Crown Prince Wang Lin of Prince Jiang's Mansion was utterly lawless. He had dispatched his subordinates to murder an innocent student of Shuidu Academy and steal the student's treasure.
After the crime, he shoved all the blame onto that subordinate, remaining at large and unpunished himself.
Of course, this was merely the version secretly discussed by the students and circulated among the commoners.
The official conclusion provided by the Observation Department of Liangjiang Commandery was as follows: Everything happened because the Martial Artist named "Ah Da" was simple-minded, impulsive, and prone to anger, which led him to murder the Shuidu Academy student.
At the entrance of Shuidu Academy.
Along a wooded path, an old woman clad in coarse cloth hobbled forward. Her aged face was heavily wrinkled, and her eyelids drooped powerlessly over dim, cloudy eyes. Those eyes were stagnant, lonely, and hollow. Leaning on her walking stick, she gazed at the pale, falling snow around her with an utterly numb expression.
CLACK.
Perhaps overwhelmed by her inner tragedy, she failed to notice a stone in her path. With a careless step, her foot twisted violently, and she collapsed hard onto the ground. She ignored the pain from the fall, tremblingly picked herself up, and looked at the grand gate before her, which bore the words "Shuidu Academy."
THUD.
She dropped to her knees, her graying hair pressing against the freezing stone steps.
"I beg the academy to seek justice for my son..."
Her voice was incredibly hoarse. She could no longer squeeze out any tears, leaving her eyes extremely dull. Unable to shout, she could only struggle to force out a few words through her bitterly raspy throat: "My son, Zhang Lun, died a tragic death, yet the murderer roams free... The heavens are unjust! The heavens are unjust!"
She had already knelt before the Government Office of the Observation Department. But she had been heartlessly driven away. With nowhere else to turn, she came to kneel at the academy's gate.
She remained kneeling for a long time. Soon, a large crowd of students gathered at the academy entrance.
"Sigh."
Naturally, people heard her pleas. Finally, someone could no longer bear it and approached the elderly woman. "Old madam, the case has already been closed. It cannot be overturned."
The old woman's expression remained numb as she merely repeated her murmur, "The heavens are unjust..."
"The man who killed your son was my guard. He has already been executed by the law. Old madam, why make things so difficult for yourself by being so relentless?"
A relatively gentle voice rang out. The woman stiffly raised her head to look.
Wearing a trace of pity on his face, Wang Lin walked up to her and gently rested his hand on her shoulder. "Go home quickly. Don't catch a cold."
"It was you... It was you! You killed my son! Crown Prince of Prince Jiang's Mansion, Wang Lin!"
Upon hearing his words, the old woman jerked her head up. Her voice was terribly hoarse, but her grief-stricken and indignant tone slashed at Wang Lin's face like a razor blade. She revealed her haggard face, her eyes filled with a venomous resentment that would give anyone goosebumps.
"You can eat whatever you want, but you cannot spout whatever nonsense you please. Your son's death has absolutely nothing to do with me. If you continue to rave like a lunatic here, the honorable officials of the Observation Department won't sit idly by!" Wang Lin's voice gradually turned ice-cold.
"What are you all gathering here for?!"
As the dean, Qin Shoucheng had naturally received the news immediately and rushed over without delay.
"Dean, this old woman insists on slandering me..." Seeing Dean Qin appear, Wang Lin put on an innocent expression.
"Shut up!" Qin Shoucheng glared at Wang Lin with a gloomy face. "Have you read the sages' books for nothing?!"
"Dean, please seek justice for my son... I beg you, Dean, seek justice for my son..." Seeing the dean, the old woman acted as if she had caught a lifeline. With a sudden burst of unknown strength, she began kowtowing to him rapidly. Blood appeared on her forehead in the blink of an eye, but she ignored it entirely.
"Old madam." How could Qin Shoucheng dare to accept such a deep bow? He hurried forward to help her up. "This matter has already been jointly tried by the three judiciaries and firmly closed. There are no hidden circumstances. You absolutely must not believe the baseless rumors from the outside."
Hearing this, the old woman shuddered all over and looked up in disbelief.
Qin Shoucheng looked into those despairing, vacant, and numb eyes. His heart clenched, and he turned his head away. "Just go back. Don't make a scene anymore. If Zhang Lun knows of this in the netherworld, he wouldn't want to see you like this."
The old woman's lips trembled as a miserable smile took over her face. She was just about to speak when, unable to withstand the profound grief in her heart, she suddenly fainted.
"Old madam... Old madam..."
"Quick, get a doctor!"
"Heh, when all is said and done, Brother Tongyu did die because of me. I shall cover the medical fees," Wang Lin said, looking at the unconscious old woman as the corners of his mouth curled into a benevolent smile.
Zeng Anmin stood expressionless among the crowd. He took in Wang Lin's utterly hypocritical performance with full clarity. Remaining silent, Zeng Anmin closed his eyes and sensed the ornate short sword hovering within his Purple Mansion Space.
After a long while, he opened his eyes, the depths of his gaze filled with a chilling grimness.
He thought to himself, "Since the Confucian Teachings cannot punish you, it just so happens that I know a little Sword Skill."
That night, on the official road of Liangjiang County City.
Although it was late, there were still a few carriages and a sparse number of pedestrians. A handsome horse snorted, its hooves CLOPPING against the ground. The person riding the horse was none other than the Crown Prince of Prince Jiang's Mansion, Wang Lin.
A cold wind suddenly kicked up, and snowflakes began to fall.
"If I had known it was going to snow, I would have taken a palanquin back to the mansion," Wang Lin grumbled, his expression extremely displeased.
He shot a faint glance at Ah Er, who was leading the horse for him.
Ah Er rubbed his bald head and immediately gave a simple-minded, goofy smile. "We will reach the mansion after two more turns. Please bear with it a little longer, Crown Prince."
"Oh." Wang Lin remained expressionless as he slowly raised his head. Looking at the pitch-black alley ahead, an inexplicable sense of restlessness surfaced in his heart.
Wang Lin pulled a Jade Pendant from his waist; it was exactly Zhang Lun's Water Commander Order. Looking at the Water Commander Order in his hand, Wang Lin let out a scoff. "That old hag actually thought Dean Qin would seek justice for her? Even setting aside whether Dean Qin has the guts, even if she took this case straight to the Saint, what crime have I committed?"
His voice dripped with heavy mockery.
Hearing this, Ah Er pursed his lips. He looked blankly at the Jade Pendant in Wang Lin's hand, entirely failing to understand.
He wondered, "What is so good about this Jade Pendant anyway? Just for this piece of jade, my elder brother lost his life."
"There are no truly satisfying things in this world. The only truly satisfying thing is death," Ah Er replied absentmindedly, suppressing the sudden restlessness in his own heart.
He was just about to say something else when he noticed an anomaly from the corner of his eye.
Suddenly, a flash of silver light flared up. It sliced a thin line through the falling snowflakes of the cold night. Even the misty breath escaping his lips from speaking in the cold was split and scattered to both sides.
SWISH.
A nearly imperceptible sound rang out.
Ah Er looked bewildered. Before he could even realize what had happened, he heard Wang Lin, still atop the horse, looking at Ah Er's neck in absolute terror. "Blood?!"
"Mud? What mud?" Ah Er wondered.
He wanted to say something else, but he suddenly felt a steaming heat radiating from his neck. Looking down, he saw countless drops of blood splattering onto his lapels. Only then did he realize that the Crown Prince hadn't said "mud," but "blood."
"Is this... my blood?"
With that final thought surfacing in his mind, he lost consciousness.
THUD.
His corpse crashed to the ground.
From the darkness, a figure wearing a headgear slowly emerged. It was a black headgear, yet shaped like a cartoon cat. If a transmigrator had been present, they would have inevitably cursed out loud, complaining that the impartial and incorruptible Black Cat Sheriff was being worn on this guy's head!
"W-who are you?" Wang Lin stammered, staring at the bizarre headgear.
Everything had happened so suddenly that he was caught completely off guard. Aside from sheer terror, his face only showed him taking deep breaths as he desperately tried to calm himself down.
The figure in the Black Cat headgear held an incredibly sharp short sword in his hand. Without saying a single word, he slowly and steadily walked toward Wang Lin, one step at a time.
"Halt! Don't come any closer!" Wang Lin clearly understood the other party's intentions. He racked his brain, doing his utmost to come up with words to appease the assassin. "Whether you're after money or power, whatever you want, we can negotiate! Is it money? I can give you silver right now!"
His body trembled uncontrollably as his extremely shaky fingers pulled a thick stack of silver notes from his robes. In his panic, he had even forgotten to spur his horse to escape.
SMACK!
The Black Cat figure reached out, grabbed Wang Lin's arm, and forcefully yanked him off the horse.
BAM! Wang Lin crashed to the ground, sprawling on his back. The silver notes scattered all over the floor.
STEP. STEP. STEP.
The figure slowly advanced toward him.
Wang Lin desperately shimmied backward on his butt. "Don't... Don't do anything rash! I am the Crown Prince of Prince Jiang's Mansion! My father is King Jiang, personally conferred by the current Saint!
"Think carefully about my identity! If I die, the entire Liangjiang Commandery will be turned upside down. Rooting you out will only be a matter of time.
"Killing me might solve things for you in the short term, but you have to think about your parents, your family!"
His voice was quivering wildly.
The Black Cat figure paused his steps, the ornate short sword in his hand brewing with a chilling intent.
Seeing him stop, Wang Lin thought his words had taken effect and was overjoyed. He hurriedly added more fuel to the fire. "Think it through. You absolutely must think it through. Don't make an irreparable mistake."
A moment later, a familiar voice rang out from beneath the black headgear. "A mistake? Since Brother Tongyu is dead, when it comes to right and wrong, I am now Wu Xin and care not to distinguish them."
Wang Lin shuddered violently and looked up in sheer disbelief. "You... You are... Z—"
His voice came to an abrupt halt.
A flash of the blade swept past, and a silver line abruptly emerged. Blood sprayed over the eyes of the Black Cat headgear, adding a sharp, piercing splash of color to it.
"Ugh..."
Wang Lin frantically clutched his throat, but he couldn't stop the life from rapidly draining from his body.
THUD.
The Black Cat figure slowly crouched down. He picked up a Jade Pendant from Wang Lin's waist. Without another word, he tucked it into his robes.
"AHHHHH!"
Only at this moment did the terrified screams of passersby finally erupt along the road.