Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan! Chapter 486 End of Wen Haoyu

This exemplified the demeanor of a seasoned political manipulator.

Despite the irrefutable proof presented openly to the whole Imperial Court, he steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.

He frantically sought out flaws, manipulations, any angle to warp the facts.

Yet in the face of the pristine replay from the Memory Crystal Mirror, his arguments crumbled like sand.

To begin with, it was unmistakably the Azure Sun Holy Sect.

The footage captured Bai Zihan stepping into the Sect without concealment. The grand entrances. The patrolling disciples.

The overseeing elders. Several of them were prominent personalities—familiar visages from past assemblies and tournaments.

Furthermore, the elder overseeing the tests had divulged excessive details in the footage.

Doubt had no place anymore.

Regardless of Wen Haoyu's attempts to reject it—

The proof was crushing.

Nevertheless—

Wen Haoyu didn't consider the situation utterly lost.

Li Jianhong, Zhao Wutian, and the Emperor himself backed him.

So long as he avoided confessing, so long as he upheld his resistance, a faint chance remained that influence might bend reality.

Gradually—

Wen Haoyu's eyes moved.

He glanced at Li Jianhong initially.

Next at Zhao Wutian.

At last—

Toward the dragon throne.

But the sight that met him chilled his veins.

Confidence had fled them, and they avoided his gaze.

No more subtle gestures of protection or steady command to cover him.

Li Jianhong's features were rigid.

Zhao Wutian's teeth clenched firmly.

The Emperor's visage remained inscrutable—yet his stare had turned icy. Even worse—

The assembled court had ceased their outrage against Bai Zihan. That wave had turned entirely.

The looks directed at Wen Haoyu now brimmed with far deadlier emotions.

Revulsion.

Fury.

Scorn.

"You had the nerve to perpetrate such wickedness... and yet whined when attacked?"

That was the message their faces conveyed.

Certain officials appeared ready to assault him on the spot.

Certain sect heads gazed as if beholding refuse.

Even prior allies of the Azure Sun Holy Sect now distanced themselves—discreetly adjusting their stances, as though mere closeness could corrupt them.

Truly—

Nobody could fathom Wen Haoyu's thought process,

He had gotten away.

He had endured.

Had he simply vanished and concealed himself, capture would have eluded him.

But instead—

He had come back to the Imperial Court, moreover to denounce the Bai Clan as if he were the sufferer.

As if he were the blameless party harmed.

What now?

It wouldn't merely be the Bai Clan opposing him.

Every Clan.

Every Sect.

The whole Empire.

The air in the vast chamber had shifted a full one hundred eighty degrees.

Just before, Bai Zihan had faced alone under a barrage of accusatory stares.

Now—

Wen Haoyu stood forsaken.

And he sensed it vividly.

The faint ripples of spiritual intent throughout the hall had redirected.

They no longer bore down on Bai Zihan.

They bore down on him.

Should he fail to offer a defense—

Should he fail to alter destiny once more—

Death awaited.

A drop of perspiration trickled down his forehead.

For the initial time since the proceedings started—

Wen Haoyu experienced terror.

And then—

A seat dragged harshly over the stone tiles.

Chu Xing rose.

The typically poised head of the Chu Clan shed all courteous reserve.

His spiritual energy flared out, not striking—but weighing oppressively on Wen Haoyu akin to a peak.

"Wen Haoyu!"

His tone echoed through the chamber.

"How did you muster the boldness to indict the Bai Clan?"

Every syllable landed like a mallet.

"You perpetrated such heinous deeds—testing on youngsters—and still had the gall to linger here feigning injury?"

His gaze burned with wrath.

"Did a dog devour your sense of right and wrong?"

A shared gasp ensued.

So coarse a phrase seldom echoed in the Imperial Court.

Yet none challenged him.

Indeed—

Numerous inwardly concurred.

"It must have been devoured," Chu Xing pressed on icily, "For only a being devoid of conscience could perpetrate your atrocities."

Wen Haoyu's mouth quivered.

"I-I was unaware of-"

"Be quiet!"

The bellow sliced through him sharply.

"You presume to profess unawareness? As Sect Leader of Azure Sun, you claim ignorance of the hidden vaults under your own Sect territory?"

His tone oozed disdain.

"Do you take us for idiots?"

Other family heads, who had stayed mute before—largely from the Bai Clan's coalition—now expressed their views.

"Your Majesty, assuming the footage holds true—and it seems beyond question—this isn't a trivial wrong."

"Abducting youths. Performing banned tests. These offenses undermine the Empire's core."

"Permitting lenient repercussions would convey what signal?"

"We demand a thorough probe and the severest penalty for the Azure Sun Holy Sect."

Whispers of assent proliferated swiftly.

The current had become unstoppable.

"The Azure Sun Holy Sect bears total responsibility. Culprits deserve execution."

"Execution!"

"Capital punishment!"

The chamber, formerly united against the Bai Clan, now roared with blame toward Azure Sun.

"Regarding Bai Zihan—"

All attention turned instinctively to the young man positioned steadily under the dragon throne.

"He merits no penalty. He deserves commendation. He unveiled a deep-seated corruption inside the Empire."

Yet another family head declared resolutely, "Without his intervention, countless more youths would have vanished."

"He accomplished what the Imperial Court overlooked."

The suggestion was perilous—

But irrefutable.

"In fact," the senior went on, "the Bai Clan provided a vital service to the Empire."

Affirmative gestures followed.

Even former backers of the Zhao and Li Clans now adopted wary impartiality.

Popular opinion had inverted utterly.

Earlier—

Bai Zihan had posed as an offender facing judgment.

Now—

He appeared as a budding savior.

Wen Haoyu perceived the change like a knife grazing his neck.

The spiritual intent filling the hall left no room for doubt.

It brimmed with killing intent.

He stumbled back a pace.

"This amounts to defamation... perversion... you can't judge a whole Holy Sect on a single footage—"

But his words lacked power now.

Lacked belief.

It came across—

Tiny.

Frantic. Most of all— Isolated!