Chapter 23: Under the Shadow of Murder
"That day, Sun Weizhang did come to drink; he was in a room on the second floor with Xiaoqian and Xiaoyue accompanying him. He drank until late into the night before leaving, and nothing happened during that time..."
The old woman, trembling, recounted everything honestly.
Liang Chuan Mountain subsequently summoned Xiaoqian and Xiaoyue separately for detailed questioning, verifying if the details they provided matched.
"Changming, let’s go upstairs and have a look." Lv Gang suddenly patted Song Changming on the shoulder and strode towards the stairs.
The two arrived at the room on the second floor where Sun Wenyan had stayed and began to search it.
Due to his limited understanding of Sun Wenyan, Song Changming didn’t know who had grudges against him and hadn’t even seen Sun Wenyan’s corpse, so he refrained from drawing conclusions and simply followed behind, doing his part.
After half a day’s time, they thoroughly investigated Chunfeng Garden and then moved to the alley where Sun Wenyan died to further inspect it.
Sweeping his eyes over the scene, Song Changming clearly saw distinct knife marks on the alley walls and ground.
There was also a dried bloodstain, left behind by Sun Wenyan.
"Judging by the chaotic spread of the knife marks, Sun Wenyan likely faced an ambush by several skilled sword wielders," Lv Gang remarked with a frown, as he touched the knife marks on the wall.
Although Sun Wenyan wasn’t well-liked, his personal prowess was undeniable; after all, earning the title of Patrol Captain couldn’t have been mere reputation; there must have been something genuine supporting it.
And managing to kill Sun Wenyan, even inebriated, showcased the adversaries’ significant skill.
At the very least, they were martial artists possessing sword skills of the Minor Achievement realm!
"Locally, no one would dare to kill him; the more likely scenario involves a Jiang Kan or a Jianghu guest," Liang Chuan Mountain mused as he stretched, closing his eyes.
"Zhang Sihai and Qian Wen are closer to Sun Wenyan; they might know who he’s recently provoked. Let them handle the case. Let’s go, we’re done here."
Saying this, Liang Chuan Mountain turned to leave.
"Sir, this case is receiving attention from the Director. Whoever solves it will gain significant merit," Lv Gang stepped forward, seeing Liang Chuan Mountain’s disinterest.
"It’s a tangled mess, hardly solvable; better to be cautious, avoid late-night walks lest we become targets ourselves," Liang Chuan Mountain shook his head, advising the patrol guards below.
If the aim wasn’t solely Sun Wenyan but a broader vendetta against the entire Patrol Armor Bureau, then each one of them could be in danger.
Scenarios like this had occurred before.
Even imperial officials had faced assassinations; there were always those daring enough to carry out such maddening acts.
Song Changming, listening to Liang Chuan Mountain, grew wary too.
Days passed with no progress on the case, until one night when another three patrol guards were found dead, their bodies dumped in the streets, discovered the next morning.
Upon examination, the knife wounds on these three patrol guards matched those on Sun Wenyan, evidently killed by the same group.
This made the attackers’ intentions unmistakably clear; it wasn’t just against Sun Wenyan, but an enmity toward all patrol guards of Houli Street Patrol Armor Bureau!
Instantly, every patrol guard in Houli Street became anxious and on edge.
"Why particularly our Houli Street Patrol Armor Bureau? If you consider who we’ve annoyed recently..." Song Changming muttered to himself in the courtyard.
"The Nine Bends Association."
"Yes." Lv Gang, leaning against the courtyard pillar with crossed arms, nodded in agreement.
"Liang Chuan Mountain and I also suspected the Nine Bends Association might have perpetrated this audacious act. We had the Patrol Armor Bureau’s spies closely monitor them, but there was no activity on the night of the incident.
It wasn’t them, or at least not those experts from the Nine Bends Association."
Upon hearing this, Song Changming said no more.
With the Nine Bends Association temporarily off the suspect list, he couldn’t think of other leads.
"Killed, another one’s been killed!"
A spy from the Patrol Armor Bureau rushed in, reporting.
The patrol guards in the courtyard heard this and could no longer sit still.
Previously, the killings occurred at night; this time, a patrol guard was attacked even in daylight.
They had grossly underestimated the brazenness of their adversaries.
Sitting on a long bench, Liang Chuan Mountain’s expression wasn’t pleasant.
This was practically a slap to all of their faces, reducing them to lambs at the slaughter.
"Has no one witnessed the murderer?!" Lv Gang, furrowing his brow, asked.
"No, no one, the opponent is very cunning..." the spy shook his head.
"This is no ordinary martial artist at work. Such a meticulous assassination method must mean it’s the work of a seasoned hand." Lv Gang looked at Liang Chuan Mountain.
"Assassins from the common folk?" While Liang Chuan Mountain pondered this, higher authorities couldn’t sit still either, summoning him for a discussion.
That night, the moonlight was deep and dark, and the starlight dim.
Song Changming and Lv Gang moved silently down an empty street, both deep in thought.
Only the sound of the wind broke the silence on the street, no other noise to be heard.
[Today’s evaluation: Dull day, lifespan +5, acquired temporary state ’Mediocre’]
Seeing the daily evaluation that popped up at midnight, Song Changming shook his head secretly.
In recent days, distracted by this criminal turmoil, he hadn’t much time to practice his swordplay. It would be more bearable if they’d found some clues, but most of the time, he’d been wandering aimlessly like a headless fly, searching fruitlessly.
Which inevitably led to his daily evaluation dropping.
"Brother Lv, do you think they’ll take such an obvious bait?" After a long time, as the night dragged on, Song Changming couldn’t help but ask.
"Considering their audacious style, probably yes, though whether it’ll be us or someone else remains to be seen," Lv Gang replied quietly.
It was a direct order from the Director, requiring each patrol team to deploy two individuals as bait, aiming to lure out the adversary.
Lv Gang and Song Changming, being the strongest in their team, were entrusted by Liang Chuan Mountain as part of the bait.
This unfamiliar task gave Song Changming a taste of night patrol duties again.
Just as they passed a pitch-black alley entrance, a sudden forceful gust assaulted them.
"Watch out!" Lv Gang was the first to react, drawing his sword to block.
Only then did Song Changming see—a blade extending from the dark corner of the alley, targeting him and Lv Gang.
The next instant, another blade shot out from the opposite side, aiming directly at Lv Gang’s throat.
The blades were swift and fierce, moving at lightning speed.
At the crucial moment, Song Changming took a step forward, his grip on the sword hilt tightening, and drew his long sword with a swift motion!
The two blades clashed, and the opponent’s long sword was instantly deflected, revealing the attacker’s figure.
A man dressed in night attire—a stealthy assassin!
At that moment, a third sword appeared silently, aiming at Song Changming’s lower thigh from a tricky angle.
Song Changming immediately retreated, joining Lv Gang as they fell back.
Three assassins clad in night attire became visible in the alley; their faces couldn’t be seen, but their eyes glowed with killing intent.
Song Changming’s heart chilled.
The assassins had truly shown up, and there were three of them!