Chapter 25: Great Detective Qian Chen

"Yan Shixiong brother, I don't recognize that Dharma name... I am just Laughing Maitreya. The previous Divine Monk Dadu was a Skyborne Shaolin traitor, a reckless Vajra who was a fire-worker in Skyborne Shaolin. Later, when he was doing evil, he met me and was killed by me. I accidentally discovered the Divine Monk Dadu mask on him, so I went back to discuss with senior brother... The Twelve Yuan Chen are evil and will surely become a great scourge to the Wu Lin."

"This fire-worker learned our Skyborne Shaolin martial arts, which is convenient for us to impersonate his identity and mix into the Twelve Yuan Chen."

"In the past few years, I have figured out many clues about the Twelve Yuan Chen, and I am preparing to find an opportunity to exterminate them in one fell swoop. It's a pity that the Head's identity has always been very secret, and I have never touched his edge."

"This time the Twelve Zodiacs killed their way to the Four Seas Hall, and I was prepared to be exposed. Only four Zodiacs were responsible for the overt action, which were me, the old rooster, the stupid cow, and the big tiger, and they have all been wiped out. Originally, that old dog, Divine Monk Sun, was also going to be with us, but that poisonous snake, Divine Monk Accomplished Martial, seemed to have disappeared. No one did his job, so the Head gave it to that dog."

"But we don't know each other's tasks!"

"That is to say, there is at least one, or even several Yuan Chen, still lurking inside us?" Qian Chen touched the frame of the Heaven-Net Umbrella and smiled slightly: "Then what are we waiting for?"

"Heads always have to be snatched back!" Qian Chen said in a low voice.

"What did you say, Brother Qian?" Kang Kang Qian Deng rushed over with eager eyes.

Qian Chen only felt a burst of discomfort: "Actually, I am only fourteen... or fifteen years old! I am still a child. You, a 'young' swordsman of twenty or thirty, why call me brother?"

The group returned to the Wuhu Hall. At this time, Qian Chen's identity was different. As the fourth Grandmaster who revealed his cultivation among the righteous heroes, he had made great contributions and had astonishing strength, and his status was already on par with Hong Sihai and Divine Monk Kongming.

Everyone had repelled the first attack of the Twelve Yuan Chen and wiped out the four Yuan Chen: Tiger, Cow, Rooster, and Pig, which was already a great victory.

But returning to the Wuhu Hall, the first thing to do was to settle internal problems.

The four Grandmasters, including Qian Chen, stood in front of Liang Dou's corpse, not far away were the incomplete heads of the Quick-Tongued brothers, and the group of righteous heroes all had solemn expressions.

The four corpses were placed in the center of the Five Lakes Hall. Not far away, the heads of Divine Monk Stone Turtle and Divine Monk Horned Fighting were offered before their spirits. Divine Monk Big Belly had already grabbed Divine Monk Time-Keeper from the cloth bag and was using cruel methods to interrogate the clues of other Zodiacs.

Divine Monk Time-Keeper gritted his teeth and endured, looking at Laughing Maitreya with a gloomy face, and suddenly laughed loudly.

"Dadu, it's not like you don't know that the identities of us divine monks are also kept secret from each other. If you want to know the clues to the real identities of other divine monks, go find the Head!"

"We will find the Head and completely destroy your Twelve Zodiacs!" Hong Sihai looked into Divine Monk Time-Keeper's eyes and said: "What I want to ask is... how exactly did my sworn brother die?"

Divine Monk Time-Keeper laughed loudly: "Go ask Big Belly? He and I caught Bi Tiantong together, and handed him over to that pervert Horned Fighting, and he suffered all kinds of torture! Hahaha... Hahaha..." Divine Monk Time-Keeper laughed until he was out of breath. The furious Hong Sihai had already grabbed his shoulder and crushed the shoulder.

Divine Monk Time-Keeper was in tears from the pain, but still laughed loudly.

Divine Monk Kongming hurriedly stopped him and said: "Alliance Leader, this old monk guarantees with his life that Kongxu would never do such a thing. Moreover, this person is determined and has a tough mind. Torturing him is useless."

"That's right! Alliance Leader... you cannot ruin your reputation for this beast!" everyone persuaded one after another:

Someone else said: "This person is stubborn, kill him to sacrifice the flag! Just in time to sacrifice to the spirits of the victims of this battle."

Qian Chen, however, said: "Since he is unwilling to confess the clues of other Yuan Chen, why not filter them out based on the current clues. The person who killed Hero Liang must be a traitor hidden among us, a Twelve Yuan Chen with a hidden identity. When Hero Liang was harmed, we have already calculated it earlier. There are only three people who have the ability to sneak attack and kill Hero Liang and have no alibi.

"Du Zihuai, the Bixue Danxin Sword, Chief Escort Zhao Cheng of the Changfeng Escort Agency, and the General-Minister Li Lao Qianqian... At that time, the Quick-Tongued brothers and the Eight-Disabled Elder had not returned. Now the Quick-Tongued brothers have unfortunately passed away, leaving only the Eight-Disabled Elder... so there are four suspects in total."

Master Elder Wan Shi frowned: "Although the Eight-Disabled Elder has a bad temperament, he encountered the Head with the Quick-Tongued brothers. How could he possibly sneak attack and kill Hero Liang? Should we remove his suspicion too!"

Qian Chen shook his head: "Let's talk about this later."

"Earlier we analyzed that the murderer must have a divine weapon with the ability to break through protective qi. Are there many such divine weapons?"

At this moment, everyone turned their eyes to the General-Minister Li Lao Qianqian. Li Qianqian was silent and did not explain for himself.

Someone among the heroes couldn't suppress their anger and roared, wanting to go up and punch him... Everyone hurriedly pulled him back. Divine Monk Kongming and Hong Sihai had already sandwiched Li Qianqian between them. Li Qianqian, however, just smiled bitterly.

Qian Chen continued: "Don't do it yet, I didn't say Old Hero Li was the murderer."

The crowd turned their heads in surprise again, their eyes as if saying, then what you said earlier was fart?

Qian Chen explained himself: "Think about it, if Old Hero Li was the murderer, the Spring and Autumn Pen has the ability to break through protective qi, which everyone here knows. Wouldn't Hero Liang know it himself? Hero Liang must also be clear about the weaknesses of his own protective qi, so why would he rest assured to let Old Hero Li stand behind him? Hero Liang is not such an incautious person, right?"

"Therefore, Old Hero Li's suspicion is the smallest. The real murderer must have hidden the characteristics of his divine weapon."

Only then did the crowd let out a sigh of relief. Someone familiar with Li Qianqian blamed him: "Hero Li, why didn't you explain earlier, making us misunderstand..."

Li Qianqian hesitated for a long time, and finally Qian Chen came out to explain: "Old Hero Li didn't explain because it was hard to explain. Because he might have sensed a trace of the murderer's tracks... but it was hard to say it out loud."

The crowd turned their eyes to Li Qianqian again, but heard Li Qianqian say convincingly: "Mr. Qian is indeed clear-sighted. That's right, everyone knows that my family's divine weapon is a judge's pen, and my family's martial arts are also pen techniques. But I have loved spear techniques all my life, so after becoming a master, I incorporated spear techniques into pen techniques."

"Earlier, when I saw the wound on Hero Liang, I vaguely sensed something... the person used spear techniques! Weapon wounds can be changed, but the habits of us martial artists using weapons are already practiced into our bones and cannot be erased at all."

"Using a short weapon, but using spear techniques!" Divine Monk Kongming nodded: "If Old Hero Li said this, the first person suspected would still be the old hero himself. And the old hero's martial arts are higher than everyone else's, so sneak-attacking Hero Liang would not be difficult."

At this moment, everyone finally understood.

Among the several suspects, besides Li Qianqian, the other two, Du Zihuai, the Bixue Danxin Sword, and Chief Escort Zhao Cheng of the Changfeng Escort Agency, one could tell which one practiced spear techniques just by hearing the name.

Zhao Cheng said coldly: "This is all your one-sided words..."

"It's very simple to verify whether it's your one-sided words," Qian Chen said in a low voice: "Just take out the divine weapon Setting Sun Spear, Hero Zhao, and verify whether it has the ability to break through protective qi!"

Zhao Cheng said dead-heartedly: "Even if I hid the ability of the divine weapon, it doesn't explain anything. Many people will do this. Walking in the river and lake, no one is worth absolute trust, right?"

"That's right!" Qian Chen sighed: "Walking in the river and lake, no one is worth absolute trust. So whether you admit it or not is not important, what is important is whether everyone trusts you!"

There was no one left in the circle around Zhao Cheng. The four Grandmaster experts, Divine Monk Kongming, Hong Sihai, Master Elder Wan Shi, and Qian Chen, stood in the four directions of front, back, left, and right, trapping him in the middle.

Zhao Cheng sneered and gripped the spear shaft of the divine weapon Setting Sun...

Qian Chen looked up and sighed, why are there always people who don't give up until they reach the Yellow River?

If I had known this earlier, I should have done things more beautifully! If he had one-tenth of my caution, how could he have ended up like this? Qian Chen suddenly missed Huang Yuhan a bit. If he were still alive, he would definitely have been able to see the flaws in it. Then I wouldn't have to pretend to be cool alone, without even anyone to respond.

Although the Twelve Yuan Chen have committed many major cases, their methods of committing crimes are usually to kill all the witnesses and then burn the evidence to the ground...

Their anti-reconnaissance ability is still a bit weak after all! ===== CHAPTER 26 =====