Holding the space chat group, the cannon fodder female supporting role ascended

Chapter 979 The thief shouts to catch the thief
Yunxi endured a terrible ordeal in the center of the secret realm. Because she gave the token to Wanqirui to enter the secret realm, she was stranded in the secret realm when it closed, while the immortals who were still alive in the secret realm were all teleported out.

However, the casualty rate was very high this time. Of the five thousand trainees who went in, less than half survived until the secret realm closed.

Only Wanqi Rui and Wanqi Yin from the Wanqi family survived and left the secret realm. Because they had entered the Inheritance Stele, their memories were distorted, and they forgot what happened after entering the Inheritance Stele. They only remembered that Ranxi gave them the secret realm token in the end, allowing them to leave the secret realm smoothly, while she herself stayed in the secret realm.

Wan Qiwei looked at Wan Qili's life tablet, which was still covered with cracks, but it had not completely broken. This proved that even though he was trapped in the secret realm, he had not perished, which made Elder You's expression ease slightly.

On the very day he returned to Wanhao Immortal City, Wan Qiyou was invited to the City Lord's Mansion. Elder You habitually brought Wan Qiwei along, believing that the City Lord must have also summoned elders from other families, presumably to investigate the excessively high casualty rate in the Fire Forging Secret Realm.

After seeing the jade bottle and the image-recording jade brought back by his bloodline descendant Kuang Jiheng, Kuang Mei realized the seriousness of the problem and immediately met with the deputy city lord Xue Ling alone.

The two talked in private for an hour, and then, under the pretext of investigating the anomalies in the secret realm, they met with several families that had suffered heavy casualties. The Jin family was summoned on the first day.

Elder Jin Hao, with a cold face, presented the five completely broken life tablets to City Lord Kuangmei for inspection, and implied that the Jin family was being deliberately targeted, that all of his disciples who entered the secret realm had been wiped out, and that he hoped the city lord could uphold justice for the Jin family.

Kuang Mei frowned as she examined each of the fate tablets, seemingly also dissatisfied with the Jin family being targeted in this way.

Xue Ling, who was standing nearby, immediately tried to smooth things over:

"Elder Jin, don't worry. Something happened in the Fire Forging Realm this time. It's not just your family's descendants who haven't returned; several families are in the same situation."

Moreover, it wasn't just the disciples of Wanhao Immortal City who died; disciples from nearby immortal cities who entered the secret realm for training also suffered more than half their losses. The city lord takes this very seriously, which is why he's preparing to investigate. He invited you here to see if you have any clues.”

After hearing Xue Ling's explanation, Jin Hao's expression softened somewhat. He pondered for a moment before saying:
“Not a single disciple of the Jin family survived, but the Wanqi family only lost one disciple and one guard. I suspect that the Wanqi family took this opportunity to attack the Jin family.”

Upon hearing this, Xue Ling's eyes flashed, and he feigned surprise, saying:

"The Wanqi family doesn't need to do this, does they?"

Jin Hao said with a deep look in his eyes:
"Hmph! You'll have to ask the Wanqi family about that. The Jin family has already paid the price for Jin Lai's mistake. Jin Lai lost his life, and his entire lineage is wiped out. We've been so tolerant all these years. What more do they want from the Jin family? Do they want to exterminate our entire clan before they're satisfied?"

Xue Ling immediately waved his hand and said:
"Elder Jin, please don't be so extreme. This matter is still under investigation. Besides, it's not good to make statements without evidence. The City Lord of Mad City is still here. I believe he will investigate thoroughly and give the Jin family and the disciples who died in the secret realm an explanation."

Having finished examining the fate tablet, Kuang Mei spoke up at the opportune moment:

"Jin Hao, the conflict between the Jin family and the Wanqi family ended fifty years ago. The Wanqi family also promised not to pursue the matter further. At that time, Elder You assured me that the matter would end there."

"Furthermore, I have tried my best to minimize the opportunities for your two families to meet over the years. The Wanqi family has also restrained its disciples and has not caused any trouble. Your accusation that they attacked the Jin family disciples in the secret realm requires evidence."

Jin Hao shrugged and said:
"Lord of the city, if I had evidence, I would have stormed the city gates long ago. How could I still be sitting here!"
Now, when Deputy City Lord Xue asked me what clues I had, I only expressed my suspicions, which were reasonable. Just because our Jin family can't find out doesn't mean the City Lord can't find out.

Furthermore, I suspect that Ran Xi, the ascended cultivator who died in the secret realm, was a tool in the hands of the Wanqi family. If the Wanqi family wanted to repay a debt of gratitude and had Ran Xi kill the Jin family disciples, she certainly wouldn't have refused. Now that she herself has died in the secret realm, there's no way to prove it, completely exonerating the Wanqi family.

Upon hearing this, Kuang Mei looked thoughtful, and Xue Ling glanced at City Lord Kuang Mei with some uncertainty before carefully saying:
"Since Elder Jin is so certain of his speculation, the City Lord's Mansion will investigate carefully. You should go back first, and we will inform you as soon as we find anything."

"Very well, I await good news from the City Lord's Mansion." With that, he left the City Lord's Mansion with a sullen face.

After Jin Hao left, Kuang Mei said with a disdainful look:

"Hmph! What a fine example of the thief crying 'stop thief!'"

Xue Ling's face also darkened:
“Lord of the city, if the Jin family is colluding with the evil immortals, they must have something on their mind about Wanhao City. They were severely suppressed by the families in the city before, so they dared not make any rash moves. Now they want to use the Fire Forging Secret Realm to sow discord among the families in the city. The Jin family will definitely make a big move afterward, and we must be on guard.”

Kuang Mei coldly said:
"Instead of waiting for the Jin family to make a move, we should strike first."

"What the city lord means is..."

"On the surface, we'll pretend to investigate the Wanqi family, but in secret, we'll unite all the cultivators to besiege the Jin family. I don't believe the Jin family won't ask the evil immortal for help. Only when they make a move can we take the opportunity to expose the mastermind behind it all."

Xue Ling thought for a moment and said:

“Lord of the city, if the news gets out, I’m afraid the Jin family won’t just surrender.”

Kuang Mei shook her head and said:
“Ji Heng told me that the trial disciples who saw Ran Xi were all disciples of Wanhao Immortal City. They swore not to leak the news and waited for the City Lord’s Mansion to make a decision. After all, they could not see the complete evidence and could not be sure that what Ran Xi said was true. So we still have time, but we cannot drag it out for too long.”

"Yes, I will immediately notify the elders of all the families in the city to come to the city lord's mansion."

"Xue Ling, please also inform the sect elders stationed in the city and ask them to come to the City Lord's Mansion."

"Okay, I'll go myself."

Xue Ling accepted the task and went to work. That same day, Kuang Mei met Wan Qiyou and Wan Qiwei.

"Elder You, I have invited you here today because of important matters. Both the City Lord's Mansion and the Wanqi Family should thank Ranxi. If it weren't for her protecting the Wanqi Family disciples, the four of them would probably not have returned."

Wan Qiyou's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, realizing something was amiss, and he immediately pressed for an answer:
"Lord of the City, have you discovered anything?"

"See for yourself."

After saying that, he gave the copied image jade to Wan Qiyou.

After Wan Qiyou activated the image-recording jade, he and Wan Qiwei saw some of the facts that had happened to Ranxi, and it took them a while to calm down.

Wan Qiyou was extremely relieved, while Wan Qiwei felt regretful. The Wanqi family clearly had the opportunity to build a stronger relationship with Ranxi, but now, because she risked her life to protect the Wanqi family's disciple, this karmic debt was completely settled. Even if they met again in the future, the Wanqi family would still owe her a favor.

(End of this chapter)