Noting the sudden news, Yan Tinghao scratched his head and asked,
"My lord, the Dragon Manor Lord is already the leader of the martial alliance, so why would he commit suicide?"
"Tsk, Officer Yan, do you think everyone is as carefree as you?"
Hearing Murong Bai's words, Yan Tinghao scratched his head even more frequently, "Strange, shouldn't carefree be used to describe children of Young Master's age?"
Lin Zimo, who had just finished his morning exercises for half an hour and was now reading aloud, couldn't help but roll his eyes to the heavens.
Unexpectedly, Lin Qingge was not in a hurry to investigate the case this time.
She called everyone to the crime scene after finishing breakfast.
Lian Chengyi, who was inexplicably drawn into the serial murder case, received the news and, with his arm still bandaged, immediately led his officers to seal off the scene.
However, he waited and waited, but he didn't see the presence of that Master Lin.
By the time the sky brightened and the sun shone brightly, Master Lin's entourage finally arrived late.
"Young General Lian, thank you for your hard work!"
Lin Qingge gave a perfunctory nod and then walked inside.
"Young General Lian, thank you for your hard work!"
"Thank you for your hard work~"
"Tsk, really not afraid of hard work."
"..."
"Hello, Young General Lian!"
"Good morning, Young General Lian!"
Although greeted, Lian Chengyi, who felt no joy at all and rather felt offended: ...
Lin Qingge strode in and, as if familiar with the layout, went straight to Long Xiaotian's bedroom.
Seeing Long Xiaotian lying peacefully on the bed, and his remaining three disciples kneeling respectfully at the bedside.
Everyone performed their duties. Murong Bai took a brief look at the body and said calmly,
"The Dragon Manor Lord died by poison suicide. The poison he took was not a common potent poison like crane's top red.
Although it is relatively rare, based on my years of experience, the Dragon Manor Lord ingested a rare poison called 'Nightmare,' which causes death unknowingly in one's sleep.
As Long Manor Lord's body stiffness was not very pronounced, I infer that he completely died sometime before dawn this morning."
"My lord, I have a discovery here!"
Lin Qingge walked over and found an envelope lying quietly on the desk, with the words 'Long Xiaotian's Last Will' written in large characters.
"Master Hua, please read it."
"Certainly, my lord~"
Hua Jinrong took the envelope, coughed lightly, and then, imitating Long Xiaotian's gruff voice, read aloud:
"To all my fellow martial artists:
I have failed to live up to your trust and kindness, and therefore, I have decided to take my own life as an apology.
As for the sins I have committed, they date back fifteen years ago.
Fifteen years ago, I, along with Master Huichong, who had not yet become a monk, the Golden Saber Hero Liu Jinxiang, the Flying on Grass Feng Wuying, and the Life-Taking Sword Master Lan Junrong, became sworn brothers.
Our five brothers soon made a name for ourselves in the martial world, and were known by martial artists as the 'Lan Cang Five Tigers.'
One day, the five of us brothers accepted a task to find medicine on a mountain. Following the employer's information, we arrived at a village called 'Jinsha Village.'
As usual, we stayed at a household in the village.
Who would have thought that the family would drug our food?
When we opened our eyes again, we were not only thrown into the wilderness, but all our money and valuables were gone.
It was then that we realized we had been tricked.
At that time, we were at the peak of our glory. Suddenly falling into such a predicament, we were both annoyed and angry, and we all decided to make that family pay!
We returned with great momentum, seeking that family to claim our money and belongings.
However, not only did that family refuse to acknowledge the debt, they also called other strong men from the village to surround and attack us.
To teach these people a lesson, the five of us also resorted to force.
Unexpectedly, the other party were also practitioners of martial arts, which explained their arrogance.
Even so, we five did not retreat in the slightest.
The two sides soon engaged in a fierce fight. During the struggle, someone's torch accidentally fell onto the haystack behind the house.
In an instant, flames erupted.
The haystack connected to the thatched hut, and in almost the blink of an eye, half the village was engulfed in flames.
Those who were blinded by rage only remembered to put out the fire when the heat made their mouths dry.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Some went to fetch water to extinguish the fire, while others rushed into houses to alert people.
But water and fire are merciless, and with autumn's dry weather, the fire spread too quickly. No matter how much water they threw, it was of no avail.
During this time, Lan Junrong was injured in the leg by a falling beam while rescuing children trapped in a nearby house.
Feeling that staying any longer would be a death sentence, I decisively led my brothers to leave.
Jinsha Village is located in a remote area, connected to the outside world by a suspension bridge.
When we reached the suspension bridge, a couple carrying two children, one older and one younger, also rushed over.
At that moment, the rope of the suspension bridge had already begun to burn, and we were numerous.
I and Liu Jinxiang supported Lan Junrong, whose leg was injured, Feng Wuying carried the child rescued by Lan Junrong, and Master Huichong was responsible for covering the rear.
As we finally stumbled across the suspension bridge, the rope on the other end of the bridge finally gave way under the strain and burned through.
Master Huichong quickly reached out to pull the family behind them but only managed to grab a tiger-head shoe from the small child in the woman's arms.
We thought it was heartbreaking enough to watch that family of four fall into the ravine with our own eyes.
Who knew that a more tragic scene was yet to come, as the fire snakes, with their ferocious fangs, wantonly devoured everything in the village.
Some people tried to run into the mountains, but the anti-beast fences made by the villagers became an obstacle to their escape.
Some thought of the suspension bridge, but upon reaching its vicinity, they discovered it had already been burned down.
They saw us on the other side of the bridge and first pleaded, then cursed us viciously, until they were engulfed by the flames and let out the cries of cornered beasts.
After this long night.
All of us fell silent.
Although we knew the responsibility did not lie with us, our bodies felt as heavy as if they were shackled.
Lan Junrong suffered from a high fever due to delayed treatment of his leg injury, which led to lung disease. He did not survive for many years and died young.
Liu Jinxiang and Feng Wuying also became mentally deranged due to excessive self-blame.
Feng Wuying even showed signs of self-harm, for which I had to confine him to the forbidden area of Wolong Mountain Villa.
Perhaps to atone for his sins, Master Huichong took refuge in Buddhism, but that tiger-head shoe became a nightmare he could not shake, no matter how many scriptures he chanted.
To this day, I sometimes think, if time could be turned back, we brothers would rather lose all our wealth than witness this human tragedy again.
If someone must ultimately be held responsible for all this, I am willing to use my own life for this matter..."
"No, you're lying—!"
Before Hua Jinrong could finish the last sentence, Jian Xing, who had been kneeling by the bedside, stood up, shaking his head, and shouted,
"This is impossible!
He is lying! It was clearly they who were beasts in human skin, coveting our Jinsha Village's gold mine, and massacred our entire village!"