Chapter 304: The Suicide Note

While waiting for the head of the Xie family in the Rongshan Hall, Xie Fengchao was very quiet, his lips pressed tight, lost in thought.

Ding Songyan was replaying what he had just seen and what had happened.

The murder of Sixth Dou as a way to silence him wasn’t a surprise to Ding Songyan, and he had even anticipated it. What surprised him was how sloppy the killer’s work was.

As for last night, neither the Martial Prohibition Bureau nor Chengtian Prefecture had seen the sleeve arrow that resembled Sunlight, nor witnessed the man in the bamboo hat’s superb movement technique. With only a ground full of whole and broken metal beads to go on, it would be hard to connect it to the Fang clan and the Xie family. They were more likely to investigate the mechanism workshops in the east of the city one by one, and only if that turned up nothing would they come ask a few simple questions, without too much suspicion, since the Flame Capital wasn’t the only place in the world with skilled mechanism workshops.

By the time the Martial Prohibition Bureau and Chengtian Prefecture got around to the Xie family workshop, it would be at least seven or eight days later.

What the man in the bamboo hat should be wary of was Ding Songyan, who had ambushed the Returning Abyss Order member at the time. But since he hadn’t managed to silence him on the spot and eliminate the problem, he wouldn’t go after the secret investigators afterward. After all, a whole night and half a morning had passed. As long as Ding Songyan wasn’t stupid and wasn’t a lone wolf, what he had witnessed would surely have been shared with key people in his faction. Unless he could dig out everyone behind him, silencing Ding Songyan alone was pointless.

This was also why Ding Songyan let Xie Fengchao keep investigating and wasn’t worried about him being killed afterward.

By comparison, cutting off the leads that could trace back to himself was the more effective choice.

But the problem was, killing the Jiguren, Sixth Dou, so openly was a clear message to every investigator that the killer was hiding in the Xie family and that the killer was one of the Xie family’s Grandmasters, wasn’t it?

Sixth Dou had always been under the Xie family’s supervision and shouldn’t have been able to take private jobs, and even if he had, there would be traces.

With Sixth Dou dead, the whole Xie family will surely be alarmed, and they might well ask the Martial Prohibition Bureau for a thorough investigation. Is the killer confident the Xie family won’t go to the authorities, or can he withstand the Bureau’s many wondrous techniques of investigation? Ding Songyan muttered inwardly.

Sloppy work was worse than no work at all.

If it had been someone from the Sage-Severing Way, Sixth Dou would most likely have died in a workshop accident—a rather pitiful situation. And then, if he believed in Buddhism, he would be buried at Shilin Temple, and if he didn’t, they would claim he’d had a sudden great awakening a few days before and converted to Buddhism. Either way, he’d have to be buried at Shilin Temple since dead men told no tales.

That way, even if secret investigators had suspicions, they’d have no pretext to make a fuss and force the Xie family to go to the authorities.

After two cups of tea’s time, Xie Lin’an entered the Rongshan Hall and glanced at Ding Songyan.

"And who is this?"

The head of the Xie family had just passed eighty, ranked second in his generation, and was Xie Fengchao’s own grandfather. He had white hair and a youthful face, with distinctly dog-like ears and fur covering his body.

He had once chased the Heaven-Man Realm as well and was known as the Thousand-Handed Impermanence, but he had never made it to the step of seclusion to prove his own Way, and so had given up, focusing on family affairs and the Liheng Bank.

"Grandfather, he’s Ding Songyan, a direct disciple of the Brightnight Sect and a dear friend of mine. He came today to pick up a letter and happened to be here," Xie Fengchao answered according to the story they had just agreed on.

After Ding Songyan paid his respects as a junior, Xie Fengchao spoke up.

"I’ve come to report something serious.

"Dou Nanwei, Sixth Dou, has been murdered in his own courtyard!"

Xie Lin’an’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn’t panic.

He first called a steward and sent him to look into it, then asked Xie Fengchao in a low voice, "What exactly happened?"

Xie Fengchao was silent for two breaths, then said, "A friend at the Martial Prohibition Bureau passed me word that last night, outside the south of the city, something happened and a Returning Abyss Order member was killed..."

He left Ding Songyan out of it, mentioning only the metal beads covering the ground, the destruction they’d caused, and his own suspicions.

Based on those suspicions, he and Ding Songyan, who had also heard the news, went to the Xie family craftsmen to test the waters, only to find Sixth Dou dead in his home.

Xie Lin’an listened without a word and, when Xie Fengchao finished, sighed lightly.

"Thank that friend of yours at the Martial Prohibition Bureau for me."

He didn’t ask exactly who it was at the Bureau, nor did he plan to tell the other Grandmasters in the residence.

Anyone who would risk passing word along had to be a friend through life and death. How could he put that person in a position of disloyalty?

Xie Lin’an couldn’t help feeling a bit moved.

Fengchao is wide in his friendships and a little dissolute, but that’s not a bad thing.

More friends opened up more pathways.

Xie Lin’an glanced at Ding Songyan, who sat with his eyes lowered and a perfectly blank face, as if he hadn’t heard a word. He was about to dismiss the two of them and deal with the rest himself when he suddenly heard the sharp whistle of wind rushing toward them.

A steward rushed into the Rongshan Hall, his face deathly pale, blurting out, "The Third Old Master has passed away!"

"What?" Xie Lin’an seemed not to understand the steward’s words.

The Third Old Master was his own younger brother, Xie Linshi, the Dharma Realm Grandmaster of the Xie family with the best chance of becoming a Heaven-Man.

Xie Fengchao looked at the steward in equal shock, as if trapped in an incomprehensible nightmare.

Although his third grandfather’s body had clearly been damaged and his lifespan cut after his third failed attempt to become a Heaven-Man, it wasn’t to his limiting point. With his realm and the life-extending items he’d taken over the years, he should have easily lived another sixty years.

How could he suddenly be gone?

Ding Songyan thoughtfully studied the steward who had brought the terrible news.

The steward steadied himself and said, with a tearful face, "Patriarch, the Third Old Master has passed away, but it was only just discovered over an hour ago."

There was not much grief on Xie Lin’an’s face. Instead he looked quite grave, with a hint of alarm and suspicion in his eyes.

He glanced at Xie Fengchao, slowly drew a breath, and said, "I’ll go see."

With that, the family head strode out of the Rongshan Hall as if riding a breeze.

Xie Fengchao and Ding Songyan exchanged a look, and he said, "Let’s go see too."

He didn’t believe that the elder he revered most would pass away on this particular day!

"Me?" Ding Songyan pointed at himself.

Is that a good idea?

This is your Xie family’s internal matter. How can an outsider like me get involved?

Xie Fengchao gritted his teeth, a trace of ruthlessness entering his grief-stricken and bewildered expression.

"Right, you can spirit channel!

"We have to get to the bottom of this and not leave any hidden danger, or we’ll suffer for it later."

Good. He can be ruthless and make decisions... Ding Songyan saw Fifth Xie in a new light.

He followed behind Xie Fengchao through many courtyards to the one where the Third Old Master, Xie Linshi, lived.

By now many Xie family members had arrived, but Xie Lin’an had kept them all outside. Some showed grief, some looked puzzled, and from time to time they whispered to each other to find out what was going on.

A brief listen was enough for Ding Songyan to learn how Xie Linshi had died.

He had severed his own heart meridians.

Was it suicide out of guilt? Afraid that Old Master Xie would report to the authorities and the Bureau’s many wondrous techniques would find the killer? No, if he’d thought that way, he wouldn’t have silenced Sixth Dou so openly... Ding Songyan followed Xie Fengchao through the crowd to the main room door, where a steward stopped them.

"Grandfather!" Xie Fengchao called into the room.

After a moment, Xie Lin’an’s voice, full of weariness and grief, came out.

"Come in."

Xie Fengchao entered the room, with Ding Songyan right behind him.

In the wing room, Xie Lin’an sat on a stool, a little dazed, clutching a sheet of paper.

On the canopy bed across from him, a figure sat cross-legged, bearing some resemblance to him, his black-and-white hair loose, eyes tightly closed, no longer breathing but still sitting upright. Beside him lay a sleeve arrow flowing with golden light.

"Why did you let him come along?" Xie Lin’an noticed Ding Songyan, stood up, and rebuked Xie Fengchao.

Xie Fengchao glanced outside and said in a low voice, "Grandfather, Second Ding can spirit channel."

"You!" Xie Lin’an’s face filled with anger, and he pointed at Xie Fengchao, nearly cursing aloud.

Xie Fengchao stiffened his neck and met his gaze, not retreating half a step.

He didn’t explain. He trusted that his grandfather would understand his intent.

He only stressed, "Second Ding and I are friends forged through life and death. He will never leak this."

Fifth Xie, that’s not necessarily so. It depends. If the problem is serious and your Xie family can’t solve it yourselves, I’ll still have to bring in a Supreme Master to handle the aftermath. Uh, if you feel some kinship with the Fang family, going to them would work the same. Mm, I don’t really want to trouble Twelfth Madam either... Ding Songyan didn’t expose Young Master Xie.

Seeing that Xie Fengchao hadn’t flinched at his glare, Xie Lin’an’s anger gradually faded.

He seemed suddenly seven or eight years older as he handed the paper in his hand to Xie Fengchao.

"Read this first."

Xie Fengchao took what was evidently Xie Linshi’s suicide note and read it carefully. Ding Songyan, using the Chaos Realm, let the ink characters, now exposed to view, enter his mind one by one.

"I trained in martial arts for sixty years before I could glimpse the Heaven-Man Way, but fate decreed that I would fail again and again. This latest time, my mindset was badly damaged and my body harmed, and there is almost no hope.

"I was unwilling to accept this, and in a moment of confusion I took a wrong step. Fortunately the great error has not yet been made, and there is still room to turn back. So I cut off the source of the disaster and prove the Xie family’s innocence with my death..."

Was it really Third Old Master Xie colluding with the Returning Abyss Order? With his death, the Martial Prohibition Bureau’s many wondrous techniques could only be used on him through spirit channeling, and the Xie family wouldn’t go to the authorities again. They’d bury him at Shilin Temple and it would be over... Ding Songyan thought about the implication behind Xie Linshi’s suicide note.

He felt that the man’s mindset was badly damaged and his body harmed, that becoming a Heaven-Man through his own martial art was hopeless, so he’d wanted to turn to the Returning Abyss path and find a different route. With Xie Linshi’s realm and insight, cultivating the Returning Abyss Divine Art to the perfected Dharma Realm would probably take about five years.

If he had tried again from the beginning with the Xie family’s Heaven-Man method, even if he could repair his body and mindset, it wouldn’t take less than thirty or forty years, since the mindset and habits formed over a lifetime were very, very hard to change.

But the problem was that even if Xie Linshi really did become a Heaven-Man through the Returning Abyss, he couldn’t announce it to the world. This wasn’t a Chaos martial art that could be derived into a disguise... Ding Songyan frowned slightly.

When Xie Fengchao finished reading the suicide note, Xie Lin’an asked in a low voice, "Do we still need spirit channeling?"

Xie Fengchao was silent for a while, then sighed.

"No need."

My third grandfather chose to die to protect the Xie family and cut off all leads...

Ding Songyan had no thought of forcing a spirit channeling, but with many doubts he still opened his yin eyes, planning to see what state Xie Linshi’s ghost was in and whether anything was unusual.

With one sweep, he suddenly froze.

There was no ghost beside Xie Linshi’s corpse!

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