Chapter 15 (1/2)

15 – Interlude, Shocking Development

I wonder if that scoundrel is to no good? As she combed her hair, Qi Qiqi sighed.

The bright moon hanging high outside the window disseminated dim moonlight outside, which was driven away by the outdoor lights.

“Sigh…” Qi Qiqi sighed as she recalled the matters of the Merak Palace.

What should we do? There's the Heavenly Sword Gate for now, but there will be other… At this thought, Qi Qiqi frowned subconsciously.

… bang.

The door was flung open.

“Who is it?!” Qi Qiqi stood immediately and quickly turned around.

It was Yang Yuening.

“Please forgive me, Palace Master, but there's a pressing matter!” Yang Yuening had a grave expression on his face, and looked very anxious.

Did something happen? Qi Qiqi frowned.

“Feel free to speak, Senior Disciple Brother Yang.”

“Palace Master, please come with me.” Yang Yuening spoke indubitably.

“What happened?”

“Elder Qin is dead.”

“What?” Qi Qiqi could not believe her ears.

“Elder Qin was murdered!”

Qin Chen is dead? Qi Qiqi thought at first, and then wondered: who could kill an Elder in the Merak Palace without any sound or sign?

Unlike Qi Qiqi and Xue Qilin, who lived in the Snow-facing Abode, Vice-palace Master Ye Zhen and the numerous Elders each had a courtyard of their own.

Apart from Mound Guardian Elder Zhang Ming, who settled outside the Sword Mound due to his duties, and Li Wanting, who was frequently so absorbed in her work that she forgot to eat and sleep and just lived in the Sword-casting Chamber, Elders established their courtyards on the Middle Peak with the Snow-facing Abode as the center.

Originally, Qin Chen's courtyard was located on the Middle Peak as well, but then he moved spontaneously to the West Peak after his great change in temperament that led to him becoming unpopular. Regarding this matter, Ye Zhen, who served as Vice-palace Master, has personally approved it.

After crossing numerous twists and turns, Qi Qiqi finally reached Qin Chen's courtyard.

Qin Chen's courtyard was hidden in a bamboo grove, it was quaint, looking just like the residence of a reclusive sage.

After crossing the courtyard gate, Qi Qiqi and Yang Yuening entered Qin Chen's quarters.

The room looked refined, and contained a faint wine aroma. It was not a secret that Qin Chen was fond of wine. Supposedly, the wine aroma came from his wine collection.

However, Qi Qiqi had no time to appreciate it. The room was filled with people.

“Palace Master.” The crowd uttered in unison. Only Ye Zhen, who had a dignified look on his face, didn't partic.i.p.ate in the greeting. He just nodded towards Qi Qiqi.

Qi Qiqi didn't care. After all, it was not a secret that Ye Zhen didn't accept her as the Palace Master. She was already accustomed to the other party's att.i.tude.

Next, Qi Qiqi turned her attention away from the crowd and observed the room.

In the rather s.p.a.cious hall, nothing stood out more than a body covered with a white cloth. With the corpse as the center, a dark spot could be seen on the floor… It was dried blood.

The most puzzling thing to Qi Qiqi was – the room is neat, there is no trace of fighting. In other words, Qin Chen was killed without mounting any resistance.

“Palace Master, take a look at the corpse first.” In a rare fas.h.i.+on, Xia Xue had a stern look on her face. She whispered in Qi Qiqi's ear.

“Okay.” After she replied, Qi Qiqi slowly walked towards Qin Chen's body. She squatted down and reached for the white cloth, but suddenly, she recalled something and stopped mid action.

“Elder Liu, you don't mind?” Maintaining her posture of one hand hanging in the air, Qi Qiqi asked Liu Chengzong, who was sitting close by with a grave expression.

She asked this question because she took into consideration the fact that Liu Chengzong treated Qin Chen like a son. She was worried that if she uncovered the body without permission, it would upset the other party.

After all, Liu Chengzong was in Ye Zhen's faction and was somewhat hostile towards Qi Qiqi.

“Do as you please, Palace Master. But…” Liu Chengzong continued in a threatening tone: “After you've taken a look, you must give this old man an explanation. Otherwise…”

The more Liu Chengzong spoke, the tighter Qi Qiqi's eyebrows wrinkled.

But before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Ye Zhen: “Elder Liu, watch your tongue.”

Liu Chengzong was startled. Apparently having taken note of everyone's condemnation, he cupped his hands towards Qi Qiqi and said: “Palace Master, please forgive this old man's slip of the tongue.”

Be that as it may, the expression on his face showed no sign of apology.

“It's okay, Uncle Teacher Liu. I understand that you said that in the heat of the moment.”

Regardless of whether the other party was sincere in their apology or not, but since he admitted being wrong, as the Palace Master, it wasn't convenient for Qi Qiqi to look into it.

After receiving Liu Chengzong's consent, Qi Qiqi slowly lifted the white cloth.

The first thing that caught her eyes was Qin Chen's pale, rather handsome face. His lips had already turned pale, and his facial muscles looked stiff. He was evidently dead for some time now. If it hadn't been winter, with the weather slowing down the rate of decay, the stench of a corpse would have spread by now. The reason why Qin Chen's dead body was discovered only now was probably because he was a loner.

Qi Qiqi carefully observed the body for a while. From the color of his lips and skin, she could rule out the possibility of poisoning. His white clothing was stained with blood… and the source of blood was a sword wound on his left side of the chest. A sword had pierced right through the heart.

“Huh?” Qi Qiqi suddenly cried out.

The shape of the wound is unusual. Generally, a stab wound made by a sword had quadrilateral or hexagonal cross section, while the sword wound on Qin Chen's chest had a decagonal cross section.

Generally speaking, the body of an ordinary sword can only be grinded to have four or six faces. Swords with eight faces are fairly rare, not to mention swords with ten faces.

Swords with ten faces were very rare. Qi Qiqi only knew of one such sword, and she was very familiar with it.

Ink Iron sword – the sword Li Wanting used was a ten-faced sword.

Qi Qiqi would never suspect Li Wanting, but what disturbed her was that the size and shape of Qin Chen's sword wound seemed to match that of Li Wanting's sword.

This alone was already enough to make a suspect of Li Wanting, not to mention the well-known fact that there was enmity between her and Qin Chen. She had motive to murder Qin Chen.

At this thought, Qi Qiqi couldn't help but wrinkle her eyebrows.

“Junior Sister Palace Master, you seem to have found out that things don't look good for Senior Disciple Sister Li…” Xia Xue stooped down and murmured into Qi Qiqi's ear.

Then, she pointed at Liu Chengzong with her eyes – Qi Qiqi noticed movement from the corner of her eye.

So, will Uncle Teacher Liu ask me for an explanation? Qi Qiqi's friends.h.i.+p with Li Wanting ran deep, and everyone knew of it. The meaning behind Liu Chengzong's words was to ask her to handle things impartially.

Qi Qiqi lowered the white cloth and covered Qin Chen's body: “Vice-palace Master Ye, please take care of the funeral affairs of Elder Qin.”

“Certainly.”

Qi Qiqi nodded towards Ye Zhen in an expression of grat.i.tude.

With Qin Chen's ident.i.ty, according to common sense, the Palace Master should personally handle his funeral affairs. But Ye Zhen was more experienced than Qi Qiqi, which was why she asked him to take her place.

It had to be mentioned that Qi Qiqi wasn't as good as Ye Zhen in handling sect affairs, and she was quite aware of this. However, she knew how to make good use of people, which was how she gained Xia Xue's allegiance.

Of course, Qi Qiqi also knew that there was another factor involved, which was Xia Xue's dislike for Ye Zhen and Liu Chengzong. As for Yang Yuening, she didn't care about him apparently.