The Affairs of the Martial World - Vol 2: Chapter 4

The two brothers of the Kunlun Sect, Mu Qingshan and Mu Qingshui, said, “We are the farthest from him, and it wouldn’t be possible for us to kill someone and return without being discovered, so we did not kill sect leader Wei.”

Zhu Que nodded and said, “It wasn’t you who killed him.”

Feng Yichuan of the Willow Blade Sect said, “I only use a knife, never a sword. I don’t have a sword on me, so it’s impossible for me to have killed him.”

Zhu Que said, “It wasn’t you who killed him.”

Qin Xiong said to Zhao Qiankun, “Both of us are together, not far from you. If we were the ones who killed, you should know.”

Zhu Que said, “It wasn’t you who killed him.”

Then, without waiting for the others to clarify, Zhu Que pointed at Shui Mingyue and said, “It’s not you.” Then he pointed at Fuying and said, “It’s not you either.”

In that case, the three monks who claimed to be from White Horse Temple were the most suspicious.

The three monks were just about to speak when Zhu Que pointed at them and said, “It wasn’t you who killed the person.”

The three of them chanted “Amitabha” in unison. Since Zhu Que had said this, there was no need for them to explain further.

Zhu Que said, “Such a brilliant method of killing can only be done by me among us, but the person was not killed by me.”

Everyone was ruled out; it couldn’t possibly be that Wei Chu committed suicide. The very thought of such a situation seemed absurd. A few people looked at Zhu Que in confusion. If it wasn’t someone among them who did it, could it be that a ghost or monster was at work?

Zhu Que said, “Ever since we left Welltown, I’ve felt as if someone has been following us. I’ve tried several methods to check but found nothing. Now it seems that I wasn’t just being paranoid.”

Fuying asked, “If someone is following us, then why did they do this?”

Zhu Que said, “Perhaps they don’t want us to find the treasure. Maybe this person thinks he can’t take on just a few of us, so he kills one as he goes.”

A few people exchanged glances, knowing that they were all martial artists and would not be discouraged even if they faced a stronger opponent in combat. However, now they were confronted with an invisible enemy as if a ghost was lurking nearby, which made them feel a chill run down their spines.

Zhu Que crouched beside Wei Chu’s corpse and observed for a long time, suddenly saying, “The murderer must be skilled in the art of moving through sand. He followed us all the way, sneaking under the sand while we rested, then emerged from the sand to stab Wei Chu to death. After successfully killing, he immediately left in the sand, which is why nothing seemed out of the ordinary on the outside.”

Before Zhu Que could finish speaking, the brothers Mu Qingshan and Mu Qingshui drew their swords together and began to stab wildly at the sand around them. Even Fuying and Feng Yichuan lowered their heads to check as if a sword might suddenly spring up from beneath their feet.

Zhu Que shook his head and said, “No need to look anymore; the person has definitely already left.”

Shui Mingyue said suspiciously, “How do you know that? How could someone crawl out of the sand to kill? Don’t talk nonsense to scare people.”

Zhu Que said, “Don’t even mention the art of sand movement; the Sun family in the Loess Plateau of Shaanbei can move freely through the soil. I see that none of you have noticed that when sect leader Wei Chu was attacked, he was sleeping on his left side, and the wound was on his left rib.”

Feng Yichuan pondered for a moment and asked, “Why couldn’t it be that he turned around after being struck by the sword?”

Zhu Que said, “With a sword in the heart, death will come in an instant; there won’t be any strength left to turn over after being struck. Moreover, look at the sand beneath him; aside from the disturbance when checking the wound earlier, there are no other traces.”

Several people believed what Zhu Que said and fell silent. Although this group had come here with the mindset that humans die for wealth and birds die for food, at this moment, they not only had to face the mysterious and unpredictable nature but also the hidden dangers posed by malicious individuals and a sense of regret quietly arose within them.

Zhu Que said, “Crawling in the sand requires a tremendous amount of physical strength. If the murderer is hiding, he won’t come out so quickly. From today on, during our breaks, everyone should gather together and stick their swords and knives into the sand, staying alert together. This way, it will be much harder for him to commit murder using this method again.”

The next morning, Zhu Que and a few others dug a sand pit, hastily buried Wei Chu, and then continued on their journey.

When they had just left Welltown, a few of them were still chatting and laughing merrily. Now, with one person suddenly missing, it seemed that everyone had lost the desire to speak in the face of the uncertain fate ahead.

In the following days, nothing happened at all.