Bai Xiaosheng: It's Over! Completely Over!

Stay calm!

Though the current situation clearly meant he was under suspicion, there was no solid evidence. Surely these people would not do anything rash.

Bai Xiaosheng thought back over everything he had done these past two days and found no flaws, which eased him slightly.

But then he gritted his teeth.

Lu Xiaofeng!

This young man had absolutely no martial virtue. He had actually set a trap here on purpose!

And tragically, the fish had taken the bait!

It turned out that Lu Xiaofeng had gone with Long Xiaoyun to prepare the wine, tea, and snacks, acting as though he trusted him completely. He had even directly stated that he needed to use the latrine.

Naturally, Long Xiaoyun could not have been happier.

Yet Lu Xiaofeng had actually returned to the main hall and told everyone his plan, saying that he wanted to fish.

At the time, everyone thought he meant to fish for Long Xiaoyun and catch him with real evidence. Thus, no one, including Bai Xiaosheng, tried to stop him.

In his haste, Long Xiaoyun could not obtain any particularly potent poison, so he used ordinary Sleeping Powder.

Everyone cooperated with his plan until this very moment.

Only then did Bai Xiaosheng suddenly realize that Lu Xiaofeng truly had intended to fish—but Long Xiaoyun had not been his target.

The reason he had created that illusion for everyone was to deceive him!

At that moment, everyone else, especially Long Xiaoyun, stared in astonishment at the figure who had suddenly appeared.

"Come on. Don't let the real culprit get away."

The figure had been about to slip into the room when a chill suddenly ran down her back. She turned around and saw several people standing behind her.

Just then, moonlight broke through the clouds and fell before the little building, allowing everyone to see the figure's face.

It was Lin Xian'er!

Lu Xiaofeng smiled. "Miss Lin, could you explain why you are here at this hour? What were you planning to do? Also, Manor Lord Long, please immediately send someone to invite those female warriors over. Have them search Miss Lin Xian'er and see whether she has something on her."

Something?

Of course she did!

A box of silver needles engraved with exquisite plum blossoms!

That night, Lin Xian'er had overheard Zhou Ming and Lu Xiaofeng's conversation and clearly understood that Lu Xiaofeng had already decided she was the Plum Blossom Thief.

She had to find a way to resolve this matter.

Zhou Ming's mistaken deduction happened to give her an idea.

Bai Xiaosheng's arrival afterward had been somewhat unexpected, but it had helped her patch up several holes in her plan.

Thus, Lin Xian'er had urgently arranged for someone to forge this batch of Plum Blossom Silver Needles to frame Lin Shiyin.

Ordinary silver needles would not do.

Precisely because they were so ordinary, such needles could be found everywhere. She could simply claim to have studied medicine and explain everything away.

That was why specially made Plum Blossom Silver Needles were necessary.

On this snowy night, she had followed her plan. She killed Li Zhen, hid the map in his clothes, and secretly steered public opinion toward Lin Shiyin.

She had also hidden the Plum Blossom Silver Needles in Lin Shiyin's Hairpin Wooden Box long before this.

The two women were as close as sisters, and Lin Shiyin had no idea of her true nature. Thus, doing so had been very easy.

But what followed had gradually slipped beyond her control. At Lu Xiaofeng's suggestion, everyone had actually chosen not to search Lin Shiyin immediately, instead waiting until dawn.

She had wanted to stay with Long Xiaoyun and the others, but Lu Xiaofeng had turned her down as well.

His attitude then had made her even more uneasy.

After returning, she had remained anxious and unable to sleep.

Then she suddenly saw a figure flash past outside her window, looking strangely like Long Xiaoyun.

Startled, she immediately sensed that something was wrong. But there were other female martial artists beside her, and none of them had been sleeping deeply.

After all, one would always remain somewhat vigilant around strangers.

So she could only find a way to secretly knock those women unconscious before hurrying to check the main hall.

There, she saw everyone sprawled out asleep, while Long Xiaoyun alone was nowhere to be found.

In truth, everyone had already left by then.

What she had seen were guards specially arranged by Lu Xiaofeng, dressed similarly to the others and pretending to sleep in the main hall.

In fact, the figure of Long Xiaoyun she had first seen had also been Lu Xiaofeng in disguise.

But Lin Xian'er had been so frantic that she had not had time to inspect things closely before rushing here.

And then she had been cornered.

Lin Xian'er was frantic, but under Lu Xiaofeng's direction, no one was allowed to approach her. They merely waited for the female martial artists to arrive. Once they searched her, they indeed found a row of Plum Blossom Silver Needles!

These had originally been meant to nail Lin Shiyin's guilt beyond doubt.

Now, they nailed hers instead!

Long Xiaoyun clenched his fists. "My wife called you her sister. She welcomed you into my home and never deprived you of food or drink. Why have you done all this today?"

Lin Xian'er glanced at Bai Xiaosheng.

Bai Xiaosheng merely raised his head to look at the sky, his fingers twitching a few times.

Lin Xian'er immediately steadied herself, though a look of hatred appeared on her face. "Sisters? Yes, she treated me very well. But the better she treated me, the more jealous I became!"

She claimed that she had framed Lin Shiyin out of jealousy, and that everything tonight, including Li Zhen's death, had been her doing.

Zhao Zhengyi stepped forward and asked, "Then what is your connection to the Plum Blossom Thief?"

"None. I merely borrowed his name and imitated his methods."

Killing one person had never been a major matter in the martial world.

But the Plum Blossom Thief had plundered in every direction recently, terrorizing both the righteous and criminal factions alike. The forces he had offended were not merely one or two.

And she had also been one of the causes behind the Golden Silk Armor incident that followed.

If people learned that she was the Plum Blossom Thief, everyone would realize that she had played the entire world for fools.

The fury of the whole world would probably tear her to pieces.

Naturally, she would never admit it.

By now, the many martial artists in the manor had been alarmed and gathered once more.

But when they heard that Lin Xian'er had nothing to do with the Plum Blossom Thief, that she had merely framed Lin Shiyin out of jealousy under his name, many immediately lost interest.

They had come here to use the Plum Blossom Thief incident to make names for themselves.

If it had nothing to do with that, then Lin Xian'er's crime amounted to nothing more than killing an insignificant nobody.

Who would care about such nonsense?

There were even several of Lin Xian'er's admirers present who immediately began speaking in her defense.

Still, she had killed someone, and it concerned the Red Leaf Small Inn. Naturally, they could not let Lin Xian'er go so easily.

Lu Xiaofeng said, "The deceased, Li Zhen, was ultimately a man of the Red Leaf Small Inn. How about we imprison Lin Xian'er for now, then contact the Red Leaf Small Inn?"

The proposal won everyone's approval.

Thus, Lin Xian'er was temporarily locked up.

Seeing this, Bai Xiaosheng also breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Lin Xian'er had not confessed to the most important matter, he could resolve the rest.

But his greatest problem now was that Lu Xiaofeng still deeply suspected him.

Over the next two days, Bai Xiaosheng discovered that no matter where he went, Lu Xiaofeng, Li Xunhuan, and Long Xiaoyun always seemed to appear nearby.

This left him without even a moment to spare. Rescuing Lin Xian'er was nothing but wishful thinking.

"I have to settle this and rescue Lin Xian'er as soon as possible..."

As Bai Xiaosheng thought, he drifted off to sleep.

Unexpectedly, he slept for quite a long time. When he woke, it was already close to noon.

He stepped outside and saw a group of people gathered around the front hall in the distance. He had no idea what was happening, but when they noticed him, they gave him strange looks and even took the initiative to make way.

Bai Xiaosheng was baffled. He entered the hall and saw the imprisoned Lin Xian'er there. The moment she saw him, she lunged at him like a vicious dog pouncing on food and hissed, "Bai Xiaosheng! I would rather die than expose you, yet you wanted to kill me! How cruel!"

"When did I ever want to kill you?"

Bai Xiaosheng pushed her away in confusion, then his expression abruptly changed as he looked toward Lu Xiaofeng.

Lu Xiaofeng was smiling at him as well.

It was as though all strength suddenly left him. His body sagged as he asked, "How much did she confess?"

"Everything!" Lu Xiaofeng smiled. "Everything she knew, she confessed."

"Heh..."

Bai Xiaosheng understood now. The reason he had been watched so closely these past two days was not because they feared what he might do, but because they did not want him doing anything at all.

Lin Xian'er said he had wanted to kill her?

That was obviously false.

But someone truly had wanted to kill her: Lu Xiaofeng, disguised as Bai Xiaosheng.

When Lin Xian'er discovered that the only person she could rely on had appeared before her, not to save her but to kill her—

Her state of mind immediately collapsed!

To take revenge on Bai Xiaosheng, she naturally revealed everything she knew.

"Lu... Xiao... Feng... I think I will remember that name forever. The waves behind the Yangtze drive the waves before them. I never expected it would be you who knocked me down!"

Bai Xiaosheng let out a long sigh. He knew he was finished.

But Lu Xiaofeng smiled and pointed at Lin Xian'er. "The one who knocked you down wasn't me. It was her!"

Bai Xiaosheng looked at Lin Xian'er and could not help laughing bitterly. "That's right. It was her..."

Then he gritted his teeth and slapped himself across the face.

"Why couldn't you control that thing back then?!"