A sudden shock ran through Banxia.
"But... Old Wu's poison had already penetrated his vitals..."
"Did you see him die with your own eyes?"
"Zhao Lan burned the whole hut to the ground..."
"Did you see him die with your own eyes?"
Banxia faltered for a moment before replying, "Zhao Lan saw it with his own eyes. Xiao Lin was already dead, with no breath left."
Pei Su suddenly turned to look at Banxia. After a long moment, he murmured, "Twenty years ago, he tricked the Pei Mansion's secret guards the same way..."
A thunderbolt seemed to strike Banxia's mind. She exclaimed, "The Turtle Breathing Technique?!"
Over the past few days, Pei Su had been filling Banxia in on the past, so she naturally knew the truth of the plot from twenty years ago.
"That's not right..." Banxia said at once. "But Your Highness, even if the Turtle Breathing Technique can be used to feign death, it can't neutralize poison. How could he..."
Pei Su maintained his subtle smile.
"Then let me ask you this, Banxia. Twenty years ago, Xiao Lin was also poisoned. He was afflicted with Devour Soul Powder, ranked forty-ninth on the Hundred Poisons List. How did he survive?"
Banxia shook her head.
In his final words, Xiao Lin had never mentioned how he'd neutralized the poison; he'd just glossed over it vaguely.
"That was twenty years ago, after all. The details are impossible to trace now. Maybe the Gao Clan had a change of heart, or maybe it was an accident. But this time, he was cornered after being struck by Old Wu's poison. He couldn't possibly be faking it..."
"Alright, that's the first inconsistency: how he survived the Devour Soul Powder back then. Next, Banxia, I want you to recall Xiao Lin's final words carefully."
Banxia lowered her head, quickly replaying the memories from the Soul Search Array in her mind.
Pei Su raised the bamboo slip in his hand. "Xiao Zhongyong said his grandfather was a man of the Martial World in his early years and learned the Turtle Breath after receiving guidance from Qingxu Zi. But I had Old Wu investigate these past few days. His grandfather was a merchant in Ganzhou in his youth and never set foot in the Martial World. Heh, this is actually a running joke in the Martial World about Qingxu Zi..."
Banxia stared blankly, still not understanding what His Highness was trying to say.
"So, Xiao Lin's Turtle Breathing Technique didn't come from Qingxu Zi. Who else in the world possesses such a rare skill?"
Pei Su didn't answer his own question, but continued, "Back then, the Pei Mansion's astrologer used a celestial alignment to divine that Xiao Lin was in the Bingzhou region. We all thought he would be hiding somewhere in the Martial World, but he wasn't. He was in the provincial capital, Lin'an County."
"I heard he first discovered the hidden sanctuary of Die Meng Valley about ten years ago. But before that, he was still hiding in Bingzhou, working as a blacksmith. The Martial World would have been a much better place to hide, yet he didn't enter it. Or perhaps, he didn't dare to..."
Banxia was speechless and decided to just listen quietly to Pei Su.
"Banxia, think carefully about Xiao Lin's last words again. Don't you find them ridiculous?" Pei Su suddenly scoffed.
"He claimed he only rushed back to his ancestral home after a 'sudden awakening' to find his entire clan massacred. How is that possible? He was an imperial military official, stationed in the Imperial Capital for years, and well-versed in the court's power struggles. After being declared a wanted man, how could he wait several years before even thinking of his wife and children?"
Banxia nodded thoughtfully. "So he must have known his family was slaughtered, but he remained in hiding and didn't dare to make a move?"
"Yes. He is an utterly selfish person, extremely venomous and ruthless. He was so decisive when he first used Zhao Lan to secure his own survival. And that palm strike he aimed at me later... heh, that was truly vicious. He wanted to kill me..."
Pei Su raised an eyebrow, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips. "People often say that a dying man's words are kind. While that's an oversimplification, it's undeniable that on the brink of death, a person is most likely to let down their guard and speak their true heart."
"Yet for such an utterly selfish person to spout slogans about serving the common people and the good of the empire on his deathbed... it's beyond laughable and completely out of character..."
Banxia took a deep breath. "If it were just one or two inconsistencies, they could be overlooked. But with so many of them piling up, it is indeed a bit..."
"There's one more thing, Banxia..." Pei Su said with a smile. "Twenty years ago, after that Xiao Lin drew his blade and left, the Emperor's head rolled to the ground, his face covered in mud—a truly wretched sight..."
Banxia froze. She knew exactly what that implied. The Imperial Guard were the Emperor's personal guards. Having received his immense favor, how could they stand by and watch the Emperor's head roll on the ground, to be sullied by mud like the filthiest of beggars?
"At the very least, even if the Commander of the Imperial Guard, Gao, had been turned by his own clan and could stand to watch the Emperor die, he would never have allowed the Emperor's head to suffer the humiliation of being defiled by mud."
Banxia seemed to realize something. Indeed, this Xiao Zhongyong... he seemed far too ruthless for an upright member of the Imperial Guard.
"Banxia, we have now peeled back and laid out on the table all the inconsistencies Xiao Lin has shown, from twenty years ago to today. Now, we need a thread to connect them all. We need a theory that can explain everything."
"What is it?"
Pei Su raised the bamboo slip to his eyes again, a slight smile appearing as he looked at its contents. "Now, let's review the day Deputy Commander Xiao made his name... That night, thirty-six years ago, at Taihe Hall in the Imperial Palace, when a group of cultists launched a deadly raid..."
Banxia's pupils contracted.
The Taihe Hall Night Raid!
It was one of the most shocking and bizarre cases in the history of the Imperial Capital. That a martial world cult could secretly infiltrate the capital of the Great Jin—the place where the dragon's aura was strongest under Heaven—and attempt a night raid on Taihe Hall, had left all the civil and military officials furious.
"The Emperor was enraged and ordered the famous constable from the Da Li Temple's Bai Yutang, Zhuge Qing, to handle the case. In pursuit of the truth, he even resorted to some methods that the upright officials of the court found contemptible. In the end, he only managed to extract one piece of information from the captives—they had come for the Infant Poison Pearl."
Banxia didn't know any of this and could only listen as Pei Su spoke. But now, she was beginning to see a faint connection.
The Infant Poison Pearl, a demonic artifact of supreme poison. It was rumored to be able to condense Blood Infant Corrosion, the fourth-ranked poison on the Hundred Poisons List. How could such an item, a thing of ultimate yin and poison, be in the Imperial Capital? How could it be in Taihe Hall? That was merely a place for grand ceremonies.
Infant Poison Pearl... Poison...
Suddenly, as if making a connection, Banxia's pupils trembled. She asked tentatively, "The Infant Poison Pearl... is it on Xiao Lin?"
PS:
① Hundred Poisons List: A list compiled since ancient times by all users of poison, recording the hundred most potent and virulent poisons in the world. The list has not changed in over a thousand years and has come to be universally recognized.
② A Running Joke: Because Qingxu Zi is immensely learned, has mastered countless arts, and often leaves his immortal mountain to roam the world, he frequently offers guidance to those he deems worthy. As a result, if someone in the Martial World masters a profound technique and doesn't wish to reveal their master or how they learned it, they will jokingly claim to have been guided by Qingxu Zi.
③ Blood Infant Corrosion: Ranked fourth on the Hundred Poisons List, it is a poison said to be able to fell an immortal. The mere mention of its name strikes fear into the hearts of all. Legend says it was first created by an ancient poison lord who refined three thousand blood infants. Those poisoned will have their heart meridians slowly corroded and will hear the cries of babies in the night.