Chapter 4777: Acquittal

Chu Feng could tower over the others in the Vicious Beast Hellworld because he grasped the power of the Hellking. However, he also knew that he would lose control over the Hellking’s power once he left the Vicious Beast Hellworld, causing the tables to be turned on him.

He was well aware that Zuoqiu Yanliang wasn’t the type of person to give up easily.

Thus, he left a tinge of the Hellking’s power in Zuoqiu Yanliang, Song Qian, and the other disciples’ bodies as an additional layer of assurance. 

Chu Feng had no intention of exploiting it against them, but if any of them dared to fabricate falsehoods to frame him, he would execute them with this power without any hesitation.

What he didn’t know, however, was that shortly after he entered the Hidden Dragon Illusory Palace, Zuoqiu Yanliang fed the other disciples poison. He forced them to align their testimonies with his in order to frame Chu Feng.

The disciples were put in a dilemma, but they eventually decided to heed Zuoqiu Yanliang’s commands. After all, Zuoqiu Yanliang’s poison was definitely fatal whereas they couldn’t sense the Hellking’s power that Chu Feng fused into their bodies at all, so they were gambling on the fact that Chu Feng was just intimidating them.

Besides, it made sense to them that Chu Feng was no longer able to tap into the powers of the Hellking once he was out of the Vicious Beast Hellworld.

It was a gamble, but unfortunately, they had chosen the wrong side.

Chu Feng was indeed still controlling the power of the Hellking, though they weren’t able to feel it. The mangled corpses of the ten personal disciples on the floor were the proof of it.

If they didn’t come clean now, they would be the next ones to die.

“Junior Chu Feng, we have done you injustice!”

All of the disciples who were still pressuring Chu Feng to confess kneeled onto the floor, including the Duanmu Brothers too. The only one who remained standing was Zuoqiu Yanliang.

“Injustice? How have you done me injustice? I think we should make things very clear here, or else the consequences could be dire for all of us,” Chu Feng sneered coldly.

“I-it’s Senior Zuoqiu! He fed us poison! He forced us to frame you, saying that we would only get the antidote if we did your bidding. The poison is still in our bodies right now! Lord Hidden Dragon Elder should be able to find it!

“Lord Hidden Dragon Elder, we are speaking the truth this time around! It wasn’t our intention to frame Chu Feng. We were coerced by Senior Zuoqiu! Lord Hidden Dragon Elder, please redress our grievances!” Song Qian cried out.

The other disciples followed suit too, revealing the truth of the entire incident.

With everything that had happened, they had no choice but to expose Zuoqiu Yanliang’s evil deeds. They might suffer in the future for offending Zuoqiu Yanliang, but it was much better than dying here.

Huyan Xiaotian turned to Zuoqiu Yanliang and asked deeply, “Zuoqiu Yanliang, is what they said true?” 

“Yes, I was indeed the one who did it. It was out of hatred for Junior Chu Feng that I did this.”

A shocking sight occurred. Zuoqiu Yanliang actually confessed to his crimes.

He turned to Chu Feng with a remorseful look on his face and said, “Junior Chu Feng, I apologize for what I’ve done. Please forgive me.”

Zuoqiu Yanliang was actually lowering his head!

“You want me to let you off with just an apology? Zuoqiu Yanliang, you should better than anyone else that your life is mine now. If I want you to die, not even your grandfather will be able to save you,” Chu Feng said.

“Junior Chu Feng, what do I have to do in order to earn your forgiveness?” Zuoqiu Yanliang asked humbly.

“Kneel down and kowtow to me,” Chu Feng said.

“What? He wants Zuoqiu Yanliang to kneel down and kowtow to him?”

The crowd found what they were hearing inconceivable. Some even wondered if Chu Feng had gone mad.

Even if Chu Feng was justified to make such a demand, it was still Zuoqiu Yanliang they were talking about here! Putting aside his grandfather, he was one of the strongest juniors in the sect at the moment!

He had always been a lofty figure towering above everyone else. How could such a person possibly fall to his knees?

Putong!

To everyone’s astonishment, Zuoqiu Yanliang really kneeled down and kowtowed, earnestly pleading for Chu Feng’s forgiveness.

“Junior Chu Feng, I was wrong. Please forgive me. I was despicable and shameless. I allowed my hatred to blind my eyes. Please give me a chance, I’ll never dare to do it ever again.”

Zuoqiu Yanliang’s attitude caught everyone off-guard. Even the Huyan Xiaotian was stunned, not knowing what to make of this situation.

“Reveal what happened that day. You only need to speak of the truth and nothing else,” Chu Feng said.

Zuoqiu Yanliang began to reveal the happenings that day honestly, and it was the same as what Li Muzhi and the others told them.

With this, the truth was finally out.

Everyone learned that Chu Feng had achieved yet another significant deed in the Vicious Beast Hellworld, and that he was the one who saved all of the disciples there from the Cleansing.

It was truly ironic that Chu Feng was framed by the very same people whom he had saved. 

Regardless of how the sectmaster viewed Chu Feng, at the very least, the elders and the disciples present couldn’t help but feel deep respect for Chu Feng at this very moment. Of course, they also scorned the vile deeds of Zuoqiu Yanliang and the others.

“Lord Hidden Dragon Elder, am I still guilty now?” Chu Feng asked.

“Chu Feng, even if you were framed here, you shouldn’t have killed your fellow peers,” Huyan Xiaotian shook his head and said.

It went without saying that he was referring to the personal disciples who had just died.

“Lord Hidden Dragon Elder, is there any evidence that I was the one who killed them?” Chu Feng asked.

“Chu Feng, are you denying it now? Isn’t what you’ve mentioned earlier enough to prove your guilt?” Huyan Xiaotian questioned sternly.

“Pardon my disrespect, Lord Hidden Dragon Elder, but I believe that it’s wiser not to rely on circumstantial evidence. Take the earlier situation for example, if I had not scared the other disciples into revealing the truth, it could have very well spelled my death. To put it even more harshly, if anything had really happened to me, Lord Hidden Dragon Elder… you would have been an accomplice too.

“Can we really take a person’s words as evidence and indict them of a crime so easily? Lord Hidden Dragon Elder, the notion that I could use the Hellking’s power to kill anyone I like even outside of the Vicious Beast Hellworld is ludicrous. It’s beyond my imagination that anyone could possibly wield such great power,” Chu Feng said.

“You have a glib tongue. Nevertheless, what you said does make sense, and I don’t have any concrete evidence to prove that you were the one who killed those disciples. They were indeed reprehensible for attempting to frame you, but their crime doesn’t warrant death.

“Fine, I’ll turn a blind eye to the deaths that occurred here. As for the others, I’ll punish them accordingly and return you justice. However, you must promise me to let this matter go. I don’t know whether you still wield the power of the Hellking or not, but I don’t want to see anyone else losing their lives because of this. Is that understood?” Huyan Xiaotian said.

To be honest, he couldn’t tell whether Chu Feng was truly the culprit of those deaths or not even though all evidence was pointing toward him. In any case, he decided to placate Chu Feng for the time being lest that Zuoqiu Yanliang, Song Qian, and the others became victims to him too. 

It would be a huge loss to the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect if they were to lose four of their Hidden Dragon Disciples here.

“Lord Hidden Dragon Elder, please be assured that I have no interest in harming the innocent. Since they have already revealed the truth and acquitted me of the accusations, I shan’t pursue this matter anymore. Otherwise, Zuoqiu Yanliang wouldn’t be standing before me anymore,” Chu Feng said as he directed a sharp glance at Zuoqiu Yanliang.

It was then that the crowd realized that Zuoqiu Yanliang was still kneeling on the ground, not daring to raise his head at all.

“Disgraceful. All of you, follow me.”

Huyan Xiaotian led Zuoqiu Yanliang, Song Qian, and the others who framed Chu Feng out of the area. Once they were gone, the chief elder of the North Tortoise Hall and the others quickly rushed forward to Chu Feng’s side.

“Chu Feng, how are you feeling?”

While they were overjoyed to see that Chu Feng had managed to overcome this crisis, they were very worried about Chu Feng’s injuries.

At the same time, there were also some who tried to leave the area, such as Nangong Yuliu. As soon as he realized that the situation had turned awry, he immediately tried to flee from the area.

Unfortunately, Chu Feng had his eyes set on him.

“Nangong Yuliu, where do you think you are going? We have yet to finish our bet,” Chu Feng spoke aloud.