60. Who Isn’t an Actor?
Although she didn’t know where the real envoys from the Returning Heaven Sect were, she, this imposter, still had to do something for them.
After all, her father was from the Returning Heaven Sect, and they hadn’t been involved in the plot against her mother back then. They deserved some consideration.
And the peasant woman before her was the one who claimed to have seen a sword flying in the sky.
Gong Yiling initially thought that if this was all a setup, then this witness must be unreliable.
But that wasn’t the case.
This old woman didn’t seem to be lying. As she recounted the events, although there was some artistic embellishment, her words were sincere.
However, one thing she said made Gong Yiling raise an eyebrow. “The sword was a mix of red, black, and silver, flying around like a swallow.”
Red, black, and silver…?
Most people would probably just dismiss this description.
A longsword with some red, black, and silver was normal. It depended on the designer’s and buyer’s taste.
But the problem was… it was at night.
Early in the morning.
How could an ordinary person with poor night vision distinguish the colors of a sword in the dark?
“Was there any light around? Or was the sword itself glowing when you saw it?”
“I don’t think so. I just saw the sword.” The old woman said, “It was so frightening, I didn’t know what was happening, so I just ran back inside.”
Hearing this, Gong Yiling was lost in thought.
Now, the problem was…
The sword wasn’t glowing.
There was nothing bright around.
It was dark.
To solve this biggest problem, she had to figure out what that thing was…
As she was thinking, Gong Yiling suddenly noticed a hoe tucked into the peasant woman’s belt.
If it were an ordinary hoe, it wouldn’t have caught her attention.
But this one was rusty.
Seeing the red rust on the hoe, Gong Yiling suddenly had an idea.
She immediately used her Sword Control Technique and pulled the hoe out of the woman’s belt.
This technique immediately drew gasps from the onlookers.
This was a genuine Sword Control Technique. To be able to use it, this girl must be a cultivator from the Returning Heaven Sect.
And she wasn’t just showing off.
“Yes, yes, that’s it!”
The old woman said excitedly, “That’s what I saw that day!”
Yes… Gong Yiling stopped controlling the hoe, an idea already forming in her mind.
What this old woman saw last night was undoubtedly a rusty sword.
Because it was rusty, under the moonlight, the silver parts would reflect the red and black rust, creating the image the old woman had seen.
But… if it was a rusty sword…
Gong Yiling instinctively thought of someone.
Yes, in this world, if there was anyone who would carry a rusty sword around, it would undoubtedly be her own father.
And the timeline also matched.
Her father, after the incident at Qian Yue Academy, had gone from being a non-existent person to a resurrected one.
At that time, there were many rumors against the Returning Heaven Sect for being untrustworthy, claiming to have executed a traitor but secretly protecting him.
In response, the Returning Heaven Sect had played dumb, and they also claimed not to know where Qin Huaiqiu had gone.
In short, after some sects, not believing them, caused a commotion at the Returning Heaven Sect and confirmed Qin Huaiqiu wasn’t there, Gong Yiling and Gong Muzhi immediately guessed that the Returning Heaven Sect had sent him here.
This was why they had to come here.
If this old woman wasn’t lying, then the person she saw last night was her… dad?
Her father, a member of the Daoist sect, would never do something as evil as slaughtering an entire family. This meant that yesterday…
He had already fought those people?
From the old woman’s account, Gong Yiling could basically piece together what happened yesterday.
But this information—
Gong Yiling looked at Mo Yechong and the other guards waiting for her answer, and couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.
—Would she tell them?
“It seems,” Gong Yiling returned the hoe to the old woman and turned around. “the culprit didn’t dare to use his own weapon.”
“Huh?”
Gong Yiling’s conclusion left them bewildered.
“Think about it,” Miss Gong said seriously, “they know the Sword Control Technique is unique to the Returning Heaven Sect, so they deliberately used it to confuse people and drag the Returning Heaven Sect into this.”
“They targeted the blacksmithing clan but not Haifeng Hall, for the same reason—to make others think that Haifeng Hall was trying to eliminate other blacksmithing clans and establish a monopoly in the Baiyao Dynasty.”
“Their goal has always been clear, but they like to disguise themselves. So this time, if they had used their own weapons, they would have been identified immediately.”
“Therefore, I boldly predict that these people’s swords are a crucial clue. So crucial that they don’t even dare to let others see the tassels. This means these swords are uniform, and they must have been forged by a very famous organization.”
Wow, her words practically gave them the black-clad swordsmen’s ID cards.
Mo Yechong and the lead guard were probably also puzzled.
Although Miss Gong’s deduction was mostly false—in their eyes, it was nonsense—if you ignored the identities and factions, it was incredibly logical.
It had narrowed down the scope of the investigation considerably, and they just needed to check the major blacksmithing clans for any large orders, recent or old.
By investigating the people who placed those orders, the entire process wouldn’t even take a few days.
With just a single sentence, she had made a breakthrough in the case, a breakthrough that completely overshadowed the Baiyao Dynasty’s years of “effort.”
This girl’s “ability” was truly astonishing.
“That makes sense!” Mo Yechong suddenly clapped his hands. “Miss Su is truly a talented youth of the Returning Heaven Sect.”
After he applauded, the others also understood and joined in, the whole scene looking like a group of people putting on a very awkward play.
