Obtaining Top Art on Family's Extermination Night

Given Chen Yan’s personality and his insistence on being where the action is, he definitely would have noticed if they had done anything to draw attention.

But his answer at the time was that nothing had happened...

And yet, that evening, Ironman—who had supposedly done nothing—produced a note from Shui Qianliu.

From this, two possibilities could be deduced.

The first was that Shui Qianliu and Ironman were working together.

The second... was that Shui Qianliu had fallen into Ironman’s hands.

Considering Ironman’s obvious intent to frame someone, the former was unlikely.

Therefore, it was highly probable that Shui Qianliu had been tricked by Ironman.

That was why Fang Shuwen didn’t expose him, but decided to play along.

He just needed to follow Ironman’s script to figure out what the man was truly after. He might even get the chance to follow the trail and find Shui Qianliu.

So when Fang Shuwen and his party arrived in the withered woods, he was acting the entire time.

Before the clash of weapons even rang out, Fang Shuwen had already sensed someone in that direction. He just pretended not to notice, acting surprised along with everyone else to give Ironman time to play his part.

In the end, Ironman didn’t disappoint. He truly delivered a brand-new surprise for Fang Shuwen.

Although they didn’t find Shui Qianliu directly, the clues they gained made the whole charade worthwhile.

Along the way, Fang Shuwen explained everything to Fang Lingxin and Shui Qianrou. He broke it all down for them, meticulously explaining every thought, every deduction, and the reasoning behind each of his suspicions.

Fang Lingxin was left speechless.

She had been with Fang Shuwen the entire time; she had seen everything he had seen.

’Why can Fang Shuwen connect so many dots from the same information?’

’And I can’t?’

Only by following Fang Shuwen’s train of thought could she begin to grasp the crucial details.

Still, Fang Lingxin couldn’t help but ask,

"Since you were so sure the traitor was Ironman, why didn’t you just take him down?"

"Innocent until proven guilty. Mere speculation isn’t grounds for killing someone. What if I was wrong?"

Fang Shuwen said softly,

"Following him to the withered woods at the end was the moment to verify all my theories.

"And once things had progressed to that point, I didn’t mind letting him lead the way to see if I could follow the trail.

"And look what happened. We found two guys who were scared to death. Before I even had to ask, they spilled everything—things they should have said and things they shouldn’t have.

"It really saved me a lot of trouble."

Most importantly, this approach left more room for error.

The world had a great misunderstanding of Fang Shuwen. Everyone thought the Demon Evil God was a ruthless killer who acted without reason.

But in truth, Fang Shuwen was very reasonable.

He might not have been the humble and righteous gentleman he jokingly claimed to be...

...but he did have a bottom line: he would never slaughter the innocent.

Unless he was absolutely certain and all the evidence was laid out before him, Fang Shuwen would not kill so easily.

After all, a life was on the line!

After listening, Shui Qianrou couldn’t help but sigh.

"I always thought Aunt Shui Man and Ironman had a wonderful marriage... To think, it was all a lie.

"Does that mean the story about Ironman being shipwrecked and washing up at the Celestial Water Palace was also a lie...?"

"But I imagine... your Aunt Shui Man’s feelings for him were real."

Fang Shuwen gently shook his head.

"A pity. Her deep affection was misplaced; she did not entrust herself to a worthy man."

’That was the nice way of putting it, of course. In Fang Shuwen’s opinion, Shui Man had her own share of problems.’

’Ironman’s previous identity was Tie Hancang, the Cyan Fang Sword. Shui Man knew exactly what kind of person he was, yet she still fell for him... Was she blind?’

’Love is blind. It’s true what they say.’

Fang Shuwen’s words, however, sent both girls, the older and the younger, into silence.

Although the younger one couldn’t quite understand such matters of the heart, it didn’t stop her from feeling a sense of tragedy for Shui Man.

As for the older one... her thoughts had already drifted from Shui Man’s plight to her own.

’I wonder what my future husband will be like?’

’Will he be good to me?’

’Will I also... give my heart to the wrong person?’

’Mm, probably not. If my future husband isn’t good to me, I’ll just have Master beat him to death!’

’Master is very efficient when it comes to killing!’

The Mountain God Temple, ten li outside the East City Gate, wasn’t exactly far, but it wasn’t close either. The main issue was having to detour slightly around Pojun City, but thankfully, the detour wasn’t long.

The two girls were lost in their own thoughts for only a short while before they arrived at the Mountain God Temple.

But the moment he stepped inside, Fang Shuwen’s brow twitched.

A familiar scene replayed itself. Bodies were strewn everywhere, lying in the main hall of the Mountain God Temple.

Among the dead were people in the attire of the Flower Moon Sect, lecherous monks from the Joyful Zen Temple, and many others in strange and bizarre outfits—people who, at a glance, clearly walked a crooked path.

Shui Qianrou climbed down from Fang Lingxin’s arms, walked over to a corpse, and a glimmer of joy suddenly lit up her eyes.

"It’s the Celestial Water Divine Finger! That’s a martial art from my Celestial Water Palace!"

Fang Shuwen froze when he heard this, not sharing Shui Qianrou’s delight. His brow furrowed slightly. He carefully scanned the Mountain God Temple, and only after confirming there was no immediate danger did he approach the altar.

He motioned for Fang Lingxin and Shui Qianrou to come to his side before attempting to activate the mechanism.