CHAPTER 40: CHAPTER 40: WHEN A SCHOLAR COMMITS EVIL

March 19, nightfall.

In the west of the city, the lanterns of the Lin Mansion flickered like ghostly lights, staggered in height, swaying eerily in the wind, illuminating the entire residence.

This night, however, was rainless. The spring rain that had lingered for several days unexpectedly took a brief rest this night.

The servants of the Lin Mansion couldn’t help but say, "Perhaps even the heavens couldn’t bear to see our Second Young Master die so young, and decided to pause the rain to send him off."

No one knew that the rainless night was perfect for Chen Xu’s Mud Ball Daoist Soldier to travel.

His cultivation was still shallow at present, and for the time being, he could only imbue one Puppet Daoist Soldier with spiritual talent. When he released the Daoist Soldier, it couldn’t stray more than ten miles from him.

Ten miles—neither too short nor too long a distance.

The actual distance from Ping’an Lane to the Lin Mansion just exceeded ten miles.

Chen Xu decided to act first. He carefully pondered the words of Granny Lai and connected them to Lin Yuan’s obsession with Lin Qi’s life and death, thinking that if Lin Qi just died like that, Lin Yuan would hardly let it rest.

If he went to the Lin Family as agreed in the morning, who knew what the Lin Family might do, or if there was some trap?

Chen Xu could, of course, break his promise and simply not go to offer his condolences for Lin Qi.

But avoiding it this way would damage his reputation and merely treat the symptoms, not the cause.

In the end, there’s no better way than to take the initiative!

Chen Xu decided to resolve the Lin Family matter tonight. Tomorrow, he would return home to address the issue of his elder brother building a canal, and afterward, he could focus on cultivation and prepare for the exams.

To venture onto higher stages and see the vast world.

At the fourth watch, the moonlight was obscured by clouds.

The cool spring night breeze gently blew as Chen Xu walked alone into Shengyu Square, three streets away from the Lin Family.

Shengyu Square, also known as Bu Ye Square.

In the small city of Jichuan, the prosperity of Shengyu Square was unparalleled in the entire city.

It was also the only market in the city that wasn’t subject to curfew.

Taverns with lantern flowers, curtain-draped parlors with zithers and flutes, musicians playing the pipa at night, and dancing girls swaying their water sleeves.

There were also gamblers in the brightly lit secret rooms who would stake thousands of gold coins, entering with spirits high and leaving discouraged and disheartened.

The streets of Shengyu Square were lined with various stalls, the most common selling food and drinks, but there were also those selling lanterns, hoop games, monkey shows, and so on.

Chen Xu walked into Shengyu Square, blending in perfectly as if he were a drop of water merging into the sea.

He wandered and observed in Shengyu Square, occasionally watching the dancers from afar on the building platforms, or buying a few snacks from the stalls to try their flavors.

He also casually chatted with the stall vendors, listening to their insights on making snacks.

No one knew that in the dark night, a small figure in gray armor, wielding a long spear, was leaping and bounding, vaulting over high white walls and blue tiles, traversing flowered paths, and following a peculiar intuition to arrive outside a particularly brightly lit mourning hall.

At this moment, the outside of the mourning hall was unexpectedly deserted.

No servants were on night duty, nor were there any guards watching over it.

Only flickering candle flames of varying heights burned between the cascading drapes like flowing water.

The small armored figure stealthily approached the strangely empty mourning hall, skillfully climbing like a spiritual monkey to the window, pressing its ear to the window paper to quietly listen to the movements within.

Inside, it seemed there was no one, with only a coffin that hadn’t been completely sealed.

Thud, thud, thud—

Suddenly, a strange knocking sound began to gently echo from within the coffin.

The small armored figure remained motionless, only its ear twitching slightly.

The knocking inside the mourning hall was ethereal and disordered, thud-thud-thud, thunk-thunk-thunk... After several knocks, the various chirping sounds of crickets and insects in the garden outside abruptly fell silent.

As if the entire world’s insects had died at that moment because of the ethereal knocking!

Only the small armored figure, without soul or spirit, and lacking life, remained unaffected.

"Sigh..."

After the knocking of unknown duration, a faint sigh suddenly resonated within the mourning hall.

The sigh sounded very youthful at first, but carried a strangely old-fashioned undertone, and was somewhat sharp.

After the sigh, a thin, eerie young male voice said, "It’s done, now not only are there no living people outside, but even an insect would die; we can talk freely."

"Thank you, Daoist Hu," another young voice replied, slightly deep, but Chen Xu, overhearing from Shengyu Square, instantly recognized this as Lin Yuan’s voice.

Lin Yuan asked, "Daoist Hu, are you truly unable to deduce the origins of the person who killed my brother?"

Daoist Hu, with the thin eerie voice, replied, "I told you, your brother clearly died of natural causes, rather than being killed. You insist on disbelief; how am I supposed to deduce the identity of a nonexistent murderer?"

Lin Yuan said, "It’s not that I don’t believe Daoist Hu, but my brother’s death was too suspicious. Most importantly, he clearly uttered those two words in his lifetime; I have found out that those two words must be... kill Chen!

He had a grudge against someone surnamed Chen. Daoist Hu, I do not ask you to help me seek revenge directly now.

All I need is for you to question Chen in the coffin as we discussed before, and intimidate him into revealing the truth."

Daoist Hu resounded eerily, "But I am a Fox Demon. In the coffin, with just a slight hint, the visitor—whether guilty or innocent—would likely confess to the crime."

Lin Yuan fell silent, and after a brief silence, Daoist Hu chuckled softly, "Ah, I understand what you mean. You scholars are truly interesting; reluctant to speak directly of grievances, you want me, a demon, to play the villain.

But what can I do, having owed a favor to your ancestors?"

This time, Lin Yuan spoke. He cupped his hands and bowed deeply to Daoist Hu amidst the white drapes of the room, "Thank you, Daoist Hu. From tomorrow onward, all debts between you and the Lin Family are settled."

"Heh..." The Fox Demon only laughed.

The laughter was thin and gentle, blowing the white drapes of the mourning hall like a shadow shimmering with iridescent light, vanishing into the still night.

Tap-tap-tap—

The Fox Demon said nothing, but the coffin resumed its mysteriously rhythmic knocking.

Beside the coffin, Lin Yuan suddenly shivered involuntarily. He gritted his teeth and reassured himself he did nothing wrong.

Then, with hands cupped and body bent, he slowly retreated backward.

Once he had exited the mourning hall, Lin Yuan turned and strode away.

Lin Yuan was a scholar, but without official title; his aptitude was inferior to Lin Qi’s. Helplessly, he had to take on the family’s businesses and place hopes of securing official rank all on Lin Qi.

Now with Lin Qi dead, Lin Yuan’s original plans were completely upended.

Filled with countless grievances, he wouldn’t rest without finding an outlet to vent.

As Lin Yuan walked through the corridor to a path below, he was muttering a name, "Chen..."

Suddenly, an inexplicable pain struck his knee, causing him to stumble forward.