If you don't give up, I'd like to be your adoptive father.

Chapter 701 Simple Process of Elimination

Hearing Emperor Donghua's shout, Dongfang Shuo calmed down instead.

Every question from the master was evidence that he was caught here as a peach thief.

In other words, as long as he answered Master's questions well, the evidence that he was a thief would be overturned.

The evidence was overturned, so of course he is not a thief.

"Master, I am wronged!"

He howled at the top of his lungs, sounding quite aggrieved and resentful.

Because his heart was really full of grievances and anger.

"I was invited by the Queen Mother to come to Yaochi to attend the Peach Banquet. I was just walking around and admiring the beauty of Yaochi when suddenly a strong yellow wind blew and blinded me, causing me to lose my way.

I felt hazy and confused, and didn't know where the strong wind had blown me to.

Suddenly I saw an old man in front of me crying in the wind. I just wanted to help him steady his body, so I used the immobilization technique.

Later I found out his identity: he was the God of Land in Pantao Garden.

So I was curious and decided to go in and take a look at the scenery.

It was like I was looking at the scenery in the Yaochi Garden. There were many immortal spirits in the garden, but I saw them but didn’t touch them. ”

Emperor Donghua asked: "If you were just looking at the scenery, why did you run away in such a hurry?"

——You are so useless! Since you have the guts to steal peaches, what are you afraid of? Why are you running? Is running useful? If you can run away from Yaochi, can you run away from the Three Realms?
Dongfang Shuo was also helpless: Master, I have been a gentle and refined scholar all my life. This is the first time I’m a thief in my life. How can I not be afraid and panic?
"I did not flee in panic. It was just that the scenery of the Peach Garden was so beautiful that I was so engrossed that I forgot the time. Suddenly I realized that there was a big commotion in the Quicksand Region in the mortal world, so I hurried to the lower world to fulfill my duties as the Protector General of the Western Regions."

Emperor Donghua said, “But when Lady Jiu Tian called your name, you not only ran away faster, but also hurriedly took out two peaches from your sleeves and stuffed them into your mouth.

Obviously, seeing that the truth had been revealed, he decided to just go all out and eat the peaches first."

Dongfang Shuo blushed a little, pinched two peach pits, and shouted excitedly, "Is this a peach? Look, is this a peach?

This is just an ordinary spiritual peach!
If it was really the peaches, I would have confessed my guilt long ago, but I feel so aggrieved~~"

He no longer cried out "injustice", but only "frustrated".

Emperor Donghua took the peach core, turned around and said to the Lady of the Nine Heavens behind him: "Look, Lady of the Nine Heavens, it really is an ordinary peach."

The Lady of the Nine Heavens did not look at the peach pit, but said calmly: "There are three kinds of peach trees in the Peach Garden. Even for the small peaches that ripen once every three thousand years, I am not sure how many there are, where they grow, and how ripe they are, but the Earth God who manages the Peach Garden has a rough idea in his mind.

He reported to the Queen Mother that after Dongfang Shuo entered and left the Peach Garden, a batch of large peaches that ripened once every nine thousand years were missing from the garden.

"A batch?" Dongfang Shuo was stunned for a moment, then he became so excited that he almost jumped up and cursed.

——I only picked two fairy peaches in total, and you tell me “a batch”?
How many are in a batch? Does “two” count as a batch?
Emperor Donghua gently touched his arm to calm him down, and before he could explode, he said, "Evil disciple, the Earth God and the Water-carrying Warrior are both witnesses. A batch of peaches in the garden are missing, which is physical evidence. What else do you have to say?"

Dongfang Shuo's heart was moved, and he shouted: "Master, Xuannv, if I were the only one who entered the Peach Garden, the stolen peaches should really be counted on me.

But what if there were other people in Pantao Garden during that time? "

Emperor Donghua nodded slightly in his heart: As long as you haven't eaten the peaches, no matter how many peaches are missing from the Peach Garden, it has nothing to do with you.

Xuannv asked, "Who else is in the Peach Garden?"

Dongfang Shuo hesitated and said, "I don't know either, but there must be another peerless old thief!"

He himself was already a peach thief, but the thief quietly stole the peaches from his sleeves and replaced them with ordinary peaches without him noticing.

With such means and psychological qualities, what else could this be but that of an old thief?
Xuan Nu said, "The Earth God and the strong man are very sure that there is no one else in the garden. From beginning to end, only you entered the Peach Garden alone, and you came out alone."

Dongfang Shuo was surprised and asked, "How could that old thief be so clever?"

The Lady of the Nine Heavens said meaningfully, "So far, you are the only one who has insisted that there was another person in the Peach Garden. The land god and the strong men have assured the Queen Mother that there was no one else but you at that time."

Dongfang Shuo was shocked and angry, and blurted out, "If there was no one else, who exchanged the peaches in my sleeve?"

"Cough cough~~~" Emperor Donghua almost choked on his saliva.

He glared at his disciple fiercely and cursed him with his eyes: "Fool, your previous excuse was so good that it almost helped you get away with it. Now, at the last minute, you actually confessed yourself?"

"You evil disciple, you still dare to say that you didn't steal the peaches? Now you are confessing yourself, right?"

Dongfang Shuo was stunned for a moment, and said hurriedly: "Master, I am wronged——"

"Alright, alright, stop talking, it's embarrassing!"

Emperor Donghua waved his hand to interrupt his sophistry, then turned to the Lady of the Nine Heavens with an apologetic look, bowed, and said with a guilty look: "I'm sorry to make you laugh, but this evil disciple really stole the peaches, there is no doubt about it, there is no need to interrogate him again.

Please ask Xuannv to tell the Queen Mother that I will scold him and then come back to apologize to her in person.

As for this evil disciple, he should be punished severely. "

Xuan Nu quickly returned the greeting, bowing even more deeply than Emperor Donghua, with a warm smile on her face. She said softly, "Emperor, please talk to the Eastern Fairy slowly. There is no need to rush. I will report to the Queen Mother right away."

After saying that, she turned around and left Cuishui Pavilion.

Not only did she leave, but even the maids of Queen Mother and several strong men who were responsible for sweeping the Langfeng Garden all tactfully left quietly.

The Cuishui Pavilion, which was previously heavily guarded, is now empty, with only Dongfang Shuo and his disciples left.

"Master, I just made a slip of the tongue. Don't take it seriously!" Dongfang Shuo still wanted to struggle.

Emperor Donghua said coldly: "Who do you think we are? A bunch of scoundrels from the mortal world? How can you swallow back the words you said without any shame? You have no shame, but I still have some!"

He did intend to help his apprentice get away with it before.

After all, the disciple did not get to eat the peaches.

He had two peach cores in his arms, so he had room for excuses.

But once Dongfang Shuo himself let the cat out of the bag, Dongfang Shuo, who had the lowest status among the three people present, now began to strive for the Golden Immortal level.

Even ordinary people need to speak with "golden words and jade words", so it is not an exaggeration to say that the Golden Immortals "speak with the will of heaven".

Dongfang Shuo himself admitted that he stole the peaches. It was not only because of his own lack of cleverness and calmness, but also represented "God's will"!
"Master, I did pick two peaches, just two, not a batch!" Dongfang Shuo shouted.

"Did Xuannv say 'a batch', not two?" Emperor Donghua asked back.

Dongfang Shuo said: "Who would say 'two' as 'a batch'?
Could it be that they sneaked into the Peach Garden and picked a large basket of peaches, and then said that I stole them?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he shook his head again and again, "No, I definitely didn't pick them secretly now, I picked them before I entered the Peach Garden.

The small peaches are already sparse.

The giant peaches ripen once every nine thousand years. I searched hundreds of peach trees and only saw two ripe giant peaches. "

Emperor Donghua asked curiously, "Why don't you say it was the 'old thief' who stole your peaches and took away a 'batch' of peaches?"

Dongfang Shuo said with a gloomy face: "That old thief is very smart!" He pointed to the two peach pits and said, "Master, look, I picked two big peaches." He immediately replaced them with two peaches of the same size and similar scent.

Wasn't it premeditated and he had me plotted from the beginning to the end?

How could such a cunning person leave such obvious evidence to the Queen Mother of the West?
He only stole peaches from me, so even if he was caught in the act, it would still be considered a case of 'stealing thieves from thieves'.

The peaches he stole were my peaches, not the Queen Mother's peaches.

Even the Queen Mother couldn't catch him and convict him.

At most, it was a crime of trespassing into the Peach Garden.

But is such a petty crime necessary?

Even the God of Land and the strong men were not seen at all, so there was no evidence, and it was difficult to conclude even such a minor crime.

That old thief did a perfect job of changing one thing into another.

If I am impatient and pick another batch of peaches before leaving, wouldn't all my previous plans be in vain?

Therefore, I have concluded that the so-called "batch" of peaches is just nonsense from the Yaochi people! "

Emperor Donghua nodded slightly and said curiously, "Your analysis is very rational. Why were you so impulsive just now, like a young boy who has never seen the world?"

Dongfang Shuo wanted to roll his eyes, “I was excited before, and I had reason to be excited.

Today, Master says, "The evidence is irrefutable, and there is no need for a retrial."

The outcome is already decided, my heart is as cold as ice, why should I be excited? "

"You let it slip yourself, and you blame me?" Emperor Donghua said unhappily.

Dongfang Shuo waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, I only blame myself. I didn't learn the skills well enough, and my methods were inferior to others. I embarrassed my master and put myself in such an embarrassing situation."

Emperor Donghua hesitated for a moment, but still tried to comfort him: "It's not entirely your fault, the Queen Mother is plotting against you!"

Dongfang Shuo was shocked and asked quickly, "Master, why do you say that?"

Emperor Donghua sighed and said, "Don't you need two large peaches with purple veins and yellow cores to complete 'Pure Yang'?

Even if you are allowed to attend the banquet, can you still get two big peaches?
According to the normal process, when you come to the Peach Banquet again next year, even if you are seated, you will only get half a small peach.

Only after five hundred years will one have the chance to eat the giant peaches that ripen once every nine thousand years.

Can you wait for five hundred years in heaven?

If I violate the rules and give you a peach that ripens once every 6,000 years, it will cause criticism from the immortals."

Dongfang Shuo was surprised and said, "Did the Queen Mother predict that I would go to the Peach Garden to steal peaches?
But I just encountered a strong wind and saw the old man of the land being blown into the sky, so I suddenly decided to pick two peaches.

If the land master had stayed in the Peach Garden, and given me the courage, I would have stopped this audacious and foolish act with my reason. "

Emperor Donghua said calmly: "You have the intention to steal the peaches, and you urgently need two large peaches, this is enough."

Dongfang Shuo not only had evil intentions, he had already put them into action.

The character is determined.

He needs to eat peaches to break through the realm. This is not only a "physical" "need", but also becomes a mental demon and obsession.

The motive is established.

All that was missing was timing.

Isn’t it easy to create opportunities?
Emperor Donghua was not sure whether the old land god in Pantao Garden was blown away by the yellow wind was an accident or man-made.

It does not matter.

The important thing is that his disciple has the intention to steal the peaches, and the Queen Mother also wants him to steal them, so he will definitely succeed.

Dongfang Shuo said in a hoarse voice: "Now that things have come to this, how should I deal with it? After all, those two peaches are not meant for me to eat."

"You should understand that when the Earth God and the water-carrying warrior insist that you are the only one who has entered and left the Peach Garden, you can no longer involve the 'old thief'." said Emperor Donghua.

Dongfang Shuo gritted his teeth and said, "I don't believe that the 'old thief' didn't leave any traces in the Peach Garden.

The peach tree was shaking violently at that time, which must have been related to him.

He made me fall on purpose so that he could steal the peaches from me!
Why would the peach tree shake so violently for no reason? What did he do? There must be traces.

If I stole the peaches it was part of Queen Mother's plan.

Then, if I enter the Peach Garden, the old landowner and the water-carrying warrior will not be deemed to have failed in their duty.

The old thief surprised everyone.

He was not in the Queen Mother's plan and should not have entered the Peach Garden.

But he went in, and this was the serious fault of the old landowner and the water carrier.

They were afraid of being held responsible, so they simply denied that there was a second thief in the Peach Garden."

"It's good that you understand. Now you have let the cat out of the bag and there is no room for rebuttal. Even if it is just a small water-carrying warrior who wants to shirk his responsibility, he can only insist on putting the blame on you." said Emperor Donghua.

Dongfang Shuo sighed bitterly and asked, "Master, do you know the identity of the 'old thief'?"

Emperor Donghua pondered and said, "It is probably certain that he did not enter the Peach Garden through the main gate."

Dongfang Shuo was puzzled and asked, "The Queen Mother used the great magical power of 'cutting the river and dividing the world' to separate the Peach Garden from the surrounding space and time, almost making it a small world.

Apart from the main gate, if we force our way into other places, I'm afraid it will cause quite a stir."

Emperor Donghua stamped his feet and reminded: "Don't forget where we are now."

"Entering the Peach Garden through the Kunlun Mountain Earth Escape? But how is this possible?"

Dongfang Shuo was surprised and said, "Kunlun is the ancestor of all mountains and the root of dragon veins. The energy of the earthly dragon veins in the belly of the mountain scares immortals and demons. It is more cruel than the "human tyranny" of the human emperor. Who can penetrate the Kunlun earth veins?"

Emperor Donghua's expression became a little strange, "You are right, it is impossible for a normal person to penetrate the Kunlun Dragon Vein.

Excluding all the 'normal people', there are only a few people who can withstand the energy of the Ancestral Dragon.

The identity of the 'old thief' was naturally exposed."

Dongfang Shuo asked quickly: "Master, do you have a guess? Who is it?"

"It could be your old acquaintance, Yu Fengxian!"

(End of this chapter)