"So then, why don't you begin your investigation?"
Tie Xue Leng set his daughter to the task. Tie Ruo Nan understood what he was saying; she glanced at the body of the Woodland Biao Emperor and thought about how to proceed. More than ever, she was trying to impress him and show that she really could one day fill his shoes.
"Father, can I borrow your investigative Gu?"
"Only one," Tie Xue Leng said. "You'll have to pick carefully."
Tie Ruo Nan thought about it for a moment before deciding on which one she wanted. After using it to examine the Woodland Biao Emperor's corpse, she discovered something interesting.
"Most of its organs have been damaged, Father. And not just damaged - looking at the lack of external injuries, they were damaged from the inside. It looks like it died of poison," she said. "I'll have to have a closer look at its liver to confirm, but I don't want to tear it open just yet."
"And what do you think of that?" Tie Xue Leng asked.
Tie Ruo Nan frowned. Given the size of the creature and the fact that it was a Beast Emperor, the only thing capable of poisoning it would be a highly venomous Myriad Beast King like a Vajra Scales Cobra or something even more powerful. "It must not have had a very effective healing-type gu worm." Her brows furrowed as she began putting the puzzle pieces together in the way her father hoped she would. "Woodland Biao Emperors are not common in this area. Given the fact that it suddenly attacked without reasoning, I think it came from a vast distance away after encountering a venomous threat within its own territory. Because of that, it fled in anguish and ended up landing here, where it encountered our Tie clansmen. Being a wild beast that lacks human intellect, it simply started lashing out as it felt its final moments drawing near. And then soon thereafter, it died here."
Tie Xue Leng gave her an imperceptible gaze. "So you think this entire thing was an accident? A coincidence? A stroke of bad luck that befell our Tie clansmen? No foul play involved whatsoever?"
Tie Ruo Nan considered it. It was true that many people would love to weaken the Tie clan - setting aside demonic path cultivators, both the Shang clan and the Wu clan would jump at the chance, especially in the context of the Three Kings Inheritance. And it seemed like too much of a coincidence that such a large group consisting solely of Tie clansmen had fallen prey to this creature, only for it to keel over immediately afterward without harming anyone else.
"Could it be that this Woodland Biao Emperor was being controlled by someone, and they simply killed it afterward?" Even as she said it, she felt there were several flaws in that argument. "No... to control a Woodland Biao Emperor, one would need to be near Rank 5. And for such a powerful beast - equivalent to a Rank 5 Gu Master - to be used just to kill such a small group, only to be disposed of in this manner, would be a complete waste to whoever would do such a thing. It would be extremely excessive. Like trying to swat a fly with a sledgehammer. I don't think there's any Rank 5 Gu Master capable of doing so, or who would even want to."
"So, do you think this was indeed an accident then?" Tie Xue Leng said.
"Yes... wait... no..." Tie Ruo Nan frowned, thinking about it more carefully. There weren't many clues out here in the wilderness, though they could certainly spend time searching for them. The problem was that time spent here was time not spent recovering and preparing for the next round of the Three Kings Inheritance. Although the loss of their Tie clansmen was a tragedy, the killer was already dead, and there was no other culprit in sight. "I don't think I have enough information right now. I want to take this corpse intact if possible and have it examined by an expert later on."
Tie Xue Leng glanced at the corpse. "Most of its insides have already begun dissolving due to the poison. There won't be much left for an autopsy."
"Right," Tie Ruo Nan said, turning toward her father.
"There is one aspect that you've missed out on," Tie Xue Leng said. "If this was indeed a conspiracy planned by someone else, perhaps they were not after these Tie clansmen in particular."
Tie Ruo Nan considered it. If that assumption of hers was faulty then...
"Father, we're in danger!" she yelled out, glancing all around her. The only logical conclusion would be that these people were killed to lure her father, a Rank 5 Gu Master out.
"Indeed we are," Tie Xue Leng said. "And yet... nothing has happened."
They were standing out in the open. No one had attacked. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"Father, did you intend to use yourself as bait?" Tie Ruo Nan asked, bewildered.
"If necessary," he answered. "And I would've sent you away for your safety. But it remains odd. If they were after me, there was no need to kill this Woodland Biao Emperor. It would make sense if it died after it had dealt with us to remove all the evidence, that would be a near-perfect crime, yet it died beforehand. And yet something doesn't quite add up..."
"Father, in that case, I think we should just... forget about this matter for now," Tie Ruo Nan said.
"Forget about it?"
"Yes. I don't think anything will come of it, and it isn't as important as the Three Kings Inheritance right now. We could search for further clues, but I don't think it's worth our time," she said.
Tie Xue Leng paused. "It certainly is important to know when something is worth looking into - you do not have all the time in the world, after all. But this... even though no messages are clearly visible, it reeks of a conspiracy. Come, let us look for further clues."
The two of them scoured the surrounding area, but found nothing that could lead to an answer. There were a few gu worms that might have been able to shed further light on the situation, but those were stored back at the Tie clan's main branch. Given the vast distance, by the time they brought them here, most traces of what happened would be washed away by the elements.
Ultimately, they had no choice but to return to the Tie clan encampment, no closer to solving the mystery than when they set out. However, they were at least able to confirm that the Woodland Biao Emperor was dead and no longer a threat.
The two of them then began listening in on what had happened while they were away within the Three Kings Inheritance.
Naturally, Fang Zheng's and Qing Shu's actions stood out the most.
"This Fang Zheng..." Tie Xue Leng muttered to himself. "On the surface, all it appears he is doing is taking care of demonic path Gu Masters. Inwardly, though, I think he is simply angry and searching for an acceptable target to lash out on. Much like Spectral Soul, he seems to simply enjoy killing and is just looking for people whom he can 'rightfully' kill."
Tie Ruo Nan sighed. "Father... do you think if we had been able to solve the case of what happened to him back then, he wouldn't have ended up this way?"
Tie Xue Leng glanced at her. She had a guilty expression on her face; she had been part of that investigation, and he had placed her in charge of it. It was the first investigation that she had undertaken. Yet, she had been unable to reach the correct answer.
"There are times when I think about it... and feel that part of the reason Fang Zheng's mental state became like this is my fault," Tie Ruo Nan admitted. "He must have looked to us with hope, and in the end, we let him down."
"Remember that we were only with him for a few days," Tie Xue Leng said softly. "Ultimately, whatever path he has chosen, far more of it was driven by his own actions and thoughts - things far outside our control. And as for failing, there are many mysteries in the world. There have been cases that even I was unable to solve - four in total, as I've told you many times. Four cases where I felt I failed to get the correct answer or stumbled upon the wrong one. But alas, I cannot peer into what the absolute truth was. Failure is a part of life."
He continued, "And as for Fang Zheng, look at him now. He is a Rank 4 Gu Master and a clan head, yet his hatred over an incident that happened back when he was only Rank 1 still poisons his mind. I doubt that when he had just awakened his aperture that he was anything nearly like this. He has completely lost his sense of self and turned into something else because of that one incident."
"Yes... it's such a terrible thing," Tie Ruo Nan said softly. "To lose sense of who you are... just like Blazing Glory Lightning Brilliance."