Chapter 228: The Clouds and Waves
There was nothing to say all night, and the next morning.

"Ah! Senior Brother! Senior Brother..."

"Someone is coming! Someone is coming quickly!"

At dawn, Liu Xunyi was suddenly awakened by a violent noise outside the door. Through the door and windows, he could vaguely hear waves of grief and angry curses. The sudden noise made Liu Xunyi feel confused.

"Bang, bang, bang."

Suddenly, a rapid knock on the door interrupted Liu Xunyi's thoughts. Before he could answer, Xu Heng's low and hoarse voice came from outside the door: "Master, something happened."

Liu Xunyi was startled, and quickly stood up, rushed to the door, opened it and asked, "What's the matter?"

As soon as the door opened, the sounds of wailing, shouting, and chattering suddenly became clear.

"Someone died last night." Xu Heng said quickly, "And he was killed by someone."

"What?" Liu Xunyi was shocked and asked hurriedly, "Who died?"

"Tang Qian," Xu Heng replied, "He is the Tang Sect disciple who had a heated argument with Huichun last night."

As soon as Xu Heng said this, Liu Xunyi couldn't help but take a breath and muttered to himself: "How could this happen? Do you know who did it?"

Xu Heng shook his head in confusion, then grabbed Liu Xunyi's arm and said, "Master Chen and Miss Xunzhen have gone to investigate. Come with me."

After saying that, Xu Heng dragged Liu Xunyi without further ado and walked quickly towards the third floor.

Going up the stairs and passing through the bustling crowd, Liu Xunyi, led by Xu Heng, arrived at a guest room on the third floor.

At this moment, the corridor outside the room was already crowded with people, mostly Tang Sect disciples, and of course there were some other residents who were standing around watching the fun.

"Brother Liu, how did you sleep last night?" Chen Yong stood in the crowd and took the initiative to greet Liu Xunyi.

"Not bad." Liu Xunyi nodded, then turned his eyes and asked, "Brother Chen, why do you ask that?"

Chen Yong smiled bitterly and said, "I'm just curious. There were so many experts staying in the inn last night, but why didn't anyone notice the movement here? Brother Liu, don't you think it's strange? Could it be that we were all drugged?"

Before Liu Xunyi could show any strange expression, Chen Yong suddenly waved his hand and pointed into the room, saying, "Look!"

At this moment, several Tang Sect disciples were gathered in the room, all of them with grief-stricken faces, some covering their faces and crying, and some cursing under their breath.

The tables, chairs and benches in the room were all over the place and in a mess. It was obvious that there had been a fierce fight here last night.

Tang Qian's half-naked body was lying on the ground, with blood all over the ground. There were signs of blood drying up, and the disgusting blood was slowly flowing in the gaps under the feet of the Tang Sect disciples.

Tang Ren squatted beside the corpse, and with the assistance of two Tang Sect disciples, he was carefully investigating the cause of Tang Qian's death.

"Homeowner, how did Senior Brother Tang Qian die?" a Tang Sect disciple asked anxiously.

Tang Ren's face was as gloomy as water, his eyes were cold, he reached out and repeatedly touched the two bottomless blood holes on Tang Qian's chest, he said coldly: "A sharp weapon pierced his chest, one blow crushed his heart, and the other pierced his lung. The attack was brutal, without hesitation, both moves were done in one go, killing Tang Qian on the spot."

Tang Ren's words were like a heavy hammer, striking hard into everyone's heart.

"Then... can you tell what kind of weapon injured him?" Xunzhen, who was standing outside the door, asked curiously, "Was it a knife? Or a sword?"

Hearing this, everyone's eyes turned to Tang Ren again.

Tang Ren felt around for the wounds and said quietly, "They weren't caused by swords or knives. Both wounds are wide on the outside and narrow on the inside, shaped like an inverted cone."

"It's not a sword?" Teng Qin'er speculated, "Could it be a Dharma pestle? Or a meteor cone? Or... a snake-shaped spear?"

Tang Ren slowly inserted a finger into the body along the wound, hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said: "Although the wound is deep, it did not completely penetrate Tang Qian's body. It should not be the Dharma Pestle or the Snake Spear."

After that, he placed his index finger against the inside of the wound and slowly felt around, saying, "The wound is ladder-like, with distinct layers. It's not a smooth wound, and the inner wall isn't smooth, so it's not a meteor cone."

"Then what weapon was used to kill Senior Brother Tang Qian? He couldn't have been stabbed to death by someone's finger, right?" a Tang Sect disciple asked impatiently.

Liu Xunyi stood behind the crowd, frowning, thinking hard without saying a word. He stared at the four wide-open windows in the room with a blank look. The sun was shining brightly and the breeze was blowing gently outside the window. Liu Xunyi was staring at it in a trance.

"Not likely." Tang Ren said again, "Moreover, anyone who can have such finger strength must be a top-notch master. It would be easy for him to kill Tang Qian, so why would he give him the chance to draw his sword?"

Having said this, everyone's eyes turned to the unsheathed sword lying in a pool of blood next to the corpse.

"What could the murder weapon be?"

Chen Yong rubbed his chin gently with his hand, then turned to look at Liu Xunyi, only to see a gleam in Liu Xunyi's eyes, as if he was thinking about something.

Suddenly, a gleam of light flashed in Liu Xunyi's eyes, and then a look of deep shock instantly surged across his face.

"Brother Liu, could it be that you..."

"Where are the people from Emei Sect?"

Before Chen Yong could finish his words, Tang Ren in the room suddenly let out an angry shout, then rushed out of the room with big strides, scaring the onlookers to hide away.

"Homeowner, could it be that someone from the Emei Sect killed Senior Brother Tang Qian?"

"See for yourself!"

Tang Ren, with a livid face, suddenly stretched out his hand. In his open palm, there was a blood-stained rosary bead, which was one of the beads worn by Buddhist disciples.

Liu Xunyi looked at the furious Tang Ren and said quietly as if talking to himself, "Not only that, but Tang Qian's two fatal wounds were also caused by... the Emei Spear."

"what?"

As soon as this was said, Xu Heng, Tang Cong and others were all surprised. Chen Yong shook his head and said, "No! All the sisters in Emei Sect are vegetarians, Buddhists, and people who do good deeds. How could they..." Chen Yong had an unforgettable love with Huiying, a disciple of Emei Sect. Therefore, to this day, he still subconsciously regards Emei Sect as his wife's family.

"Where are those nuns?"

Tang Ren roared again. Before he finished speaking, he suddenly flew up and jumped from the third-floor corridor to the first-floor lobby. He pulled the terrified waiter to his front and asked in a cold voice, "Where are those nuns from last night?"

"Master, spare me... Master, spare me..." Facing the ferocious Tang Ren, the man turned pale with fear, and his crotch felt hot, and he even peed his pants out of fear. While begging for mercy, he hurriedly explained, "Those nuns left early in the morning... They left with a few masters..."

"How many uncles?" Tang Ren looked around and suddenly realized, "Are you talking about Xu Zhun and his gang from the Qingcheng Sect?"

"I don't know..."

"Go away!"

Tang Ren pushed the waiter several meters away, then turned and shouted to the upper floor: "Tang Sect disciples, carry Tang Qian's body and follow me to Taohuawu to avenge the blood debt with blood from those nuns of Emei Sect!"

"Yes!"

The Tang Sect disciples agreed in unison, picked up their swords, removed a door panel from the inn, and together they carried Tang Qian's body, then walked out of the inn aggressively.

"Master Tang, wait a minute. My Xiangxi Teng tribe is willing to go with you!"

Teng Qiner spoke hurriedly, then led a group of Teng clan members and followed Tang Ren out of the inn.

In a blink of an eye, more than half of the crowded Chenfu Inn was empty.

On the third floor, Liu Xunyi stared at the empty guest room and a pool of blood on the ground, and subconsciously walked into the room.

"Brother Liu, something big is going to happen." Chen Yong urged, "We should also hurry to Taohuawu in the western suburbs."

"With Senior Ye and Granny Taohua in charge of Taohuawu, they won't be able to cause any trouble."

Liu Xunyi replied softly, and then slowly stepped into Tang Qian's room. He looked around suspiciously at the mess in the room, and the sword that had just been abandoned in a pool of blood by a Tang Sect disciple.

"Master..."

"Shh!"

Without waiting for Xu Heng to speak, Xunzhen suddenly made a gesture to silence him, then slowly shook his head, indicating him not to disturb Liu Xunyi's thoughts.

Liu Xunyi stretched out a finger and slowly stroked it along the edge of the pool of blood. Then he leaned over and put his cheek on the ground, squinting his eyes and looking at something carefully.

Suddenly, Liu Xunyi flipped over and lay in the middle of a pool of blood in the same position as Tang Qian's corpse. Before Chen Yong and the others could get shocked, Liu Xunyi suddenly reached out for the sword in the pool of blood.

He grasped the sword in his hand, quickly turned over and stood up, his mind quickly thinking about Tang Qian's death. He slowly retreated and casually inserted the sword into the sheath beside the pillow. He then fell down casually and lay on Tang Qian's bed.

Xunzhen saw this and immediately understood Liu Xunyi's intention. She looked around the room, then quickly pulled out a feather duster from the vase, broke it in half, and then flew forward and stabbed Liu Xunyi who was lying on the bed without mercy.

A feather duster flew towards him, and Liu Xunyi was immediately "startled". He stretched out his hand to draw out his sword in panic, and the scabbard fell to the ground.

Liu Xunyi swung his sword without any rules, and under Xunzhen's continuous attacks, Liu Xunyi fell left and right, following the direction of the tilted tables, chairs and benches in the room, imitating the fight between Tang Qian and the murderer in the dark last night. Finally, he was stabbed in the chest and fell to the ground.

"wrong!"

Liu Xunyi suddenly waved his hand to stop Xunzhen's pursuit and said seriously, "Tang Qian and the murderer did not fight at all last night."

"Why?"

"There are so many experts in the inn, but no one heard any noise. It's unlikely." Liu Xunyi said in a serious tone, "And just now I fought with Xunzhen. The two of us moved around in the narrow room. There should be many traces of rubbing on the floor, but I just checked the floor carefully and it's not the case. In addition, there is another doubt, the scabbard."

After saying that, Liu Xunyi pointed at the scabbard on the ground and said, "If Tang Qian had stood up in a hurry to draw his sword last night, how could he have had time to leave the scabbard neatly beside his pillow? He would have thrown it on the ground or dropped it on the side of the bed like I did just now. As I expected, Tang Qian did not fight with anyone last night, but was killed by someone while he was sleeping. The reason why he was unconscious could be..."

"Master, I found it."

Suddenly, Tang Cong shouted excitedly, and then pointed at a hole in the window under everyone's puzzled gaze, and said with a smile: "Poke a hole in the window paper, blow in the smoke, and make Tang Qian unconscious. Then sneak into the room, kill Tang Qian, and then put his body on the ground, and deliberately mess up the tables and chairs in the room to create a false impression, so as to confuse outsiders."

After that, Tang Cong gently wiped the window sill with two fingers, and a thin layer of white powder was stained on his fingertips. Tang Cong put it in front of his nose and sniffed it gently, then nodded heavily to Liu Xunyi.

"That's right!" Liu Xunyi nodded, then he pointed to the four wide-open windows and chuckled, "In order to avoid the cold, ordinary people usually don't sleep with windows open at night. The four wide-open windows at this moment were deliberately opened by the murderer before he left. The purpose was to disperse the bewitching smoke in the house and leave no clues."

After saying that, Liu Xunyi gave Chen Yong a bitter smile and said, "It wasn't us who were knocked unconscious last night, but Tang Qian."

"What does this... mean?" Xu Heng frowned and asked, "Does it mean that the Emei disciples took great pains to kill Tang Qian?"

"No!" Xunzhen shook his head and said, "Tang Qian was not killed by the Emei disciples."

"Why?"

Liu Xunyi glanced at Xunzhen approvingly and explained, "If he was drugged and then killed, how could Tang Qian have the rosary in his hand? He also deliberately messed up the room to create the illusion of a fierce fight, clearly hinting that the rosary was pulled off the murderer when Tang Qian was fighting with him. If he was drugged, how could he fight? If he was fighting, how could it be so quiet? It seems that someone deliberately killed Tang Qian and put the blame on the Emei disciples, but the real murderer was not careful enough and overlooked too many details, so there were many loopholes."

"Who could be framing someone?" Xunzhen muttered to himself, "Blaming the Emei disciples is intended to stir up conflict between the Emei Sect and the Tang Sect. Right now, the six major sects and the four great families are supporting the Shaolin and Qin family respectively, and they are clearly divided and opposed to each other. So, could it be that someone is hiding in the dark and setting up a killing game in Chenzhou City, waiting for someone to fall into the trap. But... who could this person be? Could it be..."

"broken!"

Before Xunzhen finished speaking, Liu Xunyi's eyes suddenly changed, and then he greeted hurriedly, then jumped out of the window. Amid the exclamations of passers-by on the street, Liu Xunyi ran towards the west of the city without hesitation.

"The Sect Master is going to..."

"Taohuawu, western suburbs of Chenzhou!"

……

(End of this chapter)