Ink Blade

Exploring the Eerie Fog (part 1)

"……good."

In the end, it was Shui Miao’er who broke the silence, and a beautiful smile appeared on her delicate face, she then said, "Shuijing Tower claims to be the best in the world in inquiring information, but now it is trapped by its own murder case. It is really shameful. Now that someone has the clues in hand, how can this woman have any reason not to listen?"

She lifted her eyelids and gave Xu Fangchuan a wink, and the latter immediately made a decision, saying, "Xu is the same, it seems that the sewage on the Xuyang Sword Sect this time still needs the help of Palace Master Chu to wash it down."

Chu Yan slapped the table, "Good, you two are truly frank."

Xu Fangchuan smiled slightly, and calmly narrowed his eyes. "Now the situation is complicated and confusing, let alone Shuijing Tower, the elder who died had a sword wound caused by the Xuyang swordsmanship. It stands to reason that the Xuyang Sword Sect is extremely suspicious. But Palace Master Chu did not hesitate to join forces with me…..haha, it shows that Palace Master Chu must have full confidence in the identity of the real murderer."

There was a warm smile on Xu Fangchuan's face, only he knew that he still had a word buried in his stomach–there’s another possibility, that Jiuzhong Palace was the real culprit.

Only the real culprit can conclude without any hesitation, and that everyone else is innocent!

Seemingly seeing that Xu Fangchuan was suspicious, Chu Yan squinted his eyes slightly, leaned forward, and said in a low voice, "...Because I know why the jade plaque of the Jiuzhong Palace appeared at the location of the murder case."

Mo Ren had been silent by the side, but at this moment he raised his eyes and glanced at his master. Chu Yan caressed the back of the guard's hand, and said with his mouth, "...Ying Feng, Ying Yu, you two should retreat first, go to the city to find a place to settle down, and tonight, don't bother the Shuijing Tower Master anymore."

"Yes." Ying Feng and Ying Yu stood up together, bowed neatly to Chu Yan and then walked out.

Shui Miao'er understood, turned around and pushed back the servants of Shuijing Tower. Looking at the black-clothed guard beside Chu Yan, she vaguely felt that the Jiuzhong Palace Master didn't seem to have any intention of avoiding this pale and cold young man.

Sure enough, Mo Ren changed from sitting to kneeling without any trace, maintaining a posture that could get up at any time, and whispered to Chu Yan, "Please allow this subordinate..."

Chu Yan interrupted him, "This Master won’t allow it."

Mo Ren paused, then sat back down with his head lowered. "...Yes."

Shui Miao’er couldn't help but laugh, and vaguely knew that this person might have an unusual status in Chu Yan's heart, and simply just pretended not to see it, "Palace Master Chu, can you make it clear now?"

Chu Yan lowered his head and smiled, "Well...it's nothing special either, it's just that there is a little spy inside the Jiuzhong Palace. This Master came to Changqing this time in person, to track down the person by following clues and find out what is the thing behind the little spy."

Shui Miao’er and Xu Fangchuan looked at each other unexpectedly again.

The luster in Chu Yan's eyes turned. "Of course, a mere verbal statement is no guarantee. But before I explain more, I have a few questions, and I hope the Shuijing Tower Master will answer them truthfully."

Shui Miao'er's demeanor became serious, and said, "This woman must know without exception and will speak without reservation."

Chu Yan pondered for a while, tapped the table with his fingers lightly, and asked, "What are the names and identities of the two elders?"

"The two elders downstairs in Shuijing Tower, were the ones in control of the intelligence network of the Secret Division, specializing in coordinating intelligence for many years. One is Zheng Yu and the other is Zhang Ke."

"Do they have any enemies?"

"There is no enemy."

"Where did they die?"

"In the wilderness not far from Changqing City."

"Why are these two people in a remote place on the outskirts?"

Shui Miao'er's expression changed slightly, "This is a long story, and it involves the operation of our Shuijing Tower. The main building of Shuijing is located in this small city of Changqing, but the sub-buildings are scattered all over the world. Strange stories and strange things in the world all enter my Shuijing Tower."

She took a sip of the tea in front of her, staring at the swaying tea leaves, "According to the rules, if the sub-building receives top-secret information involving a wide range of issues, it will be escorted to Changqing City by the elders, and handed over to this woman to personally make a decision."

"Oh?" Chu Yan's eyes flashed, he nodded and smiled, "Hm, killing to prevent secrets from being disclosed. It seems that the problem lies in the ‘on the way information’. It was robbed."

Shui Miao'er's face was covered with a cloud, and her voice became difficult. "Shuijing Tower is doing information business, but there's always a sense of propriety, and there is a tacit understanding in the world…..Although this kind of thing is not the first time. The elders sent to escort the information are all first-class martial arts figures, and no major incidents have occurred before either."

"Let's take a step back and say that in the early years, there were people who intercepted information, and killed to prevent secrets from being disclosed. Later, Shuijing Tower found out their family background one by one, and sold them to the enemies... After several times like this, no one should dare to touch the Shuijing Tower’s information."

She sighed heavily, and said in a distressed low voice, "And this time, two elders died, and we couldn't even find out about our opponents..this has never happened before."

Chu Yan sighed secretly when he heard the words. Such is the case, if you mess with a force that relies on information for a living, won’t it end up with the fate of 18 generations of ancestors being exposed and sold?

Daring to attack the Shuijing Tower and doing it so recklessly, there are only two possibilities - either, the opponent is so strong that the whole world doesn't pay attention to it; or, that the person was confident of never being found out by the Shuijing Tower.

Judging by Shui Miao'er's despondent look, it is undoubtedly the latter.

"Tsk." Chu Yan was speechless, "The information escorted by the two elders, it must have been lost?"

Shui Miao’er nodded, acquiesced.

Chu Yan asked again, "How many murderers are there?"

"...It is impossible to speculate."

"What was the fatal cause of those two elders' deaths?"

"Death due to poison."

"Poison? What poison?"

"...has not yet been identified."

Chu Yan raised his eyelids. "Why, is there any difficulty?"

Xu Fangchuan said in a low voice. "It's not a common poison in the Central Plains. Miao'er is sending more people to investigate."