On the day of my trial, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, the Wu Family plaza was already packed with people. The normally bustling plaza was now so quiet you could hear a pin drop, every face grave as if crushed beneath a boulder weighing thousands of pounds. Wu Mengli and I were led to the center of the plaza, surrounded by a sea of dark figures. In those pairs of eyes were curiosity, suspicion, and disgust, piercing into me like sharp thorns.
The elders filed in one by one, taking their seats on the high platform. Elder Li sat in the seat closest to the head of the family, his expression gloomy, his gaze toward me as venomous as if soaked in poison. Several elders who supported the reforms sat beside him, their brows locked in tight frowns, silent.
I glanced around, but could not catch sight of my master. My heart gave a sudden lurch—could even my master no longer trust me?
Chapter 95