Zhou Ming: I'll Remember This Grudge!

Several days later.

Everything had settled.

Bai Xiaosheng was dead.

He had died by Li Xunhuan's hand.

That day, Bai Xiaosheng had seemed to accept his fate, but in truth, he had merely waited until everyone was off guard before turning to flee.

Yet in the next instant, a flying dagger had already lodged itself in his throat.

Little Li Flying Dagger!

Never missed its mark!

Its reputation was well deserved!

Having witnessed the famed Little Li Flying Dagger unleashed before his very eyes, Zhou Ming felt no excitement whatsoever.

Because it had been too fast!

Little Li Flying Dagger truly had been as swift as lightning. A flash of light before his eyes, and it was already over.

Moreover, when Bai Xiaosheng fled, everyone's gaze had been fixed upon him, Zhou Ming included.

Thus, no one had been able to see exactly how that flying dagger had been thrown.

The renowned Little Li Flying Dagger was simply that plain and unadorned.

The dagger flew, the man died, and that was that.

There was not the slightest bit of spectacle to it.

Once again, Zhou Ming lamented why his imprint ability lacked a recording function. Otherwise, he could have watched it over and over.

As for Lin Xian'er, she had not been killed on the spot.

People had merely locked her up, but the following day, they discovered her corpse in the room.

Who had killed her?

Perhaps it had been one of her victims, or perhaps one of her former admirers. It was even possible that it had been the master of this estate.

Or perhaps, most simply, she had killed herself.

Yet no one cared about the matter. They learned of it, and that was all.

Even Lu Xiaofeng had no interest in investigating the truth.

Or perhaps he already knew the truth and simply chose not to say it.

Inside the estate, beneath a pavilion.

Lu Xiaofeng sighed.

"Who would have thought that the Plum Blossom Thief, which had ravaged the martial world, was merely an organization established by a woman like that?"

"Even more unexpected was that such an infamous organization had been secretly advised and even helped into existence by the celebrated Bai Xiaosheng of the martial world..."

"Was the Number One Beauty of the Martial World truly so charming that even such a veteran of the martial world could not resist her?"

Zhou Ming said, "Forget about that... Oh, right, I haven't congratulated you yet. Four-Eyed Lu Xiaofeng, you stepped over Bai Xiaosheng and made your name resound throughout the martial world!"

In the past, Lu Xiaofeng had possessed a little fame, but most of it had come from his friends singing his praises. Though he had handled many minor matters, he had never accomplished anything truly renowned throughout the martial world.

The Plum Blossom Thief case was precisely the first major matter Lu Xiaofeng had handled!

From then on, his name became known throughout the martial world!

Yet Lu Xiaofeng was not proud of this. Smiling, he said, "Heh heh, he was merely dragged down by a foolish woman."

That was quite true, and Zhou Ming agreed.

There had been no flaws in Bai Xiaosheng's work, but Lin Xian'er had been a fool.

From the very beginning, she had exposed herself before Lu Xiaofeng.

That had made everything Lu Xiaofeng did afterward exceptionally easy.

When investigating a case and tracking down the true culprit, the hardest part was often finding the culprit.

One had to distinguish truth from falsehood, useful clues from useless ones, amid countless leads.

But if one already knew who the culprit was and worked backward from them, the difficulty immediately plummeted.

With the exception of a very few highly intelligent criminals, most criminals followed this rule.

Because foolish or mediocre people were far more common than clever ones.

Huh? Wait...

Zhou Ming's thoughts halted as he suddenly noticed a doubtful point.

Lin Xian'er had exposed herself from the start because she was too foolish, which was why Lu Xiaofeng had targeted and investigated her ever since.

Then when had Lu Xiaofeng discovered that something was wrong with Bai Xiaosheng, who had not revealed any obvious flaws?

After thinking it over, Zhou Ming instantly arrived at the answer.

"You bastard, Lu Xiaofeng! The night Bai Xiaosheng arrived, you came to see me because you wanted to probe me for information, didn't you?"

Zhou Ming said angrily, "I genuinely thought you were rebuking me over Lin Xian'er framing Lin Shiyin, and I even let you give me a thorough scolding!"

"Ahem..."

Lu Xiaofeng coughed twice and said awkwardly, "All right. Actually, on the night before that day, I followed Li Xunhuan but failed to catch up with him. When I returned, I discovered traces of another person eavesdropping nearby, and I confirmed that it was Lin Xian'er. Therefore, I had long expected that Lin Xian'er would fabricate evidence to frame Lin Shiyin.

"However, Bai Xiaosheng's appearance truly took me by surprise. I could not determine why he had appeared then or what side he stood on, so I thought of you. Your identity is special, and you seem to know many secrets..."

"So you pretended to be drunk, came to probe me for intelligence, and even gave me a scolding?"

Zhou Ming laughed and cursed, "When others buy intelligence at Red Leaf Small Inn, not only do they have to pay, but they have to flatter Mister Red Leaf as well. You got intelligence from me without paying a single coin, and you even scolded me?"

Lu Xiaofeng swayed away, stepping across the ice and snow atop the small pond before the courtyard. "I suddenly remembered that Li Xunhuan asked me to drink with him. I'll be leaving first..."

The following day, Zhou Ming was leaving.

But Lu Xiaofeng was a wanderer. Having come out on a trip, there was no way he would return without wandering around for a while.

Now that Zhou Ming was leaving, Lu Xiaofeng naturally had to see him off.

Not only him—Long Xiaoyun, Li Xunhuan, and the others also came to bid him farewell out of courtesy.

"Though one sees a friend off for a thousand miles, parting must come in the end. Old Zhou, walk the rest of the road yourself. We'll meet again in the capital."

"Heh heh, Lu Xiaofeng, I'll remember what happened this time. When you return to the capital next time, I'll repay you properly."

"Wait... why are you so petty?"

"Heh heh, is this your first day knowing me? Anyway, I look forward to our next meeting!"

After leaving Baoding City and watching the city behind him gradually recede, Zhou Ming could not help but let out a long sigh.

Chun Hua asked, "Why is Young Master sighing?"

Zhou Ming said, "Just another idea that came to nothing..."

Ever since leaving Zhongnan Mountain half a year ago, he had constantly been trying to test the activation conditions of his cheat.

He had once used "reputation" as a hypothesis, inventing the title Four Young Heroes of the Capital and shamelessly riding on the reputations of the other three.

He had also used "getting to know original characters" as a hypothesis and met Lu Xiaofeng and Hua Manlou.

This time, half his reason for coming had been to join in the excitement, while the other half had been because of the hypothesis of "personally experiencing the plot."

But even now, it still had not activated.

Clearly, that hypothesis did not work either.

"Unless I have to experience the plot exactly as it originally was... But that's impossible!"

In this world, many nations rose side by side and influenced one another, while the martial world's situation was also exceedingly intricate.

The original plots in their pure, untouched form could never possibly appear in this world.

Take the Plum Blossom Thief case, for example. Zhou Ming had not been the one to bring Lu Xiaofeng here. Lu Xiaofeng himself had wished to become involved.

There were countless other such examples.

"So what exactly are the activation conditions for my cheat? It can't really be completely random, can it?"

Zhou Ming pressed his brow, feeling rather helpless.

Suddenly, the carriage came to a stop.

"Young Master, someone is blocking the road ahead. They appear to be bandits."

"Bandits?"

Zhou Ming opened the carriage window and looked outside. Sure enough, he saw several dozen people blocking the road ahead.

They looked fierce and rugged. Though their formation appeared loose, they had in fact faintly formed a battle array.

"Heh heh, what bandits in this world would dare block my path? Someone clearly wants to assassinate me... No, if it were an assassination, these people would be far too weak. They are likely only testing me."

"Then... Young Master, we..."

Zhou Ming's gaze swept across the people ahead. Golden radiance, visible only to him, burst forth and fell upon every one of them.

"Whoever it is, if they dare test me, cut off every last one of their claws!"

Zhou Ming shut the window and said, "Dong Xue, go. Leaving two or three alive will be enough."

"Yes!"

Dong Xue stepped out of the carriage with a long saber in hand. Suddenly, she leaped into the air and charged toward the people ahead.

The long saber in her hand left its sheath, and brilliant saber light erupted into streams of saber energy that swept in every direction.

The lingering snow upon the ground was sent flying by the saber energy, then fell back down alongside it.

For a moment, it was impossible to tell whether there was simply too much saber energy, too swift and sharp—or whether the heavy snow from days ago had begun drifting through the world once more.