Tribulation of Myriad Races

Silk Destroying King frowned and said, "Hong Tan, are you saying that we should stop the investigation?"

Hong Tan shook his head, "Of course we must continue the investigation. How else are we going to answer the dead officials and our active soldiers? But Feng Ji is a hero. I suggest we capture the two Sunmoons of the Six-Winged Divine Sect first and perform memory search on them. Then, we can capture the Sunmoons of the eight families and investigate if they are colluding with the cult. Only then can we resort to searching Feng Ji's memories.

"Instead of investigating the cult and incompetent fools that have failed in their task, you're investigating a hero first. That's inappropriate. Are you targeting Feng Ji just because he's weaker?"

Hong Tan had never been a talkative person, but at this moment, he had a lot to say. And his arguments were clear and strong.

"Silk Destroying King, I am merely following my heart. If the lords here feel like as Invincibles, you can do as you wish, there is nothing I can do. After all, the Six-Winged Divine Sect is backed by the six-winged divines and the eight families are backed by eight Invincibles. Feng Ji is indeed the easier target."

"..."

Silk Destroying King laughed, "Why don't you directly say that we fear the strong and bully the weak?"

"I wouldn't dare!" Hong Tan lowered his head and said, "I know that the lords here are only doing this to find the real murderer and avenge the dead officials. You may do what you deem fit."

"Hong Tan." Silk Destroying King said, "There is no need to try provoking us. You're still lacking compared to your teacher. Back then, he would scold us straight to our faces. You're not as gutsy as him.

"But you're right. However, Sunmoons are very hard to find when they focus on hiding. We would have caught them long ago otherwise. As for the Sunmoons of the eight families, with so many of them operating together, it is unlikely that some of them are colluding with the cult. What do you think?"

Hong Tan said, "You're right, Lord. Seems like Feng Ji is the most suspicious individual. It is right that his memory should be searched."

Silk Destroying King waved his hand, "There is no need to play this game with me. It doesn't work for me. I propose to search the memories of Feng Ji and one or two Sunmoons of the eight families. Is this agreeable?"

Great Han King looked over in astonishment. Great Song King had an odd expression as well, but he said nothing. Meanwhile, Yuan Qingdong and the others had unsightly expressions. Them?

Investigating them?

The woman beside Yuan Qingdong protested, "Lord, the eight of us represented the eight families and the Knowledge Seeking Realm. How will we do something like colluding with the cult?"

Silk Destroying King said, "Yes, but everyone is saying the same thing. It's very hard for us to settle on what to do. The two of them are from the Knowledge Seeking Realm so it's very hard for them to make this decision. But I'm from the War Shrine. I don't mind being the bad guy here. If your fathers and ancestors disagree, they can look for us. Alright. Pick two of you. I won't search the memories of everyone since I don't want to offend too many people, right? Don't worry. I'm a man of my word. Your deepest secrets are safe with me. I'll also compensate you for your losses after the investigation."

A suffocating silence enveloped the room. Was the Silk Destroying King really going to investigate the eight families? Was he really going to offend eight Invincibles for this? Was it possible that he was only putting on a show?

Silk Destroying King knocked on the table and said, "We're agreed, then. This is the best solution if we are to stay impartial. We can't continue our investigation otherwise. It's not a bad thing for you guys since you can prove your innocence. You don't want Hong Tan to keep calling you guys garbage and traitors, right? That will affect the reputation of the eight families and the Knowledge Seeking Realm. Your credibility will drop. It's not a good thing for you."

"Lord!" The youth with white brows said, "We cultivate the secret cultivation methods of our Invincible ancestors. We also know a lot of family secrets. It is inappropriate to search our memories. It's not that we're not cooperating, but it's really inappropriate."

"That's right. Lord, we are all Invincible descendants and Sunmoons. Why would people with our status collude with the cult? What can the cult even give us?"

The Sunmoons protested vehemently. Nobody would agree to have their memories searched. Even a regular person wouldn't, much less people like them who were Sunmoons, Invincible descendants, and rulers of the holy land.

The smile on Silk Destroying King's face vanished as he said, "That will only make investigation more difficult. You guys disagree while Feng Ji feels like it's inappropriate. Why don't we question the dead, then? But most of the victims had died without leaving an intact corpse behind. If there is any blood left behind, I can try to reconstruct the past, but this won't be too accurate and helpful. It will only show us several scenes. We have no way of guaranteeing that these scenes are genuine or planted."

The youth with white eyebrows frowned and said, "Lord, we have to be flexible when it matters. Feng Ji has the biggest suspicion. And he did admit to being the murderer before retracting his testimony. I believe we should search his memories to verify the authenticity of his words."

Marquis Xia sighed and said, "Alright, it's pointless to argue. Let's vote on it. Those from the two holy lands can vote for it. It has been many years since we opened a voting session. We have three Invincibles and many Invincible descendants present. Even the representatives of the various prefectures are here. We can vote for it. The minority will obey the majority. Nobody can say no to the voting result. After all, the big picture is the most important of all."

"I propose three alternatives to be put into a vote. Firstly, search Feng Ji's memories. Secondly, search the memories of both Feng Ji and the eight Sunmoons. Thirdly, we don't search anyone’s memories and take it slow with the case. What do you think, everyone?"

"..."

Some people had odd expressions when they heard that. Marquis Xia continued, "The representatives of the thirty-six prefectures are here. They are entitled to thirty-six votes. As for the two holy lands, there are thirty-eight of them here, so each of them will get a vote as well. Wait, since the Silk Destroying King does not have a prefecture, he doesn't have a subordinate to vote for him. We will give him one vote as well."

With an odd look in his eyes, Silk Destroying King asked, "What if we end up with a tie for all three alternatives?"

Marquis Xia smiled, "We need a lot of coincidence for that to happen. It is unlikely, but if it really ends up that way..."

Marquis Xia rubbed his chin and waited for a bit before looking at Zhao Tianbing and said, "We will have the weaponsmiths act as the tiebreaker. They will vote on behalf of the Heavenly Forge King. What do you think, lords? Heavenly Forge King does not have a prefecture as well, but all weaponsmiths view him as the leader. With so many earth weaponsmiths present, I believe they can represent the weaponsmith field as a whole."

Silk Destroying King smiled and said, "Forty votes? This is almost comparable to the voting session held back then to decide if we should ally ourselves with the immortals. Interesting. I still remember how back then, Great Qin King and a few others told us to vote if we want to ally with the immortals and fight the divines and devils until the very end. What a surprise that we're doing it again for this matter."

Marquis Xia said, "It's also fine if we don't vote. The three of you can make the final decision, lords."

With three Invincibles present, they could make a decision without voting. But what choice should they make?

Great Han King was straightforward, "We vote."

He did not want to make a call immediately. But the three options proposed by Marquis Xia were all terrible options. Because at the moment, Feng Ji represented Xia Family.

And on the other side were the eight families. Hong Tan had directly pushed them opposite of the Xia Family. It might seem like they were voting on a solution to the murder case, but in truth...Great Han King gave Marquis Xia a deep look.

Rather than calling this a vote to determine what to do with Feng Ji, it would be more apt to say that this was a vote for the Xia Family to get a clear look at things. This would help them see clearly the current situation in the Human Realm. Who would the other powers support?

If the Xia Family could obtain majority support, they might as well stop the investigation. It was very likely that ultimately, the case would end without a proper conclusion. It was very likely that the Xia Family would step forth and protect Feng Ji.

Great Han King sighed inwardly. Had humanity fallen this far? Internally, they had completely split apart. The three proposed options represented three groups of people: those supportive of the Xia Family, those antagonistic toward the Xia Family, and those who were neutral. This voting would make the stand of every power clear.

Hong Tan suddenly said, "Why is searching only the memories of the eight family Sunmoons not one of the options? Isn't this somewhat unfair?"

Marquis Xia rolled his eyes, "Cut the crap. The eight Sunmoons are minor suspects compared to Feng Ji. No matter the result, Feng Ji's memories will be searched. Don't ask for too much."

He then looked at Yuan Qingdong and said, "Am I right? Regardless of whether you guys will be investigated, Feng Ji will be there alongside you guys. This way, we can ensure fairness."

Yuan Qingdong and the others had unsightly expressions. So in the end, all of them were being implicated. Were they really supposed to allow that to happen if the second option obtained the majority vote?

While they were still hesitating, Silk Destroying King spoke impatiently, "That's settled, then. If you disagree, we will lock Feng Ji up for now while we search for the real murderer. He won't be released until the real murderer is found. Is this option preferable for you?"

Before they could say anything, Silk Destroying King coldly said, "We're busy people. We don't have the time to waste with all of you. This is the perfect way to ensure fairness to all parties involved. If you still can't agree to this, we won't waste more time on this case. You guys can deal with it yourself."

Everyone shut their mouths. At this point, they would only offend Silk Destroying King if they kept bickering.

"Let's proceed with the vote."

With a wave of Silk Destroying King's hand, thirty-nine jade talismans flew out. Thirty-six of them flew to the representatives of the prefectures. The two holy land representatives received two of the jade talismans while the final talisman flew toward the weaponsmiths.

The last vote belonged to Silk Destroying King himself. As for Great Han King and Great Song King, the representatives of their prefectures were present so they acted like a pure observer.

Marquis Xia smiled and said, "Everyone, please write one, two, or three on your talismans. If you need help to make this decision, you may contact your prefects. We will be collecting the jade talismans after half an hour."

Silence enveloped the hall. A lot of the representatives took out their voice transmission talismans and started contacting their prefects. This was not something they could decide on.

Marquis Xia added, "Don't worry. All votes will remain anonymous. Of course, Silk Destroying King knows all the votes so we have to rely on him to maintain secrecy."

"That is only natural."

Silk Destroying King laid down on his chair and glanced at the two beside him before sending a voice transmission, "Isn't this interesting?"

The two ignored him. This was definitely not interesting. Rather, it was very troublesome. Both the Xia Family and Silk Destroying King were the same. They were super troublemakers.