“Taishu Sheng habitually used two swords. The scholar wielding twin swords in the shadow play must have been him.”
Qian Xuelang always spoke at an unhurried pace. Yet when his eyes turned upon someone with full attention, the person under that gaze could hardly help feeling immense panic.
Elder Silkworm was no exception.
“Now I’d like to know what else the surviving Eccentric told you.”
Compared with Qian Xuelang’s account, the story Elder Silkworm had heard was much simpler and cruder, perhaps because the one remaining Eccentric was already somewhat deranged.
“He never explained the cause of the feud to me. He kept talking about a mastermind behind it all.” Elder Silkworm sighed. “That job was left with me by that living corpse… ah, the surviving Eccentric, quite some time ago. May I ask, Your Excellency, were the Five Eccentrics ranked by age?”
“Yes. From eldest to youngest: Gaunt Mountain, Parched Water, Tangled Cloud, Secluded Forest, and Perilous Rock.”
“Then I know which one he is.” Elder Silkworm rubbed his knee and shook his head sadly. “He’s Perilous Rock.”
“Oh?”
“You don’t understand. That living… Peril… ah, forget it, I’ll call him what I’m accustomed to calling him. The Living Corpse isn’t quite right in the head. He couldn’t explain what happened very clearly, but he kept speaking of the slaughter of the household, excited and proud, constantly telling me how extraordinary his brothers were, how remarkable their abilities. He described them from the eldest through the fourth. He must be the youngest.”
Qian Xuelang and Ren Yijue exchanged a glance. Only then did they understand why the shadow play had depicted the slaughter of an entire household.
An ordinary storyteller would explain events in sequence, beginning with their causes and ending with their consequences. Perilous Rock, however, perhaps because the blow had been too great or for some other reason, wandered between lucidity and confusion. He endlessly relived the last time the five brothers had fought together while imagining the other four still alive. That was why Elder Silkworm’s shadow play had taken the form they witnessed.
“I asked questions as he spoke and eventually pieced together a rough idea. The five brothers had made an enemy of someone. He never said that enemy’s name, only called him a hateful foe. Now I suppose it must have been Taishu Sheng.”
Ren Yijue found something strange. “The shadow play showed the Five Eccentrics and Taishu Sheng, as well as a man dressed in black. Why was Shui Wuchen never mentioned?”
Elder Silkworm shook his head. “Until you told me, I had no idea there had been an attempt at mediation. But now that I think about it, it is very odd. The Living Corpse said his five brothers killed their enemy’s entire household, and when the enemy unexpectedly turned up, they killed him too. I assumed they’d attacked while their enemy was away. But perhaps there was more to it than that.”
Ren Yijue turned and looked deeply at Qian Xuelang. The Jade Beauty sat calmly upon the chaise, his expression unruffled, without the slightest change.
For some reason, Ren Yijue suddenly thought, If those children from the Cui clan were here, they’d make an uproar at a tale like that. What sort of scoundrel slaughters a man’s whole family and still has the nerve to go mad afterward? Why doesn’t the Jade Beauty care at all? Isn’t he far too different from Immortal Lord He, who was willing to sacrifice himself for the world?
The thought amused him. Then he heard Qian Xuelang ask, “Did he ever say who the black-robed skeleton was?”
“No.” Elder Silkworm shook his head. “He always calls that figure the mastermind, never mentioning a name or identity. He says he’ll reveal it only when he meets someone he can trust. All I know is that the brothers made a troublesome enemy, were exploited by the mastermind while trying to get rid of him, slaughtered the enemy’s entire household, and were then silenced themselves. Only the Living Corpse escaped by luck.”
“Elder Silkworm, have you seen Perilous Rock in person?” Qian Xuelang asked calmly.
“Yes. He sometimes comes here to watch the shadow plays. The performance you just saw is his favorite.” Elder Silkworm sighed and shook his head. “Every time he sees it he nearly loses his mind, yet he won’t let me remove the black-robed skeleton. Whenever he watches, he stares fixedly at that puppet. He told me, detail by detail, how the skeleton transforms into a richly dressed gentleman.”
Ren Yijue understood his intentions perfectly. “Perilous Rock is alive in body but dead in spirit. All these years, he has lived only in the day his bond with the other four brothers came to an end. The black-robed skeleton was the cause of that ending. Not a single day does he dare relax for fear of forgetting his hatred.”
Qian Xuelang had no interest in those details. He asked instead, “How strong is his cultivation compared with yours?”
“Far beyond this old man’s,” Elder Silkworm replied. “That’s why he’s so selective when choosing people. He says even someone with his own abilities isn’t enough. He wants someone stronger still, with courage, judgment, and intelligence. After searching for years, he finally chose young Cangyuan here, only to be frightened away by the Immortal Lord.”
Ren Yijue asked, “Why does the Jade Beauty want to know?”
“The Floating Butterfly’s Molt in his possession is genuine, and so are its effects,” Qian Xuelang said, his expression calm. “As the shadow play showed, those five fought Taishu Sheng. They may have lost some strength during the battle, but with their coordination, they should never have fallen before they could withstand even a single move. That shows the mastermind’s cultivation far exceeded that of the Five Eccentrics.”
“To survive mortal wounds and then raise one’s cultivation to such heights within sixty years… The Floating Butterfly’s Molt might truly be what you need.”
With Elder Silkworm present, Qian Xuelang had not spoken too plainly. Only now did Ren Yijue understand why he had pursued those questions. A sudden warmth filled his chest.
Qian Xuelang rose at once and walked past them. “Let’s go.”
Seeing him leave, Ren Yijue could only follow. He turned and smiled at Elder Silkworm. “Tell that Living Corpse to prepare the Floating Butterfly’s Molt and wait for me. I will certainly come to collect it.”
“Eh?” Elder Silkworm was dumbstruck. “But the Living Corpse refuses to speak now. Where will you find any clues?”
Ren Yijue laughed loudly. “Isn’t the clue staring us in the face? Lady Jieyou, Shui Wuchen!”
Elder Silkworm was more bewildered still. He was about to ask further when Ren Yijue slipped out of the cart and vanished. The old man hurriedly shouted after him, “Hey! Cangyuan! Hey, you brat!” Then he sighed. “Never mind. I can wait to hear the whole story when they’ve gathered the pieces. They’ll have to come back for the Molt anyway. I can ask then.”
After the two men left the carriage, Ren Yijue hurried several steps to catch up and walked beside Qian Xuelang. The market was growing more crowded and lively. He hastily urged Qian Xuelang to put his veiled hat on again.
The warmth in Ren Yijue’s chest had not faded. A flush rose to his cheeks, fortunately hidden by his mask, and his voice flowed gently like water. “Jade Beauty… thank you. Thank you for keeping my mother in mind.”
“We seek the same ends. What is there to thank me for?” Qian Xuelang’s face was hidden behind the veil, so his expression could not be seen.
Ren Yijue steadied his emotions and continued, “While I was with Mister Huanqing, I asked about people still alive who were connected to demon thralls. Can the Jade Beauty guess whom he named?”
“Lady Jieyou, Shui Wuchen.” Qian Xuelang turned toward him. His gaze was indistinct behind the white gauze. “You know nothing about her, yet when you discovered I did, you said that was excellent. What is there to guess?”
Ren Yijue chuckled in his throat. “My, the Jade Beauty is so clever it leaves me quite distressed.”
Whether they were investigating demon thralls or the old feud between the Five Eccentrics and Taishu Sheng, everything now seemed to involve Shui Wuchen. Evidently a visit to Lady Jieyou was unavoidable.
Why had they spent so much time lately visiting recluses who wanted nothing to do with the world, disturbing their quiet lives?
But… heh, Shui Wuchen probably would not object. After all, she had been forced into seclusion.
“We understand what happened to the Five Eccentrics and Taishu Sheng. Only the identity of the mastermind remains unknown.” Wishing to tease Qian Xuelang, Ren Yijue asked, “What part do you think Shui Wuchen played in all this?”
“I don’t know,” Qian Xuelang replied coolly. “But there’s something that troubles me.”
“Oh? What might that be?”
“If this person could make use of the Five Eccentrics, he must have known something about them. Yet he did not take the Floating Butterfly’s Molt. That means the treasure was not his purpose. But…”
“But even if he wasn’t after the Molt, someone intent on silencing witnesses should cut off every possible avenue of escape,” Ren Yijue finished. “Yet the black-robed skeleton left immediately after the killings. Evidently some outside force interfered and made it impossible for him to linger.”
Qian Xuelang nodded. “Exactly. That’s what puzzles me.”
“The Jade Beauty suspects Shui Wuchen?”
Qian Xuelang shook his head. “I don’t know. But I know Shui Wuchen. She is careful and observant. If something was wrong, she would certainly notice it. Yet she has still not cleared her name. That suggests the mastermind is more cautious than we’ve realized.”
“You’ve forgotten Perilous Rock. He saw the change of face. And since he is so cautious, he must know perfectly well who the man was.” Ren Yijue smiled slightly. “If we learn nothing from Lady Shui, we can return and question him when he’s calmed down. We can simply force our way to him then.”
Qian Xuelang seemed to smile faintly, or perhaps Ren Yijue had only imagined it.
He stared at the veiled hat for a moment, then hurriedly turned his mind back to serious matters. Ren Yijue, stop thinking about things you shouldn’t. Think about the case. At this point, matters were clear enough, except for the strange blank space surrounding Shui Wuchen.
Unless Shui Wuchen had been stupendously foolish, she would have understood that a killer ought to avoid suspicion. If she truly wished to die, finding a rope and hanging herself from a tree would have been much simpler.
To persuade the lovesick Taishu Sheng to set aside his hatred was already extraordinary. To have also become friends with the Jade Beauty… A woman capable of both could not possibly be stupid.
She lost consciousness and did not know what happened. That explanation had done nothing for her circumstances. A lie so clumsy was harder to believe than the truth. Seen that way, Lady Shui was probably a woman of uncompromising integrity who had not even attempted a dishonest defense.
As a half-demon during the demonic calamity, she had traveled the world. The Jade Beauty himself said she was exceedingly cautious and observant. Yet immediately after Taishu Sheng and the Five Eccentrics died, her half-demon identity was exposed as well, increasing suspicion against her.
A coincidence that extreme could not possibly be coincidence. The entire affair was a deliberate frame-up, and Shui Wuchen was its target.
The Five Eccentrics and Taishu Sheng were merely pieces used to lure her into the trap.
Under the conditions at that time, Shui Wuchen would certainly have died if Jiufang Ce had not defended her. Since the mastermind had struck so viciously, he must have borne an extraordinarily deep hatred for her, determined not only to ruin her reputation but to make her die filled with resentment.
But if the hatred ran that deep, why had he made no further move in decades?
Was he wary of Jiufang Ce? Or had that deadly trap merely been a response to Shui Wuchen obstructing him at the time, so that once she withdrew, he was content to let her survive in obscurity?
Ren Yijue tapped his fan lightly against his palm, countless possibilities circling in his mind. Then an irrelevant thought arose unbidden: The Jade Beauty still remembers Shui Wuchen. Given his disposition, that must mean they were fairly good friends. I wonder how they met. Did he ever get to drink a cup of wedding wine at their celebration?