Volume 3, Chapter 333 – This Is a Frame-Up

Everyone knew that the Chi family was the reigning power of Beihe Commandery.

Their roots ran deep and tangled in every direction.

Even the prefect personally appointed by the Human Empress had to show the Chi family a measure of deference.

On ordinary days, the Beihe prefect would not make things difficult for the Chi family over whatever arose.

But today was different.

The constables sealing off the scene already spoke for the prefect’s position. In this matter, he would not allow the Chi family any further involvement.

Chi Xiyan understood this.

Which was why she also knew there was no point in staying any longer.

What she could not work out was who had moved against the Lingxiao Sword Sect’s man in secret and then pinned it on the Chi family.

And the claim that the Chi family was colluding with the wolf clan. Where had that even come from?

Chi Xiyan could not make sense of it.

She felt as though everything that had been happening lately was being steered by some unseen hand working quietly in the background.

An unknown shadow, hanging over every member of the Chi family.

Was there someone who wanted the Chi family destroyed?

Chi Xiyan clenched her fist.

She decided to return to Chi Residence first and think carefully through everything that had occurred recently.

“First Miss… are we not waiting for Young Master Song?”

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“No need.” Chi Xiyan’s eyes flickered. “If he has any sense, he won’t be coming back to the Chi family tonight.”

Lu Guan’s dying words had thrown every drop of filth onto the Chi family’s name. Song Shixuan was not foolish enough to keep sleeping under the roof of someone now publicly named as an enemy.

…

Not long after Chi Xiyan turned back, Chi Jingwen arrived at the scene with Wei Qingyu.

On the way there, Chi Jingwen had naturally crossed paths with Chi Xiyan. But Chi Xiyan said nothing to him, only offered a brief bow before hurrying off.

After she left, Chi Jingwen’s face betrayed nothing.

She had not said a word, but everything was already understood between them.

Chi Jingwen knew: this time, the Chi family had likely run into serious trouble.

At the scene, the Beihe prefectural constables blocked the Chi family again.

One of them looked at Wei Qingyu with a fawning smile. “Inspector Wei, the prefect has been waiting a long time. If you had not come soon, he would have sent someone to fetch you.”

Wei Qingyu was not surprised.

Before his death, Lu Guan had broadcast across the entire city that the Chi family was colluding with the demon tribe and harboring ambitions of treason. Anything involving the outer demon tribe naturally fell within her jurisdiction as an inspector of the Demon Suppression Bureau.

“Open the seals and let us through,” Wei Qingyu said.

The constable glanced at Chi Jingwen standing beside her and hesitated.

Chi Jingwen caught the meaning. He turned to Wei Qingyu. “Inspector Wei, it would be inconvenient for me to enter.”

“I will wait outside. If there is anything you need to ask, you may come find me at any time.”

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“Very well.” Wei Qingyu nodded.

She passed through the sealed cordon and walked into the scene.

Inside the collapsed structures, a portly middle-aged official was already waiting. When he saw Wei Qingyu, he clasped his hands and came forward at once. “Inspector Wei, you have finally arrived.”

This was Cheng Zhuo, the prefect of Beihe Commandery.

“Prefect Cheng.” Wei Qingyu waved a hand. “No need for formalities. Tell me what the situation is.”

Cheng Zhuo gave a bitter smile. “Inspector Wei, I hardly know how to describe the situation myself.”

“You are the Demon Suppression Bureau’s inspector. No one here understands the demon tribes better than you. Please, come and see for yourself.”

Wei Qingyu skipped the pleasantries and walked directly toward the body pinned to the ground.

The scene had been well preserved, undisturbed. The prefectural constables had clearly arrived quickly after discovering something was wrong and secured the area at once. If they had not, in the heart of the city district with people constantly passing through, the evidence would have long since been destroyed beyond recognition.

As it stood, the clues and traces before Wei Qingyu were clear and unmistakable.

“These claw marks… this demon aura…” Wei Qingyu’s brow drew together.

“That is the wolf clan’s little princess.”

…

Chi Jingwen sat in a private room of a teahouse by the roadside, watching through the window.

In the short time since he had arrived, the prefectural constables had already laid prohibition seals to conceal the scene from outside view. There was nothing left to see from where he sat.

He waited a long while before he saw Wei Qingyu emerge, her expression grave.

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“Inspector Wei.” Chi Jingwen beckoned to her from the window. “Please come up and speak with me.”

Wei Qingyu looked at Chi Jingwen, something complicated passing through her eyes.

She still remembered the Human Empress’s instructions.

Her Majesty had me begin investigating the Chi family so early. Could it be that Her Majesty had already foreseen something?

What exactly is hidden behind the Chi family?

With that thought weighing on her, Wei Qingyu pressed her brow together and went up.

When she sat across from Chi Jingwen, she said, “Family Head Chi, the Chi family may be in serious trouble. Strictly speaking, I should not be meeting with you at a time like this.”

Chi Jingwen heard the weight in her words. He could guess that the situation was not looking good for the Chi family.

“Inspector Wei, what do you mean by that?”

“Lu Guan. Is he really dead?”

Wei Qingyu paused briefly.

She let out a quiet breath. “Yes.”

“Lu Guan is dead. Every rib broken by some force of impact, his spirit sea run through by a blade, his skull crushed.”

“The method was extraordinarily brutal.”

Chi Jingwen frowned. “Who did this?”

Wei Qingyu looked at him. “On that point, I was hoping to ask the family head the same question. What is your take on Lu Guan’s dying words?”

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“It is a frame-up,” Chi Jingwen said. “Someone is trying to frame the Chi family.”

“And besides. Were those dying words truly sent by Lu Guan himself?”

“Oh?” Wei Qingyu’s brow lifted slightly. “Does the family head have a particular view on that?”

Chi Jingwen said steadily, “You told me yourself, Inspector Wei. Lu Guan’s heart vessels were shattered, his spirit sea pierced, his skull crushed.”

“To reduce a Sixth Realm cultivator to that state means the opponent’s strength far exceeded his.”

“And moreover…” Chi Jingwen looked out toward the street. “This location is not far from the city gate. With such a fierce ambush happening at this distance, how is it that the soldiers guarding the gate noticed nothing?”

“To kill a powerful cultivator in a busy district like this without anyone detecting it requires a formation master to lay arrays in advance.”

Chi Jingwen kept his brow furrowed. “Trapping a Sixth Realm sword cultivator is no easy feat.”

“Whoever did this had been planning for a long time and had already traced Lu Guan’s movements closely enough to cut him down with precision in the middle of a crowded street.”

“If someone capable of planning this carefully, and possessing strength far beyond Lu Guan’s, could not have foreseen that Lu Guan might broadcast a message before dying?”

Wei Qingyu said, “So the family head believes the voice transmission was not sent by Lu Guan at all. That someone impersonated him to frame the Chi family.”

Chi Jingwen nodded. “Exactly.”

Wei Qingyu smiled faintly, as though resigned to something. “What the family head has said, I had naturally considered as well.”

“But unfortunately.”

“The situation is not as the family head imagines.”

“Lu Guan was not subdued in a single blow. He fought back fiercely against whoever attacked him and even managed to gain the upper hand for a time.”