Chapter 578

Xiao Ningxun ignored them, only looking at Abdu: "You said, you saw us at your door last night, holding a dagger, right?"

Abdu nodded: "Yes, the dagger flashed cold light; I took one look and was terrified, otherwise, how could I have hidden in the cellar?"

"Good!" Xiao Ningxun turned to the cook and the two assistants: "Then why didn't you mention it just now?"

The cook blinked: "I, I didn't see clearly, I was far away! Right, I was that far away, how could I possibly see that clearly?"

Xiao Ningyuan snorted coldly: "You alone didn't see clearly—could it be that all three of you didn't see clearly?"

Tuan Tuan hurriedly chimed in: "Exactly!"

One assistant quickly echoed: "We were also far away! Abdu was the closest, he saw clearly—doesn't that settle it? You still want to deny it?"

The plump assistant snorted: "Exactly! Even if we three didn't see clearly, what can you do about it?"

Xiao Ningyuan was speechless with anger: "You!"

Tuan Tuan's eyes widened: "You're really unreasonable!"

Xiao Ningxun patted her sister, looked at Abdu with a piercing gaze: "All right, according to what you said, you saw someone at the door—then what?"

"Did we enter your room? If we did, how did you then hide in the cellar?"

Abdu calmly replied: "You certainly did enter; if I hadn't quickly ducked under the bed and blocked myself with miscellaneous items, I would have already fallen victim to your murderous hands."

"I waited until you left, worried you might come back, before hiding in the cellar."

"Oh," Xiao Ningxun nodded, "then may I ask, what were we doing in your room?"

"You rummaged everywhere but found nothing, then you left."

Xue Tong snorted coldly: "According to your story, you're a caravan member who was robbed and fled back here—what would we be looking for in your room?"

"All you have left is a set of ragged clothes—what's there worth searching for? Are we supposed to search your rotten flesh?"

Abdu's face turned solemn: "Exactly, it's the clothes on my body!"

Xue Tong widened his eyes: "……?"

"What you were looking for is the treasure map I hid on my person."

The short soldier heard: "Treasure map? Now I see! This is greed-driven murder!"

The tall, thin soldier interjected: "Your goods are so valuable, yet you still wouldn't let go of Abdu's treasure map? Truly insatiable greed!"

"Treasure map?" Xiao Ningyuan laughed angrily: "If he really had a treasure map on him, why wouldn't we have just taken it when we brought him to the inn?"

"And then bring him back, only to sneak into his room in the middle of the night to search?"

Abdu showed no panic: "Because I sewed the treasure map into the interlayer of my outer robe; you didn't notice at first."

"It must have been when you helped me into the inn that you felt something in my outer robe; by then it was too late to act, so you sneaked in at midnight."

The short soldier clapped his hands: "Doesn't this explain everything? Perfectly seamless!"

The tall, thin soldier said: "Exactly, stop the nonsense— the path has been laid out for you; choose for yourselves."

"Don't rush," Xiao Ningxun shook her head, "since you say you have a treasure map, then your clothes— you must produce the map to prove your claim is true."

The innkeeper shook his head full of regret: "His clothes from yesterday were soaked in blood; after taking them off, I ordered them burned."

Upon hearing, the cook hurriedly interjected: "Exactly! Those clothes are all bloody, stinking—why keep them? I already threw them into the stove and burned them to ash."

Sa Dike couldn't bear to listen: "Isn't this a case of no corpse, no evidence?"

The short soldier said: "Hey, you can't say that—what does 'no corpse, no evidence' mean? Isn't this standing three, no, four living people as witnesses?"

The tall, thin soldier said: "Even without physical evidence, with these four witnesses you can't hope to wash yourselves clean!"

"And the treasure map—just how big a fortune is it? Your wagons and camel caravans aren't even enough now!"

The short soldier's eyes lit up at hearing that: "Exactly! Earlier we told you to leave something behind and hurry off, but you didn't listen."

He fixed his gaze on the jade pendants at Xiao Ningyuan and Xiao Ningxun's waists: "Now, besides your clothes, any other items you wear must also be left behind—nothing may be taken!"

"And you still dare to covet the young masters' jade pendants?"

"You!" Xiao Er couldn't hold back any longer, drawing his sidearm with a swish, blade pointing at the crowd.

Lu Qi and the guards' swords also unsheathed, forming a line beside Xiao Er.

Seeing the gleaming weapons, everyone's hearts jolted, and they all stepped back a few paces.

Only those two soldiers remained as steady as Mount Tai.

The short soldier showed no fear: "Intent to kill for wealth, attempted murder—already two grave crimes; how dare you still want to slaughter the innocent?"

The tall, thin soldier not only didn't retreat, but stepped forward several steps, walking up to Xiao Er's blade: "If you have the ability, go ahead and chop us both down."

"We are under the great king's command, receiving monthly rations; kill us, and you won't be able to leave the Western Regions."

The innkeeper, no longer pretending, said: "Wasn't it you who said last night at dinner that you were heading to the capital?"

"If you commit a bloodbath here, hehe, you'll find it impossible to move an inch."

Xiao Er and Lu Qi stared at them, gripping their sword hilts tightly, the blades in their hands frozen.

Seeing this, the people in the courtyard all stepped forward a few paces:

"If you have the guts, kill us all!"

"Right! If we die, you won't even think of moving forward!"

Xiao Ningyuan's face turned ashen, Sa Dike stepped back a few paces, hiding behind the crowd, while Kang An bared his teeth at the two soldiers.

Xiao Ningxun frowned tightly; although these two soldiers were hateful, what they said was indeed true.

Killing them would be simple, but if we were to get tangled in such a foolish lawsuit, reaching the capital would become difficult.

I fear the whole Kucha Kingdom will soon be plastered with wanted posters of our party.

If we really reach that point, how could we avenge Kang An? How could we bring Yu Chi Guang back to Khotan?

Xue Tong took out his needle case and pricked the tiger's mouth of his left hand; several beads of blood instantly welled up.

Tuan Tuan exclaimed in surprise: "Master, why are you stabbing yourself?"

Xue Tong panted, replying: "If I don't let out a few drops of blood, Master fears I'll die of rage right here."

Kang An raised his head to look at him, tugged at his sleeve, pointed at his own small hand: "I also want."

"Nonsense!" Xue Tong put away the needle box, "You're just a child; a couple sips of cool water will do."

"Oh." Kang An nodded, continuing to bare his teeth at the two soldiers.

Tuan Tuan tilted his little head, his gaze sweeping over each person's face in the courtyard.

So many swindlers!

They gathered together and actually managed to concoct a story to deceive people.

Much more formidable than the fake eight-character beard of the man selling maps.

They want our carriage, the white camel, and the brothers' Jade Pendants!

It's utterly terrible!

How should we properly punish them?

Let them never be able to swindle again!