Chapter 117: Chapter 52: Holding Your Hand, Roaming the Riverbed
The crowd continued to descend to the seventh floor, where the second victim finally appeared.
The victim was from the Xuan Shi Peak lineage, and had died in a certain area of the Jing Gate. He had been traveling with his Senior Brothers and was at the very end of the group.
As they passed through a forest, someone suddenly realized this Junior Brother was missing, so the group turned back to look for him. They found the victim dead under a tree, the ground around him covered with frozen frost.
The victim had a sword wound at the front of his neck and had been struck once, fatally, across the throat. Blood had sprayed out massively from the wound.
At the base of the tree trunk where the body leaned, a line of small characters had been carved with sword qi:
“Those who spread falsehoods, your throats shall be locked and tongues sealed. Su Jian.”
The disciples from Xuan Shi Peak took the body and the tree bark with the carved message back to the hall, where Jinghua True Person personally examined them.
Ling Yunpo and An Zhisu returned from the Xi Gate to find the Shushan disciples gathered around the re-created scene and the body, every one of them looking extremely grave.
Then, Ling Yunpo realized that the Shushan disciples present were all seemingly avoiding his gaze as if by some unspoken agreement.
Since he and Senior Sister An went to the Xi Gate in full view of everyone each time, and only returned when it was necessary to go down to the next level, they could basically be ruled out as suspects.
But the question remained: who was the murderer?
At the moment, all clues pointed to Su Jian—so obviously, in fact, that it could almost be determined as a frame-up.
Would a Golden Core True Person kill a disciple of the Foundation Establishment Rank in a sneak attack?
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A sneak attack is a sneak attack, but why sign it? What did it mean?
The vast majority of Shushan disciples actually believed that it definitely had nothing to do with Su Jian.
Of course, this did not stop everyone from being wary of Qingluo Peak, because the only common trait between the two victims so far was:
Their grudges with Qingluo Peak… more precisely, with An Zhisu.
One of the victims had, more than a decade ago in a sword contest, used underhanded tactics against An Zhisu, almost injuring her.
The cause of death was a stab in the back with the message left at the scene read, “Plot against others, and you will be backstabbed.”
The second victim had been inciting hatred among disciples of Various Peaks, calling for them to isolate Qingluo Peak.
The cause of death was a torn neck and the message left at the scene claimed, “Spread malicious lies, and your tongues shall be sealed and throats locked.”
Even if the murderer wasn’t Su Jian, their logic in committing the crimes was very clear: to target Shushan disciples who bore old grudges with Qingluo Peak.
Yet who among the present Shushan disciples could claim to be without grudges against Qingluo Peak?
Everyone questioned themselves on what could be considered a grudge. If it was as simple as having spoken ill of someone, then likely the whole of Shushan would be apprehended…
Therefore, everyone tried hard not to look at Ling Yunpo and An Zhisu.
It wasn’t that they suspected them of being the murderers; rather, they feared that any eye contact now might lead to them being found dead on the spot, eyes gouged out, with a carved message beside them: “What are you looking at? Mind your own business. Su Jian.”
The Shushan disciples had these concerns, but Jinghua True Person had no such scruples and directly called Ling Yunpo and An Zhisu over, asking them if they had any clues about the murderer.
“I must speak frankly,” Ling Yunpo said outright, “If someone is acting under the pretense of our master’s name to commit murder, it’s clear they cannot be friends of Qingluo Peak.”
“As for enemies of Qingluo Peak, True Person, you surely know that they are too numerous to count. The murderer choosing Qingluo Peak as their guise must have considered this…”
“I am well aware,” Jinghua True Person interrupted, “But tell me, do you have any leads at all?”
Ling Yunpo and An Zhisu looked at each other and after a long pause, they said:
“None.”
“Go then!” Jinghua True Person said impatiently.
Afterward, paying no heed to the protests of the Xuan Shi Peak disciples, he forcefully seized their Life-bound Sword Artifacts and restricted their freedom of movement, requiring them to stay in the hall on each floor, subject to questioning, and not allowing them to leave.
Everyone continued down to the eighth floor, and Ling Yunpo went to seek out Jinghua True Person to inquire if he and An Zhisu could continue the normal trials.
After all, always staying in the Xi Gate to rest with Senior Sister—alone together in a room—a man and a woman, could harm Senior Sister’s reputation… Of course, the main reason Ling Yunpo was worried was that he feared he might not be able to restrain himself and would make a mistake.
The bed in the Xiumen area is just too soft!
“Since the murderer committed the crime when you were in the Xiumen area, the suspicion on you can basically be ruled out,” Jinghua True Person pondered for a moment, then said, “Of course, it would be best if you choose the ‘Death Gate’ and undergo your trial in a different area from the other disciples.”
“No problem,” An Zhisu said coldly.
Thus, the two of them entered the Death Gate, passed through a long, dark corridor, and finally entered a new area.
This world was submerged in deep water, but it was unclear whether it was a river, lake, or sea.
The riverbed glistened with wavering light, aquatic plants swayed and generated ripples, and schools of fish swirled and circled, their silver scales and long tails exhibiting elegant forms.
Both being at the Marrow Cleansing Rank, not only could they hold their breath to avoid using up oxygen, but they could also withstand the deep-water pressure. Furthermore, with their Flying Swords being of the Water System, controlling them was like fish taking to water, moving with ease.
After continuing forward for over ten kilometers, An Zhisu casually chatted with her junior brother, saying:
“Ahead should be an underwater cave dwelling, filled with river spirits and water demons.”
“If you fight deep enough, you’ll encounter a Water Viper. I failed to kill it last time, and it got away.”
“Inside the chamber where it resides, there seems to be some treasures… though I didn’t look closely.”
Ling Yunpo almost fell over upon hearing this.
It seemed there might be some treasures, but I didn’t look. Senior Sister An, how can you say such things so matter-of-factly?
Alas, my Senior Sister An is just too naive, devoted only to the sword in her life, indifferent to other worldly possessions, of course she wouldn’t be interested in these low-rank magical treasures.
But I simply can’t ignore them!
Ling Yunpo even remembered a documentary about marine conservation he had watched before crossing over to this world.
It talked about how humans dumped all kinds of trash into the ocean, with plastic bags taking ten thousand years to decompose, often entangling marine life like dolphins and turtles, ultimately leading to their helpless demise.
Whatever exists deep in that underwater cave dwelling that Senior Sister spoke of must also be trash casually thrown into the water by someone.
These treasures… No, these pieces of trash clearly won’t decompose on their own, and might be ingested by small fish, shrimp, or dragons, thus endangering these aquatic creatures.
I simply can’t bear it!
For the sake of a pristine and pure underwater environment, I must clean up this rubbish!
With this in mind, Ling Yunpo spoke with righteous indignation:
“Senior Sister! How about we explore that underwater cave dwelling once more?”
“Sure,” An Zhisu immediately agreed.
That’s really great about Senior Sister An, she always directly agrees to whatever Ling Yunpo asks, never pestering with this or that question.
One can only say she spoils him tremendously.
The two continued to control their swords, swiftly arriving at the underwater cave dwelling.
The entrance to the cave dwelling was a crevice formed between the riverbed rocks, just wide enough for the two to pass through side by side.
Since the passage was narrow and didn’t allow for agile movement, An Zhisu sheathed her Sword Light and descended, then positioned the Frostfall Sword above her head to be ready for any enemies.
She herself walked a few steps deeper, then turned around and extended her hand to Ling Yunpo with a smile:
“Junior Brother, this place is covered with dense moss and is slippery when stepped on; be careful.”
“Okay, Senior Sister,” said Ling Yunpo as he took her hand.
Hand in hand, the two moved through the internal passage amid the scattered rocks on the riverbed.
All of a sudden, Ling Yunpo felt a subtle sense of déjà vu as he remembered Qiu Changtian holding Xu Yinglian’s hand and running across the Iron Chain Long Bridge above the sea of clouds.
Only, that time he was the one holding Junior Sister Xu’s hand, but this time it was Senior Sister An holding his.