Chapter 61: Clues

Mu Yi thought there was something strange about the situation, but when he heard Su Jinlun had disappeared, he finally understood what was wrong. Zheng Zicong had shown up at a rather odd time. It was almost the end of the year, he should be at home with his family.

After he offended Mu Yi and ran away, he couldn’t be in the same city as him now and act recklessly. Su Jinlun came to the main city of the county with Mu Yi. How did Zheng Zicong even know they were there? Sadly, Mu Yi started to think about these things a bit too late.

What could be Zheng Zicong’s goal? He was definitely thinking of doing something sly. Mu Yi could only assume Zheng Zicong had tried to find a reason to make him come to the city. Could Zheng Zicong do that alone?

The answer was obvious.

Since Mu Yi started practicing cultivation, he had made a few enemies. The hoodlum was already dead. Zheng Zicong was alive and so was Xugui. Mu Yi was able to slowly find the connections between Zheng Zicong, a corpse-ghost, and Xugui.

Even though he wasn’t 100 percent sure, he was seventy to eighty percent sure of his deductions. Xugui escaped from Funiu Village back then, but he was badly injured. He should have died unless someone helped him.

Zheng Zicong left early in the morning the day after. Maybe Zheng Zicong bumped into Xugui while he was leaving and saved him. After all, Zheng Zicong and Xugui did share a common enemy, Mu Yi.

Zheng Zicong never went to the seat of the prefecture even once. He was waiting in the county city the whole time, probably, for an opportunity.

What Mu Yi still didn’t understand was why they had stolen the wealth of seven rich families. If they just wanted him to come to the city, why involve so many people? Did they really need money?

Mu Yi was still unsure about a few details but he went to find Xie Miao and Su Yan anyway. He told them his thoughts. He asked them if there was an influential group that was particularly active and what group, if any, could steal the wealth of seven rich families.

Mu Yi was convinced nothing would happen to Su Jinlun. After all, if Xugui and Zheng Zicong were behind everything, their target was Mu Yi. Nothing could happen to Su Jinlun before they drew Mu Yi into their trap.

Mu Yi needed to wait until the information he asked about was ready. At that time, someone would most likely report everything. However, there was still no news after a day passed.

Mu Yi hadn’t heard anything from the Su Clan either. Su Chongshan didn’t seem to be worried about his heir and he didn’t put Mu Yi under any kind of pressure. He trusted Mu Yi to handle it.

Mu Yi wasn’t in a rush. He calmly waited in Xie Zheng’s courtyard. While he was there he asked Xie Zheng for advice on how to carry out a proper investigation.

He helped Xie Zheng for a day or so. Even though Xie Zheng was still weak, he could already walk without aid. Xie Zheng was really grateful and touched by the care. He taught Mu Yi all he could. He was happier to teach Mu Yi than he was to teach his nephew.

Xie Zheng was an ordinary person, but Mu Yi didn’t dislike him at all. He even learned a lot from him. Finally that evening, Xie Miao came back and gave Mu Yi all the information he had requested.

A group of influence had recently been quite active. People hadn’t really noticed anything, but the group had been acting strangely.

Little Frost Mountain was ten li away from Lin’an County. There were many mountains and rivers there. It was a harsh natural environment filled with barren hills and turbulent rivers.

There was a group of bandits in Little Frost Mountain but the actions they took were limited. They also had certain principles. They never attacked ordinary people. They only attacked governmental authorities. Therefore, in ordinary people’s hearts, the bandits were better people than the politicians.

Qiu Yuetong was the chief of the bandits, she was also the former chief’s daughter. There was a group of old men under her command. She was a brave and outstanding woman. She had close relationships with people in the city, so although she was a bandit, many people liked her.

Qiu Yuetong wouldn’t have stolen the wealth of seven rich families unless she had suddenly lost all her sense. She also didn’t have superpowers which would allow her not to leave any clues behind.

Therefore, nobody thought she had done it.

When Mu Yi heard that he had some doubts but Xie Zheng helped Mu Yi get rid of them. A tiger, even if it doesn’t roar loudly, remains a tiger. Even if something seemed completely impossible, it could actually be true.

Xie Zheng, who was an officer of the magistracy, and some other investigators continued the investigation. Mu Yi learned a lot more. Mu Yi started to wonder about a particular person while the investigation was being conducted.

That person was Li Hu, the second chief of the bandits. He was also the previous chief’s adopted son. Qiu Yuetong and he were almost like brother and sister. He only had a slightly lower social status than Qiu Yuetong in the fortified village they were from.

Many people even believed that Li Hu was a better leader. The real reason why Mu Yi had doubts was because Li Hu had come to the city several times that month. Unfortunately, Mu Yi didn’t have much time, otherwise, he would have take some time to learn even more.

“So, after assessing the situation, we could say that Xugui, Zheng Zicong and Li Hu have probably joined hands, right?

“Li Hu is the second chief of Little Frost’s fortified village, he might want to expand Little Frost’s fortified village. He would need a lot of money to do so and something like this gives him an opportunity to get it. Xugui doesn’t lack money, but he needs people. He doesn’t want to take action against me only, he also wants to take action against the Su Clan. One side lacks money and the other side lacks people, if they joined hands, everything would be perfect. That’s why they stole the wealth of seven rich families. How does Zheng Zicong fit in though?” Mu Yi wondered.

Mu Yi didn’t understand. Zheng Zicong hated him, which was understandable, but what about the Su Clan? Did he not care about his grandfather’s family?

Did he hate his family as well? To the extent that he wouldn’t care what happened to them anymore? Mu Yi didn’t understand what Zheng Zicong was thinking. He needed to see him so that he could understand.

—

Mu Yi held a letter in his hands the next evening. He was unable to hold his emotions in check. A cold smile appeared on his face. He said something to Xie Zheng and left.