Using a senior master’s form of address doesn’t sound nice, for fear of making someone seem old and upsetting them. Women seem to care quite a lot about age, so addressing her as “Manager Qin” is most appropriate.
After mealtime arrived, he honestly led the group to the Dingyin District dining hall, bringing them into a private room.
Qin Fujun and the others sat in the private room slowly sampling the Dingyin District’s food, while Wu Tian went outside for a stroll.
Just as the group in the private room were halfway through their meal, Wu Tian suddenly opened the door and came in, saying softly to Qin Fujun, “They’re here.”
The group quickly left their seats. Qin Fujun walked to the door, opened it a crack, glanced outside, and asked, “Which one?”
Wu Tian pointed from the side. “Right there at the serving counter, that group of three men and one woman. The little moustache between the big fellow and the fat man, the one who keeps looking around, that’s Zhang Zhichen.”
The pointing was very clear, the target’s features were also very obvious. Qin Fujun locked onto him with one glance and observed carefully from the shadows.
Yu Qing and the others never imagined someone could be watching them from the shadows here. They ate as usual, and when full, patted their bellies and left.
Meanwhile, Qin Fujun and her group had already left the dining hall first and were waiting outside the main gate.
The martial brothers walking out of the dining hall gate saw Wu Tian at once. They were all familiar with him, and each waved or nodded in greeting.
Of course, they couldn’t help but glance a couple more times at Qin Fujun, because she was indeed rather eye-catching. Though dressed in men’s clothes, she didn’t restrain her feminine form. The fullness of her chest plus her beautiful looks made it obvious at a glance she was a woman.
Although the three martial brothers were curious, they were too embarrassed to keep staring, as that would be far too rude.
Especially Yu Qing, who quickly avoided her scrutinising gaze and pretended to be nonchalant as he waved goodbye to Wu Tian.
He couldn’t help it. He recognised this woman in men’s clothing as the one who had led the arrest that night when someone trespassed and caused trouble.
Even though it was night at the time, her features were simply too distinctive and easy to recognise.
The two had spoken at close quarters. He had thought they would never meet again, so bumping into her here suddenly made it hard not to feel like a guilty thief.
But thinking of what he wore that night, plus the mud smeared on his face, combined with poor visibility at night, and the cleanup he had done afterwards, she shouldn’t be able to recognise him. What was there to fear? Thinking this, he relaxed again.
“All finished eating?” Wu Tian also smiled and nodded as he asked.
“Hehe, all finished.” Nan Zhu said cheerfully. He had wanted to chatter a bit more, but seeing Yu Qing had already led the way out, he could only exchange a quick greeting and follow.
Wu Tian was also somewhat surprised. After staring blankly for a moment, he turned back, wanting to explain to Qin Fujun, only to discover she was staring blankly at the retreating backs of the group, her face even showing a few shifting, complex expressions.
Not knowing what she meant, he didn’t dare disturb her, so he stood by with hands clasped, waiting quietly for instructions.
Others could not imagine Qin Fujun’s mood at this moment.
Earlier in the private room she had already seen Yu Qing’s appearance and clearly understood what he looked like. But when Yu Qing truly stood face to face before her, truly passing right before her eyes, his face backlit by the setting sun, that little moustache, the size and shape of his body, and that vaguely familiar, seemingly evasive gaze, had in an instant given her a tremendous mental shock.
She clearly didn’t know him, clearly had just seen him, yet he made her instantly overlap with that night-time figure that had long troubled her. Especially that little moustache and the familiar evasive gaze made her thoughts return once more to that night’s scene, being bumped into, being steadied by someone.
She now seemed to feel the moment of being steadied with unusual clarity. At the time she clearly hadn’t thought much of it, but now she clearly remembered where the other’s hand had rested on her chest, seeming even to feel the pressure anew, and suddenly her cheeks grew somewhat hot.
She clearly remembered seeing an unrecognisable, mud-covered person after being bumped, and the feeling of that person standing before her was too similar to what she had just seen.
Though the face couldn’t be distinguished, she simply felt there was considerable resemblance to the person before her.
Could it have been this person that night? She grew suspicious, yet felt she might be overthinking, because that person had already been killed by the murderer, and the body had already been found.
But she couldn’t suppress her suspicion, because the feeling this person gave her just now was simply too similar.
Moreover, there were still some doubtful points from back then that had never convinced her.
How could a Kunling Mountain disciple involved in the arrest have so much mud on his face? Could he really not notice getting that dirty by accident? Why not clean it off?
When that Kunling Mountain disciple rushed ahead and jumped off the cliff, why did he make a gesture for everyone to stop?
Afterwards, when that disciple’s remains were found, she had inquired and learned the disciple had not grown a beard in life, but she felt the disciple who rushed ahead had a beard.
All these doubts, however, couldn’t withstand the all-important matter currently facing Kunling Mountain, and the case was forcibly closed. She alone couldn’t make a difference, unable to go against the tide, and could only submit.
Now, her heart full of doubts was stirred up again. A woman’s strong intuition told her this person was very suspicious.
The more she thought, the more suspicious it seemed.
But she couldn’t produce any evidence. Her intuition couldn’t be used as a report, and speaking out would certainly get her scolded bloody. The sect had already reached a conclusion, so what right did she have to stir things up again?
It was still the same thing. The Chaoyang Assembly was currently the all-important matter for Kunling Mountain, and the sect couldn’t allow groundless matters to disrupt and interfere with the competition’s order.
She also wanted to let it go. Why invite trouble? But thinking of that muddy handprint left on her chest, her cheeks couldn’t help but burn and redden.
If the culprit really was this person, was that handprint he left unintentional or deliberate?
The thought that it might have been deliberate profanity made her obsession surge unbearably, hard to let go of.
Of course, the sect leader had also said she could investigate in secret.
Nan Zhu quickened his pace by two steps, and after drawing level with Yu Qing, bumped his arm against Yu Qing’s arm, snickering and whispering, “That one next to Wu Tian, did you see? It’s a woman, and quite pretty. Heart beating faster? Shall I go help you find out more?”
Among martial brothers, they actually often secretly commented on women, and when seeing a beauty their mouths ran even more freely.
Looking for death by bumping into her? Yu Qing thought him reckless, and directly elbowed him hard, making his “not interested” meaning perfectly clear.
“Oof.” Nan Zhu groaned softly from the blow.
Qin Fujun, who had been watching them leave, gradually came back to herself and asked Wu Tian beside her, “Didn’t you say they would definitely stop to chat when they saw you?”
This was also why they had come out first to wait at the gate, wanting to take the chance to exchange a few words before the other side knew their identities. But the others simply left directly, foiling their intention.
Wu Tian quickly explained, “That fatty is a chatterbox. Normally when he sees me he definitely stops to babble for a while, and the others would also stop to ask about the day’s situation. I don’t know what happened today, but he just greeted me and left.”
Qin Fujun slightly raised an eyebrow. “You mean today it was because we were here, because strangers were present, so they didn’t stop?”
Wu Tian shook his head, pondering. “It shouldn’t be like that. That fatty can talk to anyone. What kind of shy person is he? He once chatted up every single hilltop in the Ding District by himself. Today they seemed a bit strange.”
A profound look flashed in Qin Fujun’s eyes. “So in other words, it was still because of our appearance.”
“Uh.” Wu Tian was speechless, not knowing why she insisted on thinking this way. If she insisted on saying it like that, what could he say?
Qin Fujun asked again, “They live at the very top of the hill, right?”
Wu Tian said, “Yes, they arrived relatively early, and there was still space at the summit, so they stayed up there.”
Qin Fujun looked up towards the summit, her gaze flickering uncertainly in the sunset glow.
For her, to find the truth, she first had to confirm one thing. That was to prove her suspect was not in the residence at the summit when the incident occurred. Only by proving this could she continue investigating. If the other party had an alibi at the time of the incident, then her suspicions were nonsense, and the sect wouldn’t let her investigate further even if they knew.
For now, matters still had to be taken in order, with priorities. First sort out the drawing lots matter, first complete the trace-back investigation of that “Indispensable” nickname.
That night, after the Dingyin District mealtime had passed and all participants who needed to eat had eaten, she immediately had Wu Tian exercise a certain degree of control over the Dingyin District, and led people in conducting an investigation.
They started from the foot of the hill, finding the first nearby target, asking if they knew the nickname “Indispensable.”
As soon as the other party said they knew, Qin Fujun immediately asked, “From whose mouth did you hear this nickname?”
This was the crux of the matter, and also the best method for trace-back investigation. Though the technique seemed somewhat old-fashioned and clumsy, it was the most effective.
Moreover, the Dingyin District didn’t have many participants. Investigating one by one like this, before all participants had even been questioned, by the time they reached halfway up the hill, two names had already surfaced. Xiao Changdao and Wu Ronggui.
It seemed they had already found the source of Yu Qing and the others’ nickname.
Qin Fujun immediately found Wu Tian again to learn about these two. After learning they also lived at the summit, Qin Fujun, for some reason, had people continue the paused investigation, and had Wu Tian relax the control.
During the earlier trace-back investigation, she had Wu Tian place the Dingyin District participants under slight control to prevent people from walking about and colluding. Now she released them.
Thus some information quickly reached the summit, and reached Xiao Changdao and Wu Ronggui’s ears.
After the two caught wind of this, they immediately left their rooms one after another.
At a secluded spot on the descending stairs, the two met. Xiao Changdao, looking all around, immediately grabbed Wu Ronggui’s arm and said somewhat anxiously, “What’s going on? Why investigate this for no reason? Has Kunling Mountain nothing better to do after eating their fill?”
Wu Ronggui furrowed his brow. “Who knows?”
Xiao Changdao grew somewhat anxious. “Didn’t you say at the time that Kunling Mountain wouldn’t bother with this kind of trivial matter? What do we do now? Once it reaches us, once it gets out, never mind others, never mind other matters, first of all what will Chan Shaoting think of us?”
He had offended those master archers, and was still counting on Chan Shaoting and the others to stand up for him.
Wu Ronggui frowned and said nothing. He truly didn’t know what to do either, and crucially lacked the power to influence matters.
The two could only wait in anxious unease.
Until well past midnight, the group led by Qin Fujun had more or less finished sorting through the Dingyin District, but the three buildings at the summit had not been reached in sequence.
Qin Fujun had Wu Tian arrange a room, and sent people to invite Xiao Changdao and Wu Ronggui over.
When the two sides met, Qin Fujun gestured for the two to sit across from her at the table, and asked expressionlessly as soon as she opened her mouth, “Do you know why I invited you here?”