Published: February 12, 2025
“The Star-Eye Clan did it!”
The speaker was Barodri, the leader of the Radiant Tang Clan.
The other eight clan leaders exchanged glances, all understanding the situation. The Radiant Tang Clan and the Star-Eye Clan were sworn enemies. Naturally, when something happened, they would want to shift the blame entirely onto the Star-Eye Clan.
Of the remaining seven clans, three didn’t care. If the true culprit couldn’t be found quickly, it didn’t matter who they framed. Blaming the Star-Eye Clan was also a good option since they were on the brink of extinction anyway; it was just a case of making use of waste.
Choosing the Star-Eye Clan as the scapegoat had another advantage: one of their members had just achieved the first rank in the novice category, gaining a considerable amount of good items, which meant there was still some benefit to be had for the Hall People.
However, a few others were somewhat displeased.
“Are you trying to treat the Hall People as fools?”
The speaker was Erku Zhongken, the leader of Erkudede Star. Their clan’s strength was relatively strong among the eight. Erku Zhongken's son was currently the leader of the First City Guard, responsible for the safety of Dark Strip City. If they were to be held accountable, the Erkudede people would certainly be implicated.
The more this situation unfolded, the more seriously they took it compared to the other clans. If the Hall People felt that they were being dismissed, the first to bear their wrath would undoubtedly be the Erkudede people.
“What do you mean?” Barodri replied, displeased.
By saying it was the Star-Eye Clan, he was clearly implying that he wanted to pin the blame on those detestable assassins, and everyone was in tacit agreement. As clans within the same city and alliance, was it necessary to be so disrespectful in their rebuttal over such a matter?
“I mean, you’re treating the Hall People like fools, don’t drag us down with you!” Erku Zhongken snorted, looking at everyone and saying, “Think about it, the Hall team that came here is made up of whom? It’s Lilaithia, whose publicly known fuleira index has exceeded seventy thousand. And his subordinates? They are the elite team of the Hall merchant group. Lilaithia’s deputy fuleira exceeds sixty thousand, and the rest of the members average above thirty thousand. With such a team, do you think it was done by the Star-Eye Clan, whose strongest expert is only over fifty thousand fuleira? Or do you think they silently slaughtered everyone present? If that’s not treating the Hall People like fools, what is? If they turn their anger on us, can you handle it?”
Erku Zhongken didn’t hold back, directly criticizing Barodri’s selfishness. After hearing this, the others seemed to agree.
While the Star-Eye Clan could potentially carry out such an act with their full strength, it was impossible to do so silently. There would definitely be signs of a large-scale mobilization, and their main figures would have to be involved.
However, according to everyone’s knowledge, on that day, the strongest fighting force of the Star-Eye Clan, the golden masked warrior commander Cheng Liujin, was hosting a banquet with some of the eight clan leaders at the city’s most famous restaurant, thanking them for their support regarding the attack on the Xue Huo people’s transport team.
The only strong experts the Star-Eye Clan could muster were the two leaders and Bashiru and Cheng Liujin, a mere six or seven people. With two or three individuals having clear alibis, how could the Star-Eye Clan possibly have the capability to kill the Hall team and over a hundred high-ranking heirs and guards equivalent to their golden warriors?
“But everyone knows the Long Void Water Clan has a very good relationship with that novice first. Many of the recent assassinations in Dark Strip City have led everyone to speculate that the purpose was to provide cover for the Long Void Water Clan. If that’s the case, helping the Long Void Water Clan's slaves escape, isn’t that an obvious motive?”