Pride

The fake Death Warrant fell to the ground in pieces, it had broken. Yang Zhai stood up from the ground and saw elder Zihao De standing in front of him. He then looked at the broken fake Death Warrant again to confirm that it was completely broken

"Wei Li, stop, you are going too far. You actually want to kill a disciple in front of us, do you have no fear anymore?" Zihao De said and thought: Now that the fake Death Warrant was broken, I can not do anything about it anymore, but I can't let Yang Zhai die. 

"Elder Zihao De, Yang Zhai is a liar and unscrupulous, he needs to die, or he will definitely get the Bai clan in trouble one day for sure." Wei Li wanted to shout these words, but barely managed to control himself. 

"That's not up to you to decide, you should think for yourself. I gave you a warning last time not to hurt him, but you went against my warning, what do you think you are?" Elder Zihao De's tone was turning more serious and deep with every succeeding word. 

"No, Elder, I didn't mean to disrespect you, it's just that I couldn't control my anger after what Yang Zhai did." Wei Li saw Zihao De's serious expression and calmed himself forcefully. He knew that angering Zihao De would not be feasible. 

"And what did he do?" 

"He is falsely accusing me, he actually took essence stones from me in return for helpi…" Wei Li was speaking when he realized what he was saying and stopped. If I actually said that I gave Yang Zhai essence stones for helping me become a noble family, wouldn't I be implicating myself?

"In return for what?" Even though Zihao De knew what Wei Li was going to say, he still asked. 

"In return for forgiving me. Yes, he asked me to give him essence stones so that he would be able to live better. In return, he would never meet me again. I was angry at him for what he did, so I did what he asked. But, after four days, meaning today, he came to me and told me that he realized what he did was wrong and wanted to make up for it." Wei Li stopped for a moment before continuing, 

"I asked why he suddenly realized his mistake, he told me that after I gave him essence stones, he realized that I cared for him and he was wrong. Thus, he wanted to come here right now to help us become a noble family. Therefore, we came here today."

Wei Li created a story on the spot. 

"So, what you are trying to say is that you were helping Yang Zhai, huh?" Zihao De asked with a calm expression. 

"Yes," 

"If you really cared that much for him, why did you try to kill him? You could just forgive him like before, right?" 

"About that… hmm, yeah, I saw that he was unscrupulous and would endanger the Clan with his personality, that's why I wanted to kill him." 

"Hmm," Zihao De showed an unconvinced expression. 

"Third elder, he is the one who is to be blamed here, not me. He has become unscrupulous and ungrateful, he must be punished. If he can't even repay the one who took care of him, how will he contribute to the Clan? He will definitely betray the Bai clan one day as well." Wei Li began to convince Zihao De into believing him. 

"Wei Li, you don't need to tell us what to do and what not to do. We will decide for ourselves if he is to be blamed or not, but the thing is that you went against my warning in front of me. Do you think nothing of me?" Zihao De did not at all favor Wei Li, even though he knew that Yang Zhai was also wrong here, he only blamed Wei Li. 

This was a norm among the higher-ups, they would do what benefited them, or suited them. Some even destroyed many lives and talents because of their pride getting hurt. Zihao De was doing what benefited him and the Clan leader in the name of his pride. He was using his pride to protect his benefits. 

Yang Zhai was needed to even compete in the final round of the competition, let alone win it. If Yang Zhai also died, only Si Kim would be left, making the Bai clan lose before even competing in the final round. And they also needed Yang Zhai as a reserve plan to take their revenge on Jun Nie. As a result, Wei Li was getting pressured by the third elder for his determination to kill Yang Zhai. 

"No, Elder, I did not look down on you at all, I attacked Yang Zhai because I was angry at the moment. Now, I have realized my mistake and ask for forgiveness, please forgive my rude behavior." 

Wei Li saw that the situation was not moving in his favor and was turning against him instead, if this kept up, he might have to answer for something he didn't even do. 

"You can say everything in the confinement. But for trying to destroy the Clan benefits and disrespecting me, I am confining you and will decide your punishment later on with the other elders. Don't resist, if you do, I will kill you." 

After saying this, Zihao De used his methods to capture Wei Li. Wei Li wanted to resist but did not as Zihao De had threatened him. 

"Third elder, please listen to me, I really did not mean to disrespect you, I was just angry at Yang Zhai. If you want, I am even willing to forgive Yang Zhai and won't go after him anymore. Please, listen to me." Wei Li shouted, but got no response from Zihao De. 

"Father, nooooooo!!!!" Hyun Hae and Lie Yi tried to run free Wei Li, but were thrown back by elder Zihao De. They could not do anything in front of elder Zihao De at all. 

"You three, don't try to do anything foolish unless you want me to kill Wei Li." Zihao De looked at Bin Wei, Hyun Hae, and Lie Yi before threatening them

When Zihao De said this, all three of them became quiet and did not try to free Wei Li anymore. 

"Elder Wang Yeol, if you don't mind, would you please take Wei Li to confinement. I need to ask Yang Zhai a few things." 

"Don't worry, third elder, leave it to me." Wang Yeol took Wei Li with him and left. 

Bin Wei, Hyun Hae, and Lie Yi followed Wang Yeol and also left. 

!*****!*****!