Chaotic World Book-Chapter 77 - 76: The Cui Family Mystery

Zhao Changhe, who had broken through the Mystical Gate Fourth Layer earlier than he expected, was in a great mood as he scarfed down his rice, too lazy to care about whether Cui Wenjing was just showing off or not. After all, maybe the guy was really a child prodigy, already at the Seventh or Eighth Layer after only five months.

Who cares.

Before, he had felt that wielding such a big broadsword was too heavy and beyond his strength. But once his External Skill broke through the Mystical Gate, his power greatly increased, which was very noticeable. If he had been able to swing a ten-pound steel blade smoothly and easily before, now he probably wouldn’t be slowed down by one weighing twenty or thirty pounds either, maybe only lacking a bit in endurance?

He wondered whether he should try out the big broadsword that was four to five feet long... But glancing at the young girl’s tender eyes beside him, he decided to let it be; she had already chosen a steel sword for him, and it wouldn’t look good to reject it now.

Little did he know that the young girl had long since had her heart set on getting him the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow Saber, and she hadn’t even introduced him to the steel sword by name.

Both were considerate of each other, their gazes exchanging an indescribable sour stench.

Cui Yuanyong stepped into the room and could smell the stench even against the wind, feeling like it was an inopportune time to arrive—in fact, his sister finding a man was rather untimely to begin with.

As her brother, he hadn’t even been betrothed yet... Just last year before he left home, his family was just starting to discuss a betrothal with the Wang Family, which was an extremely bothersome back-and-forth that still wasn’t settled. And here his little sister, who had barely grown up, was already finding a man...

"Big Brother!" Cui Yuanyang, seeing him, waved her hand cheerfully in greeting.

"Oh? Brother Cui is here?" Zhao Changhe said, wiping his mouth, "Where were you before? Such a big event and you were nowhere to be seen from start to finish."

Cui Yuanyong smiled, casually took his father’s seat, and started pouring wine as a host on his father’s behalf: "I said back when my little sister was following behind you to experience the whirlwinds of Worldly Society, the look in her eyes meant it was only a matter of time before she’d change. And look, this change is thorough, like water that’s gone stale and even smells off."

Cui Yuanyang blushed, "Big Brother!"

Cui Yuanyong ignored his sister and turned to Zhao Changhe with a smile, "’Brother Zhao, there was really no need for trying to probe with those words just now. You really suspected me of being the spy, huh?"

Cui Yuanyang’s face color changed.

Zhao Changhe laughed, "Why so sensitive? I was just asking, I thought we were friends already."

"I knew people would suspect me," Cui Yuanyong said, drinking a cup of wine on his own and sighing, "After all, it was under my watch that my sister ran away. Including that trip to your stronghold before, I’ve let her escape twice... such a naive one... So capable of running away, does this seem a bit intentional on my part? Even if I’m not the spy, someone is bound to twist the story, saying I lack meticulousness and that bodes ill for my future."

Cui Yuanyang felt a bit embarrassed; by saying this, it sounded like she had really made her brother suffer.

These two incidents, from her point of view, indeed had nothing to do with her brother. For the middle-of-the-night trip to the stronghold, could her brother be watching over her while she slept? That would be even more problematic. And later, when she ran away again, that was even less his fault—it was the servants who escorted her on her way home, and she slipped away with an excuse. How could her brother have known?

Although it was an injustice, once the cap of lacking meticulousness was placed on him, it proved hard to remove, especially since it wasn’t entirely wrong. Cui Yuanyong himself lacked experience in Worldly Society and wasn’t careful enough in his actions, which was a fact.

For this reason, it was even less likely that Cui Yuanyong had done it intentionally. He was the person set to succeed the family, and doing something like this seemed meaningless and even damaging to his reputation.

With a sigh, Cui Yuanyong continued, "As for the past few days, of course, I backtracked to find you all, even reaching the city you had stayed in... Who knew that you all would be crossing mountains and ranges, making it impossible for me to encounter you... To speak a bit coyly, if you had hidden in the city without leaving, waiting for me to find you, maybe things wouldn’t have turned out with so much trouble..."

Even Zhao Changhe’s expression twitched at that.

Thinking it over, it seemed actually plausible... Who said there were only two options at the time? This was clearly a third choice, and perhaps even the safest one. They had never thought of it, and even now, they hadn’t...

Cui Yuanyang laughed softly, taking Zhao Changhe’s hand, "Don’t listen to him."

Zhao Changhe finally nodded, "Alright, no need to keep defending yourself, it was just a joke."

"Because it’s disgusting, loads of people are trying to pin this on me, like swallowing a fly. Now that the person involved is here, how can I resist saying a few words!" Cui Yuanyong asked his sister helplessly, "The triple court trial is about to start, and I have to go for the questioning too. Are you coming to the hearing?"

Cui Yuanyang thought for a moment and nodded, "I’ll go with Brother Zhao. Brother Zhao can come, right?"

Cui Yuanyong said, "He’s an involved party, and he was originally required to provide some collateral evidence. But given his special circumstances, if father doesn’t order, others don’t really dare to summon him and interrogate him like a criminal. If you’re willing to participate, that would be for the best."

Zhao Changhe indeed wanted to go. He felt there was something fishy about this affair, which sparked his curiosity to get to the root of the matter. Moreover, the real culprit wanted to kill Yangyang. If not found, the idea alone of having someone who wanted Yangyang’s life lurking around her every day was hair-raising. Of course, he had to find and eliminate them.

Cui Yuanyang, in truth, did not want to know who it was. Whoever it was, it would be distressing. But she knew that this matter had to come to an end eventually.

...

That evening, at the Cui Family ancestral temple.

Zhao Changhe and Cui Yuanyang stood behind Cui Wenjing, craning their necks to scope out the situation in the hall.

Cui Yuanyong and another youth who looked very similar to him stood side by side in the center, both with looks of helplessness. The youth looked even worse, with a haggard complexion – as if he, a child who seemed to have never suffered much, had spent two days in jail, with half of his spirit and vitality gone.

Cui Yuanyong’s brother and Cui Yuanyang’s third brother, Cui Yuancheng, the prime suspect of this case.

The Cui family clan elders had gathered, and even Cui Wenjue, who served as the Prefectural Governor of Qinghe County, had arrived. This was no small matter of a young girl being assassinated; it was an incredibly serious issue of fratricide within the family, something any clan would find difficult to tolerate.

Several gazes were also fixed on Zhao Changhe, the kind of sharp pressure that could make one’s body tingle.

Not to mention the difficulty in discerning someone’s cultivation at a glance, but when individuals at the Mystical Gate Eighth or Ninth Layer, or even those with Secret Treasure level strength fix their gaze on you, one could naturally feel a kind of intangible, substantial pressure.

Zhao Changhe, however, just smiled nonchalantly. Not even my father-in-law puts on airs with me, what are you putting on?

An elder slowly began to speak, "I presume everyone is quite clear about the case. Let me reiterate the reason we have locked onto Yuancheng. The black market bounty was posted; there are only a few channels for this. In Qinghe, we’ve rooted them out completely, confirming that the information spread through the Salt Gang’s local distribution network here. We captured the gang’s local leader, who confessed it was Yuancheng who posted the bounty. The evidence trail is very clear."

Everyone nodded. In reality, this was easy to investigate. Posting a reward would necessitate a channel, and the recipient would also need a place to collect it. For the Cui Family in Qinghe, digging out such information was all too easy. Essentially, it was inarguable.

But the problem was...

"After speaking, the man bit down on the poison hidden between his teeth and committed suicide. This point, exactly, suggests there might be the possibility of someone being bribed to frame others. Therefore, some have proposed that Yuanyong is suspicious," the elder continued, "There are quite a few who share this view, Wenjue is among them."

Cui Wenjue nodded and gave a polite bow, "That’s right, Yuanyong, don’t blame your uncle for being suspicious. Anyone would have their doubts."

Cui Yuanyong calmly said, "About my suspicion, I only need to point out one thing: As everyone knows, I was still on my way home when little sister ran away. It was impossible for me to arrange it in time, unless it was planned in advance. However, her running away was a spontaneous act, and even she might not have known in advance that she was going to run away. But my bounty was arranged way too early, who does that? Do my uncles really think Yuanyong is a fool?"

Many people were nodding, including Zhao Changhe and Cui Yuanyang. Cui Yuanyang was even clearer that she really had acted impulsively at the time, without any premeditation. Who could have arranged such a thing in advance?

But this was troublesome, for with the suicide of the suspect, Yuancheng’s guilt suddenly had doubts cast upon it, and Yuanyong genuinely seemed unlikely to have set up such an affair in advance. So now, after all this investigation, were they at a dead end?

The Cui Family, renowned as the ruler of the local area, had their legitimate daughter assassinated, and yet they couldn’t find the real culprit!

Countless eyes fell on the silent Cui Wenjing’s face, the message being clear – it’s time to call upon the Qinghe Sword.

Zhao Changhe furrowed his brows.

He did not know the attributes of the Qinghe Sword, but this display made him feel... could the target possibly be... the Qinghe Sword itself?

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