Chapter 1269: Voluntary Admission of Guilt

Chapter 1269: Chapter 1269: Voluntary Admission of Guilt

"Oh~!"

After listening to Li Ang’s account, Pei Yan let out a meaningful "oh." Aside from him and the coldly smiling Liu Xuanji, everyone else wore expressions of embarrassment, looking at each other uncertainly.

"This matter is neither too big nor too small...," Pei Yan began, but when he felt the veins on his wrist bulge, knowing Liu Xuanji was dissatisfied and about to act out, he hurriedly added, "But it’s not exactly trivial either! Could I ask who was the elder that let the person go, Elder Li?"

"They have been detained and are awaiting punishment in the mansion with me," Li Ang seemed to guess what Pei Yan was thinking and continued without waiting for him to ask further, "After the Immortal Palace was locked down, I realized such behavior was terribly foolish. To remedy this, I not only detained the elder who released the person but also sent word to the sect to detain those sent away. Additionally, the records from the Ten-Eyed Well near the Teleportation Array are preserved, awaiting inspection by the Embroidered Robe Envoy and yourself, to make up for the mistake I committed."

Pei Yan raised an eyebrow but didn’t question immediately. Instead, he chuckled casually, "Oh! Elder Li, when the palace is in lockdown, no news from any sect or branch should be revealed to the sect itself. Yet you not only let someone go but sent lockdown news back to your sect?"

"Mr. Pei, I committed one mistake, how could I commit another? I only prevented those who returned to the sect from leaving to make up for my error. I haven’t mentioned what happened at the Immortal Palace at all. If you don’t believe me, I’m willing to let the Embroidered Robe Envoy extract my Divine Sense to verify," Li Ang appeared distressed as she explained to Pei Yan with a slight bow.

The Immortal Palace can extract a person’s memories during interrogation, something Pei Yan knew since he captured Li Songtao in his first major task. However, he also realized that this magic becomes increasingly difficult with higher-ranked individuals. With Li Songtao, who was only at the seventh rank, they struggled to deal and had to transfer him back to the Daoist Plane, leading to the subsequent events. Li Ang, appearing to be a top-tier expert of Heavenly Dao, was willingly allowing her memory to be extracted, showing great cooperation with Pei Yan’s investigation.

Yet Pei Yan was unappreciative, releasing Liu Xuanji’s hand, he scratched his head with a wry smile, "Indeed, there’s no need to send the news back. As long as your sect detains those who returned and interrogates them, everything would be clear, wouldn’t it?"

"Hahahahaha!" Liu Xuanji, who had been sullen all night, laughed heartily at this sentence. In that moment, he suddenly felt that the future of his sect wasn’t so bleak, and even Pei Yan, who had been annoying, seemed endearing.

"Uh~ this~!" Amid Liu Xuanji’s laughter, Li Ansheng was rendered speechless, unsure of what to do.

Fortunately, Pei Yan didn’t continue questioning her intentions. He turned to Liu Xuanji with mockery, "Elder Liu, why are you laughing? I wouldn’t even dare to laugh if I were you. Others committed the same mistake, yet managed to handle it flawlessly, leaving no room for criticism."

"Indeed! Mr. Pei’s lesson is apt. I’m old, with enough steadiness but lacking flexibility. In dealing with such matters, I have the will but not the strength. I must learn from Fairy Li more, otherwise, I wouldn’t have ended up like this." Liu Xuanji’s concerns were mostly affirmed by the White Deer Institute’s actions tonight, and the thought of his sect being plotted against fueled his anger, yet his comments were bluntly straightforward.

Under their back-and-forth, Li Ang was flushed with embarrassment, wanting to defend herself but Pei Yan wasn’t interested in her explanations. Knowing she likely had a well-prepared account, he realized further questioning would yield nothing useful. It would be better to return and find another approach. Thinking this, Pei Yan turned to Xiang Zixiong and shouted, "What are you waiting for?! Didn’t you hear Fairy Li say they’ve detained everyone? Go in, inspect them, and take them back for interrogation and verification!"

"Uh~ sir, should I take everyone like we did with the Hongjun Sword Furnace?" Xiang Zixiong asked Pei Yan hesitantly.

"Hmm, well! That elder who released the person and the person they released must be taken back for questioning. As for Fairy Li, you should also come with us to assist in the investigation." Pei Yan hesitated, rubbing his chin, then continued, "Regarding others, once identities are verified, non-White Deer Institute disciples should be taken away. Others are not allowed to leave the branch nor transfer messages externally before the investigation is concluded. All Teleportation Arrays and message transfer routes in the institute are sealed."

Upon finishing, Pei Yan smiled at Li Ang, "Fairy Li, I hope this isn’t excessive."

"This matter started because of my mistake. As long as Mr. Pei and colleagues conduct a fair investigation, my White Deer Institute is willing to accept any form of investigation." Li Ang could only smile bitterly and accept.

"Fairy Li, rest assured, we will not wrong a good person, nor will we let a bad person get away. If you are innocent, we will certainly seek justice for you. If you don’t trust me, surely you trust Brother Lin Daozi?"

Being dragged into Pei Yan’s speech, Lin Daozi chuckled helplessly and nodded, "Junior Brother Pei is correct. Rest assured, Elder Li, tonight’s affair is widespread. We will thoroughly investigate and clear the names of those truly wronged."

With promises from the two main figures tonight and such cooperation from Li Ang, the Embroidered Robe Envoy smoothly completed the task of apprehension and sealing. As the search through the last mansion of the Five Mansions of the Immortal Palace was finished, daylight broke, and the eventful night finally came to a close.

For the Divine Martial Guard entering the palace to search, having worked all night, they could finally relax and rest for a moment. Yet for some, the real work was just beginning.

"Alas, we worked all night and didn’t find a single thing! The fight wasn’t satisfying either, felt like knocking down some small fry. I thought I might face off directly with the Hongjun Sword Furnace, but turns out it was the Infinite Thunder Sect that got the beating!" After escorting all prisoners to the branch for custody, Jiang Feiyang returned to the investigation team’s headquarters, pulling at his uniform buttons to loosen his unusually large belly, snatched a bottle of mineral water from Wang Wenze, whom had returned earlier, and gulped it down before crumpling the bottle and complaining.

"Are you here to catch culprits or to cause a stir and fight?" Having just finished with matters of handover, Mei Simiao flared with anger at his words and kicked him in reprimand.

Jiang Feiyang, hearing the sound behind him, swiveled his body to dodge the kick and grinned obsequiously at Mei Simiao, "Director Mei, it’s just that after a whole night with no captures, my heart felt unjustly burdened and I complained a bit!"