Орден Красного Лотоса

Глава 5

"It's fine if you faint," He Bi glanced at her coldly, "It's just a pity that I'm not one to show mercy to women."

Yang Nianqing still didn't react.

Nangong Xue shook her head: "Did Miss Yang fall?"

Li You's handsome face appeared above her head, looking at her with sympathy: "Next time you faint, remember, it's better to fall on Brother Nangong than on him."

Yang Nianqing gritted her teeth and angrily got up, patting herself off: "Why!"

“Humans are always more compassionate than gods, at least,” Li You looked at Nangong Xue and coughed, “at least the First Benevolent Person won’t let you lie on the ground.”

“Yes,” Yang Nianqing’s eyes blazed, “God’s heart is as hard as stone!”

"If you're soft-hearted, you can't handle cases." A cold voice.

Yang Nianqing was speechless.

These people are really strange!

Beneath the tree, the corpse lay flat on the ground. Just as Nangong Xue had described, its face was purplish-black, its lips were bluish-black, and its eyes were wide open, the whites of its eyes already turned purplish-red, like congealed blood.

Startled, Yang Nianqing was wide awake and looked at the corpse with trepidation: "Who is he?"

Nangong Xue liked to think for a while before speaking, which showed that he was very cautious in his words and actions. Sure enough, after pondering for a moment, he answered: "It is Zhang Mingchu, the 'One Slash to Slay Jiangnan' who went missing at the beginning of the month."

"You know him?"

He nodded: "I met him once, but that was five years ago."

"Then how can you be sure it's him?" Yang Nianqing suppressed her nausea and looked at the corpse. "He wasn't carrying a knife."

“But the calluses on his left hand must be from long-term sword training, and it’s a single-edged sword. Zhang Mingchu is left-handed,” Nangong Xue smiled slightly. “He is known as ‘One Sword Cuts Down Jiangnan,’ and he uses a Moon-Slaying Xuanming Blade, which is quite heavy. Moreover, he has practiced the Cinnabar Palm. Look at his left hand, isn’t it a bit bigger than his right hand?”

This is practically an autopsy report!

Yang Nianqing was incredibly impressed; he could identify this person just by looking at him twice!

And where is the murderer? Is he hiding somewhere? She looked around, then leaned closer to Nangong Xue, her voice trembling as she asked, "Who killed him?"

nonsense!

“He just released the cat to lure Brother He away, and he’s probably already far away,” Nangong Xue sighed, looking around. “The sound of a cat’s footsteps is similar to the sound of a person using light-footed skills, and with this rain and wind…”

He stopped talking.

Gazing silently at the corpse on the ground, a hint of sorrow and reluctance flickered in his noble phoenix eyes. Yang Nianqing couldn't help but sigh inwardly; this handsome man was indeed incredibly kind.

"You...you're not going up there too, are you?"

Nangong Xue looked up at the tree and shook her head: "I can't go up even if I wanted to." Seeing her puzzled, he smiled slightly: "I was born unable to practice martial arts and have no internal energy, so naturally I can't go up."

Yang Nianqing was stunned.

It turns out he doesn't know martial arts!

But he could see through her weaknesses at a glance, and with such knowledge of martial arts, no one would associate him with someone who had no martial arts skills. Yang Nianqing suddenly felt ashamed; he was just like her, but not as timid and afraid!

Thinking of this, she straightened up.

Nangong Xue found it strange.

Murder was commonplace in the martial world; people even starved and froze to death on the roadside. Death was not uncommon in those days. Had she never seen a dead person? Unless she was a noblewoman from a wealthy family, but even a lady of high birth would behave and speak with such composure…it was extremely rare.

Above their heads, two figures, one black and one white, descended.

A corpse lay beside them, and given the eerie atmosphere, if Yang Nianqing didn't know who they were, she would have mistaken them for the Black and White Impermanence, the ghosts who would take souls.

The shadowy figure moved swiftly and agilely, like a ghost.

In contrast, Bai Ying exuded elegance and grace, like a white flower quietly blooming in the night, appearing as if in slow motion.

Strangely, the two figures, clearly one moving at a faster pace and the other at a slower pace, landed simultaneously!

Nangong Xue glanced at the two of them, then at the corpse on the ground: "There is no martial art in the world that could turn a person into this state. You..."

Li You sighed: "It is indeed poisoning."

"But after trying many times, I found no poison in his body."

silence.

Yang Nianqing couldn't help but ask, "Are there any clues up there?"

He Bi gave her a cold look and remained silent. Li You's face also lost its usual amused expression, and he only had a thoughtful look on his face.

Nangong Xue frowned and asked, "Have you two discovered anything?"

After a while.

He Bi's hand trembled, and something immediately fell to the ground.

A rope.

To be precise, there were two, because they had been cut off, and the marks at the break were still very fresh.

Looking at Zhang Mingchu's corpse on the ground, Li You sighed: "He was probably already up in the tree five or six hours ago."

"Impossible!" Nangong Xue was slightly surprised, then shook her head. "Since yesterday, I have had the villa surrounded. How could he have been brought in!"

"Since he can come, he can naturally bring someone else in as well." A cold voice said.

“But if we’re talking about five or six hours ago…” Nangong Xue suddenly looked at Li You, “Brother Li, your lightness skill is the best in the martial arts world. Are you confident that you can easily bring someone into Nangong Villa?”

The number one in the martial arts world! Yang Nianqing immediately looked at him as well.

Li You smiled and said, "It is indeed very difficult."

“Brother Li is certainly capable,” Nangong Xue smiled, “but not everyone has such excellent lightness skills as Brother Li.”

Even someone with unparalleled lightness skills would find it difficult, let alone others? In truth, no one would believe it. Not only is Nangong Villa renowned throughout the martial arts world and heavily guarded, but how could such a large dead body remain in a tree for half a day without anyone noticing? Moreover, the murderer somehow managed to bring Zhang Mingchu's corpse to life before everyone's eyes at just the right moment!

He Bi said coldly, "But he is indeed in the tree."

Nangong Xue seemed about to speak again, but Li You shook his head to stop her.

“Although the rain wasn’t heavy, and he was wearing quite a lot, he was already soaked,” the handsome man said, his long eyebrows furrowing. “There was a dry spot on the tree; he must have been tied up there.”

Yang Nianqing thought for a moment, then felt a chill run down her spine. She had just been sitting here drinking and talking with them, never imagining there was a dead man keeping her company in the tree next door!

"It seems that the person just came to untie him and deliberately let him fall so you could see him. He didn't expect you to discover him, and fearing being caught, he released the cat to lure you away."

The crowd remained silent.

Li You shook his head: "Everything is probably within his expectations; the cat was also prepared in advance."

The second year of the Jiatai era of the Song Dynasty.

Although Yang Nianqing's knowledge of history hasn't reached the level of an archaeologist, and she doesn't know whether this is the Southern Song or the Northern Song Dynasty, she has indeed traveled to the ancient Song Dynasty.

"My goodness, this is so outdated!" she exclaimed dejectedly, curiously touching the candlestick and bed. "These are such ancient things! How will we live without electric lights..."

Someone actually dislikes Nangong Villa?!

Li You and He Bi exchanged a glance, and in the blink of an eye, they had exchanged a lot of information, perhaps due to the strange tacit understanding between friends.

"Electric light?" Nangong Xue was also somewhat surprised, then smiled apologetically, "My humble abode is indeed a bit simple, so you'll have to make do for a few days. Perhaps soon, everything will come to light, and you'll be able to leave."

Seeing his gentle demeanor and polite manner, Yang Nianqing's goodwill towards him immediately increased: "Thank you so much. Actually, staying a few more days wouldn't be a problem, since I have nowhere else to go..."

Nowhere to go? Stay a few more days? She herself didn't realize the meaning behind her words, but the three exceptionally intelligent people beside her already understood her predicament.

Nangong Xue paused for a moment, then shook her head and smiled.

Li You stared at her for a long time, then looked at Nangong Xue, a look of sympathy appearing in his captivating eyes, and murmured, "I have come to understand something else."

"What is it?"

“You can never be a good person,” he said, his long eyelashes fluttering. He patted Nangong Xue’s shoulder and sighed, “Fortunately, it won’t hurt to support a few hundred more people at Nangong Villa.”

Nangong Xue couldn't help but laugh.

Was he implying that she was freeloading? Yang Nianqing finally realized. Her face immediately turned red, and she glared at him fiercely, only to find that those charming eyes were also looking at her with amusement.

You're talking nonsense!

Yang Nianqing felt no shame, since he was forced to be her "savior" anyway.

Just then, He Bi spoke up: "How did you get here?"

"you……"

“All I know is,” He Bi interrupted her coldly, looking at Li You, “that you would never do this just to get him to hold you.”

Yang Nianqing immediately felt embarrassed. In fact, she had already understood that in a place guarded on all sides, if someone with no martial arts skills fell from the sky for no reason and landed in someone's arms, anyone would be suspicious.

She sighed: "You suspect I'm an accomplice?"

Li You looked at her for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "Of course you're not."

"Thank you." Yang Nianqing felt a surge of warmth in her heart.

It's always touching to be trusted in a strange place, but if you tell the truth, only a fool would believe you. However, lying to such intelligent people is far too dangerous; losing their trust could lead to being branded an accomplice and "executed"...

Thinking of this, she shuddered and decided to tell the truth.

"Actually, I was wondering how I got here too," she blinked innocently. "My home is in the People's Republic of China. This morning, I was on a boat with my friend, and I... accidentally fell into the water, and then..."

She stopped talking, her face darkening.

He remained silent for a long while.

Her expression brightened again: "Then I opened my eyes again and saw you all. That's how it is. I really don't know why I ended up here."

After saying that, she looked out the window in confusion: "I clearly fell into the lake, so is this place underwater?"

for a long time.

"The People's Republic of China?" Li You murmured, then suddenly laughed, "Interesting!"

He Bi looked at her coldly.

"You don't believe me?" Yang Nianqing looked at them frankly, somewhat helplessly. In fact, she didn't need to ask; she knew herself that these words were indeed too hard for people to believe, even though they were the absolute truth.

Suddenly, Li You turned to look at her, a smile appearing in his bright eyes: "I believe you."

"You believe me?" Now she was surprised. Although what he said was true, she hadn't expected him to believe it so easily. "Are you so sure? Maybe he deliberately abandoned me to be an undercover agent? Maybe..."

Undercover agent?