"To answer your question, yes. Last night, I, the squad leader, and Lao Zhang were all in this ruined temple." As he spoke, Liu San's face was full of tension, and more of the fear of recalling the past. However, now that the squad leader and Lao Zhang were dead, he still felt very guilty.
If he had been with them last night, perhaps things would have turned around. Or, if he had stopped their actions from the beginning, today's tragedy would not have happened.
Alas, two more lives have been lost. What a sin.
After saying that, Liu San knelt down on the ground again, never daring to raise his head.
Liu Minsheng simply squatted down and asked anxiously: "Quick, tell me in detail what you saw last night, how you were together, and how you escaped. Perhaps, we can get some clues about the murderer."
"Yes, yes, sir, don't worry, I'll tell you right away. Last night, when we were about to leave, we were suddenly stopped by the squad leader. Later we found out that the squad leader wanted to wait for the murderer to appear again and then arrest him. Later, we followed the squad leader's plan and hid under the altar of the ruined temple before dark."
At this point, Liu Minsheng was angry and distressed. If these disobedient subordinates hadn't acted on their own, how could they have lost their lives in vain? His two eyebrows were tightly gathered together, never relaxing.
"But we waited until midnight and there was no movement. Because I had been crawling under the table for too long, my back and waist were sore, so I wanted to go out for a while. So I went out and went to a small forest not far from the ruined temple."
"What happened next?" Liu Minsheng couldn't wait to ask. I believe that the reason why Liu San was lucky enough to escape death was probably due to some strange combination of circumstances.
"Later, later..." Liu San hesitated when he said this.
"What happened next?"
"Later, I was accidentally tripped by the vines in the grove, fell, and sprained my ankle. So, I massaged myself for a long time, and that's how I was able to save my life." He was able to survive because of the blessing of his ancestors and the Buddha. When he was tripped last night, he thought he was unlucky. Unexpectedly, this trip saved his life. This is really a blessing and a curse.
At this point, Liu Minsheng roughly understood. The reason why Liu San could still kneel here was because he happened to avoid the murderer by accident, otherwise, three lives would have been lost.
However, although he was with them, he did not know what happened, let alone saw the murderer. It seems that this clue is broken again.
However, to be on the safe side, Liu Minsheng still asked one more question.
"So last night, when you were in the grove, did you notice anything strange? For example, did you hear any strange noises or see any strange figures?"
Hearing Liu Minsheng's question, Liu San, who was kneeling on the ground, frowned, rolled his eyes, and carefully recalled what happened last night.
"Oh, I don't know what happened last night, but there was a sudden strong wind. The wind was so strong that I had to lie on the ground. Then the wind stopped, and I seemed to hear a wolf howling." Liu San's eyes floated up, and he recalled carefully. He looked a little uncertain.
"But it didn't sound like a wolf's howl. Anyway, the sound was a little creepy. I was alone in the wilderness, and my legs didn't work well, so I didn't think much of it. Later, I lay down and fell asleep. It wasn't until this morning that I was woken up by the villagers who came to watch the fun. I went up to ask, and found out that the team leader and Lao Zhang had... Oh, it's all my fault, it's all my fault..."
Having said that, Liu San stretched out his hand, clenched his fist and hit himself hard. It was obvious that he was truly feeling guilty.
"Okay, okay, you go down first. It's a blessing that you were able to escape by chance, so don't blame yourself too much." Liu Minsheng stood up and waved at Liu San, motioning him to go down.
Liu San kowtowed to Liu Minsheng, then retreated with a sad face.
Just one second after Liu San retreated, Di Shitian walked in.
"Your Majesty, your humble servant is so honored to see you. Long live the king." Lifting his robe, Liu Minsheng immediately asked everyone to kneel beside Emperor Shitian.
Di Shitian didn't have time to pay attention to them and walked straight to the bodies of Bantou and Lao Zhang.
"Any clues?" The deep voice, with a strong metallic texture, made people feel heavy in their hearts with every word, as if a mountain was pressing down on their heads, and there was no room for perfunctory answering.
Liu Minsheng immediately stated what he knew and then admitted his dereliction of duty.
"It's all my fault for not supervising my subordinates strictly, which led to the tragedy last night. Please punish them, Your Majesty." Looking at the bodies of his subordinates, Liu Minsheng was also deeply distressed. If he caught the murderer, he would definitely cut him into pieces to appease the people's anger.
Her phoenix eyes swept over the kneeling people, and her thin lips moved up and down, "Stand up." She didn't say if there would be any punishment, nor did she say who was responsible, she just asked them to stand up.
Emperor Shi Tian's words made Liu Minsheng and the kneeling people extremely confused.
"The murderer is not the same person." After leaving these words, Di Shitian walked out of the ruined temple.
This death is completely different from the previous one. Although the body is also in this ruined temple, the killing method is also different. So it is certain that this is not done by one person. However, there must be some connection between the murderer last night and the real murderer. Otherwise, he would not have the leisure to visit this well-known body discovery site, and he would not be so interested in killing people here.
So what kind of connection exists between this person and the murderer
On the second day after the incident, a piece of news spread throughout Tianze: there was an eyewitness who saw the murderer committing the crime and was being protected in the government office of Yanglin Thirteen Prefectures.
The news made many people feel uneasy. Especially...
Ling'er returned to Yunhai City for the second time and swaggered to visit the head of the Hua family.
In the main house of the Hua family, Ling'er was wearing a purple dress and a veil, sitting calmly on one side. Her darkened eyes swept over the tea that the maid had just brought over, and she smiled faintly.
Suddenly, there were very light footsteps. Slow and steady, if Ling'er hadn't trained her hearing when she was a spy in her previous life, she really wouldn't have been able to hear them.
After a while, an old man in his fifties, who was slightly fat, walked in.
His body is so heavy, but his steps are so light, which shows that this old man's cultivation is extraordinary.
He glanced at the family jade pendant on the old man's waist and felt relieved.
It turns out that this is the head of the Hua family, Hua Yingtian.
Hua Yingtian also looked at Ling'er who was sitting, then strode to the main seat and sat down. Behind him, followed a young man, who must be the young master of the Hua family, Hua Qianyuan.
As soon as Hua Yingtian sat down, the housekeeper immediately signaled, and then the maid brought up a cup of tea.
Ling'er used a porcelain cup, while Hua Yingtian's was a jadeite gold cup. The cup was engraved with lifelike golden dragons around it, and it looked extremely precious.
In Yunhai City, there is an unwritten rule that only the royal family can use the dragon totem.
In other words, if someone other than the royal family used the dragon totem, it would be considered as rebellion.
From this, it seems that the Hua family is indeed too arrogant.
Ling'er smiled faintly and said nothing. She did not stand up to greet him. She just sat there quietly, waiting for the people from the Hua family to speak.
This time, she came as an honored guest. The reason why she was personally received by the head of the Hua family was because she told the people of the Hua family that she knew how to obtain the blood rock.
Hua Bingnian had already brought Hua Qianshu back to the Hua family, so the Hua family already knew the news of Elder Hua's death.
Hua Bian Nian told the head of the Hua family that Elder Hua was killed by the backlash of the protective formation in order to obtain the blood rock. They were lucky to escape because they were outside the formation.
The Hua family had no choice but to believe this statement. First, Sunset Forest was not a busy city, so there were no witnesses. Second, Elder Hua had a high level of cultivation, and it was impossible for Hua Bian and his son to kill him, and they didn't have the guts to do so. Third, the Blood Rock's protective formation was indeed powerful, and this was a well-known fact. Therefore, the Hua family didn't investigate Elder Hua's death.
However, in this case, the task of obtaining the blood rock became a big problem again. This made the head of the Hua family very distressed.
Ling'er saw this point and took the right remedy. As a result, she successfully entered the Hua family and met the head of the Hua family.
This silence did not last long before it was broken.
"Hey, didn't you claim that you knew how to unlock the blood rock's protective formation and asked to see my grandfather? Now my grandfather is here, why don't you come to see him?"
Haha, Hua Qianyuan, the young master of the Hua family. Tsk tsk tsk, it seems that the Hua family really has no talents. They actually chose such a person as the heir of the Hua family. It's really hopeless.
Of course, Ling'er only thought about these words in her heart and did not say them out loud or show them.
Before Ling'er could open her mouth, Hua Yingtian spoke first.
"Yuan'er, step back. Don't be rude!" The voice was old and slow. As soon as Hua Yingtian opened his mouth, Hua Qianyuan immediately lowered his head, like a mouse seeing a cat.
It seems that Hua Yingtian still has some deterrent power. Just one sentence scared Hua Qianyuan like this.
Ling'er smiled, then stretched out her hands and bowed to Hua Yingtian, "I have heard of the name of the Patriarch of the Hua family for a long time. Seeing him today, I find that his reputation is well-deserved. I am Shangguan Ling, and I am honored to meet you."
The surname Xia is only held by the royal family in Yunhai City. In order to make things easier, Ling'er used the surname Shangguan to confuse people. (To be continued)