Chapter 317: High Council’s Meeting (I)
Chapter 317: High Council’s Meeting (I)
Xiang Ling followed the others and stood up to greet the Heavenly Emperor and Empress as the duo walked up to their seats, placed at the head of meeting set-up and higher than all other seats.
Once the Emperor signaled them to return to their seats, she settled down at her table and allowed herself to sneak a glance at her men... or at least the men who used to be hers. She found Zhe Yuan looking at her, but the other four had their attention fixed on anywhere but her. She tried to not let that hurt, but it was easier said than done.
The soft murmurs of chatting stopped once Elder Dao stood up from his seat, and addressed the council. "As we all know, this council meeting is being conducted for a special reason. For thousands of years, we believed that our world is in peace now and we no longer need to fear the evil. It wasn’t until recently that we realized just how foolish and ignorant we have been. The evil was becoming powerful right under our nose, but we never noticed. Now, it’s so late that our world is already facing the danger of war."
Xiang Ling noticed how Elder Dao’s gaze stopped on Xin Cheng and Dao Ming, and while he was going to address their so-called crime next, his gaze didn’t carry any judgment in them. Among all three high elders, he was the one who carried the most unbiased attitude toward the Five Realms, including the Demon Realm.
"There have been petitions against the Demon Emperor. The Shadow Lord escaped the Abyssal Lands and the Demon Emperor tried to keep this news a secret from the other Realms, a decision that has cost our world a lot in the past few days. Since the Spirit Beast King also supported him in this matter, he is also charged with the same crime. I want to ask if you both accept your crimes or not."
Xin Cheng and Dao Ming stood up from their seats and walked to the center of the hall where they greeted everyone. Yet, neither of the two kneeled to greet the Heavenly Emperor and Empress because they too carried equal status.
"They are true." Xin Cheng’s voice filled the silent hall as he accepted his crime without missing any beat. "It was indeed my failure as a ruler and one of the Council’s members to not realize the consequences of my decision of keeping this news a secret. I wanted to quickly catch the Shadow Lord and seal him back in the Abyssal Lands so that no one could blame the Demon Realm for failing in keeping him sealed. I didn’t realize that my oversight would cost us so much damage."
"Demon Emperor, you do know that your Realm isn’t the only one responsible for keeping the Shadow Lord sealed in the Abyssal Lands. Don’t you?" Heaven Emperor demanded as he stared at Xin Cheng with a disappointed look in his eyes.
"Forgive me for my rudeness, but we all know that your people here don’t like me or my people. Don’t you know what would have happened if I would have revealed the news of Shadow Lord’s escape. Everyone here would have used that chance to blame me and my people." Xin Cheng didn’t hold back from speaking his mind.
"What could have happened and what couldn’t have is no longer important. The truth is that your insecurity and incompetence has cost us many innocent lives. Whether you want or not, you and Spirit Beast King needs to be punished for your crime." Another Elder spoke, and unlike Elder Dao and Heavenly Empeor, he wasn’t someone who was fond of demons.
"We will accept our punishments. But right now, we should focus on capturing the Shadow Lord and stopping his Dark Force before they can cause more chaos." Xin Cheng spoke as he stared back at the Elder.
"Hmph!" The Elder scoffed at Xin Cheng’s words before he finally played his card. "We don’t need you two to help us. You have already caused us a lot of damage. If we still trust you and allowed you to be a part of this, who knows if we will ever get to catch the Shadow Lord. After all, there is no guarantee that you aren’t the ones helping him."
Murmurs erupted in the hall as almost everyone got swayed by the Elder’s allegation. The anger was clearly visible in Xin Cheng’s eyes. He was witnessing exactly what he knew for sure would happen in the council meeting.
"I can be that guarantee."
The hall got filled with silence as a powerful female voice suddenly spoke the words that no other person could have dared to say. Everyone watched in shock as High Immortal Xing stood up from her seat and walked to the center of the hall where Xin Cheng and Dao Ming were standing. However, unlike the two of them, she kneeled down on the floor before she spoke, "I can vouch for their loyalty toward the peace treaty and the safety of the Five Realms. I can vouch that they have been trying their best to capture the Shadow Lord ever since his escape, and I can also vouch that both of them have nothing to do with the Shadow Lord’s escape and his plan of war."
"Xiang Ling?" Xin Cheng’s sharp and shocked voice spoke from behind her as he tried to make her look at him, but she kept her gaze fixed on the Heavenly Emperor and the Elders.
"High Immortal Xing, what do you think you are doing? Do you even know what they were doing during all this time?" The third elder, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke. Her sharp gaze was fixed on Xiang Ling with a clear disapproval in them.
"I know exactly what I’m doing and saying. The elders might not know, but I have known about the Shadow Lord’s escape from the Abyssal Lands for a while now, way before you all."