TWWDS - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Ruan Shifeng stood outside the guest room. She was dressed in an embroidered official uniform, with a saber and the badge of the Six Doors hanging from her waist.

If she had come merely to see an old acquaintance, she would not have deliberately put on her work clothes.

A bitter smile hovered at her lips, while a heaviness that could not be dispelled gathered in her brows. Her colleague beside her asked, "I hear both of them are old acquaintances of yours, Chief Constable Ruan?"

Ruan Shifeng considered her words. "Twelve years ago, I worked alongside 'Mountain-Cleaving Saber.' As for Miss Chao, I met her once before."

She could not explain what history she shared with Chao Qingxiu. Otherwise, under the rules of the Six Doors, she would likely have been barred from taking part in the questioning that followed.

Yet she had not claimed that "I met her once" meant she and Chao Qingxiu had no other contact.

Her colleague said, "In that case, I'll take Mountain-Cleaving Saber. You and Young Hero Li can handle Miss Chao."

The Young Hero Li they had mentioned was Li Guixian of the Wenbei Sect. Entrusted with the matter by the Sect Leader, he was currently stationed at Chongming Academy. A constable from the Six Doors had called him in to help question the suspicious people who had arrived at the academy the previous day. Li Guixian was not skilled at questioning. His presence here was more symbolic than useful, amounting to the academy expressing its respect for Cen Zhaoque from afar.

Ruan Shifeng knocked on the door. Only after hearing someone call for her to enter did she push it open.

Inside, Chao Qingxiu was already dressed and had plainly been awake for some time. Ruan Shifeng was not remotely surprised. Chao Qingxiu was a martial artist with acute senses. Even if she had still been asleep, she would have noticed someone waiting outside for so long and prepared herself accordingly.

Months had passed since they last saw each other, yet Chao Qingxiu was still dressed in white. She sat beside the table with an air of serene detachment, evoking cloud vapor drifting free of the mountains.

The morning light outside was not yet bright. Night had not quite relinquished the room, and shadows veiled Chao Qingxiu's eyes and brows. She sat amid the lingering darkness, impossible to read her present mood.

In truth, Chao Qingxiu was lamenting to herself: she had just thought no unexpected incident would occur, and now one had.

She had overestimated Chongming Academy's security.

And although there was no evidence yet, Chao Qingxiu could not shake the feeling that the present situation had something to do with the academy's complicated mix of personnel.

Ruan Shifeng clasped her hands in salute. "Miss Chao." Then, apologetically, she added, "Forgive me for visiting so early. It is hardly proper."

She had not wanted to leave home so early either, but no worker in any world could resist the pull of overtime.

Chao Qingxiu rose and inclined her head to her visitors.

Ruan Shifeng thought Chao Qingxiu seemed a little taller than she remembered.

Chao Qingxiu said politely, "Please sit. I had no way of knowing anyone was visiting, so there is only cold water in the kettle."

Li Guixian had kept his gaze lowered and his thoughts to himself. Only then did he speak. "Cold water will be perfectly fine." He picked up the porcelain kettle and poured a cup each for Chao Qingxiu, Ruan Shifeng, and himself.

Ruan Shifeng was extremely courteous. Anyone who did not know her identity would struggle to imagine that this was how a Chief Constable of the Six Doors spoke when questioning a suspect. "Miss Chao, you have probably not eaten breakfast yet. Shall I have someone bring you something?"

At this, Chao Qingxiu could not help but laugh. "With you behaving like this, Chief Constable Ruan, you hardly seem to be here to question me."

Ruan Shifeng smiled as well, then immediately adopted a serious expression. "Something has indeed happened at the academy. I must ask where you were yesterday."

Chao Qingxiu did not answer at once. Instead, she gazed intently at the teacup before her.

There was not the faintest trace of warmth in the clear water.

She was trying to determine what had happened at the academy.

They had come first thing in the morning to question her, plainly with little thought for the guests' daily routines.

The matter must be urgent.

Ruan Shifeng called softly, "Miss Chao?"

Chao Qingxiu said slowly, "It has only just reached the Mao hour, and the Six Doors have come straight away to question people. Whatever happened must have taken place at night. Strictly speaking, it was probably after most people had fallen asleep."

"It is summer now, and even in the mountains, it grows light early. If I meant to do something, I would most likely have acted between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., when most people were in a deep sleep. Yet until five in the morning, no one came to question us, leaving a considerable stretch unaccounted for. Most likely, the incident was not discovered immediately."

As she spoke, her gaze flicked toward the neighboring room.

Judging by the distinctly calm attitudes of the two before her, the academy did not suspect either of them very deeply. Taking into account what she had overheard, including Ruan Shifeng's remarks after entering and their exchange at the door, Chao Qingxiu had a rough idea of what had happened.

Her age on the Detective Panel was only fifteen, and she differed considerably from Yan Kaixian in both height and build. Yet both women were now among those being questioned, and the Six Doors had not treated them differently because of their appearances.

Chao Qingxiu continued in a quiet voice, "You questioned me with virtually the same attitude you used when questioning Sister Yan. In other words, the Six Doors do not know what kind of person is more deserving of suspicion. No one saw the scene, so they do not know what the suspect looked like."

At this, Ruan Shifeng did not interrupt Chao Qingxiu's reasoning. Li Guixian likewise waited quietly to one side.

Chao Qingxiu said, "From what I saw yesterday, the academy's security was extremely tight, with a post every ten paces and a sentry every five. Presumably, the defenses would not have been withdrawn even at night. If the incident occurred in an open area, someone would necessarily have witnessed it. We may therefore assume that it took place in a somewhat concealed indoor space. Let us call this Location A."

By this point, a look of surprise had begun to stir in Li Guixian's eyes.

At the same time, the questioning next door had fallen silent. Ruan Shifeng guessed that her colleague was probably standing with ears pricked, pressed close to the door, and straining to hear Chao Qingxiu's deductions.

...Ruan Shifeng could understand. When she first heard Chao Qingxiu reason through a case, she had adopted much the same attitude.

Chao Qingxiu continued, "The sky is still not properly light. Hm. Therefore, the problem must have been discovered before the Mao hour. Then, once we allow for the time required to pass on the information and assign people to investigate, the academy must have learned of the incident before dawn."

The Mao hour begins at five in the morning.

Chao Qingxiu said, "In that case, the person who discovered it could not have been visiting Location A in the ordinary course of etiquette. Otherwise, why would they have gone out in the middle of the night? Could it be that someone suddenly felt unwell and got up in the middle of the night to look for the academy's physician?"

Without waiting for an answer, she shook her head.

Chao Qingxiu said, "Seeking out a physician at night is perfectly reasonable. However, to ensure that students receive treatment as quickly as possible, the area where the academy medical hall is located would not normally be very secluded. There may even be guards stationed there now..." She paused, then looked at Ruan Shifeng. "A concealed indoor space more readily suggests a storeroom or somewhere similar. Late-night traffic would mean the guards were changing shifts. Setting aside rare circumstances such as a student who cannot sleep, wanders out, and happens upon a corpse in a dimly lit place, last night was probably rather like this: the guard due to take over the next shift arrived at the storeroom, found that something was amiss, and then asked people from the Six Doors to question Sister Yan and me, both of whom arrived at the academy yesterday."

Ruan Shifeng said, "..."

She had previously hesitated over whether to disclose some of the inside information to Chao Qingxiu.

Yet the new leader of the Zizhuo Gang had given her no opportunity to do so.

It was true that Chao Qingxiu had uncovered the true culprit in a case from twelve years ago through nothing more than a simple exchange of words.

After organizing her initial thoughts, Chao Qingxiu raised her eyes and gave the two before her a faint smile. At last, she answered the earlier question. "After nightfall, I remained in my room to rest. I did not hear anything out of the ordinary."

"..."

Ruan Shifeng, after all, was no stranger to Chao Qingxiu and could keep her composure. Li Guixian, however, looked faintly bewildered. He even glanced at Ruan Shifeng as though asking whether Chao Qingxiu was an undercover agent planted in the martial world by the Six Doors.

Chao Qingxiu was not an undercover agent, but Ruan Shifeng very much wished she were.

A knock came from the wall next door. "Wait a moment. I will be right over, and then we can all compare notes."

The person who had been questioning Yan Kaixian next door was Hua Yuanhuai. Like Ruan Shifeng, he was a fifth-rank, saber-bearing Chief Constable of the Six Doors.

Hua Yuanhuai said, "Just as you guessed, there really was a problem in the academy storeroom..." He paused, seeming uncertain whether he should say more.

Chao Qingxiu asked, "Could you explain in detail?"

Ruan Shifeng said, "Actually, Miss Chao's account was already quite detailed..." Some of the ordinary constables sent to run errands did not know as much as Chao Qingxiu did.

Hua Yuanhuai deliberated. "This matter is of great importance. I must request instructions before saying more."

Chao Qingxiu explained, "If I was responsible, I should already know the details, so there would be no harm in revealing a little more now. If I was not responsible, the storeroom has already suffered an incident, and whether I say anything will make no difference to the larger situation."

Li Guixian suddenly said, "I think it can be told."

Hua Yuanhuai looked at Li Guixian.

This young man did not speak much, and it was easy to overlook his presence. Yet he had been sent here by the Sect Leader of the Wenbei Sect and could now speak entirely on Cen Zhaoque's behalf.

His words could therefore be taken as Cen Zhaoque's words. In other words, if revealing the case to uninvolved outsiders caused any trouble, Cen Zhaoque would bear at least half the blame.

The more debt one had, the less one worried. Hua Yuanhuai did not think Sect Leader Cen would mind.

Having made up his mind, Hua Yuanhuai finally spoke slowly. "There is no need to say much. What you guessed, Miss, is the truth..."

Because Chongming Academy had deep ties to both the government and the martial world, a concealed storeroom had been built inside its grounds from the very beginning. Outsiders would have been utterly unable to find it.

The storeroom's precise location had never been made public. Even so, its security was excellent, making it highly suitable for storing valuable items.

Chao Qingxiu reflected on this.

Clearly, the other party did not understand what a flag could do. Any warehouse that could not be found was guaranteed to be discovered. Just as, in works of fiction, cells advertised as the most heavily guarded were certain to see a breakout, secret manuals that no one else could master would end up in the protagonist's hands, and cliffs that killed whoever jumped were merely secluded training sites where key characters could grind EXP and level up, and so on.

Of course, Chao Qingxiu felt that she was in no position to diss Chongming Academy. After all, when she had settled into her room the previous night, she had sincerely believed that nothing unexpected could possibly catch up with her in the space of a single night...

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