The great hall remained in an absolute silence. No one said anything, not even making a single sound. Everybody, including Emperor Shun himself, was looking at Ji Hao with a complicated look.
No one ever thought that Ji Hao would give such an explanation.
All people on the scene knew about Wuzhi Qi and his people. Ji Hao's Yao Mountain City had truly suffered a surprise attack launched by a non-humankind army, while Wuzhi Qi's sons led an army while crossing the border… Wuzhi Qi's sons might not go plunder the burning house of Ji Hao if they were suddenly stung by their consciousness, but if one said that they had actually lent a hand and saved Yao Mountain City from the non-humankind…
Hehe, one must be kidding, right? Even ghosts wouldn't buy it!
Wuzhi Qi opened his mouth while pointing his finger at Ji Hao, seeming to say something. But later, he pondered carefully for a while, suddenly hesitated and subconsciously turned around to look at Gong Gong Wuyou. He wanted advice from Gong Gong Wuyou.
Emperor Shun cast a weird glance at Ji Hao, pondered for a short while then shook his head, remaining silent.
Same as many earls and marquis in the great hall, Emperor Shun knew that many parts of Ji Hao's explanation were untrue. For example, how did Wuzhi Qi's sons and River Earl Jade Dragon led Huai Water army pass by Yao Mountain City?
Yao Mountain territory was Ji Hao's private property, and even Emperor Shun's private army had no right to enter into that area without an appropriate reason. If the Huai Water army wanted to pass through the territory of Yao Mountain, an official excuse with Emperor Shun's confirmation was required. After attaining Emperor Shun's confirmation, Wuzhi Qi needed to inform Ji Hao about it, to which Ji Hao would give his written reply. Only after Ji Hao gave his permission would the Huai Water army be allowed to enter into Yao Mountain territory and cross the border.
According to Ji Hao, Wuzhi Qi's sons righteously and bravely helped Yao Mountain City, seeing the non-humankind attacking the city, and directly made a move to help. Consequently, they and the army under their lead were destroyed by the non-humankind. Every single word that came out of Ji Hao's mouth when he said this was just like a hundred loud slaps landing right on Wuzhi Qi's face.
"A non-humankind army attacked your city? Where are their dead bodies? Only these five? It can't be, can it?" asked Hao Tao seriously.
Ji Hao spread his hands and responded in a serious tone, "These five dead bodies belonged to those powerful non-human beings who attempted to kill me. As for the non-humankind army that had attacked the city…I was so sad and raging when I saw Lord Wuzhi Qi's sons dead that I threw all those non-humankind dead bodies out to feed wild wolves."
Once again, the great hall fell into a deadly silence.
Hao Tao looked at Ji Hao, then glanced at Wuzhi Qi. Instantly, his darkened face twisted. Afterward, he asked a bit confusedly, "So, where are the dead bodies of River Earl Jade Dragon and Wuzhi Qi's sons?"
Ji Hao smiled and wielded his sleeve. Next, the dead bodies of River Earl Jade Dragon and Wuzhi Qi's sons appeared in the great hall in a straight line. Showing up along with these dead bodies was that spare long sword that belonged to Polo Si.
For Wuzhi Qi's sons who were trapped in the Heaven and Earth great formation, Ji Hao himself had left clear wounds in the vital areas of their bodies with this long sword.
Hao Tao walked to those dead bodies, picked up that eye-catching long sword and put it near the wounds, then abruptly asked, "Were these people killed by the same sword?"
Ji Hao showed a smile, and that smile of his contained a trace of shamelessness as he said, "Many of Yu Clan people use exactly the same type of long sword. The other long swords were destroyed. I kept this one on purpose as evidence."
Wuzhi Qi finally couldn't hold back anymore. Instead, he yelled out angrily, "How ridiculous! Weapons of the non-humankind are incredibly solid. How could it be even possible that only one single piece of weapon was left on the battlefield? Ji Hao, do you really believe that these lies of yours can fool these earls and marquis in attendance?"
Ji Hao smilingly glanced at Wuzhi Qi, then wielded his right hand and released a stream of Yu Yu's divine light. That thin and soft, water-like stream of divine light wrapped the long sword, which was held in Hao Tao's hand and slightly squeezed. After that, cracking noise could then be heard endlessly. Tens of thousands of spell symbols lightened up on that spare long sword of Polo Si. However, Ji Hao had injected a slight little bit of the power of the mountain and river stamper into the divine light, and soon, this long sword let out a shrill scream as it got crushed to pieces.
Within the short span of a single breath, a top-grade sharp sword with countless powerful spell symbols was destroyed completely.
Ji Hao remained smiling while looked at Wuzhi Qi and said, "Wuzhi Qi, you said that I'm lying. Now, can you please tell the truth?"
Ji Hao then turned his body, spread his arms towards all those earls and marquis in the hall and repeated in a loud and clear voice, "Lord Wuzhi Qi, can you please tell me about the truth of this whole thing, from the beginning to the end, and from the cause to the consequence?
Ji Hao then pointed at Hao Tao and Emperor Shun and continued, "Wuzhi Qi, can you please explain to Emperor Shun and Minister Hao Tao if your sons and River Earl Jade Dragon were not killed in the battle against the non-humankind army…the how on earth did they die? Did I kill them? Eh? Did I kill them in my own territory, in my own Yao Mountain City?"
Wuzhi Qi's pair of eyes dazzled with a blood-red light. He ragingly leaped up and intended to growl, but suddenly, a thick layer of dark ice emerged from under his feet, speedily spreading all over his body and sealing him up in a huge ice block within the blink of an eye.
Within that dark ice block, numerous spell symbols were sparkling and releasing a frosty sense of power while a dreadful stream of water power was surging around it. Ji Hao instantly turned to the two men with long black robes behind Gong Gong Wuyou, their faces covered in the dark shadow.
Gong Gong Wuyuo sighed slightly, stood up and said in a gentle voice, "So these are the cause and effects of this whole thing. Like I said, Wuzhi Qi is extremely grieved, that made him a little bit frenzied. That's why he rushed over and made the false charge against Earl Yao for killing his sons and River Earl Jade Dragon."
Giving a faint smile, Gong Gong Wuyou politely and kindly nodded to Ji Hao and said, "But in fact, Wuzhi Qi's sons and Earl Yao fought together and destroyed a non-humankind army. Wuzhi Qi has truly gone mad with the intensity of his grief. Therefore, he mistook the truth and almost turned this good thing bad."
With a slight trace of sadness, Gong Gong Wuyou bowed to Emperor Shun and continued, "Emperor Shun, Earl Yao and the army under Wuzhi Qi's command had joined hands and destroyed a non-humankind army, ruining their plan of intruding our core area. This is great, and I feel they deserve to be rewarded."
Emperor Shun slightly lowered his head and smilingly asked Ji Hao, "That non-humankind army was annihilated by you, how many were they?"
Ji Hao slightly curved his lips upwards, looked Gong Gong Wuyou and said in a deep voice, "That non-humankind army, which had nearly broken Yao Mountain City and killed River Earl Jade Dragon and so many precious sons of Lord Wuzhi Qi, didn't have a big number of warriors. They were only…around a thousand."
Next, Ji Hao's tone suddenly turned cold, "My Yao Mountain territory has newly been established. At this stage, I don't have too many residents and military forces in my territory and the defense is rather weak. As a consequence, a non-humankind army with merely around a thousand warriors had nearly broken my city, which is reasonable. Nevertheless, a hundred million aquatic creatures and a million elite warriors under Lord Wuzhi Qi's command had actually been exterminated by a non-humankind army with only around a thousand warriors. In this case, I don't think a reward is necessary!"
Wielding his sleeve, Ji Hao's look changed quickly as he looked at Gong Gong Wuyou, whose smile had already frozen. He sneered and said, "Still not humiliating enough? Reward? That many people were wiped out by a thousand non-humankind warriors, and you want a reward for that?"
Wuzhi Qi, who was sealed in the dark ice, burst into rage and gave a hoarse roar, while Gong Gong Wuyou's face darkened to an extreme degree. He pointed at Ji Hao, trembled in anger for quite a while. At last, he finally squeezed a trace of smile out of his face and said, "Earl Yao is right…absolutely right…Wuzhi Qi should be guilty of this, and will not be rewarded!"
The great hall fell into silence again. Did Ji Hao just play a clever trick on Gong Gong Wuyou and the entire Gong Gong family?