When Gu Canmo laid out every piece of evidence, everyone present was almost convinced that Gu Xijiu was the murderer. Even if she was not the murderer, then the mussel must be the one.
After listing out the evidence thoroughly, he concluded, "My Lord, I did not intend to put her in a difficult situation, I only did it upon valid evidence. The students here in the Tianju Hall are all elites which are hard to come by. Now that they’ve been murdered, as the head of the Tianju Hall, I must investigate and solve the case so I can pay tribute to the dead as well as to their families. That’s why I decided to imprison Gu Xijiu."
He was well prepared. He even called upon the post-mortem examiner to explain the forensic report and the tissues that were found on the shell of the mussel, just to prove that the mussel indeed killed the two disciples.
This world was different than the ancient times. Some technologies were quite advanced. They were able to test the hair and skin tissues of the deceased and trace it back to the killer. To make things worse, there was even the blood of the two disciples on the shell of the mussel.
Gu Canmo also presented the rest of the belongings he confiscated from Gu Xijiu, including the audio recording. Not to mention the disguising tools and weapons, the drugs, and the poisons that she carried with her along her journey.
Since Gu Xijiu was already seen as guilty, anything that she had with her was detained for investigation, even if it was irrelevant to the case.
The only thing that she still had with her was her bracelet. She could not take the bracelet off no matter how hard she tried. It would be detained as well if she managed to take it off.
The Lord listened quietly to all Gu Canmo's revelations. When Gu Canmo was finally finished, he looked at Gu Xijiu and said, "This evidence is indeed disadvantageous to you, what do you have to say for yourself?"
Thereupon, Gu Xijiu described everything that had happened that night. She felt uneasy when she was finished, as the evidence were unfavorable to her current situation. Furthermore, The Lord was fair and just. Would he believe her? After all, she had only seen him once in her dream.
To her, The Lord was like a legendary God. But he was also an unpredictable God. She recalled everything that she had done in the past. She could not have possibly left a good impression on The Lord. He would probably think that she is a liar.
Although the palpable, blatant lie was completely made up by Di Fuyi, she did not seem to refute it at that time. Perhaps The Lord felt that it was too late to change as the entire continent had heard about it, he might as well give tacit consent to the status quo. However, she could not be too weak as a follower, which was why he gave her a book in her dream.
The only interaction she had ever had with The Lord was in her dream. This was only her second time, but this time she was a convict.
She was grateful to The Lord for carrying her out of the cell. However, she could only think of one reason behind it – it was because of her reputation as a follower of The Lord. If she continued to be bullied by others, it would be such a disgrace to him, so he had to get himself involved.
About him carrying her in his arms – She was unconscious at that time, so she could not possibly walk by herself. Moreover, there were only men in the cell at the time. It was not appropriate for her, as a female follower of The Lord, to be carried away by another man.
Finally, considering the age of The Lord, it would be like a grandfather holding his little granddaughter in his embrace. It should not be a big deal. She thus positioned herself precisely – the follower of The Lord, a reputation recognized by The Lord with no doubts.
After explaining the incident that happened that night, she raised her head to look at The Lord and held her breath, awaiting his judgment.
The Lord was wearing a mask, so others could not see his expressions. Before he could say a word, an elder of the penalty hall, who was still kneeling, had already started to reprimand Gu Xijiu, "Gu Xijiu, how dare you look at The Lord directly with your head held high without The Lord’s permission! You’re a follower of The Lord, and you don’t know about this rule?"
Gu Xijiu’s heart skipped a beat. She clearly knew about this rule. She had only forgotten it after being in a state of shock. She put her head down slightly and said, "I…"
"I? You’re going to address yourself as ‘I’ in front of The Lord?" Asked the elder, not letting the matter go.
Gu Xijiu started to sweat all over her head. She did not expect that she would be making so many mistakes. Even though this mistake seemed to be considered insignificant, if The Lord decided to blame her for the mistakes she had made, it would be a death penalty for her.
She must have been dazed because of her hunger. She had always been smart, but now, she kept making these illogical mistakes. Before she could muster up the courage to explain herself further, The Lord had already said something and asked a question that was seemingly irrelevant, "Why is your voice still hoarse?"
Gu Xijiu did not know what to say. She screamed in the cell for three consecutive days. How could her voice not be hoarse? Fortunately, she had consumed a proper remedy beforehand. Otherwise, her throat would still be swollen and it would be difficult for her even to speak.
The Lord stretched out his hand and reached for her with a bright-red pill in his hand, "Eat it."
The pill shimmered faintly with seven colored-rays. Everyone was shocked at the sight of the pill. It was a level-nine pill! A legendary level-nine pill! There was neither a price nor market for it. One single pill was enough to cause a war between two countries. However, The Lord was simply giving the pill away to a little girl.
Gu Xijiu accepted the pill under the watchful eyes of the people around them and consumed it. There was a sense of relief spreading across her throat, like a dying flower being nourished with the essence of the sweet dew. The burning sensation in her throat had finally faded away.
"How do you feel?" asked The Lord, while looking at her.
"I’m feeling better now." Gu Xijiu’s voice was much clearer now and pleasant to hear.
The Lord nodded a little, "Don’t speak if you’re still feeling uncomfortable."
"Alright… Yes," said Gu Xijiu.
He then returned his attention to the elder, "I don't need you to teach my own follower!" The elder was out of words. It was him who was trembling in cold sweats this time.
Icily, the punisher next to The Lord said, "My Lord will teach his follower personally, what makes you think he needs an outsider to interrupt? How dare you reprimand The Lord’s follower in front of him, do you wish to die?"
As sweats filled all over the elder’s face, he kneeled and gave The Lord a kowtow, "I know I’ve made a mistake, please punish me."
However, The Lord did not even bother to look at him. His voice was still icily cold, "We’ll talk about the punishment later. We shall proceed with the proper business now." Calmly, he instructed messenger Jiangshan, "Go and examine the body." He then instructed the Punisher, "You’ll go and check the scene." Both of them accepted their commands and went off.
The Lord took out a chessboard out of nowhere and started playing with it to distract himself from boredom.
Gu Xijiu was quiet. The rest of the people did not know what to say. The way in which The Lord handled the case was straightforward and fierce, and the room was quiet all of a sudden. They could sometimes hear the clear sound of the chess pieces being placed on the chessboard by The Lord.
Gu Xijiu did not feel anything, as she was sitting comfortably in the big chair. However, it was torture for other people, as they were still kneeling.
The construction of the floor in this room was an exceptional style. Because the room was used to judge guilty disciples, the floor was thus covered with a type of stone with rough surfaces to display the severity and power of the official to these disciples. Even walking on it would cause a lot of pain let alone kneeling.
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