That Fair-Faced 'Sage' {Completed}

11. The Hearing

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"Let us begin without delay." Clan Leader Shuǐ took over.

"We all will ask questions and then judge based on his answers and what we ourselves already know."

LanFen smirked at his statement... More than half the people here already believed she was guilty. Was 'asking questions' going to change that?

"Young man." The Clan Leader of the Northern Dragon Clan, Kong JuLong began. "Can you explain how you can be this Xuè Shèngrén we've heard about? You were defeated and captured by Young Master Shuǐ.

"He is the genius of the West, but even he cannot destroy two major clans in three weeks. Let alone, three days! You're just a young boy, bearing the title of 'Sage'... Looking at your figure, you might even be blown away by the wind! Are we to believe you're indeed Xuè Shèngrén?"

"Pfft!!" LanFen bit her lower lip to suppress her laughter, but it had already slipped out.

There were collective gasps from the Clan leaders.

"How insolent!"

LanFen gave a small cough. "Clan Leader Kong. In this Wulin that is full of surprises... Where the sun might even decide to rise from the west one day, how can you judge a person by appearance? Or by some fight you merely heard about?"

Kong JuLong cocked his head, seeming a bit surprised that she knew who he was, but she merely nodded toward a solid gold pendant, which swung on his belt.

It bore the symbol of the Northern Dragon Clan, three mountains reaching the heavens, with the middle peak being the highest...

LanFen continued. "If I had to fight the cultivators of two major sects," she continued reasonably. "Wouldn't I be too weak to handle even a senior disciple?" She swiveled her head to face Shuǐ ChénLín, her eyes clearly challenging.

"And yet..." She continued. "You should ask Young Master 'Surprise Attack' over--. Ah! My apologies! You should ask Young Master Shuǐ over there, exactly how he ended up defeating me."

Though Shuǐ ChénLín's hands fisted over his knees, he didn't say anything and just looked straight ahead. For the first time in his life, he felt mildly embarrassed over his level of skill...

He could argue that he hadn't displayed his full strength, but that didn't make him feel any better, as he had a firm suspicion that Zhao LanFeng hadn't shown his fill strength either

And Zhao LanFeng was younger too... Shuǐ ChénLín had never felt this way before...

He genuinely wanted to beat Zhao LanFeng in a fair fight!

"You little Rat! Are you saying Young Master Shuǐ can't easily defeat someone like you?!" Zhou ZhuFeng, Clan Leader of Red Sun, one of the Eastern Region's prominent Clans, was asking. He had slammed a palm on his table.

He was well known to have been close friends with both Clan Leaders Zhao and Wang, so he didn't try too hard to mask his hatred.

LanFen had planned to try behaving herself, act a little repentant and see where it would get her.

But Zhou ZhuFeng just had to open his mouth.

She drew in a pained breath, then centered on him with an evil smile.

"I was brought up to respect my elders and seniors, so I do apologise for my next words..." She bowed overdramatically, causing more of them to glare at her.

"Clan leader Zhou, isn't the real reason for your anger, the fact that I've ruined your shady side businesses with Clan Leader Zhao and Clan Leader Wang? How can you be an impartial judge if you're like this?