may begin now" Sect leader Lin instructed.
The woman first stepped forward to examine them, she walked past them one after the other while carefully examining their faces, she examined their faces, their height and their build but she still couldn't find the culprits, not long, she was already standing in front of the vitality sect disciples.
She walked back and forth round them to fully examine them but she didn't find anything that could point them out to be the culprits then she moved on to Huo Ying and the others, she was slightly afraid of them, after all, they were the strongest sect and they are known for numerous evil despite the help they offered the people in the past, but their goodness couldn't outdo their evils.
"Madam, you don't have to be afraid, as we cannot remove our mask, please make sure you examine us closely after this is over, we will provide whatever you need for your children's treatment," Huo Ying said knowing that the others would be infuriated by her kind gesture.
"Huo Ying, what are you trying to do, are you trying to bribe the witness right in front of us all," Tang Fan snapped at her kind gesture, she quickly got rid of the warm smile on her face and change it into a deep frown while she glared at Tang Fan.
"Who are you?" She inquired in a very belittling manner, the other youths have already begun chuckling at the indirect insult she directed at him while the elders in the hall frowned at her.
"Since you don't know then I will tell you, I am Tang Fan, the young master of the thunder sect, now that you already know my identity, answer my question, what are you trying to do by offering to pay for her children's treatment?" he queried with arrogance written on his face but she didn't need much energy to burst his bubble.
"You are not qualified to receive my answer!" she replied without even looking at him in the face, his face turned red immediately and his face almost as if he was going to explode at any minute, even sect leader Zhou had a serious reaction this time.
"Junior sister, you should caution your daughter....the newborn calf doesn't fear the tiger but it should be careful of the danger..." sect leader Zhou cautioned with his fangs bared and his claws brandished at her insult towards his son.
"Senior brother, you don't need to be angered by her comment, the alliance leader invited the witnesses to point out the culprit but their worries were not resolved beforehand when they have such a heavy burden in their heart, how can they find the culprits, my daughter is only trying to make sure that they don't feel pressured so that they won't point out the wrong person but your son didn't hesitate to make a careless assumption, he should be the one to caution himself," Sect madam Huo replied making him unable to make an argument, he folded his fan in anger while he dropped the issue.
"You may continue" Sect leader Lin instructed after waiting for their stupid interjection to end.
The woman went around them as she examined them, her intuition told her that they are the culprits and she felt like she has seen them before even though she couldn't see their faces but she couldn't be sure of her guess, besides their offer to help really moved her, if she ends up accusing them wrongly then she wouldn't be able to handle the guilt, she decided to leave it to her husband since he saw them more clearly then she did.
"Sect leader Lin, I am sorry but I am unable to identify the culprits among those who are present here, maybe my husband will be able to" she apologized then she moved on to stand beside her husband after which she gave him a handover nod, he stepped forward and started examining the youths.
He moved around them and examined their hands unknownst to them but sect leader Zhou, sect leader Lin and sect madam Huo noticed it, she suddenly remembered something, she quickly turned to look at Huo Qiang's hand, then she saw the old scar on the back of his hand, her eyes immediately widened, sect leader Lin and sect leader Zhou were both alerted at the sight of the slight change in her confident expression but she had already moved her eyes away from his scar before they traced her gaze to it knowing fully well that they were monitoring her.
"Sect madam, what is it?" the first elder whispered in her ear when he noticed her alarmed expression.
"It is nothing" she lied but he knew that she wasn't telling the truth, he decided to not ask further.
The man passed by the disciples of the Wudang sect then he moved on to the disciples of the vitality sect, he couldn't help but agree with what sect madam Huo has said before, humans are indeed unpredictable so the vitality sect cannot be excluded from the list of suspects.
He shook his head when he checked their hand which slightly alarmed their sect leader but he moved past them making him relieved, as soon as he got to Huo Mei's front, his brows furrowed slightly as though he didn't approve of the flame sect, after checking her hand and confirming that his means of identification isn't present on her hand, he moved on to Huo Ying.
He specially examined her hand carefully, longer than he did for the others, this showed his bias towards the flame sect but Huo Ying didn't feel the need to be bothered, he later moved on to Huo Qiang. Strangely, he didn't examine his hand first, as soon as he stood in front of him, he felt sure that he has seen him somewhere before, he glanced at the mask first then his eyes landed on his hand.
His back was turned at the others and blocking their sight so only Huo Ying, the two guardians and one of the disciples of the vitality sect can see them from that angle, the others were stretching their necks to monitor them to avoid being misled by the flame sect tricks.
As the man took a closer look at the back of his hand, his eyes widened at the sight of the large scar on Huo Qiang's hand, Huo Ying noticed the change in his expression so she traced his gaze to Huo Qiang's hand, her eyes gaped when she noticed the distinctive feature on his hand and the attention the man was paying to it.
"Sec...."
"Sir!" Huo Ying quickly called before the man could make his report, the man turned to look at her with a deep frown on his face, his eyes met hers immediately he looked at her, her eyeball turned red at the moment but the man was blocking their view so they didn't notice it.
{You don't remember the scar on his hand and you will not be able to recognise the rest either, you couldn't find the culprits no matter how hard you searched, you will forget anything you know about this case}
A voice in her mind said!!
his pupils began shrinking at her compellation while he stood in front of her soullessly.
it went on for about ten seconds and they had already started wondering what was happened, Huo Qiang and Huo Mei noticed the man's pupils shrinking but they couldn't understand what was going on either, they raised their eyebrows in confusion while they stared at Huo Ying who also seemed to be standing soullessly.
"Sir, what is it?" Sect leader Lin questioned when he noticed that something went wrong the moment Huo Ying called him.
They all started murmuring around the hall, they hadn't really considered the masks before and now that they are reminded, they couldn't help but wonder how the witnesses are supposed to check the guardians and their young mistress, all eyes were fixed on sect ma'am Huo at the moment as they were all expecting her to say something in regards to sect leader Meng's comment. "Sect leader Lin, what sect leader Meng has just said is indeed the case, it has been the tradition of the flame sect disciples to always wear the flame mask and it is also the first rule of our sect, I am sorry but they cannot remove their mask," Sect madam Huo said in a resolute manner. "This matter affects every sect here, I hope you will take into consideration that if the witnesses are unable to check your guardians, you might be convicted," Sect leader Lin threatened but he made it sound like a friendly reminder. "Sect leader Lin, are you trying to threaten me....or are you trying to threaten my sect?" she asked with a blank look on her face while she faced him with no emotion whatsoever in her eyes, which made him unsure of what kind of tone she is speaking with. "Junior sister, you have misunderstood me, I am just trying to remind you, your disciples not showing their faces might make everyone suspect that you have something to hide, to prevent that, I ask that your disciples remove their mask," Sect leader Lin persuaded, while he convinced others at the same time that he really wants to give them a just and fair trial. "Alliance leader, even before I was born, it has always been a rule for every disciple to wear the mask unless they fall in love, the only way for the mask to be removed is for the sect patriarchs to remove it after the love test, this is has been the rule for decades, you can't expect us to violate our sect rule just because of your accusations," Huo Ying stated with her resolution resounding in her voice while the elder and her mother nodded in agreement to her statement. "Alliance leader, why are we even bothering with them, why don't you just remove the mask by force, the mask can't be removed but it can be shattered..." Sect leader Wu suggested while raising his voice. "I dare you!!!!" Sect madam Huo shouted with her hand slamming the handle of the chair, the handle immediately fell off the chair, they were all alarmed by her outburst to the point that the hall became as quiet as a graveyard while everyone's eyes fell on the wooden handle that has been shattered to pieces by her. "Junior sister, you should really learn to control your temper, sect leader Wu surely didn't mean what he said, don't take it to heart" Sect leader Zhou interceded while he fans himself casually despite the graveyard atmosphere in the hall. "I hope that is the case because if anyone tries to forcefully take off the mask, I will make sure that I break that person's hand and render the person useless....." she fixed her eyes and sect leader Wu who was already feeling threatened by her warning then she slowly turned her eyes towards sect leader Lin... "Whosoever that might be...." She concluded with her eyes boring into him. Seeing as the atmosphere had changed, the two witnesses have already started fretting, they wondered if they should be standing in the hall despite the trouble that seemed to be brewing in the hall at that moment. "Everyone....ehmmm...I don't think it is necessary to see their faces, there were two males and one female, I do have a way to recognise one of them, but I will not say it now, in case if the culprit tries to get rid of it" the man quickly put forth before their anger explodes and they start fighting, he surely didn't want to be barbequed by the flame or sect or be blown away by the wind sect. "oooh.....is that so?" sect leader Zhou questioned casually which annoyed them that he just kept fanning himself and taking all that was going on the hall unseriously. "It is indeed as I have said, if Sect leader Lin would trust me, I will make sure that I find the culprit and when I do, I will show you my means of identification," the man assured confidently, the look in his eyes showed that he is as desperate as they are to find the culprits. This greatly disturbed Huo Ying and the others, if the man is speaking the truth and he has a way to identify them, then it would be troublesome for them, she turned to glance at Huo Qiang nervously but he nodded his head at her to assure her that nothing is going to go wrong while he was also feeling nervous. The elders fixed their eyes on the sect madam but she ignored their stare and continued glaring at sect leader Lin confidently... "If that is so, then you should start now" they were now confused at her confidence, she was even telling the witnesses to start examining them, does it mean that the flame sect really has nothing to do with the incident? Sect leader Zhou and sect leader Lin were more confused, her confidence hasn't faltered ever since she came in through the door despite all that has been said and even the witnesses present, sect leader Lin had already started regretting that he didn't bribe the witnesses at the beginning to point out the flame sect disciples from the beginning, if the result doesn't turn out to be what he thought it would be then all his planning and scheming would be for waste and he will have to see the arrogant look on Huo Jingyu face... "You may start" Sect leader Lin ordered "Alright" the both of them replied "Remember, you have to look carefully, so you don't point out the wrong people" Sect leader Lin cautioned as soon as they took one step forward. "We understand" the man replied then he walked to the middle of the hall. " I would like to ask that all the young people part from the elders and sect leader should step forward," the man requested humbly. All the youths in the hall stepped forward, they all lined up in front of their sect leaders and elders while they wore a confident look on their faces, all the disciples were out except for the vitality sect disciples. "Sect leader Yang, why are you disciples not stepping forward?" Sect madam Huo questioned "Do you think we would rob our own sect?" Sect leader Yang answered "In this world we live in, nothing is impossible, what if this is an act that your sect has carefully planned out so that you can remove my sect from the world even after we have been in seclusion?" she hinted straightforwardly. "Are you trying to say that I lied about my sect being robbed and I even sent my disciples to wreak havoc in Yu-Shan city just to incriminate the flame sect?" "Nothing can be decided yet, sect leader Yang, you should send your disciples forward now" she answered calmly. "You...." "Sect leader Yang, send your disciples forward" Sect leader Lin ordered, he turned back and gave a nod to the disciples behind him then they stepped forward to be examined, coincidentally, they were standing opposite Huo Ying and both guardian, as soon s they stepped forward, she gave them an evil smirk which put them off, they would have rushed forward to hit her at that moment but the situation didn't allow them to. "You may begin now" Sect leader Lin instructed. The woman first stepped forward to examine them, she walked past them one after the other while carefully examining their faces, she examined their faces, their height and their build but she still couldn't find the culprits, not long, she was already standing in front of the vitality sect disciples. She walked back and forth round them to fully examine them but she didn't find anything that could point them out to be the culprits then she moved on to Huo Ying and the others, she was slightly afraid of them, after all, they were the strongest sect and they are known for numerous evil despite the help they offered the people in the past, but their goodness couldn't outdo their evils. "Madam, you don't have to be afraid, as we cannot remove our mask, please make sure you examine us closely after this is over, we will provide whatever you need for your children's treatment," Huo Ying said knowing that the others would be infuriated by her kind gesture. "Huo Ying, what are you trying to do, are you trying to bribe the witness right in front of us all," Tang Fan snapped at her kind gesture, she quickly got rid of the warm smile on her face and change it into a deep frown while she glared at Tang Fan. "Who are you?" She inquired in a very belittling manner, the other youths have already begun chuckling at the indirect insult she directed at him while the elders in the hall frowned at her. "Since you don't know then I will tell you, I am Tang Fan, the young master of the thunder sect, now that you already know my identity, answer my question, what are you trying to do by offering to pay for her children's treatment?" he queried with arrogance written on his face but she didn't need much energy to burst his bubble. "You are not qualified to receive my answer!" she replied without even looking at him in the face, his face turned red immediately and his face almost as if he was going to explode at any minute, even sect leader Zhou had a serious reaction this time. "Junior sister, you should caution your daughter....the newborn calf doesn't fear the tiger but it should be careful of the danger..." sect leader Zhou cautioned with his fangs bared and his claws brandished at her insult towards his son. "Senior brother, you don't need to be angered by her comment, the alliance leader invited the witnesses to point out the culprit but their worries were not resolved beforehand when they have such a heavy burden in their heart, how can they find the culprits, my daughter is only trying to make sure that they don't feel pressured so that they won't point out the wrong person but your son didn't hesitate to make a careless assumption, he should be the one to caution himself," Sect madam Huo replied making him unable to make an argument, he folded his fan in anger while he dropped the issue. "You may continue" Sect leader Lin instructed after waiting for their stupid interjection to end. The woman went around them as she examined them, her intuition told her that they are the culprits and she felt like she has seen them before even though she couldn't see their faces but she couldn't be sure of her guess, besides their offer to help really moved her, if she ends up accusing them wrongly then she wouldn't be able to handle the guilt, she decided to leave it to her husband since he saw them more clearly then she did. "Sect leader Lin, I am sorry but I am unable to identify the culprits among those who are present here, maybe my husband will be able to" she apologized then she moved on to stand beside her husband after which she gave him a handover nod, he stepped forward and started examining the youths. He moved around them and examined their hands unknownst to them but sect leader Zhou, sect leader Lin and sect madam Huo noticed it, she suddenly remembered something, she quickly turned to look at Huo Qiang's hand, then she saw the old scar on the back of his hand, her eyes immediately widened, sect leader Lin and sect leader Zhou were both alerted at the sight of the slight change in her confident expression but she had already moved her eyes away from his scar before they traced her gaze to it knowing fully well that they were monitoring her. "Sect madam, what is it?" the first elder whispered in her ear when he noticed her alarmed expression. "It is nothing" she lied but he knew that she wasn't telling the truth, he decided to not ask further. The man passed by the disciples of the Wudang sect then he moved on to the disciples of the vitality sect, he couldn't help but agree with what sect madam Huo has said before, humans are indeed unpredictable so the vitality sect cannot be excluded from the list of suspects. He shook his head when he checked their hand which slightly alarmed their sect leader but he moved past them making him relieved, as soon as he got to Huo Mei's front, his brows furrowed slightly as though he didn't approve of the flame sect, after checking her hand and confirming that his means of identification isn't present on her hand, he moved on to Huo Ying. He specially examined her hand carefully, longer than he did for the others, this showed his bias towards the flame sect but Huo Ying didn't feel the need to be bothered, he later moved on to Huo Qiang. Strangely, he didn't examine his hand first, as soon as he stood in front of him, he felt sure that he has seen him somewhere before, he glanced at the mask first then his eyes landed on his hand. His back was turned at the others and blocking their sight so only Huo Ying, the two guardians and one of the disciples of the vitality sect can see them from that angle, the others were stretching their necks to monitor them to avoid being misled by the flame sect tricks. As the man took a closer look at the back of his hand, his eyes widened at the sight of the large scar on Huo Qiang's hand, Huo Ying noticed the change in his expression so she traced his gaze to Huo Qiang's hand, her eyes gaped when she noticed the distinctive feature on his hand and the attention the man was paying to it. "Sec...." "Sir!" Huo Ying quickly called before the man could make his report, the man turned to look at her with a deep frown on his face, his eyes met hers immediately he looked at her, her eyeball turned red at the moment but the man was blocking their view so they didn't notice it. {You don't remember the scar on his hand and you will not be able to recognise the rest either, you couldn't find the culprits no matter how hard you searched, you will forget anything you know about this case} A voice in her mind said!! his pupils began shrinking at her compellation while he stood in front of her soullessly. it went on for about ten seconds and they had already started wondering what was happened, Huo Qiang and Huo Mei noticed the man's pupils shrinking but they couldn't understand what was going on either, they raised their eyebrows in confusion while they stared at Huo Ying who also seemed to be standing soullessly. "Sir, what is it?" Sect leader Lin questioned when he noticed that something went wrong the moment Huo Ying called him.
