Chapter 6: A Nuo

Sheng Yuan Yao had trouble finding the answer.

While the exact date of Ho Seven Young Master’s death was known, the old Taoist priest at Dan Xia View was far away in the mountains, and the temple’s visitors were few. It had also been a long time since the old Taoist priest had a little Taoist boy by his side, and no one could say for sure when that was.

Let alone the exact time, no one could even say for sure whether he was disabled or not.

Who would remember someone irrelevant and unimportant from ten years ago?

However, Lu Xing Zhou spoke with a Xia State accent, possessed the land deed for Dan Xia View, and could refine pills. He was most likely that same little Taoist boy from before. If he was also Ho Seven Young Master, then the Ho family murder case could almost be declared solved, and Sheng Yuan Yao could practically piece together a complete scenario of grudges and enmity.

Unfortunately, there was no clear connection between the little Taoist boy and Ho Seven Young Master. Solving a case couldn't rely on speculation.

In terms of age, Lu Xing Zhou and Ho Seven Young Master were also slightly different. If Ho Seven Young Master were alive, he would be eighteen this year, while Lu Xing Zhou was already nineteen. He had gone to exchange the land deed, and his identity and travel documents were all legitimate. Of course, it was possible they were fake, but that would be difficult to verify. The key point was that Sheng Yuan Yao knew many people in the Ho family, and Lu Xing Zhou did not resemble them.

Sheng Yuan Yao investigated and inquired for several days, and this was the only progress made.

In short, from the surface evidence, Lu Xing Zhou truly had no connection to the Ho family murder case.

Feeling a bit tired, she stood up and headed directly out of the Town Demon Office towards the direction of the Ho residence. According to a subordinate’s report, Lu Xing Zhou had been repairing the old site of the Dan Xia Help these past few days. She felt she had to see Lu Xing Zhou and had a lot of things she wanted to ask.

However, before she had even walked two streets, she saw a little fat-faced Taoist boy sitting in the doorway of a general store at the street corner.

The little Taoist boy sat there with his hands clasped, his eyes framed by two black lenses that almost covered half his face. A small banner hung beside him with "Character Analysis, Fortune Telling" written on it.

Leaving aside the fortune telling, just seeing this scene was enough to make people laugh out loud.

Sheng Yuan Yao’s mood, which had been depressed for several days, suddenly improved significantly. She smiled and walked over, squatting in front of the little Taoist boy: "Hey, why are you here alone?"

The little Taoist boy stretched out his index finger, pushed down on his black lenses a bit, and glanced at Sheng Yuan Yao from above the lenses: "Pretty sister, it’s you! Want your fortune told?"

Sheng Yuan Yao laughed: "Speaking of which, I still haven’t asked your name. What are you called?"

"I’m called A Nuo, the A as in glutinous rice."

"You're dressed as a Taoist boy, shouldn't you use a Taoist name?"

"A Nuo is my Taoist name! My full name is Glutinous Rice Ball, and my surname is Lu!"

Sheng Yuan Yao almost burst out laughing. Her biggest impulse right now was to pinch this little baby's face, but unfortunately, their relationship wasn't that close, and she still had to maintain the demeanor of a Town Demon Office leader...

Seeing her reaction, A Nuo scratched his head: "What, can't A Nuo be a Taoist name?"

"Yes, yes, of course it can. Um... Real Person A Nuo, where is your Master?"

A Nuo, being called "Real Person," was very happy: "Master is repairing the house, I came out to earn some extra money."

Sheng Yuan Yao was quite speechless: "You already have such a large income, you're not poor ah. Why do you look so desperate for money, still needing you, a child, to come out and supplement the family expenses? Isn't Lu Xing Zhou afraid something might happen?"

A Nuo put his hands on his hips: "A Nuo is very powerful and can help Master with many things!"

Sheng Yuan Yao still laughed: "So, how many times have you opened for business?"

A Nuo gave an accompanying laugh: "Only waiting for someone with destiny."

"Then am I the person with destiny?"

A Nuo blinked his eyes.

Who knew about destiny? A Nuo only knew about the yuan in money. This sister definitely had money.

Sheng Yuan Yao laughed: "How much for one fortune telling? How about you tell my fortune?"

A Nuo's eyes immediately lit up: "One tael of silver, just one tael!"

One tael of silver was very expensive... Who would be such a big fool to find such a small child to tell their fortune and still pay one tael!

But Sheng Yuan Yao actually took out one tael of broken silver, smiled with narrowed eyes, and said: "Tell my marriage fate, how about that?"

Rather than saying she was getting her marriage fate told, it was more like she was playing with a child.

Indeed, a person with destiny! A Nuo snatched the silver, smiled gleefully, and said: "Sister doesn’t plan to find a marriage fate at all. The elders at home are very eager for sister to get married, which is one of the reasons why sister fled to Xia State."

Sheng Yuan Yao's smile froze on her face.

She had many reasons for coming to Xia State, but there was no denying that avoiding her family's urging and matchmaking was definitely among the important ones! And this reason, besides her own family, no one else fundamentally knew!

Did he really figure it out? He didn't even analyze characters, didn't look at palm lines, didn't need to pinch and calculate, just looked at her face and saw it?

A bit ridiculous...

Her expression became several points more serious: "Then what about later? Where is my destined partner?"

A Nuo looked Sheng Yuan Yao up and down again for a while, his expression hidden under the ink glasses also a bit strange. His little fat hand scratched his head in confusion.

Sheng Yuan Yao's heart unexpectedly tightened: "What is it?"

A Nuo laughed awkwardly: "Sister can rest assured, in the future, sister will definitely marry someone she likes, it's just, it's just possible there will be several sisters."

Goodness, he's not even pretending anymore.

Sheng Yuan Yao’s face was expressionless.

Nonsense.

With this old lady’s identity and position, would her future husband dare to take concubines?

She'd chop him to death!

A Nuo carefully looked at her and quietly hid the silver securely. He could guess what this sister was thinking... But sister, is there a possibility that your spouse palace doesn’t look like that of a main wife?

Sheng Yuan Yao, with an expressionless face, took out another ingot of large yuan treasure. A Nuo's eyes lit up and he was just about to take it, when Sheng Yuan Yao suddenly withdrew it: "Although your marriage fate prediction was a bit inaccurate, if you can predict who the murderer in the Ho residence murder case is, this silver is yours."

A Nuo gave an accompanying laugh: "No one can divine such a fortune, at most they can predict some clues."

"Then just give me the clues."

A Nuo pinched his fingers and calculated for a long time, mumbling: "Evil ghosts seeking lives ah... Doing many things that injure heaven and harm reason."

Sheng Yuan Yao withdrew that ingot of silver and changed it back to one tael of broken silver.

A Nuo wanted to cry but had no tears: "Sister, don't worry, there are still clues, there are still clues... Um, disaster arises from within the walls as well."

Sheng Yuan Yao narrowed her eyes and suddenly asked: "How much do you know about your Master's affairs at Dan Xia View before?"

A Nuo shook his head: "I don’t know, I’m only six years old! Master didn’t talk about things that happened so long ago either."

"...Didn’t you still know there’s a buried sow called Little Flower?"

"That was when Master was laughing at Master Liu of the Help behind his back, I overheard him."

"Um... Where have you been living these past few years?"

"In the South, on Wonderful Sound Mountain. Master picked me up and raised me. Master's legs and feet were inconvenient and he was bullied, so he brought me back to our old home. A Nuo grumbled: "As a result, less than half a year after coming back, he was bullied again."

Sheng Yuan Yao didn't speak.

The matter of Lu Xing Zhou being double-crossed by the Dan Xia Help, although he immediately fought back and embarrassed them on the spot, was in essence being bullied.

If he picked up A Nuo in swaddling clothes and raised him to now, then that year he himself was only thirteen years old... These years have truly not been easy. It's no wonder both master and disciple look like they're obsessed with money. If they didn't try every possible way to earn money, how could they survive to this age and how could they afford to cultivate?

Sheng Yuan Yao thought about it and felt there was nothing specific she needed to ask Lu Xing Zhou. Assuming he was the murderer, directly asking would definitely not yield any clues. That fellow might not be as honest as a six-year-old child, and she would have to consider probing from the side.

Thinking of this, she said: "Then you go back and tell your Master that I have a patient with a serious illness here and would like to ask him to treat them. As long as he can truly cure them, the price is negotiable."

A Nuo became happy: "Okay, I'll go and tell Master now."

After finishing, he scurried into the general store behind him and reached up to put the broken silver on the counter that was almost as high as him: "Two jin of wife cake, no wife, can I get a discount?"

Sheng Yuan Yao finally laughed out loud.

Wife cake obviously couldn't be discounted. A Nuo, with a tearful face, hugged two jin of cake and darted back to the original site of the Dan Xia Help. The repairs were almost complete these days. Since it was rented by the Heaven Walk Sword Sect, starting from tomorrow, this place should be called the Heaven Walk Sword Sect, or perhaps they would change the name of a business.

The people of the Heaven Walk Sword Sect had not moved in yet. The large house was filled with workers changing beams and painting. Lu Xing Zhou was alone in a corner, opening a dan room and refining pills.

A Nuo ran in, laughing from afar: "Master, earned two taels of silver today!"

Lu Xing Zhou looked at the dan fire and smiled slightly: "Sheng Yuan Yao's business?"

"Yes, yes." A Nuo put the cake aside and laughed: "Sister Sheng invited you to treat a patient, are you going?"

"That is naturally something I want to do."

"But Master..."

"What?"

"Didn't you reveal too many clues? Aren't you really afraid of being caught?"

"If it were a local old sly person, by now they would have already caught me for strict review, even torture me into confession. But she is Sheng Yuan Yao." Lu Xing Zhou said leisurely: "The Sheng family has been working for the Town Demon Office for generations. Sheng Yuan Yao is new to society and still has a bit of ambition. She still emphasizes procedure and justice. Without any evidence, she won't mess around. So, as soon as I heard it was Sheng Yuan Yao coming here for seasoning, I knew the opportunity for action had arrived."

"Then aren't you afraid that Sister Sheng will really find out it was you? I think she's very smart and diligent."

"But didn't you and I kill the person?"

Hahaha😂 A Nuo: What to do? I have the urge to beat Master to death.

A Nuo: "..."

Lu Xing Zhou laughed: "Actually, the clues I revealed to her have little to do with us. They are only there to prove I have the inheritance of the temple. As for the murderer, I have always been guiding her to think about Ho Shang, specifically wanting her to tell the capital's Ho family about the possibility that Ho Shang is not dead."

"Why do you want them to feel that Ho Shang is not dead? Just to shift the blame?"

"If only some servants died, the Ho family who came to handle it would probably just be a manager, which wouldn’t mean much. But if Ho Shang is alive, the one who comes must be from the Ho family." Lu Xing Zhou looked at the furnace fire, the flames reflected in his pupils, as if there was fire burning in his eyes: "My hope for curing my legs, and the Ho family's hell, will all begin here."

"What if they insist on thinking you are Ho Shang?"

"However, I am indeed not Ho Shang, so verification will be useless." Lu Xing Zhou smiled slightly: "Of course, if they truly think so, there are also some other good benefits."

"Then what about Sister Shen Tang and the others?"

"If they are indeed remnants of the Heaven Walk Sword Sect, they will be a very useful branch of fighters..." Lu Xing Zhou paused here, and also slightly frowned: "But I have strong doubts, they are not the Heaven Walk Sword Sect."

Blind guess: Lu is the sickly little Taoist boy from before, then he was good friends with Ho Seven in childhood, told Ho Seven that he could go overseas to transport sweet potatoes, Ho Seven told the seemingly good but actually bad people of the Ho family, wanting to gain benefits or status to improve his life and help Lu cure his illness. As a result, he might have stumbled upon some secret or plot of the Ho family that they didn't want people to know, and then was killed. Lu somehow learned the truth and, after the old Taoist priest died, he stayed far away from the Ho family for revenge. Now that he has the ability and knows Sheng Yuan Yao wants to come, he has the opportunity to return and pretend to be a physician to treat the old Master Ho and attract Sheng Yuan Yao's attention. In reality, it was the little Taoist boy who killed the Ho family people.