Chapter 519 The Boy Who Cried Wolf, a Duel, and to Save Them or Not?

“They’ve been spouting lies from start to finish. Who could possibly believe a word they say now?”

As the realization dawned, their fury only grew.

Tantai Qing sighed softly and took her leave without a word.

“This is just like the story of ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf.'”

Jiang Lan followed her out of the great hall.

The great hall behind them remained a cacophony of debate.

The two descended the steps before the palace hall. The calm facade on Tantai Qing’s face had vanished, replaced by a dark, simmering anger.

“That Helian Wen is certainly decisive, throwing all caution to the wind. He truly wants my reputation ruined.” She clenched her fists, a murderous glint in her eyes.

“This is the only move he has left. But there must be someone behind the scenes, telling him what to do,” Jiang Lan said with a faint, knowing smile, completely unsurprised.

“So what do I do now? Should I really do nothing and let public opinion fester, destroying the reputation I’ve spent years building?” Tantai Qing frowned.

“The best strategy is to meet change with constancy. You don’t actually need to do anything. Just have the family respond.”

“The more you appear anxious and defensive, the more credence you’ll lend to their doubts. It’s far better to do nothing—to face it calmly, with an air of contempt.”

“Helian Wen will feel like he’s thrown a punch and hit nothing but air. He’ll get flustered, and the more desperate he becomes, the more his own plans will unravel. After all, besides his big mouth, he doesn’t have a single shred of evidence…” Jiang Lan chuckled.

He had a thorough understanding of the human heart.

Tantai Qing let out a slight breath of relief and nodded. Then she gave Jiang Lan a deep look and said, “You are truly terrifying.”

Jiang Lan had foreseen the current situation several days ago and had already told her how to respond.

Helian Wen appeared to have seized the moral high ground and controlled the narrative, but from the moment he announced his ‘truth’ to the world, he had sealed his own fate, leaving himself no way out.

“I thought Helian Wen was a major player, but now it seems he’s just a pathetic pawn,” Jiang Lan remarked, a peculiar glint in his eyes.

‘With a pawn like him in play, the Helian Family’s crime of colluding with the Demon Race was a foregone conclusion. There was no escape for them.’

And this was exactly the outcome he had been hoping for. It was hard to win public support without a righteous cause, especially when moving against a Saint’s Noble Family that had rendered great service to the Human Race.

「That very day」

The Tantai Family issued a response, angrily denouncing the Helian Family as despicable and shameless for lying time and again to deceive the public. Helian Wen had long ago fallen to the Demon Dao; how much truth could there be in his words?

After he launched a sneak attack on Tantai Qing, the Helian Family had insisted that Helian Wen was dead and that they knew nothing of his whereabouts. So who, then, was this Helian Wen who had suddenly appeared?

The Helian Family was truly treating the world like fools, saying whatever they pleased. Not only had they colluded with the Demon Race and violated their ancestral teachings, but now they were even trying to drag Tantai Qing down with them and tarnish her name.

Clearly, the Tantai Family’s version of events gained far more approval and support.

This wasn’t just due to Tantai Qing’s well-known character and past actions. A much larger factor was the Helian Family’s own narrative, which was riddled with contradictions. Given their proven history of deceiving the public, it was simply too difficult for anyone to believe their current claims.

As for so-called evidence, the Helian Family couldn’t produce a thing. Their ‘truth’ was backed by nothing but hot air.

The oath Helian Wen made on his Dao Heart at this time had little effect, either.

In the end, only he himself knew whether or not he had truly colluded with the Demon Race.

The tide of public opinion shifted quickly.

After the Tantai Family stepped forward to respond, Tantai Qing herself appeared in the very city where Helian Wen had been seen. Before a massive crowd, she calmly called him out.

She disdained to even offer a defense; both of them knew the truth of what was right and wrong.

Witnessed by innumerable Cultivators and other beings, she challenged Helian Wen to a formal duel to resolve the issue once and for all.

This would be a battle where no one from either the Helian Family or the Tantai Family was permitted to interfere. Their personal feud would be settled here and now—a duel to determine not just victory, but life and death.

She declared that if Helian Wen had nothing to hide, he should accept her challenge openly and honorably, instead of cowering like a sewer rat and resorting to vile, underhanded schemes.

News of the duel sent massive shockwaves through the public, and countless Cultivators and other beings were in awe of Tantai Qing’s boldness.

Not long ago, she had been injured by Helian Wen, and her wounds had likely not yet fully healed. Challenging him to a duel under these circumstances was far from a wise move.

Yet, to clear her name, she was willing to put her own life on the line.

Of course, many guessed her true intentions. In a life-and-death struggle, both fighters would inevitably use every means at their disposal. Whether or not Helian Wen had colluded with the Demon Race would become plain to see.

Unless he held back, preferring to be killed by Tantai Qing rather than expose himself.

Many were deeply impressed, forced to admit that Tantai Qing’s courage was truly exceptional. She was staking her life on this. If Helian Wen decided to risk exposure just to kill her, she faced a very real possibility of meeting a tragic end in the battle.

To force Helian Wen’s hand, while issuing her public challenge, Tantai Qing swore a Celestial Dao Oath before all the Cultivators and beings in the city.

“If I am to receive any outside help in this battle, then from this day forward, may I suffer backlash from my Heart Demon, may my path on the Dao be forever blocked, may I be struck down by heavenly lightning, and may my body and soul be annihilated.”

The moment Tantai Qing’s Celestial Dao Oath was spoken, a wave of shock went through the crowd, and their admiration for her reached its peak.