The Attack of the Wastrel

Of course, no one saw them.

Everyone looked at each other but could not find a single witness. However, the Spirit City had a rule in place that no one could fight unless they were training. In the past hundreds of years, there had never been an incident of someone fighting. But just as Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan came, someone was killed. It was even more difficult to accept that the person that died was a Gold Class Warrior. When the cultivation of the two of them was considered, their profile matched the murderer’s.

“We don’t need any witnesses, it must be you! It didn’t happen earlier or later but happened exactly when you arrived. My poor grandson!” Xie Fang fell to the ground as she cried. One hand gripped her chest while her other hand hit the ground as she bawled. Those looking at her could not help but feel her pain and have sympathy for her.

“Grandmother, I sympathize with your pain, but aren’t you being too rash to just blame this on us. Aren’t you scared that you are accusing the innocent while the real murderer is still out there?”

Xie Fang paused her wailing as she glared at Gu Lingzhi with swollen eyes, “I won’t be wrong. You are the ones that did it. My son was killed by a Martial Artist, who else other than both of you who have such high cultivation and can kill a Gold Class Warrior with spiritual energy?”

“You said that your son was killed by someone practicing Martial Skills?” Gu Lingzhi frowned. This was slightly troublesome.

A Gold Class Warrior was roughly equivalent to a Martial Sage in the outside world but had been influenced by the Lost Lands. An expert of the Martial Sage rank was the highest that most could reach. From what the two of them had learnt yesterday, there were only three people in the entire Spirit City that had reached that stage, and they were Lin Chongyuan, Chu Jiang and Cui Hao.

There was no need to mention Lin Chongyuan and Chu Jiang, they definitely would not have a motivation to kill. On the other hand, Cui Hao was still on a mission somewhere outside the Spirit City and was not even in the city. It was impossible for him to have been the murderer. Of the remaining candidates, naturally Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan were the most probable. To kill a Gold Class Warrior without any sound in a place like the Lost Lands was still slightly difficult as they were of the Martial Sage rank.

“Why? You have nothing to say now? Aren’t you going to come with me to see the Chancellor and admit to your crimes? Don’t think of running away!” Yang Pengyu found the chance and immediately bellowed. Everyone followed along and shouted at them.

Just as the group of people became extremely agitated and wanted to drag the two of them to the Chancellor’s Manor forcefully, Wei Lingshu’s voice shouted over the crowd, “What are you all doing?”

As the crowd heard his voice, it was as if they found a backing and they created a path for Wei Lingshu right in the center. A frenzy of voices could be heard, “Leader Wei. you came just at the right time. Quick catch these two murderers and seek revenge for Xinyu!”

“Revenge?” Wei Lingshu caught onto the keyword, “What revenge? These two elders just came into the Spirit City yesterday, why would they kill someone?”

As she heard Wei Lingshu’s words, Xie Fang held onto Yang Pengyu’s arm for support as she explained the whole situation while wiping her tears and snot.

The grandmother was staying with her two sons and daughter-in-law. Yang Pengyu was her eldest son and the one that was killed was her younger son, Yang Xinyu and his entire family. This morning, as they were preparing to eat, her younger son’s entire family did not wake. Yang Pengyu then went to knock on his younger brother’s door but did not receive a reply. The faint smell of blood wafted out of his room.

Realising something was not right, Yang Pengyu immediately broke down the door forcefully. What he saw was the horrific sight of his younger brother’s family dead on the floor.

His younger brother, who was a Gold Class Warrior, had a huge gaping hole in his chest where dark red blood flowed onto the floor. His internal organs were completely missing. His head had also been broken open in a cruel way and blood stained his face. Near him, his wife and six-year-old son had suffered the same fate and their internal organs and brains were missing. Their faces were frozen in a horrified expression. The entire scene was devastating and Xie Fang, who had walked over, had cried out in horror and fainted.

Yang Pengyu then recovered from his shock and went to wake Xie Fang. When Xie Fang regained consciousness, the mother and son pair hugged each other and cried, determining that the murderers must be Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan who had just arrived into the city with Wei Lingshu.

“So, you are saying that you did not witness the two elders in action?” Wei Lingshu breathed a sigh of relief.

Truth be told, when he saw the crowd surround the yard, he had noticed the situation. He had also guessed what had happened from the shouts of the people. Although he did not believe that the two of them were the culprits, he could not be sure when facing so many people. Now that he knew no one had witnessed the two of them doing it and they were just making assumptions, he was surer. From their journey, he had become friends with Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan. If it were really done by them, he would be in shock.

Sensing that Wei Lingshu was standing up for them, Yang Pengyu immediately put his guard up, “Although we did not witness them do it, who else in the entire Spirit City would be able to kill off a Gold C;ass Warrior using spiritual energy and not even make a sound? They must be the murderers!”

Rong Yuan chuckled coldly, “If it were really us, would we kill in such a way that would give ourselves away?”

Yang Pengyu was momentarily speechless. That’s right, why would they kill in such an obvious manner and give themselves away? What more on the first day that they arrived into the Spirit City?

Remaining silent for a while, someone then questioned, “Maybe you believed that we would think this way and decide to do it.”

“Yes, yes, that’s right!” Yang Pengyu who had been stumped by Rong Yuan immediately agreed, “Who knows if you did it on purpose just to make us remove our suspicions on you?”

“Oh?” Rong Yuan threw a cold glance and the person who spoke. The person took a step back under the pressure of his gaze as Rong Yuan questioned, “Then what is our motive for killing them?”

“How…how would we know?” Yang Pengyu also took a step back from the imposing aura that Rong Yuan was emitting. His attitude mellowed slightly.

“An- Anyway in the city, there are only the two of you that are capable of doing that now. If it is not you then who can it be?”

Rong Yuan sneered, “If you put it like that, then won’t Leader Wei also be a suspect?”

“That’s not possible, my brother was killed by…”

“Killed by spiritual energy?” Rong Yuan cut him off, “Just because there is dispersed spiritual energy in the room does not mean your brother was killed by someone using spiritual energy. He could very well have been killed by physical might and then spiritual energy was released to give an illusion that he was killed by spiritual energy. Any Martial Artist above the rank of a Golden Class Warrior is able to do this.”

“Don’t listen to him talk back!” Xie Fang fumed, “The Chancellor will investigate properly if you are the one that did it. Or are you afraid of facing him and are finding reasons not to go?”

Rong Yuan did not want to argue with them anymore. After all, he had to go to the Chancellor’s Manor later on and simply replied, “Then let’s go.” Hopefully the cold and stoic looking Chancellor would not be as unreasonable as them.

Hearing Rong Yuan’s reply, everyone became slightly calmer. A few of them even had looks of satisfaction as if they had their revenge and a weight was taken off them.

Wei Lingshu went up to Rong Yuan and pacified, “Rest assured, the Chancellor is wise and farsighted, he will not wrongly accuse both of you.”

Was Rong Yuan supposed to thank him for proving his innocence?

The group walked uprightly to the entrance of the Chancellor’s Manor causing those people that came early to attend the Spirit Essence Awarding Ceremony to raise their brows. They were well-informed and had been talking with those around them, pointing and judging the situation. Rong Yuan and Gu Lingzhi fixed their gazes straight ahead and remained calm as they stepped into the manor. They ignored the suspicious and hateful looks that people were giving them.

The servant guarding the door had already heard the commotion earlier and did not even need an announcement as he let them in. The group went straight into the main hall without any disturbance. Lin Xiao waited for them respectfully and greeted them, “The Chancellor has instructed for the two elders and family members of the deceased to enter. Everyone else shall remain outside.”

Rong Yuan comprehended that Lin Chongyuan must have heard the commotion.

Upon entering the main hall, Lin Chongyuan looked exactly like he did yesterday as he sat on the main chair, a face of seriousness. The one that addressed them was Chu Jiang. After politely asking how their night rest was, he turned the attention to the incident that had happened. He turned to look at Yang Pengyu and Xie Fang who had faces of sorrow. He sympathized, “The Chancellor and I have heard about your situation. However, under the circumstance that no one saw who the murderer was, it is not right to suspect the guests of the Spirit City. I will soon send people along with the two elders to check the situation at your house. We should find the real murderer as soon as possible. Elders, would you have any problem with that?”

The last sentence was directed at Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan. Given that Chu Jiang made this suggestion, it was obvious that he did not suspect them. The group of them then headed to the scene of the crime – Yang Pengyu’s house.

As they saw the three wrangled bodies on the floor, the unhappiness that Gu Lingzhi had against Yang Pengyu for suspecting them immediately dissipated. If she were in their position, she might not have that big a reaction. She had long banished any feelings of family love from Gu Rong and the two others in her family. Even if she saw them on the streets, she would not have much emotions.

Realizing how cold her thoughts were, Gu Lingzhi scoffed at herself. She however realised that Rong Yuan had unknowingly stepped in front of her and his eyes were filled with concern as he looked at her. Her two hands were also held in his big ones. A soft voice spoke beside her ear, “Don’t look at the bodies, let me handle this.”

Seeing his concerned state, she chuckled.

So what if she did not have family love? She had him. He was the only family member that was important and mattered to her.