Brush, Ink, Paper, Inkstone

"We didn't. I was only saying that at the time. We didn't steal the Demon Wolf." Tian Ling'er shouted angrily.

"Didn't steal it? Then how did the Demon Wolf disappear? You must have stolen it, killed it, and put it in your Storage Bracelet." Tang Xiao You pointed at Tian Ling'er and shouted.

Hearing Tang Xiao You's words, Zhong Shan raised an eyebrow and immediately saw through the whole chain of events. A moment ago, he had still been saying that Tian Ling'er had released the Demon Wolf, but now he had changed his story and claimed that she had killed it? It seemed the Demon Wolf's disappearance had nothing to do with an outsider stealing it. Tang Xiao You clearly couldn't wash his hands of it.

"I didn't! I didn't!" Tian Ling'er panicked. She also pulled out Red Silk, as though she intended to strike Tang Xiao You and clear her name.

"See? See? The moment I said that, you pulled out a magical treasure. If it wasn't you, then who was it?" Tang Xiao You immediately shouted.

Originally, Zhao Suo Xiang had not suspected Tian Ling'er. He had been more suspicious of the four people from Bright Sword Pavilion. After all, during the time he had spoken with Zhong Shan, he had felt that Zhong Shan was not the sort of person who would steal. However, when Tian Ling'er brought out Red Silk, Zhao Suo Xiang began to waver. If it wasn't you, why were you so agitated?

"Hand it over! Hand over the Demon Wolf's corpse, and my Void Spirit Pearl as well. You—you actually cheated and tampered with the dice!" Tang Xiao You pointed at Tian Ling'er and Zhong Shan and shouted angrily.

"I didn't! We didn't steal it! Zhong Shan, tell him!" Tian Ling'er immediately shouted at Zhong Shan. Although she had drawn Red Silk, she would never start a fight over a single disagreement.

"I know who stole it." Zhong Shan suddenly spoke.

The moment Zhong Shan said this, everyone visibly froze and looked toward him. A flicker of surprise crossed Zhao Suo Xiang's eyes, while Tian Ling'er's eyes filled with disbelief.

Of the four people from Bright Sword Pavilion opposite them, everyone except Zhong Di revealed a trace of disbelief. Zhong Di, however, swallowed nervously, and fear flashed through his eyes.

If Zhong Shan said he knew, then he definitely knew. Zhong Di had developed this conviction over many years. No, it was not a habit—Zhong Shan definitely knew.

"You know? If you didn't steal it, how would you know? I think you're the ones who stole it." Tang Xiao You sneered.

"Zhong Shan, do you really know?" Zhao Suo Xiang asked.

"Of course. You'll know who it was in a moment." Zhong Shan's voice was low and firm.

Seeing how confident Zhong Shan was, everyone furrowed their brows.

"Bring me a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. I'll tell you immediately who stole the Demon Wolf." Zhong Shan's voice was low and firm.

"Brush, ink, paper, and inkstone? Hmph, can those things really find the person who stole the Demon Wolf?" Tang Xiao You said coldly.

"Bring the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and carry over a long table as well." Zhao Suo Xiang spoke to a servant from the Zhao Family on the other side.

"Yes." The servant immediately nodded.

Before long, a long writing desk had been set up in front of Zhong Shan, with none of the Four Treasures of the Study missing.

Seeing this, Tian Ling'er's large eyes blinked repeatedly. At Kaiyang Sect, her father also had a study, though he rarely used it. She knew what the Four Treasures of the Study were for, but could these things really find a thief?

Tian Ling'er did not believe it, and neither did anyone else. To find the culprit with these things, there would have to be a ghost.

Only Zhong Di began to feel uneasy when he saw Zhong Shan seriously arranging everything. Zhong Di believed in Zhong Shan—a belief formed through decades of habit.

In Zhong Di's eyes, Zhong Shan seemed to have nothing he could not accomplish apart from cultivation.

"I'll see how you plan to find the wolf thief with these things." Tang Xiao You sneered.

Everyone watched Zhong Shan, but Zhong Shan ignored Tang Xiao You's mockery. Instead, he slowly took the ink stick and began grinding it against the stone inkstone.

Grinding ink? But there was no water. Didn't grinding ink require water to produce ink?

Zhong Shan ignored everyone's doubts and continued grinding. Without any water, the ink stick gradually became fine powder—extremely fine. Zhong Shan pressed down on it repeatedly for a while, finally grinding half an ink stick entirely into powder. Fine, fine powder.

Carefully, he poured the powder onto a sheet of rice paper and divided it into two portions.

From among the brushes, he selected one with soft, fine bristles. Carrying some of the ink powder, he walked to the glass cover.

Everyone watched Zhong Shan's actions, their eyes filled with confusion. Tang Xiao You, however, wore a cold sneer.

Zhong Shan dabbed the brush into the ink powder and gently brushed it across the glass cover.

Under everyone's astonished gazes, he gently brushed along the glass cover, as though he intended to cover every corner.

At first, everyone was merely curious. But then Tian Ling'er suddenly saw a dark patch.

The glass cover was gleaming and smooth as crystal. How had a dark patch suddenly appeared on it?

"What is that? It's in circles." Tian Ling'er stared in wonder at the circular black patterns appearing on the glass cover.

"Those are fingerprints." Zhao Suo Xiang immediately understood, his face lighting up with delight.

Fingerprints—they really were fingerprints. There were rings of fingerprints on the glass.

Zhong Shan finished brushing on the portion of ink powder in his hand, revealing every fingerprint on the glass cover.

"Anyone who touched this glass cover after the rain should dab their hands in this ink powder and press them onto the rice paper." Zhong Shan tossed aside the brush and spoke to everyone.

"How could this be? What's going on? Why are there fingerprints on it? It was you! You must have drawn them on just now!" Tang Xiao You immediately exclaimed in shock.

"Drawn them? Hmph, try drawing them yourself. As long as your hands aren't clean, they'll leave traces wherever you touch. They just can't be seen by the naked eye. When ink powder is scattered over those traces, the fingerprints appear. There was heavy rain yesterday, so the fingerprints from before must have been washed away. Whoever touched the glass cover after the rain would have left their fingerprints on it. Aside from Tang Si feeding the Demon Wolf, whoever else touched it is the thief. To clear yourselves of suspicion first, everyone should press their fingerprints." Zhong Shan explained.

"Zhong Shan, you're too clever!" Tian Ling'er grabbed Zhong Shan's arm and spoke excitedly.

She definitely had not touched it, so there was no way her fingerprints could be on it.

Zhong Shan demonstrated first. He dipped all ten fingers in the ink powder and left ten fingerprints on the rice paper.

Tian Ling'er immediately followed his example, and Zhao Suo Xiang did the same.

Tang Xiao You clearly did not believe it—he absolutely did not believe it. He thought Zhong Shan was deliberately playing a trick to frighten him into confessing. After all, Tang Xiao You had taken a bath before acting last night. His body had been perfectly clean, and he had washed his hands extremely thoroughly as well. There was no way he could have left any traces.

One after another, everyone left their fingerprints on the rice paper.

Tian Ling'er immediately took the rice paper over for comparison.

"There they are! There they are! It's Tang Xiao You! It's Tang Xiao You!" Tian Ling'er shouted excitedly, her face full of happiness, as though she had solved the great case herself.

"That's impossible! That's impossible!" Tang Xiao You immediately refused to believe it.

Then Tang Xiao You rushed to the glass cover and stared at the fingerprints. His face was filled with disbelief.

"That's impossible! You must have drawn them on just now! You must have drawn them on just now!" Tang Xiao You said in disbelief, repeatedly pointing at Zhong Shan and claiming that he had drawn them.

"Hmph, there's only one set of fingerprints on it. How could he have drawn them? Men, search every room here!" Zhao Suo Xiang pointed his spear forward, his face blazing with anger.

"That's impossible! Impossible! I washed my hands clean! I washed them clean!" Tang Xiao You shouted.

Looking at Tang Xiao You's disbelieving face, Zhong Shan sneered. Washed them clean? Did washing them clean mean they wouldn't leave traces? These traces weren't caused by outside dirt clinging to your hands. They were secretions from inside your body. At the Innate Stage, as the body purged its internal impurities, it produced even more, and at a faster rate.

"Stop!" Liu Ming shouted angrily.

"Continue!" Zhao Suo Xiang shouted angrily.

After all, half the guards here belonged to the Zhao Family. Naturally, they immediately took orders and charged toward the rooms.

"Bastard!" Liu Ming shouted furiously and turned to intercept them.

Whoosh!

Zhao Suo Xiang pointed his spear at Liu Ming.

"Brother Liu, could it be that this Demon Wolf was really stolen by your people?" Zhao Suo Xiang asked in a low voice.

"Found it! Found it!" A servant suddenly ran out of one of the rooms, carrying a Demon Wolf in his arms.

"Liu Ming, I never thought it really was you. According to the rules, you won't be allowed to share in this Demon Wolf anymore." Zhao Suo Xiang narrowed his eyes, and a trace of disappointment flashed through them.

"It's all your fault! All your fault! Men, fire your arrows! Shoot them dead! Shoot them dead!" Tang Xiao You shouted.

At Tang Xiao You's cry, a large number of Tang Family guards rushed over from the distant corridor.

Looking at Tang Xiao You before him, Zhong Shan did not waste a word arguing. He raised the great saber in his hand, Nightmare.

Heaven Splitting Strike!

The saber came crashing down. You pinned the blame on me? Our grudge had already deepened beyond measure, so there was no need to say more. Cultivators gained longer lifespans, and their grudges would only grow deeper. They would not vanish with the passing of a brief span of years or with one person's death. That was why so many cultivators constantly spoke of karma. To settle karma was nothing more than wiping out the other party's future development. Kill!

Clang~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tang Xiao You reacted quickly as well, swiftly raising his sword to meet Zhong Shan's attack. However, Zhong Shan's momentum was too fierce. With one slash, Tang Xiao You was sent flying two meters back. When one foot struck the ground, the floor tiles beneath him instantly crumbled into dust.

"Innate Third Stage? Hahaha." A vicious look appeared on Tang Xiao You's face as he thrust his sword toward Zhong Shan.

At that moment, Liu Ming and Wang Gui also drew their swords.

Seeing Zhong Shan engage in battle, Tian Ling'er naturally sent Red Silk crashing toward Wang Gui as well.

Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Red Silk carried tremendous force as it suddenly slammed into Wang Gui's sword. At first, Wang Gui had paid no attention to Tian Ling'er's strength. Only when Red Silk collided with his sword did he realize that something was wrong. This woman's strength was actually no weaker than his own. The impact nearly knocked the sword from his hand.

"Liu Ming, get lost!" Zhao Suo Xiang angrily pointed his sword at Senior Brother Liu Ming.

Clang, clang, clang... Zhong Shan's saber and Tang Xiao You's sword collided, releasing tremendous ringing sounds. The two attacked without pause. Tang Xiao You was at the Innate Fourth Stage, while Zhong Shan was only at the Innate Third Stage. However, Zhong Shan's saber technique was too ferocious. Even with Third Stage strength, it unleashed the power of the Innate Fourth Stage. At this moment, Zhong Shan still had not used the Heavenly Devil Body Tempering Great Technique.

P.S. Are there any more recommendation votes? (^__^)...