Douluo Continent II: The Peerless Tang Sect: I, Huo Yuhao, join the Sun Moon Sect

He Caitou felt somewhat uncomfortable under the hostages' gazes. He wanted to explain that he had not betrayed Shrek Academy, but he suppressed his thoughts, since there was no point in arguing with these hostages.

Afterwards, He Caitou led these people out of the water prison and found Old Song. With Huo Yuhao's secret help, He Caitou had a relatively smooth journey.

"Who are these people?" Old Song looked at the group of men in black robes that He Caitou had brought and immediately showed a look of surprise.

"Old Song, they are all hostages. Here's what happened..."

Chapter 510 Elder Mu, the traitor is Yan Shaozhe!

He Caitou began to recount his experiences.

The experience was simple: he wandered around Sunrise City and discovered a mysterious evil spirit master. He then secretly followed the master to the water dungeon, found the hostage, and killed the evil spirit master and the other evil spirit masters in the water dungeon through a sneak attack. Fortunately, the powerful members of the Holy Spirit Cult were not in the water dungeon.

Therefore, he successfully rescued the hostages imprisoned in the water dungeon and brought them to find Old Song.

Yes, it does sound ridiculous. Even He Caitou himself felt that his so-called experience of rescuing hostages was not very credible.

However, since the other hostages would testify to his statement, he had saved the hostages in this way. Whether he believed it or not was unimportant; what mattered was that others believed it.

At this moment, Old Song was shocked. She did not doubt He Caitou's statement. He was a student of Shrek Academy and the trainer of the Extreme Individual Soldier Project. He was trustworthy and would not deceive her on such a matter.

She was quite pleased and praised, "He Caitou, you have done a great service. When we return to the academy, I will recommend you for commendation at the Sea God Pavilion meeting. The academy has never been stingy with rewards for students who have made contributions! And Douluo Three Kingdoms will also reward your actions."

"Hmm!" He Caitou nodded, then asked, "By the way, Elder Song, I discovered that Tang Ya is also in Risheng City. So, do you want to take action now and rescue Tang Ya as well?"

He did see Tang Ya on his way back, but Tang Ya was being surrounded by a group of evil soul masters and flying towards the water prison. He guessed that the Blue Silver Saintess would soon be furious because the hostage had disappeared.

Because there were too many hostages, he did not attempt to rescue Tang Ya directly in order to avoid complications.

"Tang Ya is also in Sunrise City?" Old Song frowned, and after a moment, he made a decision. "I will go and find out the situation. If the situation is right, I will immediately rescue her. If the situation is not right, then we will send the hostage out of Sunrise City first, and let the spies from Shrek Academy and Douluo Three Kingdoms help them leave the Sun Moon Empire, and then we will proceed slowly."

Of course, you shouldn't tell Beibei about seeing Tang Ya right now, otherwise, I'm afraid he might do something irrational.

He Caitou pondered for a moment, then said, "Old Song is right!"

........

Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion.

The autumn wind was chilly, and the once smooth, mirror-like surface of the lake outside the pavilion was now ruffled by the wind. The mood of the people inside the pavilion, like the lake water, was no longer calm.

Moon sat in the chair, his hands, veins bulging, gripping the armrests tightly. Cracks appeared on the armrests, spreading out like a spider web.

He gazed at the elders of the Sea God Pavilion, took a deep breath, and tried his best to calm himself down. He said, "So, Xiao Zhuang and Xiao Lin both died at the border of the Sun and Moon, and you chose to make a strategic retreat in order to preserve your strength as much as possible. And this retreat led you all the way to Shrek Academy? I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation."

He knew very well that, from the perspective of the academy's overall interests, since Xiao Zhuang and Xiao Lin were both dead, and there were no casualties at the Sun and Moon Border, it was enough to show that the gap in strength between the two sides was huge. Therefore, this team composed of elders should not continue to entangle with the Sun and Moon experts at the border, but should choose to make a strategic retreat.

But is it really necessary to retreat to Shrek Academy? Could it be that those Sun and Moon level experts are really that terrifying, scaring these seasoned elders out of their wits?

Yan Shaozhe looked at Mu En and said with dissatisfaction, "Teacher, all of this is because of Elder Xuan. If Elder Xuan hadn't insisted, I think we wouldn't have needed to return to Shrek Academy at all."

Although we elders are no match for the Sun and Moon Realm experts, we can still occasionally make our presence felt at the border, letting those Sun and Moon Realm experts know that we are there!

Although there are some risks involved, as long as you are careful and avoid fighting, you can still attract the attention of those powerful beings at the Sun and Moon levels!

In this way, we could provide some assistance to Elder Song and his team, allowing them to continue their mission. However, Elder Xuan is determined to insist that we return to the academy. He even claimed that he had already arranged for people to convey the order to retreat to Elder Song and his team. Does this mean our entire operation has been fruitless?

Mu En nodded, feeling that Yan Shaozhe's words made sense, but Xuanzi's actions seemed out of place, so he immediately looked at Xuanzi, hoping that the other party could give an explanation.

Xuanzi's expression turned serious: "Elder Song, it's not that I don't want to do this, but if I do, there will be traitors among the elders who will take this opportunity to completely annihilate me and the other elders who care about the academy!"

This is undoubtedly a huge loss for the academy, and in the current tense situation, it may even shake the foundation of Shrek Academy's long-standing legacy.

Therefore, I led the elders on a grueling journey back to the academy, all to eliminate the traitor within the academy and restore order. Only by eliminating the internal traitor can we concentrate our efforts on dealing with external enemies.

A traitor within the ranks of the elders?

A look of surprise appeared on Mu En's face. He didn't understand why Xuanzi would say such a thing. The elders within the academy had gone through layers of selection and had been nurtured by the spirit of Shrek Academy. Therefore, the elders were basically loyal to the academy and put the interests of the academy first. How could they possibly betray the academy?

But the other party spoke with such certainty, as if he really knew who the traitor was among the elders. For a moment, Mu En also began to wonder who the traitor really was.

The other elders were also stunned, completely unexpected that Xuanzi would say such a thing. For a moment, the other elders looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Who is the traitor?" Moon asked instinctively, preferring to believe it rather than not.

After all, if a traitor were to emerge from among the elders, the damage he would cause to the academy would be immeasurable. Not only would the enemy be able to obtain information about the academy's internal affairs, but the academy's strongest members could also be betrayed by this traitor.

Xuanzi confidently stated, "Based on my observations and the evidence I currently possess, I can confirm that the traitor is Yan Shaozhe! Elder Mu, I urge you to follow the academy's rules and ensure that the traitor receives the punishment he deserves!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mu En looked astonished and found it hard to believe. How could his student Yan Shaozhe be a traitor? Xuanzi had practically watched Yan Shaozhe grow up, and the two had an excellent relationship. Logically speaking, Xuanzi had no reason to frame Yan Shaozhe.

Yan Shaozhe was completely dumbfounded. He didn't know why Xuanzi would frame him. At this moment, he didn't care about his personal relationship with Xuanzi anymore and shouted, "Elder Xuan! How can you make false accusations? How could I be a traitor!"

At this moment, Cai Meier and Xian Lin'er, who were originally dissatisfied with Feng Ling and Yan Shaozhe's intimate behavior, also frowned, somewhat displeased with Xuanzi's indiscriminate slander.

Chapter 511 Evidence of Xuanzi

Considering that Xuanzi had always been a staunch supporter of Shrek Academy's Martial Soul Department, Cai Meier suppressed her dissatisfaction and began to smooth things over: "Elder Xuan, I believe in Shao Zhe. He has always been loyal to Shrek Academy and could never be a traitor. So, is there some misunderstanding about this?"

Xuanzi glanced at Cai Meier and sneered, "Misunderstanding? How could there be a misunderstanding! Yan Shaozhe knows very well what he has done. I am 90% certain that Yan Shaozhe is a traitor to Shrek Academy! If Yan Shaozhe is not a traitor, I will resign from the Sea God Pavilion immediately!"

Cai Meier was speechless for a moment, and the atmosphere inside the Sea God Pavilion became increasingly heavy.

Yan Shaozhe's face grew increasingly grim. He was pondering why Xuanzi was so adamant that he was a traitor. After much thought, he wondered if Xuanzi had found out that his teacher was planning to groom him to be the next head of the Sea God Pavilion.

Previously, because Xuanzi did a series of things "for the good of the academy" but caused bad consequences, the teachers were very disappointed in Xuan Lao and decided to let themselves replace Xuan Lao and become the next head of the Sea God Pavilion.

If it's true that Elder Xuan lost his composure because of this incident, harbored resentment towards me, and falsely accused me of being a traitor to Shrek Academy in an attempt to bring me down, that's quite possible. After all, Elder Xuan had been the successor to the Sea God Pavilion Master for decades, and it's natural that he would be extremely dissatisfied to have his position suddenly taken away.

The problem is that only he and his teacher know about this. His teacher will not spread it outside, and he will keep it a secret. After all, in terms of current strength, Elder Xuan is indeed more suitable to be the head of the Sea God Pavilion than he is.

Even Xianlin'er, sitting across the table, was frowning.

Although she always thought Yan Shaozhe was a womanizer, and was extremely dissatisfied with his behavior of flirting with other women even when they were dating.

But she felt that Yan Shaozhe could never betray the academy. As a disciple of Elder Mu and a powerful elder of the Sea God Pavilion, what would Yan Shaozhe gain by betraying the academy?

Could it be that because Yan Shaozhe's Martial Soul True Body injured Elder Xuan, Elder Xuan harbored resentment and attempted to retaliate by framing Yan Shaozhe for betraying the academy?

According to Elder Xuan, wasn't it because of Kong Deming's mental attack that he lost his focus for a moment, only using a small amount of soul power to protect himself, which ultimately led to the injury?

Although Shao Zhe made some mistakes in this matter, he didn't do it on purpose. Besides, when did Elder Xuan become so petty?

The more she thought about it, the more confused she became, wondering what Xuanzi's purpose was in framing Xuanzi.

Mu En's gaze swept across the faces of the elders. He sighed helplessly and finally said, "Alright, Xuanzi, if you can really produce evidence to prove that Shao Zhe is a traitor, I will naturally deal with Shao Zhe. But if you can't produce any evidence at all, then I can assume that you are slandering Shao Zhe."

In fact, he still tends to believe Yan Shaozhe rather than Xuanzi. After all, Xuanzi has made too many mistakes, making him hard to trust. Perhaps the "traitor Yan Shaozhe" incident that Xuanzi claims is just a misunderstanding of Yan Shaozhe.

Upon hearing this, Xuanzi said confidently, "Elder Mu, rest assured, of course I have evidence. You will soon find out that I am not slandering Yan Shaozhe at all! Now I will present my analysis at the Sea God Pavilion meeting."

"Our rescue operation was ambushed by Kong Deming's team, who should have been in Mingdu, which led to the deaths of Xiaolin and Xiaozhuang. Through this incident, I can confirm that a high-ranking member of the academy leaked information to the Sun Moon Empire!"

After all, although some people in the Douluo Three Kingdoms knew about our rescue operation, only the academy's higher-ups knew the exact timing of its execution. If there wasn't a traitor, how could Kong Deming have appeared at the Sun-Moon Border? Surely it couldn't be because he had some kind of precognitive ability?

Upon hearing this, Mu En fell into thought and felt that Xuanzi's words were indeed reasonable. With the strength that Kong Deming had shown so far, he should have been stationed in Mingdu to stabilize the situation. He should not have appeared at the Sun and Moon Border at that time to carry out a precise ambush on the Shrek elders.

So, Shrek Academy really has a traitor?

Qian Duoduo murmured, "What Elder Xuan said makes sense. If there were no traitors, how could Kong Deming have appeared at the border of the Sun and Moon? As long as Kong Deming doesn't appear, our operation should go smoothly, and Elder Lin and Elder Zhuang won't die."

As he spoke, his eyes involuntarily reddened. The deaths of Elder Lin and Elder Zhuang had been a great blow to him.

After all, these two elders were his seniors who had helped him.

But he could only watch helplessly as the senior who had helped him was killed, which undoubtedly caused him great pain.

The other elders, at this moment, also realized that Xuanzi's words were indeed correct.

Moon said, "Based on this alone, we cannot conclude that Shao Zhe is the traitor you mentioned."

However, he had already decided that once the Sea God Pavilion meeting ended, he would thoroughly investigate the academy and find out this damned traitor. After all, the existence of a traitor would harm the interests of Shrek Academy.

Xuanzi continued, "Elder Mu, I haven't finished listing my evidence yet. While everyone was burning their life force and preparing to fight to the death, Yan Shaozhe cowered and didn't burn his life force. Moreover, he was rescued from the soul guide shield by Feng Ling."

Feng Ling is the vice leader of the Holy Spirit Cult, a powerful evil soul master at the Super Douluo level. Given the terrible relationship between the academy and evil soul masters, she is undoubtedly an enemy of Shrek Academy! Yet, this enemy has extended a helping hand to Yan Shaozhe!

Moreover, even the soul-guided cannons from the Sun Moon Empire did not attack Yan Shaozhe after he was rescued!

As he spoke, he scanned the elders around, his gaze sharp as a knife: "Everyone can think carefully about what I've said. Is there any falsehood in it?"

The elders fell into thought. Xuanzi's words were indeed correct. Even the detail that Yan Shaozhe was not attacked by the soul-guided cannon after being rescued was gradually recalled by some of the elders. They looked at Yan Shaozhe and felt that Yan Shaozhe was indeed highly suspicious.

Even Cai Meier and Xian Lin'er, who firmly trusted Yan Shaozhe, changed their gaze towards him at this moment. Some things, if not pointed out by others, might be subconsciously ignored, and attention would be focused on other aspects. But once such things are pointed out, one can quickly sense that something is wrong.

Mu En noticed the expressions on everyone's faces. His gaze immediately focused on Yan Shaozhe, and he said sternly, "Shaozhe, is what Xuanzi said just now true? Back then, you let Fengling go, which was a huge mistake. I punished you with three years of confinement, just to make you reflect on your mistakes and to cut off all ties with Fengling. Could it be that you still have some contact with Fengling now?"

Yan Shaozhe's expression changed slightly. Feeling the sharp, dagger-like gazes of the crowd, he immediately said, "Teacher, how could I possibly have any connection with Feng Ling? I haven't seen her for many years."

"I can explain the question raised by Elder Xuan."

Chapter 512 Yan Shaozhe: Elder Xuan, you are the traitor!

He cleared his throat and continued, "First of all, the reason I didn't ignite the flame of life at that time was because I was ambushed by a spiritual soul skill."

At that time, I had a headache and blurred vision, and I couldn't concentrate on burning my life force. Otherwise, I would definitely have done the same as the other elders, burning my life force and attacking the soul-guiding light barrier.

"I really didn't know about Fengling saving me beforehand. I haven't been in contact with Fengling for many years. Even if I were really a traitor, why would I leave such an obvious flaw?"

As for the fact that the soul-guided cannonballs didn't hit me, to be honest, I think it might be because I was standing with Feng Ling at the time, and the Sun Moon Empire didn't need to attack Feng Ling as well.

After all, as you all know, the Holy Spirit Cult was able to send evil spirit masters to participate in the tournament hosted by the Sun Moon Empire. This is undoubtedly unprecedented in the history of the Soul Fighting Tournament. This is enough to show that the Holy Spirit Cult and the Sun Moon Empire have a close relationship, and perhaps even a deep cooperation. The Sun Moon Empire has absolutely no reason to attack its partner.

Upon hearing this, Cai Meier, Xian Liner, and Qian Duoduo all felt that Yan Shaozhe's words made some sense.

But Xuanzi didn't think so.

He felt that Yan Shaozhe was trying to make amends for his series of betrayals. What good were his sweet words? They couldn't change the fact that Yan Shaozhe had betrayed Shrek Academy.

Traitors must be dealt with decisively, without regard for past reputations. Even if it means tearing apart relations, I'm willing to do anything for the benefit of Shrek Academy!

Xuanzi snorted and said, "Eloquent tongue! Then why did you let Feng Ling go the second time? Your Bright Phoenix Martial Soul is inherently restrained by Evil Martial Souls. In addition, Feng Ling gave up resisting at the time. If you wanted, you could have killed Feng Ling quickly and eliminated a scourge for Douluo Continent."

But what did you do? You chose to let Feng Ling go again! If a Super Douluo-level evil soul master survives, more lives will inevitably die because of her. After all, the bloodthirsty nature of evil soul masters is hard to change. Do you really want to see the Douluo Continent devastated?

With such a huge accusation pinned on him, Yan Shaozhe naturally refused to accept it. He said angrily, "Elder Xuan, the main reason I let Feng Ling go was to save you as soon as possible. Evil Soul Masters are extremely cunning. Although she did not resist openly at that time, what if she had already prepared to fight back in secret?"

Wouldn't that mean I'd get caught up in a fight with her? How could I then help you escape the soul-guiding light shield? Of course, while the shattering of the soul-guiding light shield wasn't my fault, my intentions were good; it's just that plans often change!

Yan Shaozhe grew angrier as he spoke. He was not a traitor at all; he was innocent. But Xuanzi kept pressing him, insisting that he was a traitor and providing all sorts of evidence to prove it. Undoubtedly, this was a frame-up.

Being falsely accused is undoubtedly an extremely unpleasant feeling.