"I don't like to call myself a proud person but I respect my abilities!" Jie Fu Lian gritted out as he took out the guard's sword and infused it with his spiritual energy.
The demonic Qi inside his body was quite intense and heavy while the spiritual energy was frail and limited, however, since Duan Luoyang was present, Jie Fu Lian couldn't use demonic Qi and he was more comfortable with using spiritual energy.
In any case, although the spiritual energy in his body was frail and limited, it was still more than enough to beat this murderer who practiced a degrading version of the art of controlling spirits.
"To see the likes of you mocking and degrading my abilities really pisses me off!" Jie Fu Lian added as he jumped on the man and tried to chop him in half.
The man was quite taken back by these two unexpected guards who seemed to be quite talented, but although he was shocked, he was still able to keep his life intact.
In terms of power, since this was just a memory, Hua Tianshu and Jie Fu Lian's spiritual energies and abilities were limited, however, they were in no manner overpowered.
The fight was fair and the only advantage one side had over the other was the mere number of people fighting.
It was a two against one fight with a clear upperhand but no clear expected outcome.
Either sides could lose in a matter of seconds if they were careless enough.
Jie Fu Lian's attacks were much more aggressive than Hua Tianshu's, but although it was aggressive, it could be clearly seen that he wasn't actually trying to kill the man, he was just trying to injure him.
Hua Tianshu was also not attacking to kill. He was focusing on the mask and trying his best to make the man reveal his identity.
After a few minutes of intense combat, the murderer eventually realized that his opponents weren't after his life and hence, he started focusing on escaping but Duan Luoyang didn't let the man succeed.
As the fight continued, the murderer got more and more impatient. In the end, he simply grabbed Duan Luoyang by the collar and pushed him down the window along with himself.
Jie Fu Lian and Hua Tianshu were a bit shocked by this action and quickly rushed over to the window as they looked down at the bodies of the two men falling down freely.
For the first time in his life, Duan Luoyang felt as if he was really going to die, but even at the face of death, he did not forget their purpose for coming here and hence, he frantically reached out for the man's mask and pulled it down, revealing the murderers face.
Duan Luoyang's eyes widened in shock and horror before he hit the ground and died. The murderer used a transportation talisman at the last moment possible and escaped.
Jie Fu Lian clenched his fist as he looked down at Duan Luoyang's body.
"Don't worry," Hua Tianshu spoke up as he reassured him, "He saw his face."
Jie Fu Lian's frown didn't disappear as he heard this but he still nodded his head in understanding.
They weren't able to see the murderers face but they were sure Duan Luoyang had seen it so there was no need to worry.
At the end of the day, this was merely a memory and Duan Luoyang would simply return to reality if he died here.
"What do we do now?" Jie Fu Lian asked as he raised his head to look at Hua Tianshu.
"We stay and investigate," Hua Tianshu calmly responded as he pointed back at the corpse that was still inside the room.
"Who found the dead body of Bai LiuXian?"
"It was a Bai family's maid."
"And what about the witness testimonies? Who were the witness that claimed to have seen me here?"
Hua Tianshu sighed as he spoke, "There were five soldiers and two maids. Three of the soldiers had been guarding Bai LiuXian's door and heard a noise coming from inside. When they looked, Bai LiuXian was having tea with Jie Fu Lian and asked the three guards not to disturb them. The other two guards were stationed outside the manor and saw Jie Fu Lian leaving the next morning. One of the maids entered the room with the tea that the two drank and the second maid claimed to have seen Jie Fu Lian while he was leaving."
"The three guards... Is that us in this case?"
Hua Tianshu nodded his head as he looked inside the room and gestured over to a particular section of the room as he spoke, "The original guards were on time and hence they had been able to witness the two having tea. We were late so we missed it by chance."
Jie Fu Lian looked over at what Hua Tianshu was gesturing towards and felt a little surprised as he noticed the two empty teacups that were neatly placed on the table.
"And nobody questioned why Bai LiuXian was having tea with Jie Fu Lian in the middle of the night at his room...?" Jie Fu Lian asked with a frown, mentally judging and questioning the capability of the ones who had originally investigated this case.
The point that the two were having TEA was already shocking considering the fact that they had no connections with each other. The point that they were having tea in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT was even more mind-blowing while the point that they were having tea in the man's ROOM was clearly the most bizarre thing that one could have ever heard.
This bullshit of a story was so hard to believe and digest that for a second, Jie Fu Lian wondered if he was supposed to laugh or seriously think about the intelligence of the people who actually believed this bullshit of a story.
If Jie Fu Lian were the one to investigate this case, instead of claiming that Jie Fu Lian had murdered Bai LiuXian, he would first question what type of intimate relationship the two hard for it to be okay for them to drink tea in the man's room in the middle of the night!
"I was clearly set up!" Jie Fu Lian exclaimed, feeling deeply wronged to have been involved in such a scandalous murder case.
"I know," Hua Tianshu nodded his head and firmly spoke, without any doubt or hesitation, "That wasn't you. It was someone pretending to be you."
Leaving the fact that he was innocent aside, Jie Fu Lian was still quite shocked to hear Hua Tianshu's confident words that didn't doubt him for even a second.
It had been like this in the past as well. Even when the whole world turned against him, Hua Tianshu stood in front of him and spoke up for his innocence. He never doubted Jie Fu Lian and was always confident that Jie Fu Lian was truly innocent.
"How can you be so sure?" Jie Fu Lian asked as he looked at Hua Tianshu. It was a question that he had wanted to ask for a long time now.
He genuinely wanted to know why Hua Tianshu could be so sure.
"Because the body was different," Hua Tianshu replied without any hesitation.
"Huh?"
"The eighteen-year-old Jie Fu Lian was four inches taller, had a 2 inch thinner waist and more lean muscles around his chest and thighs."
"..." Jie Fu Lian had clearly not expected to hear such an answer.
"His wrist was also half an inch thicker and his fingers were a centimeter longer. The man we just saw wasn't the eighteen-year-old you."
"..." Jie Fu Lian was stunned speechless and took an entire minute to process Hua Tianshu's words through his head before he commented, "Hua Tianshu, you seemed to have really paid a lot of attention to my body."
"Hmm," Hua Tianshu hummed, simply agreeing.
'What do you mean 'Hmm'?! Are you openly admitting to be a pervert?! Even I have no idea how long my fingers are or how thin my waist is! Hua Tianshu, why would you know such things?! To note down your enemies body size like this... You must have really hated me with passion!'
"I don't know if I should feel relieved or creeped out," Jie Fu Lian commented, "But thanks to your creepy observations, my innocence seems to have been proven in front of you so I'll temporarily try to be thankful for it."
"Hmm."
"That," Jie Fu Lian pointed at Bai LiuXian's corpse as he tried to change the conversation and asked, "How was his corpse found?"
"On the bed, covered with a blanket," Hua Tianshu spoke, seeming to be completely unfazed by the previous conversation he had about Jie Fu Lian's body size specification, "At first, the maid thought he was sleeping and hence didn't disturb him. Later on, the blanket started getting soaked in blood and that's when his corpse was discovered."
Jie Fu Lian frowned as he looked down at Bai LiuXian's corpse and asked, "Should we put him on the bed and cover him with a blanket?"