Chapter 86: Secret Techniques That Matter to Life
Yin Chuan and the others were invited to the inner chamber by Lu Changhua and his wife. Gao locked the door securely to prevent anyone from eavesdropping. Lu Changhua then spoke, "Everyone, today's events are truly difficult for my wife and I to accept. But from another perspective, I've been somewhat prepared for Shuiqing's death."
As soon as these words were spoken, Yinchuan and the others were really surprised.
"Master Lu, what do you mean? Are you mentally prepared? Could it be that you..."
"The fire snake that poisoned Shuiqing...was actually brought from abroad by Hai Yifan, whom I asked."
Yin Chuan, Linlang, Du Yunzhang and Baohan all opened their mouths wide, not knowing what to say for a moment.
"Of course, I didn't intend to kill my daughter. That flaming snake was actually a prop specially prepared for one of our Lu family's three unique skills, 'Dragon Flame Sealing Throat.' The act goes like this: the performer swallows a flaming snake with its head ablaze, then instantly conjures it from another part of the body—a sleeve, a collar, or even a nostril—while still ablaze. This act is different from other snake-swallowing tricks in the magic world because it requires a flaming effect, so it can be performed on stage to shock the audience even more."
"My grandfather developed the secrets of this technique, and it's been passed down to my generation. We've always used a local, non-venomous grass snake. Its element is fire, and it won't be startled by a fire on its head. But in recent years, this type of snake has become difficult to find in Shandong. So a few months ago, I asked my eldest brother-in-law if he could find a similar snake overseas. He's had years of training, and he found one, but it's a different species."
"Is it the fire snake that killed the second young lady?" Baohan asked.
"Yes. The grass snake that the Lu family had been raising died over a year ago, so I quickly sent Yifan to look for snake trainers in Vietnam and Myanmar to find snakes with similar habits. The one they found was a fire snake, and it cost them a lot of money."
Yin Chuan thought for a moment and said, "I heard that you rarely perform the three unique skills inherited from your family. Why are you so eager to find this snake? If I'm not mistaken, is it related to your decision to become a monk?"
Lu Changhua was silent for a moment before answering, "You're right. It's indeed related. But I still don't want to say more about my becoming a monk. I hope Mr. Liu will forgive me."
Seeing that Lu Changhua was still tightly shut, he must have thought that asking him would be a dead end. "So, you don't know where the fire snake is at this moment, right?" Yin Chuan changed the subject.
"Yes, after Yifan bought the snake, I let him keep it privately. But a few days ago, Feng Shijiu disturbed it in the middle of the night, and the snake disappeared. I asked him to look for it, but he couldn't find any trace. When Shuixian got into trouble, you asked him to search the entire Lu residence, but he had already searched everywhere. So, I suspect Feng Shijiu stole the snake."
Linlang seemed to suddenly understand. "Oh... I heard that Feng Shijiu used to steal treasures from wealthy families, as well as things that were not worth much but were very important to the owner. No wonder he stole this snake this time. It turns out it's a key prop in the Lu family's three unique skills!"
Du Yunzhang nodded, "That makes sense. But if he wanted to steal, then so be it. Why did he have to kill two people from the Lu family? What's the grudge between the Lu family and Feng Shijiu?"
Yin Chuan wanted to refute Du Yunzhang immediately, saying that the murderer of Second Miss Lü Shuiqing was among the four people who broke into the training room last night. But a glance at the expressions on Lü Changhua and Gao's faces made him swallow the words on his lips.
"We will investigate Feng Shijiu's matter as soon as possible. Right, Lao Du?" Yin Chuan changed his words.
"That's right, I have been very busy these two days." Du Yunzhang nodded sincerely.
"Thank you very much. The Lu family has been plagued by misfortunes recently, and now only our youngest daughter, Shui Ling, is left. No matter what, nothing can happen to her. I ask that you pay more attention and catch the murderer as soon as possible."
After coming out of the inner room, Yin Chuan said to Du Yunzhang, "Old Du, have you noticed? Lü Changhua is very sensitive about him becoming a monk. He's already mentioned this twice. He shut me up before I could even ask. So I think there must be something fishy going on."
"So what do you want to do?"
"Since he's keeping his mouth shut, let's try a different approach. But I'd like to trouble you. While investigating Feng Shijiu, please go to the Taoist temple where he plans to become a monk and ask around to see if you can find out anything."
Du Yunzhang frowned and nodded, "Of course you can, but do you think his becoming a monk at the Taoist temple has anything to do with these murders?"
"His becoming a monk may not be directly related to the murder, but I strongly suspect it is related to that organization."
Du Yunzhang suddenly felt a chill down his spine, and found it somewhat unbelievable.
"Brother Yin, have you noticed the names of the two young ladies from the Lu family who were recently murdered?" Linlang said, "Shuixian and Shuiqing... that's the word 'water'?"
"Yes, there is no doubt that this is secretly connected to the eleven previous cases. Therefore, I have to suspect that the organization behind the series of poisonings that occurred within the Lu family of magic is the mastermind behind this series of murders. And the trigger for all of this was Lu Changhua's becoming a Taoist monk."
"Oh! In that case, Third Miss Lu Shuiling is very likely to be the next victim!" Linlang's face suddenly changed.
"It's obvious that the murderer's next target is her." Yin Chuan said with certainty, then his heart moved and he stopped suddenly, "That's right! The three unique skills of the Lu family! The murderer may have used the characteristics of the three unique skills to murder the three young ladies of the Lu family one by one. No, I have to go find Lu Changhua to ask clearly!" After saying that, he turned around and walked back.
Coincidentally, Lu Changhua walked out of the inner room alone and met Yin Chuan face to face in front of the main hall door.
"Oh? Mr. Liu, is there anything else?"
"Master Lu, can you tell me what the third of the Lu family's three unique skills, 'Ice Dragon Escape', is?"
Lu Changhua's face darkened. "Isn't it a little inappropriate for you to come back and ask me this all of a sudden?"
"I'm not exaggerating, please tell me, this concerns the life of your daughter Lu Shuiling!" Yin Chuan said anxiously.
Lu Changhua's eyebrows twitched slightly, as if he understood Yin Chuan's reasoning. "Mr. Liu, this is about the inheritance of the Lu family's unique skills. Please discuss this with me in private." He then let Yin Chuan into the inner room again, but refused to let Linlang, Du Yunzhang, and Baohan in. He also sent his wife, Gao, out.
"I'm so sorry, everyone." Madam Gao left the inner room and closed the door, then bowed to the three people outside. "Because this involves the private affairs of our Lu family, please have tea in the front hall."
The three of them looked at each other. Since the other party didn't want them to know, they decided to take a step back. Anyway, if Yin Chuan found out the inside story, he would inform everyone.
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