163 An Unexpected Teacher (1/2)

There were many signs which pointed to the presence of a traitor within Kun Society, and furthermore that he or she was of an important position.

Gu Shenwei had already reached this conclusion after Shangguan Ru was abducted in the deserted village. The mole had to be very familiar with Tenth Young Master and Slave Huan to know that there was a great disparity in their Lightness Skills.

Subsequently, during the duel in Rouge Forest, the assailant apparently understood Slave Huan's tactics and waited patiently nearby.

Even fewer people knew about the campaign to assassinate the Machete God Huang Shi'an, yet the squad still fell into the enemy's trap. Had Gu Shenwei not called off the mission at the last possible moment, the casualties would perhaps not have been limited to one killer.

The first person whom Gu Shenwei suspected was Shangguan Yushi.

Master Yu naturally would not think about harming or kidnapping Tenth Young Master; her motive was to lead Slave Huan to commit an unforgivable mistake, and thereupon use Stone Castle's power to get rid of him or cause him to completely lose Shangguan Ru's trust.

In the middle of all this, however, there was something which Gu Shenwei could not make sense of, and that was the question of why the assassin wanted to kill Ye Silang in Rouge Forest.

There seemed to be a connection between these matters when they were understood together, yet there also appeared to be contrasting motives. Gu Shenwei was unable to come up with a holistic explanation, and so he did not reveal all of his suspicions to Tenth Young Master.

”Allow me to find out who the mole is.”

Moles and traitors were the types of people whom Shangguan Ru hated the most. However, she was somewhat hesitant this time. Gu Shenwei could tell that, in Tenth Young Master's eyes, the status of ”Slave Huan” was currently declining.

”Alright, but keep it a secret. I don't want everyone to become suspicious of each other.”

Gu Shenwei bowed and accepted the instructions. ”I'll conduct the investigation alone.”

When he returned to South City, Gu Shenwei thought through everything several times. He realized that he had very few clues at hand, and did not even know where to begin from.

Maid Lotus and the Xu siblings had kept up the covert investigation of the deaths of Marquis Gao and Zhou Huan, and although they found out a fair bit of information, there was nothing useful to identify the true murderer or even ascertain the existence of one.

Male prostitutes were very popular in Jade City. Most of the rich sons in North City owned such a plaything or two. Zhou Huan was a little different from the others; he was already in his twenties, which was slightly old for a male prostitute, yet his relationship with Marquis Gao remained strong and stable. The latter had even helped him to buy Heng Sheng Riceshop.

Shopkeeper Mi's claim that contradictions arose between them was indeed true. Like most ordinary couples, they often bickered. The main contradiction was Marquis Gao's philandering heart - he was attracted to both males and females. The last quarrel between them was more intense than usual, and it happened on the last day of the twelveth lunar month, when Marquis Gao secretly entered South City.

On that day, Marquis Gao came to visit Zhou Huan, but after a quarrel, he went to find a female prostitute.

Nobody had witnessed the quarrel, but a few people who entered Heng Sheng Riceshop after the fact discovered that the whole shop appeared to have been ransacked by robbers, and there were debris and rice grains scattered all over the floor. Zhou Huan was seen sitting on a rice barrel giggling foolishly, and when he noticed the visitors, he flew into a rage and drove all of them out.

Based on these accounts, it seemed likely that Zhou Huan had indeed committed homicide and suicide in a heat of passion.

But Gu Shenwei remained skeptical. He had seen Zhou Huan's body with his own eyes; the wound on the neck was very deep, and did not seem possible to be inflicted upon oneself. However, because he had not seen the corpses of other suicide cases, he dared not confirm the accuracy of his judgment.

He had to do a little something.

When the commandant Zhong Heng received the killer Yang Huan's invitation to visit Xu Yanwei's house in the afternoon the next day, he, as usual, agreed and brought along two junior officers.

They were already ”old friends”, and always had interesting conversations. The banquet swiftly began. Because Gu Shenwei was a terrible drinker, he enlisted Tuo Nengya, together with the Xu siblings, to make sure that the guests drank to their hearts' content.

During the dinner, Gu Shenwei thanked Commandant Zhong for his support towards Kun Society, then gradually changed the topic to Marquis Gao's death. Having drunk a little too much, Xu Xiaoyi was not his usual cautious and meticulous self. He unexpectedly thumped the table and stood up. ”I simply don't believe that Marquis Gao was murdered by Zhou Huan. It's not as if they hadn't quarreled before. How could things escalate to the extent of murder this time?”

Zhong Heng placed his glass down. ”I'm also not convinced.”

Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised. ”Ah, what flaw has Commandant Zhong noticed in the evidence?”

Stroking his thin beard, Zhong Heng appeared hesitant about whether or not to speak the truth. ”A large part of it is based on my experience. I've been involved in many homicide cases in which the murderers committed suicide out of guilt or fear of punishment. However, I've rarely seen a case like Zhou Huan's where the murderer only takes his own life a few days after his crime. Suicide is a very difficult thing to do for most people, and is either done when emotions are at their most intense or not at all.”

Gu Shenwei felt that this explanation was very reasonable. He had discovered the corpse on the fifth day of the first lunar month, and many experienced machetemen surmised that Zhou Huan had died two or three days prior, which meant his death took place on the second or third day of the first lunar month. This was three or four days removed from Marquis Gao's death.

Xu Yanwei held on to her robe horrifiedly. ”This means a murderer killed both of them. That's terrible! And to think Marquis Gao was such a nice person.”

The female prostitutes were never much bothered by their clients' keeping of male prostitutes - there was no direct competition between them anyway.

”Marquis Gao was too careless with money.” These words of Zhong Heng ended the discussion. An officer promptly changed the subject to something more trivial, and the banquet resumed an atmosphere of jocosity.

The two officers were first to take their leave. Conversely, Commandant Zhong was adamant not to leave this soon having stepped foot into a brothel. What's more, Xu Yanwei had given him several hints throughout the banquet. She eventually succumbed to the liquor and was staggering about. Had the commandant not held her up in time, she might even have fallen on the floor. He carried her into her bedroom, and when he reemerged, everyone knew it was time to end the banquet.

Zhong Heng was done with a perfect day, and he was beginning to feel as if his bones were dissolving. He finally realized why the bunch of playboys from North City loved coming to South City. It was not only the cleanest and safest city but also had the filthiest of places where people could come to unwind.