"The third survivor?"
Gao Ming and Jian Xing repeated in unison.
"That's right! Besides the two of you, there was a survivor from Jinsha Village back then."
Lin Qingge's gaze fell upon the letter in Lian Chengyi's hand. Hua Jinrong, fanning herself, clapped her palm with the fan. "My lord, do you mean that child rescued by the great hero Lan Junrong?"
"Precisely." Lin Qingge nodded. "That child was the only son of the family who had drugged the Lan Cang Five Tigers back then. Whether it was for support or to repay the life-saving grace, that child was adopted by the great hero Lan Junrong and renamed Lan Yishi."
"No, this is impossible! This isn't true!!!" Jian Xing, who had personally cut the carotid artery of Lan Yishi with his sword, collapsed and covered his ears, as if only then could he erase the words he had just heard.
Although the truth was incredibly cruel, Lin Qingge, who had to speak it, paused slightly and continued, "According to a close friend of the great hero Lan Junrong, the great hero Lan Junrong never married and had no offspring. Lan Yishi was indeed his adopted son. However, to be fair, it's not your fault. After all, very few people knew about this. If no insiders had revealed it, even if I rack my brains, I wouldn't have guessed that the great hero Lan Junrong's son was also one of the survivors. And unlike you, who were only one or two years old, Lan Yishi was old enough to remember when the incident happened. He must have recognized you, Gao Ming, and then, upon hearing that you had a sister, he told this matter to Manor Lord Long. This led to Manor Lord Long going against everyone's opinions and breaking the rules to accept Jian Xing as his last disciple. Am I right, Manor Lord Long?"
???
Hearing Lin Qingge's words, big question marks appeared above everyone's heads. Only Murong Bai calmly took out a porcelain bottle from his embrace and waved the opening near Long Xiaotian's nose. The previously lifeless Long Xiaotian suddenly began to cough violently and gag!
!!!
Yan Tinghao, who had just witnessed a dead person come back to life, leaped three feet high. "Heavens, my lord, this is bad! It's a zombie!" Despite his legs trembling slightly, he still stood in front of his lord.
But Lin Qingge casually pushed aside the foolish Yan Tinghao. "Enough, what zombie? Manor Lord Long is perfectly fine, he never died."
"Didn't die?"
"How could he not be dead? Someone administered a death-simulating elixir to Manor Lord Long, putting him in a state of suspended animation where his consciousness was intact but his breath was completely gone." Murong Bai finished speaking. Yan Tinghao scratched his head, confused. "Didn't Manor Lord Long take the strange poison called 'Nightmare'?"
"That was just an excuse I made up to explain why Manor Lord Long's corpse hadn't stiffened yet." Murong Bai said, raising his eyebrows slightly. "If possible, I hope my lord can inform me in advance next time, so I can be prepared. If I were to be dull and fail to grasp my lord's intention and accidentally ruin the carefully laid plan, it wouldn't be good."
Receiving a chilling glare, Lin Qingge smiled. "I believe with your intelligence and resourcefulness, Master Coroner Murong, you can handle anything with ease even without prior notice."
"Hmph!" Murong Bai emitted an arrogant syllable from his nose but said nothing further.
At this moment, the resurrected Long Xiaotian had already sat up from the bed. Jian Xing, regaining his senses from the series of events and shocks, muttered to himself, "Master isn't dead?"
"I thought it was you, Xing'er..."
"No, Xing'er thought it was you, brother..."
Looking at the two brothers who thought it was each other, Lin Qingge stepped forward and said, "I had already guessed that you would eventually deal with Manor Lord Long, so I preemptively killed Manor Lord Long for you two. You don't need to thank me too much."
The one who had been killed and the killers fell silent in unison: ...
Lu Mingxuan's mind flashed with inspiration, and he murmured, "So the friend of the great hero Lan Junrong you mentioned earlier was Manor Lord Long himself?"
"Yes, for these old matters from more than ten years ago, it's naturally quicker and more convenient to ask the person involved. Don't look at Manor Lord Long's aged appearance, his constant airs as the leader of the martial arts world, and his fondness for hobnobbing with the powerful and pulling strings behind the scenes. Manor Lord Long's nature isn't bad, otherwise, he wouldn't have managed Wolong Villa so well."
...
Long Xiaotian, who detected no praise in the other's words, felt his wrinkles twitch as he looked at his two disciples in the room. "Regarding Jinsha Village, you can directly ask me. Whether it's me, Master Huichong, or Liu Jinxiang and Feng Wuying, we are all half in the grave. If we're gone, we're gone. But why did you attack your senior brother Lan Yishi? How innocent was he! And even if he truly is Lan Junrong's son, aren't his meticulous care and concern for you all these years enough to offset your so-called hatred?"
Listening to Long Xiaotian's suppressed anger, Gao Ming and Jian Xing could no longer hold back and knelt on the ground with a 'plop'. Jian Xing, in particular, burst into tears. "Master, Xing'er was wrong, Xing'er didn't want to! That night, senior brother suddenly called Xing'er over. He told Xing'er that he not only knew Feng Wuying was killed by Xing'er, but also that Xing'er was a descendant of Jinsha Village. Xing'er panicked, and when Xing'er came to his senses, senior brother was already lying in a pool of blood! Xing'er was wrong! Xing'er was temporarily bewitched!"
"More than temporarily bewitched, it was completely insane!" Yan Tinghao grumbled indignantly, returning to his lord's side.
Long Xiaotian, who suddenly looked years older, sat on the edge of the bed, frowning. "When you two committed the first murder, your senior brother had already guessed that it was you. Besides doing his best to cover for you, he even wanted to take all the blame upon himself in exchange for your safety. That day, he called Xing'er to his room, likely to explain this matter to you, but Xing'er cruelly killed him! Alas... it's all my fault for failing to teach my disciples properly, failing to teach them properly!"
Looking at Long Xiaotian's regret, Lian Chengyi, whose presence was extremely low, couldn't help but ask, "Manor Lord Long, why didn't you tell them the truth of the matter from the beginning?"