Thousand Mechanism Hall.
The moment the black-robed man removed his hood, Ning Ye froze.
Luo Qiuzhen?
It was Luo Qiuzhen!
How was he still alive?
In the Kunlun Mirror, Luo Qiuzhen's face was pale and wan. It was obvious his injuries had yet to heal.
But he truly wasn't dead.
Ning Ye felt his heart turn cold, as if he'd plunged into an icy cavern.
This was bad. That bastard had faked his death!
In the Inspection Hall, Fu Dongliu said to Luo Qiuzhen with concern, "You haven't recovered yet. Why not rest a few more days? If someone sees you, all your previous arrangements will have been for nothing."
Luo Qiuzhen smiled faintly. "I'm all right now. I'd been wondering why the other party went to such lengths to get rid of me. Now it seems it was because of the Green Wood Hall incident."
Fu Dongliu didn't much care for that explanation. After all, wasn't Luo Qiuzhen implying that he was more capable than Fu Dongliu? That the other party feared Luo Qiuzhen more than they feared him?
But it was the truth. More importantly, they still needed Luo Qiuzhen to solve the case, so Fu Dongliu could only suppress his displeasure.
"So you're confident you can resolve this matter?"
Luo Qiuzhen shook his head slightly. "I've only heard about the case. I haven't seen the specifics with my own eyes, so I can't be certain. But I think I should be able to crack it."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because the person committing these crimes in secret thinks I can crack it," Luo Qiuzhen replied nonchalantly.
Fu Dongliu stared blankly for a moment, at a loss for words.
Even Ning Ye couldn't help sighing in admiration. If this man weren't his enemy, he'd be a kindred spirit!
Luo Qiuzhen knew better than to provoke Fu Dongliu too much. "I need all the information on this case and the Li Baidao case, as well as the poisoning and arson cases. I also need leads on everyone involved."
"It'll take time to compile everything," one of the clerks replied.
"How long?"
"We should have it ready by tomorrow morning."
"Good." Luo Qiuzhen was still seriously injured and hadn't recovered. After talking for a while, he was already feeling tired. He nodded to Fu Dongliu. "I'll head back first. Please continue to keep my survival a secret, and let the person hiding in the shadows enjoy their triumph for a few more days."
"I know," Fu Dongliu snorted.
The image vanished, and Ning Ye's awareness returned. His expression had grown utterly grave.
Tianji's little head poked out of the ground, transforming into a squirrel. It seemed to have taken a liking to its previous form. "You don't look very happy."
"We've got trouble." Ning Ye told it that Luo Qiuzhen was still alive.
Tianji froze when it heard Luo Qiuzhen wasn't dead. "How could that be?"
"Powerful cultivators can prolong a life, spirit medicines can save the dying, divine talismans can reverse the tide... There are plenty of ways. None of that matters now. In the end, I was careless. I didn't think he'd fake his death." Ning Ye sighed helplessly. "If I'd been more cautious, or more willing to pay the price—for instance, if I'd used a Soul-Lodging Token—I might not have made this mistake."
Tianji pursed its tiny lips. "I thought you had every contingency covered."
Ning Ye shook his head. "Fool, how could anyone truly account for everything? Every plan depends on the person, the time, and the circumstances. If Luo Qiuzhen had died, I'd have been certain that even someone like Fu Dongliu, who could only rely on immortal arts, would never see through my methods. That would've been having every contingency covered. But Luo Qiuzhen didn't die. No matter how cleverly I'd laid things out, he'd eventually have found me. That's not where the root of my mistake lies."
Although Ning Ye knew he'd made a mistake, he wasn't about to sink into despair and lose confidence over it.
There was no such thing as a flawless plan. What mattered was learning from every mistake.
The obvious reason he'd been fooled by Luo Qiuzhen's feigned death was that he'd grown overconfident and careless after one success after another.
That was only human nature. But he couldn't keep making the same mistake. Ning Ye had already resolved to learn from this and be twice as careful from now on.
"Then where does it lie?" Tianji was still puzzled.
"I've acted too many times," Ning Ye replied.
Stealing medicine from the storeroom, killing someone on Huaiyin Mountain, poisoning the pills, setting fire to the Inspection Hall, killing with a mechanism in Ancient Spring Town, attacking Li Baidao, plotting against Luo Qiuzhen, and stealing from Xuanyu Pavilion—Ning Ye had struck seven or eight times in less than a year. Even if he'd covered his tracks perfectly each time, he couldn't have left no traces at all. The more often he acted, the more traces he left, and the greater the chance he'd be discovered.
Ning Ye's experience from his previous life had taught him that the most frightening opponents weren't those with extensive experience committing crimes, but those who'd committed a crime once or twice and then never acted again.
As long as you kept acting, you'd easily leave new clues.
The more you acted, the more clues you left.
Yet to deal with the Black and White Divine Palace, Ning Ye had no choice but to keep acting. It wasn't just seven or eight times; it could be a hundred or more.
That was his real, and greatest, problem—no matter how many times he succeeded, one failure would be enough to bring total ruin.
Tianji still hadn't fully grasped the problem. "Are you sure he'll figure out it was you?"
Ning Ye nodded. "The mechanism techniques I used to ambush Luo Qiuzhen and kill Yue Xiuxiu were different in execution, but the underlying principles were the same. That means I was at Huaiyin Mountain, Ancient Spring Town, and the Green Wood Hall. Luo Qiuzhen won't ignore those signs. And then there's the missing Thousand Mechanism Hall Fragment. We took other treasures at the same time, but it's still a clue. Combine that with the disfigurement, and a man as sharp as him will put it together."
That was another mistake Ning Ye had made.
Unlike the Green Wood Hall and Huaiyin Mountain incidents, only three people were directly connected to Ancient Spring Town: Ning Ye, Yue Xiuxiu, and Gongsun Ye.
Yue Xiuxiu was dead, and Gongsun Ye was a Human Demon powerhouse. That left Ning Ye as an obvious suspect.
Ning Ye regretted it deeply.
Yue Xiuxiu had been unpleasant, but she hadn't deserved to die. More importantly, her death had no bearing on his plans. He'd said he killed her to avoid trouble, but really, he'd done it because he hated her and despised everyone in the Black and White Divine Palace. It had been more about venting his anger. Just like killing Chen Changfeng, it hadn't helped his plans at all; it had only made him feel better.
He'd killed them and enjoyed it, but now it had brought trouble down on him.
Ning Ye realized that he'd still let his hatred cloud his judgment to some extent, making him do things that weren't necessary.
Over the past year, Ning Ye had constantly reminded himself not to let his hatred falter. But inevitably, his resentment had influenced him, and he'd killed people on impulse. In that sense, the deaths of Chen Changfeng and Yue Xiuxiu might have been lessons. If he got past this hurdle, he'd have to act with greater caution and reason from now on.
But people were people because they valued not only reason, but also emotion.
Without feelings, why would he seek revenge?
Perhaps that was an inherent contradiction.
At the very least, he should reconsider one belief: not everyone in the Black and White Divine Palace necessarily had to die. Ning Ye thought.
Tianji wasn't thinking as deeply as Ning Ye. It only knew that if Ning Ye was finished, its own days wouldn't be easy either. It jumped up and down, shouting, "Then let's kill him again!"
It was speaking without thinking. Luo Qiuzhen had been ambushed once, and he'd definitely be on guard now. Trying to kill him would be walking straight into a trap.
Tianji wasn't stupid, but it lacked experience. It had no idea how to handle a situation like this and could only fret and jump about, its little eyes darting everywhere. It was already wondering whether Ning Ye's boat was about to sink, and if it should take the chance to abandon ship.
Ning Ye saw through its little scheme but didn't blame it. He simply said, "Tianji, besides learning spells and improving your cultivation, you'll also need to learn how to handle crises."
"Hm?"
"When something happens, don't panic. Calm your mind!" Ning Ye gently instructed it. "You have to believe in yourself. There's no hurdle in this world that can't be crossed."
Tianji's little head sprouted a string of black lines. "I just don't really believe in myself."
"Then believe in your master."
"Have you thought of a way?"
"Not yet."
"..."
Time passed, little by little.
Ning Ye was still thinking, while Tianji grew more and more anxious.
It couldn't help saying, "Why don't we run?"
"Run?" Ning Ye looked at it and smiled faintly. He smiled because at least Tianji had said "we should run," not that it would run off by itself.
At least it had a shred of loyalty, even if it was probably hoping to use him as cover.
Ning Ye shook his head. "No. I won't run. If I do, it means total defeat. Some people can lose and still have a chance to start over. I don't have that luxury. I can't lose, and I can't afford to lose."
As he spoke, something seemed to occur to Ning Ye, and his eyes glimmered.
He said, "Tianji, what did you say we should do earlier?"
"Try to assassinate Luo Qiuzhen again," Tianji replied. But it knew how unreliable that idea was, so it shook its head. "It's impossible now."
To its surprise, Ning Ye nodded. "If all else fails, that's the only option left."
"Huh?" Tianji froze. "Could it work?"
Ning Ye shook his head. "A truly perfect plan isn't about how likely it is to succeed. It's about being useful whether it succeeds or fails. I let hatred cloud my judgment too much before. Now I understand a little better. Heh, I really should thank Luo Qiuzhen. A worthy opponent is what makes you stronger."
Tianji didn't understand what Ning Ye was talking about. It asked, bewildered, "What are you even saying?"
Ning Ye continued, "Tianji, do you know what kind of case is hardest to solve?"
Tianji blurted out, "One where the plan is flawless and the execution is perfect?"
Ning Ye shook his head. "No. A case that's already been solved."
"A case that's already been solved?" Tianji was completely lost.
Ning Ye let out a long sigh. "It's a shame, but I have no choice but to cut off my arm to save my body."
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