Chapter 98 The Person Behind It

Returning to Black Magpie Mountain, Chen Songli told Zhu Lingyue about the incident.

Inside Concentric Heart Hall, Zhu Lingyue also frowned and said to Chen Songli, "Songli, I think your guess is correct. This definitely wasn't a baseless disturbance!"

"Mother, should we inform Father?"

Zhu Lingyue replied, "Not yet. I will leave a message for your father, but let's discuss this matter first!"

"Alright, then Mother, which Family do you suspect harbors ill intentions toward us?"

Zhu Lingyue considered the Late Stage Qi Refining Families in the Prefecture. "The Foundation Establishment Huang Family probably isn't it, and the Lu Family is unlikely either. That leaves the Fang Family, Yun Family, Zhou Family, and Meng Family among the Late Stage Qi Refining ones!"

Chen Songli also began to ponder. Her first thought was: what was the purpose of their disturbance?

For wealth? But only two Families sell Formations—their own and Mother's maternal Family. It shouldn't be that!

If it's not for wealth, it must be for their lives!

But the Chen Family hasn't had any homicides with other Families, has it?

The other party clearly knew that Father was locked in continuous combat with the Demonic Path Cultivator and possessed formidable fighting strength, yet they still risked sending someone to probe them?

Zhu Lingyue said, "The Yun Family can be excluded. Your father told me before that the Yun Family is a Family allied with our Chen Family."

Then Chen Songli found it very strange. "Mother, the Fang Family patrols with Father. He must have personally experienced what kind of person Father is. They shouldn't be opposing us!"

"If we don't count the Fang Family, then only the Zhou Family and the Meng Family remain!" Chen Songli continued.

Zhu Lingyue was puzzled. "But the Zhou Family and the Meng Family have absolutely no contact with our Family. Furthermore, one Family sells Talismans, and the other sells Puppets!"

At this moment, Chen Songli also felt it was absurd; none of them had a motive!

Zhu Lingyue said, "If it's for lives, our Chen Family hasn't had any homicides with other Families either. Why would someone test our Family?"

Zhu Lingyue listed them one by one. "The Huang Family was destroyed by the Lu Family, and my husband never exposed his true form. As for Zhang An, that was many years ago. The most recent homicide was the Demonic Path Cultivator your husband slew!"

Homicide? Demonic Path Cultivator, Chen Songli muttered a few times.

She suddenly had a bold guess. "Father fought with the Demonic Path Cultivator. On the surface, the Demonic Path Cultivator escaped, but only we know the Demonic Path Cultivator died. So, who else knows?"

Zhu Lingyue was startled by her daughter's bold thought. "Then it must be the Demonic Path Cultivator's accomplices!"

Chen Songli continued her analysis. "Who in the Nanwu Kingdom doesn't know that Demonic Path Cultivators flee after killing people, making their tracks hard to find? The people in the Prefecture probably believed Father's story. So, if the other party has an accomplice, after all these days, that accomplice might not believe Father's story!"

"So, sending a Fourth Layer of Qi Refining Cultivator to probe was to lure out your father?" Zhu Lingyue hypothesized.

"It's possible, but I think what's more important is that this is just the first wave. The other party might already be gathering information about our Family!"

Chen Songli considered the potential subsequent developments and landed on a bold direction. "The other party might investigate our Black Magpie Mountain?"

Zhu Lingyue also realized a possible scenario and said to Chen Songli, "That Fourth Layer of Qi Refining Cultivator was probably sent to test you or capture you, thereby forcing your father out!"

Chen Songli also felt this was likely. After clarifying the other party's major objective, the two of them conferred.

Then, they summoned the few members of the song generation and gave them some instructions. They were preparing to give this person behind the scenes a 'big gift package'!

... ...

At this time, outside a certain residence in the Prefecture City, outsiders could hear what sounded like cooking inside the house; the sound of a spatula could be heard, and cooking smoke drifted from the chimney.

At that moment, the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining Cultivator knocked on the door, and an old woman opened it.

Inside the residence, one could see that there was no actual stir-frying in the pot, nor was there a fire lit. Only the old woman was manipulating all of this.

The old woman performed a Dharma Art toward the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining Cultivator, and Chen Songli's appearance manifested in the left eye of the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining Cultivator.

At this time, the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining Cultivator resumed an expression of pain.

"Demonic Path Cultivators will not die well!"

"The Cultivators of Nanwu Kingdom will not let you go!"

The old woman laughed sinisterly. "Hahaha, let them catch me first!"

Then the old woman's aged hand transformed into a flesh blade and plunged into the Cultivator's eye! She dug out an eyeball from the left eye and placed it onto her own left eye. Then, with another Dharma Art, the Cultivator instantly went limp and lost consciousness.

At this moment, the old woman transformed into her true form: a young and beautiful female Cultivator, completely devoid of the appearance of an old woman.

"Could it really be Chen Li who killed her brother?"

A month ago, she had agreed on a meeting place with her brother, but he never returned on time.

She hesitated for a few moments because her brother had told her not to worry about him if he didn't return. However, she couldn't give up and decided to come to Yuanwu Prefecture to investigate.

First, she killed the residents of a residence that only had an old woman. After the killing, she maintained the appearance of daily life there, remaining very low-key. This was because the Beast Hunting Sect had recently dispatched many people to suppress them, the Demonic Path Cultivators, forcing her to keep a low profile.

If her tracks were discovered by the Beast Hunting Sect, she would be skinned even if she wasn't killed! This was the Beast Hunting Sect's territory, and for them to infiltrate this far, how could they survive so long without being discreet?

After more than a month passed, the tension eased somewhat, and only then did she dare to come out.

She had originally planned to go directly to Black Magpie Mountain to observe, but she feared Chen Li might detect her. If he was the one who killed her brother, he would also have the means to kill her.

So, she had been cautiously gathering information about the Chen Family recently. However, she discovered that only the Chen Family's shops were open to the outside world, and they were managed by two external Qi Refining First Layer Cultivators.

She had been observing the Chen Family shop for the past few days. The direct descendants of the Chen Family rarely came. She heard that the eldest daughter of the Chen Family was the one in charge, so she wanted to capture this daughter first. If Chen Li cared about his eldest daughter, he would surely come to meet her.

But if he didn't care, she would kill this daughter—she was only killing one Qi Refining Cultivator anyway! Regardless of whether Chen Li was the murderer of her brother!

Based on the information gathered over the past few days, Chen Li was an Eighth Level of Qi Refining Cultivator and a Fourth-rank Formation Master. However, if Chen Li was the murderer of her brother, then the opponent must possess methods capable of killing a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Therefore, she needed to set up several traps.

At that time, she would first kill his daughter, then kill him. Even if she couldn't kill him, she could still disgust him!

She planned to leave the Nanwu Kingdom area after finishing this job, as it would also serve as revenge for her brother.

The reason she controlled this Fourth Layer of Qi Refining Cultivator today was to send this eyeball in first to scout out whether the shop had any Formations or traps.

Most importantly, she wanted to lure out the Chen Family members associated with this shop to see if it was Chen Songli. However, Chen Songli was too cautious today; otherwise, she would have manipulated the Cultivator to step forward and capture Chen Songli!

Damn it, where did she learn to be so cautious! Not a single opportunity was given!

This bead was refined from her own left eyeball, allowing her to remotely control a Cultivator whose cultivation was lower than hers.

She was certain she had alerted Chen Songli today, but she wasn't in a hurry. She would act again in three months; she would wait until they relaxed their vigilance!

It was impossible that they would link her to the incident just because of one disturbance, right?

Which small place's shop hasn't had a disturbance?

In a few days, she would cause trouble at other shops too, distracting their attention!

However, Chen Songli was too cautious today, so she absolutely had to make the other party lower their guard. Next time, she would use a different method to lure the target out!

She needed to ensure foolproof success to capture the target in one go!