Chapter 27: Foolish

"Qi Xia." Zhang Chenze crossed his arms and said with an expressionless face, "After Han Yi Mo was injured, the first person he called out was you. Did you know each other before?"

Qi Xia didn't even lift his eyelids; he supported his forehead with his right hand and replied, "I don't know him."

"Then do you have any leads on his death?" Zhang Chenze continued to ask.

Instead of answering, Qi Xia began to examine the giant sword on Han Yi Mo's body.

The sword had an ancient style, like an exquisite piece of art.

It was covered in battle scars, as if it had endured many fights.

But in this era, who would fight with such a giant sword?

"Qi Xia, I'm talking to you." Zhang Chenze said irritably, "Aren't you going to explain anything?"

"What do I need to explain?" Qi Xia asked, "Do you think I killed Han Yi Mo?"

"Whether you're the killer or not, you should say something to clear your suspicion, right?"

Qi Xia still didn't answer and instead reached out to pull the sword.

"Hey!" Officer Li hurried over upon seeing this, "Qi Xia, whether you're the killer or not, we have to protect the crime scene! Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Qi Xia interrupted, "Otherwise it might lose evidence when you police come to investigate?"

Officer Li's mouth moved slightly, but he was at a loss for words.

Now, it wasn't just about waiting for the police to investigate; even whether he could get out alive was a question.

Seeing Officer Li fall silent, Qi Xia used both hands with all his strength to continue pulling the sword.

He nearly exhausted his entire body's energy to fully draw the sword from the ground.

Qiao Jia Jin stepped forward to help and realized the giant sword was even heavier than he imagined. This pitch-black ancient sword was made of some unknown metal and weighed about 150 jin, equivalent to a sturdy adult man.

Qi Xia panted heavily and threw the iron sword on the ground, producing a loud clang.

After a while, once his breathing steadied, Qi Xia finally spoke to Zhang Chenze: "Zhang Lu Shi, let me confirm with you—this iron sword is as long as a person and weighs over 100 jin. You're suspecting that I lifted this iron sword, quietly killed Han Yi Mo who couldn't move at dawn, and then plunged it deep into the ground?"

Zhang Chenze pursed his lips, his face looking unpleasant.

"And before that, to avoid you noticing, I had this iron sword hidden in my pants pocket, right?" Qi Xia asked again.

Seeing the atmosphere growing tense, Officer Li stepped in to mediate: "Qi Xia, since you didn't kill Han Yi Mo, why do you have to pull out the sword?"

Qi Xia didn't argue with Zhang Chenze and instead lowered his head to examine the blood-stained giant sword.

He inspected it carefully, shook his head, and flipped the sword over.

Sure enough, on the other side of the hilt, the three small characters "Qi Hei Jian" were engraved.

From what Han Yi Mo had said earlier, there wasn't much useful information; he seemed to be trying to accept some fact, but unfortunately, he never figured it out before dying.

The only thing Qi Xia remembered from that was the three words "Qi Hei Jian."

"This sword is called 'Qi Hei Jian'?" Qiao Jia Jin asked from the side.

Qi Xia gently stroked his chin and murmured to himself: "These three characters are on the other side, so when he was stabbed, he shouldn't have known the sword's name. But why did he mention 'Qi Hei Jian'?"

"I think your line of thinking is quite unusual." Officer Li shook his head and said, "Why bother with the name of the murder weapon? Shouldn't we be considering the cause of Han Yi Mo's death right now?"

Qi Xia glanced at Officer Li and said, "When Han Yi Mo was stabbed, it was already light out. Even if he was asleep, such a severe wound would definitely make him open his eyes, and theoretically, he should have seen the killer. But he didn't mention the killer's name at all and brought up 'Qi Hei Jian' twice. Isn't that strange?"

"But he did call your name..." Xiao Ran said softly from the side, "No matter what that sword is, Han Yi Mo really shouted your name first..."

"So what?" Qi Xia asked.

"So you're the killer..." Xiao Ran said timidly. She hid behind Officer Li, not daring to look at Qi Xia.

Qi Xia didn't bother to defend himself and just stared at Xiao Ran, as if judging whether this woman was the real killer or just simply foolish.

"And our companion is dead, but you're not sad at all. Instead, you're calmly analyzing here. But you're a fraud! What's the use of your analysis?!" Xiao Ran almost said with a sob, "Who among us would believe you?"

"'Sad'?" Qi Xia frowned, as if not understanding, "Are you saying... I should be sad for someone I met less than a day ago?"

"You're so cold-blooded, that's why I say you look like the killer!" Xiao Ran's voice gradually grew louder, "Weren't you going to leave last night? Why did you have to stay overnight? Thinking about it, you must have stayed on purpose to kill someone!"

By now, Qi Xia had roughly figured out that this woman might not be the killer, but she was certainly foolish.

She had shouted something similar in the room at the beginning, like "Why should we believe this fraud."

For her, "logic" was useless; she only believed in the outcome she wanted to believe.

Qiao Jia Jin couldn't stand listening anymore and said to Xiao Ran: "Hey, stupid girl, if you don't like using your brain, don't interrupt others. I think the fraud's analysis makes sense."

"But you three aren't good people to begin with!" Xiao Ran retorted aggrievedly, "We have a murder here, and you three are the most suspicious. So what if I'm stupid? At least I'm not doing bad things!"

This statement targeted not only Qi Xia but also included Qiao Jia Jin and Tian Tian nearby.

Yes, the three of them weren't exactly good people from the start.

Qi Xia nodded and replied: "You're right."

He gave up examining the body and the giant sword, slowly standing up: "There's no need to look further. I killed the person."

Everyone heard Qi Xia say this, and their faces turned expressionless.

Only Xiao Ran seemed excited: "See! He admitted it himself! He just rambled on earlier to distract us with the sword's name!"

Officer Li frowned nearby, deep in thought.

"Hey! Fraud!" Qiao Jia Jin was a bit confused, "Even if you admit it, who would believe you? Not to mention you, even if I helped move this sword, it couldn't be done without making noise."

Qi Xia waved his hand and walked out of the convenience store.

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, we only have ten days. So what if I'm labeled as the killer? Besides, I don't like arguing with foolish people."

Hearing Qi Xia say this, Qiao Jia Jin pursed his lips and followed.

Then came Tian Tian; from the beginning, she had decided to go with Qi Xia and Qiao Jia Jin, and now there was even less reason for her to stay.

Lin Geng turned back and gave Officer Li a meaningful look, as if wanting to say something, but in the end, he just shook his head and left.

The team of eight people split into two groups.

The four who stayed had complicated expressions, while only Xiao Ran looked relieved: "That's great... Those few who looked really bad have finally left..."

"Xiao Ran, I think we forgot something..." Zhao Yisheng whispered to Xiao Ran from the side.

...

Xiao Ran ran out of the house and shouted at the four:

"Stop!"

Qi Xia turned back coldly, not knowing what the other side was up to.

"Didn't you forget something?" Xiao Ran asked, "What about the 'Dao'?"

"'Dao'?"

"That's right, the four 'Dao' that we nine people risked our lives to win— you can't just take them all with you, can you?"