"Chen Jiusi, you committed insurrection and usurped the throne, which is disloyal."
"Colluding with the Zoroastrian Sect to transport weaponry while blaming it on me is unjust."
"I am your Gang Leader, and according to our rules, you should treat me with the respect due to an Imperial Father. Yet, you united others to besiege me, which is inhumane."
"People like you, who are disloyal, unjust, and inhumane, deserve to be hacked into pieces and never reincarnated. Do you not think your crimes deserve death? Do you still wish to struggle?"
"Cough, cough... Therefore, I declare, Chen Jiusi, in the name of the Gang Leader, I sentence you to death!"
Nan Batian, emotionally pointing at Chen Jie, blurted out a long-repressed speech. These words had been bottled up inside him for many days, and now they burst forth all at once, making him feel thoroughly relieved and comfortable as never before.
He felt a sense of cleansing the Sect on behalf of it.
Chen Jie, upon hearing Nan Batian’s words, did not have an extreme reaction but merely smiled and said, "Good, good, Nan Batian, have you rehearsed these lines in your head many times, just waiting for today?"
"Disloyal, unjust, inhumane—what grand accusations,"
"It’s a pity, you have such literary talent, it’s wasteful not to sit for the Scholar’s exam. But you’ve framed me with so many charges, have you never reflected upon yourself?"
"What should I reflect on?"
Nan Batian disdainfully asked, and Chen Jie responded, "As the Gang Leader for many years, you did not think of benefiting the people of Mianshui but instead enforced heavy taxation, encouraged gambling, drove people to sell their sons and daughters, resulting in broken families and extreme misery among the populace, which is inhumane."
"As a Gang Leader, wielding court privileges yet conspiring with the Zoroastrian Sect to smuggle weaponry and opposing the court, is disloyal!"
"As a younger sect brother, you plotted against your senior, killing my righteous father Peng Shizhong, disregarding the bonds of brotherhood, which is unjust."
"As a disciple, you switched allegiance to another sect, disregarding your master’s wishes, causing his death from grief, which is unfilial."
"People like you who are disloyal, unjust, inhumane, and unfilial, yet dare to bark here, I have never seen anyone as shameless as you!"
When it came to hurling insults, Chen Jie had never been afraid of anyone. Nan Batian was so verbally attacked that his defenses broke down. Chen Jie stripped him of all his pretenses, leaving him metaphorically naked before the crowd.
Nan Batian was so furious he wanted to kill Chen Jie on the spot.
And yet, Chen Jie was not done. Looking at Nan Batian, he said, "Oh, and there’s one more thing I haven’t mentioned: practicing evil techniques and being inhumane to your own wife, for you have no regard for the Blue Lotus. Nan Batian, a man of your incompetence, what’s the point in living? Better you die."
"And have the gall to stand here posing as a victor, declaring my disloyalty and injustice—utterly without propriety, righteousness, integrity, or honor, how laughable."
Chen Jie shook his head, his face full of contempt.
Nan Batian was utterly furious, and roared, "Chen Jiusi, it is a fight to the death between you and me today. Only one of us will survive, either you die or I perish."
The defenses were completely shattered.
The onlookers, witnessing this scene, all broke out in a cold sweat, thinking that in the future they should never argue with Chen Jiusi. His eloquence was truly extraordinary, and his logic crystal clear.
Nan Batian wanted to claim the moral high ground and judge Chen Jiusi.
Unexpectedly, Chen Jiusi left him metaphorically stripped to his underwear, his biting words potent indeed.
Yet, such a state, even with sharp words, offered no true escape.
"Hehe... Monk, your old friend really has a sharp tongue," the old Taoist observed, impressed by Chen Jiusi’s vigor, even though he didn’t understand much of the jargon used, such as the Zoroastrian Sect, which was originally just a minor sect in the north.
The original body seemed to be a branch of the Pure Land Sect, so what did conspiring with the Zoroastrian Sect mean?
Though he did not understand, Chen Jie’s listing of sins—disloyalty, injustice, inhumanity, unfiliality—was clear to him; the parallelism in the sentence carried a powerful authority.
While Peng Yingyu, hearing this conversation, said, "Hehe, the person I value is indeed not of the common sort."
The old Taoist responded, "Hehe... It’s a pity it’s futile. His predicament hasn’t changed, and provoking number five only pushes him further away, which doesn’t help his allocation plan at all."
Peng Yingyu responded, "Although it’s just a moment’s victory in a verbal dispute, one shouldn’t belittle others unduly—I think my Brother Jiu Si is right."
The old Taoist shook his head and said, "I didn’t realize, you really do protect your own."
"But still, as I said, Monk, if he cannot think of a way out, he only has a dead end, and I will not hold back."
Peng Yingyu, looking at the old Taoist, said: "Hehe, no need to hold back, do as you must."
Peng Yingyu, clutching his Buddha Beads, his eyes flashing an indiscernible calm, noticed that Chen Jiusi showed no panic when facing this predicament, as if he had a plan up his sleeve, even having the mood to argue with Nan Batian.
Such a scene might have sent others into a panic, possibly begging on their knees.
But Chen Jiusi did not waste further words with Nan Batian, instead facing Ba Tan, he said: "Garrison Commander, Lord Governor Ba Tan, right?"
Chen Jie looked at Ba Tan.
Nan Batian also turned to Ba Tan and said: "Lord Governor, pay no heed to his deceiving words. As long as we are united, we can surely doom this man to death. I don’t want any part of the Tai Sui Pill, I just want him dead, everything else matters not!"