Chapter 455: Please Take a Seat, Holy Maiden

Chapter 455: Inviting the Saintess to the Feast

Lei Ao had once professed his love to Si Si in the street, and Si Si, using the pretext of "The hundred tribes' rule stands here—see if you can beat me first," fought him right there on the street.

Though Lei Ao was said to be at the eighth or ninth level of the Mystic Barrier, Si Si was now roughly at that level too, seemingly evenly matched. But when it came to the subtlety of techniques, Lei Ao wasn't even fit to hold Si Si's shoes; without any suspense, he was beaten so badly that his teeth were knocked out—literally, one tooth was knocked out by a slap.

This incident was known to almost everyone in Xizhou Town, and Zhao Changhe had heard it from Si Si as soon as he arrived.

Hmm, thinking back now, he wondered if Si Si had been eager to tell him this to explain that she was avoiding suspicion? Maybe not, he shouldn't be so presumptuous...

In any case, it unexpectedly provided the most solid foundation for Zhao Changhe to solve the case. No matter how flawlessly one could apply makeup or find a lookalike to die in one's place, a missing tooth that needed to be replaced was simply not something the technology of this era could accomplish.

If the Revitalization Art were perfected, it might be able to regrow teeth while a person is alive, but once dead, only an immortal could do it.

This was undoubtedly a fake Lei Ao.

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became very strange. Pan Wan and the others began to smile knowingly, waiting to see how Lei Zhentang would respond.

No wonder—they had really thought he was willing to kill his own son... but it turned out he couldn't bear to.

Si Si frowned slightly, her expression not too pleasant... She felt that Zhao Changhe exposing this publicly had offended the Black Miao to the death, bringing an irreconcilable enmity upon her Spirit Tribe. Si Si wasn't particularly afraid of the Black Miao, but she was unhappy that Zhao Changhe had placed her tribe in danger without even consulting her, and it would disrupt many of her subsequent plans.

In a daze, she remembered that year.

She had tricked him like this too, hadn't she? The events were different, but the nature was somewhat similar; no wonder he had been so angry then.

Si Si gave a faint bitter smile and said nothing, thinking to herself that she would just abandon her subsequent plans and have her entire tribe retreat into the secret realm.

That would be a complete settling of accounts with this troublesome man.

Amid their varied thoughts, Lei Zhentang slowly spoke: "Our tribe does have a method for implanting teeth. The day before yesterday, I already had a new tooth planted for Lei Ao. What, does this Protector of the Spirit Tribe not believe it? Would you like to knock out one of your teeth and let us try planting one for you?"

Zhao Changhe smiled slightly: "Last night, I crossed hands with your son..."

Lei Zhentang's eyes narrowed.

So that was it. No wonder he had been certain it was a fake before even looking at the teeth... because the two of them had fought last night, and there might be some injuries on the body that only he knew about, but this corpse didn't have them.

Lei Zhentang instinctively tightened his grip on the armrest, planning to pounce and kill this fellow as soon as he spoke.

Being tough and intimidating the crowd could still be a last resort. After all, the whole "son is dead" thing was just an excuse. Those who were already aligned were long aligned; as for the unaligned like Pan Wan and Xiang Meng, he might as well take this opportunity to kill them all in one go. Though the consequences would be severe, he could no longer care.

But Zhao Changhe stopped at a hint and didn't continue. He didn't reveal what wounds he had left, but instead said: "Actually, whether this person is your son or a substitute, it's true that the Xia wanted to kill your son, since Qi Siyuan himself confessed... He killed the wrong person, but that doesn't change the essence of the matter."

Lei Zhentang was dumbfounded. How was this guy helping him speak, and with such reason? He even tactfully provided a reason for a "substitute" instead of accusing him of staging it...

Si Si was also startled, looking at Zhao Changhe's back thoughtfully.

He probably hadn't thought much at first, only wanting to expose this mess, but as he spoke, he remembered it would harm her tribe, so he backed down...

And that was indeed the case.

Zhao Changhe had originally wanted to expose more—he suspected that Qi Siyuan was the one truly under the gu spell—but everyone had only checked the corpse for gu or fake death, and no one had thought to examine Qi Siyuan... Yet he swallowed his words, remembering that taking such a stand would be extremely detrimental to Si Si's tribe, and it would be too much.

Was this the usually unruly Zhao Changhe, faced with an obviously false case, choosing not to expose it but instead to go along with the turn? Si Si watched and suddenly gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Perhaps she was overthinking it. When had he ever cared about this maidservant?

Then they heard Zhao Changhe say: "If we hundred tribes rise up together against the tyranny of the Xia, what needs to be done? Does Chief Lei already have a plan?"

Lei Zhentang, unable to figure out what this guy was up to, said cautiously: "Of course, we must form a coalition of all tribes, elect a leader as the alliance chief, jointly cleanse the Xia forces within our borders, and unite to resist the suppression from Shu Commandery. Otherwise, fighting separately, once Zhai Muzhi's army arrives, we will all be ground to dust!"

Zhao Changhe smiled slightly: "So Chief Lei staged this... oh, regardless of whether your son is dead or not, you had long decided to become the alliance chief, didn't you?"

Lei Zhentang couldn't admit to such words, so he had to say: "What are you talking about? I am merely gathering righteous forces. As for who becomes the alliance chief, of course it depends on everyone's election."

Immediately, a chief from a friendly tribe shouted: "I elect Chief Lei! The Black Miao are originally the tribe of the former king, with a pure lineage. Now their power is the strongest, and Chief Lei's personal strength is the first among all. Besides Chief Lei, who else can be the alliance chief?"

Then someone said sinisterly: "What, are you trying to restore the Black Miao kingdom?"

Everyone looked toward the speaker, and saw a Miao leader in white robes sneering: "The Xia are tyrannical, but how much better are you Black Miao? It's been less than a few decades—have you all forgotten what the Black Miao king did back then? You, you, and you..."

He pointed around: "Your ancestors were tied up and sacrificed alive—have you all forgotten?"

Lei Zhentang said coldly: "Are you White Tribe determined to be lapdogs of the Xia?"

The White Tribe, originally the White Miao, was a super-large tribe in this area with great influence.

That White Tribe leader sneered: "The Xia are no good, and neither are you Black Miao. If we want an alliance against the Xia, that's fine, as long as you are not the alliance chief, then I can recognize the alliance. Otherwise, damn it, we'll go our separate ways and fight first!"

Pan Wan of the Yao tribe, also a major tribe here, was not afraid of Lei Zhentang either. She coldly added: "So, Chief Lei, whether you are truly calling for a joint resistance against Xia tyranny or have your own agenda, we only need to see if you want to be the alliance chief."

Lei Zhentang began to sneer.

Some of the tribes here had already been secretly won over by him, while most were just small tribes going with the flow. He needed to find a pretext for the uprising targeting these widespread small tribes; otherwise, relying solely on coercion would make the foundation unstable and future matters very difficult. So earlier, if Zhao Changhe had exposed his secret, and he had to resort to a bloody crackdown, that would have been the worst option.

But now that the secret wasn't exposed, his "righteous cause" remained, so he wasn't afraid. The White Tribe and Yao Tribe were thorns he had anticipated; as long as he killed them on the spot, others wouldn't resist too much. At this point, some iron-fisted measures were necessary.

Just as he was about to act, that "Si Laoye" leisurely walked toward Qi Siyuan: "Let me see the gu..."

"Wait!" Lei Zhentang took a deep breath: "If you have something to say, just say it directly."

"Nothing much. I was just thinking, everyone says they want to unite against the Xia, but they are quarreling among themselves, and might even fight a few battles first. What's the point?"

Lei Zhentang said coldly: "What does Protector Si suggest?"

Zhao Changhe said: "Why not select five major tribes to form a council, and decide everything by vote?"

Lei Zhentang's cheek twitched; he really didn't want to mess around like this.

But his trump card was held by this man—first the corpse had no wounds, then he wanted to check if Qi Siyuan was under gu. If he exposed it, everything would collapse.

He flicked his finger secretly, and a fine needle as thin as a hair silently shot toward Zhao Changhe's ribs.

But Zhao Changhe seemed to have anticipated it; he brushed it away casually, and the needle stuck into his sleeve, giving him another piece of evidence.

It wasn't that he feared someone with brains causing trouble; what he feared was that this brainy person was also a master.

Lei Zhentang stared at Zhao Changhe for a long while, then said: "Does your tribe let a protector make all decisions? Full authority to represent the Saintess?"

Si Si had long seen through the tricks here, and said with a radiant smile: "He represents me."

"Good." Lei Zhentang finally said: "Do the White Tribe and Yao Tribe chiefs have any other objections?"

The two chiefs exchanged glances, knowing that if they insisted on opposing, it would end in bloodshed. This Si Laoye's proposal was already the best they could get, so they both shook their heads: "That's fine."

Lei Zhentang thought to himself that the White and Yao tribes were only two; as long as he could occupy the other three seats, their proposal would be like farting through pants—useless. So he said: "Then let it be a council of five tribes. Everyone can start the election."

The hall became chaotic, with voices clamoring in a noisy mess.

Si Si leaned close to Zhao Changhe and whispered: "Based on tribal strength, it's very likely that the Black Miao, Yi, White, and Yao will firmly hold four seats. No matter how much they argue, they can't escape this overall ranking. The fifth seat will be fiercely contested... At least here, it's hard to find a tribe that clearly surpasses the others. Since you proposed this motion, you must have an idea for the fifth seat. Who do you plan to give it to?"

Zhao Changhe asked softly: "You're not going to compete?"

"Me?" Si Si's expression was strange: "My tribe only has a few hundred people here."

"Then which other tribe are you afraid of?"

"Besides these four, I'm not afraid of the others."

"Then why not compete?" Zhao Changhe said quietly: "I was careless earlier and exposed things too quickly, which caused you trouble. I'm very sorry... so I need to compensate you..."

Si Si stared at him fixedly.

Zhao Changhe continued: "How about I win a seat for you... In the future, when your Spirit Tribe wants to emerge from the secret realm in force, this will be your base."

Si Si was silent for a moment: "How do we win it?"

Just then, Lei Zhentang also asked: "Protector Si, everyone is making nominations. Why don't you nominate a tribe you favor?"

Zhao Changhe responded, "When recommending someone from within, one does not avoid relatives. I nominate my Ling clan to take the fifth seat."

The hall fell silent once more, all eyes fixed on Zhao Changhe as if witnessing a miracle.

Zhao Changhe, unperturbed, said calmly, "I recall someone just mentioned that Chief Lei is the strongest in combat... which shows you all don't just recognize the overall strength of a clan, but also respect the mighty, correct?"

Lei Zhentang laughed, "Indeed. What do you propose?"

"Clang!" Zhao Changhe drew his longsword. "Whoever defeats me may take the fifth seat. If none can defeat me, then let my clan's Saintess take her place."