Chapter 51: Strategy, Resolution

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Strategy, Resolution

Watching the Golden Scale Guards scatter to collect traces left at the scene, Fang Xu felt a slight surge of tension.

"You seem to be afraid?"

Yun Wan’s voice rang out again as Li Xun personally walked over to inspect a pile of decaying flesh and blood.

Fang Xu froze slightly, realizing this was bad. His involuntary tension over Wang Erhu’s grave being discovered must have shown on his face. But why did this girl, Yun Wan, keep staring at him? Did she find out something?

While these thoughts raced through his mind, Fang Xu cupped his hands slightly. "I heard that these Government Soldiers died gruesome deaths. The flesh and blood of some corpses rotted away instantly, turning straight to bone.

"I was just wondering if the methods of those sorcerers—like poison or something similar—still lingered here..."

"Oh..." Yun Wan nodded slightly. She didn’t press the matter, merely adding in a calm tone, "I’ve already brought people to inspect this area. There is no residual poison. Just don’t touch the corpses."

"Crown Prince, we’ve found something!"

Just as she finished speaking, the voice of a Golden Scale Guard echoed from beneath the cliff.

Li Xun, who was inspecting the nearby bones, heard the shout and immediately leapt off the hundred-foot cliff! Seeing this, Yun Wan followed suit. Graceful as a startled swan, she lightly pushed off the edge and drifted down the cliff.

Fang Xu tested the edge but realized he lacked their cliff-jumping abilities. If he jumped down headfirst, he would undoubtedly break his bones. Left with no choice, he obediently slid down a gentle slope on the side.

"Crown Prince, someone buried something here, and it was done right after these Government Soldiers died," a Golden Scale Guard analyzed, pinching the soil in his hand.

Approaching the group, Fang Xu frowned upon hearing this. They could even analyze that?

"Dig it up and see!" Li Xun ordered at once.

Two Golden Scale Guards immediately began digging, and within moments, they unearthed Wang Erhu’s corpse.

"Armor of the Government Soldiers!"

Staring at the pitch-black armor, Yun Wan paused in surprise. She swiftly used her longsword to flick out an Iron Token from the neck of Wang Erhu’s decaying skeleton.

"It’s Wang Erhu, a Government Soldier of Huangzhou Prefecture," Yun Wan announced, reading the name on the Iron Token.

Li Xun’s eyes narrowed at her words. "Is that so? That’s quite a good discovery. Wouldn’t you say, Fang Xu?"

As he spoke, Li Xun turned his head to look at Fang Xu.

Meeting his gaze, Fang Xu bowed slightly. "I don’t think so."

"Oh?"

Li Xun had expected Fang Xu to agree with him. Seeing the young man actually deny his speculation, a streak of coldness immediately surfaced in the Crown Prince’s eyes. Standing nearby, Yun Wan was also perplexed. Why would someone who had been trying so hard to lay low say such a thing at a time like this?

"Forgive me, Crown Prince, but please allow me to offer my analysis. If you feel it lacks reason, you can punish me then. How does that sound?" Fang Xu said, cupping his hands.

Li Xun sneered and said coolly, "I will give you a chance. If you can’t come up with a good explanation, I’ll bury you right here alongside this corpse."

Glancing at Wang Erhu’s body, Fang Xu spoke slowly, "Crown Prince, you must not know who this Wang Erhu was, right?"

Li Xun was slightly taken aback. "Who was he? Isn’t he just a Government Soldier of Huangzhou Prefecture?"

Fang Xu continued, "Yes, but he had another identity. He was Wang Ergou’s younger brother.

"To tell you the truth, Crown Prince, Wang Erhu was a native of Fenglin Town. Since we were young, he often came over to my house to play. He was familiar with most of the common people in town.

"If I happened to see him dead on the side of the road, as a neighbor, I naturally wouldn’t be able to bear seeing his bones gnawed on by wild beasts. Burying him on the spot would only be human nature."

Li Xun indeed did not know that Wang Erhu was from Fenglin Town. Fang Xu’s analysis seemed perfectly reasonable to him. If he clung to this lead and investigated it further, he would inevitably waste a great deal of time.

"Your life is spared," Li Xun suddenly said after pondering for a long time.

Upon hearing this, Fang Xu quickly bowed. "Thank you, Crown Prince!"

Although he couldn’t figure out what Li Xun planned to investigate using Wang Erhu’s burial site, he was the one who had buried the body. He absolutely couldn’t let Li Xun look into it. If the truth was actually discovered, he would likely lose his life. That was why he had taken the risk to reject Li Xun’s speculation, redirecting the man’s attention elsewhere.

He had been careless. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been so soft-hearted as to bury Wang Erhu back then; otherwise, he wouldn’t be facing such danger today.

"Have all other clues been collected?" Li Xun asked, looking at the Golden Scale Guards behind him.

"Reporting to the Crown Prince, everything has been collected!" a Golden Scale Guard replied, cupping his hands.

"Let’s go!" Li Xun waved his hand, preparing to lead the Golden Scale Guards back.

"Crown Prince!" Fang Xu suddenly called out, cupping his hands. "I would like to rebury Wang Erhu’s corpse before we leave. Please grant me permission."

Li Xun slowly turned around, his expression shifting slightly. He hadn’t completely believed Fang Xu’s words. In fact, he was already somewhat suspicious of the young man’s intentions for risking death to contradict him. But hearing Fang Xu’s request to rebury Wang Erhu’s body, Li Xun suddenly felt that perhaps what he had just said was true. It was entirely possible that one of the common people from the town had discovered Wang Erhu’s corpse while entering the mountains and conveniently buried him here.

"Make it quick. Do not keep me waiting," Li Xun said coolly, his inner doubts dispelled.

Fang Xu hurriedly cupped his hands and dragged Wang Erhu’s corpse back into the pit. After quickly burying it, he hurried back to Li Xun’s side. "Crown Prince, we can go now."

That night, at the same tavern in town, the three of them sat around a table drinking.

After they had eaten and drank their fill, Li Xun glanced at Yun Wan but didn’t offer to escort her back. Instead, he took his twenty Golden Scale Guards and left to analyze the clues.

Yun Wan roused Fang Xu, who was pretending to be drunk, and looked at him suspiciously. "You seemed to have something on your mind today.

"Why did you stop Li Xun from investigating who buried Wang Erhu’s corpse there?"

Fang Xu let out a drunken hiccup and smiled faintly. "Do you want to hear the truth, Miss Yun?"

Yun Wan didn’t answer, but her eyes were already filled with scrutiny. Wang Erhu was a Government Soldier of Huangzhou Prefecture, and she was the princess of Huangzhou Prefecture. The murder of the Government Soldiers was a slap to the prefecture’s face. Naturally, she wanted to catch those sorcerers as soon as possible to salvage their pride. If Fang Xu intentionally hindered the investigation, she wouldn’t mind treating him as an accomplice to the sorcerers and executing him on the spot.

"People will die... If the investigation continues, people will die..." Fang Xu muttered. "Given the Crown Prince’s arrogance, he has already hit a wall coming to Fenglin Town this time. If he were to treat a useless clue as his main focus, wasting a massive amount of time and energy, only to find out in the end that someone from the common people in town buried Wang Erhu—what do you think would be the fate of that person, Miss Yun?"

Yun Wan was slightly taken aback. Judging from the rumors of Li Xun’s perverse and tyrannical nature, if he really spent a great deal of energy investigating only to discover it was a misunderstanding, he would inevitably fly into a humiliated rage and slaughter that person’s entire family to vent his anger!

"Why are you so protective of the common people in town?" Yun Wan asked curiously.

Fang Xu sighed softly. "My grandfather used to be a famous carpenter in town. When I was young, I often followed him to the homes of the nearby common people to work and repair farming tools. I’m familiar with most of the people in town.

"They are all just ordinary people. All they want are three meals a day and a peaceful life."

At this point, Fang Xu smiled faintly and looked at Yun Wan. "Although I have the cultivation of a Second Realm Martial Disciple, I’m just an ordinary person too. Within my capabilities, I’ll help them whenever I can."

"But you publicly rejected Li Xun’s speculation today. Aren’t you afraid he’ll kill you?" Yun Wan asked again.

"He wouldn’t," Fang Xu said with certainty. "If there was even a sliver of a chance he would kill me, I wouldn’t have stuck my neck out.

"After all, my own life is what’s most important. In times of success, one should benefit the world; in obscurity, one should preserve themselves...

"Miss Yun, it’s getting late. You..."

Looking at the silvery moonlight spilling across the ground outside the window, Yun Wan slowly stood up. She gave Fang Xu a profound look and said, "Take a walk with me."