Chapter 238: Chapter 238: Confession

When their group arrived at the old matriarch’s treehouse, the area below had already been surrounded by warriors led by Shield.

They couldn’t see the old matriarch at all. Someone asked anxiously, “Shield, how is the matriarch? Can we go see her?”

“Yeah, can we go see the old matriarch? What exactly happened to her?”

“And isn’t Lady Lu Xiao a witch doctor? Why hasn’t she cured the old matriarch?”

“That’s right, isn’t she a witch doctor? She even healed Hunt, so how could she fail to heal the matriarch?”

…

Faced with the clamor of the crowd, Shield raised a hand to signal for silence. “Lady Lu Xiao has already done her best. While helping the old matriarch purge the poison, she was unfortunately afflicted herself and is now unconscious. The old matriarch is advanced in age. She has woken up, but she’s very weak. It’s uncertain if she’ll be able to hold on. But since you’re all here and wish to see the old matriarch one last time, please line up and go up. Cherish this hard-won opportunity.”

As he spoke, Shield’s eyes reddened. His appearance only made everyone more certain that the old matriarch was on the verge of death.

Finally, someone couldn’t hold back their tears. “Who could be so vicious as to poison the tribe’s water supply!”

“Yeah! You have to find out the truth and avenge the old matriarch!”

“If I find out who did this, I swear I won’t let them get away with it!”

…

Standing in the crowd, Qing listened to the indignant cries of her tribespeople, her heart in turmoil.

’I’m starting to regret it now. I know full well what the consequences will be if this gets out!’

’But things have already reached a point of no return. The old matriarch is actually dying because she drank my water… How could this happen? Platinum said no one would die!’

’I just wanted to make Lu Xiao leave! I never meant to kill the old matriarch!’

As she nervously followed the line up to the treehouse to see the old matriarch, she passed by Shield. Suddenly, she heard him speak. “Lady Qing, you came too. You don’t look well. Are you all right?”

Shield’s sudden concern startled Qing. Cold sweat broke out on her face, and a strange pain throbbed in her body. But with a guilty conscience weighing her down, she was so tense that she barely noticed the unusual ache.

Snapping back to her senses, she quickly waved her hands at Shield. “N-no, I’m fine. Is the matriarch… really not going to make it?”

She asked weakly, but her eyes betrayed a sense of urgency.

Shield gave her a deep look and nodded. “Go on up and see her one last time.”

Hearing this, Qing’s face grew even paler.

As the line moved forward, it was soon Qing’s turn.

As soon as she entered the room, she saw the old matriarch sitting on a wooden chair, her face a deathly gray. Lu Xiao was lying on the bed, her face obscured, her condition unknown.

The person who had entered before her was kneeling by the old matriarch’s side, weeping.

The old matriarch looked at the people entering the room. “You’ve all come. I’m so happy to be able to see everyone one last time. Thank you for being willing to see me at a time like this. I thought you would all be full of complaints and wouldn’t want to see me at the end.”

“How could that be, Matriarch? You are our matriarch. We couldn’t love you more. How could we possibly resent you?”

“Is that so? If you don’t resent me, then why poison the tribe’s water supply and make everyone suffer? Isn’t that an expression of dissatisfaction with me, a venting of hatred? Or have I misunderstood?”

“No, it’s not like that! At least, most of us don’t think that way. Please believe us, old Matriarch! We didn’t poison the water!”

“Who was it that did the poisoning? Why would they do such a thing? What were their intentions? If they step forward and admit their mistake before the old matriarch now, we can still forgive them. Otherwise, when we find out who it is, we will definitely not let them off!”

Someone glared fiercely at the others in the room. This group was comprised of the lucky few who hadn’t drunk from the water supply and thus hadn’t been poisoned.

“I’m old and useless. Perhaps I have unintentionally hurt someone among you. I apologize to them here and now. But the people of this tribe are innocent. Now, the only one who can save everyone, Lady Lu Xiao, has also been poisoned. She can’t detoxify anyone. Without an antidote, those who were poisoned will surely die. I’m begging that person to show some mercy and save everyone. I’m willing to offer up this old life of mine!”

“Matriarch, don’t say that! Please, don’t say that!”

“Search! Matriarch, I suggest we have Shield take the unpoisoned warriors and search every single house! I refuse to believe we can’t find the person hiding the poison!”

“Right! Since this person won’t step forward, let’s just dig them out! Let’s see how long they can hide!”

“I agree!”

…

Hearing this, Qing, who was standing at the back of the crowd, swayed. ’They can’t search. If they really search, everything I’ve hidden at home will be exposed. They absolutely cannot search.’

She was panicking so much that she forgot to control her expression. The person standing next to her noticed and asked, “Qing, are you okay? Why are you sweating so much? Were you poisoned, too?”

Amid the indignant clamor of the crowd, this question sounded particularly abrupt.

The boisterous crowd fell silent in an instant, and everyone’s gaze turned toward Qing at the back.

Suddenly being stared at by so many pairs of eyes, Qing felt her breath catch in her throat. She even started to hallucinate.

The once-kindly tribespeople now seemed to sprout fangs in her eyes, glaring at her like malevolent demons.

Terrified, her legs gave out and she collapsed to her knees. “It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it! I didn’t expect this to happen! It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me!”

Her strange reaction startled everyone who saw it.

But someone quickly put it together. “Qing, speak clearly! What wasn’t you? What didn’t you expect to happen? Was it you who poisoned the water supply?”

The last question was clearly the point.

Hearing the word “poisoned,” Qing panicked even more. “I didn’t mean to! Don’t punish me! I was put up to it! It wasn’t me, it really wasn’t me!”

“Qing, so it really was you! How could you do this? We’ve always treated you well. Why would you harm the people of the tribe and the old matriarch? What are you trying to do?!”

After hearing her words, a hot-tempered person finally snapped, grabbing Qing’s arm and dragging her before the old matriarch. “Explain yourself in front of the old matriarch! Tell us why you did this!”

“Yeah, why did you do it? How can you be so vicious!”

“Are you really the child of the former witch doctor? How can your heart be so wicked!”

“Qing, you said someone put you up to it, didn’t you? Who was it?!”

…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep