Li Gewen stood in the middle of the courtyard, watching the three streaks of spiritual light flying into the sky, and thought silently: *I hope you all reach the Peak of Yunxiao safely.*
Yi Renmei flew over in a rush from the air. "Quick, Brother Ge, let's go to Luzhu Peak."
"Don't be so hasty. Everything must be done step by step."
"The disciples are butchering each other again."
The two sped to Yang Chun's room. Yi Xiaofeng had already finished treating Yang Chun and was walking out.
"Sister Xiaofeng, how is he?" Yi Renmei asked.
"His thigh was pierced, damaging the tendons and bones. He lost too much blood, and there are signs of poisoning. That leg cannot be saved." Yi Xiaofeng held up a water cup. "I'm taking this back to check with Xiaoyue to see what kind of poison this is. He is out of danger now, but after being tossed about all night, he is utterly weak."
The two entered and saw that Sheng Tianjing was also there.
"Tianjing, not bad. You're very attentive," Li Gewen said.
"What kind of tone is that?" Sheng Tianjing snapped angrily.
"Ignore him. He was just wandering aimlessly around the peak, trying to find someone to practice his cultivation formula with. Since he probably came up empty-handed, he just came in to relax." Yi Renmei pulled Li Gewen toward the bed. "Before Yang Chun falls asleep, hurry up and get to the bottom of what happened."
Only then did Yang Chun recount his ordeal: The previous night, after finishing dinner as usual, he had returned to his room to meditate and practice his cultivation. For some reason, he was seized by a relentless bout of diarrhea. Tossing back and forth between his room and the latrine for more than two hours left him physically and mentally exhausted, so he had crawled onto the bed and fallen asleep. Unsure how much time had passed, he suddenly felt someone grab his limbs and sit on his chest. When he woke up, he realized his eyes were covered with a blindfold. Just as he tried to cry out, a strip of cloth was shoved into his mouth, and his entire body was bound tightly with cloth strips.
Li Gewen picked up the discarded cloth strip from the floor. "I can confirm this is your own garment, improvised by them on the spot. Can you confirm how many of them there were?"
"Five."
"And after they tied you up?"
"Some of them asked me about the Tongshen Sutra, some asked for the sword formula of the Innocent Sword Technique, and others demanded silver coins. It was all over the place—all five of them talking over each other."
"Did you give it to them?"
"I did. When I wouldn't, someone slapped my face and others punched my stomach." All three of them looked at Yang Chun's face, which was swollen out of all human recognition.
Li Gewen took out the Innocent Sword Technique and the fifth level of the Tongshen Sutra from the hidden compartment of the drawer. "Why didn't they take these away?"
"Could they have hurriedly copied them again?" Yi Renmei said.
"Even if two people copied at the same time—one copying each—it would still take the time of an incense stick to burn," Li Gewen said, then asked, "Could you tell who they were?"
"I couldn't. Their speech was extremely muffled, as if they had something in their mouths. But I could tell there were four males and one female. While they were questioning me, someone was rummaging through my things."
"How long did they stay and torment you, and how did you get stabbed?"
"They stayed for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and then they left. After quite a while with no movement, I heard someone approach again, and suddenly felt a sharp, agonizing pain in my thigh. Only now do I realize I was pierced by a sword. Is my leg going to be alright?"
"It's fine. Just calm down and rest," Li Gewen said.
Yi Renmei rummaged through all the items in the room and laid them on the table. "Take a look. What's missing?"
Yang Chun glanced over and thought for a moment. "Aside from the silver coins, nothing is missing."
As the three walked out of the room, Lei Yunshen finally hurried over.
"Peak Master Lei, you certainly are a busy man. Your disciple has an accident, and yet you're the last one to arrive," Yi Renmei said angrily.
Seeing both young masters present, Lei Yunshen said nothing and walked into the house.
Sheng Tianjing could no longer contain his curiosity. "Did these five people just come for money and then decide to settle a grudge?"
"Yang Chun said all his silver coins added up to no more than fifty taels. If five people split that, it's ten taels each—just how much risk is that worth? If those five only wanted money, they must have made sure beforehand that he had enough silver. If they couldn't be sure, wouldn't it be all for nothing? And why weren't the Tongshen Sutra and the sword formula taken?" Yi Renmei said.
"There are no signs of them being copied on the spot. I checked the tips of the brushes; there's no ink, and the paper shows no sign of ink bleed-through. They weren't newly copied, but why ask about these two items? That suggests they were extremely interested in them. I've heard that Lei Yunshen is exceptionally cautious when imparting these two cultivation methods to his disciples, and very few have ever practiced them," Li Gewen added. "Judging by the wound, it was inflicted by a standard-issue sword from Luzhu Peak. There's no doubt about that. The problem is that every sword on Luzhu Peak is of the exact same style, so everyone is a suspect. Five people acted together, and after the fact, someone came back and dealt an extra stab. It seems quite personal—far beyond a simple robbery."
"Well, this is convenient. We hadn't even gotten around to moving against Lei Yunshen, and his disciple's trouble beats us to it," Sheng Tianjing remarked.
"Keep your voice down. Do you think things aren't chaotic enough?" Yi Renmei scolded.
"Let's split up and ask how Yang Chun got along with the other disciples. That's the only way to narrow down the suspects," Li Gewen said.
"Are you giving me orders?" Sheng Tianjing demanded.
"Don't you want to find someone to spar with? Isn't this a ready-made excuse to cozy up to people?" Yi Renmei retorted.
Down in a valley on Luzhu Peak, five youths stood by the stream, silently throwing pebbles and watching them skip across the water's surface.
"Remember, no one must ever find out about this. Let's hurry down the mountain and ask around to figure out how to leave Yunxia City," Li Ping said.
"Who are we supposed to ask?" Zhang Zhong replied.
"Who knows? I've heard many disciples go missing. They probably secretly slipped out of the Peak of Yunxiao. If they can find a way, so can we," Wang Yun said.
"Even though we got the sword formula, we still need to practice our footwork more so we can run faster. If we get caught after getting out of the mountains, we might be locked away for a lifetime," Li Ping said.
The four of them nodded. At that moment, they saw Li Gewen flying over from the air. Except for Wang Yun, the other four deliberately avoided him.
"Don't leave. I was precisely looking for you," Li Gewen called out to stop them.
"We're very busy. We have to gather herbs for Master Lei," Li Ping said.
"I just wanted to ask: how well do you all know Yang Chun?"
The five looked at each other in dismay and simply shook their heads. Finding their odd behavior suspicious, especially considering that five people had bound Yang Chun, a hint of doubt crossed Li Gewen's mind.
"Fine, you may go. I have something to discuss with Wang Yun."
Li Ping gave Wang Yun a look, and Wang Yun accompanied the others until they were out of earshot.
"Remember what the White-Scarf Hero said about the highest realm of lying?" Li Ping asked.
"Seven parts truth, three parts falsehood."
"Good. Be careful."
Wang Yun accompanied Li Gewen as they skipped stones by the stream. After pondering for a long time, Li Gewen said, "I always see the five of you together. How did you end up joining forces? You should have been brought up by different senior brothers, right?"
"We became sworn brothers before coming up the mountain."
"Is that so? Such a romantic notion."
"It's true. I told you about it before, but you just don't remember."
"Really?"
Li Gewen thought back to his childhood when he had visited Luzhu Peak and happened to rescue Wang Yun from bullies. The two of them had played together closely for a good while. However, later on, as he had to focus bitterly on practicing the sword, they drifted apart. It wasn't until three years ago, when Wang Yun sneaked down the mountain to find him, that he remembered this childhood companion.
"I heard you've lived in a cave for many years. Take me to see it."
Wang Yun nodded. They didn't walk far before coming to a massive, thickly shaded banyan tree, near which, in a secluded spot, was a cave. Li Gewen stepped inside and found the ceiling quite high, though the interior was small. Firewood was stacked neatly along the walls, used as partitions to divide the cave into two halves. In the absolute center of the cave, a pile of firewood was still burning. Wang Yun picked up a piece of wood and added it to the fire, which looked as though it was about to go out. Only after forming hand seals and casting a spell did he coax the logs to reignite, illuminating the interior.
"I remember you saying before that someone bullied you into splitting firewood, and wouldn't give you food unless you finished. Was it Yang Chun?"
"No, it was Hu Fei."
Li Gewen noticed five swords neatly inserted into a rack on one side of the cave. "Which one is yours?"
"The first one on the left."
"The five of you eat and live together—not bad at all, except that it's a bit damp here. Is Li Ping the oldest among you?"
"No, I am the oldest."
"You don't look much like the eldest brother," Li Gewen asked with a smile.
Wang Yun lowered his head with a sense of inferiority. Li Gewen picked up Wang Yun's scabbarded sword and tried to draw it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Why won't it come out?"
"It hasn't been able to come out for a long time, and I can't be bothered. I haven't practiced with it anyway."
"Do you know what kind of reputation Yang Chun has?"
"A lot of people dislike him. He loves getting others to spar with him as sparring partners, but he doesn't know his own strength and frequently cuts people. When they object, he beats them up."
"Has he ever beaten you?"
"No. My sword technique isn't good enough to qualify as his sparring partner."
Li Gewen thought that made sense. At that moment, Li Ping and the other three arrived, announcing that Lei Yunshen had summoned all the disciples to gather at the martial training ground with their personal swords.
Lei Yunshen stood on high ground, watching the disciples line up in square formations. The disciples drew their swords one after another, striking defensive stances. Yi Renmei and Sheng Tianjing walked back and forth among the more than three hundred disciples, inspecting the blades.
Yi Renmei stopped in front of Wang Yun. "Why aren't you drawing your sword?"
"I can't draw it."
"What do you mean you can't draw it?"
Wang Yun gave a naive smile. "Are you a bit slow?"
"How am I slow?"
"I mean pulling it out means pulling it out. What else could it mean?"
The four standing nearby couldn't help laughing.
"You still have the mood to play word games with me?" Yi Renmei raised her hand to slap him, but Li Gewen caught her wrist.
"He's not playing games with you; he's just being naive," Li Gewen said. "I tried pulling it myself; it really won't come out. It's probably rusted shut."
Noticing the commotion, Sheng Tianjing strode over, snatched the sword, and tried to draw it—sure enough, it wouldn't budge.
"I want to see what kind of trick you're pulling, kid." Sheng Tianjing channeled his spiritual energy and yanked. The blade emerged, completely covered in rust. "How many years does it take for a sword to rust like this? What on earth do you do up here on this peak?"
"Splitting firewood, and then being locked in confinement."
"Splitting firewood is to help Lei Yunshen refine pills. Why locked in confinement?"
"If I don't finish splitting the wood, I get locked up."
At that moment, Lei Yunshen walked over.
"Peak Master Lei, you act like a king claiming a mountain up here, running your own little regime," Sheng Tianjing remarked.
"My young disciple is unruly. Splitting wood naturally tempers his physique, and confinement is to help him reflect inwardly."
"Fine. I couldn't care less how you discipline your disciples. But since you've gathered all of them here and haven't found the suspect, do me a favor," Sheng Tianjing shouted to the assembled disciples. "The Sheng family wishes to impart a portion of our cultivation formulas to you. Those who want to learn, stay; those who don't, may leave."
Sheng Tianjing stood full of confidence, watching as the crowd in the plaza shifted and milled about. In the end, not a single disciple remained.
"See that? Their hearts have grown cold long ago, and it's too late now. Ten years ago, perhaps someone would have stayed, but now? I'm afraid not," Li Gewen said.
Lei Yunshen led several disciples toward his own courtyard. *Could they know who stabbed Yang Chun?* he wondered. Everyone had shaken their heads, but Lei Yunshen suddenly felt a sense of foreboding. If they were allowed to investigate further, wouldn't his own secrets be exposed as well?
*Quickly go to the alchemy room and step up production,* Lei Yunshen thought, before considering another angle: *Or perhaps I should find a scapegoat to make them wrap this matter up quickly... but since five people acted together, losing five disciples all at once is a heavy blow.*
Yi Renmei and Sheng Tianjing questioned numerous disciples about Yang Chun, but every single one shared the same attitude: keep a respectful distance, followed by claiming complete ignorance of everything. This led them to have Lei Yunshen assemble all the disciples in hopes of checking whether the murder weapon had been disposed of in time.
"Since the murder weapon isn't among them, there are two possibilities: either it has already been scrubbed clean, or the weapon wasn't even present," Li Gewen said.
"What do you mean by not present?" Sheng Tianjing asked.
"A number of disciples on Luzhu Peak have gone missing, and their swords are missing along with them," Yi Renmei said. "If one of those five happened to use a sword from a missing disciple, it would make things very difficult to trace."
"If this is a meticulously planned assassination, we are in for serious trouble," Li Gewen said.
"If you can't even handle this petty matter, you might as well return the Cloud Token to Second Uncle Yi," Sheng Tianjing sneered.
"Don't you want it too? If you can't come up with a definitive conclusion either, don't ever think about getting the Cloud Token," Yi Renmei snapped at Sheng Tianjing.
"Fine. Let's split up and act separately," Sheng Tianjing said, and strode off.
Li Gewen produced a sheet of paper. "I went to see Yang Chun just now. This is a private list of disciples he bullied and injured by dragging them in as sparring partners."
Yi Renmei took the paper. "So many? Why is he so vicious?"
"What goes around comes around; the time just hadn't arrived yet. Besides, I suspect that those five might not be the same group who broke in later to stab him."
"It's that complicated?"
Li Gewen took out his booklet and pressed it against the list; all the names from the paper transferred directly into the booklet. "Look, there was no need to take the Tongshen Sutra and the sword formula after all."
"What an intricate magical artifact. Brother Ge, do you have a suspect in mind?"
"Those five aren't on this list. But we still lack conclusive evidence that they did it. Don't raise a commotion just yet. Let's head to Luzhu Peak—no, Luzheng Peak—and ask Sister Xiaofeng about that poison. And there's one more task for you." Li Gewen handed the booklet to Yi Renmei. "Go ask Lei Yunshen for a roster of everyone who has practiced the Tongshen Sutra and the sword formula."