"Upon checking, we found that the large treasure chest in the Demon King's room is missing a Thunderbolt Saber Technique Secret Manual," Wuwan Liu said coldly. "I was the second last to leave, and before I left, no one had touched the treasure chest."
"The last person to leave the room was you, Yan San! I have repeatedly stated that taking spoils privately is punishable by death, yet you dare to knowingly commit a crime. If you return the Thunderbolt Saber Technique now, you can still avoid death!"
"You've switched careers to become a messenger at such a young age. I originally intended to recommend you to become a Baibao Guard, but don't ruin your future for a moment of greed."
Looking at the dozens of strong crossbows aimed at him from the fortress, Yan Qing understood completely.
He certainly wouldn't foolishly say something like 'I didn't take the Thunderbolt Saber Technique' to prove his innocence—Wuwan Liu also knew he didn't take it, which is why he framed him this way. If Wuwan Liu truly wanted to give Yan Qing a chance to return the manual, he would inquire privately rather than setting up a stage like this, waiting for Yan Qing to fail to produce the item and get shot.
The person who falsely accuses you knows your innocence better than anyone.
Using the Thunderbolt Saber Technique Secret Manual as a setup is also clever. If Yan Qing's guess is correct, once they use the manual, it would disappear, just like in a game with no traces left.
However, other things like Spiritual Jade and elixirs will leave evidence behind even if used. Therefore, as long as Yan Qing claims he didn't take it, Wuwan Liu would say he already used the manual; at that point, killing him and being unable to find evidence would be perfectly plausible. If framed for other things, 'Yan San's' dead body would yield no evidence, and everyone would know he was framed.
As long as 'Yan San' dies, the matter would naturally come to an end, and the 'stolen' Thunderbolt Saber Technique Secret Manual would naturally end up in Wuwan Liu's bag.
Yan Qing didn't know why Wuwan Liu set up the frame; perhaps he simply wanted an opportunity to steal the Thunderbolt Saber Technique, and 'Yan San' was just the scapegoat he found at the opportune moment. Or maybe he felt he had a poor relationship with 'Yan San' before, and now that 'Yan San' had switched to a messenger, he felt that 'Yan San' must not be allowed to grow and crushed him at his budding stage. Or perhaps he was merely jealous of 'Yan San's' potential. Any reason is possible, but none of it matters.
What matters is that while Wuwan Liu might choose to let 'Yan San' die here,
Yan Qing can choose the manner in which 'Yan San' faces death!
Yan Qing looked towards the bottom right corner of the item panel, where the first item was Spiritual Jade.
In the game "Messenger," Spiritual Jade is not only currency but also the source of power for all messengers—the primary way messengers replenish their spiritual power is by using Spiritual Jade for charging.
Apart from that, if a messenger hasn't learned special skills, their spiritual power wouldn't even replenish automatically.
Upon sudden observation, it might seem odd; messengers have spiritual power values yet cannot recharge automatically. But if you consider messengers as cars, Spiritual Jade as gasoline, and tokens as engines, it makes perfect sense: ordinary people turning into messengers is like a heap of steel turning into a car; messengers can contain spiritual power similar to how a car can hold gasoline; messengers and cars are merely vessels for the reaction between spiritual power (gasoline) and tokens (engine), but cars are still just piles of metal and messengers are fundamentally still human.
So don't be fooled when hundreds, if not thousands, of Spiritual Jade are spent; real spending is like a waterfall and can't be stopped easily. Following Yan Qing's push, twenty pieces of Spiritual Jade were quickly consumed, and 'Yan San's' spiritual energy reached its full value of 20.
Then, equip the token "White Iron Straight Saber."
The first skill slot shows the available skill "Moon Ring Slash"!
Only to see 'Yan San's' right hand brush across his belt, and a seemingly ordinary saber appeared at his waist. Perhaps someone noticed this scene, but would only presume 'Yan San' hid his saber earlier—petty thefts by Baibao Guards in the Secret Realm are quite usual, as long as no one touches the treasure chests, everyone turns a blind eye.
"Yan San! Quickly hand over the items!" Wuwan Liu shouted, the patterns on the Evil Ghost Mask seemingly igniting, scrutinizing 'Yan San's' every move.
"Alright."
Yan Qing stepped forward, closing the distance with Wuwan Liu. The initial attack range of Moon Ring Slash is two meters, requiring 5 points of spiritual power to activate, and 3 points of spiritual power extends the range by one meter, meaning 20 points of spiritual power could execute four slashes within two meters or two slashes within three meters.
Six meters, five meters, four meters...
"What are you doing here?!"
At the wall gate, a black-haired young woman wrapped in a fox fur coat approached Yan Qing and the others, flanked by Evil Ghost Guards. She raised her hand, addressing the strong crossbowmen on the walls, and said loudly: "Daqi Strong Crossbows are not meant to be aimed at our own people, put them down!"
A large crowd dropped to their knees, including Wuwan Liu. "Greetings, Marquis of Lecheng County!"
'Yan San' naturally did not kneel. Instead, he took advantage to approach two more steps, the distance with Wuwan Liu now less than three meters.
"What is going on?"
"Reporting to the County Duke, this scoundrel was with us on his first entry into the Secret Realm and stole the Secret Realm Treasure Chest's manual. I advised him to return the manual to avoid punishment, but he is reluctant to do so, fearing he has secretly used it," Wuwan Liu immediately stated. "Please, County Duke, deliver a ruling!"
The black-haired young woman remained noncommittal. She turned to 'Yan San', who stood throughout, saying:
"I am Ying Rushi. Do you accept the accusation from Wuwan Banner Master? If something is amiss, I can ensure justice."
Meanwhile, the name also appeared above the black-haired young woman:
"Marquis of Lecheng County · Ying Rushi."