Star Trace Gate

Chapter 952 Who is silencing the witness? Yu Tiange reveals his hand.

Hearing Ren Ye's reminder, Master Chu did not make any rash moves. He simply stood still, raising his senses and carefully sniffing the air: "You're right, there is indeed a bloody smell...!"

Ren did not respond, but simply walked lightly to the wooden cabinet on the left side of the bed, bent down and examined it carefully.

The wooden cabinet looked like a woman's storage box for her underwear. It wasn't very big, about the size of a scholar's chest, and it was placed against the wall. However, there was a gap between it and the cabinet, about the width of an adult's calf.

Ren stretched out his hands and carefully searched inside and outside the cabinet, but found nothing unusual. Then, frowning, he tried moving the cabinet a little.

"Squeak...!"

The wooden cabinet was moved about half a meter away, revealing the slightly moldy white wall behind it. Ren looked down and immediately saw a strangely shaped bloody fingerprint on the wall near the bed, which was hidden by the wooden cabinet.

The bloody fingerprint resembled some kind of special symbol, or perhaps the first stroke or radical of a character. From Ren Ye's perspective, it was probably the shape of a "丿".

Ren raised his right arm and touched the bloody fingerprint that looked like a "丿" with his fingertip. After carefully sensing it, he turned around and said, "It's blood. But it's not from a cultivator; it's from a mortal."

Master Chu paused for a moment, then immediately replied, "Lu Zhao's lover is just an unenlightened mortal."

Ren put the wooden cabinet back in its place and said succinctly, "Let's split up and search. We'll leave this place in half an incense stick's time."

"Ok!"

Having faced life and death together several times, the two had developed a tacit understanding that most people lacked. They rarely communicated in this environment, but they both knew what they were supposed to do.

Master Chu searched the west wing, while Ren was responsible for searching the east wing and the main hall. However, after spending a full half-incense stick's time, they found no further clues.

Since Lu Zhao was the commander of the martial monks' personal guard, holding a very important official position, and there was always the possibility that someone would come looking for him, Ren Ye and Master Chu only stayed here for half an incense stick's time before decisively leaving.

On the way back, Master Chu turned to look at Ren Ye and asked bluntly, "What do you think?"

"Do you even need to look?! Something must have happened to Lu Zhao." Ren Ye answered without hesitation: "It must have been around midnight, because the tea, fruits and snacks in the main hall must have been what he and his lover ate while washing up and soaking their feet. The foot bath tub was placed outside the east room door, and the water in the tub was still wet."

"I know Lu Zhao is in trouble, but what could it be?" Master Chu frowned and asked, "Was he murdered, or was he kidnapped?"

Ren thought about it carefully: "It's hard to say, but the former is more likely."

"Why?" Master Chu asked, puzzled.

"The bloody fingerprints on the back of that small wooden cabinet are clearly not from a fight, but rather some kind of code left in a moment of panic before someone was completely controlled or dying. This was so that the authorities could send people to investigate after discovering Lu Zhao's disappearance and find clues as soon as possible," Ren Ye deduced with a clear mind. "You just said that Lu Zhao's lover is an unenlightened mortal, and there are usually no outsiders or servants in this courtyard, so those bloody fingerprints should have been left by Lu Zhao's lover."

"Let me make a simple guess. It was probably after 9 PM. Lu Zhao and his lover were in the main hall, having eaten fruit and snacks, washed their feet, and then went back to their room to rest. Suddenly, a group of strangers broke in and used a magic artifact that isolated the void, instantly drawing Lu Zhao, a fourth-grade cultivator, into it. His lover, being an unenlightened mortal, had no need to be drawn into the void. Therefore, the intruders killed her immediately, likely in bed. My guess is based primarily on the information from that single '丿' stroke. Whether this '丿' carries some kind of directional symbol, is the starting stroke of a character, or is a radical… in short, its shape..." Judging from its appearance, it seems to be unfinished and incomplete. Therefore, based on this, it's highly unlikely that Lu Zhaoxiang was immediately controlled. Because she was just a mortal, if she had been controlled by a cultivator first, she certainly wouldn't have had the chance to leave a mark behind the wooden cabinet. Or even if she had, it would have been discovered. I think she suffered a fatal injury immediately, and didn't have time to react. But before she breathed her last, she instinctively wanted to leave some signal, so she reached her hand behind the wooden cabinet. Because the cabinet was close to the bed, her movement would have been very discreet. But unexpectedly, she only raised her hand, just touched the wall… and then died.”

"From this perspective, these unfamiliar intruders probably never intended to leave anyone alive from the moment they stepped into the courtyard. They acted extremely decisively, but their methods were somewhat crude and their actions were hasty, so they didn't pay much attention to Lu Zhao's lover, who was just a mortal. In addition, they used a space-isolating magic artifact right away and deliberately created the illusion that Lu Zhao had suddenly disappeared or escaped... This shows that they never intended to let Lu Zhao reappear alive in Beifeng Town."

"So I speculate that even if Lu Zhao was taken away alive, he probably wouldn't survive...!"

After hearing this, Master Chu lowered his head and pondered, "Then what does this '丿' mean?"

Ren Ye turned to look at him and asked in return, "Assuming it's the first stroke of a character, or a radical, then what character's first stroke would be a 丿 (piě)? And one that's also related to the whole incident?!"

As everyone knows, Master Chu is one of the smartest and most intelligent people in the entire park team. He's also someone who, despite being scammed so far, has managed to maintain a semblance of not losing money. So, after only a moment's thought, he blurted out, "It's 'ox'! The first stroke of the character 'ox' is the left-falling stroke (丿)."

"What the hell! If this '丿' really refers to the character '牛' (niu), then there's no need to investigate further. It must be Niu Dali who's killing people to cover it up. He's the only high-ranking official with the surname Niu in Beifeng Town, and his soldiers were involved in the looting and infighting at the underground treasury. Lu Zhao was the top military officer who took over the treasury street that day... With all this evidence, there's no escaping it except him."

Upon realizing this, Master Chu felt a chill run down his spine: "Something's not right. Why did Niu Dali choose to kill Lu Zhao right now, when we had just uncovered his background? My God, could this bastard have been watching us all along?! Nothing we've done has escaped his notice. He knows we've set our sights on Lu Zhao, so he decided to kill us to silence us."

"Brother, have we already exposed ourselves to the point where people can see right through our underwear?"

As he said this, he seemed a little guilty, his face pale as he looked behind him as if he could sense a pair of incredibly gloomy eyes watching him and Ren Ye from the shadows.

As Ren listened to his analysis, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and a cold, creepy feeling on the back of his neck.

However, after thinking about it carefully for a long time, he replied with reverse thinking: "Master Dao, do you think there is a possibility...?"

"What's possible?"

"So... the bloodstains behind the small wooden box weren't left by Lu Zhaoxiang, but were deliberately left by those murderers to silence him?!" Ren Ye looked at Chu Pangpang with extremely bright eyes and gave a direction that made people think.

Upon hearing this, Master Chu did not display an expression of sudden enlightenment or clarity of thought. Instead, his face grew even paler, and a chill ran through him as he replied, "If that's the case, then it's even more terrifying! The whole incident has become infinitely possible. For example, Niu Dali might not be the one who took the huge amount of Star Source; for example, someone might have been secretly plotting to smear Niu Dali... and guiding us or the Inner Court to investigate Niu Dali... someone might want both money and power, so they want to use us to kill Niu Dali once and for all."

"So creepy, so really creepy."

"How can a person be this wicked?! This is even more hateful than you, brother." He stared with his wise eyes, suddenly feeling uncomfortable all over.

Upon hearing this assessment, Ren rolled his eyes and gently reassured him, "We don't need to be too pessimistic. What I just said was merely an overthinking speculation, not to be taken seriously. Besides, you and I have been very careful in investigating Lu Zhao. Even when we entered that courtyard just now, we can confirm that we weren't being watched by anyone, so... we don't need to panic. Even if someone wants us to be their pawns, it means we are of great value to the mastermind behind this. At crucial moments, we can deviate from their planned path and catch them off guard."

“Lu Zhao is definitely dead, and this lead has gone cold. But we can keep an eye on this courtyard and wait for the people from the Martial Monk Supervisory Office to discover that Lu Zhao has not been on duty. Then they will naturally send people here to search for him.”

He had a good attitude and analyzed in a relaxed manner: "By then, we should be able to understand whether this '丿' character is reserved for us or for others."

“That makes sense.” Master Chu agreed: “Once this character ‘丿’ is discovered, we can deduce some things based on the reaction of the Martial Monk Supervision Office.”

"Yes. Brother, remember this: never let external factors distract you. No matter how powerful or cunning the enemy is, you and I must adhere to the ironclad principle of being sneaky, insidious, and cunning, making moves in secret, framing others, and grabbing whatever we can. We must be shameless and do whatever it takes. That way, the enemy will have no way to deal with us." Ren Ye's accumulated wisdom finally revealed the most brilliant background and tone for the spiritual beliefs of the people in the park.

They traveled in silence. After returning to the supply depot, Ren Ye and Dao Ye immediately possessed the body of the alien female corpse and quietly went to the garrison headquarters to keep their appointment.

……

In a quiet tea room in the back hall of the garrison headquarters.

Ren hid in the dimly lit corridor beforehand, concealed his figure with a screen, and took two forbidden pills in succession to completely erase his spiritual energy and soul energy, turning the female corpse into a "mortal object." Only then did he feel completely at ease and prepare to observe in secret.

He waited for about half an incense stick's time before seeing Wang Anquan accompany Yu Tiange into the quiet tea room and close the door behind them.

The screen in front of him was shaped like a landscape painting, with many tiny openwork holes along the edges of the wooden frame. Ren could see Yu Tiange standing behind it, but Yu Tiange would have no chance of noticing him.

He stared at Yu Tiange's handsome face for a while, then muttered to himself, "This guy is quite good-looking, almost on par with me when I was at my lowest point in terms of looks...!"

"Let's talk here," Wang Anquan said softly as he entered, pointing to the chair in the center of the tea room.

Yu Tiange glanced around curiously, then replied with his hands behind his back, "Aren't you afraid of being seen? Then why don't we discuss this on the second floor of my detached house instead of choosing such an eye-catching place as the back hall of the government office?"

Wang Anquan frowned and sat down: "I always go to the second floor of the detached house, which easily attracts the attention of the servants in the courtyard. After Beifeng Town was captured, this back hall has long been abandoned, and no one comes here normally."

"Oh." Yu Tiange nodded slightly, bent down and sat opposite Wang Anquan: "Have you gathered all the precious materials I asked you to collect for repairing the great formation?"

Wang Anquan lowered his head and said, "No."

Yu Tiange paused for a moment, then asked with a somewhat unfriendly expression, "Did you not find any at all, or did you collect some but not all of them?"

“Absolutely nothing.” Wang Anquan raised his sallow face, his voice hoarse. “I had my clansmen secretly follow a Taoist merchant from Beifeng Town. That man was originally very influential and capable in the bustling market of Beifeng Town, but after having my clansmen follow him for a whole day, we discovered that he went to the Martial Monk Supervisor's Office twice in one day, and there are also spies secretly watching him. There really was no chance. If my clansmen forced their way in with him, even if he didn't report them, they would definitely be caught on the spot by the spies…!”