Urbaner Blumentraum - Kapitel 44
Zhu Huihui was taken aback: "What?"
Young Master Liu Yue pointed with his folding fan: "Go see for yourself the side halls, the rear bedroom, and the dining hall!"
Zhu Huihui glanced at Feng Xuese and, seeing that he had no intention of stopping her, immediately ran to the east side hall. Pushing open the hall door, she saw two nuns sitting upright on the prayer mat in front of the Buddha altar.
The two nuns hung their heads and remained motionless, holding prayer beads in their right hands and wooden mallets in their left, seemingly having fallen asleep while chanting sutras and striking the wooden fish.
Zhu Huihui paused for a moment, held her breath, and carefully placed her hand on the shoulder of one of the nuns, giving her a gentle push: "Hey!"
The nun swayed, collapsing under the force of her movement. A bizarre face was revealed beneath her cap: pale skin, bulging eyes, an open mouth, and a tongue slightly protruding from its lips…
Despite being mentally prepared, Zhu Huihui still couldn't help but scream. She had seen many dead bodies before, each more gruesome and bloody than this one, but this was the first time she had ever touched a corpse with her own hands!
A white robe flashed beside her, and Maple Snow appeared in her presence. She bent down to examine the body's temperature, marks, and stiffness, and said, "The throat was crushed; the time of death could not have exceeded an hour."
Zhu Huihui touched another nun with trepidation, and sure enough, she fell to the ground. The nun's distorted face made her body tremble uncontrollably.
Feng Xuese looked at her: "How is it?"
"I...I'll go look somewhere else!" Despite being terrified, Zhu Huihui did not forget her mission—the old man had brought her here to find someone, the nun who had been on the same boat as her and had given her a red bean paste bun.
Feng Xuese accompanied her into the west wing hall. There were four corpses in this hall. She then went to the bedroom and dining hall behind the main hall. There were several corpses in each room, all with broken throats, and all in the same position they were in before they died. Obviously, the murderer was very efficient, killing them with one blow. The nuns died instantly, without even having time to change their positions.
Finally, they arrived at the kitchen, where a nun was holding a cleaver and lying it on the cutting board, which was covered with half-cut vegetables.
On one side, another nun was lying on the ground with a wooden shovel, surrounded by loose firewood. In the iron pot on the stove, tofu and radishes were stewing, the soup was bubbling slightly and was almost boiled dry, and there were still embers in the stove.
The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear, Part Three: Chapter Fourteen (4)
From the moment he saw the smoke rising from the chimney, about half an hour had passed. The old man deduced that the nuns had been dead for no more than an hour, meaning that as he walked towards them, the nuns were being killed one by one…
Zhu Huihui suddenly burst into tears.
Feng Xuese gazed at her, a surge of tenderness welling up within him. Though this child was mischievous and infuriating, that was only due to a lack of proper upbringing from a young age; ultimately, she was kind-hearted. He patted her shoulder, his voice gentle: "Huihui, don't be sad. We'll avenge these people's deaths sooner or later!"
Zhu Huihui wiped away her tears and sobbed, "I'm not sad, I'm just glad! Luckily I arrived late. If I had come any earlier, I might be dead here by now!"
Maple Snow Color: "..." He wasted his feelings! What a useless piece of trash!
Zhu Huihui bent down, turned the nun who was lying on the ground over, glanced at her face, straightened up, let out a long sigh, and shook her head at Feng Xuese.
Feng Xuese understood: No! Among these corpses, there was no nun who had crossed the river with Zhu Huihui.
This proves that either the nun escaped unharmed, or—she was taken away by the murderer. Don't forget, Zhu Huihui wasn't the only one on the boat at the time; there were other people who knew this nun.
If the nun isn't dead, where is she now? He's anxious to find her, hoping she can provide clues from another angle so he can definitively determine whether those killed on the riverbank were indeed family members of the two generals.
Feng Xuese pondered silently, "If I were one of those black-clad assassins, and someone on the opposite ferry saw me committing the massacre, how would I silence them?"
Killing people isn't difficult; the difficulty lies in finding them—a group of complete strangers from all corners of the world who just happened to be on the same ship. Once they disembark, they will disperse and disappear into the crowd, perhaps never to meet again in this lifetime…
If I were the assassin, even though the distance was great and the ferry could escape quickly, it would have been enough time to memorize the key characteristics of the passengers. The one who left the deepest impression was the middle-aged man who rowed the boat away after the captain was killed. Because he carried a knife and was skilled in martial arts, people in the martial arts world always pay more attention to their own kind. Even if they didn't recognize him, in the eyes of an expert, even a single movement could reveal a lot of personal information about a person, such as their martial arts skills and background. Therefore, with a little investigation, it wouldn't have been difficult for the man in black to find the Donglin Escort Agency.
Therefore, the first to perish was the Donglin Escort Agency.
Next, you need to interrogate the people you find about the origins of the others. Even if you don't know each other well, you've traveled together on the same boat, so you'll remember some things, even just a few words. You can use this as a clue to find the next person—just like me, didn't I find Luomei Temple from the only sentence that Zhu Huihui, that muddle-headed idiot, remembered?
Zhu Huihui is probably the easiest and the hardest person to find.
She's easy to find because she has a rather eye-catching spotted pig with her. How many people in this world would wander around with a pig?
She's hard to find because she's homeless and wanders from place to place, and there are countless homeless children like her—by the way, the homeless child outside Half Moon Village who was stained with blood, her clothes, age, and build are similar to the previous filthy ghost Zhu Huihui…
So, because of his close relationship with Zhu Huihui, he also became a target of those men in black—especially since he killed seven of them!
However, after the Yanhe Pagoda incident, these men in black seemed to vanish into thin air, never to be seen again. Instead, a large group of inexplicable martial arts figures, bribed by a woman, were behind him, seeking to kill him. So, what connection did this woman, who suddenly appeared and was named Mo Xinxue, have with those assassins in black?
The nuns of Luomei Nunnery were different from those in the previous massacres, who were all killed by having their throats crushed. Although it was a common method, this person used it with extreme efficiency and decisiveness. In each of these rooms, there was more than one person, but each person maintained the posture they were in before death. Although their faces were distorted, there was not a trace of panic or fear. Obviously, whether there were two people together or five people gathered in one room, that person's throat-crushing killing action was so fast that these nuns did not have time to show any fear before they died almost at the same time!
The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear, Part Three: Chapter Fourteen (5)
There aren't many people in the martial arts world with this level of skill!
Well, I'll count myself as one. As for that Young Master Liu Yue, although I've never fought him, I saw him sparring with a martial arts master from Zhejiang at the Sleepless Tower in Suzhou last time. His martial arts skills are definitely not inferior to mine, so he should also count as one. And coincidentally, he just happened to appear at this Luomei Nunnery at this time. But, given his status, what reason would he have to do such a thing?
He led Zhu Huihui slowly into the courtyard.
The young master Liu Yue was still standing there, one hand behind his back and the other gently waving a folding fan, leisurely admiring a cluster of spring flowers in the corner of the courtyard, a gentle smile on his cheek, his expression quiet and relaxed.
Hearing footsteps, Young Master Liu Yue turned around, his smile deepening. He slowly said, "Twenty-one people in total, all died from shattered throats. Eagle Claw, Tendon-Dislocating Bone Hand, various grappling techniques... even the most widely circulated martial arts in the Jianghu can cause such injuries at least thirteen times. Moreover, many sects have throat-locking techniques, as well as many secret techniques that are not passed down..." The implication was that the scope was too broad, and the culprit would be difficult to find.
Feng Xue smiled and said, "Brother Liu Yue seems to know very well! Indeed, there are many techniques that can cause this kind of injury, but unfortunately, those with this level of skill are few and far between. For example, me!"
He casually reached out and lightly pressed his hand on a stone tablet in the courtyard. When he lifted his hand, a clear fingerprint appeared on the tablet.
Liu Yue narrowed her eyes slightly, her beautiful pupils brightening, and then she smiled and said, "And me!"
He patted the stone tablet intentionally or unintentionally.
The two looked at each other and felt a mutual appreciation.
Zhu Huihui circled the stone tablet three times, but found nothing had changed. She couldn't help but curl her lip, casually resting one elbow on the stone tablet, bending her knees, and showing great contempt for Young Master Liuyue.
The stone tablet behind her, bearing her weight, suddenly shattered. Zhu Huihui tumbled backward, and if Feng Xuese hadn't reached out to catch her, she would have taken a nasty fall. Rubbing her eyes, she looked at the fourteen or fifteen pieces of the broken tablet and almost doubted whether it was made of tofu.
Even with her thick skin, she wouldn't dare believe that she had "damaged" the "tofu tablet." It must be related to Liu Yue. Then, what about the nun's death?
After thinking blankly for a long time, her rosy cheeks suddenly turned bright red. She jumped up abruptly and glared at Liu Yue: "It was you! You must have killed these nuns! When I came, I only saw you. You even tried to kill me too! Don't deny it. From the moment I saw you, you never left the courtyard, yet you know how many nuns died and how they died. It would be strange if you weren't the murderer!"