Realms In The Firmament

Chapter 26 – The Investigation begins

Retracting his finger, Ye Xiao stared at the cracks which he had just created and felt that it was unbelievable.

He couldn’t believe that he had caused such significant damage with just a tap of his finger!

He had just casually used the power of the gelid qi a little bit. That was all!

He stayed silent for a while and let out a sigh.

“This power of the gelid qi could be a nice protection for me.” Ye Xiao realized this and got lost in thoughts, “But… what should I do next…”

Meanwhile, he vaguely heard some noises coming from outside the front door.

The next moment the steward ran over in a hurry, “My lord, the government office of Chen-Xing City has sent some people. They want to ask you to cooperate with them to investigate a case. I think it must be the case of Mu Cheng-Bai’s death.”

Ye Xiao remained calm as he spoke, “Let them in. Lead them to the antechamber and bring them some tea.”

The steward nodded his head and hurried off.

Ye Xiao preened himself a bit and then walked to the antechamber. As he stepped into the antechamber, he saw three men in official uniforms sitting there and drinking tea. The three of them gave off an uncomfortable feeling, as if they were a little restrained and nervous.

After all this is the house of the Northern General and they were about to make an investigation against the young lord of this place…

Every man who served in the house was an experienced ex-soldier. When they learnt about the purpose of these three officers, their normal gaze naturally turned into something more intimidating, as they quickly started emitting a strong sense of killing intent.

The expressions in their eyes were… unfriendly.

The three officers were terrified. They felt like they had come across a bunch of hungry tigers. They were very uncomfortable and nearly started to shiver. It was truly not easy for them to sit there instead of rushing out.

Beads of sweat had started to appear on their foreheads unknowingly and they really felt like they would lose the control of their bladder at any moment.

When Ye Xiao leisurely arrived, they felt extremely relieved and thanked the gods!

“Lord Ye!” One of the officers stood up instantly, but as he did he felt his knees go weak, so he immediately sat back down on the chair. He had been resisting the killing intent released by those ex-soldiers and had nearly used up all of his energy, so when he suddenly stood up, he had become completely powerless.

“What is it?” Ye Xiao paced over lightly as if floating in the air and then sat on the chair. He sat down, semi-lying like he had no spine and raised one of his legs up. While everybody thought that he would cross his legs, he just laid the leg right on the armrest and let it dangle.

Apparently he looked perfectly abhorrent without any presence. His eyes were dim and spiritless and he had a voluptuary look.

The officer sighed in his mind and thought, “Look at this brat… I really don’t know what to say. It was truly a disaster for the general to have a son like him.”

“Yes, lord Ye. We are just following orders and have absolutely no intention of offending you.” The officer said meekly, “There is a case that we need to ask you about.”

“Fine. Say it.” Ye Xiao tilted his head lazily and started to dig the dirt from under his nails.

“Well… Mu Cheng-Bai… Young lord Mu was murdered. I think you should know about this…”

“Mu Cheng-Bai? Who is that? Do I know him?” Ye Xiao raised his head and looked confused.

He actually was audacious enough to ask who Mu Cheng-Bai was… Everyone felt like Ye Xiao was trying to tell a bad joke.

“Eh-hem…” The officer, who turned out to be the leader of the three, showed a stunned look on his face and coughed, “Well I’d like to tell you… Mu Cheng-Bai was the man with whom you fought several days ago… It is said that you were very brave that day and that you had actually beat him up. Very admirable…”

Ye Xiao pretended that he took a tumble, “Oh that bastard! He was trying to steal from me. He deserved to be punched… Hmm? What? He’s dead? Nice! Who killed him? I would like to reward the killer…”

Then he showed an interested look, “Hmmm wait. You are here to ask me about it now… Aha, did I kill the bastard? Oh I see... That day after I beat him up, he got home and his internal injury turned heavier, and then he died, right? That means… I am the one who killed him? Ahahahaha, I have improved again! I am so strong…”

He sounded completely narcissistic and showed no trace of nervousness.

The officer was left speechless and coughed again, “You are mistaken… That afternoon somebody found him dead in the forest… That’s all…”

“What? I did not kill him?” Ye Xiao sighed disappointedly and then got angry, “Fxxk it! Why wasn’t it me? That bastard had seriously pissed me off and I really wanted to arrange a group of mercenaries to go and kill him! Humph! How dare he! He should know who is taking charge here in Chen-Xing City! He should know how great I am and what a mistake it is to mess with me! He was digging over the king’s head and dragging teeth from a tiger’s mouth! It is really too easy for him to die like this!”

The officer was stunned and thought, “You really dare talking! That was the heir of the Mu clan and the brother-in-law of the crown prince! Who’s the wrong guy to mess with? You actually talk so big… If he was alive, you would be the one to get killed. Now you are actually saying that… it is too easy for him to die like this…”

He then licked his lips and was preparing to speak, but Ye Xiao continued to say angrily, “Nice kill! Do you know who did it? Have you found him? I will reward him. He did help me a lot! He has saved my precious time. How could I not reward him?”

The three officers were all speechless and thought, “Why are we here with you if we have already found the murderer?”

“Please, my lord, tell me about the fight from that day in details. We will need to report it to the upper office.” The officer smiled bitterly and finally told him of their purpose.

“Report? What report? You don’t think I killed the guy, do you?” Ye Xiao squinted his eyes, “I did want to kill him badly, but somebody took it over… Humph, if the bastard wasn’t dead yet, I must kill him myself!”

The officers were left speechless again.

Then they tried very hard to persuade him and the steward helped them a little bit, so Ye Xiao reluctantly described the details of what had happened that day. When he was describing how he punched Mu Cheng-Bai, he was in such high spirits that he actually stood up and started reliving the fight. He vividly showed them how he punched, kicked, dodged, jumped and landed on Mu Cheng-Bai…

He represented the story like it was an extremely wonderful duel between two supreme masters.

All in all, he tried to depict a tale where he, lord Ye, had been fighting doggedly and unyieldingly and he was a super powerful, handsome and elegant world-class expert cultivator… while Mu Cheng-Bai had been beaten up like a drowning dog, and finally the great lord Ye had showed mercy to him and let him keep his pathetic little life…

Everyone felt like sweating when hearing his story!

Who didn’t know that he escaped, like a dog with his tail between his legs, from that fight?

He was so shameless that he described himself like a great hero… They completely looked down on him within their hearts!

“I see… We understand it all now. We will report this to the upper office right now.” The officer was so awkward that he asked to leave right away.

“Hold on! What are you in a hurry for? I am not done yet…” Lord Ye was just on a roll. How could he let them get away?

“We already have a clear picture about this whole ordeal… Lord Ye you are a diligent man, I think it is better for you to go and get some rest…” The officers then rushed out of the General’s House, like escaping from death, while shouting, “We will have to bother you another time, young lord Ye…”

“Urh… Fine. Take care.” Ye Xiao didn’t move at all and was still lying on the chair.

The servants let the three officers out and then everyone left the antechamber except for the steward.

“It is so weird.” The steward frowned, “I thought that they would at least take you away for the investigation, but they actually just asked some questions here, in your house. Why would they operate like this…”

Ye Xiao humphed and said peacefully, “It is just the balance of political powers. Now the other princes are all grown up and every of them is eyeing the throne… There are two of them who are holding and developing powerful forces already in both the government and the martial clans… The crown prince is at the risk of losing his crown. How could he possibly mess with such a powerful military force like us, just for a dead brother-in-law?”

“Furthermore, we have the kick-ass rumor spreading out there.” The steward added and smiled.

Ye Xiao nodded, “True. For the crown prince… Mu Cheng-Bai was a brother-in-law when he was alive, but he is just a dead body now that he is dead. That’s all… Hiahia, hiahiahia…”

He sneered and said no more, instead he went straight back to his backyard to continue his cultivation.

“Something still doesn’t feel right though…” The steward stopped smiling and murmured, “The crown prince surely wouldn’t let this go so easily… Could there be another strike coming from him?”

He spoke nervously with his hands clasped behind his back, “The message to the general should’ve gotten through Huang-Long Guan and reached the desert by now. The message will get to the general in two days tops. And it will take at least another six days to get his reply… If anything goes wrong during these eight days…”

He sighed deeply and got out the room hurriedly. He told the guards to increase the security, especially at night, and to stay vigilant…

“Those from the government may be restrained and scrupulous, but those from the martial clans… they are truly impossible to defend against effectively…” His eyes showed anxiety.

“The next few months should be filled with chaotic events.”

The steward who always showed a calm demeanor now felt his hands full of cold sweat. He truly felt insecure about keeping his young master safe.