Chapter 111: The Scapegoat

"G-guest... you must know by now that I was not the one who poisoned the wine." The innkeeper looked at Ning Xiu, his face pale and his expression filled with tension. Anyone would react this way after witnessing someone drop dead right in front of them.

"The poison in the wine wasn't yours, because you put it in this bowl of sesame soup instead. Am I right?"

Before the words had even faded, the middle-aged innkeeper turned and fled without a moment’s hesitation. Having just seen how Zhang Kuo died at Ning Xiu’s hands, and knowing his own strength was roughly equal to Zhang's, he had no courage to engage in a fight. Now that his cover was blown, staying meant certain death.

The innkeeper moved with incredible speed, reaching the doorway in a flash. Seeing his escape within reach, a flicker of joy crossed his face, but in the next heartbeat, his smile froze.

He looked up and saw a fist rapidly expanding in his field of vision. A trace of horror flashed across his face, followed by a surge of cruelty; he drew a short blade from his sleeve and thrust it forward.

Immediately after, a powerful gust of wind, accompanied by a sound like muffled thunder, slammed heavily into his chest.

"Bam!"

With the sickening sound of shattering bones, the innkeeper's pupils contracted violently as his chest was forced to cave inward. The massive impact sent his body flying backward into the inn, where he crashed into the liquor cabinet. As the jars shattered, crimson blood mingled with the fragrant wine and sprayed everywhere.

His eyes widened, staring fixedly at the figure in the distance, his pupils gradually turning glassy. Before long, his life force was completely extinguished, yet his right hand remained locked in a death grip on the short blade, which had long since snapped in two.

Ning Xiu walked into the inn. Looking at the lifeless corpse on the floor, he placed his hand on the man's cheek and pulled firmly.

With a crisp "rip," a human-skin mask came loose, and he held it in his hand. Ning Xiu recognized this face—it was one of the constables who had participated in the selection for the Soul Suppression Division.

After a brief glance, Ning Xiu walked into the kitchen. He found a middle-aged man lying face up on the floor, long dead. If Ning Xiu’s guess was correct, this man was the true owner of the inn.

The person who had disguised himself as the innkeeper was the last constable to make his decision that day. Unexpectedly, he had also chosen the mission to suppress the horse bandits. However, after arriving in Jifeng Town, he hadn't rushed to find the bandits, but instead hid in the shadows to make his own preparations. In his view, the key to the mission had nothing to do with the bandits; he only needed to outlast Ning Xiu and the others. If they died, he would be the only one left to complete the mission, putting him in an unassailable position. He would then have plenty of time to deal with the horse bandits. He just hadn't expected to fall short at the final hurdle and lose his life in this remote border town.

Compared to Zhang Kuo, this man was much smarter and far more cautious. Yet, he still made mistakes—as they say, "a hundred precautions still leave a gap."

Ning Xiu had touched the bowl of sesame soup earlier and realized it was far too hot for an ordinary person to hold, yet this innkeeper had carried it out from the kitchen with ease, even while holding a searing hot piece of flatbread in his other hand. Normally, he should have placed them on a wooden tray to carry them out. It was only because he possessed deep internal energy that he didn't fear the heat, leading him to carry them by hand unconsciously, unaware that it was a telltale sign.

Secondly, there was the mask. Having had experience in such matters himself, Ning Xiu had sensed something off about the "innkeeper's" face from the start—a subtle sense of disharmony. Careful observation had confirmed his suspicions. In truth, given Ning Xiu's current level of poison resistance, even if he had drunk the poisoned wine or soup, it would have had no effect on him; he simply hadn't taken the risk out of an abundance of caution.

Following protocol, Ning Xiu began to clear the battlefield. He found the poisons and antidotes on both corpses, and on the second man, he found several more skin masks. As for martial arts manuals, he found none. Since arriving in this world, he had never once scavenged a manual from a corpse. He couldn't help but scoff at the protagonists in the television shows and novels of his past life, who could effortlessly pull a secret manual off any villain they killed. Unless it was a technique not yet fully mastered that needed to be carried at all times, or a manual of such extreme importance that it couldn't be left anywhere else, martial artists in the Jianghu would never carry three or five manuals on their person.

Having done all this, Ning Xiu took one last look at the desert border town and turned to leave.

...

Lingnan Prefecture, a village in the central region.

The entire village was engulfed in a sea of flames. In the glow of the fire, three figures were faintly visible. Soon, one figure collapsed, and a second later, another fell. Only then did their appearances become clear. These three were the other group of Six Fan School constables sent on the mission, but just as they were about to complete it, the situation took a drastic turn.

The last one left, clutching a Liaofeng saber, looked around in despair, his eyes filled with terror.

"Are you looking for me?"

A voice rang out, and a young man walked out from the flames.

"Who... who exactly are you?!" the last remaining constable shouted in fear.

"You already have the answer in your heart; why ask?" The youth walked toward him step by step, speaking calmly.

"I don't believe it! Go to hell!"

The constable let out a roar, raising his Liaofeng saber high and slashing forward. A gale whistled, but just as the blade was about to strike the youth, it stopped abruptly. No matter how hard the constable pushed, the blade could not move a fraction of an inch further.

With a crisp sound, the Liaofeng saber lost its luster and shattered into countless pieces, falling to the ground. Facing this sudden apparition, the constable realized that no matter what he did, it was futile—all his skills were useless. In the end, he realized with despair that there was nothing left to do but wait silently for death.

"Very well. Now, can you tell me where Ning Xiu is?" The youth stopped in front of the constable, staring at him intensely as he spoke slowly.