Chapter 285: Killing Traitors

Two days later, in the meeting hall of Qinghefang, all the foundation-building cultivators in Qinghe County, except Huang Sibo who had just built his foundation, had arrived here as scheduled.

Everyone sat together in the hall, and two Qi-refining cultivators were kneeling below them, trembling.

After a moment, Lu Yuanfeng stood up and pointed at the two people below and said, "Fellow Daoists, I have already checked the attack on Qinghefang this time. The person who informed the bandit cultivators was executed by Daoist Lu a few days ago. These two people were deceived by this person and accidentally leaked important secrets in our market several times."

Looking at the two people below, Song Qingming's face did not show any surprise. When Qinghefang sent troops to attack Yingchaoling a few years ago and returned without success, Song Qingming had already felt that something was wrong. There might be a traitor inside Qinghefang who was secretly informing these bandit cultivators.

At first, Song Qingming suspected that there might be something wrong with Lu Yuanfeng. After all, there was the precedent of Hu Maocai who was greedy for a few spiritual stones. It was very likely that those who had been stationed in Qinghefang for many years would be bribed by Yingchaoling.

But after the battle, Song Qingyu told him that Hu Maocai's men were very brave in the battle to defend the market, and even Hu Maocai himself died on the spot. Song Qingming immediately changed his mind and dispelled his suspicion of Lu Yuanfeng.

After this battle, not only Song Qingming, but almost everyone including Lu Yuanfeng began to suspect that there was a traitor in the market. Although everyone had not said it out loud, it was basically known to everyone.

The other side was very well prepared for this battle. Even if they did not expect Gao Yubai to be a variable, which led them to retreat in advance, they still robbed a lot of spiritual objects and retreated in one piece. Without sufficient intelligence, it would be difficult for them to calculate the time just right.

After Lu Yuanfeng's vigorous investigation, the traitor was soon found out. This person was named Lu Pingjiang, an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator of the Lu family. He had been bribed by Cheng Yilong many years ago and had secretly sold many secrets of Qinghefang over the years.

Like Song Qingming, Lu Pingjiang was only a four-spiritual cultivator and was not valued by the family. After cultivating to the middle stage of Qi Refining, he was sent to Qinghefang by the Lu family to manage a shop for purchasing spiritual objects.

It stands to reason that it would be difficult for an ordinary cultivator like Lu Pingjiang with no status to control some core secrets of Qinghefang, but he was very good at making friends. Not only did he have a good relationship with the Lu family, but he also had a good relationship with many disciples under Lu Yuanfeng.

This time, Yingchao Ridge was able to successfully attack Qinghefang. This person can be said to have helped Cheng Yilong and his team a lot.

Without the information leaked by Lu Pingjiang, even if Cheng Yilong and his team could send people to sneak in, they would not be able to find the locations of several array veins in the market array so accurately. If the mountain protection array had not been attacked and remained intact, even if Lu Yuanfeng was not there, Song Qingyu could have led everyone to hold on until the reinforcements arrived.

The location of the array veins of the Qinghefang Mountain Protection Array is not known to the cultivators who usually come to Qinghefang. Only the two foundation-building cultivators guarding the market and several senior members of the law enforcement team know it. Among the cultivators in the Song family law enforcement team, only the thirteenth uncle Song Changxiong, who serves as the captain, knows the exact location of these array veins.

However, the Qinghefang Mountain Protection Array has not been changed for so many years. In addition to the Song family, the Huang, Gao, and Lu families have rotated for so many years, and many people know the location of the array veins. But compared with the cultivators of the four families, the disciples of Lu Yuanfeng are the ones who know this best. They are stationed in the market all year round, and most of them are already clear about the location of the array veins. Because of this, when Song Qingming suspected the traitor, he first thought that the problem might be with Lu Yuanfeng.

Although Song Qingming's guess was not accurate enough, the direction was still right. Among the people who leaked these important secrets to Lu Pingjiang, there was indeed a disciple of Lu Yuanfeng, but this guy didn't know that he had leaked the secrets of the market formation. He knelt below and looked at Lu Yuanfeng pitifully from time to time. He almost shouted that he was wronged. In the battle to guard the market a few days ago, he had been following Hu Maocai to fight bravely and suffered some injuries. He didn't expect that he was caught here just a few days after he was lucky to survive.

The reason why Lu Yuanfeng found out about this person was because he asked Lu Pingjiang. In addition to him, there was also a late-stage Qi-refining cultivator from the Lu family who was implicated. In fact, neither of them leaked secrets intentionally, including Lu Yuanfeng's visit to the Huang family to attend Huang Sibo's foundation-building ceremony. This was what Lu Pingjiang accidentally found out from Lu Yuanfeng's disciple when they were drinking.

These two people said that they were wronged, but it was not wrong. They couldn't control their mouths and said everything, which led to the attack on the market. Even if they didn't do it intentionally and killed so many people, even if they were killed directly at this time, it would be difficult for the Lu family and Lu Yuanfeng to come out to plead for mercy.

"Since it was unintentional, I think it's better to give them a little punishment and give them a chance to reform."

Lu Xingde couldn't plead for mercy, so he winked at Gao Jinhe. As an ally for many years, Gao Jinhe hesitated again and again and said something.

Seeing Gao Jinhe beside him suddenly speak up to plead for Lu Xingde, not only Song Qingming did not expect it, but even Gao Yubai, who was sitting next to him, showed a hint of surprise on his face.

Before taking back the market, Gao Yubai and Cheng Yilong, the boss of Yingchao Ridge, had a battle. Unfortunately, facing Cheng Yilong, whose cultivation had reached the eighth level of foundation building, Gao Yubai's cultivation was still a little bit behind the other party. In the end, he still couldn't keep them. When Song Qingming and others came to support him, he was also injured. For this reason, Gao Yubai still supported the severe punishment of this matter in his heart, but now his elders suddenly spoke up for mercy. Although Gao Yubai was a little unhappy in his heart, he still held back and didn't speak.

"With so many lives involved in the market, how can we convince the public in the future if we just give them some punishment?"

"Fellow Daoist Song is right. In this battle, our Huang family lost five lives. This cannot be solved with just one sentence. Don't you think so, fellow Daoist Lu?"

Seeing that Song Qingming took the initiative to stand up and oppose the Gao family's statement, Huang Shengyue naturally followed suit. The Huang family suffered the greatest loss among the four families this time. They have the most shops in the market, so they naturally became the one that suffered the most spiritual objects in this turmoil.

"I also agree that they should be severely punished. Not only them, but we, as elders, have also been responsible for not being able to discipline them well, and we should also learn some lessons."