157 Finding the Murderer (2/2)

The logic behind this suspicion was defeated as soon as it had arisen. Gu Shenwei decided to conduct further investigations.

Shangguan Ru did not understand. ”If it's a duel, it's a duel. Why do you need to help the enemy investigate? To me, it doesn't matter who gets killed. Just use this opportunity to completely quash the influence of the Horned Dragon Society.”

”That's right. But we need to know who is creating such mischief. This person wants to fish in troubled waters. We can't let him get away so easily.” Gu Shenwei was an expert in ”fishing in troubled waters” and was thus very alert to this.

Just like that, the duel on the ninth of the first month did not change. Gu Shenwei attempted to spend the remaining six days finding out the real murderer and squeezing out time to practise his machete skills, and familiarizing the terrain of Rouge Forest on top of that. He could hardly understand why he was so interested to find the truth, but he just couldn't let the enemy get away scot-free. This was possibly the basic instincts of a killer. He regarded being in the shadows as his privilege.

In the afternoon of the third day, Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru both went to seek the commandant Zhong Heng. Because the corpse was already in the coffin, one could only find the reputable sheriff of Jade City to understand how Marquis Gao was killed.

Zhong Heng was enthusiastic as usual. Especially towards the Tenth Young Master, he was even more genteel. He treated her as a master of the Golden Roc Fort and not as a little girl. This delighted Shangguan Ru and she became more interested in tracking down the real murderer.

Zhong Heng saw the corpse at the scene of the murder. ”The wound is in the front. The sword pierced the heart. It must have been a sword wound. It's like this for both victims. The murderer must have been an expert. I'd say that this isn't the style of Stone Castle.”

The two teenagers knew what Commandant Zhong meant. If the culprit was a killer from Golden Roc Fort, the wound would have been at the back. However, Gu Shenwei knew that there was a killer from Golden Roc Fort who pierced the heart out of habit. That was Maid Lotus. But on the day of the murder, Maid Lotus was with him so she could not have been the culprit.

The doors at the scene of the murder were closely locked. The servants, maids and elderly woman have not heard anything.

No piece of particularly valuable evidence emerged. When he was about to leave, Zhong Heng mentioned something that no one noticed. He thought it wasn't worth mentioning and so left it until now. ”Yes, there's something. It might - or not - be useful. I found a few grains of rice on the bed. The maid and old woman said they didn't know where it came from. The kitchen is below. By right the grains could not have come upstairs. But, you know, they could be... playing games.”

The two thanked the commandant. Coming to the broad city streets of the South City, Shangguan Ru suddenly asked: ”What games were they up to?”

”I don't know either. This adult is always so vague.” Gu Shenwei's face turned red. He did not know what these ”games” were but he could take a guess.

Shangguan Ru was confused. Gu Shenwei was worried that she would ask everyone about it so he only said, ”That's a brothel. It's not something good. It doesn't matter.”

Shangguan Ru nodded her head solemnly like someone who was experienced. But then she walked on and said: ”I hear you also have a brothel.”

Gu Shenwei's face turned red and he seemed flustered. He feared someone would raise this matter. Moreover, Shangguan Ru was only a girl ten over years old of age. ”This is a joke my master came up with in the past.”

”South City has so many brothels. There're so many of them even from only counting those that are under our protection. So it's nothing. It's just a business.”

But Gu Shenwei came to his senses. Shangguan Ru was not an ordinary girl. She was raised by the Supreme King as a boy. He had made a fool of himself. ”Yes, and we can collect much intelligence from the brothels.”

Gu Shenwei warned himself sternly. He had to treat Shangguan Ru as a Tenth Young Master.

Eventually, the Tenth Young Master surprised Gu Shenwei and caused him much alarm. ”Have you played any games in a brothel?”

”No, not at all.”

Gu Shenwei waved his hands back and forth so desperately that he didn't seem like a killer at all. Shangguan Ru burst out laughing.

Gu Shenwei was enraged. He so desperately desired to find out who the killer was. It was the only thing on his mind. But here he was getting laughed at by a little girl.

”Marquis Gao died in a brothel. To find out the truth, we have to make a trip there.”

Shenwei breathed a sigh of relief as the conversation made a turn to his matter. ”Yes, I'll go tomorrow.”

”Yes, let's go together.”

Gu Shenwei stopped in his tracks, looking at Shangguan Ru in astonishment. It turned out that bringing the Tenth Young Master to the South City was a very bad idea.

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