Translator: Skyfarrow Editor: Skyfarrow

Tie Xue Leng said again, “Now, analyze this person Fang Yuan.”

“Father, you suspect it is Fang Yuan?” Tie Ruo Nan was stunned, but continued, “He is a very logical and intelligent person, and when he introduced the village to us, every word he said was appropriate and well organised. Gasp!…”

Tie Ruo Nan suddenly drew in a mouthful of cold air.

She frowned, “I didn’t notice this earlier, but after you just reminded me, I realised it! This Fang Yuan is too good at speaking. Everything he said is objectively the truth, abandoning his personal feelings. Standing at a bystander’s perspective, and describing calmly. Not allowing others to find flaws in his words, thus not able to get additional clues. His words were very…. very…. very clean.”

The young girl hesitated, before using the word ‘clean’.

Tie Xue Leng nodded, but then shook his head, “He did not abandon his feelings. Everyone has feelings, and even a cold blooded murderer has feelings. He only concealed his personal feelings very well, and was in full control of his emotions. This lad has a demonic nature.”

“Demonic nature?””That’s right, think about it. He spoke the truth during the banquet, saying he was frightened and did not dare to enter the battlefield. Tell me, if it was a normal person, would they do that?” Tie Xue Leng asked.

Tie Ruo Nan shook her head, “No, Gu Masters put the clan’s honor and their own reputation higher than their own lives. But, that might not be certain, for in history there have also been many people who sacrificed their own reputation, right?”

“That’s right, but who were those people?” Tie Xue Leng’s gaze was deep.

Tie Ruo Nan considered, before her expression changed, “They were all outstanding individuals!”

“That’s correct. Throughout history, those who sacrificed their own reputations only had two aims. One was that they had a greater aim in mind, and compared to their aim, reputation is worth nothing. The other is to preserve themselves, defaming themselves to prevent suspicion.”

Tie Ruo Nan’s eyes shone, “Father, you are saying?”

“You are thinking too much. I just feel that this young man is very interesting, but too bad he is only a C grade…” Tie Xue Leng said.

The moonlight was like water on this night.

Fang Yuan walked on the empty street, his footsteps slightly heavy but filled with determination.

After interacting with Tie Xue Leng earlier, he was indeed what the rumors said. This Tie Xue Leng had a gaze that could see through the world, and his intelligence and wits were deep like a chasm. He swept through the Southern Border for tens of years, establishing his famed name; he really was an outstanding talent.

Wanting to remove his suspicions in front of such a person was extremely difficult. As long as they had enough time, they would definitely discover the truth!

“Now is a race against time. But, Mo faction’s recruitment, I can make good use of it.”

Not long ago in the Mo faction pavilion, Fang Yuan had given absurd demands. In return for marrying Mo Yan, he wanted a hundred thousand primeval stones, ten rare Gu worms and each at least Rank three.

This made Gu Yue Mo Chen furious.

He was marrying away his precious granddaughter, but Fang Yuan still had more demands?!

Such a shameless way to ask for gifts, and so greedy, it was really the last straw!

Thus, the discussion faltered, and he chased Fang Yuan out.

Fang Yuan left immediately without any inclination to stay.

He knew Mo Chen’s intention, thus he would definitely compromise. His absurd demands were just a way of bargaining, paying the lowest price when buying, and asking for the highest price when selling.

“But this matter has equal benefits and demerits. Although with more primeval stones I can feed the Heavenly Essence Treasure Lotus, my original plan to get out of the political spiral would be ruined. In tonight’s banquet, Gu Yue Mo Chen sacrificed himself to salvage my political career. From then on, he might face all sorts of elder’s suppression.”

Gu Yue village’s political situation now was: Clan leader was healthy, while for the two important elders, Gu Yue Chi Lian was dead but the Chi faction was not finished yet, as inheritor Chi Cheng was still alive. At the same time there was still Gu Yue Chi Zhong, an elder from the same faction. But Mo faction lost its inheritor and Mo Chen was heavily injured, falling to Rank two, unable to even keep his clan elder status.

The two formerly large factions had already gone downhill. The medicine faction in contrast were mostly healing Gu Masters. As supports they had little sacrifice while still keeping most of their strength, and were on the verge of rising up.

Medicine faction was originally the clan leader’s faction, but now it had the ability to be independent. Regardless of whether Gu Yue Yao Ji chooses to be independant or rely on the clan elder, in order to strengthen themselves, they would need to snatch and merge. And the weakened Chi and Mo faction were the best targets.

If they did not strike now, later on when the two factions stabilize internally it would be much more difficult.

“Being in the human world, many things are not up to me, why not just let down my hair and sail away to the seas? Sailing with the winds and breaking waves as I travel thirty thousand Li, that is the true demonic path I take!” Fang Yuan raised his head, looking at the moon as he sighed.

He wanted to get away from the political spiral, but Gu Yue Mo Chen dragged him back by force. He faced pressure from all the factions, and Tie Xue Leng was already starting to solve the case. On the other hand, Bai Ning Bing had already regained his new arm.

Like a boat travelling in the darkness with danger lurking everywhere, how was he to open up a path for himself?

……

The next day.

“What? You said that the person who murdered Jia Jin Sheng had already been found and was killed already?” Tie Ruo Nan felt extremely perturbed.

This morning, she had woken up early and officially started to solve the case.

But to think that the first information she got, was that the killer had already been sentenced.

“That’s right, the killer is a demonic Gu Master. He once assassinated our clan’s rising star and tried to kill the genius, thus he was killed on the spot.” A clan elder provided the information.

“Is that really so? Did he admit personally that he was Jia Jing Sheng’s killer?” Tie Ruo Nan frowned deeply. Beside her, Tie Xue Leng wore a copper mask as he stood like a statue.

“He didn’t. But, if it’s not him, who else could it be?” The clan elder shrugged.

Tie Ruo Nan thought internally, “This is all an assumption, there is no real proof. But whether it is the truth or not, this demonic Gu Master has to be investigated clearly. Most likely, this is a lead that will bring us to the truth!”

Thinking of this, Tie Ruo Nan raised her head abruptly, “Where is he buried? I want to inspect the corpse!”

In a simple and torn coffin, there was a corpse within.

The rotting smell assaulted noses, and clan servants and Gu Masters were so disgusted that they ran far away to hide.

Tie family father and daughter acted as if they were unaffected, and Tie Ruo Nan’s eyes glowed brightly, excitedly stretching her hand and inspecting.

A person’s corpse has lots of traces. At times, one or two small injuries would be the evidence needed to point out the murderer!

On this corpse, there were many injuries, but the person’s appearance was still clear, and he was still wearing his original clothes.

Tie Ruo Nan checked for ages, and only then did she get up with a lingering interest.

“Anything?” Tie Xue Leng asked lightly, testing her secretly.

“Gu Yue clan thinks this person is Jia Jin Sheng’s killer, thus they kept the corpse well. There’s a huge problem in this corpse,” Tie Ruo Nan answered.

“He’s a middle-aged man, right arm thicker than the left; both his hands have a thick callus. Seeing how his callus is distributed, they are uneven. There are many injuries on his body, numerous fatal wounds, showing the intense battle he had before death. But on his body there are also a lot of hidden injuries, especially his left foot having three less toes, this is left behind from many years ago.”

Saying so, she continued deducing, “He was most likely a hunter. There are many evidences – his disproportional left and right side and the callus on his hands shows that he’s an experienced bowman. There are many injures made by wild beasts on his body, like claw marks and bites, showing he often fought against beasts. His clothes are not the traditional Gu Master clothes, and his shoes are even more interesting, weaved from bamboo hemp grass. This kind of grass only grows near Qing Mao bamboo, and Qing Mao mountain only produces Qing Mao bamboo; other than that, in the surrounding mountains, there is no bamboo hemp grass.

“So what are you getting at?” Tie Xue Leng pursued.

“Before this person became a demonic Gu Master, he was a hunter. From his clothes, he was most likely a resident hunter on Qing Mao mountain,” Tie Ruo Nan’s eyes shone brightly.

“Why do you think he is a resident here? If it is the grass shoes, he could’ve killed the villagers here and worn them,” Tie Xue Leng rebuked.

“That’s not it. The most special part of his clothes is the shoes, because if they were taken by force, most would not fit his size perfectly. But look at this, two disproportionate legs and yet the shoes fit nicely, this is made just for him. He has three less toes on his leg feet, thus the left grass shoe is shorter. His stump is very cleanly cut and sharp. I assume it is most likely due to stepping on a trap by mistake,” Tie Ruo Nan said.

Tie Xue Leng did not deny it nor confirm it, and did not even give any criticism.

Like what he said earlier, he left it to Tie Ruo Nan to solve the case.

Tie Ruo Nan continued saying, “With this conjecture, we can go to the surrounding hamlets and investigate. We might find more clues… wait!”

Just when she was about to speak, the young girl’s expression stiffened.

She suddenly remembered, this Qing Mao mountain had just undergone a wolf tide calamity. Even the villages were heavily damaged, not to mention those hamlets?

She knew that using this method to find out the person’s identity and information bore little hope.

“But even if the chances are slim, as long as there is a possibility for success, I must try!” It was the young girl’s first individual case, and she was full of drive.

But half a day passed, and she returned empty-handed. This wolf tide was the largest and most horrifying one yet. So many hamlets had zero survivors, and this brought great trouble to her investigations.

“This lead is gone. What are you going to do next?” Tie Xue Leng asked at an appropriate time.

The young girl gritted her teeth, and in her tone there was stubbornness and tenacity, “No, it is not over yet. Father you said it yourself, the true lead is often hidden more deeply, and as long as we continue to excavate, it will appear.”

“This demonic Gu Master’s death is strange. Firstly, why did he assault Fang Zheng? What did Fang Zheng do to offend him, causing him to assassinate him with his life, under the situation which was basically an assured death? Moreover, he is a local, but after his death, why did no one recognise him?”

Hearing her words, Tie Xue Leng was a little surprised.

“Child, you have truly grown up,” the divine investigator sighed, and in his tone there was contentment and gratification.