Snow falls and the wind blows

Chapter 43

Blood was everywhere in the room—on the floor, the bed, the walls, even on the window paper. The blood had long since dried, turning reddish-brown in many places, except for one spot where fresh blood was still dripping. The cut was clean, the head severed from the body. The person's body sat upright in a chair by the window, while the head had rolled two meters away to the corner of the wall. A gleaming, snow-white blade, the Seven Strike Sword, was firmly held in the person's hand, its tip poked into the ground. The seven small rings on the back of the blade were stained with bright red blood, each seemingly wrapped with strands of reddish-black blood-red thread, making the already menacing ancient sword even more eerie.

Inside the room, five or six corpses lay scattered about, each decapitated, their eyes wide open in disbelief. Duan Chen walked around the room, finally squatting down by the chair near the window to carefully observe the hand holding the knife.

After Zhao Ting and Zhan Yun examined the corpses, they also came over. When Zhan Yun saw the man's hand gesture, he frowned and said, "The hand gesture is wrong."

Zhao Ting nodded: "If this person is holding a knife in his right hand, and he were to commit suicide, his hand would naturally hang down afterward. It would be absolutely impossible for the back of the knife to face outward and the tip to stick into the ground. This 'Seven Victory Knife' weighs 27.8 jin. If an ordinary person were to commit suicide with such a heavy weapon and have enough strength to cut off their entire head, it would be extremely difficult for the knife not to slip from their hand. It would be impossible for them to form such a posture."

“So, someone must have been holding his hand,” Zhou Yufei said, raising one hand and sliding it horizontally in front of him. “Like this, and then slowly lowering his hand, positioning his arm like this.”

"What is this?" Zhan Yun lifted his robe and squatted down, carefully examining the back of the Seven Victories Blade. Duan Chen had been studying the seven iron rings since earlier, and the other two also lowered their heads to look upon hearing the question.

"Chen'er, get up for a moment," Zhao Ting said softly from behind the two of them. Duan Chen was too lazy to correct his and Zhan Yun's occasional affectionate terms of address, so he got up and moved aside as instructed.

The man had been dead for about an hour; his body was slightly stiff. Zhan Yun and Zhao Ting each pried open the man's hand, while the other forcefully pulled the hilt of the knife from his palm. The group moved closer to the door, and Zhao Ting, holding the hilt in one hand and the knuckles of his index and middle fingers against the back of the blade, held the knife up to his face to examine it closely.

"It looks like... hair?" After a long pause, Duan Chen said softly, somewhat uncertainly.

"This must have been intentionally targeted, right?" Zhan Yun looked around, then winked at Zhou Yufei. The two of them each walked towards a head. After a while, they returned to the door and nodded to Duan Chen and Zhao Ting, saying, "It's obvious that a lock of hair was pulled out and a section of hair was cut off from those people, including that person." As he spoke, he pointed to the corpse sitting by the window.

"Is there anything to say about this?" Duan Chen looked up at the three of them.

Zhan Yun shook his head, Zhou Yufei shrugged, and Zhao Ting frowned, letting go of the Seven Victories sword. The seven small iron rings fell to one side along the back of the blade, emitting a clanging sound like swords clashing. A crisp, slightly cold sound echoed in the blood-soaked room, like a murmur from hell.

Chapter Fourteen: Chaos • Changqing

Zhan Yun turned around and walked to the seated corpse by the window. He examined the cut on the person's neck more closely and said, "There should be at least two murderers."

Zhao Ting carried Qi Sheng to Zhan Yun's side, examined the knife wound, then walked around the room, observing the necks of the other six corpses. Finally, he nodded: "It's obvious that the person who killed him was much more skilled in martial arts than the person who killed these six. At least his arm strength was much greater."

“These six people must have died last night,” Zhou Yufei interjected. “But this person clearly died not long ago. Did the murderer stage his death as a suicide to mislead people?”

Duan Chen lowered his eyes, remaining silent, his face growing paler and his lips pressed tightly together. Zhan Yun and Zhao Ting exchanged a glance, walked to the door, and said gently, "Chen'er, have you thought of something?"

Duan Chen slowly raised his eyes, his voice trembling slightly: "I'm thinking, maybe we were wrong from the very beginning."

Zhao Ting frowned and followed him over: "How is that possible?"

Duan Chen looked at the corpses lying all around the room, then looked up at the two of them: "Have you ever considered that perhaps the murderer wasn't a single person from the very beginning?"

“We can never figure out the killer’s pattern. The timing, the targets, the methods—it always leaves us defenseless. The first day was after lunch, the time when everyone is most relaxed and at ease. Some were taking walks, others were napping. No one would have imagined that a murder would happen at this hour.” Seeing the three nod, Duan Chen continued, “On the second day, we had already gathered all the guests at the ‘Hall of Righteousness’ in advance. We took precautions based on the timing, but what we didn’t expect was the choice of killer. We always felt that the killer killed Fang Wenli to incite conflict between various sects and families, as a way to show off against Wanliu Manor. But Lou Yueru’s death seemed to overturn that idea. Intuitively, everyone felt that the killer was after Wanliu Manor, and Fang Wenli was just a sacrifice.”

“For two days in a row, the murderer committed his crimes in the afternoon. Some people must have been less vigilant at night, so the murderer switched to committing the crimes at night, killing six people in total, and finally finishing him off this morning.” Duan Chen said, pointing to the corpse sitting by the window: “We all noticed that these seven people today did not die at the hands of the same person. Is it possible that the murderer who killed Fang Wenli and Lou Yueru was not the same person either?”

The three were somewhat surprised upon hearing this, and then nodded in unison. Zhan Yun tapped his other palm lightly with his jade-shaped folding fan and said slowly, "In that case, many things make sense." As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Duan Chen: "Because they are not the same person, they chose different targets for different reasons, and naturally, the timing and methods were not entirely the same."

"But how do you explain the issue of weapons?" Zhao Ting frowned.

Duan Chen pondered for a moment, then said softly, "So, Li Linge must be involved in this matter."

A sudden shout came from outside. Several people were standing by the door. Looking into the courtyard, they saw a group of people rushing towards them angrily. The leader was none other than Deng Dingbo, the new head of the Deng family in Baode. Zhan Yun glanced at Zhao Ting, then went out to greet them with Zhou Yufei. Duan Chen remained standing there, his brows furrowing, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding.

Sure enough, without a word, those people rushed into the house. Even though Zhan Yun and Zhou Yufei were highly skilled in martial arts, they were no match for the sheer number of people. They initially tried to explain and persuade them, but the men ignored them, brandishing their weapons and charging in like madmen. Left with no other option, the two could only fight back, trying their best to stop them from entering. After all, the house was filled with corpses lying haphazardly; if these thirty or forty people all rushed in, there would be no evidence left. The entire courtyard was in chaos, the shouts and the clanging of weapons piercing the ears.

Deng Dingbo was the first to rush into the house. Zhao Ting grabbed Duan Chen and pulled him behind him to protect him. He kicked the door shut with a bang, and with a backhand swipe of his Seven Victories Blade, his dark eyes revealed a frosty look: "Boss Deng, are you leading this disturbance to raze Wanliu Manor to the ground or what?"

Deng Dingbo, barely thirty years old and quite handsome, raised an eyebrow and smiled upon hearing this: "It seems Wanliu Manor has quite a few friends!" As he spoke, he turned to examine the corpse by the window, followed the bloodstains to the corner of the wall, bent down, picked up the head, and turned around to sneer: "My third brother disappeared after dinner last night and didn't return all night. This morning I heard that someone died in this house. Wanliu Manor is truly righteous!"

As they spoke, the door shattered into several pieces with a sharp "crack" and fell to the ground. Zhao Ting squinted and turned to the side, ready to make his move, when Liu Yichen strode in, bowing to Deng Dingbo: "Chief Deng—" Zhao Ting stretched his arm back and pulled Duan Chen into his embrace, simultaneously using his other hand to block with his Seven Victories Blade. With a "crack," a meteor hammer came hurtling towards them, its gleaming iron chain already wrapped around the back of the blade. Zhao Ting released his grip, calling out in a low voice, "Catch!" Liu Yichen took a step back, raised his hand to grasp the hilt, and Zhao Ting, carrying Duan Chen, rushed out.

In the courtyard, Zhan Yun, dressed in a white robe, twirled and turned a few times, weaving through the crowd like a gust of wind. His wide sleeves fluttered in the breeze, his snow-white robes billowing in the air. He twirled his folding fan and tapped it lightly between his fingers. Finally, he stopped in front of the two people, a hint of helplessness in his smile: "I was a little too rough. They won't wake up for at least half an hour." The crowd in the courtyard—some standing, some sitting, some slumped—were all motionless, some already unconscious.

Zhou Yufei walked slowly past those people, his handsome brows furrowed tightly: "These people are from Jiangbei and even the Northwest. Deng Dingbo is quite influential there, and when they heard that the third leader of the Deng family was dead, their instinct was that several families in Jiangnan were after them. Coincidentally, some of the dead people in the house did have some serious grudges from the past. Many of them had blood on their clothes, so they must have just been fighting with someone."

Zhan Yun's face darkened, and he was about to speak when another "bang" was heard, followed by a series of crackling sounds. Zhao Ting and Zhan Yun, each holding one of Duan Chen's arms, lifted him up and landed steadily outside the courtyard wall. Zhou Yufei walked a little slower, standing beside the three of them, constantly brushing the dust off his head and clothes, while giving Zhao Ting a resentful glance: "Just like Xingzhi, your conscience has been stolen by that little fox!"

Duan Chen hadn't been able to utter a single word since the beginning. The situation was urgent then, and Zhao Ting had been holding her tightly in his arms, protecting her closely. Before she could even say a word, the two of them pulled her over the wall using their light-footed skills. Now, with the two of them flanking her, their chests pressed close together, and both speaking softly and gently, even Duan Chen, with her calm and composed nature, was still a woman after all. A wave of embarrassment and anger washed over her, and her cheeks flushed slightly. She raised her hand and chopped at the arms that were wrapped around her waist: "Let go!"

Zhao Ting and Zhan Yun each obediently took the blow, then obediently released their arms and stepped back a little. Upon seeing the beauty's slightly flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes, Zhao Ting couldn't help but smile, a warm feeling rising in his chest, his deep eyes fixed on the person before him. On the other side, Zhan Yun's gaze softened even more, her lips curving into a smile. She felt waves of heat washing over her from the embrace of Duan Chen, and her heart began to beat faster.

Zhou Yufei leaned against the wall, raising an eyebrow to watch the show. Seeing the expressions on the two men's faces, he secretly shook his head. "It's over, it's over," he thought, "they've both fallen for this girl. They'll have a lot of trouble to deal with later!"

Duan Chen didn't even glance at the two people beside him, and rushed back to the courtyard gate. He saw broken tiles scattered everywhere in the courtyard, a large hole in the roof, and the two people who had been fighting were nowhere to be seen. "Whether they are dead or injured, it all suits the murderer's wishes. Quick, find them!" Duan Chen was truly anxious, and after saying that, he ran into the courtyard.

Because the courtyards were all interconnected, the group bypassed the group of people lying unconscious in one courtyard after their pressure points were sealed, and ran towards the next courtyard. After running through two courtyards, they saw several people lying scattered on the ground, with knife and sword wounds on their bodies. They checked their breath and found they were already dead. The group's expressions grew even more grim. They faintly heard the sound of weapons clashing in the distance, so they quickened their pace and followed the sound.

After passing another courtyard, they saw Liu Yichen and Deng Dingbo locked in a fierce battle, surrounded by a crowd eager to join in, some even shouting for Deng Dingbo to pay for his crimes in blood. Just as the group was about to intervene, a light gray figure circled the crowd, and they immediately fell silent, everyone frozen in place. Looking closer, they saw Master Xiao standing there, hands behind his back, smiling at them. At the same time, another figure leaped between the two fighters, a golden-hilted spear gleaming with a "bang," ensnaring the iron chains of Deng Dingbo's meteor hammer. The hammer rattled a few times before settling still. Zuo Xin smiled, then glanced at Liu Yichen: "Young Master, withdraw your sword!"

Liu Yichen smiled gratefully upon hearing this and raised his hand to retrieve Qisheng. However, a flash of silver light appeared before his eyes, and with a "crack," Liu Yichen was shocked. He wanted to draw his sword again, but it was too late. Zuo Xin didn't even blink, and with a backhand twist, he wrapped the chain of the meteor hammer around the shaft of the spear again. He turned and swung his arm, ready to throw the weapon out of his opponent's hand.

Instead of being angry, Deng Dingbo laughed. As he released Zuo Xin, he flicked his wrist with his other hand, sending three triangular throwing darts flying towards Zuo Xin. Zuo Xin was holding a spear with a chain of meteor hammers attached to it. He didn't have time to dodge and instinctively closed his eyes. He heard a few crisp "crack" sounds, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw seven or eight darts scattered on the ground. One of them had just grazed his shoulder blade, but fortunately it was only a cut and not a deep wound.

As Duan Chen launched his hidden weapon, Zhao Ting and his two companions flew over to capture Deng Dingbo. Just as they reached his side, they saw that his body stiffened slightly, his face turned bluish-purple, and a trail of foul blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. The smile on his lips was extremely eerie. His body stiffened and he slowly knelt down, quickly losing his breath.

Zuo Xin reached out and took the meteor hammer off the spear. Liu Yichen and Master Xiao also came over. Zhan Yun reached out and touched Deng Dingbo's neck, then pried open his mouth to look: "The poison was hidden in his teeth. Once he bites, there will be no cure."

Zhao Ting stood to the side, frowning. "It seems he really is from Western Xia."

Upon hearing this, Master Xiao smiled brightly: "It seems you really are a person of the imperial court."

Zhao Ting's expression was cold. Mr. Xiao raised an eyebrow, then turned to Duan Chen: "Little girl, you're quick-witted!" Before Duan Chen could speak, he stepped closer, wrinkled his nose, and whispered, "Why don't you come with me? Those three are so boring. One's icy cold, one's sleazy, and one's ridiculously flashy..."

Duan Chen didn't even raise an eyebrow, and simply moved a little distance away: "Thank you for your kind words, Senior Xiao, but actually I'm not very familiar with those three." The implication was that he was even less familiar with you.

Although it was whispered, the people present all had exceptionally good hearing, and the three of them heard Xiao Changqing's four-word comment clearly. As soon as the words left his mouth, Zhao Ting's expression turned even colder, Zhan Yun's brows furrowed slightly, while only Zhou Yufei smiled wickedly and even casually cupped his hands towards Master Xiao.