Chapter 71 If you can't speak, then be a mute...
"That's right! If it wasn't you, then it must have been you, this servant, who took advantage of Senior Sister's looks and killed her in a fit of rage because she resisted to the death!"
"Putting everything else aside, there's a rule at Qilu Pavilion that guests and servants are always in the same room. Why is it that when we arrived, we only found your servants in the room and didn't see you? Where were you half an hour ago?"
"If you ask me, the Pavilion Master of Qilu Pavilion is also implicated in this matter. The incident happened at Qilu Pavilion, yet none of the maids patrolling the pavilion noticed anything amiss. This is clearly due to the Pavilion Master's lax management!"
“Junior Sister Liu Yan, I know we had some misunderstandings and unpleasantness in the past. But our senior sister is also your senior sister. Now that senior sister is in trouble, you seem to care nothing at all. Do you really have any heart left?”
Following the man's words, everyone's gaze shifted from Li Chenjin to Liu Yan, the Pavilion Master of Qilu Pavilion. Li Chenjin also turned his gaze to her.
Despite facing so many gazes, Liu Yan showed no displeasure or embarrassment. Her face still wore a lukewarm smile, just like the dancer behind her supporting her wheelchair—a lifeless and fake smile.
Liu Yan cupped her hands in a gesture of respect towards the group, smiled slightly, and said in a very respectful tone, "Your senior sister is naturally also my senior sister. Fellow disciples, I will never forget your kindness in the past, and I will do my utmost to repay your kindness in the future."
"..."
Upon hearing Liu Yan's words, those people suddenly fell silent.
When Li Chen looked over at those people, he saw that the woman dressed in white, who was clearly the most temperamental among them, was about to say something, but was pulled by the person next to her, making the atmosphere seem very strange.
Seeing the sudden silence around him, Li Chen pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands in their direction and said, "Gentlemen, I know some medical skills and also some autopsy techniques. Since we have no clues right now, why don't you take me to the room where the incident happened? Perhaps we'll find something."
Hearing her words, one person said irritably, "So what if you know medicine? You can't bring the dead back to life. And that damn autopsy method, our senior sister's body is nowhere to be found, what kind of autopsy can you perform? Are you expecting your dog to find her body and then you to perform the autopsy? Do you really have that kind of heart? I think you're clearly trying to take advantage of the situation. I've seen too many despicable people like you, you..."
Shen Zhengyuan's gaze fell on her without her noticing. Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly felt a tightness in her throat, as if a huge rock was blocking it. No matter how hard she tried to open her mouth, she couldn't inhale a single breath or make a sound.
Her face quickly turned from red to green, then from green to purple. Her hands involuntarily gripped her neck, her mouth was wide open, her eyes bulged out, and she stared intently in Shen Zhengyuan's direction. This caused panic among the people around her, who rushed forward one after another, but no one could help her.
Li Chen stared in her direction, frowned, and gently tugged at Shen Zhengyuan's sleeve.
Shen Zhengyuan glanced sideways and subtly released his hands from behind his back.
The moment he let go, the man let out a long gasp, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.
The person next to her reached out to help her, but she abruptly pushed him away.
At this moment, she seemed to be unable to see anyone around her, staring intently in Shen Zhengyuan's direction, retreating backwards on all fours, her face full of panic, as if she were avoiding some kind of monstrous flood.
Only after she hid behind the others did she cover her still tight and painful neck again, panting heavily with lingering fear.
Shen Zhengyuan, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up: "If you can't speak, then be a mute. If you can't be a mute, then be a corpse."
“I have no interest in killing mortals, but if you can’t learn to speak, killing a few won’t hurt.”
His tone was calm, as if he were just talking about some everyday trivia, but it immediately silenced everyone around him. The only sounds were breathing and heartbeats.
His gaze swept indifferently over the pale faces of the crowd, and he continued, "Your emperor doesn't dare to demand an explanation from the cultivation world because of people like you. You'd better not forget that the current prime minister and the imperial advisor both came from the cultivation world."
"Although the emperor is not a member of my cultivation world, the court may still be under my control."
As soon as he finished speaking, silence fell over the surroundings, and no one dared to say a word.
Seeing that everyone's faces were getting paler and paler, and that they seemed to be breathing at any moment, Li Chenjin quickly said, "Ah... I'm so sorry, so sorry. My friend is actually a nice person, he just likes to scare people, please don't take it to heart."
As she spoke, she cupped her hands in greeting to the crowd before her and changed the subject, saying, "Right now, let's focus on the important matter at hand. This is a matter of life and death, and I dare not neglect it."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over Han Shannan, who was still holding the sweet rice balls, and said gently, "Gentlemen, although my servant has never been very obedient, he is by no means the kind of person who kills innocent people indiscriminately. There must be some misunderstanding in this matter, but without proof, you will certainly not believe me. Why don't you come with me to see for yourselves? Perhaps we can find some clues and find out the whereabouts of your senior sisters' bodies."
She turned her gaze to the few still-shaken disciples of Biyun Pavilion, softened her tone, and asked gently, "Excuse my boldness, but could you please tell me where your sect's senior sister lived before her death?"
Compared to Shen Zhengyuan, Li Chenjin's tone was extremely gentle, as if he didn't take the previous accusations to heart at all. He seemed to have a very good temper, which was the opposite of Shen Zhengyuan.
One was questioned for a long time without getting angry, while the other, who was clearly not involved and had no expression on his face, as if he didn't care about these things, suddenly made a move and kept talking about killing, as if he came from a demonic sect.
Although those people had many grievances against Li Chenjin and Shen Zhengyuan, they dared not speak out at this moment. They could only follow the steps given by Li Chenjin and lead them to the house where the senior sister lived.
Before we even entered the room, someone pointed to a spot near the door and said, "When we found him, he was standing right here, with a maid from the Weeping Dew Pavilion behind him."
“We beat him up and chased him all the way back to his house. Many people saw it on the way, and they can all testify to it.”
As Li Chen listened to her words, his gaze involuntarily fell on Han Shannan, whose face was somewhat bruised and swollen, and he almost couldn't help but laugh.
Han Shannan naturally noticed Li Chenjin's gaze. Judging from her suppressed laughter, it was obvious who she wanted to laugh at. He glared at her fiercely, and after a long while, he squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: "How many times have I said it! I'm not a lecher, nor a womanizer, and I haven't killed anyone!!"
Before Han Shannan could finish speaking, someone said, "Then tell me, what were you doing here? Were you trying to eavesdrop on something for someone?"
"I……"
Han Shannan was speechless for a moment and subconsciously looked at Li Chenjin, but Li Chenjin not only did not speak up for him, but smiled and said: "This young lady is right. You are indeed still a big suspect. I can't help but side with my own people."
"You...I...Hmph!"
Han Shannan felt like he was caught in the middle, and whatever he said would be wrong. He could only snort heavily, turn his head away, and sulk alone, refusing to look at any of them.
After the tightly closed door was pushed open, the first thing that hit them was an extremely strong smell of blood. Such a strong smell of blood meant that the person had suffered a very serious injury. Even cultivators in the cultivation world would be in grave danger, let alone their senior sister, who was just an ordinary person.
Li Chen stepped into the room, and everywhere he looked, there were still fresh, bright red bloodstains.
Besides the ground, there were also many bloodstains splattered on the walls, and even on the ceiling above. With such a large area of bloodstains, it is absolutely impossible to say that a person is still alive.
Just as they had said, the person who bled so much blood was nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead, only a few bloody footprints were left on the ground.
“This, this… how come there’s only one person’s footprint on the ground?” One person pointed at the bloody footprint on the ground, his brows furrowed. “And this footprint went from inside the house to outside, all the way to the door, and then suddenly disappeared. This… is this something an ordinary person could do? Even if it’s not an evil spirit, it’s definitely not an ordinary person…”
Following that person's words, the others couldn't help but speculate, and in the end, they all looked in the direction of Shen Zhengyuan and the others.
Shen Zhengyuan paid no attention to the gazes cast upon him. Instead, one of the men behind him sneered and said in a sinister tone, "Do we need to go to such lengths to kill you? The Ancestor only needs to raise his hand, and none of you will survive."
"..."
What this person said was unpleasant to hear, but it was also true. Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, not daring to breathe, and they couldn't understand what was going on.
Just then, someone suddenly turned their attention to Liu Yan, the Pavilion Master of Qilu Pavilion, who was sitting in a wheelchair, and said, "Liu Yan, this is your territory. Did you hold a grudge against Senior Sister and have her murdered?!"
"After nightfall, the only people who can freely roam outside are your Weeping Dew Pavilion people. Wouldn't it be easier for you to have your men take action than for that lecherous fellow?!"
Han Shannan, who was deep in thought, suddenly spoke up: "I already said, I'm not a lecher!"
No sooner had Han Shannan finished speaking than someone said coolly, "Give me a break! I've been listening for ages. You're out at a girl's door in the middle of the night, and you still say you're not a lecher? You've got the desire but not the guts, you dare to do it but not admit it..."
Han Shannan angrily retorted, "Who are you calling a thief? Who are you calling a coward who dares to do something but doesn't dare to admit it?! I came, but I didn't do anything! I..."
"Alright, stop talking." Before he could finish speaking, Li Chen interrupted him, "Right now, you're the prime suspect. What's the point of saying anything now except making things worse?"
"Since you have indeed been here, you should now try to clear your name instead of arguing with others."
"I……"
Han Shannan wanted to argue, but then realized that Li Chenjin was right. He could only snort again, put his hands behind his back, and sullen away by himself. Li Chenjin couldn't help but sigh.
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