Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Council Hall the following day was even colder than the Core-extraction Platform.

Elders sat in rows on either side, with the Abyss-Suppressing Lamp placed right in the center. Feng Fulan presented the old ledger exactly as it was, thinking it would at least buy her some benefit of the doubt. To her surprise, Ying Linyuan only spared it a glance before saying indifferently, “Handwriting can be forged, and the Abyss-Suppressing Lamp could have been buried recently to be ‘found.’ It is not unusual for a criminal to try and overturn their case before death.”

“Then what about Gui Zhishuang’s Sword Tassel?” Feng Fulan asked.

“Zhishuang is dead. The fact that her belongings ended up in your hands only proves that you are inextricably linked to her death.”

Another wave of whispers broke out in the hall.

Feng Fulan wanted to say more, but Ning Changye suddenly let out a muffled groan, his fingers gripping the edge of the table.

In that instant, the Life Thread on her wrist flared with heat. The veins on Ning Changye’s forehead bulged, and a faint blackness flickered deep within his pupils, as if something was crawling up his cardiac vessels. Ying Linyuan’s fingers moved slightly within his sleeve, a gesture so subtle it was almost imperceptible, but it did not escape Feng Fulan’s eyes.

It was him.

Without time to think, Feng Fulan rushed over and grabbed Ning Changye’s wrist, using the Shared Fate Seal to forcibly draw part of his pain into herself. A metallic tang of blood rose in her throat, but she forced herself to swallow it down. Her other hand pressed against his heart, forcing out a wisp of churning black energy.

“Don’t touch him!” she barked. “This isn’t a cultivation deviation-someone is triggering the Heart-devouring Nail inside him!”

The hall erupted into chaos.

Ning Changye looked up through the agonizing pain, his eyes locking with hers. In the next second, a fragment of an unfamiliar memory flashed through Feng Fulan’s mind.

Heavy snow filled the sky. Gui Zhishuang lay in a pool of blood, clutching Ning Changye’s sleeve. Her lips moved, as if she were desperately trying to say something.

“Don’t trust…”

The last two words were drowned in blood.

Ning Changye had dreamt of this scene repeatedly over the years, which was why he was certain Gui Zhishuang’s final words were “Don’t trust Feng Fulan.”

But at this moment, Feng Fulan saw it clearly.

The word she had mouthed didn’t start with “Feng.” It started with “Ying.”

As the flare-up was gradually suppressed, Ning Changye’s face turned nearly translucent from pallor. Feng Fulan was in no better state; her hands were still shaking. Yet, she braced herself to stand tall, looking up at the people filling the hall. “If you want to convict me, fine. But first, dig the nail out of his body, and then ask yourselves who exactly provided the evidence you’ve gathered over these past few years.”

Ying Linyuan looked at her, his gaze finally turning cold.

After the meeting adjourned, Ning Changye intercepted her under the corridor.

“What did you see just now?”

Feng Fulan originally intended to brush him off, but she looked up and met his excessively heavy gaze. She paused, then said, “I saw that before Gui Zhishuang died, she wanted to tell you that the person you shouldn’t trust… wasn’t me.”

Ning Changye’s breath hitched.

Feng Fulan looked at him and said slowly, “Ning Changye, you’ve spent three years hating me. Perhaps you’ve been hating the wrong person.”