Chapter 26: Twenty-Six Cuts "You're a tool mouse now..."
After receiving the task from the female official, Luo Mingshu reluctantly moved closer to Xie Changming.
To clear this exploration scenario, she must cooperate with the anonymous monk.
Coincidentally, Xie Changming had the same idea. He had realized that the Misty Star Sea would not allow him to forcibly prolong his completion time.
If he doesn't fight for this mission, the clues will fall into the hands of others, and their position in Yingtian Palace will be in jeopardy.
Xie Changming still wanted to clear this scene, firstly because he was short of money, and secondly because he needed to find someone.
He then reached a brief strategic cooperation agreement with Luo Mingshu.
Luo Mingshu was of course unaware that Xie Changming was the one who caused the current chaotic situation. It was because he kept the clues that Misty Star Sea began to adjust and save itself.
So, the group stood together in their respective teams. Since the Imperial Physician Ku had been attacked the night before and was still unable to move around, the female officials in Yingtian Palace thoughtfully ordered their maids to help her into a wheelchair, which was then pushed by Consort Ya.
Lu Yaoyao and Shui Qingnian both refused, but in order to obtain clues, they had to pretend to be good friends.
"I already said the murderer is Consort Gao," Shui Qingnian said through gritted teeth. "Consort Gao, have you—" broken your brain?
But in order to demonstrate the harmony within her team to the female officer, she reluctantly swallowed the rest of her sentence: "Do you need me to look at your brain?"
She's now a royal physician; she checked her brain, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.
Lu Yaoyao feigned surprise and placed her hand on Shui Qingnian's forehead: "Cool Doctor, you were beaten up last night. You shouldn't have any injuries above your neck, right?"
Because the cruel imperial physician refused to help her find the jade bracelet and even mocked her, Lu Yaoyao is now very resentful. In addition, the system is not by her side to remind her to be careful about her words and actions as a delicate flower, so Lu Yaoyao is becoming more and more unrestrained.
Shui Qingnian and the other two started speaking sarcastically. The only harmonious ones here were Guard Bao and Consort Neng. The two walked side by side to the female official and asked, "May I ask, Your Excellency, how do we decide the order in which we enter the library? What if the group in front has ulterior motives and tries to sabotage the clues?"
Luo Mingshu and Xie Changming were also considering this issue; of course, they were thinking about how to sabotage the scene.
The calm words of the female official from Yingtian Palace shattered their illusions: "There are protective mechanisms throughout Yingtian Palace. If any part is damaged, it will automatically recover after a short while. You don't need to worry about that."
Luo Mingshu remembered that a few days ago, the anonymous cultivator overturned his white jade fishpond, but soon after, the fishpond was restored to its original state, so they could not damage anything here.
They did leave some traces when they came here last night, such as the luminous pearl she had rejected, which Xie Changming picked up and then threw away, and the books she had searched through last night...
All these clues might expose them.
Luo Mingshu tensed up, but the female official took out a divination box: "Come on, let's decide the order in which we search for evidence according to the results of the draw."
Xie Changming was too lazy to draw, since the order didn't matter, and Luo Mingshu was also too lazy to move, because she thought Xie Changming would be more proactive.
As a result, everyone else had drawn their lot, and only one lot was left to be allocated to them.
The female official took out the last remaining item herself and said with delight, "Congratulations, Consort Mei and Consort Gao, you have won the first opportunity to enter the library to search for clues."
Luo Mingshu always strives to be the first, and she was very happy to have won first place in this matter. However, the other two teams that were vying for the draw were slightly disappointed.
She took the slips of paper and headed towards the library, with Xie Changming accompanying her.
After entering the library, Luo Mingshu signed for the items, then slightly turned to the side and asked Xie Changming, "How are you going to cover this up? Consort Gao, how could you be so violent, hitting her as soon as you saw her? Now look what's happened, you're in trouble now, aren't you?"
Xie Changming thought to himself, "It seems like she was the one who said she was going to punch me last night."
He lowered his chin slightly, his tone as calm as if he were talking about something trivial: "I just raised a finger."
Shui Qingnian was simply too fragile to be mistakenly injured.
“I’ve disliked the cruel imperial physician for a long time too.” Luo Mingshu rubbed her wrist. “Don’t disturb me while I’m searching for evidence.”
Xie Changming looked down at the luminous pearl he had thrown away the night before.
Now there's something more on this luminous pearl.
He leaned down to look and saw a long, black hair on the luminous pearl. The aura emanating from it was similar to his, clearly a fake. Among the six of them, the other male, Neng Fei, had short hair, so the hair undoubtedly pointed to him.
Xie Changming acted swiftly and decisively, leaving no trace whatsoever. However, to ensure fairness in this process, Misty Star Sea added an extra clue here.
Luo Mingshu was puzzled. She stared at the long hair under Xie Changming's hand and was stunned: "You're not very efficient in your work, so why are you losing your hair?"
Xie Changming lowered his eyes and denied it: "It was faked by the Misty Star Sea."
"Will there be mine on the bookshelf too—" Luo Mingshu thought to herself, "Damn the Misty Star Sea, it's so cunning. I won't leave my things out here, but if they're going to force me to join the exploration scene, I can't help it."
Xie Changming was the first to walk to the bookshelf in the library. He was about to step in when a barrier rose up next to the bookshelf, and a light screen composed of blue light emerged from it.
"Gao Fei, you have used up your free exploration attempts. Please pass this test to get a new chance." These words appeared on the screen, meaning that Xie Changming had used up his chances while examining the clues on the luminous pearl. If he wanted to search again, he could only try to earn it through his own strength.
Luo Mingshu saw Xie Changming's failure and gloated, "See, you're hopeless. You wasted a chance."
As a result, Xie Changming flicked his finger and smashed the light screen. The rules set by the Misty Star Sea were useless in front of him. After destroying the test system, he went directly to the bookshelf area.
Luo Mingshu was dumbfounded, so she pointed at Xie Changming and said, "You...you wait, I can find more too. Let's see who finds more!"
Xie Changming picked up a small earring from the pages of the book. It was decorated with a pale purple gemstone, exquisite and delicate, clearly the kind of jewelry that Luo Mingshu would wear.
—Actually, Luo Mingshu had worn this amethyst earring before, but she wasn't wearing it when she came here a few days ago, because she was almost in bed when Xie Changming came looking for her, and she had already taken off most of her jewelry.
But that doesn’t stop others from suspecting her because of this clue, Luo Mingshu thought angrily to herself.
She temporarily separated from Xie Changming and went to search for clues throughout the library.
Since they left clues, maybe others do too.
Luo Mingshu first went to the first floor of the library and searched the area near where Shui Qingnian had been knocked down by Xie Changming. Sure enough, she found some new clues. Near where Shui Qingnian had originally been, in the corner of the bookshelf, there was a white handkerchief stained with blood.
Now, she needs to brainwash herself into believing she's not the murderer—of course, she isn't; she's just a pitiful person who's been wrongly accused.
Luo Mingshu picked up the white handkerchief; one corner of the handkerchief was embroidered with a lotus flower, and the center was stained with blood.
This blood doesn't seem fake. Could it be that someone else really came here last night?
Luo Mingshu carefully examined the bloodstains on the white handkerchief, only to find that the bloodstains seemed to have been wiped away. Who wiped the blood for whom?
She pondered for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, but couldn't come up with a solution, so she went to look elsewhere. Then, when she reached the window of the library, she triggered a prompt from the Misty Star Sea.
"My lady, you have used up your free exploration attempts. Please pass this test to get a new chance."
Luo Mingshu didn't have Xie Changming's ability to smash through the rules of exploration with a single punch. She saw the text on the light screen change and then form a bunch of complex patterns and symbols.
These symbols, numbers, and patterns were probably meant to help her calculate the maximum benefit a certain array could generate. This was an advanced theory studied by cultivators, which Luo Mingshu had never learned. She hated these numbers—sometimes, she couldn't even calculate her own money, but that didn't stop her from making a lot of money.
Fortunately, Misty Star Sea gave her a second option.
[Test Method 1: Based on the given conditions and data, calculate the maximum benefit of the array on the light screen and successfully replicate this array.]
[Second way to pass the test: Please recharge 3,000 spirit stones to directly unlock this level.]
Wow, Misty Starry Sea, you've really got something, even a recharge channel.
Luo Mingshu is rich, but she doesn't want to give money to this Misty Star Sea that's full of traps.
So she turned her head and called out in a certain direction of the library, "Gao Fei, are you making money?"
At that moment, Xie Changming had just broken through a new test. Hearing Luo Mingshu call him, he walked over with steady steps.
He glanced at Luo Mingshu indifferently and asked, "What is it?"
"I'll give you a thousand spirit stones, and you break the barrier here for me, how about it?" Luo Mingshu asked, rubbing his hands together.
Xie Changming stared at her for a while, his gaze probing. He began to suspect that Luo Mingshu had been bankrupted by him when she was in Fengshadu, and that she was only willing to offer a thousand spirit stones now.
But—a thousand spirit stones is still money. She spends so much, he should earn more.
So Xie Changming nodded. He didn't even come over; he just waved his hand from afar, and the light screen behind Luo Mingshu shattered.
Saving money is earning money! Luo Mingshu has a good plan.
So Xie Changming began to actively help her overcome obstacles, and in just one hour, he made a fortune.
Of course, the two also gained a lot of clues.
On the windowsill of the library, they found a man's footprint—based on the length of the footprint, they estimated that the man was about 185 cm tall.
It seems these footprints belong to Consort Neng, according to the anonymous cultivator, Luo Mingshu.
Behind the bonsai of the ancient bamboo in the library, there was a half-eaten bun; behind the door at the entrance of the library, there was a wisp of silver thread that had fallen from somewhere. After examining it, Xie Changming believed it to be a material for making some kind of protective soft armor.
Of course, the most bizarre thing is that there is a black robe hanging on the central ceiling of the library, which is several stories high. It is unknown who left it behind.
Similarly, inside the bookshelf, they found a jade bottle that had once contained a disguise pill. The disguise pill in the jade bottle was not as high-grade as the one Luo Mingshu had; its disguise effect was not very good, and it could only transform one into the appearance of someone one had seen before.
Moreover, there were signs of a fight next to the bookshelf behind where the cool doctor had originally stood, suggesting that a dispute had taken place there.
After all this, even Luo Mingshu, who witnessed the anonymous cultivator attacking the cool physician last night, began to doubt whether what they had experienced last night was real.
Perhaps the Imperial Physician was already seriously injured at that time, so he collapsed after being blown down by the anonymous cultivator. If we consider it that strictly, they wouldn't be the murderers.
Luo Mingshu stroked her chin as she pondered, feeling increasingly innocent.
"What are your thoughts?" There was still half an hour before they left the library, giving them a total of an hour and a half to search for evidence. The challenges set up in the library were really difficult, and the Misty Star Sea hadn't expected Xie Changming to be such a bug, so it gave the cultivators plenty of time to search for evidence.
However, Luo Mingshu and his group finished their search in just one hour, and now they can even sit at the table in the library and chat.
"I don't have any particular thoughts," Xie Changming said. When he came here last night, he didn't sense any other people's presence besides the cool imperial physician.
He hadn't expected so many people to have been here last night.
Luo Mingshu stroked her chin thoughtfully, and Xie Changming spoke up after a moment: "We just need to defend our clues."
At this point, Xie Changming finally decided not to give up, because he also wanted to pass the level. So he offered a constructive suggestion: "They will make up their own stories. With the disguise pill, we can't take what the cool doctor says seriously. So let them guess, and we can clear ourselves of suspicion."
Luo Mingshu was stunned when she heard this. She felt that Xie Changming, this man with the long tail, was very insidious.
“Okay, my earrings, I’ll just say it is…” Luo Mingshu scratched his head, “How can I get rid of the earrings? Your hair will stay here, so why don’t you just say you have a stubborn hair loss problem? You came to the library before, so it’s not surprising that you lost a hair here because of hair loss.”
Xie Changming: "..." Never mind, whatever makes you happy.
Because he couldn't think of a more suitable reason for the time being.
Luo Mingshu pinched her earlobe, the earrings swaying slightly, shimmering in the sunlight streaming into the library. She was thinking about how to exonerate herself.
She did go there, but she didn't intentionally leave the earring there. It was Misty Star Sea that moved it there to frame her. Of course, she couldn't explain it by saying that Misty Star Sea framed her; that would be too clumsy and didn't suit her.
Xie Changming's gaze fell on the pendant on her ear, his eyes flickering slightly. When he saw Luo Mingshu's tail, he was basically certain that Luo Mingshu was "her". But he never imagined that the little fish could turn into a human.
Luo Mingshu thought long and hard, and suddenly had an idea.
She waved her hand and took off the small cage tied around her waist, and then a cute little black mouse crawled out of it.
Luo Mingshu knew that raising a mouse for a thousand days was for using it for only one day, and now it could serve as a useful tool for her.
She tucked the purple earring clue she had just received into Manman's arms: "Sweetie, hold on tight."
It slowly tilted its head, made two "clucking" sounds, and hadn't yet realized what was happening.
Xie Changming: "..." This thing makes such a strange noise. Why is it called a treasure?
But he recognized the slow-moving cage as the one Luo Mingshu had asked him to steal from Fengsha Ferry that day. (Pianozl)
Why would she steal a mouse?
Xie Changming quietly examined Manman, and his gaze and aura nearly made Manman fall off the table in fright.
"Oh dear, it's my demon friend. He's so naughty, always running around, and he even took my jewelry with him." Luo Mingshu picked him up slowly. "Just say he brought it here."
After speaking, she gently rubbed her back, plucked some loose hairs, and placed them on her purple earring.
—The Misty Star Sea only considered the issue of destroying evidence, so the interior space of the library could not be destroyed, but it did not expect that Luo Mingshu would actually add more clues.
Luo Mingshu perfectly shifted the blame to Manman, who, naive and ignorant, was completely unaware that she had become a jewelry thief.
"Alright, all done." Luo Mingshu gently stuffed the mouse hair back into the cage and then put the earrings with added mouse hair back in their place.
By this time, the last half hour had passed, and Luo Mingshu and Xie Changming walked out of the library with satisfaction. The two had managed to cooperate on some matters, which was surprisingly not bad.
Upon seeing them emerge, Shui Qingnian couldn't help but sarcastically remark, "You're the murderers, yet you searched for clues for so long. What are you pretending for?"
Luo Mingshu was shocked when she heard this—in just an hour and a half, she had completely brainwashed herself and successfully believed that she was not the murderer.
"Cool Doctor, you haven't even gone in to look for clues yet, and you're already saying we're the murderers without any evidence? Are you staging this yourself and then framing us?" When it comes to verbal sparring, Luo Mingshu has never lost to anyone. "If you didn't stage this yourself, then you're really pathetic, Cool Doctor. You can't even find the real murderer who hit you, and you're still acting arrogant while trying to divert attention. The real murderer must be overjoyed to hear this now, right?"
“You…” Shui Qingnian was so angry that she almost jumped out of her wheelchair. “You did something bad and you still try to justify it.”
"Everything must be based on evidence—" Luo Mingshu, holding a wealth of clues from the library, was naturally confident.
Shui Qingnian wanted to say something, but Lu Yaoyao had already pushed her and rushed into the library. She didn't want to listen to Shui Qingnian.
Because at this moment, she felt slightly guilty.
"Ya Fei, what are you doing?!" Shui Qingnian was furious and glared at Lu Yaoyao.
"Doctor Cool, shall we look for evidence first?" Lu Yaoyao pleaded softly.
"Fine," Shui Qingnian said through gritted teeth. She was determined to find clues and expose Consort Mei and Consort Gao.
As soon as she finished speaking, she stood up abruptly.
Lu Yaoyao: "?" Medical... medical miracle.
"What's so shocking?" Shui Qingnian said with a sneer. She slightly opened her collar to reveal the soft armor underneath. Now that Lu Yaoyao had no choice but to stand on the same side as her, she was naturally not afraid to expose her secret. "Gao Fei did knock me unconscious last night, but I have this silver-patterned soft armor to protect me. It was made by my father himself to protect me. It can protect all the meridians and acupoints on my body. My injuries are not that serious."
“But—if I don’t put on an act and pretend to be seriously injured, how can I alert the officials of Yingtian Palace to seek justice for me? It would be best to take this opportunity to expel Consort Gao and Consort Mei from the palace.” Shui Qingnian was actually only slightly injured, and she revealed a confident smile.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yaoyao was struck dumb, frozen in place: "Cool...Cool Imperial Physician, how long were you unconscious last night?"
"Why are you asking this?" Shui Qingnian began searching around the luminous pearl on the ground.
Lu Yaoyao bit her lip and didn't dare to say anything more.
She did come here last night and did some things... Because she was here, she felt guilty, so she wanted to quickly pin the blame on someone else.
Shui Qingnian, of course, couldn't guess what Lu Yaoyao was thinking. After using up a free chance to obtain a clue, she was blocked by a checkpoint restriction in front of the corner where the blood-stained white handkerchief was hidden.
"What? It actually dares to ask me what the trigger for the sixth war between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm was, what kind of spell the human cultivators used to symbolize the beginning of this war, and what the historical significance of this war is for both races?!" Shui Qingnian was greatly shocked to hear the questions the barrier had asked her.
To be honest, Shui Qingnian was superior to her stupid younger sister in every way in the Demon Realm, except when it came to history. She was terrible at it. Not to mention the trigger for the Sixth Demon Realm-Human Realm War, she had even forgotten that the trigger for the First War was the Earth Moon Mole Clan, which started the Demon Race's journey to resist humans.
Although the unlocking fee of three thousand was expensive, Shui Qingnian still reluctantly paid it and received a blood-stained handkerchief.
Shui Qing's thoughts were as big as a bucket, and Lu Yaoyao had no intention of helping her. She went off to look for other clues on her own, and the questions posed by the checkpoint restrictions were equally tricky.
[Question: When your partner questions him about whether he was a substitute for the male cultivator you once loved, how should you answer? And when your partner suspects you've found someone new and abandoned him, how can you win back their heart?]
[Test Method 1: Please answer the questions. Requirements: lofty ideals, clear theme, detailed examples, logical structure, and a minimum of 10,000 words.]
[Second way to pass the test: Please recharge 6,000 spirit stones to directly unlock this level.]
Lu Yaoyao was shocked: "The cool doctor only needed to spend three thousand just now."
Unexpectedly, the barrier actually responded to her, and new explanatory text appeared on the blue screen.
【Hello, Afei, since your exploration team has already spent 3,000 spirit stones to unlock it, the next unlock will require twice the amount of spirit stones spent previously. We wish you a pleasant exploration.】
Lu Yaoyao: "..." This Misty Star Sea is even worse than my system.
She was reluctant to spend the money, since she didn't really want to get the system back, nor did she really want to find her senior brother.
So she began to squat by the windowsill and write short essays, each word written with heartfelt emotion, revealing her indomitable spirit.
Of course, this greatly slowed them down. In the end, they obtained four clues: [the man's hair on the luminous pearl], [the bloodstained white handkerchief in the corner of a bookshelf], [the footprints on the windowsill], and [the black robe on the ceiling].
When they came out, Shui Qingnian and Lu Yaoyao had already started to weave a complicated story using the clues they had at hand, and they were confident that their story would be enough to move the palace servants who had the right to vote.
Finally, Guard Bao and Consort Neng went to the library. Although the two of them argued fiercely with Lu Yaoyao at the beginning, their expressions became somewhat serious when they went in to investigate the clues.
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