From the Abyss Invasion to the Blasting Star.

Chapter 238: A Showdown Without a Blade
This Elder Gru shattered Chief Darkville's trust in Lu Heng with just a few words.

Lu Heng watched the whole process and admired Elder Gelug's ability to control the situation.

Just a few words from Elder Gru made Chief Darkville suspicious of Lu Heng. Others might not have felt it obviously, but Lu Heng clearly felt the hostility from Elder Gru.

Just a few minutes.

Lu Heng went from being a trusted ally of the tribal leader to a suspicious outsider.

If you still don't feel any hostility, then there's something wrong with your brain.

It was precisely because of this hostility that Lu Heng re-examined Elder Gelug.

Elder Gru looked up and observed Lu Heng for a moment, then said to Chief Darkwell, "Chief, why don't we ask him how he got the former chief's ashes back from Black Rock City."

Darkwell III was so excited that he did not ask Lu Heng about the process. When he was reminded, he asked, "Lu Heng, how did you retrieve the ashes? Can you tell us again?"

His attitude did not change 180 degrees. He still remained friendly to Lu Heng, but remained somewhat wary.

Lu Heng paced at the entrance of the hall, thinking about a few key questions, and then began to describe the process of entering Black Stone City to retrieve the ashes.

Among them, the part about thanking the teacher was omitted.

The matter of taking the ashes has no substantial connection with thanking the teacher.

There's no need to involve another person with special abilities, which will only complicate things and require explanations later.

After listening to this, Elder Gru asked, "Did you sneak into Black Rock City alone, and then escape alone?"

Lu Heng nodded in response.

Elder Gru turned to Darkwell and said, "Chief, what do you think after listening to this? The whole process was too smooth. It took us three years, and only the chief entered Blackrock City once through the secret passage in the mine.

“But this outsider entered so easily, and after obtaining the ashes, he was able to escape so easily under the seal of the ancestor of the blood demon.

"Don't you think, Chief, that this is going so smoothly it's unusual?"

The Dark Iron Tribe of Darkville and the Blood Demons have been fighting for three years, and Darkville knows all too well how difficult it is to deal with this group of Blood Demons.

Therefore, he also felt that the process described by Lu Heng was too simple.

Deep down, he was unwilling to believe that what he couldn't do could be easily done by others.

This psychology is very subtle.

Lu Heng thought for a moment and asked, "What do you think of the guards at Dili Fort?"

"Of course it is heavily guarded." Darkwill answered as a matter of course.

"Then shouldn't I also enter Dili Fort and meet the leader?" Lu Heng kept a calm expression on his face.

Darkwell nodded and said, "Indeed, Lu Heng has the ability. Although the process sounds simple, he is indeed capable of doing it."

Lu Heng looked at Elder Gelug and asked, "Elder, do you have any other questions?"

Elder Gru shook his head and replied, "Not for now."

"Since you don't have any, it's my turn."

Lu Heng paused, looked at Darkwell, and asked, "Leader, do you remember what I said just now? I saw a figure wearing a black cloak in the Blood Sacrifice Tower in Black Stone City. I suspect that this cloaked man is a traitor of the Black Iron Tribe."

Elder Gru questioned, "I remember you said just now that this cloaked man was as tall as a blood demon. How come he has now become a traitor to the Dark Iron Tribe? The tallest man in our tribe is far from being this tall."

Darkwill nodded in agreement, "Yes, I remember clearly that you said that this cloaked man was very tall."

Elder Gru sneered, “Outsider, you don’t want to change your words.”

"Don't worry."

Lu Heng walked outside the ancestral hall, picked up a stick, brought it back to compare the length, and then placed it upright next to the lava turtle at the door.

Then, he used his fingernail to scratch a line on the stick at the height of the lava turtle.

Then, Lu Heng came back with the stick, held it upright next to Elder Gru's head, and said, "Elder, with this height, you are just about the same height as the cloaked man."

This behavior is actually a bit rude.

Elder Gelug angrily slapped Lu Heng's hand away and snorted, "What do you want to say?"

Lu Heng took a deep breath and said, “At the beginning, when I saw the cloaked man, my guess was overturned.

"Until I saw this lava turtle, I realized that its height is just right. How about Elder Gru try standing on the lava turtle?"

Elder Gru snorted coldly and shouted angrily: "Do you doubt me?"

"Don't worry, we'll sort out the clues one by one."

Lu Heng looked at Darkwell and said, "Captain Darkwell, do you remember the clues we just investigated?

"When you sent someone to invite Elder Gelug, you invited him back from outside the Fortress. In other words, Elder Gelug was not in the Fortress before."

Elder Gru snorted coldly, "I live in the Wizard Mountain behind the Sharpening Castle. I am the most powerful wizard in the tribe. When I practice black magic, it is easy to hurt others. Naturally, I cannot live in the castle."

Darkwill nodded and confirmed, "Yes, Elder Gru doesn't live in the castle because he wants to practice black magic."

Lu Heng continued, "That's right. As we just said, this traitor left Dilibao and went to Blackstone City before noon yesterday. The leader has been investigating the scouts in the tribe, but he has never mentioned this Elder Gelug."

Darkwill was stunned for a moment, but he couldn't believe this speculation in his heart, and looked at Elder Gru with complicated eyes.

Elder Gru immediately shouted angrily, "Outsider, how dare you slander me! Chief, are you going to believe an outsider's slander against the tribal elders?"

Without waiting for Darkwell to speak, Lu Heng said loudly: “Chief Darkwell, you should know better than me that your father died of black witchcraft.

"I believe you should know what kind of dark wizard has the ability to kill your father. There shouldn't be many dark wizards in the Dark Iron Tribe who have the ability to hurt your father, right?"

As soon as these words came out.

Darkvir III was stunned again.

Because his father himself mastered powerful black magic, there were indeed not many people in the tribe who could use black magic to kill his father.

This changed the way Darkwill III looked at Elder Gru.

Elder Gru shouted angrily: "Chief, do you want to lead the Black Iron Tribe to destruction? How can you believe the words of an outsider!"

The Dark Iron Dwarves outside the Ancestral Hall also echoed: "Yes, Chief, Elder Gru is the dark wizard of our tribe and our elder. He has always been guarding the Fortress of Sharpening."

At this moment, Lu Heng was almost certain that the cloaked man in the blood sacrifice tower was Elder Gru in front of him, but it was very difficult to make these Dark Iron Dwarves believe this. After all, Elder Gru was of the same race as them, and Lu Heng was an outsider who was recruited.

Lu Heng knew that he had to come up with more powerful evidence at this time, otherwise he would never be able to bring down the elder of the Black Iron Tribe.

When I met Darkvir III before, I heard him talk about the process of the tribe migrating to the lava plains and building Blackrock City in the Blackrock Mine.

Lu Heng also heard about the fall of Blackrock City three years ago from Darkwell.

Lu Heng thought for a moment and asked, "Chief Darkville, I have a question. Three years ago, when you returned to the Lava Plain and found that Blackrock City had fallen, did you immediately start to gather your people and rebuild the tribe?"

Darkwill nodded and replied, "Yes, I gathered my people as soon as possible and brought everyone to Fortress of Refractory."

Lu Heng then asked, "So when did Chief Darkville find Elder Gru?"

Darkwill recalled and replied, "It was half a year after I led my people to the Fortress that Elder Gru found the Fortress."

Hearing this answer, Lu Heng nodded slowly, thought for a moment, pointed at the lava turtle, and testified in a very fast tone:
“When we were in Black Rock City, I don’t think anyone could guess why Elder Gru stood on the lava turtle?

“Because he was going to meet the bloody banshee, Salain, and he didn’t want to be that much shorter than Salain. So when they met, he had to stand on the lava turtle so that he could talk to Salain face to face.

“He needs this usual self-esteem of Sarain because he is fascinated by Sarain.

“I think you all know better than me what abilities the Blood Banshee has.

“Let me guess what happened three years ago.

“Our Elder Gru saw the bloody banshee Sarain one day and was deeply attracted by her beauty.

“He agreed to all of the Blood Banshee’s demands and launched a coup three years ago, killing the previous generation of leaders.

"Otherwise, with the solid walls of Black Stone City, how could the Blood Demons possibly break through?
"Let me make another bold guess. Leader Darkville was not in Blackrock City at the time. He was out on a mission..."

Lu Heng paused here, turned to look at Darkwell III, and asked: "Leader, I boldly guess that the reason you left Blackrock City at that time was that you were sent away by someone.

“Because you have the same great talent and strategy as your father, this traitor knows that if you are in Black Rock City, together with your father, even if the traitors work together from inside and outside, they will not be able to break through Black Rock City.

"So, the reason why the leader went out three years ago was probably planned by someone."

Darkwill frowned and glanced at Elder Gru, but did not speak to instruct him.

Seeing his expression, Lu Heng guessed that it was not Elder Gelug who asked him to leave three years ago.

As a tribal elder, if you want to send someone away, you don't need to show up in person.

Lu Heng continued, "Everyone, I think the warriors of the Black Iron Clan here must have immediately looked for your leader after the fall of Black Rock City three years ago, and regrouped to fight to regain their homeland, right?"

The Dark Iron Dwarves present recalled that period of history and all clenched their fists and said, "Of course! If Blackrock City had not been breached at that time and the former leader had not told us to flee before his death, we would definitely defend Blackrock City to the death."

Lu Heng turned around abruptly, pointed at Elder Gru, and asked, "Then why did Chief Darkwell gather his people and station them in Fortress of Sharpening after the fall of Blackrock City? Why did Elder Gru show up half a year later?

"As a tribal elder, after the fall of Blackrock City, shouldn't you have gathered your tribesmen immediately to welcome the young leader and rebuild the tribe?

"Why did this Elder Gelug disappear for half a year and then suddenly appear in Dilibao?"

Elder Gru opened his mouth to retort.

Lu Heng interrupted him harshly and shouted, "Captain Darkville, if I'm not mistaken, Elder Gru only showed up after your first counterattack on Black Rock City, right?"

"This... is indeed..." Darkville III recalled what happened three years ago and found that Lu Heng's guess was exactly right.

Lu Heng continued, “Then why did Elder Gelug only appear after the first counterattack on Black Stone City?
“The reason is very simple. During that half year, he was always a slave to the bloody banshee Sarain.

“After Chief Darkville’s first counterattack on Blackstone City, the Blood Demons discovered that the Dark Iron Tribe was still very powerful.

"So half a year later, Salain sent Elder Gru back to monitor the actions of the Dark Iron Tribe!"

These words were powerful, and every detail matched what happened to the Dark Iron Tribe.

This made Darkwill III's look towards Elder Gru more and more complicated.

Elder Gru angrily shouted, "Nonsense! Chief, are you going to listen to the words of an outsider? He is slandering the elders of the Black Iron Tribe! Can it be that my decades of dedication to the tribe are not worth a few questions from an outsider?"

The Dark Iron Dwarves present looked at each other with doubt in their eyes.

Because after listening to Lu Heng's analysis, they found that Elder Gru was indeed suspicious, but it seemed that the evidence was not sufficient to judge him as a traitor just because he had been missing for half a year.

Elder Gru pointed at Lu Heng's nose and shouted angrily: "What this outsider said is all his guesses. He has no evidence at all! If he can successfully slander an elder like this, does the tribe still have a future?"

Although Lu Heng's inferences matched what the Black Iron Tribe had experienced, there was a key issue that had not been resolved, and that was the evidence.

So far, there is no evidence to prove that Elder Gru is a traitor.

Just as the Dark Iron Dwarves present were discussing among themselves.

Su Muyu walked into the hall, leaned close to Lu Heng's ear, and whispered something.

Lu Heng gave her a thumbs up, then turned to Darkwell III and said, "Elder Gru was bewitched by the bloody banshee, Sa'lain. So he must have kept Sa'lain's belongings on him, allowing him to smell Sa'lain's scent at all times."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the Dark Iron Dwarves looked at Elder Gru.

Elder Gru became even more furious. He tore open his robe and shouted, "Come and search me! See if I have any of Sarain's belongings on me! Search me!"

The Dark Iron Dwarves present saw his reaction and immediately believed his words.

To be cautious, Darkwell III ordered his personal guards to search Elder Gru.

In the end, no items belonging to Sarain were found.

Darkwell III looked at Lu Heng and asked, "You said Elder Gru had items belonging to Salain. Now that we have searched him, what do you say?"

Lu Heng remained calm and said, "I didn't finish what I said just now. Elder Gru must have known that he came here today to investigate the cause of death of the former leader. Of course, he didn't dare to keep Salain's belongings on him.

"So, he hid Salain's belongings in his residence. We only need to send someone to search his residence to find them."

When Elder Gru heard this, he immediately shouted angrily: “You are talking nonsense!”

Lu Heng pulled the corner of his mouth and said, "Elder Gru, not only do I know that you have collected Salain's items, I also know what that item is. It is a bunch of Salain's... mane!"

Just now, Su Muyu was watching this fight without the flash of swords outside the hall, but he was not doing nothing.

When Lu Heng suspected Elder Gru, Su Muyu immediately released the Chongming Bird to look for key evidence on Wizard Mountain.

This was the message she had just heard in Lu Heng's ear.

(End of this chapter)