Heavenly Melody Sect, Main Hall.
"So much for a clear conscience. Seize her!"
With Liam Liang's crisp command, two Martial Saints lunged forward, aiming straight for Faye Mei. Each unleashed a palm strike, their force sweeping toward her body.
"Nonsense! I'm being framed!"
In a flash, Faye Mei drew her longsword and thrust at the Martial Saints' palms, her heart filled with unspoken grief and rage.
"Junior Sister, don't fight!"
Grace Gao sprang to her feet, shouting in panic, "You may be under suspicion, but Senior Sister believes in you. I trust that once the truth is found, Mr. Liang will clear your name!"
Boom! Boom!
Sword qi and palm force collided, stirring up gusts of wind inside the hall and shaking the entire building.
Whoosh!
A blur of movement—Grace Gao landed between the three of them and shouted, "You two, Junior Sister, stop right now!"
The two Martial Saints glanced at Liam Liang, who nodded. They both stepped back several paces.
Seeing this, Grace Gao breathed a small sigh of relief, then turned to Faye Mei: "Junior Sister, you were too impulsive. Mr. Liang is Elder Nian's disciple. I trust he wouldn't wrongly accuse you. Just cooperate with him, and he'll clear your name!"
"Hmph! I, Faye Mei, will not have my innocence granted by others. I'll prove it myself. Mr. Liang, Senior Sister, give me ten days. I will find the one who took Snow Yue!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Faye Mei turned into a streak of white light and shot out of the hall.
The two Martial Saints wanted to chase after her, but Liam Liang raised his hand: "Let her go."
Although all the evidence pointed to Faye Mei as the mastermind, Liam Liang felt that someone was deliberately leading things in that direction.
The reason he was willing to let Faye Mei go search for the real mastermind was because he knew: if she couldn't give him a satisfactory answer in ten days, Grace Gao would personally hand her over for punishment, no need for him to act.
Faye Mei dashed out for hundreds of miles, but she still couldn't rid herself of the anger in her heart. Being wronged was truly unbearable.
Thinking of this, her face twisted with rage. She gritted her teeth and shouted, "Leon Huang! Snow Yue! I, Faye Mei, will never let you off!"
One day later.
After a bit of disguise, Faye Mei appeared in the small city below Pristine Way Sect's mountain gate.
But she had no idea how to investigate Snow Yue's whereabouts. In the past, as Heavenly Melody Sect's punishment elder, she only needed to give orders and her subordinates would handle everything. Now, alone and lacking any manpower or intelligence, searching for Snow Yue was harder than climbing to the heavens.
In the end, she could only think of one plan: strike straight at the heart of the problem.
She would sneak into Pristine Way Sect at night. As long as she could find Snow Yue there, she could clear herself of suspicion and prove her innocence.
Right now, Pristine Way Sect's defenses were very tight—but that was only against ordinary people.
As a Martial Saint, Faye Mei could still easily infiltrate Pristine Way Sect.
So in less than half an hour, she silently slipped into Pristine Way Sect's inner grounds without alerting anyone.
But with tens of thousands of people in Pristine Way Sect, finding one person was far too difficult. So Faye Mei decided to capture Leon Huang and force him to reveal Snow Yue's whereabouts.
After wandering around for a while.
Faye Mei finally found the courtyard where Leon Huang lived.
She hid at the corner of the wall and listened for a while. After confirming nothing was unusual, she leapt into the courtyard.
But in the next moment, her eyes widened in shock—a young man was sitting quietly at the stone table in the courtyard, smiling at her.
"Leon Huang!"
Faye Mei let out a venomous shout, then turned into a streak of light and lunged at Leon Huang, reaching for his neck.
"You really never learn, do you?"
Leon Huang shook his head and lightly stomped his foot. Instantly, the space in the whole courtyard twisted, then snapped back to normal.
Ever since Ethan Chen Yuanshan slipped through his defenses, Leon Huang had set up a grand formation around his residence. Not to mention one Martial Saint—even ten Martial Saints would be trapped if they barged in.
So, once again, Faye Mei was pitifully trapped in Leon Huang's array.
Half a quarter of an hour later.
Faye Mei fainted to the ground. Leon Huang stepped forward and pressed three Puppet Mastery Divine Art sigils into her brow.
After a while, Faye Mei woke up. The look she gave Leon Huang no longer held any hatred—only deep respect.
"Tell me, why did you come to assassinate me?" Leon Huang asked leisurely.
"Master, here's what happened..."
After listening to Faye Mei's account, Leon Huang found it amusing—he hadn't expected his casual illusion to make her suffer such a loss.
So, if Faye Mei didn't return to Heavenly Melody Sect within ten days, her guilt would be confirmed, and Heavenly Melody Sect would be implicated as well.
Thinking of this, Leon Huang glanced at Faye Mei. He couldn't keep this woman in Pristine Way Sect—there were too many eyes, and if Elder Nian found out, things would get messy.
"Well then, let's add another log to the fire!"
With that, Leon Huang gave Faye Mei a new set of instructions.
Ten days passed in a flash.
Liam Liang returned once again to the main hall of Heavenly Melody Sect.
Grace Gao's eyes showed a trace of worry and anxiety. "Why isn't Junior Sister Faye back yet?"
As time ticked by and dusk approached, there was still no sign of Faye Mei. Liam Liang was growing impatient.