Make Your Move!

"Miss Phoenix Butterfly!"

Liang Yue lunged forward, trying to help her up, but her chest had already been soaked through with black blood. She was barely clinging to life; clearly, she would not survive.

In her final daze, she laboriously raised a hand and reached toward her back shoulder.

Following her hand, Liang Yue saw a patch of purple-black tattooing on her fair shoulder. It depicted a slender, strange flower with three conjoined blossoms, a flower he had never seen before.

She had said that man left something for her. Could this have been it?

In the blink of an eye, Phoenix Butterfly's breath had ceased.

The beauty who had been so vibrant and alluring moments ago had died just like that.

Before he could think further, gusts of wind-cutting sounds came from outside—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. In an instant, several figures had appeared beside Liang Yue.

It seemed that, seeing Phoenix Butterfly dead, the Evil Extermination Division personnel watching outside had stopped pretending and all revealed themselves.

Wen Yifan was among them.

She still wore her golden hairpin and red robes, peerlessly beautiful, yet her eyes carried a sharp, murderous chill.

"Senior Brother Shang, have you all been guarding the surrounding area?" she asked.

"That is correct." The one answering was a young man in blue-and-white robes, with a broad forehead and cloudlike temples. His nose bridge was high, his eye sockets deep, and he looked rather upright. "These past few days, we have kept Water Ripple Courtyard under surveillance. Absolutely no suspicious person approached this place."

Someone had already moved Liang Yue aside and carefully examined the corpse before reporting, "She died the same way as Yu Wenlong. Both were poisoned by the Heart-Destroying Gu."

"The Heart-Destroying Gu again." The young man surnamed Shang murmured.

"What kind of poison is that?" Liang Yue asked.

The young man glanced at him and answered, "It is a gu poison produced in Nine Yang. Once consumed, it will gnaw through the heart and veins within moments, killing the victim. Yet before that, there will be no sensation whatsoever."

Having gotten his answer, Liang Yue turned to look at Phoenix Butterfly, whose fragrance had vanished and jade had perished upon the floor. "She has been here with me this whole time. I can guarantee she did not eat anything."

As he spoke, he suddenly felt somewhat worried.

Surely I'm not a suspect again?

What had been going on lately? It seemed that wherever he went, people died.

Fortunately, Wen Yifan was reasonable. She said, "Liang Yue was someone I temporarily asked to help. I have also been in constant contact with him through the Following Jade Talisman, so he should not be under suspicion."

"I was not suspecting him either. It is simply truly strange—how exactly were these people poisoned?" The young man frowned in thought, then said, "Since Phoenix Butterfly is already dead, bring over the people from Mystic Sound Pavilion and question them."

Though they said that, Liang Yue knew that the moment he went back, they would immediately investigate his identity and background from top to bottom.

After all, he had appeared twice in succession at scenes connected to Nine Yang spies, and this time, he had even become the sole witness to Phoenix Butterfly's final moments.

Moreover, he had the means and opportunity to commit the crime.

If the Evil Extermination Bureau could casually overlook someone like that, the Imperial Court would not have trusted them to deal with Nine Yang spies.

It was only because he had been invited to help, and there was no targeted evidence against him, that they remained polite.

Perhaps because he had grown used to it, he was actually not as nervous as he had been when Zhen Changzhi died.

Investigate away.

Whatever.

While they sent someone to summon the others, Liang Yue also exchanged a few words with the Evil Extermination Division personnel and learned that the man was called Shang Yunhai, a successor of the Dragon Transformation Branch of the Mystic Gate.

Wen Yifan, meanwhile, was a successor of the Sword Control Branch of the Mystic Gate. Both branches were among the Eight Branches.

The first to arrive was naturally Phoenix Madam, the manager of the pavilion. The moment she saw so many official figures standing in the room with killing intent radiating from them, then saw Phoenix Butterfly's corpse on the ground, her face immediately turned deathly pale.

"What happened?" she asked tremblingly. "What happened here?"

Shang Yunhai said warmly, "Do not panic. Miss Phoenix Butterfly may have been connected to a case and was murdered. We called you here because we wish to ask about a few matters."

His voice was gentle and generous as well, making people feel reassured upon hearing it.

"Ah..." Phoenix Madam looked at Wen Yifan, then at Shang Yunhai. "I was wondering how a young lady with such bearing and appearance could come here to make a living. So it turns out..."

"Did Phoenix Butterfly previously come into contact with anyone suspicious? Do you know?" Wen Yifan did not exchange further pleasantries with her and asked directly.

"I do not know much. I am only responsible for receiving and seeing off guests in the front. The affairs of each courtyard are decided by the girls themselves," Phoenix Madam answered. "As for Phoenix Butterfly's daily matters, you should ask her personal maid."

"Bring her here," Wen Yifan said.

"Miss—" The moment Phoenix Butterfly's personal maid entered, she threw herself beside the corpse and burst into tears. "Miss, what happened to you?"

"You were responsible for Miss Phoenix Butterfly's meals these past few days. Did she eat anything of unknown origin?" Shang Yunhai asked only after she had cried for a while.

"Probably not..." the maid replied through sobs. "Everything Miss ate was food I collected from the kitchen. The kitchen masters specially prepared it for her."

"We secretly inspected all the food and wine that entered Water Ripple Courtyard these past two days," Shang Yunhai added. "There was indeed no problem."

Liang Yue quietly observed the furnishings in the room. There was a row of bottles and jars on the shelf, all covered in a fair amount of dust, while the chest contained a pile of flutes made from various materials.

But his own identity was also under suspicion, so it would not do for him to touch things carelessly.

"Miss..." The little maid lay beside Phoenix Butterfly, weeping miserably.

"The Heart-Destroying Gu acts within moments after entering the body. In such a short time, the murderer should not have gone far," Shang Yunhai said. "We still need to investigate the personnel within Water Ripple Courtyard."

"Seal off Water Ripple Courtyard first. Take all of Phoenix Butterfly's belongings back for examination and see whether there are any items connected to Yu Wenlong." Wen Yifan continued issuing orders calmly, seeming utterly unaffected by death and failure.

Liang Yue asked again, "Didn't Miss Wen say earlier that she noticed someone spying on your people and went to investigate? There might be clues there."

"After Junior Sister Wen sent word, we dispatched people to follow them," Shang Yunhai answered. "Those two displayed no unusual behavior. After the performance ended, they left Mystic Sound Pavilion, then shook off our people after crossing several streets. They definitely possessed cultivation as well, but they should have nothing to do with the murder at Water Ripple Courtyard."

"I see..." Liang Yue turned back. Another useless clue.

Phoenix Butterfly had not received outside guests for two or three days. Under the Evil Extermination Division's secret surveillance, the only people who could have come into contact with her during that time were Phoenix Madam, the maid, and himself.

It seemed that if there was a murderer, there was a high probability it was one of those three.

What a headache.

Why was it always him?

The Evil Extermination Division personnel had already begun wrapping things up. Shang Yunhai said to Liang Yue, "Captain Liang, you have worked hard this time."

"Ah." Liang Yue sighed. "It is regrettable that I could not help. She even died right in front of me."

"Those Nine Yang spies are crafty and cunning to the extreme. If they were easy to deal with, they would not have called for us," Wen Yifan said, looking into the black night beyond the window, her gaze bright as torchlight. "But since we have come, we will definitely drag every last one of them out."

This night was far from peaceful.

Aside from the murder at Mystic Sound Pavilion in Red Sleeve Brothel, earlier that night, a group of uninvited guests had also arrived outside the Liang Family home in Peaceful Lane, Fukang Ward, not far away.

"This is that brat's home. Hall Master Bai gave the order: break his arms and legs, then toss him outside the city. Remember, do not reveal yourselves. If things are exposed and you are caught, say only that it was an impulsive act. Do not drag the gang into it. The higher-ups will get you out soon enough," a black-clad man in the lead instructed.

"Don't worry. We're all fresh faces recruited from out of town. Even if that brat sees us, he definitely won't recognize anyone," a scar-faced man with a fierce aura said with a grin.

"Do not be careless. The wind is tight right now, and that brat is still more or less an official figure. Be sure to be cautious," the leader said, glaring at him as he repeated his warning.

Another black-clad man laughed. "A piddling subordinate guard counts as an official figure? Hahaha."

The leader frowned and said, "Do not underestimate this task just because it is simple. It is important. If we fail this time and Hall Master Bai reports it upward, just wait for the gang leader's punishment."

The black-clad men opposite him immediately grimaced and stopped laughing around.

"Hide yourselves in a moment and wait patiently. The Imperial Capital Guard should be coming home soon. When someone in Imperial Capital Guard attire enters that door, strike immediately. Do not let him make a single sound. Understood?"

"Understood!" everyone answered in low voices.

In the narrow Peaceful Lane, the black-clad men slipped one after another into the shadows opposite the Liang Family's entrance. At a glance, not the slightest flaw could be seen.

Their current information was that the subordinate guard possessed Second Realm martial cultivation. Thus, the Dragon Tooth Gang had dispatched a Third Realm martial artist leading several First Realm and Second Realm thugs. It was basically a foolproof arrangement.

To ensure absolute secrecy, so that even if they were exposed it would not lead back to the Dragon Tooth Gang, all those sent were vicious thugs recruited from out of town, people who had never shown their faces to anyone in Fukang Ward. Though none of them had seen Liang Yue before, that was precisely the safest arrangement—it meant Liang Yue definitely had not seen them either.

It did not matter that they did not know their target. They had found his doorstep; surely they could not attack the wrong person.

These men recruited from out of town by the Dragon Tooth Gang's Tiger Hall were desperadoes who specialized in dirty work, each carrying several murder cases on his back. Like tigers and wolves awaiting prey, they patiently lurked in the shadows.

After another short while, a figure flashed past the mouth of the alley.

Everyone immediately held their breath and restrained their auras, lest a martial artist's surging blood and heartbeat be sensed.

Clack, clack.

The newcomer's footsteps crunched over pebbles as he approached. Sure enough, he stopped before the Liang Family gate and raised a hand to open it.

Looking at his back, the black-clad men saw that he was indeed dressed in Imperial Capital Guard attire.

The target had come home!

The leader swept out a hand, giving the command. In an instant, everyone pounced.

Make your move!

Good morning.