A figure ca down from the upper balcony, the sa balcony that the leader of pursuers previously ca from.
"Elder...", the leader of pursuers spoke up, but was silenced by a cold and unsatisfied look of the Elder.
"That’s enough from you...", the latter quipped, and then turned to Changsun Yong, "What nonsense you spout, to think you still try to confuse everyone, distort the truth and appear innocent and noble even at this point, poisoning the mind of our righteous Disciples with your lies"
As he spoke, a feeling of an acute disdain rose from the crowd surrounding them. Righteous Path Sects never were popular in these places, but there was sothing distinct about the attitude of an Elder of a Righteous Path Sect that evoked outright disgust in people frequenting them. Especially when they could sll lies and hypocrisy only thinly wrapped in the veneer of righteousness, not even trying that hard to disguise them.
It had a sort of arrogance of knowing that no matter what the truth was, no matter how poorly acted out they were, their words would be what would be recorded in official history accepted by wider society, not the words of whoever they were exchanging the conversation with.
"An Elder, of course they didn’t just sent Disciples", Changsun Yong didn’t seem too surprised at the appearance of an Elder, and at the sa ti still despaired, confirming that he was completely cornered with no way out. However, this realization also made him a bit bolder, since he could not make his situation any significantly worse than it already was at this point, as he chuckled, "Heh, what’s the matter? Couldn’t sit still and look as your Disciples weren’t willing to lie through their teeth to appear just and righteous? Had to co out and do it yourself?"
"Tsk tsk tsk, so young and yet so good with lies, manipulation and deception... no wonder your Sect was able to get away with your cris for so long if that’s their Pri Disciple...", the Elder spoke shaking his head as if in lant.
"You have no proof of anything", Changsun Yong retorted with powerless anger, realizing that no matter how they argued, it was likely not possible to make this Elder admit he was lying. And yet the feeling of unjustness of it all burnt him inside, compelling him to continue arguing, to try and make him admit it.
The Elder coldly sneered in response, "Of course we don’t, but you do, don’t you? You snuck out the evidence with you, which is why we tracked you down here"
The quiet ridicule in the Elder’s eyes and that righteous attitude while outright lying with no sha whatsoever, the smug smile, all of it finally pushed Changsun Yong over the edge. The young man’s face distorted with rage, "Liar. Despicable, lowly liar! You all hated my Master because Master was soone you never could be. A truly righteous man, the one you claim to be but know in your heart of hearts that you never asure up to! Out here you may trot around pretending to be just and righteous, but in the quiet of the night, when you are alone with your thoughts, you cannot escape it! You can see your own ugliness and filthiness. No matter how you deny it to or to others, you know. And of course Master didn’t submit to your humiliating rigged investigation that would’ve falsely found him guilty anyway! Not after you killed dozens of our Sect Protectors, several Elders and nearly a hundred Disciples who were out on missions, not after you ambushed and killed our Vice Sect Master who you lured out to the fake eting with Martial Alliance! You won’t admit you did it, you disguised them as anonymous attacks, but you know it’s true! You know you did it! He had too much pride to deal with you lowly scum! He stood for sothing! He stood for it even when facing almost certain death! Unlike you treacherous, hypocritical, and cowardly filth who only pretend to be part of the Righteous Alliance, yet fold at the slightest pressure from others and fall in line, and make up false pretenses and backstab for selfish gain like barbarians of the Evil Path, and evidently, even shake hands with them, my Master had spine, and my Sect had principles! Sothing you never had and never will!"
It was at this mont, sothing seed to snap in the Elder’s eyes as he hissed in a hushed tone while bending a bit to hover his face over the young man’s, "Hah! And where have your precious principles gotten you? Let tell you a secret, those principles and righteous ideals you held so dear don’t an shit unless you have the strength to stand up for them! Or at least know your place and play nice with others! You are just an ant in the eyes of those with true power, and should have behaved like an ant which knows its place!"
These words made a few of his Disciples surrounding Changsun Yong a bit uncomfortable, as they exchanged uneasy glances. While this response did not admit to anything, and did not even alleviate any allegations, it was still a bit different from what they expected from an Elder.
On the other hand, four more people who ca out from various when the young man called them out - the Disciples of an Evil Path Sect who they were cooperating with - bared their teeth, sneering at the sudden unfiltered response of a Righteous Path Sect Elder. Their reactions mirrored the reactions of the crowd around, who loved seeing this unmasked exposure.
anwhile, the Elder continued, "Your Sect simply didn’t have enough strength to be as uncompromising and inflexible as it was, and your Master was too proud to bend the knee when he had to, that is why you all t such a pathetic end", the man leading the pursuers spoke without being disturbed much, "But you’re right, at least your Sect and Master stood and fought, unlike you. You, on the other hand, ran here like a rat"
"I wanted to stay and fight too!", the encircled young man shouted with indignation, "I-..."
However, he cut his speech short for so reason, a glimpse of montary panic and caution passing through his eyes.
The Elder sneered, the look in his eyes slightly changing along with the impression he gave off again. All signs of losing his composure disappeared, replaced by a calm and collected feeling, "Heh, but you couldn’t do that, could you? Because of the impo~rtant mission that your Sect Master gave you, right? To sneak out the evidence of your Sect’s hideous cris"
The young man’s gaze grew sharp again, he knew that he was successfully baited, and knew there was nothing he could do to undo it. This Sect Elder was too shrewd unlike his young Disciples. This realization, at the sa ti, allowed him to cool down his mind and gain so kind of weird clarity.
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