Chapter 2690: Chapter 2691: Selfish and Sinister

Earlier, Tian Ning suddenly attempted to kiss Heluo forcibly. Although Heluo managed to evade it, some of the lipstick from Tian Ning’s lips ended up rubbing onto his face. Later, Tian Ning used Poison Powder, and Heluo was too occupied to notice the red mark on his cheek.

Everyone followed Bai Ruozhu’s gaze and looked over, then glanced at Tian Ning’s lips and instantly understood what happened.

Heluo looked embarrassed, hurriedly using his sleeve to wipe his face, finally removing the trace.

"When did you learn to use poison?" Heluo asked angrily, his teeth gritting.

Bai Ruozhu approached directly, extended a hand, and grabbed Tian Ning’s chin, "This way it’s easier to talk, but if you want to take poison, go ahead; with me here, you won’t die anyway, since it’s not me who’s suffering."

Tian Ning, in pain, broke out in a cold sweat and glared bitterly at Bai Ruozhu. "It’s all you. You’re the one who harmed me!"

"What do you mean I harmed you? I merely helped others, preventing you from causing harm. If you didn’t have malicious intentions, how would we be entangled?" Bai Ruozhu laughed.

Xuan You rushed over, "Tian Ning, what did my brother and I ever do to deserve this from you? Why have you plotted against us? Tell me, are you a spy?"

"You have done nothing to wrong me, but you choose to believe outsiders rather than accept me. I’ve worked hard for so many years, yet you intend to destroy it!" Tian Ning shouted, her face twisted and hideous, terrifying many who admired her.

Bai Ruozhu curled her lips, "Interrogating is a waste of time. If she speaks the truth directly, that’s enough."

After saying this, she ignored the others, prying open Tian Ning’s mouth and tossing in a pill.

"Stop! What did you just make her ingest?" A young man rushed over agitatedly, but Heluo blocked him. He glared at Heluo and shouted, "Clan leader, how can you do this? The truth isn’t clear yet, and you let outsiders kill Tian Ning?"

Bai Ruozhu looked at the young man with disdain, wondering why most of the birdmen of the Golden Wings Clan seemed brainless.

It’s said that developed limbs equate to a simple mind, and perhaps with the extra pair of wings, that’s two more limbs; could that be why their brains are simple too?

"I saved her from dying of poison; her life already belongs to me; if I kill her, so what?" Bai Ruozhu challenged boldly, "But since things aren’t clear, why should I kill her? This is a type of pill our Danliang Country’s Tongzheng Division uses to interrogate prisoners; it makes them speak the truth."

"How do I know you’re not lying?" The young man’s confidence began to waver.

Bai Ruozhu glanced at him disdainfully once more, "Little one, you’re not stupid, right? Can’t you use your eyes?"

At this moment, Tian Ning’s eyes had lost focus, her expression dazed.

Ignoring the silly young birdman, Bai Ruozhu asked Tian Ning, "Are you the one who injured the great elder?"

Tian Ning’s face remained expressionless as she woodenly responded, "It was me."

The onlookers were instantly shocked, calming down only when the fifth elder spoke.

The young birdman causing trouble proclaimed, "This must be Demon Techniques, she’s controlling Tian Ning!"

Heluo frowned, "Don’t obstruct the interrogation. Go wait aside."

He directly hit the silent acupoint of the young man, not wanting to waste words with him.

"Why did you plot against the great elder?" Bai Ruozhu asked again.

"Because he discovered something about my father, I had no choice but to act. I didn’t intend to kill him, just wanted him to be unconscious for a while, and after waking up, he’d forget about it." Tian Ning said.

Heluo was astounded, quickly moving forward, "What’s the matter with your father?"

He swiftly explained to Bai Ruozhu, "Her father was an elder in the clan before he passed away from illness several years ago."

"Over ten years ago, my parents left the clan briefly. Later, my father returned alone. When asked, he said my mother was too sick to travel, and he came back to find medicine. But when he returned to the clan again, he only brought back my mother’s ashes."

Though Tian Ning was speaking without emotion, many were drawn in, listening intently.

"It wasn’t until five years ago, when my father was on his deathbed, that he told me the secret he had hidden for seven years, instructing me to rectify his wrongs. It turns out that he and my mother were captured back then. The captors threatened my father with my mother’s life to make him bring something back to the clan, saying that thing would take a drop of the clan leader’s blood and release my mother afterward. My father, in great pain, complied for my mother’s sake, believing a drop of the clan leader’s blood could exchange for my mother’s life and wouldn’t cause much loss to the clan leader. But ultimately, my mother still died."

"How did she die?" Bai Ruozhu asked.

"My father went back to find those people. They pretended to release my mother but intended to kill my father to cover their tracks. My mother gave her life to save my father, and died outside. My father was desolate at that time, but before she died, my mother asked him to take care of me when I was young. So, he returned to the clan with her ashes. He continued observing the clan leader, noticing nothing wrong, but within two years, the Fertility Tree started having problems."

The third elder was shocked, "That thing wasn’t meant to harm the clan leader; it was meant to harm the Fertility Tree!"

"My father continued observing for a few years, noticing the Fertility Tree’s leaves withering more and more, increasingly suspecting he brought harm to the clan and fell ill from the heartache."

Bai Ruozhu raised an eyebrow, so Tian Ning hadn’t done anything?

"Five years ago, you knew the truth. Why didn’t you tell the clan? Your father instructed you to rectify his mistakes, what did you rectify?"

"If I spoke out, how would everyone see me? Would the clan leader still marry me? My father became a traitor to the clan, making me the traitor’s daughter; how could I stand in the clan?" Tian Ning replied.

Bai Ruozhu noticed the pill’s effect nearing its end, hurriedly asking, "Have you done anything else wrong over the years? Harmed anyone?"

"Not considered harming, Xuan You is so foolish. I whispered a few words to cause chaos, making everyone dislike her more. Yin Hen also wanted to marry the clan leader; I seized the opportunity to poison her, almost driving her into a trance, forcing her into seclusion for Cultivation. And a few days ago, I used Wen Xuan, for I didn’t want those outsiders investigating the Fertility Tree matter."

The crowd was stirred again; the saint they admired, Tian Ning, turned out to be so insidious and daunting they hadn’t noticed at all.

Finally, as the pill effect wore off, Tian Ning regained consciousness. Surprised, she looked at Bai Ruozhu, "How did you do that?"

She realized she had revealed things she shouldn’t have.

Bai Ruozhu didn’t answer, but countered, "Who taught you Poison Skills?"

Tian Ning obviously didn’t want to say, but Bai Ruozhu wasn’t in a hurry, casually stating, "The Golden Wings Clan doesn’t seem to favor poison use, nobody ought to teach you Poison Skills. Your father likely wouldn’t know, meaning he brought back some poison techniques book from outside. You don’t have to say. Searching your place, we’ll find something."