The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#467 - confusing

Two days later, the murder weapon used to kill Jiang Lei was finally found. This should have been an exciting event, but Li Bufan's words stunned Lu Jing as well.

The person who discovered the weapon was a maid in the manor. She went out to relieve herself in the middle of the night, but she didn't expect that just as she was about to reach the outhouse, a dark figure suddenly emerged, wielding a very thin, short knife, and without a word, slashed at her neck!

The maid was so frightened by this sudden attack that she wet her pants. Later, the scream that Lu Jing heard was also from her.

According to common tropes in horror movies or detective novels, a minor character like her would usually be taken out after screaming, sent off to collect her meal box.

However, this time the maid had a stroke of incredible luck, channeling the Third Master. Her scream not only startled the would-be assailant, causing him to flee, but the thief also dropped a piece of equipment in his panic, which is the thin knife that Li Bufan is now holding.

Because this story was truly too fantastical, Lu Jing was stunned for a long time before he reacted, asking Li Bufan, "What do you think, Chief Li?"

"The knife is not a problem. Both the length and thickness are the same as my previous estimations. If there are no accidents, it should be the murder weapon that killed Hall Master Jiang," Li Bufan said, frowning slightly, "It's just that the person wielding the knife performed too poorly. With that level of skill, how could he possibly have killed Hall Master Jiang in a one-on-one fight?"

"So, I think it's mostly someone deliberately creating a smokescreen, trying to mislead everyone's attention," Lu Qinghou said lightly, "It makes sense that the murderer targeted Hall Master Jiang, but what's the meaning of attacking a maid this time? Could it be that he's just addicted to killing and randomly chose a target?"

Yu Wenyu nodded in agreement, "I also think so, but… even if this person isn't the real murderer, I'm afraid he's still related to the murderer."

"Could it be an inside accomplice of the murderer in the manor?" Duke Yingguo said, yawning, "Then, Jin Duoduo's suspicion is probably even greater. He's currently being watched in his own courtyard and can't do anything. Therefore, his accomplice, in order to help him escape conviction, pretended to be the murderer and randomly attacked someone tonight."

"That shouldn't be very likely," Yu Wenyu said, "If that's the case, why didn't that person just kill the maid directly? That would truly confirm that there's another murderer."

"Well, what you said does make sense." Anyway, just making irresponsible guesses, Duke Yingguo didn't insist on his previous opinion.

At this time, Li Bufan noticed that Lu Jing seemed to be lost in thought, so he asked, "Does Great Hero Lu have any ideas?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Lu Jing shook his head, "I just got out of bed and I'm still a little sleepy."

Lu Jing lied. In fact, he had just remembered something.

However, this matter couldn't be verified for the time being and remained in the speculation stage, so Lu Jing didn't plan to say it now.

But after a pause, he still asked Li Bufan another question, "Is there anything special about that knife?"

Li Bufan knew what Lu Jing wanted to ask, shook his head, and took the initiative to hand the thin knife to Lu Jing, then said.

Whether it was this knife that disappeared and reappeared, or the murderer who disappeared and reappeared, it seemed difficult to explain with common sense. Some people even involuntarily conjured up tales of ghosts and gods.

On the contrary, Lu Jing felt that he had vaguely grasped something. He saw that Wen Liran, who had investigated the case with him before, had also come, so he beckoned and called her over, first asking, "Is Madam Jiang alright?"

Wen Liran thought that Lu Jing was just concerned about Wen Lun, and without thinking much, nodded and said, "Grandma Wen and Miss Seven are sleeping with Miss Two tonight. In addition, there are two teams of guards outside, protecting their safety. Even if they encounter masters they can't defeat, sending out a distress signal shouldn't be a problem."

Lu Jing nodded and didn't explain. From Wen Liran's answer, he could basically exclude Wen Lun from the events that happened tonight.

Although not long ago, Wen Qingqing had been trying hard to shift Lu Jing's attention to Wen Lun, hinting, no, it should be said that she had almost explicitly stated that Wen Lun was the murderer who killed Jiang Lei.

However, Lu Jing was skeptical about this.

The reason was very simple. Even if Jiang Lei's death did have a positive effect on Wen Lun taking control of the Thunder Fire Hall, in the long run, it was actually more harmful than beneficial.

Because Jiang Lei, in Lu Jing's previous life's words, was not the CEO of the Thunder Fire Hall, but more like a CTO. His death might not be apparent in the short term, but it would be almost impossible to find his replacement.

Even if Wen Lun had the ability, it would only be a matter of time before the Thunder Fire Hall was overtaken or even surpassed by the Thunderbolt Hall. At that time, she might not even have the prestige she has now.

Moreover, as Jiang Lei's wife, she had too many perfect opportunities to kill Jiang Lei. Why did she have to choose to do it now, when a group of martial arts giants were gathered at the Wen Family Manor? Was it because she was confident enough in her criminal methods?

Another possible explanation was that her affair with Jin Duoduo was exposed, and Jiang Lei discovered it. Wen Lun had no choice but to cut her losses. But in that case, she didn't need to use her husband's death to implicate her old lover.

Lu Jing felt that he seemed to have vaguely grasped something.

He went through the matter again from the beginning, first setting aside the most core and most difficult question of who killed Jiang Lei, and instead tried to deduce from other angles using the limited known conditions at hand. As a result, he really had a new discovery.

Could it be that the murderer's target was not Jiang Lei from the beginning? Or, more precisely, Jiang Lei's role in this matter was not as important as everyone thought.

He was actually just a tool. The reason he died was because the murderer needed to use his death to set up a trap, and the real target of the plotter, from beginning to end, was Jin Duoduo.