It was already midnight when we came out of the Wu family manor.
Duke Chen and Xing Enming rode in the same sedan chair and headed towards Xuandu.
In the past hour, Duke Chen asked Mrs. Wu and the servants of the house in detail about the whereabouts of the deceased Wu Chengtian, and the answers he received were almost the same.
According to Mrs. Wu, after Wu Chengtian got up yesterday morning, he went out for a walk as usual. At that time, everyone thought that he was just going for a walk as usual and would return soon. But he didn't expect that he would go there for the entire morning and noon, and didn't return until the afternoon.
He did not go back alone. There was another person who went back with him. According to Mrs. Wu, that person claimed to be an old friend of Wu Chengtian, named Yue Lingxiao.
According to the confessions given by the servants, the relationship between Wu Chengtian and Yue Lingxiao did not seem to be harmonious, because they had heard that the two of them had quarreled in the study, but due to Wu Chengtian's ban, they did not One dares to go and investigate.
Not long after the quarrel occurred, Yue Lingxiao left the room angrily, even cursing when he went out.
After that, the study door was kept locked until the maid brought tea in the evening, and it was not opened again. It was at this time that Wu Chengtian's body was discovered.
After hearing this, Duke Chen immediately asked Wuzuo, "Can you confirm the specific time of death of the deceased?"
Wu Zuo nodded, "Although he has lost his head, from the fact that the body is completely stiff and there are signs such as corpse spots, the death has been at least more than an hour..."
"An hour..."
Recalling the scene at that time, Mr. Chen narrowed his eyes slightly and frowned.
"The time is not very appropriate...it doesn't seem to be what I thought..." He shook his head slightly and looked at the students who were thinking hard.
"Enming, what do you think of this case?" he asked.
Xing Enming was immersed in his thoughts and seemed not to hear Duke Chen's words at all.
Duke Chen was not in a hurry, and quietly watched him thinking about the problem seriously, with a happy smile in his eyes.
"Teacher...you, what did you just say? The student was just in a trance. I have neglected my teacher. I hope my teacher will forgive me." After a moment, Xing Enming came back to his senses and quickly saluted Mr. Chen to express his neglect of his teacher. of apology.
Duke Chen laughed, "Enming, do you and I still need this kind of false courtesy between master and disciple? Besides, you can think about problems based on what you see and hear. It's too late for my master to praise you, so what?" Will I blame you? Or tell me what you think about this case!"
"Yes, mentor!"
Xing Enming bowed respectfully to Duke Chen again, and then said, "Teacher, the student thinks that the most likely suspect of the murderer in this case is Wu Chengtian's so-called old friend Yue Lingxiao! This person Not only did he have a verbal argument with Wu Chengtian, but he also walked out of Wu Chengtian's room in a rage, so there's no guarantee that he wouldn't have murderous thoughts."
"Oh? You think he is probably the real murderer. Why? Why don't you tell me." Mr. Chen smiled faintly and looked at Xing Enming.
Xing Enming was confident and said, "First of all, the motive for the murder! Yue Lingxiao had a verbal dispute with the deceased in the room. This was a fact witnessed by all the servants in the manor, and he even rushed out of the deceased's study angrily. , from this it is enough to see that the relationship between this person and the deceased was not very good, and was even a bit bad, so there is no guarantee that this person will not return after leaving, sneak into the room of the deceased and kill him!"
Duke Chen nodded slightly, "What you said makes sense. From this point of view, Yue Lingxiao is indeed the biggest suspect."
"But you must not forget that the door of Wu Chengtian's study is facing the atrium, and at the time of the incident, there were servants patrolling the atrium all the time, even if they stayed away under Wu Chengtian's strict order. Study, but if someone sneaks in secretly, they will definitely be discovered..."
"And... we have also seen that the windows of the deceased's study did not show any signs of damage from the outside. The only place that allowed the murderer to enter and exit was the unlocked door."
"If the murderer really chooses to go in and out from there, there should be no reason why the servants patrolling the atrium can't see him, right?"
Duke Chen smiled and spoke with a calm expression, staring at Xing Enming.
Xing Enming also smiled slightly, "Teacher, I have thought about this question for a long time and feel that there are only two possibilities!"
"Oh? Tell me!"
Duke Chen's eyes lit up slightly, and he spoke with a hint of interest.
Xing Enming gently stretched out a finger, "First of all, the first possibility is that maybe because it was dark at the time, the patrolling servants did not clearly see the murderer who sneaked into the room."
Mr. Chen nodded slightly, "This hypothesis is not unreasonable, but it is unlikely. After all, there were candles in the study at that time. Once the door is opened, there will be bright light. It is difficult not to attract people's attention, unless the murderer is caught. The patrol just happened to pass by the study, so the murderer might indeed succeed."
Xing Enming smiled and nodded.
"The teacher is right, and the student thinks so too, so the second possibility is that the murderer is most likely a martial arts master like Master Mu and Xiaotian. He is agile and extremely fast, and can use his skills beyond An ordinary person's reaction would be to catch the patrol team passing by the study and sneak into the study."
Hearing this, Duke Chen's eyes lit up slightly!
"Yes! This is indeed very possible. Only people like this who are accustomed to living on the edge of the knife can be so skilled in cutting heads and the knife edge can be so smooth... But you have also ignored a possibility." Duke Chen smiled slightly, with a strange light shining in his eyes, he stared at Xing Enming and spoke.
Xing Enming suddenly felt a little surprised!
Looking at the students who had doubts and curiosity written all over their faces, Mr. Chen smiled lightly.
"The third possibility is that the deceased Wu Chengtian was already dead when Yue Lingxiao left the room angrily."
After saying this, Xing Enming was suddenly surprised!
After pondering for a moment, his eyes flashed with a hint of enlightenment, "My teacher means..."
"Yes!" Chen Gong nodded, "I do think so. If the deceased had been killed before Yue Lingxiao left, then after Yue Lingxiao left, even if the servants did not see anyone entering or leaving the study, they would After opening the door, you will still see the headless body of the deceased, because he was already like that when Yue Lingxiao left."
"You mean... Yue Lingxiao's angry look before leaving was a deliberate act on his part?" Xing Enming pondered for a moment and then spoke.
Mr. Chen nodded, "It's very possible. After all, they had a quarrel before, and it was heard by the servants. As long as he pretends to walk out of the room in anger, then everyone who sees him will naturally think that he is He was kicked out after a quarrel with Wu Chengtian. It would never have occurred to him that he actually killed someone."
"And walking out of the room in such a flamboyant manner will also leave a deep impression on the servants in the atrium, and it will also give them the illusion that they are still alive at the time. It is simply killing two birds with one stone!"
After listening to Chen Gong's analysis, Xing Enming's eyes became brighter and brighter!
But immediately, he suddenly frowned.
"But mentor, there is still something unknown about the student, that is, he is the murderer. Why did he take away the head of the deceased?"
Duke Chen sighed slightly.
"You're asking a good question. This is what I can't figure out now. If Yue Lingxiao just committed manslaughter in a moment of anger, then there is no need for him to take away the head of the deceased, but now he took it away from the scene. This A little bit, it’s really weird.”
Duke Chen opened the sedan curtain and looked at the dim night, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Xing Enming sighed and also fell into deep thought.
…
…
In a dense forest more than thirty miles away from the Wu family manor.
A figure was running around in a panic.
His breathing was rapid, as if he had been running for a long time, but even so, he still had no intention of stopping, but ran forward without stopping.
The night was dark and his face could not be seen clearly, but judging from his movements and breathing, we knew that he must be very anxious and tired at this moment.
But he didn't dare to stop.
It was as if there was some invisible beast chasing him behind him. As soon as he stopped, he might be overtaken by it and fall into a certain death situation.
The baggage behind him was unknown. It was heavy, bulging, and kept swaying as his body moved.
There is even a strange liquid dripping through the outer skin of the baggage...
He soon left.
Completely disappeared into this dense forest.
And... where he originally left, under a few dead trees, a figure lay quietly on the cold ground.
In the sky, the full moon shrouded in thick fog gradually revealed its face.
The faint moonlight shone down, and with this faint light, it was possible to vaguely see that the person under the dead tree was not a human being at all.
In other words, that is no longer a complete person.
Because this person has no head...
Yes, this is a headless corpse!
A headless corpse exactly like the one found in the Wu family manor!
…
…
The sky regains its brightness.
The bright sun rises slowly from the horizon, and the earth, which has been sleeping all night, finally wakes up.
In the distance, there was a faint sound of sweet laughter like silver bells.
"Sister Xiaoxiao, come after me..."
Following the sound, they saw five figures, three men and two women, walking on the path a few miles away from the dense forest.
Two of the girls were chasing each other on the path and having a great time.
Both women are stunningly beautiful, but compared to each other, they have their own characteristics.
The girl in black running in front was not very old, but she was dressed like an ordinary man. However, the bulging chest and slender figure revealed her true nature as a woman.
But she didn't seem to deliberately dress up in men's clothing, because she had rouge powder on her body.
The average man would never wear these two things on his body.
It has to be said that although this woman is wearing men's clothing, it does not give people the slightest feeling of being a man. Instead, it adds an alternative feminine beauty to her.
And the woman in white who was chasing after him was in her prime of life, her beauty was stunning, and she would captivate the country.
Although she only had a simple white dress on her body, in the eyes of others, this white dress perfectly displayed her beauty.
Every move, every frown, every smile is so beautiful and charming.
It is really like banishing immortals from the sky. It can be viewed from a distance but not played with.
"Sister Xiaoxiao, you can't catch me, you can't catch me..."
The girl in black in front smiled coquettishly and made a face at the girl named "Xiaoxiao" in the back.
Xiaoxiao pretended to have a serious expression, and slowly stretched out a jade hand. Both arms and the white ribbon behind her back flew out immediately, like a swimming dragon, with unmatched momentum, and rushed towards the girl in black.
When the girl in black saw this, her expression suddenly changed!
"Sister Xiaoxiao, you are so shameless... you actually used the ribbon... ah..."
With a scream, the girl in black was immediately entangled in the white ribbon that shot out from behind. The next moment, the ribbon was flying and tied up the girl.
"Damn girl, you still dare to talk nonsense..."
Xiaoxiao came up from behind slowly and looked at the girl who was tied up. He showed no sign of untying her, but deliberately snorted and looked at her.
"Master of the Palace..."
Seeing that Xiaoxiao refused to follow her own example, the girl in black immediately turned her gaze and looked pitifully at the young man in white who was holding his forehead slightly.
This young man in white is not very old, about twenty-three or four, with sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes, and he is of extraordinary heroic nature.
But at this moment, when he looked at the girl in black, he had a slight headache.
Beside him, an old man looked at the girl in black with a smile.
"Hehe... I told you, girl, to speak so openly and dare to say anything. Have you learned a lesson now?"
"I got it, I got it... Mr. Jian, please help me. I will never talk nonsense in the future..." The girl in black looked at the old man pitifully.
The old man smiled faintly, "It's useless to beg me. Does the person who ties the bell need to untie it?"
The girl in black had no choice but to look at Xiaoxiao again.
Xiaoxiao stared at her for a few times and chuckled.
"Okay... I'll let you go this time... But you have to remember that if you dare to talk nonsense next time, I will definitely let you know the true power of the satin sky belt..."
The girl in black looked suffocated, "I don't dare, I don't dare... How can my body and bones withstand the true power of your magic weapon, Sister Xiaoxiao..."
Xiaoxiao chuckled, "Look at how you look now... If you tell others now that you are Liu Huangcui, the think tank of our Taiyi Tianfu, no one will believe it, right?"
"Tch...I don't care if they believe it or not...If you don't believe it, just come and try my feather fan..." Liu Huangcui said nonchalantly.
At this moment, a taciturn man next to the young man in white suddenly flashed his eyes.
The young man in white quickly asked: "Xiao Han, what's wrong?"
"It smells of blood!" Ye Xiaohan looked solemn and said word by word, "There!"
As he spoke, he pointed in the direction of the dense forest ahead!
The young man in white's eyes became slightly serious.
Liu Huangcui curled her lips slightly, "What's the smell of blood in that? You mute, you are alarmist again!"
The young man in white glanced at her and said, "Huang Cui, then go and have a look."
"Me?" Liu Huangcui pointed at herself.
The young man in white nodded.
Liu Huangcui originally wanted to argue a few words, but seeing his expression, she had no choice but to reluctantly use Qinggong to reach the depths of the dense forest.
"Tch. The mute must be alarmist again. How could a place like this smell like blood?"
She grumbled and looked around the forest.
Suddenly, her eyes were fixed somewhere ahead!
Immediately, her eyes suddenly opened wide, and a flash of surprise flashed slightly!
A headless corpse suddenly appeared in front of her eyes!
