Chapter 15 - Interlude, Shocking Development

I wonder if that scoundrel is to no good? As she combed her hair, Qi Qiqi sighed.

The bright moon hanging high outside the window disseminated dim moonlight outside, which was driven away by the outdoor lights.

“Sigh…” Qi Qiqi sighed as she recalled the matters of the Merak Palace.

What should we do? There’s the Heavenly Sword Gate for now, but there will be other… At this thought, Qi Qiqi frowned subconsciously.

… bang.

The door was flung open.

“Who is it?!” Qi Qiqi stood immediately and quickly turned around.

It was Yang Yuening.

“Please forgive me, Palace Master, but there’s a pressing matter!” Yang Yuening had a grave expression on his face, and looked very anxious.

Did something happen? Qi Qiqi frowned.

“Feel free to speak, Senior Disciple Brother Yang.”

“Palace Master, please come with me.” Yang Yuening spoke indubitably.

“What happened?”

“Elder Qin is dead.”

“What?” Qi Qiqi could not believe her ears.

“Elder Qin was murdered!”

Qin Chen is dead? Qi Qiqi thought at first, and then wondered: who could kill an Elder in the Merak Palace without any sound or sign?

*

Unlike Qi Qiqi and Xue Qilin, who lived in the Snow-facing Abode, Vice-palace Master Ye Zhen and the numerous Elders each had a courtyard of their own.

Apart from Mound Guardian Elder Zhang Ming, who settled outside the Sword Mound due to his duties, and Li Wanting, who was frequently so absorbed in her work that she forgot to eat and sleep and just lived in the Sword-casting Chamber, Elders established their courtyards on the Middle Peak with the Snow-facing Abode as the center.

Originally, Qin Chen’s courtyard was located on the Middle Peak as well, but then he moved spontaneously to the West Peak after his great change in temperament that led to him becoming unpopular. Regarding this matter, Ye Zhen, who served as Vice-palace Master, has personally approved it.

After crossing numerous twists and turns, Qi Qiqi finally reached Qin Chen’s courtyard.

Qin Chen’s courtyard was hidden in a bamboo grove, it was quaint, looking just like the residence of a reclusive sage.

After crossing the courtyard gate, Qi Qiqi and Yang Yuening entered Qin Chen’s quarters.

The room looked refined, and contained a faint wine aroma. It was not a secret that Qin Chen was fond of wine. Supposedly, the wine aroma came from his wine collection.

However, Qi Qiqi had no time to appreciate it. The room was filled with people.

“Palace Master.” The crowd uttered in unison. Only Ye Zhen, who had a dignified look on his face, didn’t participate in the greeting. He just nodded towards Qi Qiqi.

Qi Qiqi didn’t care. After all, it was not a secret that Ye Zhen didn’t accept her as the Palace Master. She was already accustomed to the other party’s attitude.

Next, Qi Qiqi turned her attention away from the crowd and observed the room.

In the rather spacious hall, nothing stood out more than a body covered with a white cloth. With the corpse as the center, a dark spot could be seen on the floor… It was dried blood.

The most puzzling thing to Qi Qiqi was – the room is neat, there is no trace of fighting. In other words, Qin Chen was killed without mounting any resistance.

“Palace Master, take a look at the corpse first.” In a rare fashion, Xia Xue had a stern look on her face. She whispered in Qi Qiqi’s ear.

“Okay.” After she replied, Qi Qiqi slowly walked towards Qin Chen’s body. She squatted down and reached for the white cloth, but suddenly, she recalled something and stopped mid action.

“Elder Liu, you don’t mind?” Maintaining her posture of one hand hanging in the air, Qi Qiqi asked Liu Chengzong, who was sitting close by with a grave expression.

She asked this question because she took into consideration the fact that Liu Chengzong treated Qin Chen like a son. She was worried that if she uncovered the body without permission, it would upset the other party.

After all, Liu Chengzong was in Ye Zhen’s faction and was somewhat hostile towards Qi Qiqi.

“Do as you please, Palace Master. But…” Liu Chengzong continued in a threatening tone: “After you’ve taken a look, you must give this old man an explanation. Otherwise…”

The more Liu Chengzong spoke, the tighter Qi Qiqi’s eyebrows wrinkled.

But before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Ye Zhen: “Elder Liu, watch your tongue.”

Liu Chengzong was startled. Apparently having taken note of everyone’s condemnation, he cupped his hands towards Qi Qiqi and said: “Palace Master, please forgive this old man’s slip of the tongue.”

Be that as it may, the expression on his face showed no sign of apology.

“It’s okay, Uncle Teacher Liu. I understand that you said that in the heat of the moment.”

Regardless of whether the other party was sincere in their apology or not, but since he admitted being wrong, as the Palace Master, it wasn’t convenient for Qi Qiqi to look into it.

After receiving Liu Chengzong’s consent, Qi Qiqi slowly lifted the white cloth.

The first thing that caught her eyes was Qin Chen’s pale, rather handsome face. His lips had already turned pale, and his facial muscles looked stiff. He was evidently dead for some time now. If it hadn’t been winter, with the weather slowing down the rate of decay, the stench of a corpse would have spread by now. The reason why Qin Chen’s dead body was discovered only now was probably because he was a loner.

Qi Qiqi carefully observed the body for a while. From the color of his lips and skin, she could rule out the possibility of poisoning. His white clothing was stained with blood… and the source of blood was a sword wound on his left side of the chest. A sword had pierced right through the heart.

“Huh?” Qi Qiqi suddenly cried out.

The shape of the wound is unusual. Generally, a stab wound made by a sword had quadrilateral or hexagonal cross section, while the sword wound on Qin Chen’s chest had a decagonal cross section.

Generally speaking, the body of an ordinary sword can only be grinded to have four or six faces. Swords with eight faces are fairly rare, not to mention swords with ten faces.

Swords with ten faces were very rare. Qi Qiqi only knew of one such sword, and she was very familiar with it.

Ink Iron sword – the sword Li Wanting used was a ten-faced sword.

Qi Qiqi would never suspect Li Wanting, but what disturbed her was that the size and shape of Qin Chen’s sword wound seemed to match that of Li Wanting’s sword.

This alone was already enough to make a suspect of Li Wanting, not to mention the well-known fact that there was enmity between her and Qin Chen. She had motive to murder Qin Chen.

At this thought, Qi Qiqi couldn’t help but wrinkle her eyebrows.

“Junior Sister Palace Master, you seem to have found out that things don’t look good for Senior Disciple Sister Li…” Xia Xue stooped down and murmured into Qi Qiqi’s ear.

Then, she pointed at Liu Chengzong with her eyes – Qi Qiqi noticed movement from the corner of her eye.

So, will Uncle Teacher Liu ask me for an explanation? Qi Qiqi’s friendship with Li Wanting ran deep, and everyone knew of it. The meaning behind Liu Chengzong’s words was to ask her to handle things impartially.

Qi Qiqi lowered the white cloth and covered Qin Chen’s body: “Vice-palace Master Ye, please take care of the funeral affairs of Elder Qin.”

“Certainly.”

Qi Qiqi nodded towards Ye Zhen in an expression of gratitude.

With Qin Chen’s identity, according to common sense, the Palace Master should personally handle his funeral affairs. But Ye Zhen was more experienced than Qi Qiqi, which was why she asked him to take her place.

It had to be mentioned that Qi Qiqi wasn’t as good as Ye Zhen in handling sect affairs, and she was quite aware of this. However, she knew how to make good use of people, which was how she gained Xia Xue’s allegiance.

Of course, Qi Qiqi also knew that there was another factor involved, which was Xia Xue’s dislike for Ye Zhen and Liu Chengzong. As for Yang Yuening, she didn’t care about him apparently.

Qi Qiqi stood up slowly, then looked around at the crowd and asked doubtfully: “Where’s Elder Li?”

Bang… Just when Xia Xue was about to answer, Liu Chengzong slammed a table angrily and beat her to the punch: “Li Wanting? Humph, that slut has long since escaped.”

Qi Qiqi felt uncomfortable and wanted to retort when she heard the other party’s insult. But as Palace Master, reason told her to suppress her emotions. However…

“Elder Liu, whether this was done by Senior Sister Li remains to be proven. Do you want to make the final judgement without a verdict being reached? Elder Liu, are Palace Master and Vice-palace Master just for show…” Unexpectedly, Xia Xue gave a sneer and mocked in a strange tone of voice.

“Ignorant child, this sword wound is clearly a match for Li Wanting’s Ink Iron Sword!”

“Oh… I remember that when Senior Sister Li’s disciple was murdered half a year ago, a disciple of Sister Li was killed half a year ago, the sword wound on his body was e also a match Elder Qin’s flexible sword… ” Xia Xue showed a profound smile and continued playfully: “At that time, why did you insist that it wasn’t Elder Qin, Elder Liu?”

“You…!” Liu Chengzong’s complexion stiffened. Pointing at Xia Xue, he looked like he wanted to say something, yet nothing came out of his mouth after a long time.

With this move, which she executed beautifully, Xia Xue gave Liu Chengzong a taste of his own medicine, leaving him stumped for words.

After all, everyone present was well acquainted with the dispute behind the murder of Li Wanting’s disciple.

“It seems that you still have some self-awareness, Elder Liu!”

“Only petty men and women are hard to live in peace with [1]!” This old man disdains to argue with an ignorant woman like you!”

“Oh, Junior Sister Palace Master…” Xia Xue showed a look of surprise, “It seems like Elder Liu looks down on you! Isn’t that a grave sin?”

When he was slammed with this accusation, Liu Chengzong’s expression instantly became unsightly, and he promptly cupped his hands towards Qi Qiqi and said: “Palace Master, this old man didn’t mean that!”

“I know.” Qi Qiqi appeased the other side, then turned towards Xia Xue and said lightly: “Senior Disciple Sister Xia, you shouldn’t bother too much about the faults in the other party’s words.”

Qi Qiqi secretly gave Xia Xue the thumbs up, and Xia Xue snickered inside.

“Cough cough!” Ye Zheng suddenly coughed twice. He seemed to have discovered the hidden exchange between Qi Qiqi and Xia Xue.

Qi Qiqi looked away in embarrassment, but Xia Xue snorted twice in objection.

“Palace Master, how will you handle this matter? You have to investigate this matter thoroughly before you make an account to the entire Merak Palace!” Liu Chengzong stooped slightly and said solemnly in a deep voice.

Is this account just what you want? No, there’s still Ye Zhen. Qi Qiqi looked deeply at Ye Zhen, then nodded and said: “That goes without saying. But before that, can someone tell me where Elder Li is?”

Until now, Qi Qiqi has yet to see Li Wanting.

Qi Qiqi didn’t think that Li Wanting would flee for fear of being punished, because she simply didn’t believe that Li Wanting did this.

“Junior Sister Palace Master, Senior Disciple Sister Li is missing.” Xia Xue said this without deliberately lowering her voice. Since this was the case, everyone should know of it already.

Qi Qiqi’s eyes widened, and she asked incredulously: “What do you mean?”

“According to the disciple responsible for attending to Senior Disciple Sister Li, the day Senior Disciple Sister Li went out due to an appointment with Senior Disciple Sister Luo, she didn’t come back.”

“How long ago was that?”

“It was five days ago.” After Xia Xue said this, Qi Qiqi remembered that the day when Young Ancestor left for Jinling, Li Wanting didn’t come to see her off.

But… it should have been two days ago. Qi Qiqi couldn’t help but look at Qin Chen’s body. According to the state of his body, he was probably killed two days ago.

What a coincidence! Qi Qiqi frowned at this other piece of evidence against Li Wanting.

Wait a moment, Senior Sister Ting had an appointed with Senior Disciple Sister Luo? For some reason, Qi Qiqi felt that something was fishy, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“I will investigate this myself. If Senior Disciple Sister Li really did this, then I won’t be lenient with her. Vice-palace Master Ye, please give me a hand.”

“Of course.” After seeing Ye Zhen nod, Qi Qiqi turned to ask Liu Chengzong: “Elder Liu, do you have any objections?”

“Humph, I just hope that you are just and impartial, Palace Master.”

In other words, he has no objections.

As the Law Enforcement Elder, Liu Chengzong should be the one to investigated this case. But since the victim was Qin Chen, who was like a son to him, it would not be appropriate for him to take charge of this case.

Qi Qiqi had invited Ye Zhen to investigate alongside her because she didn’t want to arouse suspicions. After all, she and Li Wanting were fairly close.

It had to be mentioned that if it wasn’t for their antagonistic relationship, this matter should have been handled by Ye Zhen alone. But since Li Wanting was in Qi Qiqi’s faction, Ye Zhen could not be left in charge of this investigation alone.

“Alright then, I’ll go make arrangements for the investigation first.” After saying that, Qi Qiqi turned around, locked eyes with Xia Xue for a split second, and gave her a signal.

Qi Qiqi had just reached the Snow-facing Abode, when Xia Xue had caught up to her.

“What do you think, Junior Sister Palace Master?” Not waiting for Qi Qiqi to speak, Xia Xue asked first.

“Something’s fishy. I don’t believe that Senior Sister Ting was the one who did this.” Qi Qiqi’s eyebrows locked tightly

Xia Xue cautioned solemnly: “But it doesn’t look good for Senior Disciple Sister Li, there are too many coincidences.”

“That’s why something smells fishy. With Senior Disciple Sister Li’s intellect, if she wanted to kill Qin Chen, would she be so foolish as to use her own sword? Moreover, Senior Disciple Sister Li should not be able to kill Qin Chen so neatly. At the very least, there should have been a bitter struggle, which would not have escaped Ye Zhen.” Qi Qiqi narrowed her eyes and spoke assertively.

“In other words, she was framed.” Xia Xue sneered, and gave an enigmatic smile.

Then she lowered her voice asked uncertainly: “… could it be Ye Zhen?”

Could it be him? According to what could be inferred from Qin Chen’s body, he should have been killed the night before Young Ancestor left the sect.

Normally, in order to kill someone in front of a Heaven Realm expert without being noticed, to be able to kill someone with one strike, the cultivation base of the murderer has to be higher than that of their victim. In Qin Chen’s case, only a Heaven Realm powerhouse fits the criteria.

Of course, there’s still another possibility – but Qi Qiqi couldn’t think of any reason why Qin Chen would be willing to die without any resistance.

In the Merak Palace, there are only two Heavenly Realm experts, Young Ancestor and Ye Zhen. Of course, Young Ancestor wouldn’t kill Qin Chen without rhyme or reason. Qi Qiqi’s intuition told her that it wasn’t Young Ancestor.

That leaves Ye Zhen as the only suspect.

But Qin Chen was from his factions. There should be no reason for him to kill Qin Chen – unless he wants to use this as a pretext to remove Li Wanting, and even treat this as an opportunity to force me to abdicate.

The more she thought about it, the less encouraging things looked. Qi Qiqi turned towards Xia Xue and said gravely: “Senior Disciple Sister Xia, please go ask Young Ancestor to come back.”

“Why?” Xia Xue made a sound of surprise and asked.

“I have a bad premonition.”

“But if I leave, you will be left high and dry in the Merak Palace.”

“Don’t worry. As long as they aren’t certain about Young Ancestor’s stance, they’ll treat me as a figurehead at worst, and won’t do anything to me.” Qi Qiqi’s eyes shone faintly, and she said with certainty.

“Okay, then I’ll go immediately.” The situation was serious, and Xia Xue didn’t seem to be in the mood to crack jokes.

“Return quickly.”

Xia Xue nodded and walked away at once, heading towards her courtyard.

I hope that you can catch up… Qi Qiqi sighed as she watched the other side walk further and further away.

At that time, she didn’t think that…

[1] – The whole saying is: Only women and petty men are hard to live in peace with; get close to them and they’ll get conceited, keep them at arm’s length and they’ll complain