Chapter 536

Lu Wushuang sheathed her sword.

Her estimation was correct; there were bones beneath the flower beds, densely layered, making it difficult for her to thrust the sword tip to the bottom.

And looking around, in the entire courtyard, there were dozens of flowers, plants, and trees that were growing exceptionally well like the flower bed in front of her.

Lu Wushuang sighed.

Although she had expected it, it was hard to avoid disappointment after confirming it.

This family was dead.

Judging by the dilapidated state of the courtyard, it was estimated that after Nanao left Kyoto, this family was silenced, and their bodies were buried directly in the courtyard.

Dozens of corpses, likely including the servants of the house, were buried naturally, and the ground was dug very deep. If not for these flowers and plants, Lu Wushuang would not have been able to discover the bodies.

"Habitual offenders."

Lu Wushuang thought.

"Marriage... how could someone involved with Shinto marry a common wealthy merchant?"

"There might be two reasons.

"First, this family, like Nanao's, was also associated with Shinto and was killed for some reason.

"Second, this family was just a common wealthy merchant, and someone wanted to use the marriage to do something... or this marriage was originally some kind of excuse or cover."

Lu Wushuang walked slowly into the house.

Dust had accumulated on the floor. Lu Wushuang looked around, drew her sword to split a crack in the window, and sure enough, found dried bloodstains inside.

Traces like this were dense in this room. Lu Wushuang checked other rooms but only found a small amount of bloodstains, so she walked back.

"This is the place where the killing happened, and it was carefully cleaned up afterward... There are no signs of a struggle; this family did not resist."

Lu Wushuang looked around.

"This... should be the place for receiving guests. The bloodstains are dense, meaning most of the killing was carried out here."

"Receiving guests..."

"Those who died in other rooms should be the servants and maids, and the bloodstains here are so dense, yet there are no signs of a struggle or escape..."

"This family came here together to receive guests, then were suddenly attacked, and all died miserably here."

"Those who need the whole family to come out to welcome them must be either distinguished guests with status far above this family, or... they must be very close friends."

"If it were the former, then it was Shinto that sent people to silence them openly... but if they had come to silence them openly, they wouldn't have hidden the bodies."

"So... it was the latter."

A guess emerged in Lu Wushuang's heart.

"Perhaps it was Nanao's father."

"A person who could be involved with Shinto should not have been unable to keep an eye on Nanao... unless her running away was the result of deliberate indulgence."

It had been several months since Nanao ran away, and the traces here had been deliberately cleaned up, making it difficult to obtain other clues, so Lu Wushuang began to reason based on the limited clues and guesses.

"Assuming Nanao's family was innocent."

"Then this marriage was likely designed to guide Nanao to escape."

"After her father deliberately indulged Nanao to escape, Shinto discovered something was wrong and began to silence them. That day, Nanao's father should have come here to apologize to the marriage partner because of Nanao's escape."

"But this apology was a trap set by Shinto to silence them... and ultimately led to the extermination of this family."

Lu Wushuang finally outlined a reasonably logical story thread.

She looked around and sighed.

Too much time had passed, and there were no survivors, so it was difficult to find other clues; reaching the current speculation was already the limit.

"Perhaps... I really have to meet that Sword Saint from the day and gamble on my luck."

Lu Wushuang pondered, touching her heart.

There was the Gu worm Ji Tianrui had left in her body.

Since she had confirmed that this matter was related to Shinto, she would not leave it alone. Moreover, although she was a killer by trade, she was not a heartless person. Having traveled together for several months, she would not leave matters concerning the lives of Nanao's whole family alone.

Of course, more importantly... she always had to do something for Li Miao.

Thinking of this, she turned to walk out of the room, heading in the direction of Nanao's home.

But just as she stepped out of the room.