21 Lvzhuang (V)
◎Things are starting to look up◎
"When I walked over from the porch just now, I saw Miss Lu crying," Li Jintang said softly but with conviction. "They are two sisters who love each other deeply. How could they quarrel over an outsider and even kill each other?"
"Miss Li is truly naive," Xie Changyan said coldly from behind, his face still expressionless. "Isn't it common for relatives to turn against each other?"
He suddenly smiled, but there was a hint of sarcasm in that smile. "Didn't you say yourself that you are the only one who is trustworthy?"
Li Jintang was stunned for a moment and didn't understand why he brought up this matter.
"Atang, what Fellow Daoist Xie said is correct," Qiuyan patted her shoulder gently and said, "Nothing is impossible. Who can say for sure what's going on in this world?"
"But you can't convict someone based on a few words." Li Jintang looked out the window at the leaves rustling in the wind, recalling the details of today's encounter in the woods. "I always feel that there's something strange about Master Sikong..."
"His wife died beside him, but why wasn't he sad?"
"Could it be that Atang was mistaken today?" Qiuyan's fingers twitched slightly, and she asked curiously, "Sikong Yi's face was pale when he came out. He couldn't even protect himself, and he buried Miss Lu with his own hands. Isn't that sad enough?"
Li Jintang shook his head. "Rather than sadness, he's acting more like... fear."
"Fear?"
Qiuyan and Qu Lingfei spoke at the same time. They exchanged glances, their expressions somewhat complicated. Finally, Qu Lingfei spoke up, "Atang, how did you tell that he was... scared?"
"Anyway, he's just a little strange," Li Jintang said, avoiding the question. After a pause, he said uncertainly, "Miss Lu's death might have something to do with him."
As soon as these words were spoken, several people fell silent.
The current situation is not optimistic. No one dares to accuse anyone of a crime at will, nor does anyone dare to easily eliminate anyone's suspicion.
After a while, Nangong Xiu frowned and asked anxiously, "What are your plans?"
"I...I'll go take a look outside first."
Li Jintang spoke in a calm voice. After she finished speaking, she turned and walked towards the door, but was bumped on the shoulder by someone who was walking in a hurry. She staggered a few steps without any preparation. Just as she felt a cold body touching her, she was ruthlessly brushed away by someone the next moment.
She turned her head and saw the young man frowning slightly. He raised his hand and smoothed out the wrinkles on his collar with some impatience.
I didn't do it on purpose...
So he has mysophobia? Thinking of this, Li Jintang moved aside and looked at the person who had just hurried past.
What a coincidence, that was the Sikong Yi they were talking about just now.
As if he realized someone was looking at him, he suddenly stopped and looked back, just for a second, and then as if he was afraid of being discovered, he quickly turned around and walked away.
Just with this one glance, Li Jintang saw that the paleness on his face from that morning had not yet faded.
She always felt that something was strange, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
What's wrong?
"Atang, did you get hurt?" Qiuyan walked forward, glared at Sikongyi's back, and cursed, "Can't you walk properly? Can't you see there's someone here?"
After she finished scolding, she noticed that the person was Sikong Yi.
The corner of the crimson dress flashed around the corner without stopping, and the figure immediately disappeared from sight.
"Follow and see."
Li Jintang only heard this sentence, and then a gust of wind blew past him, and Qiuyan was already trotting after him.
When she arrived, the girl was standing on tiptoe and looking through the window. When she saw her, she immediately made a gesture to keep quiet.
Li Jintang paused for a moment, then slowed down his pace and walked over, whispering, "Didn't you say that you can't peek..."
Qiuyan whispered "hush," still staring inside without blinking. "This is called legitimate investigation, not peeping."
Suddenly, she gasped. Li Jintang's heart tightened immediately. He looked up and asked, "What's wrong?"
Has this been discovered?
After waiting for a few seconds, Qiuyan moved away from the window and said with a complicated expression, "Come and take a look."
It's a reasonable investigation...but can she really do something like peeping?
During the few seconds that Li Jintang hesitated, someone gently pushed her back and she was standing in front of the window. Before she could look away, she took in the scene in the room.
They saw a man and a woman sitting on the couch with their backs to them. Judging from their backs, they must be Sikong Yi and Lu Qingzhu.
Lu Qingzhu's shoulders shrugged, and after his fingers repeatedly brushed across his face, he tilted his body slightly and leaned on Sikong Yi.
They had clearly just been talking, so why did Qiuyan react so strongly? Li Jintang dropped his hand from the window pane and blinked at her. Before he could say anything, she spoke eagerly, "Did you see that? They're hugging each other. There's definitely something fishy going on!"
"Hug each other..."
"Junior sister, Atang, what are you doing there?"
Suddenly a shout came from behind, startling the two of them. Qiu Yan cursed inwardly: "What a tactless guy!" Then he pulled the hand of the girl next to him and wanted to leave in a hurry.
After taking a few steps, the door was suddenly opened. The creaking sound made both of them pause. Lu Qingzhu walked out of the room slowly, wiping the tears from her face with one hand. "What's going on, you two?"
Fearing Qiuyan might ask about what had happened, Li Jintang quickly reached out and shook her hand. Then, looking at Lu Qingzhu, he asked, "Your father considers us the murderers. You have a deep friendship with Miss Lu, so why don't you blame us?"
Hearing this, Lu Qingzhu shook his head in pain. After a long pause, he said, "I know you are all kind-hearted, so you didn't kill anyone in my village. How could you be the murderer?"
At this time, Nangong Xiu and the other two arrived. Hearing this, he snorted through his nose and turned his head away holding the sword.
Another person came out of the room, his face pale as he bowed, and said weakly, "It was me who failed to protect Su Ye... If you could find out who did this, I would be very grateful."
The two men were talking one after the other, unaware that they had just planted the seeds of doubt in these people's hearts half an hour ago.
"Master Sikong, I'm deeply sorry for your loss." Qu Lingfei, still respectful of his manners, returned the greeting and said, "You look unwell. Are you injured as well?"
Sikong Yi closed his eyes and shook his head, obviously due to excessive sadness.
Unable to get a response, Qu Lingfei didn't ask any more questions. He gestured and the few of them turned around and prepared to leave.
After taking a few steps, Li Jintang turned around to look at the two people. Suddenly, he felt an itch on his waist, and half of the life book popped out from it. "I'm dying of suffocation... Hey, why is this kid walking so crookedly? Like a girl."
Suddenly, his mind buzzed. Li Jintang immediately lowered his head and asked, "What was his walking like yesterday?"
"Of course his steps are steady. You can tell at a glance that he's a martial artist." Mingshu climbed onto her shoulders again and lay lazily on them, mumbling, "He's like a completely different person now. He doesn't look like a martial artist at all..."
Changed person?
A new person...
Suddenly, an idea struck her, and she hurriedly followed without even saying hello.
No one would bury his wife in the wilderness, not even with the permission of his father-in-law...
Unless he was anxious to hide the body from view.
She thought of the art of disguise.
The book records that if a person with low spiritual power uses the magic of disguise, his face will become pale and weak within twelve hours because he cannot resist the power of the magic.
If Sikong Yi was an expert in martial arts, it would be impossible for him to become like this simply because of excessive grief.
It's like he's a completely different person.
Li Jintang walked hurriedly, and her breathing became rapid, but if there weren't so many people coming and going around her, she would have wanted to run immediately.
She followed him all the way to the academy. Just as she was about to step in, the guard at the door suddenly drew his sword and stopped her, saying fiercely, "No one is allowed to enter without the owner's permission."
"I...your manor owner just gave me permission." Throughout this journey, she felt that the number of lies she had told was almost catching up to the many years she had spent with her father.
The guard was still staring, when suddenly a soft voice came from the study: "Let her in."
"Yes." He made way to the side and Li Jintang hurriedly walked in.
The house was filled with fragrance. Li Jintang walked forward a few steps carefully on the wooden floor. The sunlight formed a fork at the bookcase in the middle. One person was sitting in the bright place reading a book while the other was standing in the dark, stroking something with his hand.
"Miss Li, is there anything wrong?" Seeing her come in, Lu Qingzhu closed the book and turned to look at her with a gentle expression. There seemed to be a hint of sadness in his expression, which was very different from the look of him crying to the point of almost fainting a few hours ago.
"Nothing," Li Jintang looked away and walked into the darkness. "I'm just unsure about some things, and I wanted to see if I could find the answers in the book."
Behind him, Lu Qingzhu said softly, "Miss, please go ahead."
She said she was looking for a book, but she walked straight towards Sikong Yi. Only then did she see clearly that what he was holding in his hand was a vase.
"This vase is so beautiful," Li Jintang smiled with his eyes curved. "Master Sikong, can I take a look at it?"
Sikong Yi would certainly not refuse her, after all, it was just a vase.
Li Jintang carefully picked it up. Seeing Sikong Yi turning around to leave, he hurriedly called out, "Master Sikong, I see this vase is a little dirty. Could you please get some paper to wipe it?"
Upon hearing this, Sikong Yi really stepped forward and asked, "Where is it dirty..."
Before he could finish his words, her hand suddenly slipped, and the entire vase slid from between them and fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
Lu Qingzhu immediately put down his book and walked over, pulling Sikong Yi away from him. He looked concerned and asked, "Are you okay?"
That look...like someone I've known for a long time.
Perhaps noticing Li Jintang still nearby, she uncomfortably let go of his hand and turned away, "I'll go get someone to clean up."
"I'm sorry," Li Jintang said apologetically, "I didn't mean to..."
"The vase is old, it's not the girl's fault."
Li Jintang blinked and suddenly asked, "Master Sikong, are you and Miss Lu also on good terms?"
Peach blossoms rustled from the branches as usual, adding a touch of blood and tears to the deadly silence of the manor. The manor was utterly lifeless, with only the faint sound of human voices coming from a room in the east.
"Where's Atang?"
Qiuyan suddenly slid down from the couch, her eyes swept across the group of people, and she was surprised to find that one person was missing. "I left her behind in the woods just now, and I can't do it again this time." She said and was about to walk out.
"Wait a minute," Qu Lingfei knew her junior sister's temperament well. If she went, she might get into an argument. She quickly looked at Xie Changyan and said, "Brother Xie, how about you go find Atang?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the boy walked out, leaving only the sound of friction between his clothes and the door frame.
The academy was silent for a while. Sikong Yi smiled politely but did not answer the question: "Miss Li, you are really good at joking. Did you hurt your hand when the bottle broke just now?"
If you don't answer me, then I won't answer you either. Li Jintang smiled playfully and said, "Master Sikong, where is your martial arts? Where did it go?"
Sikong Yi's face suddenly changed when he heard this, but realizing his own loss of composure, he immediately regained his composure and forced a smile: "What do you mean, young lady? Do you also want to compete with me?"
She then shook her head, trying to clear herself of suspicion with a joke: "But I'm really tired today. Even if I compete with you, I'm afraid I won't be a match."
Li Jintang tilted his head to look at him, and noticed that when he said this, the five fingers hanging by his side curled up, then loosened, and trembled slightly.
"Why has Master Sikong suddenly become so modest?" She smiled, her eyes fixed on his face, unwilling to miss a single expression. "I remember that day, just because of a word from Brother Qu, Master Sikong danced with the sword for a full hour without getting tired."
The man's brow furrowed, his fingers unconsciously clenching. Li Jintang, observing his nervous expression, thought it best to stop at a certain point, so he smiled and said, "Excessive grief can be detrimental to your health. Master Sikong, please accept your condolences sooner rather than later."
After she finished speaking, she turned and walked away. She ran into Lu Qingzhu who was leading two men. She nodded slightly and saluted, then deliberately slowed down her pace to listen to the conversation between the two men, but she could not hear anything.
But it doesn't matter, now she has roughly confirmed her guess in her heart.
Suddenly, she felt a shadow looming from above. The girl stopped and raised her head slightly, "Xie An, why are you here?"
【Author’s words】
Next chapter will be updated on Friday [kiss]
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