After all, they had a great number of informal disciples to act as cannons in the war between Clan associations. Something flashed in Zeph’s eyes as he raised an eyebrow. He did not expect Fane to come up with a plausible explanation so quickly. However, no matter how quick-witted he was, he would still not be able to stop Zeph. He chuckled softly and turned to face the crowd.
"I've received a report from one of my runner disciples. He saw you having a meal with a disciple from the Muddled Origin Clan. Besides that, Warren can also testify that he had seen you in the Muddled Origin Clan before. Your argument is useless when there are testimonies from two witness." Zeph’s words sounded logical
and those who did not know better began to believe him.
The crowd looked at Fane with derision in their eyes. "You despicable spy! Two-faced people are the worst! The secret place filled with resources was discovered by Dual Sovereign Pavilion and stolen by the Muddled Origin Clan! You should be ashamed of yourself!” shouted someone.
“Yes! The Muddled Origin Clan is truly despicable and shameless!"
"What do you expect from them? Take this guy, for example, he looks decent but hides an evil heart in him. Don't even think you can get out of here safely, you Muddled Origin Clan dog! We might not be disciples of the Dual Sovereign Pavilion but we grew up under their protection. We'll make sure you won't get away so easily!”
The clamor coming from the crowd was endless and people were shouting indignantly. They were itching to rush up to the stage to punish Fane. However, Fane remained calm in the face of all this. He remained quietly standing in front of the obsidian as if all the ruckus had nothing to do with him. Zeph narrowed his eyes at him and his evaluation of Fane went up a level more. He knew he would not be able to stay as calm as Fane if their roles were reversed.
"You kept on saying that your disciple saw me having a meal with people from the Muddled Origin Clan or that Warren saw me hanging out with them and yet you've never mentioned where they had seen me or other specific details. Why don't you ask him to come up here to tell us the whole story? After all, I have done nothing wrong and is innocent," said Fane calmly with a hint of coldness in his tone.
Zeph laughed coldly. Zeph was impressed by Fane's calmness but thought that he was naive enough to think he could escape this accusation that Zeph planted on him. His goal had been achieved-Fane would not be allowed to take the test. He would arrange for somebody to take him out when all of this was over.
"Ask the disciple to confront you? What wishful thinking. Why would I accuse you of something that you didn't do when my duty is to ensure the safety of the Dual Sovereign Pavilion? It's only fair for me to forbid you from taking the test when there's something fishy about you. You're not really as important as you think you are. I suggest you leave this place immediately and give up your useless argument" said Zeph.
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