Truth
“Is Prime Minister Li not home? I shall come back later, then,” said Bai Ju, still sounding casual after destroying half of the mercenaries at Prime Minister Li’s mansion. Had it not been for the fact that he showed no intentions of holding back and had put away the guards, you’d have thought he was a friendly visitor.
The mercenaries who arrived later headed straight inside and called, “Prime Minister? Prime Minister, are you there?” rather than offered the whip specialist a challenge.
“Hmm? That’s Prime Minister Li, right?” The slovenly-dressed man finally spotted an elder who seemed to be on vacation and ticked all the other boxes his target was supposed to have, except he was too laid back.
The elder, adorned in green robes and sporting a small hat, sat barely inches away from the wreckage. He should’ve considered himself lucky to have come out of the last blow unscathed, yet he sat there reading and drinking tea.
Breaking the long awkward silence between, Bai Ju voiced, “You must be Prime Minister Li. This one is Bai Ju. I have been tasked with either capturing you or killing you. It would be bad to have the wrong person. I have always been a miser in business, so I never kill two people if I have only received payment to kill one person. Please help me out.”
Although the elder didn’t give him time of the day, Bai Ju had achieved his goal with his words.
“Prime Minister Li is busy reading. If you need to see him, book an appointment. What makes you think you can suddenly demand an audience?”
Upon seeing the young maiden speaking on behalf of Prime Minister Li step out, Bai Ju commented, “My, you are in great health, Prime Minister. Never did I ever imagine you would have such a beautiful woman at home. I dare say there no girls in any of the capital’s brothels who could compare to her. How much for a night, Miss?”
“Not much.” Shen Yiren removed her sword from her chest and stabbed it onto the ground with a smile. “Cut off your balls, and I’ll drink tea with you for a night. I always keep my word.”
Drinking tea with a beauty of Shen Yiren’s calibre would still be a dream come true. Betraying one’s balls that had served him for decades, however, wasn’t worth it.
Bai Ju sighed. “I shall pass, then. That said, I’m not here for you. Please stay out of adults’ conversations.”
When he returned to his normal tone, Bai Ju got serious. Even the aura around him changed drastically. “Don’t think I’ll take orders just because you’re whatever-captain of Liu Shan Men.”
Shen Yiren smiled. “Since you know who I am, that makes things easier.”
“What things?”
“I’m a detective. Shouldn’t I be here when the culprit is here?”
Bai Ju stopped to think, then stroked his beard whilst mumbling, “What culprit? I guess I can’t deny I’m old now; I can no longer understand the linguistics of young people.”
“You’re the one who killed Xiang Baxian.”
Bai Ju shook his head. “I guess it’s not my comprehension but my ears that have declined. How come I just heard the fair-and-justice Vice-captain Shen of Liu Shan Men frame an innocent citizen?”
“Xiang Baxian wrote one character before he left this world.” Shen Yiren carved the character onto the ground in the same style as Xiang Baxian.
“That’s hideous handwriting,” remarked Bai Ju. “Still being able to write with such grievous injuries is impressive, having said that. ‘Wood’ points to Valley of Yearning, doesn’t it? Wasn’t Bronze Mask the culprit?”
Shen Yiren added a stroke. “There’s a left sweep above the ‘wood’ character.”
The left sweep to the top formed the “grain” character.
“I’ve gone through all of Xiang Baxian’s records at the academy, paying particular attention to his handwriting. He always leaves the left sweep at the top for last when writing the ‘grain’ character. Accordingly, he writes ‘wood’, then adds the left sweep.”
“Right? So it has nothing to do with me.”
“Xiang Baxian isn’t part of the martial world. He’s but a bully at the academy who happened to have some training. He’s not privy to the martial world’s affairs. I asked him who the envoy Li Muye met with was. Before he died, he couldn’t recall their affiliation, but he did recall their appearance. The ‘grain’ character isn’t the radical in Valley of Yearning but the radical in ‘monk’. He tried to convey that Li Muye met with a monk.”
“See?! That’s more proof it’s not me! It’s the monk you’re looking for!”
“The monk wasn’t present at the time, so how could it have been him? He didn’t need to personally commit the deed if he just wanted to keep a lid on things, though. He just needed an ally who could silence Xiang Baxian on his behalf.”
Bai Ju played with his chin. “And the powerful ally you speak of is this old one?”
“The moment Cold Mountain Temple lured you in, they no longer had a bottom line to speak of. Bronze Mask is Bai Yumo, so Valley of Yearning has been dragged into the mess. No matter if Bai Clan is revolting or not, it’s an irrefutable fact that Bai Yumo committed murder. Cold Mountain Temple has yet to make any public moves, but they’ve pushed all the blame onto others. Meanwhile, the imperial court council is debating whether or not Valley of Yearning will rebel.”
Bai Ju flapped his hand. “She’s a decent fighter and has a heart of gold; she wouldn’t revolt. It’s the other her who’s revolting.”
Shen Yiren ignored the information she heard for the first time. “Numerous people are operating tonight for goals I’ve yet to identify. Whether it’s you, Jiang Chen or Xun Feng, you’re all striving for the same outcome. Principal Huang will handle Xun Feng at Daren Academy. The group running rampant won’t have their way now that the Qilin Guards’ Yi Ya is back in the capital.”
Bai Ju feigned sadness and shock. “Yi Ya is back? How is anyone supposed to commit murder, then? Tsk, tsk, magnificent! All of you have performed magnificently! I’m heading home now. I won’t be coming back to the capital.”
“It’s clear that the source of all this mayhem is the unexplained military activities of the White Princes. You rode the momentum to your advantage. It’s time to for your malicious intents to be unveiled, isn’t it?”
“Not quite.” Bai Ju cracked a smirk. “I don’t have Prime Minister Li yet, do I?”
“You think you’ll have your way with me here?”
Bai Ju smiled as if he just heard a hilarious joke. “Vice-captain Shen, if you are even half as strong as your rack, I’ll seriously let you put me in cuffs. Otherwise, I suggest you step aside now.”
Bai Ju maintained his aura that could seemingly crush anything before him. While Shen Yiren lacked any dominance, there was no sign of her being intimidated. Bai Ju evaluated Tang Ye as a clever young man with a bright future. Had he not held back to conserve energy, Bai Ju wouldn’t have minded killing Tang Ye. In comparison, Shen Yiren had a calmness to her that Tang Ye couldn’t match despite being close to his age. Whatever facilitated it, it was something that Bai Ju found intriguing.
“Before we fight, I still have a question.” Bai Ju questioned, “Aren’t you going to come at me together?”
A young man clad in black armour leapt out from the rubble.
“Didn’t know you were here, Yi Ya,” coldly commented Shen Yiren, without attempting visual confirmation.
Yi Ya, too, only focused on Bai ju. “Prime Minister Li’s safety can’t be ignored.”
Shen Yiren’s visit was unplanned from Prime Minister Li’s side. Prime Minister Li’s safety was entrusted to someone else.
Yi Ya’s appearance changed the atmosphere immediately.
“They say the Qilin Guards’ God of Battle is the next Wang Muren. I wonder. If Wang Muren is here, I’d tuck tail without a word right now. Hey, kid…” Bai Ju donned his blue energy. “You sure you can cut it?”
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