Chapter 1452: Investigating the Scene

Lin Feng was startled, Jiming Temple had a disciple murdered?!

“Master Shineng is dead?!” Wu Mei’s face showed even more surprise. She clearly remembered that Master Shineng was the young monk tasked by Master Hongyi to watch over that woman in black. Although she only saw him once, Wu Mei was quite impressed by the burly monk… and now, he’s dead just like that?!

“Wu Mei, you know Shineng too?” Lin Feng frowned and asked.

“Shineng was the master who just followed Master Hongyi’s orders to guard that woman in black…” Wu Mei explained to Lin Feng a little nervously.

“So that’s it! I understand now…” Lin Feng nodded, suddenly understanding why the disciples of Jiming Temple were suspicious of him.

If the same thing happened at Longfeng Martial Hall, in the absence of a suspect, the people at the Martial Hall would probably also list a mysterious master as the primary suspect, even if he had no motive for murder.

“Shi Kong, stop your nonsense!” Master Hongyi glared at the young monk behind him and said in a deep voice, “Lin Feng cannot possibly be the killer, nor could this Miss Wu Mei possibly be a suspect!”

Master Hongyi firmly stated that Lin Feng wasn’t the killer, showing his trust in Lin Feng. However, this statement wasn’t very convincing, and the monk named Shi Kong was a bit surprised, shaking his head and continuing to stare at Lin Feng… Although Shi Kong didn’t dare to contradict the abbot, he still couldn’t easily dismiss Lin Feng from suspicion.

“Thank you, Master Hongyi, for trusting me so much!” Lin Feng expressed his gratitude to Master Hongyi and then actively proposed, “If Master Hongyi doesn’t mind, I’d like to take a look at the crime scene… I’d like to see what method the murderer used…”

Upon hearing about the casualty at Jiming Temple, Lin Feng was in no rush to leave… If the murderer was an accomplice of the woman in black, having already rescued her, it meant at least two masters from the Sky Slaughter Organization were lurking in the dark. In this case, rashly descending the mountain could easily lead to an ambush! It was better to cooperate with the monks of Jiming Temple in their investigation, both to clear suspicion and to leverage their strength to capture the culprit!

Hearing Lin Feng’s words, Master Hongyi was relieved. Although he was the abbot, with Shineng being his chief eldest disciple, Shineng held high prestige among the disciples. Now that such an unfortunate incident occurred, even knowing Lin Feng wasn’t the killer, Master Hongyi had difficulty suppressing the anger of the disciples. Now that Lin Feng voluntarily proposed cooperating with the investigation, Master Hongyi felt much less burdened.

“In that case, Benefactor Lin Feng, please come along with us…” Master Hongyi said politely to Lin Feng.

“Lin Feng… could you put me down first? I could walk on my own…” Wu Mei suddenly felt her current situation a bit awkward. It was fine when no one saw her, but now with five or six big monks watching, being carried by Lin Feng wrapped in a blanket felt quite embarrassing. Wu Mei’s face burned, and she couldn’t help but ask Lin Feng.

“Hehe, aren’t you afraid of the cold?” Lin Feng had no intention of putting Wu Mei down, and with a light chuckle, he mischievously said, “Don’t worry, with your weight, I won’t get tired. Just stay put, I definitely won’t drop you!”

“Lin Feng… who’s afraid you’ll drop me…” Wu Mei said with a slightly flushed face, “Hurry and put me down, it’s so embarrassing!”

“I won’t…” Lin Feng shook his head and decisively refused Wu Mei’s request, ignoring the peculiar glances from the young monks nearby, holding Wu Mei tightly and following Master Hongyi towards the special room where Master Shineng had the accident.

…

The room was still dimly lit, and Shineng’s body lay on the floor, face up, with five visible bruises around his neck and eyes wide open, clearly preserving the crime scene’s appearance.

“Shineng was killed by someone who crushed his neck with brute force…” Master Hongyi explained to Lin Feng with a heavy expression, “Shineng himself had Inner Strength of the third level, yet under the opponent’s attack, he couldn’t resist, flee, or even call for help; his opponent’s power is immeasurable!”

“Indeed, immeasurable!” Lin Feng nodded, after hearing Master Hongyi mention that this Master Shineng was a cultivator at the third level of Inner Strength, Lin Feng could guess the opponent’s power from Shineng’s terrified eyes, clearly facing an adept at the Innate level!

Simultaneously, when Lin Feng employed the Mystery Deduction Technique, he could distinctly sense a chilling aura in the air, difficult to breathe and familiar to some degree.

What exactly is this aura?

Lin Feng recalled the moment of panic he felt going up the mountain, and vaguely felt that the owner of this chilling aura was the one who could threaten his life!

The young monk Shi Kong behind Master Hongyi saw Lin Feng chatting calmly with Master Hongyi and naturally felt his suspicion lessen significantly. After all, if Lin Feng were truly the killer, for him to display such innocence before Master Hongyi, he would need actor-level skills and the composure of staying unfazed during a calamity; the odds of this were slim.

“From the wound on Shineng’s neck, the killer’s hands appear small, like a woman’s!” After carefully examining Shineng’s neck wound, Lin Feng spoke quietly.

“A woman?!” Except for Master Hongyi, almost all the monks present turned their gaze to Wu Mei.

“Me?” Wu Mei exclaimed, eyes widening and face looking odd as she addressed the keen-eyed monks, “How could it be me? I don’t know any real martial arts…”

The big monks, upon hearing this, simultaneously dimmed and a fleeting look of shame passed… They trusted their judgment and could see that Wu Mei indeed had no martial arts skills.

“Earlier I entrusted Shineng to guard that prisoner, who was a woman…” Master Hongyi couldn’t help but sigh, his face reflecting guilt, “So, the most likely culprit is that woman in black! I was too careless. Had I not been overconfident in my acupuncture technique and overseen Shineng locking her up, Shineng wouldn’t have died so tragically by her hands!”

Lin Feng was shocked upon hearing Master Hongyi’s words, thinking a mysterious woman able to break free from an Innate mid-stage master’s acupuncture technique — just how powerful is she?! At this moment, Lin Feng truly hoped Master Hongyi’s judgment was wrong, preferring the woman in black was rescued by accomplices, rather than this result.