Strange?
Was it because she had been pretending to be a man for so long that she forgot how a woman should use the latrine?
No, that wasn't right!
She had just used the restroom normally, hadn't she?
But who could tell her why a woman would squat to relieve herself?
As if afraid she had seen wrongly, Lin Qingge rubbed her eyes.
Although the latrine door was high, blocking the view of the top, her good night vision assured her that Jian Xing, who had walked into the latrine, was in a standing position with her legs inward. She could even faintly hear the sound of trickling water…
This was unscientific!
Suppressing the urge to go closer to verify, fearing she might alert the snake, Lin Qingge hurriedly left the courtyard.
At this moment, Lan Yishi's body was also discovered by others.
Unlike master Hui Chong and other martial arts figures, Lan Yishi, as the chief disciple of Wolong Mountain Manor, not only enjoyed high prestige but was also deeply loved by disciples for his just and smooth conduct.
As soon as news of his death spread, it caused an uproar in the manor.
Despite it being night, the disciples who rushed over illuminated the courtyard as if it were daytime with torches.
In a corner.
Leng Ningyue, while placing a hot water bottle she had found somewhere into Lin Qingge's arms, asked with confusion, "How did you know that Lan Yishi would meet with misfortune?"
"Didn't Wu Suowei say it? He heard the killer say, 'None of the five demons will escape.' If we assume the 'five demons' are the former Five Tigers of Lancang, and excluding master Hui Chong, the Golden Saber hero Liu Jinxiang, and the Flying Grass Feng Wuying who were killed, only Long Xiaotian and the deceased Life-Taking Swordman Lan Junrong remain. Based on the current situation, the killer's objective is most likely to frame Long Xiaotian for all the murders, so Long Xiaotian should be the killer's final target."
Listening to Lin Qingge's analysis, Leng Ningyue tightened the robe around her, asking with puzzlement, "But wasn't that Life-Taking Swordman Lan Junrong already dead?"
"Madam, it is true that Lan Junrong is dead, but he has a family. After all, from the killer's perspective, eighty-one lives – is it too much to ask for a son to pay for his father's debts?"
"Wait!"
Leng Ningyue, realizing something, glanced towards the courtyard where the murder had just occurred. "You mean to say that Lan Yishi is Lan Junrong's son?"
"It's highly probable, no, it should be one hundred percent certain now."
Speaking of this, a hint of annoyance flickered in Lin Qingge's eyes.
"Alas— I should have thought of it sooner… The surname Lan is so rare, and Lan Yishi's age fits perfectly with a generation younger than the Five Tigers of Lancang. Moreover, if Lan Yishi were not the son of an old friend, Long Xiaotian wouldn't have taken such pains to cultivate him as the heir to the manor. But why didn't I think in that direction before?"
Hearing this, Leng Ningyue raised her hand and poked Lin Qingge's brow, which was so furrowed it could catch a fly. "Even tigers doze off sometimes. You're not a saint, so you can't do everything perfectly. Moreover, the problem lies with the killer who keeps killing for revenge, not with you."
Feeling comforted, Lin Qingge gave Leng Ningyue a big hug.
"Cough, cough—"
After a deliberate cough, a teasing male voice sounded: "I say, my lord, although it's nighttime, we are not in a room. If you two show such public affection, how are others supposed to behave?"
"Coroner Murong, why have you come?"
"Naturally, because I heard there's money to be made!" Murong Bai said, putting on his sheep gut gloves as he walked inside. "Make way, make way, the coroner is here to examine the body!"
Since she had already seen the body and it was late, even though Lin Qingge still wanted to squeeze in for a look, under the sharp glance from Leng Ningyue, she could only shamefully follow the latter back to rest.
The next morning.
Before breakfast, Lin Qingge looked at Hua Jinrong, Murong Bai, Lu Mingxuan, and others who had entered her room uninvited, her mouth twitching severely.
"It is said that spring nights are short and days rise high, and from then on, the emperor holds no morning court. I didn't expect that someone as upright as you, my lord, would also fall into the common trope of being lost in a beauty's embrace."
Leng Ningyue, who had just reached the doorway, immediately instructed Xiaocao behind her, "Apart from what I'm holding, divide the rest into three portions and send them to Investigator Yan and the others."
"Yes, Madam." Xiaocao retreated without a moment's hesitation. Murong Bai glared at Hua Jinrong reproachfully, "Serves you right for your sharp tongue!"
"Uh..." Hua Jinrong, whose fan-wielding hand froze in mid-air, didn't expect retribution to come so quickly. Lin Qingge, as expected, enjoyed being fed by her wife and sat at the table next to Lin Zimo, eating a sumptuous breakfast as if no one else were present.
Seeing this, Lu Mingxuan was the first to speak, "Reporting to my lord, after my investigation yesterday, Feng Wuying did indeed cause a disturbance at Wolong Mountain Manor ten years ago, but no one knows when he left. Furthermore, as for Long Xiaotian's fifth disciple, Jian Xing, it is said that Long Xiaotian personally chose her. Because Jian Xing's aptitude and physique were vastly different from the previously selected disciples, rumors even spread that Jian Xing was Long Xiaotian's illegitimate daughter who was abandoned outside."
After Lu Mingxuan finished speaking, Leng Ningyue pushed a bowl of thick white porridge and a small dish towards him. His eyes lit up, and after saying, "Thank you, Madam," he began to eat heartily.
Hua Jinrong watched and imitated, fanning himself. "Reporting to my lord, my investigation has revealed that within the jurisdiction of Ying Tian Prefecture, there was indeed a village named 'Jinsha'. It was named Jinsha Village because a gold mine was discovered in the mountains adjacent to the village. However, that Jinsha Village disappeared out of nowhere fifteen years ago. Actually, it's not entirely accurate to say it disappeared out of nowhere; rather, a great fire occurred in Jinsha Village eighteen years ago, and nearly a hundred villagers perished in the flames. Although the exact circumstances are unclear, the official records only contain these few lines. Since then, there has been no Jinsha Village on the map of Great Xia. Additionally, An Yi and An Er have also returned. According to their findings, master Hui Chong was generally kind to people, never held grudges, let alone had any enemies. Furthermore, master Hui Chong was alone both before and after becoming a monk; he never married nor had children. However, some fellow disciples from Shaolin said they had seen master Hui Chong holding a child's tiger-head shoe and sitting like that for an entire day. Some of them, being curious, had asked master Hui Chong about it, and he would only smile and brush it off each time. Besides the tiger-head shoe, master Hui Chong's room also permanently displayed an unaddressed memorial tablet for longevity."
After Hua Jinrong finished speaking, he looked at Leng Ningyue, only to be ignored by the latter.