Their first encounter with Lin Youxie had been far from pleasant.

At that time, Zhong Xuansheng, leveraging Zheng Shi’s favor, had helped Jiang Wang obtain a green plaque, granting him the right to leave Qi territory and quietly visit An An in the Yun country. Jiang Wang had joined the Patrol Inspection Office’s arrest team led by Yue Leng in Bei County, initially intending only a perfunctory show of cooperation before departing.

Yet, Lin Youxie seemed to fixate on him. This unusually earnest and stubborn green plaque constable, suspecting his connection with the organization “Hell No Door,” relentlessly pursued him. She constantly monitored his whereabouts, seizing every opportunity to interrogate him, and later even followed him overseas.

Jiang Wang had once harbored intense resentment towards this woman, even contemplating resorting to force. He had clashed with her, adopted a cold indifference, attempted to leverage his influence, and issued threats and warnings… Ultimately, he had no choice but to accept being under the scrutiny of this green plaque constable.

Neither his burgeoning reputation as a rising star in the Great Qi Empire nor his influential friends and allies – such as his sworn brother Zhong Xuansheng, or Jiang Wuyou who favored him – seemed to matter to Lin Youxie. In this woman’s eyes, it appeared only the laws of the Qi country held any significance.

As their interactions increased and he gained a deeper understanding, his impression of Lin Youxie softened slightly. Nevertheless, he chose to maintain a respectful distance, believing they would each follow their own paths, the vast sky above them, and never cross paths again, like well water not disturbing river water.

When exactly did he begin to consider this green plaque constable a friend? He couldn’t pinpoint the moment.

Yet, whenever he encountered places like morgues, Jiang Wang would inevitably recall Lin Youxie calmly dissecting corpses in front of him, deliberately using incredibly detailed descriptions of the autopsy to provoke him. He still remembered that pair of corpse membrane gloves that had nearly made him vomit on the spot.

Even more unforgettable was the shock and subsequent admiration he felt upon learning from Li Yougu that Lin Youxie had suffered from a fear syndrome since childhood, relying on medication simply to endure examining corpses.

Yes, he deeply admired Lin Youxie. He saw in her an astonishing courage, an indomitable persistence, and an unwavering sense of responsibility! Many disliked her, but the world wasn’t bright enough precisely because there were too few people like Lin Youxie! The spirit of the Legalist school truly resided within her. However, due to her father’s lineage, she was born under the gaze of that dark wall. The heir to one of the four great green plaque families, the only daughter of a peerless renowned constable… Her birth had been the beginning of a tragic end.

“A corpse is composed of clues.”

Jiang Wang would forever remember that chilling pronouncement.

He remembered Lin Youxie’s resolve to view herself as a part of the clues as well.

And Lin Youxie was already dead. She had died here. She had died less than three thousand *zhang* from where he sat. She had died in a place he could reach with a single flash. She had died on the first day of May, in the year 3921 of the Dao Calendar…

On that day, with her assistance, Zhong Xuansheng had found Fourteen in time. A newly reunited couple, and a woman just departing. At that very moment, they were in Linzi City, gathering friends for a lively wedding celebration. Meanwhile, she had left behind only a lingering thought, scattering away in an untended wild forest, alone and forgotten.

Jiang Wang could even imagine it: that day, he had been sitting on this very branch cultivating. Zhong Xuansheng and Fourteen were in the forest outside, pouring out their hearts to each other. And just a short distance away, Lin Youxie was being brutally murdered, all traces of her existence being wiped away. And he, in his ignorance, had been completely unaware! What a heart-wrenching scene this was.

He would forever regret not being with Lin Youxie that day. Regret not speaking a few more words to her, regret not urging her to stay and drink Zhong Xuansheng’s wedding wine, regret not seeing her off.

Who was that person? The one who had killed Lin Youxie… Who was it?!

The lake of his heart surged with mad waves. Tremendous waves angrily rolled.

Jiang Wang poured his utmost concentration into his Heart Sparrow, but that thought transformed into a black cat had already thoroughly dissipated. That kind of perception at that time…

He had felt Lin Youxie’s emotions from the thought dust; there was no fear. She was simply… using her last thought to record the final image her eyes had seen. As she had said in life, as a qualified green plaque constable, both she and her corpse were components of the case. But she had not clearly seen that face. Or perhaps, she had not had time to use the Thought Dust technique to record more information. The last thing she had seen was the pale, bloodless hand that had destroyed her.

Whose hand was that?

Jiang Wang’s thoughts lingered, gazing for a long time!

“There’s indeed a problem!” In the forest clearing, Zhong Xuansheng, who had been flipping through a stack of intelligence reports, suddenly exclaimed. He then furrowed his brow again, “Brother Wang, what’s wrong?”

Jiang Wang, sitting alone on the bare branch, opened his eyes. At this moment, his eyes were so calm, devoid of any outward emotion. Yet, there was a profound suppression, a feeling akin to a volcano on the verge of eruption, flowing beneath the surface.

“What’s wrong?” Zhong Xuansheng stood up and asked again.

Fourteen also cast a worried gaze towards him.

“Lin Youxie is dead,” Jiang Wang stated calmly.

“Why do you say that?” Zhong Xuansheng was clearly not surprised by the result, only by how Jiang Wang had reached it.

“The Lin family has a secret technique called Thought Dust.” Jiang Wang’s voice in the midnight forest flowed away like the night itself. “I have also cultivated it. Just now, I captured the information she left behind nearby.”

Zhong Xuansheng had naturally heard of the renowned Thought Dust. He was surprised that Lin Youxie had actually passed this secret technique to Jiang Wang, but he was even more surprised by the word “nearby.”

Jiang Wang floated down from the branch, his feet landing on dry branches and fallen leaves as he walked outwards. The rustling sound carried far in the quiet night, carrying a sense of foreboding. Zhong Xuansheng casually gathered the large pile of materials into his storage ring and followed closely with Fourteen. Fourteen silently picked up her heavy sword.

The straight-line distance was less than three thousand *zhang*; winding through the forest, it didn’t exceed four thousand *zhang*. They stopped in front of a half-withered old tree. This tree was neither older nor taller nor more decayed than the surrounding trees. In this rarely visited old forest, it was just an ordinary tree.

But the youngest military merit marquis of the Great Qi Empire stopped before it.

“Her last thought told me. She died right here.” Jiang Wang’s eyes looked slightly into the distance, as if gazing at someone walking out of the midnight forest. His voice was also a little ethereal. “The time was midnight on the first day of May, in the year 3921 of the Dao Calendar, when the sky was still not bright. At that time, she should have already left Lu Shuang County, but for some reason, she was still in the wild forest… She should have been escaping towards our side, but her movement was silenced, and she was also caught up with here.”

Jiang Wang reached out and placed his hand on the tree trunk before him. “Right here. I think she indeed discovered something…”

“Who killed her?” Zhong Xuansheng asked slowly. “Did she tell you the answer?”

“No.” Jiang Wang shook his head, describing in a toneless voice, “I only saw a hand, a very pale, very cold hand.”

Fourteen silently watched him, feeling that Jiang Wang was particularly cold at this moment. But his pain was also so evident. Some kind of internal emotional injury made the pain stronger.

“I don’t know whose hand that is,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Zhong Xuansheng’s voice was very gentle at this moment. “Lin Youxie has already spoken the answer.”

Jiang Wang paused, then turned his eyes towards him. “Who?”

Zhong Xuansheng took out several packets of materials and handed them to Jiang Wang, speaking at a steady pace to ease Jiang Wang’s emotions. “I summarized the intelligence from the various major forces in Lu Shuang County and analyzed the current power structure there. I discovered a very strange thing. The Lu Shuang County Governor Luo Zhengchuan, whom I had always thought was quite capable, has actually been hollowed out within the governor’s mansion and has lost his voice.”

“Who hollowed out Luo Zhengchuan?” Jiang Wang asked as he flipped through the materials in his hand. “Basically, we can thus determine – whoever is hollowing out Luo Zhengchuan has schemes in Lu Shuang County. Of course, anyone can have ambition, and power competition is originally a common matter. But according to your previous judgment, Lin Youxie’s disappearance is very likely because she accidentally stumbled upon something. Then, among the forces with strength and ambition within Lu Shuang County, it is naturally possible that they are related to this.”

“It’s the Zhou family,” Zhong Xuansheng said. “But also not entirely the Zhou family.”

Jiang Wang understood. “The Zhou family is just on the surface?”

“The current core figure of the Zhou family, Zhou Qing Song, was previously just a fringe elder. Within the past year, he suddenly rose, quickly seized significant power within the family, and rapidly expanded the Zhou family’s influence in Lu Shuang County. They struck at the Yan family, pressured the Lei family, and hollowed out Luo Zhengchuan… Without investigation, you wouldn’t know, but now the foremost family in Lu Shuang County should be the Zhou family.” Zhong Xuansheng said, “But there is a very puzzling problem. Since the passing of the Eleventh Prince, the Lei family’s forces have comprehensively contracted. Their hands reaching outside Lu Shuang County have almost all been cut off, and even within Lu Shuang County, they are frequently attacked. But after the rise of the Zhou family, although the Lei family’s momentum is still very weak and is still regarded as grasshoppers in autumn, they have not suffered any substantial damage.”

“This is not reasonable,” Jiang Wang said.

Zhong Xuansheng said, “Yes, ah, when a new king ascends, the old king must be purged. For the Zhou family to become the foremost family in Lu Shuang County, they must step on the former foremost family to rise. After all, Lu Shuang County is only this big, and resources are limited. Not to mention anything else, how could the Zhou family not be envious of the Lu Ming wine business?”

Jiang Wang slowly followed Zhong Xuansheng’s line of thinking. “You mean to say that behind the rise of the Zhou family, the Lei family is controlling the situation? But why would the Lei family do this? The current court situation is very stable. If they have the ability, the competition can be completely put on the table. Moreover, didn’t you say that Lei Zhangan’s suspicion has already been cleared?”

“That’s why I said Lei Zhangan has a problem. Therefore, in the process of leading the Lei family’s resurgence, he needs to be as low-key as possible. Furthermore, what I said before was that his suspicion has been cleared *on the surface*.” Zhong Xuansheng was very patient. “What is Lei Zhangan’s suspicion? Firstly, the Lei family is still the foremost family on the surface in Lu Shuang County, the most powerful force in Lu Shuang County, and also has the most opportunity to do something. Secondly, and most importantly, he appeared in the wild forest on the day Lin Youxie disappeared and encountered Fourteen. How great is this suspicion?”

“This can be said to be a suspicion like yellow mud stuck to one’s pants. Even if one is truly innocent, one has to spend a lot of effort to prove oneself. But do you see Lei Zhangan spending effort? Within that short time we visited the Lei family, he successfully washed himself clean.”

“But if the matter of Lin Youxie is originally unrelated to him, is it not normal to be able to prove one’s innocence?” Jiang Wang asked. “We’ve all seen that *Meng Xu*?”

When that *Meng Xu* was mentioned again, Jiang Wang was startled for some reason. He had a hazy feeling of familiarity, but he couldn’t tell where this feeling came from. “A *Meng Xu* indeed appeared in the wild forest in history. The death time of that *Meng Xu* in the Lei family’s basement is also indeed close. But is that *Meng Xu* in the Lei family’s basement truly the *Meng Xu* from the wild forest? I believe if the army searched the forest, they certainly wouldn’t find the nest of that *Meng Xu*. It’s just that he certainly won’t have anyone do that.”

Zhong Xuansheng said with certainty, “Lei Zhangan certainly has a problem. I’m not talking about his character, what’s wrong with his changes. He completely fits the image of an aristocratic son who has suffered a sudden misfortune, repented, and reformed. His character change, personality transformation, all conform to story logic. But, it’s too precise…”

“Precise?”

“From the time we went to the Lei family until we left, every sentence he spoke, every action he took, every expression on his face… everything was too appropriate, every detail was perfect. It conforms to a well-designed storyline, not the real evolution of life. Think carefully, after we went to the Lei family, did he say a single unnecessary word? Didn’t every sentence, every action, all serve to prove his innocence, all to expound his changes?”

Fourteen opened her mouth and said, “I feel that he has changed a lot, and I still feel… a little pity for him.”

“I feel the same way as you,” Zhong Xuansheng said, then shook his head again. “But this shouldn’t be the case. I am a quite vengeful person. I have a prejudice against Lei Zhangan. But he was able to unconsciously wipe away my prejudice. He made me sympathize with him, recognize him, and couldn’t find a reason to suspect him… I have every reason to believe that before we arrived at the Lei family, he had rehearsed the scene of our meeting countless times, and had planned how to respond to all our reactions. And this requires enough wisdom to support it. Lei Zhangan himself is not such a smart person. A person’s character can change, but wisdom is very difficult to leap too much.”

Jiang Wang could think relatively calmly at this time and frowned. “That day, Lin Youxie also mentioned Lei Zhangan to me. This point matches what Fourteen later said about meeting Lei Zhangan. So, at the Lei family, I carefully observed Lei Zhangan. He should not possess the strength to approach me within three thousand *zhang* without being discovered. His hand is also not the same as the hand Lin Youxie saw at the end…”

“This can only explain that he didn’t expose half a flaw in front of us, it doesn’t explain anything else.” Zhong Xuansheng said seriously, “The Lei family has a problem in Lu Shuang County, Lei Zhangan himself has a problem, and Lei Zhangan still appeared in the wild forest on the day Lin Youxie disappeared… Combining all of the above, I only had half a grasp. So, before leaving the Lei family, I specifically mentioned future cooperation with the Lei family to stabilize him. Then I used the matter of us coming to the wild forest to try and fish him out.”

“But now, you’ve found the information Lin Youxie left for you and determined that Lin Youxie died right here… No matter whether Lei Zhangan takes the bait or not, I am now ninety-nine percent certain it is him.” His voice sank, filled with killing intent. “I just figured it out. Lei Zhangan’s target was originally not Lin Youxie. That day, he was rushing towards Fourteen!”

Suddenly hearing this, both Jiang Wang and Fourteen were shocked. “Why do you say that?” Jiang Wang asked with difficulty.

Zhong Xuansheng said, “I temporarily still don’t know his real identity. But looking at this person’s layout style in Lu Shuang County, that time was indeed a good opportunity. Controlling Fourteen can also influence me, and further influence you. Compared to gradually nibbling at other forces in Lu Shuang County, directly influencing or even controlling us can undoubtedly give the Lei family a huge leap.”

“Think about it carefully, with Lei Zhangan’s process of clearing his suspicion at this time, which can be called perfect performance. Why did he expose such a huge point of doubt at the beginning? Compared to trying every means to prove his innocence, not meeting Fourteen face-to-face from the beginning wouldn’t have been a better choice?”

“There is only one explanation – meeting Fourteen face-to-face was originally within his plan, and Lin Youxie’s arrival was just an accident. He was forced to leave this point of doubt!”

“Even that originally shouldn’t have been a point of doubt…” Zhong Xuansheng’s speech speed slowed down. “Because he actually didn’t plan to do anything to Lin Youxie. His layout style is cautious, but at the critical moment, he is also very decisive. Perceiving Lin Youxie’s appearance, he took the initiative to abandon his plan. Because rashly killing Lin Youxie would certainly cause an investigation. And at that time, you and I were also rushing over. He has hidden for so long under the identity of Lei Zhangan, there must be a big plot, he would not easily take risks.”

“If he had just left, we would at most be curious about why he appeared in the wild forest. The reason he gave about brewing wine is completely plausible, even if he said he was just relaxing or something, no one would pursue it… But Lin Youxie discovered his problem.”

Zhong Xuansheng stopped speaking at this point.

And Jiang Wang stood stunned, silent for a long time. Because he could completely understand why Lin Youxie, who no longer cared about anything in the Qi country and had decided to study at the Three Punishments Palace, would suddenly go investigate Lei Zhangan.