EBE Let's practice some more in Chapter 86.
Let's practice some more in Chapter 86.
As Fang Duobing chased after the figure carrying the skull away, Li Lianhua slowly landed back on the ground.
Di Feisheng, standing beside him, said with some envy, "No wonder she has several higher cultivation levels. Wearing such a heavy wedding dress, she can still stay suspended in mid-air for a long time. I still need to work harder."
"This is only a small part of it. Once you reach a higher level, you will understand its mysteries."
"When will you start instructing me? All the injuries I sustained before are now completely healed."
"Isn't this something we talked about before still unfinished? Once it's done, I will definitely keep my promise."
"Okay, I'll wait." Di Feisheng naturally believed in Li Lianhua's promise.
Before the two finished exchanging a few words, they saw Fang Duobing leading Guo Kun, who was bound with ropes and pretending to be a ghost, over.
On the way here, as Fang Duobing was escorting him, Guo Kun kept shouting, "You can't escape, you can't escape." He seemed to have gone quite mad.
"Are you alright, Li Lianhua?" Fang Duobing still remembered that Li Lianhua had tripped and fallen just now.
"It's nothing, just a small matter."
Just then, Guo Qian walked over with a group of servants: "What's going on?"
Guo Qian and Guo Huo saw Guo Kun being held down by Fang Duo and others and immediately called out to him.
"Second brother."
"Second uncle."
Guo Qian looked at Li Lianhua's pomegranate-red wedding dress with some confusion: "You... what's going on here?"
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? Why is your Second Master Guo carrying this skull around in our room in the middle of the night, pretending to be a ghost? And then launching a sneak attack when no one is looking."
"Could it be that you've conspired to harm us and cover up the truth behind the series of murders at your Cailian Manor?"
Before the man could say anything, Fang Duobing had already pinned the blame on the Baichuan Academy.
Guo Huo hurriedly asked, "Young Master Fang, is there some misunderstanding? My second uncle does know some martial arts, but he would never have any ill intentions towards anyone. Our Cailian Manor would never have any intention to harm you."
"Master Guo, I heard that the house across the street is for brides who are going to marry far away? Because of the long journey, the bride will move in before the wedding, is that right?"
Li Lianhua pointed to a small building in the center of the pond and asked.
"So what if it is? This has always been the way of the Zhao clan."
"Why isn't there a mirror in this room?" Li Lianhua asked curiously.
Guo Huo explained, "A feng shui master came to see this room before and said that it is not suitable to place a mirror in this room."
Li Lianhua pointed to the stone under her feet.
"There's a protruding rock here, and a row of Shoushan stone decorations by the lake. Is that also due to feng shui?"
Guo Qian said, "When things are going downhill, wealth and good fortune flow away with the downward trend. Using Shoushan stone can help block it and change the overall pattern. As for this stone, it's perfectly normal."
What is it that you wish to say, sir?
Li Lianhua explained the reason.
"Just now I risked my life and reenacted the deaths of the three brides. It was this guy next to me who was highly skilled in martial arts and saved me. Otherwise, I would be at the bottom of this pond right now, drowned by this pomegranate-colored wedding dress, and I wouldn't be able to swim up."
Di Feisheng, who had been watching the whole thing from the side, was speechless and whispered to Li Lianhua, "You acted so well."
"You talk too much," Li Lianhua muttered to Di Feisheng.
"Actually, I really don't understand what's so special about this wedding dress, so I did a rehearsal."
"Because there was no mirror in the room, I went to this mirror stone to take a look. Unexpectedly, Guo Kun appeared with a skull on his back, so I was suddenly frightened and fell to the ground."
Fang Duobing approached and continued, "This is downhill, and Li Lianhua's dress is very heavy, so when she falls, the weight of her body makes it difficult for her to get up, and she will roll down the slope because of her weight."
"The hem of this pomegranate skirt was too narrow, making it difficult for Li Lianhua to get up quickly, which is why she rolled down and fell into the lotus pond."
"So those brides were covered in fractures and scars, all thanks to your Shoushan stone," Di Feisheng continued, picking up where Fang Duobing left off.
Li Lianhua said, "If you are knocked unconscious and fall into the water, you will drown immediately. If you are not knocked unconscious, the wedding dress is so heavy that you will not be able to save yourself if you fall into the water."
"Brother Li, are you saying that the three brides who died in our village did not all fall into the pond and drown because of this pomegranate skirt?"
"Yes."
"But...but their bodies were found over there, how could they have died here?"
Guo Huo seemed completely unaware of the situation, and was very curious about everything.
Li Lianhua explained to them, "This lotus pond is not stagnant water. Because the river connects to the outer river, there is an undercurrent, so the body was pushed under the bridge by the river, and the blooming lotus flowers blocked the body."
“Li Lianhua, when you were searching for clues by the bridge where the body was found, you already knew that the water there actually led to the area near the bride’s bridal chamber, right? That’s why you said you wanted to see the wedding dress.”
Fang Duobing was extremely impressed by Li Lianhua's ingenuity.
"if not?"
"Even so, how could those brides, who were clearly looking in the mirror, suddenly trip over it?"
"Then we'll have to ask Guo Kun."
"Second uncle?"
"Didn't some people almost fall like that just now?"
Guo Huo suddenly realized: "It was Second Uncle's madness that frightened these brides, that's why they..."
At this moment, Guo Kun was still shouting, "You can't run away, you can't run away!"
Seeing that his scheme had been exposed, Guo Qian seized the opportunity to make Guo Kun take the blame: "You wicked child. To be honest, my second brother has been mentally ill since childhood. When he reaches marriageable age, he will rush over to any bride wearing a wedding dress."
"So I had no choice but to have someone keep an eye on him to prevent him from frightening others. But I never expected that it would be my fault for being so negligent, allowing him to harm three people. Today I will kill him. Guards!"
"Take care," Fang Duobing quickly stopped him.
“Master Guo, even if he was the one who started this, you can’t just resort to private torture. I will take him back to Baichuan Courtyard and then make a decision.”
Guo Qian also agreed with the proposal.
He said to the servants who had come with him, "It was so chaotic just now, I don't know if the lotus mound in the pond was damaged. Go and check it out."
On their way back, Li Lianhua and the others discussed the matter. Although Guo Qian had identified Guo Kun, there were still many things they didn't understand. It seemed that the secrets of Cailian Manor were more than that.
Moreover, Madam Xu is dead, and the Lion Soul is nowhere to be found. The purpose of this trip remains unanswered, so it seems we will have to stay at Cailian Manor for some more time.
Li Lianhua noticed that Guo Qian was paying unusual attention to the Lotus Pond, so the three of them secretly investigated the Lotus Pond overnight.
Upon arriving at the best lotus-viewing platform, Li Lianhua suggested, "We can't see anything from here, why don't we go down into the water and take a look?"
“You’re so small and weak, it would be terrible if you went down there,” Fang Duobing told Li Lianhua, rejecting her idea.
Li Lianhua then clutched her chest, indicating that she felt a bit stuffy and couldn't go into the water.
Fang Duobing turned to Di Feisheng and said, "Afei, go down and take a look."
The flute's sound went unanswered.
"What, you're not even willing to help with this little thing? Then you might as well not come with us in the first place."
Fang Duobing put it nicely, but he didn't consider his own safety.
"I don't need you, a mere brat, to tell me who I follow or what I do."
Upon hearing this, Fang Duobing immediately reached out and tried to knock the flute flying down.
Di Feisheng raised his hand to block, and the two started fighting.
"Hey, can you two keep your voices down?" Li Lianhua said softly from the side.
Upon hearing this, Di Feisheng exerted his strength and slapped Fang Duobing directly into the lotus pond.
Fang Duobing was flying freely in the air, and only had time to say, "Afei, you just wait."
Then, with a "plop," it fell into the pond.
When Di Feisheng saw Li Lianhua looking over, he said, "He started it himself. He's not as skilled as others, so he can't blame anyone else."
Li Lianhua rolled her eyes at him and didn't say anything more.
After a while, Fang Duobing dragged a skeleton onto the table.
His first words were: "Ah Fei, a gentleman will not leave this grudge unavenged."
Di Feisheng glanced at him and said, "Practice some more."
"You." Fang Duobing didn't want to pay attention to Di Feisheng, and turned to ask Li Lianhua, "What is this? The bottom of the pool is full of corpses like this."
"Corpse Fragrance Flower Tomb".
"The Corpse-Scented Flower Tomb?"
"This is indeed the method used by Lion Soul back then. So this is the secret technique of lotus cultivation of Lotus Picking Manor. If such roots were planted by the pond, they would have been discovered long ago."
"This lotus was grown from a human corpse?"
"Many people know about the Corpse Fragrance Flower Tomb, but only Lion Soul knows how to do it." Di Feisheng was quite certain of this.
"Ah Fei, how do you know so much about the Lion Soul?"
“If you want to find him, you naturally need to get to know him properly first,” Li Lianhua said, trying to smooth things over for Di Feisheng.
"However, it is absolutely impossible for him to stay at Cailian Manor for even a short time."
"That means Guo Qian is lying."
"It's not surprising that the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance likes to use these strange methods." Li Lianhua sensed from Di Feisheng's tone that he wasn't a member of the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance.
"On another note, Afei, you not only know a lot about the people of the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance, but you also know a lot about the affairs of the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance."
"After wandering the martial world for a long time, you'll naturally learn. Fang Duobing, don't you know more now than when you first entered the martial world?"
Fang Duobing didn't believe it: "Is that really true?"
"Don't treat me like a fool, okay? Lion Soul is just a nobody in the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance. There's very little about him in the Hundred Rivers Academy's records, yet you two seem to know a lot about the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance and speak about it with great expertise. So why are you looking for this Lion Soul?"
Li Lianhua and Di Feisheng remained silent for a moment, refusing to give a direct answer.
Fang Duobing was somewhat exasperated: "Fine, since you've been discussing things and having such a good understanding all the way, but you're not being honest with me, then you can investigate this case yourselves. I'm not doing it anymore."
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Fang Duobing turned around and went straight back to his room to change his clothes.
Back in his room, Fang was still angry about his illness.
"I'm supposed to be the detective investigating the case, so how come I'm the one who ends up being treated like an outsider?"
"Fine, I said I'm not going to care, and that means I'm not going to care."
After changing into dry clothes, Fang Duobing lay down to sleep, but then sat up abruptly.
"Something's not right. How could this Ah Fei know so much about strange secret techniques and the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance?"
"With such high levels of martial arts skills, won't Li Lianhua be in danger?"
After thinking for a while, Fang Duobing went directly to the table and drew portraits of Li Lianhua and Di Feisheng, preparing to have Tianji Hall investigate their origins.
When it was time to deliver the message, Fang Duobing thought for a moment and finally took away Li Lianhua's portrait, only allowing Tianji Hall to investigate A Fei's background.
...... ......
The next day, Li Lianhua used the excuse that she needed to stay and recuperate after being injured by Guo Kun the day before, and continued to stay at Cailian Manor with the two of them.
After a morning of investigation, and with confirmation from the young master of the Liu family, Li Lianhua discovered that Guo Kun was not at Nian Cailian Manor when the murder occurred seven years ago.
Who killed Lady Wang seven years ago?
So the group went to investigate Madam Xu's room.
After careful observation, it was unexpectedly discovered that a secret message appeared when the two drawings by Lion Soul were overlapped.
Just then, Guo Qian and his men stormed in.
“Your repeated intrusions into the backyard of Cailian Manor show that you do not take me, Guo, seriously. Since that is the case, don’t blame me for being impolite. Guards, show your guest out.”
The servants he brought drew their swords and charged at the group, but unfortunately, their martial arts skills were not very good, and they were easily beaten to the ground by Di Feisheng in just a few moves.
Guo Qian looked at the servants lying on the ground, speechless: "You..."
"Are you so afraid of people entering this room because you're afraid they'll see this?"
Li Lianhua held up two overlapping sheets of drawing paper in front of Guo Qian.
"When the moon is bright, I will be in my wedding dress by the mirror stone. I will meet you there."
"If I'm not mistaken, it should be a letter from Lion Soul to Madam Xu. Both of you are in the manor, so why did you two arrange to meet in such a veiled way? What did you do to them?"
Guo Qian remained defiant: "How would I know what happened? Maybe they were having an affair, exchanging secret letters and meeting in secret, and they just happened to run into my crazy second brother, so he killed them."
"It would be safe to pin the blame on a madman. But seven years ago, on the night Miss Wang died, Guo Kun wasn't in the village. Young Master Liu from the town can testify that he wasn't there at all."
Li Lianhua didn't believe Guo Qian's words at all.
"Guo Kun was not present when Madam Wang died, but that does not prove that he did not kill Madam Xu."
Fang Duobing sighed, "You really won't shed a tear until you see the coffin."
.............................................................
Lotus Tower Small Theater
Flying Flute: Fang Duobing, you said you wouldn't be a gentleman if you didn't avenge this grudge?
Fang Duobing: Yes, I'll remember this grudge.
Flying Flute: From now on, you'll never be a gentleman.
Fang Duobing: You're so arrogant. Once I find my master Li Xiangyi, he will guide me in martial arts, and revenge will be just around the corner.
Flute Flying Sound: Oh? Is that so?
Li Lianhua: The moonlight is beautiful tonight; it's a good time to sleep.