20 Lvzhuang (IV)
◎Holding his hand◎
Qu Lingfei was horrified: "Master Lu, what are you doing..."
Before the word "intention" came out of his mouth, Nangong Xiu thought that these people had bad intentions, so he raised his foot and kicked one of them hard in the chest. The man immediately fell to the ground and spit out a mouthful of blood.
A swarm of soldiers suddenly emerged, surrounding them. Xie Changyan didn't even bother to draw his sword, a faint smile on his face: "There are many skilled fighters in this village. Since you were hesitant before, why bother pretending to be righteous?"
At this point, Lu Chengfeng ignored the words and simply waved his hand, ordering: "Whoever cuts off the most heads will be rewarded handsomely."
There will always be brave men when there is a big reward. Although these people are afraid of death, they still hold their weapons and attack them like a tide.
Xie Changyan dodged the attack sideways, raised his hand and swung out a stream of spiritual power, but he did not kill the man, just knocked him to the ground.
Immediately afterwards, a flash of sword light appeared, and a large pool of blood gushed out on the ground. Qu Lingfei had already drawn his sword to block him, turning back and saying, "Xie brother, are you okay?"
Xie Changyan smiled faintly: "That was a close call, luckily you arrived in time."
After another fight, everyone's clothes were soaked with sweat, but Xie Changyan was the only one who moved among the crowd with his hands behind his back, without even drawing his sword once.
"Master Lu, why don't you stop and talk it over?" Qu Lingfei was tired from fighting, and seeing the corpses on the ground, he stopped and said, "If we continue, I'm afraid you will be the one who suffers."
Lu Chengfeng sneered, secretly cursing these people for being useless when it came to the crucial moment. "What else do you want to discuss?"
"We didn't kill her, so of course we won't admit it," Qu Lingfei sheathed his sword and looked at him. "I'm sure Master Lu wouldn't be willing to let his daughter's murderer walk free. Give us a few days. If we can't find the real culprit, you can kill us then."
Although he had many soldiers, they were all useless. Lu Chengfeng sighed to the sky and ordered the group to stop, which was considered as his agreement.
There were footsteps around. Li Jintang lowered her eyes and wiped the blood-stained dagger. She didn't want to hurt anyone, but those people were ruthless. She had no choice but to take action, but she didn't hurt their lives.
She raised her eyes and saw that there was no one around. A fallen leaf passed by her eyes.
Oh no... I forgot to write down the route when I came here, and now I have forgotten how to get back.
Just as she was in a daze, she suddenly heard a chuckle behind her. She turned around and saw the young man leaning against a tree trunk, looking at her leisurely.
Li Jintang was not used to being looked at like this. She tilted her head, trying not to meet his gaze, and asked cautiously, "Are you lost too?"
He didn't answer, and the girl thought he agreed with his expression.
Just now, Brother Qu and the others were in a hurry to find clues to solve the case, and they walked too fast. Now it is too late to catch up.
Li Jintang patted the fortune book, fortunately it still remembered.
"Then follow me."
After walking for a while, she suddenly felt that the surroundings were unusually quiet. She stopped and looked back at the boy who was still standing there.
He glanced away at this time, not knowing what he was thinking.
What if I leave first and leave him here alone and he can't find the way back?
Li Jintang hesitated for a moment, turned around and walked back to him, reached out and gently touched his palm.
The cold palm was suddenly covered with a layer of warmth. Xie Changyan was slightly stunned and lowered his head to look at the hand that touched and separated from his.
"The murderer who killed Miss Lu may come back again," Li Jintang looked up at him, the sunlight touching her eyes, and her dark pupils flashed, "Xie An, come back with me, it's not safe here."
Before he could react, he was being pulled forward. Xie Changyan was momentarily distracted, then pulled his fingers away from her hand.
The black jade fragments are already in his hands, and among these people, only Qu Lingfei can be of some use to him.
His eyelashes trembled, recalling what happened last night——
The night wind swept in, making the window panes creak and dropping peach blossoms all over the ground. The boy walked steadily on the porch, and when he passed the room, he silently looked inside.
The door was tightly closed, without a ray of light coming through the gap - she was well-behaved tonight and didn't come to ruin his plans.
Xie Changyan walked straight over and pushed the door open without hesitation, not worrying at all that the noise would wake up the person on the couch.
Qu Lingfei's chest rose and fell rhythmically, oblivious to the impending danger. He lowered his eyes, gathering spiritual energy bit by bit at his fingertips, his eyes devoid of any attachment to a single life.
The moment he raised his hand, his pupils shrank - he saw a faint golden light floating on the chest of the person on the couch, and there seemed to be a small golden ball jumping restlessly in it.
Qu Lingfei closed his eyes and turned sideways, as if the commotion made him feel uncomfortable.
That is...
Xie Changyan lowered his hand, and a green light dissipated into the darkness.
How could the Spirit Gathering Pill be stored in the body of such a useless thing?
His eyes darkened. The black jade had now broken into several pieces. If one piece was taken out alone, its power was not much higher than that of the Spirit Gathering Pill.
However, this Soul Gathering Pill is not yet mature. If we want it to grow quickly and then be cut open, we need to let the depositor—
His hands and sword were stained with blood.
Well, then let's keep him for a while longer.
The young man turned and left. The moment the door closed, the person on the couch's breathing gradually stabilized, and the elixir in his body gradually stopped pulsating.
When the two returned to the manor, it was no longer as lively and festive as it was yesterday.
"Dad, I don't believe it." A heartbroken cry came from inside the house. Li Jintang stopped and saw through the crack in the door a young girl kneeling on the ground, her hands covering her face, tears streaming down her cheeks like pearls from a broken string. "I don't believe my sister is dead..."
The person standing in front of her stood with his hands behind his back, his hair disheveled, as if he had aged ten years in an instant - it was Lu Chengfeng.
Li Jintang just stood in front of the house, a little dazed, with a sour feeling in his heart.
"Miss Li appears to be well-behaved, but I didn't expect she would eavesdrop."
She turned around suddenly, and the boy crossed his arms over his chest with a faint smile on his lips.
What is he talking about...
Li Jintang's expression changed slightly due to shame and anger, but she really couldn't think of any curse words, and she didn't want to make a noise in front of someone else's door, so she simply ignored his words and walked away very quickly.
The young man walked up slowly and was beside her in just a few steps. "Countless people die every day in this world. Miss Li is so kind-hearted. Why don't you stop looking for the key and stay here to mourn for them?"
"you……"
Li Jintang turned his head away and saw a hint of teasing in his eyes.
Xie Changyan just squinted at her, expecting her to say something to refute him, but she only said lightly, "Could you please stop talking?"
There was even a hint of pleading in his words.
Her serious and helpless look caught his eye. The young man curled his lips calmly and stopped talking as he was told.
Li Jintang vaguely heard voices talking in the next room. He carefully opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the people in the room.
"Sister Atang, I left in such a hurry that I forgot to ask you to come with me," Qiuyan jumped off the kang and ran in front of her. "Did that Lu guy give you any trouble?"
"Junior sister," Qu Lingfei called out. Even at this moment, he did not forget his master's teachings. "Master Lu is our elder. How can you be so rude?"
Qiuyan stuck out her tongue and didn't take it to heart.
"I'm fine." Seeing her staring at him, Li Jintang felt a little itchy on his face. He quickly raised his sleeve to wipe off the dust on it. "Has everyone found any clues?"
Seeing everyone's dejected expressions, the little hope she had just held on was instantly extinguished.
After a long while, a female voice broke the silence: "I heard something when I passed by the two sisters' room last night..."
Several people looked over at the same time. Qiu Yan paused and began to recount what happened last night.
Last night, she walked across the porch to relieve herself. When she passed by a room, she found that the light was still on and she could faintly hear voices coming from inside.
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop," Qiuyan said, defending herself mid-sentence. "But the first thing I heard was 'No matter what, Su Ye must not marry him, even if it means making some sacrifices.' I was stunned for a moment, then recognized it as Miss Lu's voice. I was just worried something might happen the next day, so I hid behind the wall to listen in on what they were saying."
"So what did they say?" Qu Lingfei's face darkened and he asked impatiently.
"Don't interrupt me," Qiuyan glared at him and continued, "I heard them talking about things like 'finding some people to ambush along the way' and 'stopping the carriage at all costs,' but unfortunately there was a wall between us, so I couldn't hear clearly."
"Just then, I saw a white shadow flickering behind another corner, and realized Miss Lu Er was there. Luckily, she didn't notice me. Then she pushed the door open and confronted Lu Qingzhu." Qiu Yan's voice softened slightly as she spoke. "I thought they would have settled their argument by then, so I stopped listening. But I never expected something like this to happen today."
"You mean, it was Lu Qingzhu who did the killing?" Nangong Xiu's eyebrows were almost furrowed. He had just gone out to get a sword and was accused of being a murderer for no reason. He was already fuming with anger, but upon hearing this, he immediately drew his sword and said, "Very good, I'll go and capture her right away."
"Nangong Xiu!" Seeing him walking so hurriedly, Qu Lingfei stretched out his hand but missed, and hurriedly shouted, "Brother Xie, stop him quickly."
The young man standing at the door held his unsheathed sword across the door, his face calm and he didn't even look at him.
Nangong Xiu had suffered losses fighting him before, so he stopped and turned to Qu Lingfei impatiently, "Why won't you let me go? Do you still want me to continue to take the blame?!"
"I know you're not the murderer," Qu Lingfei said as he walked down the stairs, his tone softened compared to before. "But the evidence is insufficient at the moment. If you rashly go and arrest someone, you'll only incite public outrage."
Nangong Xiu roughly sheathed his sword and strode back to sit on the kang. "So what do you say?"
"According to what Junior Sister said, the murderer is most likely Miss Lu," Qu Lingfei said thoughtfully, "When Sikong Yi came to the manor that day, there was something wrong with the way Lu Qingzhu looked at them. Maybe the two sisters really are after the same man..."
"But I don't think it's that direct." The girl spoke crisply, interrupting the person who was speaking, and several people looked over.
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