It was a lady whose red hair reached her waist. She had a cold expression on her face.
Lin Huang could not help but frown under his golden mask.
Naturally, he recognized this lady. Liu Fu had mentioned before that her name was Xia Bing. She was a rogue cultivator who had only joined Star Cluster during the past hundred or so years.
The reason why Lin Huang had a distinct impression on her was that, among the 21 major dao-level powerhouses who entered the mystic territory this time, this lady's ability could definitely rank within the top two.
White Brow from the Longevity Tribe and her were the only two people who he could sense a threat from.
Now that Xia Bing had suddenly appeared here, he could not help but suspect that she was on the same side as Ao Yu.
After all, she was from Star Cluster, while Ao Yu was from Infinite.
Theoretically, they should not be in contact at all.
However, now that Ao Yu was in danger, she was the first one to come to his rescue.
It made Lin Huang suspect her identity.
"What are you doing?" Xia Bing stared fixedly at Lin Huang. Her tone was cold.
Just when Lin Huang was thinking about how to respond to that question before he could confirm her identity, Ao Yu answered instead.
"Senior Xia, there's a high chance that this person is the Raiders' spy. He put on a mask intentionally to hide his identity and then attacked me for no reason. If not for the fact that he's not using the battle techniques that he's proficient in, as he's worried about exposing his identity, he might've already killed me."
As soon as Ao Yu said those words, the way Xia Bing looked at Lin Huang turned more and more unkind.
What he said made Lin Huang even more confused about Xia Bing's identity.
On one hand, if she was also a Raider, what Ao Yu said was basically telling her that Lin Huang had discovered the Raiders' plan and he was getting her to kill Lin Huang.
On the other hand, if Xia Bing was not a Raider, Ao Yu was making him a scapegoat in an attempt to mislead her intentionally to generate conflict between him and Xia Bing.
"You can really distort the truth to suit your purpose."
"If you say that he's distorting the truth, I'll give you a chance to explain then," Xia Bing spoke while frowning. "However, if I'm not happy with your explanation, I can only treat you as a spy and act accordingly."
"Don't give him a chance to defend himself!" Ao Yu instantly shouted as he stood aside.
Xia Bing merely glanced at him and ignored him.
In reality, before confirming her identity, Lin Huang was unwilling to fight her. It was not that he was worried that he would not be her match, but rather that he would have to expose his true ability if they really ended up fighting. He would most probably have to reveal his Sword Dao and Divine Telekinesis techniques.
Moreover, given their abilities, the energy fluctuations caused by the battle would definitely be felt even far away. It would definitely attract the probing of ill-intentioned people.
Meanwhile, such probing would mean that there would be a high chance that the Raiders would find him after the mystic territory exploration ended.
Discovering the threat that his ability elevation speed posed, he was almost sure that the Raiders would send powerhouses beyond dao-level to kill him as soon as they locked on to him.
Lin Huang nodded anyway as hundreds of thoughts flashed through his mind.
"I chased after him because I saw him killing an Infinite colleague with my very own eyes. I didn't attack him for no reason. Instead, I questioned him. I only attacked him after confirming that he's a spy that the Raiders planted in Infinite."
"Nonsense! Don't believe him, Senior Xia! He's framing me because I exposed his identity," Ao Yu retorted immediately. He soon pinpointed Lin Huang's weakness. "If he's not a spy, why is he wearing a mask to conceal his aura, not daring to show his real face?!"
"Explain your mask," Xia Bing said.
"I wear a mask because I have some grudges with the Raiders in the past. I think I'm most probably on their blacklist now. I don't want to be targeted by them again because of this exploration. They'll send individuals above dao-level to come after me," Lin Huang explained casually.
"I'm suspicious of your identity too, and I hope that you can explain yourself. How can a Star Cluster member like you get here so quickly when an Infinite member is in danger? I have reason to suspect that you're his accomplice."
"Let me answer your question." Xia Bing slowed down her tone. "My goal in entering the mystic territory this time is to investigate the Raiders' plan. In order to prevent Raiders from causing too much of a harm during this mission, I left an imprint on a couple of minor dao-level powerhouses I targeted."
"I can sense them as soon as there's odd fluctuations in the Odyl in their bodies, as well as locate their coordinates."
"That's why I came here immediately as soon as something went wrong with him." Indeed, Lin Huang could not find any flaws in Xia Bing's explanation.
"Now, I have a question for the both of you." Xia Bing looked at Lin Huang and Ao Yu as she spoke. "What proof do you guys have to show that the other is a Raiders' spy?"
Clearly, she did not believe either Lin Huang or Ao Yu entirely.
Ao Yu was stunned when he heard the question. He indeed did not have proof to show that Lin Huang was a spy.
However, he was much more relaxed as he thought that Lin Huang also did not seem to have any proof that he was a spy as well.
However, what Lin Huang said next made his heart race.
"If you want proof, I secretly recorded a video when I questioned him. Although he did not directly admit to being a spy in the video, it's enough to prove that he was lying when he told you that I attacked him for no reason."
Lin Huang projected the video that he had recorded not long ago as he spoke.
However, he remained on guard against Xia Bing throughout the entire thing.
Very soon, the video started to play.
The beginning of the video displayed the scene of Ao Yu cleaning up the blood stains on the ground and preparing to put away the corpse.
Although there was blood on the corpse's mouth and nose, his face could be seen clearly.
A major dao-level powerhouse could recall a person's face from their memory just by taking a glance. This person was an Infinite member.
Ao Yu's face turned pale when he saw that.
Lin Huang began his questioning in the scene after that.
He asked Ao Yu why he had killed his colleague from Infinite.
The lie Ao Yu made up was pretty poor.
Later on, when the term "the Raiders' spy" was mentioned, panic clearly appeared on Ao Yu's face for a second.
Although he disguised it well at that time, whereby he concealed his panic instantly, Lin Huang paused the video on his panicked expression directly.
After watching the video to this point, Xia Bing seemed to think that it was unnecessary to continue watching.
She turned her head and looked at Ao Yu directly. Her eyes were cold. "So do you have anything to say for yourself now?"
Lin Huang too looked at Ao Yu while smiling.. "I'd like to see how you are going to distort the truth again."