Chapter 46: Dead Man’s Blood
Chapter 46: Dead Man’s Blood
“Hiss…”
Nie Quan showed anger. The surging flames leaned towards Fang Cun. This was a display of his cultivation strength, affecting the space itself. But no one expected that facing this anger, Fang Cun, whose cultivation seemed much lower than his, also glowered coldly. Suddenly, he gave a loud shout. Unexpected fury surged, colliding with the flames. The two forces combined actually made the flames explode with a loud “bang”.
“How could this happen?”
Seeing this, the assembled Academy Disciples all gasped in shock, quickly standing up.
“Fang, don’t just bully us because you have a good elder brother! Do you think only the Fang Family is clever in this whole world? My family served in the Demon Capture Bureau for three generations! Talking about investigating cases and analyzing traces, you really think I’m worse than you?”
Nie Quan hadn’t expected Fang Cun’s anger to have such force. He was startled, but immediately became even angrier.
He even gripped the knife in his hand now, glaring viciously as if about to strike. Fortunately, He Zhenzhang hurriedly pulled him back.
“Stop this nonsense!”
Meng Zhixue, seeing this, gave a cold shout. Her figure flashed slightly as she swiftly positioned herself in front of Nie Quan.
Nie Quan, seeing Meng Zhixue, didn’t dare say more. But his eyes remained coldly fixed on Fang Cun, full of resentment. The surrounding Academy Disciples also found this strange. Some felt that since the matter seemed clear now, Second Young Master Fang still refused to admit it and was being overly stubborn. Others felt that Fang Cun’s words had been polite, and Nie Quan’s outburst was truly unnecessary…
But Nie Quan’s hot temper was well-known to everyone, so they were used to it.
“Being stupid isn’t scary; what’s scary is being stupid and stubborn!”
At this point, Fang Cun was also somewhat angered. After seeing the traces in the town, countless questions had piled up in his mind, not yet fully reasoned through. Additionally, after everyone reached a consensus, forcing himself to oppose the group didn’t suit his principles. But if he didn’t speak now, this matter probably couldn’t be clarified clearly…
So might as well lay things bare…
“Want to know where your stupidity lies?”
Under everyone’s gaze, he frowned, slowly stood up, and took the Little Fox Girl’s claw. “Follow me!”
The Academy Disciples were puzzled, but he had already gone out.
Meng Zhixue concentrated intently for a moment, then was the first to follow. Next were Yu Qingli, He Zhenzhang, and the rest of the Academy Disciples. Meng Qing’er lingered last. She frowned and said to Nie Quan: “Your rotten temper! Investigating a case is about investigation. Whoever makes sense speaks. Why talk about family background? Why talk about ancestors? If we truly compared ancestors, could eighteen generations of your family combined match even Immortal Master Fang Chi alone?”
Nie Quan felt choked by her words and shouted: “Why are you taking his side?”
Meng Qing’er replied: “Because he’s handsome!”
Nie Quan choked even more, so furious he didn’t know where to vent it. Two trails of white mist snorted from his nose…
…
“You all think the cracked houses and smashed doorframes in this village were caused by a fight?”
Fang Cun led the Academy Disciples into the village, scanning his surroundings coldly. “But if a real fight happened here, the traces would be wildly chaotic. Yet all these cracks and damages form neat patterns sloping towards a single direction. Doesn’t look like fighting at all. Seems more like someone walked through the village, casually striking and making these marks…”
He walked forward slowly, picked up half a broken hoe from the ground, and said: “If this truly broke during a fight with demons, there’d be claw marks, tooth marks, or at least signs of being shattered by Demonic Qi impact. But this hoe… it was clearly snapped off by human hands!”
“The shredded corpses on the ground, scattered everywhere – when pieced together, amount to at most three or five people. Clearly not torn apart by beasts, but ripped apart by immense physical strength, just mimicking the effect… While saying this, Fang Cun arrived at the spot in the village stained with the most blood. He pointed and said softly: “Most crucially… this blood isn’t from living people. Nor was it splattered during a fight. It’s dead man’s blood, deliberately splashed here! Because dead blood lacks vital essence, it flows slowly. That’s why it formed patterns like this!”
…
After this speech, the surrounding Academy Disciples fell completely silent.
They stared, dumbfounded, as if hearing something from the heavens.
They were merely a group of Academy Disciples. They had learned many Qi Refining techniques, understood some mystic arts and combat skills, and usually handled plenty of Demon-Subduing Dispatches and tasks at the Academy. But all they ever did was slay demons, drive away vengeful spirits, or help villagers. When had they ever encountered anything like this?
Now, listening to Fang Cun, they were at a loss…
His words seemed understandable, yet they didn’t truly grasp them. What should they do?
Argue with him? Agree with him?
How to make themselves look both intelligent and dignified?
“Nonsense!”
Amidst the heavy silence, Nie Quan, who had quarreled with Fang Cun earlier, was the first to react. He shouted: “These villagers died seven days ago! Their blood congealed long ago! How can you tell living blood from dead blood? Sure, some old-timers at the Demon Capture Bureau know methods to distinguish blood. But that takes decades of experience! How dare you spout nonsense here?”
“How those veterans discern blood, I don’t know!”
Fang Cun turned, giving Nie Quan a cold look. He spoke calmly: “But we Trainers cultivate a breath of Innate Qi. We can also sense innate energy. If someone’s innate energy is strong and sensitive enough, they can roughly tell how long ago the innate energy departed from this blood. I can’t specify the exact number of days. But I can sense this: though the blood here is all mixed together, it clearly has two types. One type has faint traces of innate energy still lingering within it. The far greater portion feels dead, withered… clearly gone for a long time…”
“So, only a small amount of fresh blood is from the massacre seven days ago. Most of it is dead man’s blood, deliberately splashed here!”
“Using innate energy to sense blood…”
Hearing this, the Disciples truly felt they were listening to heavenly scripture. They stood stunned for a long while.
Though still somewhat confused, a few Disciples suddenly stepped forward quickly – Yu Qingli, He Zhenzhang, and others. They went to the spot Fang Cun had indicated. They each dipped their fingers in the blood, carefully sensing. After a moment, their expressions changed. Yu Qingli nodded slightly towards Meng Zhixue. He Zhenzhang stammered: “I… I don’t understand the theory either. But I can feel it… though the bloodstains are mixed together, they… they are somewhat different…”
Nie Quan stared dumbly, then shouted: “Only a slight difference means…”
Fang Cun frowned at him. “Only sensing a slight difference means your Innate Qi simply isn’t strong enough!”
Nie Quan was rendered speechless.
He Zhenzhang, beside him, suddenly looked awkward. He withdrew his neck and stepped back.
The surrounding Academy Disciples now looked back and forth between each other as they regarded Second Young Master Fang.
Earlier, when everyone was investigating the village together, this Second Young Master Fang had only glanced around casually. Who would have thought that in this short time, he had discovered so many things? Especially… How had he even thought to distinguish the different types of blood covering the ground?
…
“I only felt suspicion before… Now I see where the problem lies…”
As Fang Cun, seeming both casual yet strangely focused, laid out the various suspicious points one by one, the Disciples all moved closer, trying to hear clearly. Meng Zhixue, however, lingered behind the others. Watching Fang Cun speak so articulately, she slowly breathed out a sigh. Her ordinarily cool, silent, almost jade-like face seemed to reveal a faint hint of a smile.
“Senior Sister Meng, what are you smiling at?”
Meng Qing’er tilted her head curiously towards Meng Zhixue, staring at her face.
“Did I smile?”
Meng Zhixue turned to look at her, her expression already cool once more.
Meng Qing’er wasn’t fooled: “Absolutely did!”
Meng Zhixue turned her gaze back towards Fang Cun. After a moment, she said softly: “I saw Immortal Master Fang Chi once before… only a glimpse of his back… But the two brothers… They truly look alike…”
…
“If it’s truly as Second Young Master Fang says… that someone deliberately forged these battle traces… what’s their purpose?”
“Right? Who would bother coming to this wretched, remote place just to arrange tricks like this?”
“Framing the fox demon… why?”
“If we follow Second Young Master Fang’s words, that person’s soul-manipulation technique is so strong, their cultivation must be very high… So how could they leave so many clues?”
…
In fact, hearing Fang Cun’s explanation, the surrounding Disciples grew even more confused.
In their momentary bafflement, chatter erupted. They questioned urgently, a flurry of voices rising around them.
“It’s simple!”
Fang Cun glanced around. The disciples instantly fell quiet, listening attentively.
He pondered while speaking slowly: “In certain critical details, the opponent laid extremely clever, meticulous traps. But the arrangements in the village were inevitably crude. This isn’t hard to understand. Executing the mystic art aspect only required skillful sorcery – splitting intent, snapping fingers. Fooling Qi Refiners was probably easy. But framing the village scene demanded immense effort, requiring attention to countless details… much more prone to oversights… Qi Refiners command incredible mystic techniques and awe-inspiring powers. But to someone who understands Qi Refiners… especially those skilled in using Qi Refining methods to investigate… they become easier to mislead…”
The Disciples heard this reasoning for the first time. They were stunned. Instinctively, they couldn’t grasp it.
That Qi Refiner methods were formidable was universally known. Why would he say Qi Refiners were more easily deceived?
“And this elaborate scheme… I think only has one reason…”
Fang Cun didn’t elaborate further. He thought seriously, then slowly voiced his final suspicion:
“The people of Elm Coin Town… they probably are still alive.”
…
“Huh?”
The Disciples were all astonished upon hearing this. Wide-eyed disbelief filled their expressions.
The villagers of Elm Coin Town had vanished seven days ago. Yet he claimed they might still be alive?
Alive… why?
What kind of person would painstakingly go to such lengths to achieve such a thing?
Nie Quan stifled himself for a while, then blurted out: “Th-…!”
The first word barely escaped his mouth when Meng Qing’er suddenly turned her head and snapped: “Shut up!”
Nie Quan instantly looked aggrieved and humiliated.
Meng Zhixue stepped forward from behind others. Still cool and jade-like, she spoke calmly: “What does Second Young Master Fang suspect?”
Fang Cun’s expression showed nothing – or perhaps because his mind was churning, he didn’t manage emotions. He seemed abnormally calm, almost cold: “That person deliberately misled the Academy Disciples, framed Green Fox Mountain… even deliberately lured the demons of Green Fox Mountain to attack the village at that specific time… left behind a crazed man to provide ‘evidence’… going to such elaborate, painstaking trouble… their ultimate goal must be vast. And looking at this insignificant Elm Coin Town… apart from its people… there really is nothing here worth such attention from a powerful Qi Refiner…”
Meng Zhixue instantly realized what he implied. She asked urgently: “If… if the villagers aren’t dead… then where might they be now…?”
“Originally, this should be the Demon Capture Bureau’s affair. But since everyone is asking…”
Fang Cun gave a light sigh, shaking his head slowly. Instead of answering directly, he crouched down to face the Little Fox Girl beside him. He said gently: “You live in the mountains. Compared to Willow Lake City, you’re much closer to villages like this in the highlands. Have you ever heard of any… strange happenings… in these mountains?”
The Little Fox Girl looked down. Frightened, it seemed, she refused to speak now.
The surrounding Disciples felt their anxiety peak, practically wanting to pry her mouth open.
Fang Cun seemed far more patient. He patted the smaller head gently. Nearby, he picked a white wildflower.
Gazing into her eyes, he said: “Tell me, and I’ll give you this flower.”
Some Disciples watching closely frowned at this tactic…
“I…”
The Little Fox Girl glanced at the flower in Fang Cun’s hand. Maybe seeing his reassuring smile more, she unexpectedly spoke, in a whisper: “My… my mother… before… she accidentally entered a valley… then… never came out again… Father… Father went to find her… came back hurt… He said… that place… very dangerous… told us… told us all never to go near it…”
Hearing this, everyone present was stunned.
Fang Cun, however, smiled warmly. He gently tucked the little flower behind the Little Fox Girl’s ear. He patted her small head again.
“Good girl. Now tell me… where is that valley?”
“I… I don’t know…”
The Little Fox Girl trembled, her voice hushed with fear.
The others became visibly more agitated. Fang Cun seemed profoundly patient, speaking softly: “Then… where did your mother have her accident? Can you tell me that?”
The Little Fox Girl paused. A shadow of sadness crossed her features. She cautiously lifted her hand and pointed south. “…Should be… over… over near Ghost Fang Peak…”
Silence descended again upon the Academy Disciples within the ruined village.