Shi Fengchen narrowed his eyes and looked at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."
He did not understand why the other man was certain he had taken part in this.
"Last night, I worked through all the possibilities. Because of a certain variable, I couldn't calculate an exact result."
Jing Jiu said, "But I felt you must have taken part in this."
Shi Fengchen narrowed his eyes further and said mockingly, "You felt something, so you barged in to interrogate me, an official of the Imperial Court? You reached a conclusion on conjecture alone-is that how you play chess too, Immortal Master Jing Jiu?"
"Yes," Jing Jiu said.
Shi Fengchen sneered without a word.
Jing Jiu said, "It's no longer conjecture. Your breathing, heartbeat, voice, and various other reactions all indicate that you took part in this."
Shi Fengchen's pupils contracted slightly.
"Including that reaction," Jing Jiu said.
The little courtyard was quiet.
The two scrawny chickens clucked now and then, their calls listless.
Shi Fengchen remained silent for a long time.
Then he rose from behind the table, straightened his official robes, and said, "Yes, I was the mastermind behind this."
His tone was matter-of-fact, and his expression had grown much calmer.
Without waiting for Jing Jiu to ask another question, he said directly, "I hired the assassin of the Never-Old Forest. The intermediary was in a little tavern, but he should have fled by now. If anything was unexpected, it was that I never imagined the assassin of the Never-Old Forest would actually be an elder of the Zhongzhou Sect. I'm quite certain this wasn't the Zhongzhou Sect's intention. I've even begun to suspect that the Never-Old Forest used me. You should understand what I mean."
Even the most cowardly criminal would not have confessed so