Unravel the cocoon and unwind the silk thread

  However, the surprise in Lu Ling's eyes was not much, and soon replaced by a hint of gloom. He let out a cold hum, "As expected! But you've already consumed too much last night, can you still beat me?"

  As she spoke, Lu Ling's swordsmanship suddenly changed.

  The Guhao School's sword technique emphasizes the idea of "form follows intention, movement", like a crane soaring through the heavens, unencumbered by form, elegant and natural. Those who cultivate this sword style have an air of detachment about them when they dance with their swords. But at this moment, Lu Lingge's sword technique was cunning and venomous, taking the idea of "the intangible defeating the tangible" to its extreme, making it impossible for anyone to anticipate from which direction he would strike next.

  Lu Shuang's eyes narrowed slightly, but his counterattack was not ambiguous at all. Indeed, he had spent too much energy last night to teach Wang Min, and this morning he was brought here without rest, feeling very tired. But that didn't mean he could lose to Lu Lingge's sword.

  "Then let's try!" Lu Shuangxing's speed increased again, his killing intent was so thick that it was hard to believe he was just a former sword fanatic. This was indeed a crane, but this was a crane whose cry could pierce the clouds and shatter the mountains with a single nod of its head.

  Even when she's not in top condition, Lu Ling still looks spirited and doesn't lose out at all.

  "Heavens... what's going on here..." Zhang Yan couldn't help but click his tongue, wasn't it just decided to cripple Lu Shuangxing's martial arts and then close the case? But now what's happening?

  He couldn't help but take a glance at Yan Sanbai and Li Ye's expressions, but found that he completely couldn't understand them. Wait a minute, Yan Sanbai had just returned the Jiuyan Sword to Lu Shuangxing to defend against the enemy, didn't this mean...

  At this thought, Zhang Yan's mouth opened even wider.

  On the scene, Lu Ling Ge was gradually suppressed by Lu Shuang Xing, unable to catch up. However, Lu Shuang Xing seemed to still be waiting for something, coldly asking: "Aren't you going to make a move yet?"

  "Senior brother, did you think I really didn't dare?" Lu Lingge wiped away the thread of blood at the corner of her mouth and narrowed her eyes. "Things have come to this point, I also don't have anything good to hide anymore!"

  Time waits for no one, Lu Ling's wrist flicked out a sword flower, and everyone only felt a flash before their eyes, the sword move had already been made.

  "Return to the beginning!" The disciples of the Return Crane Sect exclaimed, this must be "Return to the Beginning"! The fastest and most concise move among the eight postures! But how could the sect leader...?!

  No, wait, this seems a bit different from the original "Returning"!

  Yan Sanbai and Li Yanyang also seemed to have noticed this, their expressions slightly tense. Their eyes were fixed tightly on the sword tip, without moving in the slightest.

  "Yes, this move is no longer the original Return of the Zither. It's faster and more elusive, with even greater might than before! On that sword tip, concentrated is Lu Lingge's confidence as a swordsman."

  "Senior brother, take this move from me!"

  Come and go, come quickly, go also quickly.

  Everyone held their breath, and on the battlefield where the dust was slowly dispersing, a drop of dew suddenly fell from the bamboo leaves above. In that instant, in the eyes of the warriors, the whole world seemed to have only this one water droplet left, which quietly entered this tense battlefield, continuously falling, falling.

  Everything around seemed to have come to a standstill, suddenly! A sword tip pierced through the water droplets, splashing everywhere! In each of those tiny droplets, it was as if Lu Ling's determined face was reflected.

  But with a "ding" sound, the sword tip that was as swift as a broken bamboo suddenly encountered its greatest obstacle. At the moment when a thousand armies were about to be unleashed, Lu Shuangxing didn't seem to have made any famous sword moves, but simply held his sword horizontally in front of his chest, blocking the sword tip. However, Lu Lingge's force was too great, and the impact sent Lu Shuangxing flying back, causing his feet to drag two deep grooves on the ground.

  Lu Ling Ge's face suddenly changed, while Lu Shuang Xing, who was just a step in front of him, suddenly raised his head, licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, and smiled, "The trail is hard to find, but it still has form. Ling Ge, your skills are not yet up to par."

  Lu Ling's eyes flickered several times, and his heart was like a turbulent wave. He gritted his teeth, and his entire expression became unpredictable.

  This move is the one that Lu Lingge is most confident in, for 16 years he secretly studied this move from a young boy to now being the leader of his sect, he thinks he has already improved it to its best form and no one can make a better "Returning to the Beginning" than him. Last night he even secretly observed the scene where Lu Shuangxing taught Wang Min, once he masters all eight moves, even if he encounters an extraordinary swordsman, he will still be defeated by his own sword!

  But now? Lu Shuangxing simply used a single move that couldn't even be considered a proper sword technique to block his one and only sword strike, which he had poured countless heart and soul into!

  A surge of madness swept over his mind, Lu Lingge swiftly drew his sword, one sword after another, returning and coming back to him, already played out wonderfully in his hands, but still couldn't defeat Lu Shuangxing!

  Lu Shuanghang instead gained some experience from his continuous attacks and became more and more at ease, "What, you only know this one move?"

  This sentence really touched Lu Ling's sore spot. His face revealed a fierce light, he clenched his teeth and finally used his strongest sword.

  But with a "ding" sound, Lu Ling's sword was struck again by Jiu Yan. In this relentless striking process, the sword finally could not withstand it and broke off. The broken sword fell and inserted into the soft mud in front of Wang Jingchuan's tomb, emitting an unwilling hum.

  Jiuyan's momentum didn't decrease, and after cutting off Lü Yongge's sword, the sword energy became even more severe, leaving a long blood mark on Lü Yongge's chest.

  The fight came to an abrupt end, and Lu Shuang looked at the defeated subordinate who was standing still as if he had been stunned, but did not draw his sword again. Instead, he shook his head. Just like what he sighed to Yan Sanbai yesterday, "What a pity..."

  They were once close as brothers and hands.

  "Broken sword!" The disciples of the Gui He school were anxious in their hearts, they didn't know what was going on, but they were truly worried about Lu Lingge. For a swordsman, a broken sword is like having one's hand cut off.

  But Lu Lingge suddenly burst out laughing, her laughter with a hint of madness, causing Yan Sanbai's eyebrows to furrow.

  "Do you think that's it?" Lu Lingge covered her chest to stop the bleeding, her eyes scanning every person present. "Do you think I'm really so stupid, without feeling anything unusual at all?"

  "What's the meaning of this?" Lu Shuangxing's physical strength had already been somewhat overdrawn, grasping his sword, and suddenly a sense of unease arose in his heart.

  Just then, two voices came from afar and got closer, reaching everyone's ears.

  "Master!"

  It was Wang Qi and Lu Boyuan who arrived at the last minute, rushing anxiously towards Lu Ling's song with a worried look on their faces.

  But at the moment Yan Sanbai saw them, his face changed. Wang Qi and Lu Boran were closest to Lu Lingge, there was no reason for other disciples to be here, but they arrived only now, unless... they had other arrangements!

  As he thought of this, Yan Sanbai's eyes quickly scanned the surroundings, carefully sensing the changes around him. Suddenly, a faint scent wafted over from afar, and he immediately shouted, "Hold your breath! It's poisonous!"

  But it was too late, the fragrance was invisible and intangible, and dissipated extremely quickly. Lu Shuangxing and Li Yan didn't have time to hold their breath before they were affected. The two of them hastily mobilized their internal energy to force out the toxin, but the internal energy that was mobilized was like a mud cow entering the sea, disappearing without a trace in an instant.

  "Hua Gong San!" The two exclaimed in unison.

  "Not bad." Lu Ling said: "This thing can't permanently suppress your power, but for an hour, it's enough!"

  At this time, Wang Qi and Lu Bo were far behind Lu Ling's side, the three of them were still safe and sound, apparently they had taken an antidote beforehand.

  Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan's expression changed greatly, and he hastily looked towards Yan Sanbai, "Lord Yan! What shall we do now?"

  "Don't worry." Yan Sanbai comforted, turning his head to look at Lu Lingge, "You've all figured it out?"

  Lü Leng Ge shook her head, "No, but everything has gone too smoothly, it's inevitable that people will have doubts. Moreover, I don't quite believe that you would close the case so quickly just because of Wang Min's request."

  "That's right." Yan Sanbai seemed to have acknowledged it.

  Zhang Yan's heart was racing, "Great hero, what time is it now? You still have the mood to chat?" Ling Ding looked at him so anxiously and felt a bit sympathetic. He walked over and patted his shoulder, "My king is here too, he's not anxious, why are you?"

  Zhang Yan thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, "Even if I die, there's still the Prince of Luoyang."

  "Yan Sanbai, then I'll ask you, when did you start suspecting me?" Lu Lingge's gaze was sharp, he still couldn't figure out where the problem lay. And even if there were some minor details that weren't taken care of, it wasn't enough to make people thoroughly suspect him.

  Yan Sanbai smiled slightly, "You were suspicious from the start, weren't you? If we're talking about who, apart from Lu Shuangxing, would be most clear about what happened back then and who would be most likely to learn 'Gui Qu Lai Xi', then Lu Zhangmen is not a bad choice."

  Investigate, first need to learn to doubt. The world's most bizarre case all have, the victim sometimes may become the murderer, Yan Sanbai really can't find a reason not to suspect Lu Lingge.

  "But it's just a suspicion after all." Lu Lingge frowned.

  "Yes, suspicion is just suspicion, and it needs to be verified. So when you said that after seeing Lu Shuangxing, you left for Jiangzhou due to an urgent matter, I immediately sent a letter to Jiangzhou to investigate the truth. You probably didn't think that the Magistrate of Jiangzhou is my good friend. And just yesterday evening, I received his swift response by pigeon post, and it turns out that you never went to Jiangzhou at all."

  Upon hearing this, Lu Lingge's face slightly sank. He hadn't expected to make a mistake here. However, the verification time for this evidence was too long, and Yan Sanbai should have seen through him early on and set up this trap accordingly. The smarter someone is, the harder it is for them to accept their own failure. Lu Lingge couldn't help but ask again, "Is that all?"

  "Actually, Bai's reply was already late, I couldn't rely on this to confirm my suspicions about you. However, soon after you arrived in Chang'an, you voluntarily revealed a weakness to me. When you first clashed with Lu Shuangxing, your killing intent was too strong." At that time, Yan Sanbai and Li Ye both felt something was off, Lu Lingge's desire to kill Lu Shuangxing was too obvious, although it only lasted for an instant, but the two of them caught it.

  "Or perhaps I just wanted to avenge Brother Wang?" Lu Lingge explained, "Because of my one misstep, Brother Wang was killed. I'm filled with regret and killing intent is not excessive."

  "But you've been showing a lot of emotional attachment from start to finish, and you're torn between two options, aren't you?" Yan Sanbai retorted.

  "Alright, even so, you still don't have any direct evidence, right?"

  However, you shouldn't have killed Quanfu. By killing him, you're proving that you're afraid he might reveal some unfavorable information about you. From this, it can be inferred that although Quanfu only saw your masked face, he must have seen something else that could lead people to guess that you are the masked man. After all, you often come and go in Chang'an, so it's reasonable that you would be recognized. But Lu Shuangxing wouldn't be, even if he put his most eye-catching Jiuyan sword right in front of Quanfu, a small painter's apprentice wouldn't be able to recognize him, so he had no reason at all to kill Quanfu.

  This way, it's easy to explain why you wanted to kill Zhongbo. Zhongbo was momentarily blinded by hatred and believed your nonsense, making a huge mistake. His death is true, but after his death, he calmed down. If he were to see you and Lu Shuangxing again, with his understanding of you two, he would definitely realize that the person wearing the bamboo hat he saw earlier was not Lu Shuangxing, but you."

  Yan Sanbai spoke slowly and logically, his hands clasped behind his back, not using his sword. He looked like a refined and elegant Confucian scholar who had read extensively. Zhang Yan looked at him with such a calm demeanor and felt an unusual sense of calmness in her heart. Perhaps... Yan Sanbai had some hidden trick up his sleeve?

  Lu Lingge knew that Yan Sanbai was just stalling for time, the longer the time, the weaker the poison, and after an hour, the poison would naturally be resolved. But what they didn't know was that half an hour after being poisoned, the poison would dissolve into their meridians, and at that time, the poison would be at its strongest! Yan Sanbai was cleverly deceived by his own cleverness, and Lu Lingge was happy to help him out.

  "Haha, indeed worthy of the great detective. Lu Lingge was also generous with her praise at this moment, "But I'm very curious, you seemed to have decided early on that Lu Shuangxing wasn't the murderer? You can suspect me without any evidence, why do you defend Lu Shuangxing so much?"

  "It's all because of a piece of cloth, a piece used to cover one's face." said Yan Sanbai.

  "A piece of cloth for covering one's face?" Wang Min was puzzled. Yan Sanbai had already told him most of the things, but this piece of cloth...

  Everyone else looked at Yan Sanbai with suspicion, but only Li Ye understood what Yan Sanbai was thinking and said: "You covered your face, while Lu Shuangxing didn't. As the saying goes, 'a straight body is not afraid of a slanted shadow', he wants to be more upright than you."

  That's right, and everyone has a different approach to things, so the details that come out are vastly different. I think you must have quickly formulated your plan to kill someone when you visited Lu Shuangxing. First, in conversation, you led Lu Shuangxing to believe that Wang Jingchuan had killed the old master, and then after Lu Shuangxing left, you took Wang Qi and Lu Bo to Chang'an, repeatedly confusing Zhongbo, making a move at the Quiet Hall. And also swapped out that painting, laying down a hidden plot for later actions.

  Lu Shuangxing made an appointment with Wang Jingchuan because of your words, wanting to get confirmation from him. Unfortunately, you were secretly monitoring Wang Jingchuan and changed the meeting time under Lu Shuangxing's name. So that day, Wang Jingchuan waited in vain for his junior brother at Wan'an Temple, but before leaving, he ran into you again. He would not have been on guard against you, so you led him to a place you had prepared early, and killed him. You then put the body and the blanket together into a wooden box, and had Wang Qi and Lu Boran carry it overnight to the Wang residence.

  You often come and go, so you are very clear about the style of the blanket in the quiet hall. You also grasped the timing, and soon after sending back Wang Jingchuan's body, Lu Shuanghang arrived at the Wang Mansion to find someone. At this moment, Zhongbo felt uneasy in his heart, got out of bed to check, and bumped into Lu Shuanghang, affirming that he was the murderer who killed Wang Jingchuan. All of this seems like a coincidence, but in fact, it is just the result of your careful planning.

  "How could such a ruthless killer make the foolish mistake of letting someone see their true face?"

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