Jianming Chaos

In his dream, Zhiming rode a steed horse over mountains and ridges. When passing a steep mountain road, he suddenly encountered a mudslide and instantly submerged him in the mud sea.

After waking up, Zhiming found that he was held down tightly by several big-armed warriors, unable to move.

"What are you doing?" Zhiming glanced at his side subconsciously, but the saber was gone.

"Our feudal lord was killed in the middle of the night, you are the biggest suspect!" a warrior said in Chinese.

"What? I've been sleeping all the time!" Zhiming knew that he had drunk too much. If he was awake, he would not be so easily subdued.

"The weapon that kills the feudal lord is your saber!" Another warrior said fiercely.

Zhiming discovered that these warriors were all at the blue belt level, and some of them had met during the martial arts competition the night before, but they hadn't fought against each other.

"Where is Lord Sagi? I was with him last night, he can prove my innocence!" Zhiming argued.

"Lord Sagi is on the scene, I will take you there now!" The warriors tied up Zhiming Wuhuada and escorted him to the lord's bedroom.

In the middle hall of the dormitory, a large group of people had already surrounded them. Except for one woman who was crying, everyone else stood quietly with dignified expressions.

The feudal lord, who had been dead for a long time, knelt on the ground, drooping his head, with a mixture of blood and saliva dripping from his mouth; a steel knife pierced through his chest, and the bloody blade seemed to warn the world: those who do not obey me will be killed.

A monk-like person knelt aside, closed his eyes, and recited scriptures with palms together. He was probably Master Mi Hai.From the expression on his face, it can be seen that he was also very surprised by the death of the feudal lord.

The crying woman next to the corpse is probably the wife of the feudal lord.Zuo Mu walked over and spoke a few words of comfort in Yidu, then ordered the maid to help her back to her room to rest.

The warriors took turns yelling, forcing Zhiming to kneel in front of the lord's body; some even started to use force to force Zhiming to kneel.

Zhiming secretly resorted to hard qigong, despite being punched and kicked by the crowd, he still stood still.He wanted to break the rope with divine power, but finally held back.

In the end, begrudgingly, he knelt down and asked Zuo Mu for help with his eyes.

Zuo Mu had a complicated expression at the moment, and after a fierce ideological struggle, he ordered his subordinates to untie them.The warriors looked at each other in blank dismay, not daring to move.

Zuo Mu ordered the samurai to take a few steps back, helped Zhiming up, and untied him himself.Zhiming nodded his thanks.

A samurai said to Sagi in Yidu: "Boss, this is a suspect! How could it be..."

"Don't talk about it, he can't be the murderer!" Zuo Mu raised his hand and said, "If he killed him, why did he still stay in the mansion? Besides, have you ever seen a samurai who killed someone and left behind his saber? Doesn’t this clearly tell the world that he is a murderer?”

Everyone had nothing to say, and the truth was true; but Zhiming had just arrived for two days, and something happened to the feudal lord, which inevitably aroused everyone's suspicion.

"Then what's the matter with this knife? It's indeed his saber, I can recognize it!" Akasaka questioned, he was still brooding about his accidental loss in the competition the night before.

"Yeah, I also recognized his knife!" said a warrior wrapped in gauze, who was beaten up by Zhiming in the downtown market that day.

"I think the feudal lord was killed by him. He left the murder weapon on purpose to make us think that he was being blamed!" Someone said.

"That's right, the feudal lord died as soon as he came here. Is this a coincidence?"

"The murderer must be punished severely! Get justice for the feudal lord!"

Everyone booed one after another, and it seemed that they had deep hostility towards this foreigner, after all, this was an unknown person brought back by Zuo Mu from outside.

"Quiet! Don't make noise!" Zuo Mu signaled everyone to stop, and said, "At present, we can only prove that this knife belongs to him; as to whether the murderer is him, it remains to be investigated. I will definitely give everyone a satisfactory answer as soon as possible." ,Please give me some time!"

Everyone thought about it, and they could only agree. After all, after the death of the feudal lord, the person with the most right to speak is Zuo Mu; even if he wants to cover up the murderer, no one else can.

It was just dawn, and Zuo Mu ordered his servants to deal with the aftermath. He took Zhiming into a room alone, and asked, "What happened last night? Why was the saber that killed the feudal lord yours?"

Zhiming said innocently: "I don't know what's going on. I drank too much and slept until dawn as soon as I lay down. I don't know what happened in the middle of the night. I think someone must have taken advantage of me while I was asleep. , stole my saber, and went to assassinate the feudal lord."

"Undoubtedly, yes. Unfortunately, we are temporarily unable to confirm the identity of the knife thief, because his timing was very clever and he avoided the sight of all patrols. Now the situation is very bad for you, except for the murderer himself , almost everyone thinks you are the murderer." Zuo Mu said honestly.

"Based on what you said and the modus operandi at the scene, the murderer must be someone inside the feudal mansion. To be able to avoid the sight of the patrols and quietly enter my room to steal a knife and kill people, this person must be very familiar with the interior of the feudal mansion. Route and operation management, and strong martial arts, I think it must be a samurai; moreover, it is very likely to be one of the three who lost to me the night before yesterday." Zhiming analyzed.

"Why do you think so?" Zuo Mu's eyes lit up, and it seemed that he also had the same suspicion.

"There is a possibility: because he lost to me, he held a grudge and wanted to frame me." Zhiming made a preliminary judgment.

"No, if it's just to frame you, there's no need to kill the feudal lord. The price is too high, unless he wants to kill two birds with one stone, killing the feudal lord and framing you." Zuo Mu said with a frown.

"It seems that this person has an old grudge with the feudal lord." Zhiming understood.

"The problem is, if he wants to kill the feudal lord, why wait until today?" Zuo Mu couldn't figure it out.

"Because he was afraid of arousing suspicion from everyone, so he waited silently for an opportunity. After I came, he knew that the opportunity had come. Think about it, something happened to the feudal lord just after I arrived, and the murder weapon was my saber. Isn't that enough?" To prove that the murderer wants to kill two birds with one stone?" Zhiming already had a suspect in his mind.

"The key... the murderer knows you are very good at martial arts, so how dare he take the risk of coming to steal the knife in the middle of the night? If you catch him right away, wouldn't he hit the knife edge?" Zuo Mu was still puzzled.

"There is a possibility: he eavesdropped on our conversation last night, and he also knew that I drank too much, thinking that it was impossible for me to wake up in the middle of the night." Zhiming guessed.

"I didn't feel any strange smell around me last night, it's just the two of us." Zuo Mu shook his head.

"This is more than enough to show that the murderer is so strong in martial arts that he can hold his breath and appear around us without us noticing. Could it be... related to the Shadow Alliance?" Zhiming suddenly had an idea.

Zuo Mu's eyes trembled, and he approached and asked, "What did you say? Why did you say that?"

"I think there is a reason why the murderer deliberately used my knife to kill the feudal lord. In addition to setting the blame, maybe it also contains some kind of special complex. Because you also know that this knife is exclusively for the killers of the Shadow Alliance."

"According to what you said, it means..." Zuo Mu's eyes flashed.

"That's right. I initially suspected that there were people from the Shadow Alliance in the feudal mansion; and based on my judgment just now, it was one of the three people who competed with me." Zhiming stared into Zuo Mu's eyes and said.

Zuo Mu was stunned, and then said: "Impossible! Since a mutiny occurred in the Yidu country three years ago, the Shadow Alliance was forced to disband. Those warriors were either driven out or exiled to other countries. It is absolutely impossible. There are still killers remaining in Yidu Kingdom."

"What mutiny?"

"There were traitors in the Shadow Alliance, and they united with the vassals to instigate an army rebellion, trying to overthrow the emperor's rule. Fortunately, they were discovered and stopped in time. Since then, the Shadow Alliance has existed in name only. Those killers who once worked for the vassals, One by one, they were cleared or exiled to Outland, and finally all of them were dealt with."

"What if someone slips through the net? Among the three, isn't there one with a special identity?"

"You mean..." Zuo Mu frowned.

"You should know who I'm referring to." Zhiming said word by word.

Zuo Mu thought for a while and said: "Song Dao is indeed the ronin I found from outside. At that time, I just admired his martial arts and felt that he had great potential for training, so I didn't investigate his background; he also refused to reveal it all the time." , so we still don’t know which clan or organization he originally belonged to. Now it seems that he is indeed more suspected.”

"Doesn't a newly recruited ronin like this need to do a background check?"

"In principle, it is necessary. What we are most afraid of recruiting are remnants from assassination organizations like the Shadow Alliance, because such people are difficult to manage and have great potential risks. I was really negligent at the time, but Judging Matsushima's character subjectively based on his appearance. I admit that I have an unshirkable responsibility in this matter." Zuo Mu felt deeply guilty.

"It doesn't make much sense to say this now. We have to find a way to prove that he is the murderer and remove my suspicion. Otherwise, I won't be able to accompany you on the mission." Zhiming got to the point.

"What's the chivalrous suggestion?" Zuo Mu saw that the other party already had an idea.

"Someone should send the autopsy results later, right?" Zhiming asked.

Sagi nodded.After a while, the autopsy results came, and the coroner's conclusion was surprising: the murderer was left-handed and powerful, and he was killed with a single knife.The time of the feudal lord's death was around four o'clock in the morning, and the scene of the murder was the first scene.

After the coroner left, Sagi frowned and said, "That's strange. Matsushima is a right-handed person. I'm sure of that. Could it be that the murderer is someone else?"

"No, because of this, I am more sure that the murderer is him." Zhiming said confidently.

"Why so sure?"

"Because during the martial arts competition the night before yesterday, I injured his right side of the waist with the last blow. I'm not exaggerating. Normally speaking, it will take at least two or three days for him to use his right hand to hold a knife normally after this blow; With a knife, it is impossible to pierce a person's chest so hard. Therefore, I am sure that he killed the feudal lord with a knife in his left hand." Zhiming analyzed the situation according to the situation.

"That's why the coroner mistakenly believed that the murderer was left-handed." Zuo Mu said thoughtfully.

"That's right, but it's not enough to prove that Matsushima is the murderer. Now there is a doubt. Since the scene of the crime is the first scene, why did the feudal lord appear in the middle hall of the bedroom at four o'clock in the morning instead of the bedroom? It is very suspicious in itself. It seems that we must go to his wife to find out the situation." Zhiming caught a new doubt.

"She's in a bad mood right now, she probably doesn't want to see anyone. Let me try to ask." Zuo Mu got up and left.

Zhiming stayed alone in the empty room, a little anxious.He really can't spend too much time here. These things had nothing to do with him, but because of a knife, he was involved.In fact, he is not afraid of being regarded as a murderer, after all, he can use magic to leave; but he can't just walk away, vowing to investigate this matter to the bottom; besides, he has to return the knife to Shang Qi.

Fortunately, Zuo Mu came back soon and said, "Madam agrees to see you."

Without further ado, Zhiming immediately followed Zuo Mu to the backyard of the dormitory.The Madame was sitting in an arbor waiting, with two maids standing beside her.

This lady is not very old, she looks about 35 or [-] years old; although she has put on makeup, it can still be seen that under this breezy and moon-like makeup, is a bright and moving face.Her eyes were swollen from crying, and her makeup was stained by tear lines, forming two deep black rivers.

In order to show proper manners, she forced a smile and said in proficient Chinese: "Please sit down, both of you."

The two sat down.The lady made a gesture, and the two maids left.

"My condolences, madam. I won't go around in circles." Zhiming got straight to the point, "First of all, madam, please believe in my innocence. If I were a murderer, I can't stay in your mansion; moreover, I came to your country only to find People, have no grievances or enmities with the feudal lord, and have no motive for killing."

I thought the other party would raise doubts, but Madam nodded and said, "Chevalier, you are a distinguished guest of our house, I believe you are not the murderer. The warrior's behavior was a bit extreme before, please forgive me."

Zhiming was surprised by her reaction.He paused for a few seconds and said, "Understood. After all, not long after I arrived, the feudal lord had an accident. Anyone would think something was wrong, right? According to the autopsy results, the feudal lord was killed at about four o'clock in the morning. He was supposed to be in a deep sleep at this time." Do you know why he appeared in the middle hall untimely at this time, this lady?"

The plainly dressed lady gently wiped the remaining tears from her eyes with her sleeves, and said: "I was in a deep sleep at the time, and I didn't even know that he had walked out of the bedroom. I only found out what happened when I woke up this morning."