This was what Ni Feng thought in her heart, but the expression on her face gave nothing away. Instead, she started coughing violently, before saying in a gentle voice, “I have never hidden anything from the people in the Exorcist City, and there is no need for the members of the Ni family to do such a thing. You hostile ghosts truly underestimated the seniors of the Exorcist City. Although I have no idea what kind of ghosts are possessing you, everything that I am doing now is for the people of Exorcist City. If Madam Zhuge disagrees, I could even hand over the rights of governing the Exorcist City to her. Is this the only way to stop your scheme of sowing dissension among us?”
This plan of Ni Feng's was too brilliant, retreating in order to advance.
It was so good that no matter what Madam Zhuge said then, she would just be accused of seizing power.
Naturally, the elders trusted her even more and they started to speak over another, “Feng'er, how could you hand over the rights of governing the Exorcist City? You are the Phoenix Girl, you are the only one who could save the Exorcist City now.”
“That's right, Lady Ni, you mustn't fall into their trap just like that. This will only harm us and benefit them!”
“The disciples of my Li family are among them as well, but now I understand that very few were able to come back alive from the ancient tomb. If they hadn't been possessed by hostile ghosts, they couldn't possibly be standing here at all, much less spewing words of provocation to sow dissension among us. These evil spirits and demons know as well as we do that only the Phoenix Girl could change the fate of the Exorcist City, so they had to come up with such a scheme to fight against Feng'er.”
The people were talking on and on amidst the sound of Ni Feng coughing. n.o.body said anything to help Zhuge Yun and the others, for almost everyone was standing on Ni Feng's side!
Upon seeing this situation, Zhuge Yun clasped his hands together tightly. He could not help but yelled, “Ni Feng is not the Phoenix Girl at all! Dear seniors, you have all been fooled by her!”
The scene turned silent, but it did not last long.
The disciple of the Ni family glared at Zhuge Yun, “Do you know what you are saying?! The world has been auspicious ever since our Lady was born. Her body is full of spiritual aura and she has the heart of Bodhisattva! Those demons would already have broken into the city if it wasn't for her! There wouldn't even be a chance for anyone to be spouting nonsense around here!”
Ni Feng took the advantage to shake her head, reaching out to stop the disciple of Ni Family. She pretended to be emotional, saying, “That's enough, the seniors are considerate, they can clearly distinguish between what is true and what is false.”
Those elders had already felt that this matter was preposterous, but once they heard Ni Feng's words, they felt even more sorry for Ni Feng, “Feng'er, don't worry, although we are old, our eyes still work. We know that everything you did was for the Exorcist City. Besides, how could you not be the Phoenix Girl? His words are utter nonsense, do not take them to heart!”
“Dear seniors!” Zhuge Yun knew that if he did not say anything now, they would never get the chance again. He took a step forward and yelled loudly, “You can choose not to trust me, but there are six of us here. All six of us have been into the ancient tomb, so each of us knows what truly happened there. Ni Feng was just a corpse all along, she died when she fell seriously ill more than 10 years ago. This Ni Feng is here now because Ni Biao had used the Forbidden Incantation of raising a corpse, all for the honor of the Ni Family's generations. His wild ambition had brought death on himself, for he did not know at all when Ni Feng started learning to absorb his spiritual aura. When he arrived at the ancient tomb, his mind was bewitched and he turned into a demon. Only then did some suspicions arise, and if it wasn't for someone who gave us a reminder, we would never have been able to see the situation for what it was. Back then, the Exorcising Tribe had a rule stating that n.o.body was ever allowed to enter the spiritual tomb, but the Ni Family was determined to go, to resurrect the dead at all costs and change the Six Paths. All of this was because Ni Feng wanted to truly be immortal. Besides the Sarira, there was also a magical mirror inside the ancient tomb. After Ni Feng got her hands on the magical mirror, she got back to the city before us. To keep her secret, she told all of you in advance that everyone inside the ancient tomb had been possessed so that you would not believe us, but in actual fact, she is the only truly evil one!”
Not only did Ni Feng face Zhuge Yun's accusation without showing any alarm, she even shook her head gently. She heaved a long sigh, the sound of her coughing provoking pity from those around her, “So this is what you wanted to do, smear all the crimes on me and make me disappear, so that once I am gone, the shield of spiritual aura covering the Exorcist City will vanish as well. Then, you can destroy the whole Exorcist City from the inside out?” Ni Feng looked up, saying righteously, “I will never let you succeed, you provocative hostile ghosts!”
The exorcists were terrified when they heard Ni Feng's words, they could almost imagine what the scene would look like.
Some people started to riot, “We should never have given a chance for these hostile ghosts to speak.”
“That's because the Young Masters of the Zhuge family and the Li family are among them. If they were someone else, we would've caught them a long time ago. These hostile ghosts are truly evil, thinking of such a method that even I almost believed them.”
“Hostile ghosts are cunning by nature, they know how to read people's minds. It's already very hard for Lady Ni to deal with them, and she still has to think of ways to protect the Exorcist City, it truly is not an easy task.”
Zhuge Yun listened to the people's discussion in disbelief. He could not believe his ears. He had already explained it so thoroughly, yet these people still felt that he was lying to them!
Why could they not just use their brains a little to think about it properly? Would they still be talking so much if they had been possessed by ghosts?
Maybe this was the natural instinct of human beings.
He was no exception as well.
Human beings would always force their own minds to accept matters which had a very obvious principle. They were used to being instigated by others, unwilling to spend time pondering about the truth. Despite using hurtful words to harm the ones who were actually right, they would only believe that the things they uphold were right.
There was a moment that Zhuge Yun did not know if he should feel sorry for himself or for this scene before him.
Nevertheless, he knew that he must not cower no matter what!
“Ni Feng, whether or not my words are true, you know it clearly in your heart.” Zhuge Yun's eyes were clear, “Today my six comrades and I stand here and swear to Heaven, that you are not the reincarnated Phoenix Girl at all. If I lied about anything, my Zhuge Family will never know peace!”
At this moment, Madam Zhuge opened her mouth to speak with a determined look in her eyes, “I believe in Yun'er, there are too many points of suspicion. We cannot determine what happened in the royal tomb based on only one person's words. Everyone wants to protect this city, this is the home of our Exorcising Tribe. No one wishes to destroy it, but right now, we really cannot be taken advantage of.”
Upon hearing that, Ni Feng cast her eyes down as though she had received a blow. Tears seemed to fill inside her beautiful eyes, and she said tenderly, “I really did not expect that even Auntie would see me this way. Is it because I wanted to capture Brother Yun? Hostile ghosts know how to read minds, so I was on guard from the start, but I did not expect that even after the precautions I have taken, they still had some ways to attack me. Thus, it is reasonable that Auntie would misunderstand me, but Auntie, did you ever wonder, if I am not the Phoenix Girl, how can I maintain such a shield of spiritual aura? And even up until now, these hostile ghosts could only say things to put the blame on me, but they do not have even a shred of evidence to prove that I am not the Phoenix Girl. Auntie, I do not wish for the unity between us to break because of these hostile ghosts. Do you understand how I feel?”
“Ni Feng, the shield of spiritual aura that you mentioned was just your corpse's aura. You want evidence, don't you?” Zhuge Yun did not cower, instead, he stood in front of Madam Zhuge sharply, his eyes looking around, “I know that all of you would not believe us no matter what we say, but this matter puts everything at stake. A slight mistake will cost the whole of Exorcist City. Right now, all the monsters in the World of Trichiliocosm are arriving at the Exorcist City, but they have not taken any action yet, not because of some shield of spiritual aura, but because they simply never thought of attacking the city. The reason that the monsters are surrounding Exorcist City is within the city. If we do not stop Ni Feng and find a way to break through this shield of corpse's aura before the time is up, Exorcist City will become a true h.e.l.l in the human world, and the spiritual aura of all the exorcists in this city will be totally absorbed in a split second. The demons are surrounding this city because they know that this place is about to turn into Purgatory. It's been said that the Phoenix Girl is a phoenix born from the flames. A true Phoenix Girl reincarnate could illuminate the light of Buddha and manifest the Dharma of the Phoenix. Ni Feng, ever since you were young, your t.i.tle of Phoenix Girl reincarnate was granted by your Ni Family, but in reality, you have never manifested the Dharma of the Phoenix, yet you still dare to call yourself the Phoenix Girl? Now that all the seniors of the Exorcist City are here, if you truly are the Phoenix Girl, cast some magic to prove it, to let everyone know who the liar is!”
Zhuge Yun's mind had never been this clear before.
Perhaps he had been influenced by Helian Wei Wei in the ancient tomb.
He was no longer like before, panicking whenever something happened.
But instead, he a.n.a.lyzed the situation layer by layer and then he cut into the most crucial point!
After listening to his words, the exorcists fell into their own thoughts.
After all, Zhuge Yun was right. It was true that Feng'er had never manifested her Dharma before.
Seeing the expressions of the exorcists falling silent, Zhuge Yun knew that his words had worked. Ni Feng was not the Phoenix Girl, so it was impossible for her to manifest the Dharma of the Phoenix. By then, the people could naturally see her true colors!
But Zhuge Yun never expected that at this moment, Ni Feng spoke, “Because I am the reincarnated Phoenix Girl, my body has always been weaker than the others since I was born, so I avoided manifesting my Dharma as much as possible. My father knew about this as well, so the ghosts were usually recaptured by him. Actually, I should not be doing this, but since today involves the life and death of the Exorcist City, putting my all into this to prove myself is not a big deal at all!”
