Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 1607 – Investigation

Back in Marquis Chongwu Mansion in the capital, when Qin Yu broke through, he had initially wanted to hide his identity. At the critical moment, with his ‘entry level’ cultivation, he killed his opponent. It was surprising and expected for the other parties to look shocked.

Now that he returned to the West Border Army camp, when someone tried to assassinate him, he suddenly changed his mind. Since he wanted the Marshal Tent to be accountable, the more important he was, the better. His cultivation level was a huge factor in this.

There were shouts in the air as several figures appeared. They all reached out to suppress the assassin, who was dripping with blood. The assassin did not try again. It was obvious that the assassin knew he had only one chance in attempting an assassination outside the Marshal Tent.

So he had given his all in that one punch, putting in as much murderous energy as possible. He never thought that Marquis Chongwu Ning Qin was hiding his actual cultivation. Though he appeared to only be an entry level Ruler, he was actually as strong as a peak Ruler. The attacker was definitely disappointed about not succeeding in his assassination. But at least his death would not be a waste; there would be a storm today.

The assassin groaned as more blood spurted out. An intense and horrifying energy exploded from him and he exploded.

“Hmph!” Wu Tongtian stepped out and appeared beside the person. He spread out his fingers and pressed forwards. ‘Dong’, there was a loud sound and golden rays could be seen swallowing the assassin like a huge mouth.

Boom boom boom –

A low suppressed roar could be heard seemingly from far away. Lightning flashed in the sky and the golden rays twisted. Wu Tongtian frowned slightly as his face paled. In a moment, his expression returned to normal. He flipped his hand and the golden rays disappeared.

The few people that appeared outside the Marshal Tent bowed to Wu Tongtian from afar before turning to leave. Their duty was to keep the Marshal Tent safe. Now that the assassin had been killed, the investigation, appeasing, and suppressing the issue had nothing to do with them.

A few figures appeared at the entrance of the Marshal Tent, which was now damaged. Although Wu Tongtian had suppressed the assassin and prevented him from exploding and destroying everything around him, Qin Yu had never thought of protecting Marshal Wu’s ‘image’.

This was completely reasonable and no one would criticize him. After all, he was a marquis. For him to have been involved in an assassination attempt was already a joke. Hence, there was no need to protect anyone’s reputation.

Ye Sangdu’s face fell and he frowned.

Jiang Chengzi exchanged glances with Qin Yu. Seeing that he was fine, Jiang Chengzi relaxed and felt relieved.

Zhao Chong’s behavior was the most distinct. If not for the current situation, he would have rushed up to Qin Yu to greet and check on him. But even though he remained still, there were numerous emotions running through his eyes. It made others feel that he was extremely devoted to Marquis Chongwu.

The other generals all looked down with serious expressions but did not let what they were feeling show in order to avoid trouble. Outside the damaged tent entrance, there was silence.

But amidst this silence, all the gazes on Qin Yu looked surprised.

Marquis Chongwu was actually this powerful. His cultivation level had increased so fast that he seemed like a different person.

After all, when he left the West Border Army for the capital, he had only been a Saint. Though he had some moves, he was vastly different from now. When he took the hit from the assassin, the vibrations resulting from it were sufficient to prove his current strength.

This caused everyone to subconsciously think back on some news from the capital earlier – when Marquis Chongwu broke through, he got the nation's luck and Incense Feedback. It continued for a long time and he absorbed a record high amount of incense power.

It was obvious that Marquis Chongwu’s sudden surge in power was related to this.

Wu Tongtian spoke first to break the silence. He looked at Qin Yu and said seriously, “Marquis Chongwu, I promise to investigate this thoroughly. I will find out the truth and give you an explanation.” No matter how indignant he was now, this was what he had to say.

The assassination had occurred right outside his tent and the assassin had disguised himself amongst his guards. He was able to invite Qin Yu into the tent, and this was enough to prove that he was known amongst the other guards…when everything was added together, it was clear that Wu Tongtian would be implicated. As the saying went, when there is a mud stain on your pants, even if it is not shit, it is taken as shit.

But no one who witnessed the assassination today believed that this was Wu Tongtian’s doing. If Marshal Wu wanted to kill someone, he would not have needed to use such a dumb method that would implicate him regardless of whether the assassin succeeded or failed.

Of course, this remained as thoughts. Other than the confidantes of Marshal Wu, no one else dared to express their opinions. It was not easy to determine the truth now. After all, they had all experienced ‘the trick in injuring oneself to gain the enemy’s confidence’ and ‘not noticing things closest to them’.

Observe more and speak less. Since this had nothing to do with them, they would remain as spectators and not get dragged into the turbulence.

Though this was what they intended, there had just been an assassination attempt on a marquis. No matter who was the mastermind, they had demonstrated that they were bold and crazy. This caused the various generals to feel a chill in their hearts.

Power strife in the army was common both openly and in the dark. However, it was the first time someone had done things in such an overboard and rulebreaking fashion. It might be an exaggeration to say that they were all in danger, but they would definitely be more cautious moving forwards.

Qin Yu allowed his aura to dissipate and he put his hands together to greet Wu Tongtian, “I will definitely trust you Marshal. Please investigate thoroughly.” He paused for a while before smiling, “I will be waiting for the results.”

The atmosphere grew tense once more. Marquis Chongwu had already shown off, and through this, he once again expressed his stubborn attitude. But he ‘had the right’. He had been attacked today, and even if he was rude, no one could say anything. Of course, they all wanted to watch the show from the sidelines.

In the army, positions were like radishes. Every hole consisted of one radish. Only with chaos would there be a vacant hole. After all, water flowed down. It was instinctive to head upwards.

Wu Tongtian frowned before becoming calm again, “Okay.” Everyone returned to their tents and the marshal issued an order. In an instant, there was a flurry of horses and troops moving around. Everyone related to the assassin were all to be captured and questioned.

The first information they got was regarding the background of the assassin from military records. The assassin was called Gao You. He had been in the army for over a hundred years. He had always been courageous and had numerous achievements. He had been promoted to become a guard for the Marshal Tent after he was deemed suitable.

Gao You had been a guard for the Marshal Tent for over ten years. He had always been diligent and never made any mistakes. Three years ago, there was a huge battle with the Barbarian Clan. He had been guarding the army’s flag and refused to give in. He suffered over thirty wounds in that battle and was rewarded afterwards.

Of course, now that it was revealed that Gao You was the assassin, the reward back then was an eyesore. A Ruler was actually willing to hide in the army for over a hundred years, deceiving everyone. It was hard to believe.

Gao You’s background was extremely clean and orderly. But it was obvious that the real Gao You was most likely already dead. Disguising as another person was very easy for a Ruler.

They would continue investigating this until they found the unlucky soul who was going to bear the brunt of the anger from the marshal. However, this would not be the main direction for the investigation. They started to look at the people closed to him. However, from his background, it was stated clearly that his relatives had all died in a huge war between the Barbarian Clan and the Desolate Area. That was why he joined the army.

Though he had a few friends, they hardly knew anything about him. Of course, the investigators would not just accept it when they said they did not know anything or started to cry out of indignance. They had their own procedures to follow.

Seeing how the people in the Marshal Tent did not object to the results of the questioning, it was obvious that their procedure was reliable. How bloody it was, was not the focus of the people from the Marshal Tent.

The investigation reached a dead end. No matter which direction they looked at it, they were unable to find a gap, his motive, or who instructed him.

In the Marshal Tent, Marquis Chongwu Ning Qin sat in front of Ye Sangdu. He was drinking his tea calmly, seemingly unbothered by it. Everyone could not help but sigh internally.

After so many years in the West Border Army, he was the first person who could behave so stubbornly in front of the marshal. Since Marquis Chongwu was not giving in, Marshal Wu remained silent for a while before instructing them to dig further.

Thankfully, this deadlock did not last too long and things took a turn. The investigators had found a key point – Gao You liked to drink!

Others had mentioned that he enjoyed drinking by himself when he was not on duty.

To a cultivator, as long as they had self-control, drinking was not a huge flaw.

But as a soldier who had been promoted to guard the Marshal Tent and looked to have a bright future, it was not very appropriate for him to indulge in drinking.

However, Gao You could have been unambitious and did not intend to climb high in the army. Or perhaps, his addiction to alcohol was too great and he was not willing to give up…etc etc.

There could be many reasons, but since there was a suspicious point, the investigators had to dig deeper. Any small lead could be the one that revealed the entire picture.

Gao You enjoyed drinking Crow Iron’s wine the most. The wine was as spicy as its name suggests. It was produced about a thousand miles away from the border army camp in a small city called Iron Thorn.

The investigators headed to Iron Thorn to find the brewery that produced Crow Iron’s wine. They surrounded the area, and very soon, a woman who sold the wine came to the attention of the investigators.

The reason was simple. The woman looked beautiful and her fair skin was eye-catching. In this small city by the border, she was considered a top beauty.

At the start, their questioning was not very successful. The woman was crying as she wiped her tears. She stuck to saying that she had indeed had a few affairs with the soldier named Gao You. However, she was a widow and was lonely after her husband passed away. Moreover, the soldier looked muscular and was hard for her to resist.

This was not illegal. There was no rule in the West Desolate that said a widow could not occasionally steal a bite and have love affairs.

If the raw ingredients were not good, the taste would be hard to improve even with oil and salt.