Chapter 158: The Court Trial
The harsh words that tumbled out of Saint Viana's mouth saddened Aura quite deeply. It seemed like it had reminded her of something so painful, that it made her inconsolable to the point of not saying a word. The grieving look in her eyes looked quite heartbreaking!
“Phew!”
At that moment, a beam of silver light that came from the ground shot at Saint Viana.
In turn, he slightly waved his hand and simply flicked the flash of light away.
At the same time, Zen had jumped right onto Aura's flying chariot, which was more than one hundred feet from the ground and stood next to her.
“You old thing! How can you bully a little girl just because you are older? It's really a shame, a shame!” he said.
Now, Aura was Zen's master in martial arts even if she was only several years older than Zen. However, Zen had said that she was only a little girl, which made her feel somewhat strange. However, compared to Saint Viana who was more than 360 years old--she had to admit that she could be called a little girl indeed.
A smell emanated from Zen who stood in front of Aura, and she noticed it. She knew that he was just as nervous as her.
The masters of Cloud Sect and all the noble clans knew why Aura came to Cloud Sect and was willing to be a humble master at Drizzle Peak.
The reason why she came here wasn't a secret, but no one had ever spoken it out.
Nobody had dared to remind the reason in front of Aura.
When she reached Drizzle Peak, Aura hoped that she could forget everything about that and adapt herself to her new life as soon as possible.
However, Saint Viana had ruined that today when he spoke out the reason without consideration of Aura's feelings, which made her suffer a seemingly endless pain.
It was a relief that Zen could stand up to help her.
Saint Viana's eyebrows shot up angrily at Zen's words. He was positively fuming with anger.
"What did you say? What have you said just now?
Are you afraid to say it again?" he questioned Zen angrily. Since Saint Viana was one of the ten saints of Cloud Sect who were always adored by the people, and led comfortable lives just like immortals, no one dared to offend him.
However, this boy in front of him dared talk to him impertinently. It infuriated Saint Viana who was already inherently irritable. This was a fight around the corner waiting to happen!
Yet, Zen didn't seem to be bothered by this as he firmly stood by his convictions.
"What? Am I wrong?
You are hundreds of years old. Aren't you an old thing?
My master is only 20 years old. Compared to you, she is only a little girl, but should you bully such a little girl? It's true! Why am I afraid to say that again?" Zen said in a serious voice.
He then turned around to Aura and asked, “Master Su, am I right?”
When Zen turned to her, Aura's orbs locked with Zen's. His words had moved her deeply. Ever since Zen went to Cloud Sect, he had been causing troubles but now, he had bravely stood up to help her just in time…
He really was a good person.
Aura nodded at Zen and turned to look at Saint Viana. “Yes, why is he afraid to say it again? Saint Viana, it is nothing if he says it again. He can also say it for hundreds or thousands of times, or even make it up as a song or a poem to sing or recite everywhere, but what can you do about it?” she said coldly.
Her words were truth, but only added fuel to the fire that was Saint Viana's temper.
“You! Aura, don't think that you being in a noble position can prevent me from killing your disciple in front of you!” Saint Viana said in a bitingly cold tone.
Right now, he really had a strong intention to kill Zen.
Despite his threat, a smile graced Aura's lips and her eyes were full of determination. “Yes, you can. Of course you can. But can you kill me?” she said.
“No, of course I can't kill you because you belong to the royal family with a noble position--but you can never stop me from killing the boy standing by you!” Saint Viana harshly replied. At this, Aura only raised one fine brow.
“Sure, I can't stop you from killing him, but...” She deliberately paused in her words and turned over her slender hand. A token appeared, and etched on it were the words “the Emperor.” The token she held was the Emperor's Token which could command the man in the Burning Sky Palace.
All of their eyes were transfixed on the token in Aura's hand.
“Have you ever seen the token? If you kill him, I will use the Emperor's Token to order the man in the Burning Sky Palace to kill you. I believe you can't run away even if you hide yourself to the ends of the earth!” Aura shot back. She looked really serious and her determined voice made people know that she would resist until the very last moment.
The arrogance was suddenly drained from Saint Viana's face when he saw the token.
As a saint of Cloud Sect, killing a person in front of the princess was not a big deal!
But...
The princess had the Emperor's Token!
However, the Emperor's Token was too valuable for the little girl to just use it to save an insignificant outer disciple!
“Will you waste an Emperor's Token to save this guy?” he asked in a low voice.
His aggressiveness awhile ago seemed to be replaced by calmness for now.
“How will you know if you don't try?” Aura said coolly.
Her words shocked Saint Viana and his face wore an unreadable expression. "Okay! But you have so many things to deal with in Cloud Sect, you can't keep him alive all the time!
What's more, even if I forgive him now, Cloud Sect won't forgive him, since he has killed a disciple of Cloud Sect. He has broken the Sect's rules and everyone knows, so you can't help him even though you are the princess!" he said angrily.
“I won't give protection to Zen if he really did something wrong, but punish him according to the rules of Cloud Sect. However, you as a saint, just want to kill Zen without any forethought, so could you tell me why?” she asked back in return.
Even though Saint Viana had changed topics to Cloud Sect's rules, Aura was quite clever and she surely had something to say in defense.
Now, Saint Viana only grunted wordlessly in response. Then after a while, he said, “Anyway, this boy must give a reason why he killed the disciple today!”
From where he stood, Zen shot him a truly incredulous look.
"Reason? You old thing! Only after I finished the trial for slaying demons, I was taken here by some people without any reason before going back to Drizzle Peak. They said without any evidence that I was a spy of the demons and beat me heavily with Murry, but they found they couldn't kill me easily. So, they ganged up with Fren to let me die! Do you think I would just stand there and let them kill me casually?
Do you think I would die willingly?“ Zen asked, fury and seriousness clouding his voice. ”I want to know, if you were me, what would you do?" he added.
However, Saint Viana only said, “Those are your own words! They are not believable!”
After he said those words, he slowly flew from the air to the ground. He went to Murry, who had remained silent and looked deep in thought. “Murry, as a judge of Commandment Hall, it is your duty to explain clearly what has happened today!” Saint Viana said.
At this, Murry rolled his eyes and a wicked grin was plastered on his face. “My honored Saint Viana, please don't believe this guy who told a lie. The information received by Commandment Hall indicated that the guy conspired with the demons during his trial for slaying demons, and as a judge of Commandment Hall, it is my responsibility to keep the disciples of Cloud Sect safe. However, if this boy was really possessed by a demon general and entered into our Cloud Sect, what should we do? Thus, I have to take some actions to find out if he is really a spy,” he said.
Saint Viana nodded in agreement. “Murry, you are right, please go on!” he said.
"It was really unexpected that he didn't cooperate with us and he refused to be examined by Commandment Hall. What's worse, when he was in Commandment Hall, he has said something very offensive! Because of his arrogance and improper words, I asked to beat him to give him a lesson--but unfortunately, he turned around and ran away!
Just at that moment, I met Fren who was passing by, so I asked him for help. However, I have never thought Zen would be so cruel!
He killed Fren... You have witnessed all the following things, Saint Viana," Murry finished. A smirk was etched on his lips, because he knew that he was good at slandering other people's names. He was more than familiar with all the skills about framing other people. In addition to that, he had always harmed innocent people so it was a no-brainer for him to frame Zen.
After Murry finished talking, Saint Viana turned to Saint Caspar. “Caspar, now you know that this boy killed Fren and he broke the rules of Cloud Sect, so please tell us how to punish him!” he said.
Even from where he stood, Zen heard Murry's words and it made him mad with rage. “Murry, you are lying and you deliberately swap the right for wrong! Dare you swear what you have said is true?” he breathlessly asked.
“If I, Murry, has told a lie, I will be struck and killed by lightning,” Murry simply swore with a smile. For him, to give such a swear came rather easy.
“Are you satisfied?” he added.
At this point, Saint Viana went back to his arrogant self. “This boy should be killed!” he declared.
Their current situation put Saint Caspar in a dilemma. According to Murry's words, Zen had undeniably broken the rules and should be punished. As a saint of Cloud Sect, he understood the importance of following the rules in dealing with different matters from the establishment of Cloud Sect to its development, or the whole Cloud Sect would be out of order.
If Murry's words were true, he would have no reason to protect Zen.
What was more, Aura was too straightforward which upset Caspar very much.
However, Caspar didn't expect that Aura would retort back. “Okay, so I ask to have a court trial for Zen!” she said.
"Court trial?
Well, it's easy to say!
But who gave this boy the right to have a court trial of Cloud Sect?"
Saint Viana said haughtily.
The so-called “court trial” in Cloud Sect was mainly used to judge someone outstanding who seriously violated the rules, and had a controversial behavior. So far, the court trial had never been organized for an outer disciple.
Only the elites of Cloud Sect were qualified enough to be judged through a court trial.
The court trial requested by Aura made Caspar feel uncomfortable and awkward. “The last court trial was just organized two years ago, and if we organize the court trial just for such a little thing, is it ...”, he trailed off, supposed to ask a question.
“I insist on having a court trial”, Aura still asserted firmly. “Saint Viana, you have thought it is indisputable to kill Zen. Are you now afraid to have the trail?” she added.
“Afraid?” Saint Viana said mockingly and laughed.
“Why am I afraid to have the trail? I witnessed with my own eyes that Zen had killed Fren, so why I am afraid?” he continued.
“Okay, now I am going to apply for the court trial, and I will do everything well so you two will not be bothered by the application,” Aura said calmly. Her alluring but sharp eyes glittered with a hint of cunningness.
“Well, let the boy live two more days, but he must be kept in Commandment Mount and you can't take him away!” Saint Viana ordered. In return, Aura cast a comforting look at Zen.
“Sorry, you have to stay here for a couple of days, but don't worry, no one can frame you up once the court trial is organized!” she reassured him.
A smile lit up Zen's face as he looked at Aura. “Master Su, I am not worried at all. My life is not valuable, and anyone can come to kill me on the condition that he is powerful enough!” he told her.
As he said those words, Zen shot Saint Viana a knowing look.
After that, Aura maneuvered her flying chariot and landed it on the ground. Before the court trial, Zen had to be kept in Commandment Mount. A squadron of officers had arrived to take him away.
Just as Zen was about to be escorted to leave the scene, he suddenly thought of something. He turned to Aura and asked her in a low voice, “Master Su, could you tell me who was judged by the court trial two years ago?”
His question had Aura go quiet for a while before she answered, “Yan.”
At this, Zen managed to plaster a smile on his face. “Who held that court trial? And who prosecuted?” he asked again.
“Can I tell you later?” Aura said with a hint of discomfort in her voice.
She shook her head and truthfully, she didn't want to answer his questions.
“Please tell me,” Zen begged in a calm but steadfast voice, as he stared at Aura with burning eyes.