The Scapegoat

"Brother Tu Shan."

Tu Shan Jun made a gesture for silence as agreed upon, then shook his head. "You needn't worry about the children at the orphanage. They are all well. The most urgent matter is to uncover who the murderer is, so you can get out of this predicament. Otherwise, once autumn comes, you will have to take a trip to the execution platform at the Heavenly Mechanism Prefecture."

"Think carefully. Gongsun Wan invited you out that day—what happened afterward?"

"And during the sword dance, was there ever a moment when a spirit sword slipped out of control?"

"If the true culprit behind the scenes controlled the spirit swords with magical power or divine sense, there will certainly be lingering traces of spiritual essence. Perhaps once the cultivators of the Heavenly Mechanism Prefecture examine them carefully, there will be an answer," Tu Shan Jun said.

He was naturally saying this for Xu Sanniang to hear, but not only for Xu Sanniang.

"From the sound of it, she is not the murderer." Zhong Han frowned tightly.

Old Wu the Fifth, standing beside him, wanted to laugh but did not dare. He could only force down the twitching of his face.

"You have something to say?"

"Reporting to you, sir, how could a Qi Refiner possibly kill a Golden Core True Person? Even with this lowly one's cultivation, the gap between me and a True Person is like heaven and earth. There must be some hidden circumstances," Old Wu the Fifth said cautiously. He did not know this lord's preferences either. If he said something wrong or spoke too much, he would surely gain no favor.

"Nonsense!"

"Of course I know she is not the murderer. But if she is not, then who is? Should we just seize some insignificant