Huang Yong remained silent, saying nothing at all.
He hadn't detected any clue or suspicion from this youth who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old.
Having caught no flaws, he finally had no choice but to nod and accept Chen Yan's explanation.
Chen Yan's gaze fell upon Kang Zongdan's body, which lay collapsed in the courtyard—his form withered and shrunken, the sheepskin parchment still clutched tightly in his dead hand.
"I never imagined that Patriarch Kang would end up in such a state overnight. Truly, life is unpredictable..."
Chen Yan spoke slowly, shaking his head with a look of genuine regret as he gazed at Kang Zongdan's corpse.
"Young Friend Chen has been staying in Jiangdu Prefecture for some time now. Do you have any leads on this matter?"
Huang Yong pressed further.
"I only arrived in Jiangdu Prefecture about ten days ago, traveling from a neighboring region called Liaolong across the river. That was when I first connected with the Kang Family. Who would have thought..."
"That such a thing would happen. Senior Kang had treated me quite well."
"Life is unpredictable."
Huang Yong said flatly.
Just then, the sound of something snapping suddenly rang out.
Huang Yong waved his hand lightly in the air, and a communication talisman appeared in his palm.
Then this Protector of the Daoist Hall, Illusion Time Pavilion of Mirage Palace, grasped the talisman and snapped it with his thumb.
Immediately after, Elder Zheng's voice rang out.
"Return at once."
Just those two words.
"...Protector Huang, so what should we do now?"
Wang Jianian, standing nearby, asked.
"Return to the sect. Immediately."
Huang Yong's voice was firm and final.
"But, the matter of Kang Mansion—"
"What does that have to do with Mirage Palace?"
With that, Huang Yong turned and strode out of Kang Mansion's courtyard.
Chen Yan's gaze then shifted to the other young disciples behind Huang Yong, all clad in deep green Mirage Palace daoist robes.
Wang Jianian, Feng Ya, and Jiang Shiyu.
"Fellow Daoist, I take my leave."
Wang Jianian cupped his hands in salute toward Chen Yan, who returned the gesture.
Feng Ya also gave a slight bow in Chen Yan's direction before following Wang Jianian behind Huang Yong, heading out of Kang Mansion.
Then only Jiang Shiyu remained standing where she was.
She gazed at Chen Yan, who merely looked back at her calmly.
This was the first time Jiang Shiyu had met Chen Yan's gaze directly.
"I always think,"
The young girl spoke up:
"You're a very strange person."
Hearing this, Chen Yan showed no reaction, only curving the corners of his lips into a slight smile and cupping his hands in salute:
"So are you."
"..."
The girl said nothing, shifting her gaze away from Chen Yan's face as if she had lost all interest. Then she followed the other three Mirage Palace disciples, leaving the corpse-strewn Kang Mansion behind.
...
Chen Yan didn't think for a moment that this massacre of Kang Mansion was the work of Mirage Palace.
Because if Mirage Palace had done it, the entire situation would be completely illogical.
A mere Kang Family was nothing more than ants to true cultivators.
Back when the Qingchan Martial Discipline lineage and the Qingchan True Dharma lineage were fighting each other within Qingchan Peak of Kongshan Sect, Fu Qian had also sent people to poison members of Cloud Prince Manor at a banquet.
But back then, killing people from Cloud Prince Manor was just a smokescreen.
Fu Qian's true purpose was only to kill Qin Yue—to weaken Bai Qiming's faction and solidify Chu Xiyao's position as Chief Disciple of Qingchan Peak.
So what would Mirage Palace's purpose be?
Mirage Palace had absolutely no reason to send an Inner Court Protector thousands of miles to the border of the Western and Southern Regions just to kill a bunch of ants.
Even if, for argument's sake, Mirage Palace had an unavoidable reason to annihilate the Kang Family and sent someone here,
There would be no need to put on an act for several days.
And after achieving their goal, they certainly wouldn't continue playing along with an insignificant Body Forging realm Rogue Cultivator like him.
But Chen Yan also understood clearly that only cultivators could wipe out the entire Kang Mansion overnight and to this extent.
And their cultivation level definitely wouldn't be low.
At the very least, they'd need to start from the Qi Sea Realm.
Or... use other methods.
Regarding everything that had happened, although Chen Yan couldn't be completely certain, he had already sketched out a rough outline in his mind.
After the other cultivators from Mirage Palace had left, Chen Yan moved his feet and walked over to Kang Zongdan's withered corpse.
He slowly crouched down, his gaze fixed on Kang Zongdan's body before him.
"Excuse me."
A constable hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward two paces and stood beside Chen Yan:
"Please don't disturb Patriarch Kang's remains, so as not to interfere with the government office's examination."
Chen Yan looked up at the constable and smiled gently:
"Alright."
Although his mouth said that, his hand still reached out toward the wrist of the hand clutching the sheepskin parchment.
After death, the entire body begins to stiffen.
But you can still more or less determine the general circumstances before death based on the corpse's condition.
Chen Yan traced his hand from Kang Zongdan's wrist up along his forearm toward the shoulder.
Then he did the same with the other hand, from wrist to shoulder.
There were signs of struggle before death.
But if a cultivator capable of cruelly killing over three thousand people in a single night had done this, Kang Zongdan should have had no chance to struggle at all.
"..."
The constable watched the handsome youth in pure white daoist robes crouched on the ground, looking completely serious, and found himself at a loss for words.
Then Chen Yan stood up and said toward the constable:
"It's fine. I won't interfere with your investigation anymore."
Then, while the constable was still dumbfounded, Chen Yan walked toward the pavilion in Kang Mansion's courtyard.
Kang Keyang, his face full of bewilderment, still sat motionless on the chair there, quietly watching the constables coming and going through the courtyard and listening to the sounds of them discussing the case.
Seeing the youth in pure white daoist robes approach, Kang Keyang slowly raised his head and forced out a pained smile:
"Immortal Master..."
Chen Yan smiled and shook his head, then said:
"Senior, you're too kind. I'm much younger than you, and my cultivation is still shallow. I don't deserve such a title from you. If you don't mind, please address me as before."
"Immortals and mortals are different—that's what my father taught me. You are an Immortal Master. Keyang wouldn't dare to be disrespectful."
Hearing this, Kang Keyang was silent for a moment before shaking his head.
"If that's the case, then I'll follow your wishes, Senior."
Chen Yan's smile remained light and carefree.
Yet deep within his calm, unrippling eyes, it seemed an answer had already formed.