Chapter 34 Part 2

"Where did my father go?" Cai Zhao muttered woodenly to herself.

Zeng Dalou comforted her, "Don't worry, let's look around some more."

Qi Yunke stood to one side, supported by someone, coughing softly.

Stepping out of Heavenly Room Number One, they found the body of the first attendant right at the doorway, curled up on its side.

At the top of the stairs was the second attendant, his body draped over the railing.

Halfway down the stairs was the third, lying face down on the steps.

In the main hall, two more bodies were curled up. The one on the left was heavyset and held a cleaver, poised as if to strike an enemy—he was clearly the cook.

"How many people were in this inn in total?" Zeng Dalou asked.

A disciple answered, "One innkeeper, one cook, four attendants... They're all here."

"How many guests were staying here?"

This time, Cai Zhao answered, "Tonight, my father was the only guest."

—Another heart-pounding silence fell.

"Go and examine the bodies first." Qi Yunke's body was weak, and he was helped to a seat to rest.

Zeng Dalou complied.

Cai Zhao felt unsteady on her feet, as if half her strength had been drained away. She relied entirely on Chang Ning's arm to hold her up.

She walked down the stairs numbly, then forcefully pushed Chang Ning away. Forcing a calm expression, she leaned against a pillar in the main hall, her body cold and her limbs trembling uncontrollably.

The innkeeper's body was turned over. When his familiar, sallow face came into view, everyone cried out in alarm—a bloody hole had been torn in his chest. His heart had been ripped out and was hanging coldly outside his body by a few strands of flesh. His limbs hung limply.

Zeng Dalou was stunned, then shouted, "Turn over the other bodies as well!"

The disciples immediately obeyed—as expected, the other five also had bloody holes in their chests, hearts torn out and hanging outside, and the bones in their limbs had been shattered.

Dai Fengchi cried out, "This is Falling Blossoms Valley's Thousand Flowers Thousand Leaves Grappling Hand!"

Everyone was startled, and then all eyes turned to Cai Zhao.

The Thousand Flowers Thousand Leaves Grappling Hand was a signature skill of Falling Blossoms Valley. It consisted of twenty-one moves. The first twenty were for capturing enemies, and only the final move, 'Plucking Flower and Picking Leaf,' was meant to kill.

When used, it first broke the opponent's four limbs, then struck at the vital point of the heart. A practitioner with profound skill could rip out a person's heart while they were still alive. Even those with insufficient skill could still rupture the chest cavity and cause death.

Because the move was so vicious, many past Valley Masters had been unwilling to use it.

However, eighteen years ago after the Battle of Mount Tu, Cai Pingshu lost all of her cultivation. With Falling Blossoms Valley in a precarious position, Cai Pingchun, in order to intimidate the various demons and villains, deliberately used 'Plucking Flower and Picking Leaf' during the Battle of the Green Luo River to grievously injure dozens of people, staining the riverbanks with blood and horrifying everyone present.

"Second Senior Brother, aren't you being too hasty? Can you really determine it's a Falling Blossoms Valley technique from this one wound?" Fan Xingjia saw Cai Zhao's pale face by the pillar and felt a pang of pity for her.

Dai Fengchi said arrogantly, "What do you know? Look at the position of the wound and the force of the strike. All six were killed in one blow. Apart from the innkeeper who has some slight injuries, the other five had no power to resist. Such a powerful move has to be 'Plucking Flower and Picking Leaf'!"

"Second Senior Brother is wrong," Song Yuzhi suddenly said. "The Vast Heaven Sect's Heart Plucking Hand has similar power."

Dai Fengchi was taken aback, then said, "The Heart Plucking Hand only takes the heart, but 'Plucking Flower and Picking Leaf' can also shatter a person's limbs. Look, aren't the arms and legs of these six corpses all broken?"

Everyone looked, and it was indeed so.

Chang Ning spoke coldly, "I don't know Falling Blossoms Valley's techniques, but I can still break Senior Brother Dai's limbs and tear out his heart. Would Senior Brother Dai like to give it a try?"

Dai Fengchi choked, "Are you threatening me?!"

"I wouldn't dare. I'm just telling Senior Brother Dai that there are many skills in this world. As long as one's cultivation reaches a certain level, one can kill however one pleases," Chang Ning said faintly.

Dai Fengchi shut his mouth in anger.

"Everyone, look at what's on the floor!" Fan Xingjia spoke up again.

Following his finger, everyone saw that beside the overturned counter, the innkeeper's right fingertip was stained with blood. On the floor, previously covered by his body, was a short vertical line drawn in blood.

"A vertical line, what does that mean?" Zeng Dalou was puzzled.

Fan Xingjia bent down and looked for a long time. "He was probably trying to write a character but didn't finish. What character could it be?"

Dai Fengchi opened his mouth again. "Maybe it's not a vertical line, but a short horizontal one."

"A horizontal one?" Fan Xingjia was confused.

Cai Zhao's voice was chilling. "The character 'Luo' in Falling Blossoms Valley begins with a horizontal stroke."

She turned to Dai Fengchi. "If Second Senior Brother has something to say, you might as well say it directly. Speaking in halves is quite cowardly, and no one can understand you anyway."

Dai Fengchi was enraged. "Fine, I'll say it directly! The situation is perfectly clear. Late last night, an attendant accidentally stumbled upon your esteemed father doing something secretive in his room and made a sound in alarm. After being discovered, your father went out and killed the attendant, then, to tie up loose ends, he killed everyone in the inn to prevent his secret from being exposed!"

"I don't think so," Chang Ning said mockingly. "Didn't it still let a certain 'Young Hero Dai' see through the mystery? It's obvious this method of silencing witnesses was completely useless."

Dai Fengchi stuck his neck out. "Perhaps in his haste, Valley Master Cai didn't have time to think things through."

"For an idiot like you to see through it, it's not a matter of not thinking things through, but of not having a brain at all," Chang Ning sneered. "Since Valley Master Cai certainly has a brain, the situation must not have been like that."

Dai Fengchi's face turned red.

"Second Senior Brother." Cai Zhao suddenly smiled. "You're aware that the Six Sects of Beichen have been repeatedly attacked by the Demonic Cult these past few days, right?"

Dai Fengchi was startled. "I... I know. So what?!"

"I've been wondering, for the Demonic Cult to succeed so many times, could it be that they have an inside man in the Six Sects?" Cai Zhao's expression turned serious, and she glared. "Second Senior Brother, are you the Demonic Cult's spy?!"

"What nonsense are you spouting?! Don't you dare slander me!" Dai Fengchi was so agitated he nearly jumped to the rafters.

Cai Zhao took a step forward, pressing him. "Back then, Old Sect Master Yin once said that the Six Sects of Beichen are connected like branches of a tree, like a single body. As long as we are united and free of suspicion, the Demonic Cult can never defeat us."

"But look at things now. First, Second Senior Brother insists it's a Falling Blossoms Valley technique based on just a few wounds on the corpses. Then, based on a single smear of blood on the floor, you insist my father was doing something unspeakable in his room—hahaha, Second Senior Brother, what a waste it is that you're not telling stories in a teahouse to earn a few coins!"

Dai Fengchi was so thoroughly scolded that he was left speechless, sweat beading on his forehead.

Cai Zhao took another step, her presence overwhelming. "My father was outside for half a month. When and where could he not conduct his secret affairs? Why would he have to go through all the trouble of rushing back to Qingque Town, openly check into an inn, and then, before the staff had even gone to sleep, hastily start his clandestine activities—is he crazy or is he stupid?!"

"Second Senior Brother, are you trying to sow discord among the Six Sects? Are you really not a mole sent by the Demonic Cult! Otherwise, how could you be in such a rush to convict my father based on such a ridiculous and laughable reason!"

Dai Fengchi was so anxious that his forehead was covered in sweat, the veins on his neck bulging.

Zeng Dalou said in a deep voice, "Fengchi, you are in the wrong this time. Zhaozhao's father is missing, and she is already anxious and worried. As her senior brother, not only did you fail to comfort her, but you also spoke carelessly and spouted nonsense! Fengchi, apologize to Zhaozhao!"

Dai Fengchi was filled with resentment, but the gazes of the other disciples in the inn were all filled with disdain and contempt. He had no choice but to grit his teeth, lower his head, and apologize to Cai Zhao with cupped hands.

"Forget it." Cai Zhao waved her hand. "We are all fellow disciples. Second Senior Brother, please don't take it to heart."

She added, "To ease Second Senior Brother's doubts, everyone can take a closer look at these six bodies. The wounds on their chests are all slightly slanted, which clearly indicates that the attacker was standing directly in front of the deceased."

When two people face each other and one strikes the other's chest, the angle of the wound can't be perfectly vertical; there will always be a slight slant depending on whether the left or right hand was used.

"Second Senior Brother is young and inexperienced, so he is not familiar with the moves of the Thousand Flowers Thousand Leaves Grappling Hand. You might as well go ask Martial Uncle Li from the Outer Sect, or Martial Uncle Lei at the Apothecary. They will both tell you that 'Plucking Flower and Picking Leaf' is executed with a sideways palm strike. Therefore, the wound created by this move must be perfectly straight!"

The girl's disdainful expression and sharp words utterly humiliated Dai Fengchi, making him unable to even lift his head.

The disciples in the main hall let out soft hisses to show their disapproval of Dai Fengchi.

No one knew that while Cai Zhao appeared calm on the outside, her heart was in a state of panic and helplessness.

She suddenly remembered the dream she just had.

"Little Zhaozhao, don't be afraid, the sky will always light up..." Her aunt's voice was gentle yet brave. When she was little, no matter how dark the night or how terrifying the nightmare, as long as she heard her aunt's voice, she was no longer afraid.

Three years ago, her aunt passed away, and she felt like half the sky had collapsed.

Now, her father was missing, her mother couldn't help, and she had to chase the monsters away herself and wait for the dawn.

"I'm cold," she said suddenly. "Light the brazier."