Obtaining Top Art on Family's Extermination Night

Leng Yanqiu clearly didn’t know what kind of game the Dragon Emperor Hall was playing either:

"Perhaps. I can’t be certain either.

"But as I investigated deeper, I found that these people were all benevolent heroes on the surface. Behind the scenes... they were far from so chivalrous!"

Fang Shuwen’s expression remained unchanged:

"Do you have any concrete evidence?"

"I do."

Leng Yanqiu nodded, took a notebook from her robes, and handed it to Fang Shuwen.

Fang Shuwen stopped walking and casually flipped it open for a glance.

It recorded some of the deeds of Ning Feiwu, the ’Dragon-Caging Hand’, including seizing fertile farmland and forcing women into prostitution.

Regarding the former, he had coveted several hundred acres of prime farmland belonging to a wealthy family. He didn’t act himself, but instead secretly contacted a group of unorthodox practitioners to constantly cause trouble.

Then, he would appear nearby at just the right moment, ensuring the wealthy family learned of his presence.

The family, already in a state of panic due to the troublemakers, would naturally visit and plead for help upon hearing that a great hero was in the vicinity.

Hero Ning, unable to bear seeing the suffering of the people, would inevitably go to slay demons and vanquish evil.

Unexpectedly, he would fall for a ruse to lure the tiger away from its mountain.

By the time he returned, the head of the family would have been brutally killed by the unorthodox practitioners, leaving only a widow and her orphans, completely at a loss.

They would instinctively turn to Hero Ning for help. Hero Ning, feigning ’righteous indignation,’ would helplessly claim that he alone might fall for the same ruse again. Even if he found reinforcements, he’d say, the bandits were hidden too well to be found, and potential helpers would be too afraid to even show up.

But he couldn’t stay there for long, and once he left, the widow and orphans would surely meet a grim fate.

He would work the widow and orphans into a state of terror, leaving them with no choice but to beg him for help repeatedly.

Finally, he would ’reluctantly’ reveal a solution... sell off their property, take the gold, silver, and jewels, and leave to start a new life elsewhere.

And as a warm-hearted and chivalrous hero, he would of course have to help them handle these ’trivial matters’—liquidating their assets for gold, silver, and jewels, which he would then give to the widow and orphans before personally escorting them away.

Only, once they left... no one would ever know if they were dead or alive.

That was one method.

There was another scenario: the matriarch of the family, or a capable decision-maker from the next generation, had strong ideas of their own.

In that case, they would fall for another trick. The bandits would kill anyone who was decisive or in a position of authority.

After that, things would fall back into the first pattern.

These methods were not particularly brilliant, but few people ever noticed.

After pulling this off several times, Ning Feiwu accumulated an extremely large fortune.

With this silver, he opened two brothels, forcing women into prostitution more than once. But he did it all secretly, so few people knew.

Besides these records, the notebook also contained letters exchanged between Ning Feiwu and those unorthodox practitioners.

Leng Yanqiu told Fang Shuwen she had the letters’ handwriting verified by people familiar with Ning Feiwu’s script, who confirmed it was his.

Fang Shuwen considered this. ’This doesn’t seem like something Leng Yanqiu could just make up on the spot,’ he thought.

However, if someone with ulterior motives wanted to frame him, it wasn’t impossible for them to orchestrate this and secretly forge the handwriting.

But before that, he had another question:

"You were investigating their real killer. Why the sudden change in direction?"

"To be honest, someone gave me this information in secret. As for who it was, I have no idea..."

Leng Yanqiu didn’t hide anything.

Fang Shuwen smiled.

"I see. So someone gave this to you specifically."

As he spoke, his gaze drifted to the silent Chen Qi not far away.

This time, Chen Qi wasn’t looking at the sky. He was staring at the ground as if something utterly fascinating was there, holding his unblinking attention.

Leng Yanqiu didn’t catch the implication in Fang Shuwen’s words and said earnestly:

"Although I didn’t investigate and find this evidence myself, I did personally verify it. And the contents of this notebook were written by my own hand.

"I can guarantee that none of it is false."

"So, according to you, Female Hero Leng, are you saying that although the Dragon Emperor Hall is framing people, they’re also ridding the world of evil for the common good?"

"...On that point, I dare not make any bold claims."

Leng Yanqiu sighed.

"To be honest, I had never even heard of the Dragon Emperor Hall before this.

"It wasn’t until the incident at Yuqing Pavilion became widely known that we learned of this faction’s existence.

"Besides investigating the truth about the Dragon Emperor Hall, I also wanted to ask Young Hero Fang how you came to be at odds with them."

"I can’t tell you about that."

The matter concerned the reputation of Zhuji Pavilion. Given Fang Shuwen’s relationships with Zuo Qingshuang and Zhou Qingmei, he couldn’t possibly tell an outsider about it.

Leng Yanqiu’s brow furrowed slightly. ’This is getting complicated,’ she thought.

But just then, Fang Shuwen suddenly asked:

"Female Hero Leng, since you know the killer isn’t Ye Feihua, what do you plan to do when you go to Jinghua Pavilion?"

Leng Yanqiu answered without a second thought:

"I will reveal all this evidence directly to prove Ye Feihua’s innocence."

"That probably won’t do any good..."

"I know."

Leng Yanqiu sighed.

"But I have to at least try."

But Fang Shuwen just smiled.

"You probably won’t have to."

Leng Yanqiu was taken aback.

"What do you mean?"

This time, before Fang Shuwen could speak, Chen Qi suddenly said:

"Female Hero Leng, haven’t you noticed that there are many unreasonable aspects to this Flower-Picking Conference?"

"Hm?"

Leng Yanqiu paused. Her mind had been entirely focused on the Dragon Emperor Hall and the wrongly accused Ye Feihua.