The old man's voice was melodious and carefree, as though he were sightseeing through mountains and rivers.
When the old man appeared,
Shen Jun, Qi Dachun, and Wang Daoyuan all froze, staring at him as if facing a formidable enemy.
Only Zeng Anmin showed no expression. Instead, he looked at the old man with interest and asked,
"Are you the hidden member of the Profound Formation Division within Prince Jiang's Estate?"
The four of them were not far from the water, and Zeng Anmin's voice could be heard clearly.
"As expected of a Great Scholar's son. To guess this old man's identity—you truly are exceptionally clever."
As he spoke, the small boat reached the shore.
The old man leisurely waved the feather fan in his hand, slowly rose to his feet, and lightly bowed to Zeng Anmin with a chuckle.
"Qi Linxian, expelled disciple of the Profound Formation Division and Seventh-Rank Array Master, has specially come today to invite Young Master Zeng to his death."
The moment those words fell, everyone but Zeng Anmin changed expression.
Only then did they realize that they seemed to have been caught like turtles in a jar by this old bastard?!
Qi Dachun, however, paid no heed and immediately shouted,
"You old bird, stop spouting bullshit! There are four of us and only one of you. Who gave you the nerve to be this bold?!!"
"Hehe."
The old man turned a deaf ear to Dachun's words, merely looking at Zeng Anmin with a faint smile.
"The Dragon Survey Map Theft Case, the Zhang Lun Case, Shen Jun's Aunt Murder Case..."
"Three cases in succession, all seen through by Young Master Zeng."
"I must admit, Young Master Zeng is truly a god among men."
"But it seems that today, you failed to foresee your own date with death??"
At those words, everyone fell silent.
Zeng Anmin slowly raised his head and stared straight at Qi Linxian for a long while.
Then he grinned.
"Who dies today remains to be seen."
Those words stunned not only Qi Dachun and Shen Jun.
Even Qi Linxian aboard the boat was slightly taken aback. Then he laughed dismissively.
"Hahaha! Since Young Master Zeng knows who this old man is, surely you can infer that if I did not possess absolute confidence in victory, why would I say something so laughable?"
Zeng Anmin slowly nodded, his face expressionless.
"Correct. Killing Zhang Lun was meant to throw people off the scent."
"You had Shen Liu fake his death, then deliberately let Xu Yunfeng lead me into killing Shen Jun."
"To muddy the waters, you even risked Prince Jiang's punishment by sending assassins disguised as the Black Cat Martial Artist to kill me."
Having said this, Zeng Anmin slowly exhaled, raised a brow at the old man, and smiled.
"This young master is willing to call you a Poison Strategist."
"Hehe." Qi Linxian smiled modestly aboard the boat, though he seemed rather pleased by the praise. Raising his brows, he said,
"Then why doesn't Young Master Zeng guess why this old man is so assured, daring to come alone to encircle and suppress you?"
Alas.
Zeng Anmin sighed inwardly.
Villains all died from talking too much. That saying was indeed true.
"Since you are so interested, this young master can chat with you for a bit."
Zeng Anmin chuckled, then slowly found a patch of grass and reclined halfway upon it, his back against the hillside while still facing the old man.
It was as though nothing here could possibly threaten him.
"I would be delighted to hear the details."
Qi Xianlin looked certain of victory, the smile on his face unchanged.
Sitting at the bow, he slowly poured himself a cup of tea.
The way he looked at Zeng Anmin was as though he were watching a mere actor.
"Snap~" Zeng Anmin casually plucked a long blade of grass and placed it between his lips.
He leisurely crossed one leg over the other, his voice unhurried.
"Shen Liu was arranged by you, and Shen Jun was also thrown into prison by you. The purpose was to make Shen Liu hesitate to act for fear of harming the innocent."
"But for Prince Jiang's 'grand undertaking,' you wanted to go a step further and swallow Jin Taiping as well. That was why you had Xu Yunfeng leave this case to me."
"If I killed Shen Jun, not only would Shen Liu give his wholehearted allegiance to you, but Jin Taiping could also be swallowed by you as a matter of course..."
"What you did not expect was that I not only cleared Shen Jun of suspicion, but even turned my attention toward Shen Liu."
At this point, Zeng Anmin looked toward the old man surnamed Qi on the boat.
Qi Linxian's expression did not change. Smiling, he gave a faint nod and gestured for Zeng Anmin to continue.
Zeng Anmin met his gaze directly, his face wreathed in a smile.
"So you wanted to kill me quickly and frame the Black Cat Martial Artist. But you never expected that the Black Cat Martial Artist would save my life!"
"And that act only made me more suspicious, until I had practically confirmed that Prince Jiang's Estate intended to rebel!"
Mr. Qi's expression darkened slightly.
After a long while, he sighed and gave a low, muffled laugh. He even set down his feather fan and lightly applauded.
"Brilliant, brilliant."
After some time, Qi Linxian seemed slightly lost in thought as he murmured,
"If our circumstances had not placed us on opposing sides, perhaps this old man could have become friends across generations with Young Master Zeng."
Zeng Anmin repeatedly waved his hands. "Don't! This young master can't bear that!"
You might want to die, but this young master wants to live a few more days.
"Unfortunately, after calculating a thousand times and ten thousand times, you still missed one step." The old man looked regretful as he sighed at Zeng Anmin. "Young Master Zeng, you still have to die today."
But Zeng Anmin burst into loud laughter, the sound long and filled with endless mockery.
That abrupt laughter left everyone present looking bewildered.
Dachun asked blankly, "Young Master, what are you laughing at??"
Qi Linxian aboard the boat was briefly startled before laughing.
"Is Young Master Zeng laughing madly because he knows death is at his doorstep?!"
Zeng Anmin stopped laughing and looked at the old man with mockery in his eyes.
"You don't think I only know this much, do you?"
After speaking, his phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, his voice low and forceful.
"If you want to fish, you must have bait. You want to kill me so badly—why shouldn't I use myself as bait??"
Zeng Anmin raised his brows and looked half-smilingly at Wang Daoyuan, who stood not far away.
"This is why I brought Wang Daoyuan along. Wasn't it to give you the message that I was about to walk into your net of my own accord?"
Wang Daoyuan's expression changed slightly.
Qi Linxian's hand trembled aboard the boat, and his cloudy pupils abruptly contracted.
He suddenly looked toward Zeng Anmin.
"You saw through it?!!"
There was unmistakable uncertainty in his voice.
Zeng Anmin sneered.
"Back in the Academy, during the Zhang Lun Case, A Da, the guard under Wang Lin who had yet to undergo Heart Inquiry, killed himself."
"A Da was merely a martial artist who had barely entered the ranks, two entire realms below Wang Daoyuan."
"And Wang Daoyuan was right at his side. How could he possibly have failed to stop A Da from committing suicide?"
"From that moment on, I had already suspected that Wang Daoyuan had secretly defected to Prince Jiang's Estate!"
At this, everyone present changed expression in unison.
Even the old man aboard the boat suddenly froze, his face filled with astonishment.
Wang Daoyuan's expression shifted unpredictably. Narrowing his eyes, he stared fixedly at Zeng Anmin.
Qi Dachun and Shen Jun subtly stepped in front of Zeng Anmin, watching Wang Daoyuan warily.
Yet Zeng Anmin sighed at this moment and looked toward the boat with some disappointment.
"After scheming for so long, this young master exhausted every ounce of effort to hook a big fish. Who would have thought that you would be the one who came?"
Feeling Zeng Anmin's blade-like gaze, Qi Linxiang's face burned slightly.
His face darkened, killing intent seeping into his voice.
"A fine mind, but no matter how much you scheme, you still have to die!! Do it!!!"
The instant his words fell,
Wang Daoyuan suddenly erupted with an immensely powerful aura and lunged straight at Zeng Anmin.
The strength of a Seventh-Rank martial artist was overwhelmingly oppressive, and the hearts of those on shore sank.
It was like a massive boulder pressing down on them.
"Young Master, be careful!!!" Under that pressure, Qi Dachun found it difficult to move, bean-sized drops of sweat rolling down his face.
Yet he still charged resolutely toward Wang Daoyuan.
Though he knew he was no match for Wang Daoyuan, with matters having reached this point, he had to go even if it meant death!!
"Hehe, stop struggling. You are all doomed to die."
Qi Linxian's voice returned to its calm indifference.
Yet just as his words fell,
"Chirp!!!!"
An exceedingly strange sound rang out from the river.
"Crack~"
Wang Daoyuan, who had been lunging toward Zeng Anmin, froze in place, his face filled with confusion.
An arrowhead had entered through the back of his neck and protruded from his throat.
Seeing this stunning reversal, everyone was stunned.
They stared in disbelief at Wang Daoyuan, who suddenly collapsed.
A dignified martial artist of the Visualization Realm had died so inexplicably??!
Even Qi Dachun was dumbfounded.
Only Zeng Anmin smiled as he looked toward the river.
"So even Father was part of your calculations?"
Another small boat slowly appeared upon the river, and Zeng Shilin's complicated voice rang out.
Xuanjing Division Commander Wang Deli stood behind him, lowering the longbow in his hand.
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