Chapter 58 — The Talisman Painter Who Guards the Village

The Expulsion

The large hall that night was filled with torches, the flickering firelight reflected on the solemn faces of the entire council of elders, creating a scene completely different from the solemnity of the day - more tense, more urgent, like a court session hastily set up in the middle of the night to avoid unnecessary eyes.

Diệp Sương stood in the middle of the hall. This time her hands were not tied, but the eyes of the two surveillance disciples standing next to her still did not leave her for a moment. Thanh Việt stood in the row of disciples allowed to attend, his face tense but his eyes steadfast and unwavering.

Just a few moments before the session began, Diệp Sương heard, through Âu Bội Nhi's hasty whispers, that Húc Bá Nguyên had spent the entire afternoon meeting individually with each of the elders in the council, convincing each one with arguments about sect stability and discipline, while Tạ Vân Khê had only a few moments to refute before the emergency session was convened. An unequal race, but Diệp Sương, standing in the middle of the large hall at this time, could only witness its results unfold before her eyes.

*

"Evidence confirms that the Tiêu Sa Pass was stolen in transit," Húc Bá Nguyên said as soon as the session began, his voice sharp. "This, combined with the evidence already available, and now, the fact that disciple Chu Diệp Sương herself admitted to having been secretly investigating, without going through official channels, into sensitive matters related to Khâm Vân Ti - all indicate a pattern of clandestine behavior, disregarding discipline, unbecoming of a disciple of the Tông Vân Các, regardless of the true motive."

"That is a biased argument," Tạ Vân Khê immediately objected. "She investigated secretly because she feared, justifiably, that information would be intercepted if it went through official channels — and reality proved that fear was completely well-founded, when that very evidence was just stolen in the middle of the street."

*

Thanh Việt stepped out of the row of disciples and knelt down in the middle of the hall, his voice resounding with determination. "Please let me speak." Thư Khải Dương nodded, signaling permission.

"I am Cố Thanh Việt, son of Great General Cố Bạt Nguyên," he said, his voice not shaking at all. "I have guarded Tiêu Sa Pass with Chu Diệp Sương for four months, witnessed her entire investigation process with my own eyes, and I affirm with my own honor and that of my family, that all the questions she raises come from integrity, not from any treasonous motive."

Murmurs spread throughout the hall. Húc Bá Nguyên frowned, but quickly regained his composure. "The testimony of someone who had a deep emotional relationship with the accused," he said with slight sarcasm, "can hardly be considered objective, although I do not doubt your sincerity."

*

Those words made Thanh Việt clench his jaw, but he did not back down. “Then please consider not only what I said, but also what I did,” he continued. "I am willing to accept any form of examination to prove the veracity of my testimony, even if I have to face consequences for my family's position in the royal court."

A heavy silence enveloped the large hall. Thư Khải Dương looked at Thanh Việt for a long time, his eyes carrying a deep consideration, then turned to look at Diệp Sương, and finally, looked at the council of elders waiting for his decision.

"Do you have any concrete evidence, other than personal belief?" Another elder asked Thanh Việt, his tone was not hostile but not very friendly either.

"I have what I and Chu Diệp Sương have collected about the Special Coordination Line," Thanh Việt replied, his voice still steady despite the pressure of an entire council. "But most of the most important evidence was stolen in transit, as the council itself just admitted. I would like to ask the opposite — is it because the evidence is so convincing, that it needs to be stopped by violence in the middle of the road?"

Húc Bá Nguyên stood up, his voice harsh. "This is a dangerous inference, deliberately turning an ordinary street robbery into a huge political conspiracy to justify the defendant's own wrongdoing!"

"Or perhaps, it is you who is deliberately overlooking an extremely unusual coincidence," Tạ Vân Khê responded immediately, without giving in.

The debate continued for a while longer, fierce and tense, until Thư Khải Dương raised his hand to signal an end, his face showing the fatigue of a person who had to make a decision amid so many conflicting pressures.

*

"I have considered carefully," Thư Khải Dương said at last, his voice unusually deep. "In the face of consecutive developments - evidence being stolen, witnesses unable to fully verify their backgrounds, and now a secret investigation without the council's permission - I am forced to admit that, even without absolute evidence of collusion with demons, disciple Chu Diệp Sương's behavior seriously violated the sect's principles of transparency and discipline."

Diệp Sương felt like her legs were about to collapse, but she tried to stand firm, waiting for the next sentence with a strange calmness that came from extreme exhaustion.

"I declare," Thư Khải Dương said, his voice echoing throughout the hall like a death knell, "Chu Diệp Sương stripped of all disciple status, expelled from the Tông Vân Các, and forbidden to return to Vân Tiêu under any name until definitive evidence proves her complete innocence."

*

The sound echoed throughout the hall, mixed with Âu Bội Nhi's muffled cries from the row of disciples. Chung Nhã Trúc stood still, covering her mouth with both hands, unable to believe what she had just heard. Thanh Việt stood up and was about to protest, but was held tightly by two nearby elders.

"Master!" Tạ Vân Khê stood up, her voice filled with anger. "This is a hasty judgment, based on unfounded inferences!"

"The decision has been made," Thư Khải Dương replied, his voice unwavering, but when his eyes touched Diệp Sương one last time, it caught a glimpse of something like real grief, quickly hidden behind the stern mask of a sect leader.

*

A supervisory disciple approached Diệp Sương with a small pair of ceremonial scissors. She stood still and let him cut off the blue inner-sect ribbon given to her only a few weeks earlier, the symbol she had once carried proudly now falling to the cold stone floor like a withered petal.

Next, another elder stepped forward and read aloud the official proclamation stripping Diệp Sương of all status and rights she had held during her years at Tông Vân Các, ending with the cold sentence: "From this moment, Chu Diệp Sương is no longer a disciple of Tông Vân Các."

Diệp Sương stood there, in the middle of the large hall that had witnessed her first initiation ceremony, feeling a terrible emptiness spread throughout her body, as if a part of herself had just been severed along with the green silk strip that had just fallen to the ground, but her eyes were still dry, not a single tear fell in front of those who had just announced her sentence, a last pride she was determined to keep for herself.

In the midst of the chaos, Tạ Vân Khê stepped closer despite the judgmental eyes around her and placed a hand on Diệp Sương's shoulder. Her voice was quiet, but loud enough for only Diệp Sương to hear. "This is not the end," she whispered. "I will stop at nothing to find the truth, no matter where you are. Stay safe; that's the most important thing right now." Diệp Sương nodded, unable to say a word, just gently squeezed her hand before being escorted out of the hall by two supervisory disciples, her steps heavy as if carrying the weight of her entire life that had just been taken away in the blink of an eye.

As she passed the row of disciples, she saw Âu Bội Nhi sobbing in Chung Nhã Trúc's arms. Neither of them dared to step out of the row for fear of making the situation even more confusing for Diệp Sương herself. She gave both of them one last look, trying to convey everything that words could not express—a thank you, a goodbye, and a promise never to forget what they had given her—before the heavy hall door closed behind her, cutting off the last image of the most familiar faces she had known during her long life in the sect, a life that had now officially ended.