Половины жизни, посвященной музыке и макияжу

Глава 35

Liu Yichen shook his head, his handsome eyes revealing a ruthless determination: "Jianghu matters shall be settled in the Jianghu. From this moment on, even if we have to forgo the birthday banquet, even if we have to sacrifice the entire Wanliu Manor, I, Liu, will definitely bring this scoundrel to justice and give the Fang family an explanation!"

Zhao Ting and Zhou Yufei quickly exchanged a glance, while Zhan Yun said in a gentle but serious tone, "Young Master, reporting to the authorities is only a matter of time. However, from this moment on, it is true that you are only allowed to enter the manor and not leave."

Liu Yichen nodded, then turned to the people in the room: "Regarding the capture of the real culprit, I, Liu, will do my utmost and take full responsibility. However, Wanliu Manor does indeed need your help, so I thank you all in advance!" As he spoke, Liu Yichen cupped his hands in greeting, then turned his gaze to Duan Chen, who was looking around the room: "This young lady, if you want to help, I don't object. However, you must take good care of her safety, Nephew Zhan."

Chapter Six: Demonstration • Bee Sting

"Young Master, is the Fang family's young master dead?"

"How did he die? Young Master, did he steal the Flowing Color Sword?"

"That kid from the Fang family isn't very good at kung fu either, no wonder he got his head ripped off."

"Young Master..."

As soon as Liu Yichen entered the "Hall of Righteousness," a crowd gathered around him, bombarding him with questions. Liu Yichen raised a hand with a solemn expression to signal everyone to be quiet, and then said in a deep voice, "Everyone, please listen to what I have to say. Young Master Fang was strangled to death with a sword, and that sword was none other than the Liu Cai sword, which was stolen not long ago."

The crowd, which had just quieted down, erupted into a clamor again. A burly man in his forties or fifties with a red face shouted in a booming voice, "Young Master, do not worry! This kind of villain deserves to be killed by everyone! With so many of us, finding this petty thief will be a piece of cake!"

"That's right! With so many of us here, we're sure to find him! Young Master, tell us how to investigate! We'll cooperate fully. Should we search the house, or check the weapons?" Many others nearby asked anxiously.

Liu Yichen raised his hand again, his gaze sweeping across the entire room: "Gentlemen, I have invited a total of 113 guests to this event. Apart from the late Young Master Fang and four friends including Young Master Xingzhi, all the guests are here. In other words, the one who stole the sword and killed someone is right here in this room."

“Young Master, you are mistaken!” A tall, thin man laughed sarcastically. “Besides us guests, aren’t the maids and servants in the manor suspicious? Aren’t the Wanliu Manor suspicious? After all, this person died in the manor. Even if it was one of us who did it, why did we have to do it here? I think the person who stole the sword and killed the man might have some connection with Wanliu Manor!”

"What do you mean by that?" Many people also sided with the Liu family: "The young master sincerely invited us to a banquet to celebrate the old master's birthday. What good would this kind of thing do for the manor? Don't make false accusations and sow discord here!"

The room erupted in noise again. Liu Yichen observed the crowd for a while without changing his expression before speaking, "Everyone, please be quiet." After the arguing subsided, Liu Yichen continued, "Wanliu Manor is indeed to blame for Young Master Fang's death. However, now is not the time for us to question and attack each other. If we keep arguing here, it will only make the real culprit laugh at us."

Liu Yichen's words immediately won the approval of most people present. Many nodded in agreement, expressing their determination to unite and fight against the common enemy. "Therefore, I hope everyone will cooperate with me to find the real culprit, give the Fang family an explanation, and prevent this person from causing harm elsewhere. I, Liu, hereby swear that I will not rest until this person is caught!"

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The Liucai Sword was painstakingly removed from Fang Wenli's neck. The curved blade was carefully straightened back to its original shape. The blade, brighter than frost and snow, was stained with thick blood. The bright red liquid slowly slid down the spine of the sword, dripped onto the bluestone ground, and condensed into a small blood flower.

Zhou Yufei took the sword and cloth from the servant. The thick cloth slowly slid over the sword, and after being baptized by blood, the blade gleamed even more sharply and coldly than before. The bright sunlight outside shone through the window onto the sword's edge, and the frosty white light seemed like a mountain stream flowing from the spine to the tip. The people in the room only saw a flash of white light before their eyes, and they all blinked or closed their eyes involuntarily.

Zhou Yufei tossed aside the cloth in his hand and ran his fingers over the icy blade: "What a pity." The blade was already slightly damaged. It could be kept as a collectible in the future, but it had forever lost its qualification to fight in the martial world as a weapon.

"Although the Flowing Blade is flexible, the person who can bend the blade like that to wrap around a person's neck and strangle them to death must have unfathomable palm strength and internal energy." Zhan Yun glanced at the Flowing Blade again, and tapped his palm lightly with the jade bone fold fan: "As far as I know, there should be no more than five people in the manor who have such abilities."

"Master Liu and Master Liu are naturally beyond question. In addition, there is Master Xiao of the Xiao family in Muzhou, Master Zuo Xin of the Thunderbolt Hall, and one more..." Zhou Yufei suddenly paused, looked up at Zhao Ting, and then took the scabbard from the servant standing to the side and slowly put Liu Cai into the scabbard.

Zhao Ting replied in a deep voice, "Deng Dingbo from Baode, Hedong, is the new head of the Deng Family Escort Agency."

The body had already been carried out, and the remaining two servants bustled about, cleaning up the bloodstains and the shards of the round table that the young master had smashed in his anger. The group emerged from the room, the Flowing Color Sword still clutched in Zhou Yufei's hand. Young Master Zhou glanced at them, raised an eyebrow, and asked loudly, "Where are we going now?"

Zhao Ting and Zhan Yun both looked at Duan Chen, who was walking between them. Zhan Yun glanced at the beautiful woman beside him, who was deep in thought with her brows furrowed, and a faint smile appeared in his eyes: "Shall we go and take a look at 'Jixian Hall'?"

Duan Chen subconsciously looked up at the sound, his phoenix eyes, unlike their usual clear and cold gaze, instead carrying a rare hint of confusion: "Hmm?" Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he turned his gaze back to look straight ahead: "Hmm."

Zhan Yun's smile deepened, and her pink lips unconsciously curved into a warm and charming arc. This person is so confused by the case! But that bewildered and puzzled look on her face just now was really quite adorable.

"What do you think of this matter?" Zhao Ting glanced coldly at Zhan Yun, whose face was full of tenderness, then fixed his dark eyes on Duan Chen.

Duan Chen remained silent for a long time before saying softly, "I always felt that the person who killed Fang Wenli was not necessarily his enemy."

"How so?" Zhao Ting raised one eyebrow.

"If it were just a typical case of revenge in the martial world, he could have easily made his move along the way. From Suzhou to Jiangning, there were countless opportunities. Moreover, with that man's skills, taking Fang Wenli's life would have been a piece of cake. But he chose to act only after entering Wanliu Manor, and even stole this Liucai Sword as the murder weapon, making the matter known to everyone. Looking at his methods of killing, destroying a priceless treasure and torturing the victim beyond recognition, I only see two words in all of this." Duan Chen paused slightly, then softly uttered two words: "Demonstration."

Zhou Yufei chuckled upon hearing this, turning his head to look at Duan Chen with great interest: "Beauty, I didn't expect you to actually have some skills! Keep going, keep going."

Duan Chen didn't even glance at the man, his eyes remaining fixed straight ahead: "I just suspect that this matter is more likely aimed at Wanliu Manor. However, it's all just my speculation, without any concrete evidence."

Zhan Yun nodded, a shadow falling over his handsome face: "You mean, he's very likely to make a move again?"

"Hopefully not." Duan Chen squinted as he looked at the "Hall of Sages" that was gradually coming into view. "But it's best to be prepared and take precautions."

As the four approached the hall, Liu Yichen, accompanied by several of his men, walked over and asked, "Nephew Zhan, do you have any leads?"

Zhan Yun shook his head: "However, young master, it's best to put away these weapons in the room first. Because we suspect—" The group stepped through the threshold into the hall one after another. Not only Zhan Yun, but almost everyone was stunned. The three walls and four mahogany shelves in the hall were completely empty. Several servants who were responsible for guarding the area were lying on the ground. Liu Yichen and several of his men quickly stepped forward and released the pressure points of the servants.

Duan Chen stared expressionlessly at the wooden frames. Zhou Yufei chuckled softly, shook his head, and sighed, "This is a huge problem!"

The servants, who had been put to sleep by acupressure, sat up in a daze. When Liu Yichen asked them what happened, their answers were almost identical: "We didn't see anyone. We just felt a numbness at the back of our necks, and then we knew nothing more."

Zhan Yun leaned down in front of someone and asked them to turn their head. Duan Chen and Zhao Ting also stood to the side. They saw a tiny red dot on the back of the person's neck, barely noticeable unless you looked closely. Moreover, such a small scar would disappear after half an hour.

"Acupuncture with bee stingers?" Upon seeing this, Liu Yichen instructed the servant beside him to do the same, and sure enough, the same red dots were found on the back of his neck.

"Young Master, have you ever seen anyone use this kind of hidden weapon?" Zhou Yufei asked lazily, leaning against the edge of a table with his sword in hand, raising an eyebrow.

Liu Yichen's expression shifted between light and dark, and after a long silence, he nodded: "I met him once, about twenty years ago."

"Young Master, is it inconvenient to reveal this person's name?" Zhan Yun stood up and asked slowly.

Liu Yichen's eyes darkened, and a bitter smile appeared on his lips: "It's inconvenient. Because everyone who saw him back then, except for me, is no longer alive."

Seeing that Zhan Yun and the others were staring at him silently, Liu Yichen raised his hand and waved, signaling everyone else to leave. After they had gone quite a distance, Liu Yichen looked back at the people inside the room, his handsome brows furrowed tightly: "I hope that once you leave this room, you will not mention this matter again. After all, this matter could be a big deal or a small one; if we are not careful, the lives of more than a hundred people in my Wanliu Manor could be in danger at any moment."

Seeing the group nod solemnly, Liu Yichen continued, "That person only appeared at the manor once back then. Later, he returned to the Northwest..." The people present were quick-witted. Upon hearing the word "Northwest" and connecting it with Liu Yichen's previous statement, they quickly realized that his use of "Northwest" was a reference to the Western Xia, which was located in the northwest of the Song Dynasty!

Because Zhao Ting had fought against the Liao people before, he was more sensitive to such matters than the other three. Upon hearing this, his already cold expression darkened even further: "Young Master Liu, I only need one question from you: Is this person today the same person from back then?"

Liu Yichen was stunned by Zhao Ting's question. After recovering, he subconsciously shook his head: "That man once said that he would never set foot in the Central Plains again in his life. Moreover, he really had no reason to come here again." As he spoke, a faint sorrow appeared on Liu Yichen's face, and a smile still hung on the corner of his resolute lips, but that smile made people feel inexplicably bitter.