Chapter 60: Yu Banxia’s Betrayal
“Today’s meal disciples are quite diligent. They came at this time.”
Jiang Li thought about it and felt that since he did not call for service, it should be Yan Hong’s subordinate coming to deliver food.
Although he no longer needed to eat, he still kept this habit to prevent others from seeing through him.
The door creaked open.
It was Lu Qianqian.
‘Oh goodness, she likes me! Should I reject her? What should I tell Yu Banxia after this?’
Several thoughts flashed through Jiang Li’s mind. But in the next second, Lu Qianqian directly knelt down.
“Brother Jiang Li, please save Banxia!”
Lu Qianqian’s action surprised Jiang Li. He hurriedly helped her up and brought her into the house.
“Sister Qianqian, you can’t do that. If you have anything to say, tell me inside.”
Jiang Li helped Lu Qianqian to the tea table in the house and sat down. Only then did he notice that her eyes were red and swollen. She must have been crying for a while.
“Don’t worry! What happened? Tell me slowly, what happened to Yu Banxia?”
“Ba… Banxia and I…”
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Before Lu Qianqian could catch her breath, the sound of someone slamming the door could be heard again.
This time, the person was even more impolite. The wooden door frame was smashed until it shook.
Jiang Li immediately frowned.
“Who is it?” He asked loudly.
The sound of the door being smashed paused. Immediately, there was the sound of swords being unsheathed. Clearly, the people outside were not good people. There were at least seven or eight of them.
However, they did not directly kill their way in. Instead, someone replied loudly.
“Outer Sect Law Enforcement Hall! We are under orders to search the area! Outer Sect disciple Jiang Li, open the door immediately!”
The Outer Sect Law Enforcement Hall… Jiang Li’s heart sank. He looked at Lu Qianqian, who was sitting beside him with a terrified and uneasy expression. It seemed that her problem was related to the disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall outside.
However, what could Yu Banxia have done?
The chain around his waist automatically landed in his hand. Jiang Li raised his hand and waved it. Spiritual qi blew at the door bolt, and the door opened.
A group of ten disciples from the Law Enforcement Hall who were dressed in pitch-black disciple robes entered in a single file. They surrounded Jiang Li very rudely.
“The Law Enforcement Hall is under orders to search. I hope you can cooperate!”
The leader of the group had a fierce and sharp aura. He did not hide his Foundation Establishment cultivation at all.
“Lu Qianqian! Why are you here! You’re not allowed to leave the room until we find out the truth!”
That person pointed the knife at the tip of Lu Qianqian’s nose. It was just a step away from touching her skin, causing her to shiver in fear.
“Senior Brother, there’s no need to be like this.”
“What crime have we committed that requires the Law Enforcement Hall to go through such trouble?”
Jiang Li stood at the side and directly stretched out his hand to grab the blade. He then pushed the tip of the blade to the side by 20cm before he spoke to this Senior Brother of the Law Enforcement Hall.
The captain of the Law Enforcement Hall’s team revealed a surprised expression.
Although he did not use spiritual qi, he was still a Foundation Establishment cultivator after all. He already had his Dao Foundation, but this mere mid-stage Qi Refinement realm cultivator pushed his blade away. This guy was really strong physically.
“You don’t know?” He asked this, but his eyes were always staring at Jiang Li, trying to find any trace of panic or other suspicious expressions on Jiang Li’s face.
“I don’t know. I have to go to the Alchemy Hall every day to help Master Red Hair refine pills. I rarely pay attention to the news of the outer sect.”
“Junior Sister Qianqian is my friend. She came to find me today, but before she could say anything, you entered.”
Jiang Li subtly moved the bottom of his robe, revealing the registered disciple identity token of the Alchemy Hall.
He did not know what had happened, but he was unhappy with the actions of the Law Enforcement Hall.
However, the Law Enforcement Hall represented the sect, and their strength was far above his. Jiang Li knew that he could not do anything about it, so he could only use this method to seize a certain opportunity to speak.
Sure enough, after the captain saw the token, his cold expression slightly improved.
The long blade that was currently secretly contesting with Jiang Li was withdrawn with a swoosh, and only then did he speak.
“Outer sect disciple Yu Banxia betrayed the sect! He’s guilty of a heinous crime!”
“All relevant personnel must be investigated by the Law Enforcement Hall! If they resist, we are ordered to kill them without mercy, understand?”
It was clear that the identity of a registered disciple was still not enough to make the other party pay attention to him. After retracting his long blade, he said coldly.
“Yu Banxia defected? How is that possible!” Jiang Li was shocked that Yu Banxia had actually betrayed the sect. That was something he would never have expected.
The other party had no motive, and most importantly, he did not have the strength to do such a thing. Could it be that the sect could not control a small Qi Refinement realm cultivator?
Therefore, his first reaction was disbelief.
Jiang Li turned to look at Lu Qianqian again. However, her eyes were dark, and she cried even harder.
What…?! The world was changing too quickly.
“Do I have to lie to you? We need to search your house. You can choose to resist.”
The people from the Law Enforcement Hall were not interested in explaining to him. After all, it was their own decision whether to explain or not.
“Go ahead!”
It was just a house, and it was originally an asset of the sect, so Jiang Li temporarily held back his anger.
He was indeed closer to Yu Banxia and the rest. Now that one of them had defected, the others might be implicated.
From what they said, Lu Qianqian was the first person to be investigated.
Fortunately, the rules of the Scripture Storage Valley were more comprehensive. There were rules to restrict ordinary disciples, and there were also special rules to restrict law enforcers.
Therefore, although these ten guys had fierce and unfriendly gazes, they only searched the room and did not search Jiang Li’s body directly. They did not bring Lu Qianqian back to the Law Enforcement Hall to interrogate her either.
Otherwise, if this female disciple was brought back to the Law Enforcement Hall by them, it would be a small matter if she was beaten up. The worst case scenario would probably be getting locked inside for a few years and having babies soon after.
Jiang Li and Lu Qianqian stood there and could only watch as the ten disciples jumped up and down in the room, throwing things around.
In just ten minutes, his cabin, which was originally of the best quality in the outer sect residential area, had already become ragged. There were holes everywhere, and there was not even a place to step on.
Why did they have to destroy things as they searched? That was because if a person hid something, they would know how to hide it in a secret place. In the cracks of the wall, under the bed, it was extremely difficult to find without using some destructive methods.
Jiang Li understood this kind of violent search that was similar to those in movies and TV dramas, but who wouldn’t be angry when faced with this situation?
“Senior Brothers, have you searched enough?”
Jiang Li picked up his teacup and took a sip. He could not contain his anger much longer, so his expression could not help but become extremely gloomy.
“What’s that around your waist! Take it out for me to check!”
One of the law-enforcement disciples showed him what was called “rules are made to be circumvented”.
They were not allowed to search the body. But if they were to use orders, threats, and scare tactics to make the other party hand it over, wouldn’t that be considered not breaking the rules?
If the disciple really took it out, that artifact would probably be treated as a suspicious item and brought back for investigation.
“Senior Brother, if you want to see it, you can come take it yourself.”
At this moment, Jiang Li felt fortunate once more. The sect he chose at that time was the Scripture Storage Valley, and not the Hundred Tempering Mountain.
If this happened in the Hundred Tempering Mountain, regardless of whether he was at fault or not, it would be almost impossible to turn the tables.
“Hmph! You better behave yourself! If you offend the Law Enforcement Hall, it won’t end well for you!”
That disciple did not succeed and was clearly very unhappy. He immediately left some harsh words.
“Mo Xing!” The captain called out, and the fellow called Mo Xing stopped speaking.
“Outer sect disciple Jiang Li, you registered for the Outer Sect Grand Competition, right?”
The captain walked over to Jiang Li’s side once more, and then he took out a list and pointed out Jiang Li’s name on it.
“Senior Brother, do you have anything to say? Could it be that I don’t even have the qualifications to participate in the Outer Sect Grand Competition?”
Jiang Li and Yu Banxia had returned to the sect to receive their rewards and had already registered at the Outer Sect Hall. The other party should be holding a disciple list.
He had never had a good impression of this kind of person who grasped power and became lawless. When he replied, he naturally did not have a good tone.
“No, no.”
“I just want to tell you that the outer sect competition has been brought forward, and the method is different from usual.”
“Take this. We’ll gather at the sect’s airship port tomorrow.”
“Let’s go!”
The other party placed a wooden tablet on the only table that was still intact.
Then, he led the group away.
Jiang Li recognized that thing. It was the entry and exit token of the sect.
In the past, they would only need to apply to the elders when they entered the inner sect. Now that they were suspected, they would have to bring this with them wherever they went.
“Qianqian, can you tell me what happened?”
Lu Qianqian, who was stunned, finally woke up from her dream. Her words were in a mess as she tried her best to tell Jiang Li everything she knew.
Lu Qianqian actually did not know much.
Actually, when she returned from the previous mission, she had already noticed that Yu Banxia had changed.
He paid less attention to her and was often in a daze. There were even a few times when he talked to thin air.
At first, Lu Qianqian did not think too much about it. She thought that he was under a lot of pressure due to the death of his teammates.
Then, last night, Yu Banxia suddenly ran over and said that he wanted to take her away. However, he could not explain exactly where he was going and what he was going to do.
Lu Qianqian, who had sensed the abnormality, naturally was unwilling to comply.
After that, a great figure suddenly appeared in the outer sect. It was the “Elder Duan” they had seen during the last mission!
Yu Banxia did not say anything else and left with Elder Duan.
Lu Qianqian was initially only puzzled and did not think too much about it. However, the next day, there was news that some sect elders had fled with their disciples!
When the Law Enforcement Hall came to look for her, Lu Qianqian finally realized the severity of the matter.
It was impossible for her not to worry about her boyfriend who was currently missing.
Coupled with the fact that she was frightened by the people from the Law Enforcement Hall, she immediately panicked!
However, in the Scripture Storage Valley, Lu Qianqian had no relatives. Among the people she knew, Jiang Li was the strongest. He was at the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm and was also a registered disciple of the Alchemy Hall.
In her understanding, Jiang Li was already considered a person with some sort of “authority” in the outer sect.
So, when she had no other choice and was at her wits’ end, she sought Jiang Li’s help, and that scene from before occurred.