Chapter 128: Speculation

Gu Chutong mused, "So, if it was an act of revenge by an enemy, that would be straightforward. But if not, then the perpetrator taking the heart implies another purpose, such as the Heart-Snatching Gu that the Hanged Ghost and Starved Ghost were refining back in Pinggu County..."

Gu Chutong suddenly paused mid-sentence.

Gu Mo was also slightly taken aback, saying, "If I recall correctly, Elder Sangtu once mentioned that the third step in refining the King Heart-Snatching Gu requires a specific human medium. Among the 'special people' he listed, one type was someone with profound internal energy."

Gu Chutong nodded and said, "Brother, is it possible the killer is a Chāng Guǐ?"

"Highly possible." Gu Mo pondered for a moment and said, "If it's a Chāng Guǐ, it makes perfect sense. Previously, during the righteous-demonic war in Yunzhou, the Moon Worship Cult was defeated, and the Chāng Guǐ fled along with its members. Qingzhou is the closest to Yunzhou, and the Twin Immortals of Snow Ridge had mentioned that most of the Moon Worship Cult members escaped to Qingzhou, causing considerable trouble for the local martial arts world. So, it's very likely the Chāng Guǐ also fled to Qingzhou. And now, with so many martial arts masters gathered in Cangshan Town, the suspicion that a Chāng Guǐ committed the crime here is very high. Furthermore, Mr. Iron Lute, Shi Hongye, was a master of internal energy, perfectly fitting the requirements for refining the King Heart-Snatching Gu."

Gu Chutong agreed, saying, "Brother, should we alert Elder Sang?"

Gu Mo nodded, "Certainly, we should, but let's wait a bit. Let Elder Sangtu investigate first. After all, we're only speculating right now, and the death of an internal energy master doesn't necessarily mean they were used by a Chāng Guǐ to refine the King Heart-Snatching Gu."

"Oh, by the way, Brother," Gu Chutong said, "There's something I don't understand."

"What is it?"

"Why did the Shi family want to find martial artists to investigate the murderer instead of reporting it to the Six Gates?" Gu Chutong continued, "No sect is stronger than the Six Gates when it comes to investigating cases, right? To put it bluntly, many people in the *Jianghu* can barely read. How could they understand investigation?"

Gu Mo chuckled softly, "Do you think Mr. Iron Lute could become a renowned figure in the martial arts world without having taken lives?"

Gu Chutong replied, "Of course not! Which famous martial artist in the *Jianghu* hasn't risen through countless battles?"

"There you have it." Gu Mo smiled, "Reporting to the authorities presents several problems. Firstly, as a martial arts family, if the Shi family can't find the killer themselves and resorts to involving the government, they'll be mocked by the *Jianghu* as incompetent, and their prestige will be shattered. This is a matter of face. Secondly, it would make *Jianghu* forces believe the Shi family is colluding with the government. Who would dare associate with them or do business with them afterward? They would effectively isolate themselves from the martial arts world, as no major sect in the *Jianghu* is absolutely law-abiding. Thirdly, as just mentioned, no major sect is completely law-abiding, and the Shi family is no exception. Just as Shi Hongye became a renowned martial artist, it's impossible that his hands weren't stained with lives, nor that he didn't meddle in the *Jianghu*'s grey industries. Given this, if he died, how could they dare invite the authorities? If the investigation failed to find the killer but instead uncovered a host of Shi Hongye's own affairs, he wouldn't even have a clean reputation in death."

Gu Chutong suddenly understood, saying, "It's just like with the Four Directions Sword Sect in Qingyang Prefecture before. When their four sect leaders went missing, they had no intention of reporting it to the authorities, preferring to investigate it themselves. It's the same principle."

"Exactly," Gu Mo said, "You saw the result. Because Zhuo Qingfeng intervened, although the Cat Demon case was solved and the four sect leaders miraculously survived, what happened? They merely clung to life for a few more days, only to be beheaded in the end, leading to the complete destruction of the Four Directions Sword Sect. However, if Zhuo Qingfeng hadn't intervened, and the public didn't report it and the officials didn't investigate, the four sect leaders would have died trapped in Jiuhua Mountain. The ultimate outcome would have simply been an unsolved *Jianghu* mystery. The Four Directions Sword Sect would still be the Four Directions Sword Sect, still the martial arts leader of Qingyang Prefecture, with only four deaths."

Gu Chutong nodded, saying, "I finally understand why there are so many stories of revenge in the *Jianghu*, yet hardly anyone reports these acts of revenge to the authorities."

Gu Mo chuckled softly, "The so-called *Jianghu* is inherently a group of individuals possessing great martial power. They stand above ordinary citizens yet are weaker than the imperial court. They dare not openly defy imperial laws, yet they are unwilling to submit to them like common folk. Thus, a world emerged that feigns compliance with the court while secretly defying it, a world removed from officialdom, known as—the *Jianghu*!"

That day, in Cangshan Town, the murder of Mr. Iron Lute caused a great stir.

An investigation team was formed, led by Elder Sangtu of the Canglan Sword Sect. Participants included the Qiushan Sword School, Qingliang Temple, and Ten Thousand Swords Gate from Yunzhou, as well as the Shi family, Shennong Gang, Xiandu Temple, and Wild Goose Gate from Qingzhou, all major sects that dispatched members to assist in the search.

This included the Twin Immortals of Snow Ridge; although no disciples from their Snow Ridge Villa were present, both of them publicly vowed to fully assist in investigating the true culprit.

However, to Gu Mo's surprise, in just about half an hour, the Twin Immortals of Snow Ridge returned. Ye Lingsu, particularly, stormed into her room and slammed the door shut with a bang.

Gu Mo, standing in the corridor, looked bewildered.

Gu Chutong, very puzzled, asked Ye Wanyue, "Sister Wanyue, what happened? Why is Sister Lingsu so angry?"

Ye Wanyue replied helplessly, "It's all because of Shi Hongye's matter. They were supposed to be investigating the killer, but instead, members of various sects gathered and started accusing each other, suspecting this and that. Eventually, they started fighting directly. My sister tried to mediate, but in the end, she got into the fight herself. So, she's fuming now!"

Gu Chutong was speechless and asked, "Have they found anything yet?"

Ye Wanyue said, "Nothing. They haven't even started investigating. It was only when Elder Sangtu claimed he'd invite your brother over that those people quieted down. But my sister wants no part of it now."

Gu Chutong slowly said, "I wasn't optimistic about their investigation to begin with, and now that you've said that, I'm even less so. Brother, what do you think?"

Gu Mo: "..."

In the end, it proved that Gu Chutong's guess was correct. Martial artists were good at fighting and killing, but when it came to investigations, very few truly understood how. Those who genuinely knew how to investigate had already joined the government or the Six Gates.

Just like with the previous Silver Fox case and Cat Demon case, which made Gu Mo famous in the *Jianghu*, in reality, he merely followed along. It was Zhuo Qingfeng who truly investigated the cases and uncovered the truth.

This time, with the murder of Mr. Iron Lute, Shi Hongye, a group of martial artists attempting to track down the killer in a place teeming with all sorts of people were completely like headless flies blundering about.

After a whole day of fruitless efforts, Elder Sangtu returned, looking crestfallen.

At this moment, Gu Mo was upstairs in the inn, watching Daoist Yuan compete on the fighting stage.

Although Shi Hongye's murder had occurred today, the Canglan Sword Sect and Qiushan Sword School were still maintaining order. Elder Sangtu had gone to investigate the case, replaced by another Canglan Sword Sect disciple who was responsible for registration, while Daoist Yuan continued to guard the arena.

Elder Sangtu slowly walked to the table where Gu Mo was sitting, and sat down, saying, "Great Hero Gu, how about you teach me a trick or two? How do you investigate cases?"

"I don't know either," Gu Mo said.

Elder Sangtu replied, "Tell me, who in the *Jianghu* doesn't know that you first solved the Silver Fox case and then the Cat Demon case? Weren't both of those top-tier unsolved mysteries?"

Gu Mo shook his head, "You're directly ignoring the fact that Commissioner Zhuo Qingfeng was involved in both those cases, aren't you? If the Shi family agrees, I don't mind helping them report the case to the Six Gates."

"Then let's not," Elder Sangtu quickly waved his hand.

Gu Mo asked, "How's the investigation going?"

"Found nothing." Elder Sangtu said, "Currently, we can only consider two possibilities: revenge by an enemy or the work of a demonic cult master. Regarding enemies, there shouldn't be any masters in Cangshan Town with a deadly grudge against Shi Hongye right now. After all, for Shi Hongye to have shown no signs of resistance, either the assailant's martial arts were incredibly superior, or Shi Hongye trusted them implicitly. We lean towards the latter, so we've focused on investigating Shi Hongye's disciples, but there's been no progress yet. The second possibility is suspicion of a demonic cult master at work. After all, a normal person wouldn't deliberately remove a heart after killing someone; it's highly likely to be a demonic cultivation method that requires hearts. I don't have concrete leads on this, but I somewhat suspect it's a Chāng Guǐ. You remember the incident in Pinggu County, don't you? The Starved Ghost and Hanged Ghost were controlled by the Chāng Guǐ's Gu, harming people on its behalf to refine the Heart-Snatching Gu. As for refining the King Heart-Snatching Gu, it requires either the heart of someone born on a yin month, yin day, and yin hour as a vessel, or the heart of an internal energy master as a vessel."

Gu Mo nodded, "I also suspected it might be a Chāng Guǐ, and was about to tell you!"

Elder Sangtu said, "If it truly is a Chāng Guǐ, then we're in trouble. Because refining the King Heart-Snatching Gu requires quite a few vessels, Cangshan Town right now is practically its natural hunting ground!"

Gu Mo asked, "If a Chāng Guǐ is refining the King Heart-Snatching Gu, Elder Sang, do you have a direction for investigation now?"

Elder Sangtu said, "Because the Chāng Guǐ is too mysterious. To this day, no one in the *Jianghu* has seen its true appearance, nor do they even know its actual name, only that it's called Chāng Guǐ. This person is elusive and possesses incredibly high martial arts, but even our Canglan Sword Sect hasn't been able to ascertain what specific martial arts the Chāng Guǐ excels in."

Gu Mo asked, perplexed, "Didn't the Chāng Guǐ appear at Nantin Villa during the righteous-demonic war? It couldn't have failed to reveal its martial arts, could it?"

Elder Sangtu shook his head, "At Nantin Villa, the Chāng Guǐ only did one thing: it was responsible for controlling the Thousand Mechanism Box to launch a sneak attack on our Sect Leader. However, our Sect Leader didn't give it a chance to act. After destroying the Thousand Mechanism Box with a single sword stroke, the lingering sword energy heavily injured the Chāng Guǐ, which then fled in fright, never even getting to make a move."

Gu Mo: "..."

Sect Leader Qi is mighty!