A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 288: Clues

The reception banquet organized by Pan Cuiqing for Tiangang Hall’s Yaoguang Division lasted until late at night.

Zhang Yuelu drank a few glasses of wine, but she was not drunk because she had a high alcohol tolerance. She only drank to be polite. Even though she usually liked to drink, she knew not to indulge while on official business.

Of course, Zhang Yuelu could have ordered Pan Cuiqing to cancel the banquet and show her Wan Xiuwu’s body immediately. However, she did not want to make another enemy for herself. If she did that, the Wuxu Palace would think that she was arrogant, and when word of this spread, she would be shunned for not following proper etiquette.

Some people saw a hint of the fifth-generation Grand Master’s attitude in Zhang Yuelu, so they were wary of her.

If Zhang Yuelu wanted to climb the ladder of the Daoist Order, she had to learn to be patient and hide a part of her intentions. Sometimes, she could even play along and turn a blind eye if it was not too serious. In short, she had to pick her battles.

At midnight, the rain finally stopped.

Zhang Yuelu walked out onto the deck of the ornate boat. In the darkness, she could only see the stars in the sky and the lights in the distance reflected on the surface of Qujiang Pond. It was as if there were stars in the water as well.

It was an amazing view that could only be seen during times of prosperity. However, behind this prosperity was an undercurrent waiting to turn the tide.

The mighty Qi Dynasty was the best precedent.

At this moment, Yue Liuli also walked out onto the deck and stopped a few meters away from Zhang Yuelu.

At the banquet, Pan Cuiqing tested Zhang Yuelu’s intentions several times but failed. He had no choice but to ask Yue Liuli to approach that stubborn woman, thinking that perhaps she would be more successful since they shared the same gender and tragic experience of losing a loved one. Yue Liuli was nervous, but she had to do as she was told and face Zhang Yuelu alone.

“Miss Yue.” Zhang Yuelu spoke first, using an unconventional address.

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However, Yue Liuli greeted Zhang Yuelu with the Daoist standard. “Deputy Hall Master Zhang.”

Zhang Yuelu glanced at Yue Liuli, who was behind her. “Three months have passed by in the blink of an eye since we last met at the Shangqing Palace on Yunjin Mountain. I didn’t expect all these events to happen. Please accept my condolences, Miss Yue.”

“Thank you for your consolation, Deputy Hall Master Zhang.” Yue Liuli was much lower than Zhang Yuelu in terms of rank, position, and family background, so she kept a humble stance.

Zhang Yuelu asked, “What’s the matter, Miss Yue?”

Yue Liuli said softly, “I didn’t expect you to come here in person. I was so flattered that I came here to express my gratitude to you, Deputy Hall Master Zhang.”

“I see.” Zhang Yuelu nodded and suddenly changed the subject. “I noticed during the banquet that you seem quite close to Deputy Palace Master Pan.”

Yue Liuli was startled. A trace of panic flashed across her face, but she forced a smile. “Deputy Palace Master Pan is also my senior brother. He has been dealing with Senior Brother Wan’s funeral affairs, so we’ve had more interactions during this period.”

Zhang Yuelu smiled faintly in response.

Qi Xuansu was only able to deceive Zhang Yuelu because he learned how to act from the brilliant Madam Qi. Moreover, Zhang Yuelu always gave Qi Xuansu the benefit of the doubt, so she did not dwell on his words or deeds.

However, Yue Liuli was different. She was not as good at acting compared to Qi Xuansu, and Zhang Yuelu was skeptical of her. Thus, her schemes were easily exposed.

In fact, through Zhang Yuelu’s past experience in Beichen Hall, she was most suspicious of Yue Liuli and Pan Cuiqing. Since ancient times, murder resulting from adultery was common, classified as killing for love.

From Zhang Yuelu’s perspective, Yue Liuli was undoubtedly the biggest suspect. However, Zhang Yuelu was only suspicious and would not jump to conclusions or wrongly accuse anyone without evidence. She would still have to see the victim’s corpse before making a judgment.

Yue Liuli was rendered speechless. Her mind was in chaos, so she quickly excused herself, feeling embarrassed.

Compared with Zhang Yuelu, who had experienced countless storms, Yue Liuli was immature. After all, children scheming in the Wanxiang Daoist Palace was far less sophisticated compared to the real infighting within the Daoist Order.

Zhang Yuelu had experienced the major Jiangnan case firsthand, so she had learned a lot from it.

The difference between them was just like Wan Xiuwu and Qi Xuansu. Qi Xuansu was indeed no match for Wan Xiuwu when they were in Wanxiang Daoist Palace. But after graduation, Qi Xuansu witnessed his master’s assassination and was guided by Madam Qi to be a ruthless weapon, constantly living on the edge.

After Qi Xuansu entered Tiangang Hall, he followed Zhang Yuelu to fight off various evil cults, gaining rich combat experience. Whereas Wan Xiuwu lived the comfortable life of a flowerbed priest in Wuxu Palace. Thus, when the two old classmates crossed paths again, Qi Xuansu easily defeated Wan Xiuwu, who had an advantage in having a higher cultivation level.

Early the next morning, Zhang Yuelu asked to see Wan Xiuwu’s corpse.

As far as Wan Xiuwu’s death was concerned, Pan Cuiqing had a clear conscience, so he did not delay the request and personally led Zhang Yuelu over to inspect the body.

Zhang Yuelu did not know how to do autopsies, but she brought a forensic specialist from Tiangang Hall with her. The coroner stepped forward to examine the corpse.

Finally, it was concluded that Wan Xiuwu’s cause of death was from a firearm wound using an ordinary armor-piercing projectile. Judging from the depth of penetration, it was likely that the gun was pressed against the deceased forehead when the shot was fired. This result was consistent with the case file provided by the Wuxu Palace.

They could also confirm that the projectile came from Tianji Hall. However, Tianji Hall produced countless armor-piercing projectiles every year, so it was impossible to determine who was the owner of this projectile. Moreover, the possibility of these projectiles flowing into the black market could not be ruled out.

Wan Xiuwu’s body was severely burned. Even so, they could still identify some traces of the fight. The more serious injuries were caused by fists. That was why the Wuxu Palace was certain that the killer was a Martial Arts Practitioner. However, there were also some minor stab wounds that were not fatal.

The coroner turned to Zhang Yuelu and reported, “Deputy Hall Master, although the corpse was burned to this degree, the position of the stab wounds would not disappear, as some wounds left certain traces on the bones.”

Zhang Yuelu inspected the stab wound. The results shocked her because this was from the Dayan Spirit Blade Technique.

Though the Dayan Spirit Blade Technique was said to not leave a trace, it was only true for those who were not familiar with it. Zhang Yuelu was proficient in the Dayan Spirit Blade Technique, so she could recognize it at a glance.

In the Daoist community, the use of swords was more common compared to other weapons. Most people also focused on one weapon. Zhang Yuelu only learned the Dayan Spirit Blade Technique because the Amorphous Paper could be transformed into various forms.

In other words, very few people in the Daoist Order could use the Dayan Spirit Blade Technique. Since Houtian and Xiantian Beings could not stray from the regular path of cultivation unless they were taught by their masters, even fewer people within the Daoist community knew this technique.

Even if it was a Heavenly Being who did this, Wan Xiuwu would not have been able to resist for such a long time and would most likely be decapitated with a single move. There was no need for a Heavenly Being to exert so much effort in inflicting so many injuries on Wan Xiuwu.

At this time, Zhang Yuelu started profiling the killer, who was suspected to be a Martial Arts Practitioner proficient in the use of firearms and the Dayan Spirit Blade Technique. Since the killer was most likely not a Heavenly being, they would most probably be around the Yuxu stage or the Guizhen stage.

With that profile, an image jumped to the forefront of Zhang Yuelu’s mind—Qi Xuansu. The reason for this was that Pan Cuiqing had mentioned an old grudge between Qi Xuansu and Wan Xiuwu in the Wanxiang Daoist Palace.

Was it just a coincidence?

Zhang Yuelu forced herself to calm down.

In the eyes of others, Zhang Yuelu was pensive, probably thinking about how to proceed with the case. However, only Zhang Yuelu knew how fast her heart was beating and how chaotic her emotions were.

Two thoughts kept clashing in her mind.

Her first thought was that Qi Xuansu was not dead. He survived, killed Wan Xiuwu under the nose of the Wuxu Palace, and walked away confidently.

Another thought was that someone knew about the old grudge between Qi Xuansu and Wan Xiuwu, so the killer intended to confuse everyone by pretending to be Qi Xuansu.

After all, Zhang Yuelu watched Qi Xuansu fall thousands of feet below her. She was clear about Qi Xuansu’s cultivation level, so there was no way he could survive such a fall.

Both theories were probable.

However, there was another possibility. Most of the people in the Imperial Court preferred sabers and other blades that were not swords. Thus, there were many masters of knifemanship from the royal family and the Black Robes. The Dayan Spirit Blade Technique was also widespread in the Imperial Court.

Therefore, the killer could be from the Imperial Court.

After a long time, Zhang Yuelu finally spoke. “The killer is a Martial Arts Practitioner proficient in firearms and knifemanship. There aren’t many people who meet these criteria in the Daoist community. But there are many who check these boxes in the Imperial Court, especially those from the Green Phoenix Guard and the Black Robes.”

Pan Cuiqing probed. “Deputy Hall Master Zhang, do you mean to say that the killer is from the Imperial Court?”

Zhang Yuelu signaled Mu Jin to take out a map, pointed at it, and said, “Your initial assumption was that the killer was a secret society member, so you assume that they would not flee to Xijing Prefecture or the Ghost Pass. What if the killer was not a secret society member but a member of the Imperial Court? If they happen to have a badge—”

“The Ghost Pass!” Pan Cuiqing’s eyes widened. “They can pass through the Ghost Pass and leave right under our nose! Our patrolling Spirit Guards wouldn’t be able to tell. He could even go back to Xijing Prefecture and hide in plain sight to play tricks on us!”

Zhang Yuelu instructed, “Investigate the recent checkpoint records at the Ghost Pass.”