Liu Xing's eyes sharpened, and he inhaled deeply as he watched the beggar woman. Her hair was a tangled mess, her face was dirty, and her clothes were caked with mud. She shouted desperately that she was not a thief, while the qi around her cruelly pushed at her face, as if kicking her repeatedly with invisible feet. Liu Xing didn't know this beggar and couldn't verify if she survived by stealing, but he knew for a fact that in this case, he was the one who had taken the workers' wages.

"Help, help!" she shouted desperately, choking on her own saliva. "I'm a beggar! Not a thief! If you kill me, then the Qing clan will be known as a tyrant that kills innocent people. Please spare me. I did nothing wrong! I don't even know what you're accusing me of!"

"Liar!" a woman shouted. Liu Xing remembered her as one of the servants who had been hanging wet clothes. "I know she occasionally steals purses, food, and meat. She even stole a chair once. Once a thief, always a thief!"

"Me and him," the guard who had spat when he saw the beggar spoke up, pointing to himself and then to his friend. "We saw you sneaking around this morning. You were trying to scout for information. I bet the moment you left, you began your way into the compound to steal our wages!"

"Ask people on the main street!" the woman shouted, her cheek grinding against the ground by the guard's hand. "They can attest to where I was this morning!"

"Then why were you observing us?!" another guard shouted.

The woman snarled. "Are you dumb?! Have maggots eaten your brain?! You've known me since I was a little girl. This was my home once! I was your princess once!" She began to cry. "Why are you all so mean to me? Why are you accusing me of being a thief instead of helping me?"

The cultivator standing behind her snorted. His lips curled down, and his eyes darkened. "You're not part of us anymore, beggar. Prepare to die!"

"No, no, uncle! Please spare me!"

The cultivator in the white robe accented with blue—the "uncle"—raised his right hand high, as if it were a sword. Qi began to gather on it, making the hand glow the color of a sea under a blue sky. Liu Xing knew for a fact that this attack would split the beggar in two if it connected, and as he narrowed his eyes, his brain began to work.

His first thought was to sever the man's arm, but that was too absurd. He simply needed to move the beggar aside, and then he could bring her out of the clan grounds. However, he realized that while it was a good short-term solution, the entire Qing clan would likely hunt her down. Still, it was the only choice he had right now.

Before the man could swing his arm down, and before Liu Xing could grab the beggar and escape, a man stepped out of the crowd. He gained the attention of everyone, including the executioner, then clasped his hands and bent his back so low it almost folded in half, his forehead nearly touching his knees. "This servant greets Second Master Qing!"

Second Master Qing shot him a glare, his hand still raised. "Talk."

"Yes!" the servant replied. He was a rather old man, with a beard as white as snow. The clothes that clung to him were coated with mud, and his hands were dirty. Several blades of grass were stuck to his pants, and Liu Xing imagined this man was a gardener who had been cutting grass before arriving. "Pardon my insolence, but isn't it a bit hasty to execute her?"

"Are you questioning my judgment, mortal?" he snorted. "My brother is kind to all of you, and I too value you as servants. However, don't think for a single second that you're more than servants."

"Second Master Qing, I am not questioning your judgment! I'm sorry if I offended you. However, while I also know there have been several occasions where she was caught red-handed stealing, is there any proof that she is truly the thief who stole our wages? I am not accusing you of making the wrong judgment, Second Master Qing, but I think the evidence my peers have presented is not enough."

The Second Master narrowed his eyes, but his hand remained encased in glowing blue qi. He didn't say anything, so the gardener continued. "How could she sneak into this clan compound? I've been working within this clan for years, and I know it is nigh impossible for us mortals to sneak inside."

A guard replied, one of his hands still pressing the beggar's head down. "With her background, it's not strange for her to know a few ways around the compound."

Some of the servants and workers nodded upon hearing this explanation, but Liu Xing also saw quite a few who held their expressions.

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"So, she entered the clan grounds, snuck into the finance office, swept up the money, and then escaped? Even if she knew her way around, it would be impossible to do that while evading all of us. Moreover, she would have had to do it in a short amount of time. I cannot think of a single way for her to succeed."

The guards snarled but did not refute his words.

"Second Master Qing," the gardener addressed the executioner, who finally decided to lower his hand and dissipate the qi that encased it. "I think she's merely a scapegoat. The real thief is not her."

Liu Xing nodded. He was impressed by this gardener. Not because he could deduce that the thief must be a cultivator, but because the servant had decided to step up and question the Second Master. It was a feat that required an abundance of courage, as he risked offending the cultivator. If that executioner took offense because his decision was questioned by a mortal, the gardener's life would be forfeit. Liu Xing gazed at the Second Master Qing, and while his lips were curled down, he was actually listening to the servant and questioning the situation in his mind. This was a mark of, at the very least, a reasonable man.

"You deduce that it's impossible for her to steal your money," the Second Master said, "and you say she's merely a scapegoat. Then, let me ask you this. Who do you think is the real culprit?"

"If there is truly a thief who stole our wages, he must be a cultivator. In fact, we have eyewitnesses who can attest to that." He glanced to the side, right toward a group of four people. Liu Xing realized they were the clerks who had been counting the coins. "They said that all the money suddenly vanished from the table, as if an invisible thief pocketed it."

The Second Master turned his head to the side. "Is that true?"

A man in his thirties wearing spectacles suddenly jolted, but then he clasped his hands and bowed low before finally saying, "Yes. Our chairs were suddenly turned around, as if invisible hands spun us. A moment later, we realized all the coins were gone."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" he answered. "We have the paperwork to prove that the money was still there this morning when we entered the office."

The Second Master rubbed his chin. Liu Xing wondered what he should do. It seemed the situation might resolve itself. The beggar woman luckily decided to keep her mouth shut, though he could see relief settling on her face.

"So, she is innocent?" the Second Master said.

"At the very least, there's no evidence that points to her being the thief, and the likelihood is quite slim. If the one who stole it was actually a mortal, and those vanishing coins were merely a trick, then the culprit is likely among the workers. Specifically, from the finance office."

"You, you accuse us of stealing your wages?!" a man shouted from the side. This one looked to be around thirty, with dark bags under his eyes. Liu Xing remembered he was the one who had first realized the coins were gone.

"I am not," the gardener said, "just stating a deduction." He paused, rubbed his chin, and then continued. "Actually, I suddenly remember that while the whole finance office was in an uproar, you were the one who accused her of being the thief. You said the one who likely stole our wages was that 'cursed mother,' without any evidence whatsoever. However, with her... past, everyone suddenly concluded that she was truly the thief. She is, after all, a person universally hated by us, and it's easy to blame everything on her and her curse."

The Second Master snorted. "You may think it's just a myth or superstition, but I know for a fact that she is truly cursed. Even the heavens themselves scorn her."

"I'm sorry if my statement offended you, Second Master Qing. As I said, it's easy to pin the blame on her since we hate her. However, hate is not enough to accuse someone of being a thief."

"Then who is the thief?" the Second Master Qing demanded.

"I don't know," the gardener said. "However, I noticed that," the gardener pointed to the finance clerk who had recently shouted, "his face is pale, and he keeps clutching his pocket, as if he's concealing important evidence there."

"No, no! I'm hiding nothing!" the man with the eye bags shouted. However, he was trembling and took several steps back, as if his body intended to flee.

At that moment, Liu Xing suddenly understood what had happened. He shot a glare toward the man before finally sighing. All of this commotion was because of him. Liu Xing had decided to take their money and exchange it for a spirit stone. He thought that since he left a spirit stone there, things would be even. He had expected some confusion, true, but he never thought things would spiral out like this, and all of it stemmed from his miscalculation.

He thought the spirit stone he left would be split evenly among the workers. The worst he could imagine was the clan seizing the spirit stone and providing the coins for the servants' wages. He didn't account for a man deciding that the spirit stone was his and his alone.

Second Master Qing stared daggers at him, and with a voice laced with qi, he said, "Show me what's in your pocket, mortal. Don't even think of escaping!"

The servant was trembling, his teeth chattering, his body leaning to the side as if he wanted to run toward the open gate. However, it seemed that while his instincts told him to run, he successfully resisted, because his hands slowly reached into his pocket. After a moment, he revealed what was inside.

A round blue stone, only the size of a pinky tip, shone with a faint light.

"It's a spirit stone!" The gardener's eyes widened.

Second Master Qing narrowed his eyes. "Where did you get that spirit stone, mortal?"

"This, this spirit stone was left in one of the coin trays. I noticed it a moment after all the coins were gone. I, I knew it was a spirit stone, and I instinctively pocketed it! Please have mercy on me!"

"Missing coins and the appearance of a spirit stone," the gardener muttered, and then exclaimed, "I get it now!"

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