I am destroying the protagonist in the fantasy world!

Chapter 124 The Dark Night Ends, the Dawn Begins

What if I say I was framed?" Lei Yi looked directly into Sect Leader Liu's eyes and spoke word by word.

Sect Leader Liu frowned, clearly unconvinced. "Framed? Who would frame you? And what's their purpose?"

Lei Yi didn't answer directly. Instead, he took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over: "Master Liu, you might want to take a look at this first."

Sect Leader Liu took it with a puzzled look, unfolded it, and his expression suddenly turned grim. It was a detailed route map with several locations clearly marked on it, exactly where the rumors had spread most recently.

"This is..." Sect Leader Liu looked at Lei Yi in surprise and doubt.

Lei Yi took back the route map, his tone calm but with a hint of chill: "This is the result of my secret investigation over the past three days. I found that the rumors spread in these places are all related to the same person - Butler Zhou."

Upon hearing this, Sect Leader Liu's expression changed several times. Steward Zhou had been by his side for many years and had always been loyal and honest. He really couldn't believe that he would do such a thing.

"Words are nothing, Mr. Lei, do you have any evidence?"

Lei Yi smiled confidently: "Of course, in three days, I will let Sect Leader Liu see a good show, and then all the truth will be revealed."

At the same time, in a teahouse outside the city, a man in gray was shocked after hearing the conversation at the next table. He suddenly stood up and was about to leave.

"Brother, please stay," the person at the next table called him at this moment, "I see you don't look familiar, but is this your first time in Yunmeng City?"

The man in gray barely suppressed his panic, responded vaguely, and wanted to leave.

"Don't worry, brother," the man seemed not to notice his perfunctory tone and continued to speak, "I'm new here and I'm just looking for some information. I wonder if you could tell me a thing or two?"

The man in gray was anxious, but he couldn't just turn hostile. He could only patiently say a few perfunctory words, found an excuse and left in a hurry.

He hurried back to the city and headed straight for Zhou's mansion.

"Sir, something bad has happened!" The man in gray rushed into the study in a panic and told Butler Zhou everything that happened in the teahouse.

After hearing this, Butler Zhou's face darkened, and a fierce look flashed in his eyes: "It seems that we underestimated Lei Yi. He has actually found out about us."

"Then what should we do now?" asked the man in gray worriedly.

Butler Zhou sneered, "Since he wants to know the truth, then we'll give him this opportunity. However, this truth won't be what he imagined..."

On the other side, after Lei Yi left Master Liu's place, he did not go back home directly, but came to a secluded alley.

"Come out. Aren't you tired after following me all the way?" He said lightly with his back to the alley entrance.

As soon as he finished speaking, a thin figure in black clothes walked out from the shadows. It was Sun Xiucai who had eavesdropped in the teahouse before.

"Mr. Lei is really powerful. He actually discovered me a long time ago." Sun Xiucai smiled embarrassedly and bowed.

Lei Yi turned and looked at him, a gleam in his eyes: "Why are you following me?"

"I have no ill intentions. I just want to tell Master Lei that I know who is spreading rumors and framing you behind the scenes." Sun Xiucai explained quickly.

"Oh?" Lei Yi raised an eyebrow. "Then tell me, who is it?"

Sun Xiucai lowered his voice, leaned close to Lei Yi's ear, and slowly said a name.

After hearing this, Lei Yi was not surprised, but his eyes became even colder. He patted Sun Xiucai on the shoulder, said "I know", and turned away.

"Lei Yi..." Sun Xiucai looked at Lei Yi's departing back, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

At night, Lei Yi told Dongfang Liuli about his discoveries of the past few days. Dongfang Liuli frowned slightly and said after a moment's silence, "...We still need to make a long-term plan."

Undercurrent

Dongfang Liuli tapped the tabletop lightly with her slender fingers, her clear eyes gleaming with wisdom. "Lei Yi, since Butler Zhou dared to frame you so blatantly, he must have someone behind the scenes. We need to make a long-term plan."

Lei Yi nodded, his deep eyes revealing a firmness. "You're right. We can't alert the enemy. Let's collect more evidence first, and when the time is right, we can catch them all in one fell swoop."

So, the two began to secretly observe the movements of Butler Zhou and the gray-clothed man. They found that Butler Zhou often went in and out of some secret places and interacted with some unidentified people, while the gray-clothed man appeared more frequently in various places in the city, spreading rumors about Lei Yi.

Meanwhile, although Sect Leader Liu had already distanced himself from Lei Yi, deep down he still couldn't fully believe that Lei Yi was the kind of person he was. He began to pay attention to the rumors about Lei Yi, trying to find any flaws in them.

"Master Liu, have you heard? That kid Lei Yi actually..." In the tavern, Sun Xiucai described Lei Yi's "crimes" vividly, with saliva flying, attracting many people to stop and watch.

Sect Leader Liu sat in a corner, listening calmly, his brow furrowing ever tighter. He had heard some of what Mr. Sun said before, but upon closer examination, he discovered a number of inconsistencies.

For example, Sun Xiucai said that Lei Yi had once harmed innocent people in order to practice evil skills, but Sect Leader Liu remembered that Lei Yi had once saved a girl who was being chased by bandits, and the girl had personally come to his house to express her gratitude.

"Could it be... that these are all fake?" A bold guess suddenly popped up in Sect Leader Liu's mind, but he quickly dismissed the idea. "Impossible! So many people are saying this, it can't all be fake, right?"

He put down the wine glass in his hand, stood up and left the tavern, but he felt like a huge rock was pressing on his heart, so heavy that he couldn't breathe.

At this time, Mr. Sun was still talking incessantly, not noticing the increasingly obvious suspicion in the eyes of the people around him.

"Wait, didn't you say before..." A rough voice suddenly rang out from the crowd...

"Wait, didn't you say before that Lei Yi had a close relationship with the evil witch from the cult? How come now it becomes that he is harming the people in order to practice evil skills? How could he do these two things at the same time?" The speaker was Zhao Da Xia, known as "Iron Fist" in the martial arts world. He was an upright man who hated evil and had great prestige in the martial arts world.

When Sun Xiucai was asked this question, his expression suddenly turned ugly. He stammered, "This...this is all what I heard. I'm just...just telling everyone what I know."

"Hmph, I see you're just talking nonsense and deliberately spreading rumors!" Hero Zhao's eyes widened in anger, and he slammed the table and stood up. "I've always thought those rumors were too outrageous. Now it seems someone is maliciously slandering Young Master Lei behind this!"

Sun Xiucai was frightened by Zhao Daxia's aura, and shrank his neck, not daring to speak again. The people around him also began to talk, and many people doubted what Sun Xiucai said.

After leaving the tavern, Zhao Daxia did not go directly to find Lei Yi, but instead went to a forest outside the city alone. He took out a letter from his pocket and read it carefully, frowning.

He had received this letter a few days ago, which mentioned some clues about Lei Yi's frame-up and provided some evidence. After much investigation, Zhao Daxia found that what the letter said was true.

It turns out that the person who framed Lei Yi was actually Butler Zhou. He bribed the gray-clothed man to spread rumors in order to take revenge on Lei Yi. The reason why he wanted to take revenge on Lei Yi was because Lei Yi had accidentally discovered a secret of his. Once this secret was leaked, he would be ruined.

"Butler Zhou, you have such a cruel heart!" Hero Zhao gnashed his teeth and said, "Young Master Lei treated you well, yet you turned your kindness against him and framed him!"

He put the letter away and headed back towards the city, already having made up his mind. He was going to find Lei Yi, tell him about this, and help him clear his name.

At the same time, Lei Yi and Dongfang Liuli were also secretly investigating the movements of Butler Zhou. They found that Butler Zhou had been in close contact with a mysterious man in black recently, and he was very cautious every time they met, fearing that he would be discovered.

"It seems that we are getting closer and closer to the truth." Lei Yi looked at the Zhou Mansion in the distance, a cold light flashing in his eyes, "Butler Zhou, I want to see how long you can hide it!"

As night fell, Lei Yi and Dongfang Liuli sneaked into the Zhou residence, ready to find evidence that Butler Zhou had framed him. However, just as they had sneaked into the study, a cold voice suddenly sounded behind them...

"Who is it?!" Butler Zhou shouted sternly, holding a sharp dagger in his hand, pointing it at Lei Yi and Dongfang Liuli.

Lei Yi and Dongfang Liuli exchanged glances, each seeing a hint of solemnity in the other's eyes. They hadn't expected that Butler Zhou would be so alert and discover their whereabouts so quickly.

"Butler Zhou, how are you?" Lei Yi walked out from the shadows calmly with a sneer on his lips.

When Butler Zhou saw who was coming, his expression suddenly turned extremely gloomy: "Lei Yi?! How dare you trespass into my mansion without permission? You must be tired of living!"

"Why wouldn't I dare to come?" Lei Yi asked, "Are you afraid of others knowing about the good things you've done?"

"I don't know what you are talking about!" Butler Zhou denied it flatly, but a trace of panic flashed in his eyes.

Dongfang Liuli walked up to Lei Yi and said coldly, "Butler Zhou, you bribed the gray-clothed man to spread rumors and frame Lei Yi. Do you really think we know nothing?"

Butler Zhou's eyes flickered for a moment, and then he sneered, "If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext. What evidence do you have to prove that I did it?"

Lei Yi pulled out a letter from his pocket and threw it in front of Butler Zhou: "Take a look for yourself!"

Butler Zhou opened the letter and his expression changed drastically. This letter was exactly what he had written to the mysterious man in black, detailing his plan to frame Lei Yi.

"You...where did you get this letter?" Butler Zhou asked in horror.

"Don't worry about that." Lei Yi said coldly, "Now, what else do you have to say?"

Butler Zhou knew he had been exposed, so he simply tore off his skin and said viciously, "Even if you have evidence, what can you do? I've already told Master Liu everything, and he will definitely not believe you!"

"Really?" A majestic voice suddenly sounded outside the door. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Sect Leader Liu walking in with several disciples, their faces ashen.

"Master Liu..." Seeing this, Butler Zhou was immediately panicked and stammered, unable to speak.

Sect Leader Liu walked up to Butler Zhou and angrily shouted, "Butler Zhou, I really misjudged you! How could you do such a despicable and shameless thing!"

It turned out that after learning the truth, Zhao Daxia immediately rushed to Qingyun Sect and told the headmaster Liu about the evil deeds of the housekeeper Zhou. The headmaster Liu did not believe it at first, but when Zhao Daxia produced the evidence of the housekeeper Zhou's contact with the black-clad men and the letter written by the housekeeper Zhou, the headmaster Liu realized that he had been deceived by the housekeeper Zhou.

"Come here, take Butler Zhou down!" Sect Leader Liu gave the order, and several disciples immediately stepped forward and tied Butler Zhou up.

After Butler Zhou was taken away, Sect Leader Liu came up to Lei Yi and said apologetically, "Young Master Lei, I was wrong about you. Please forgive my recklessness."

Lei Yi shook his head and said, "Master Liu, you are too serious. This matter has nothing to do with you. You have also been deceived."

"No, I am responsible." Sect Leader Liu said, "It was because I didn't know how to judge people that Butler Zhou took advantage of the situation and almost wrongly accused a good man."

Lei Yi knew that Master Liu was truly repentant, so he stopped talking. He believed that after this incident, Master Liu would be more cautious and would not be easily deceived again.

"Brother Lei, are you okay?" Hero Zhao walked up and asked with concern.

"I'm fine." Lei Yi smiled and shook his head. "Thanks to Brother Zhao's righteous words, otherwise I would have been killed by Butler Zhou."

"Brother Lei, you are too polite. When we see injustice, we should help others with our swords. This is what chivalrous men like us should do," said Hero Zhao.

Sect Leader Liu also said, "Young Master Lei, don't worry, I will definitely give you an explanation and clear your name!"

Lei Yi nodded, but he had a feeling that this matter was not that simple. Although Butler Zhou had been arrested, the person behind him had not yet appeared. Lei Yi had a hunch that there was a bigger conspiracy behind this...

"Dongfang, let's go," Lei Yi whispered, his gaze fixed on the distance, where Butler Zhou often met with the men in black. Dongfang Liuli understood, and the two quietly left Qingyun Sect and headed in that direction. In the night, two figures, one in front and one behind, vanished into the gloom, leaving only endless darkness behind them...