Proving God begins with the principle that no effort is wasted.

The Xu residence, the inner hall.

The candlelight flickered, casting shadows across the hall, and the ancient landscape painting shifted between light and shadow.

Xu Zhenshan sat upright in his armchair, his fingertips pressing against a secret report.

The handwriting on the paper was messy; it was sent back overnight by spies from the Daishan faction.

He read it silently, word by word, over and over again.

After reading it, he pressed his palm down, the letter sticking tightly to the table, his knuckles taut and white.

"Ling'er is dead."

His voice was hoarse and filled with anger.

"The Daishan Sect has settled the case, blaming the Seven Fiends of Youzhang Tower, and publicly declared that there are no remains of their bodies and no one can testify to their crimes."

He looked up, his gaze sinister.

"But only one person survived that mission."

Xu Zhong, the chief steward standing at the lower end, lowered his head and held his breath, not daring to speak.

In aristocratic families, the most taboo thing is to talk too much and try to guess the thoughts of the head of the family.

"Jiang Lan!"

Xu Zhenshan uttered this name.

"A disciple of the Qingmu Academy, with a foundation of fourth rank, is not as skilled as my son."

"Ye Ling, a beginner in the Qi Condensation stage, perished at Poison Dragon Beach. He, an outer sect disciple, however, returned unscathed."

The logic doesn't hold up.

All abnormalities in the world are caused by ghosts.

Xu Zhenshan stood up, put his hands behind his back, and stood in front of the window. His back view was so oppressive that it was suffocating.

"That's not all. In just a few days, this man single-handedly wiped out the Netherworld Sect. Five peak-level Nine Acupoint cultivators and one Qi Condensation Warm Ghost Hand all died under his spear."

"With such profound knowledge and practical skills, could he really be an ordinary person content to be a nominal disciple?"

Xu Zhong looked up and tentatively asked in a low voice, "Does the patriarch mean that this person is hiding his true abilities?"

"It's not about hiding my talents."

Xu Zhenshan turned around, the candlelight reflecting in his eyes, which were dark and still.

"It is a crime to conceal."

"The whole mystery of the Poison Dragon Beach incident hinges on him. The Daishan Sect needs to close the case and needs a scapegoat, and the Seven Tigers of Yin Sha are just the right fit."

"The dead cannot refute, but the living are the most suspicious."

Xu Zhenshan spoke calmly, his voice as cold as frost.

"He might even be a spy for the Demonic Sect, using his sect identity to lie low, and then taking advantage of the Poison Dragon Beach to silence him and kill my Xu family members."

Xu Zhong remained silent.

He knew that the head of the family was not speculating, but making a certainty.

From this moment on, Jiang Lan was on the Xu family's kill list.

"Go check."

Xu Zhenshan sat down, picked up the cold tea, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Follow him secretly and find out all his secrets, connections, techniques, and trump cards."

"Don't alert them. I don't want guesses, I want irrefutable evidence that can deliver a fatal blow."

"Yes."

Xu Zhong bowed and quietly retreated.

The back room fell silent once more.

The candlelight flickered, illuminating the confidential report on the table. One line of text was glaringly obvious: "Jiang Lan, unharmed, returned alone."

……

Outside the alchemy room of the Daishan Sect.

As night fell, the lights of the market town lit up one by one, casting a warm glow on the waterlogged bluestone slabs.

Jiang Lan walked out of the alchemy room, her sleeves still carrying a faint scent of medicinal powder.

He walked slowly and steadily, his expression calm.

After taking a few steps, he paused slightly, bent down, and tightened his boot laces.

In the brief moment I looked down, my peripheral vision swept across the alleyway entrance.

A dark shadow swiftly retreated and disappeared behind the wall.

I'm being followed!

Jiang Lan straightened up, her steps unchanged, her mind instantly focused.

Without turning back, without glancing to the side, without revealing the slightest sign of awareness.

Exposing your vigilance gives your opponent an opening to exploit.

Footsteps sounded behind me.

They followed at a steady pace, keeping a distance of about ten steps, demonstrating remarkable professionalism.

The other party is not in a hurry to make a move; perhaps they are just keeping an eye on things.

Jiang Lan turned into a narrow alley.

The alley was deep and the walls were high, with no lights or fire, pitch black and sealed off, cutting off all sight.

The footsteps that had been following stopped at the alley entrance, and did not venture any further.

The other party was cautious and did not follow.

Jiang Lan pressed herself against the cold, high wall, holding her breath and standing still, her entire body's energy gathering into her meridians, silently and without a sound.

A cup of tea's time.

The footsteps outside the alley faded away slowly, signaling the end of the probing.

Jiang Lan walked out from the other end of the alley, circled half the city, and repeatedly confirmed that there were no traces of anyone following her before returning to the courtyard.

……

A wave of unrest, a wave of up again.

The following night, on his way back from the alchemy room.

The familiar feeling of being followed landed once again.

His breathing became lighter, his steps more steady, and his breathing became extremely even.

Jiang Lan continued walking as usual, her expression calm, pretending to be completely unaware.

Retracing yesterday's route, we once again turned into the dark, narrow alley.

This time, the footsteps followed without hesitation.

The alleyway was slightly chilly, and the oppressive wind pressed against my back.

Jiang Lan stopped deep in the alley and slowly turned around.

A person stood backlit at the alley entrance, their figure indistinct.

Medium build, wearing a short gray cloth outfit with a bulge at the waist concealing a short blade.

Each step landed silently, a testament to his peak cultivation at the Nine Acupoints level!

"I followed them for two days."

Jiang Lansheng was calm and composed, neither angry nor agitated, as cold as the chilling wind at the bottom of an alley.

"Who sent them?"

The visitor did not answer.

His right hand swiftly reached to his waist, drawing a poisoned short blade that flashed with a cold light in the moonlight.

Every move is a killing blow, the blade aimed straight for the throat, leaving no room for feints.

Jiang Lan's ears twitched slightly as she turned to the side to avoid him.

The sharp blade grazed past his ear, severing two strands of hair, the chill seeping into his skin and piercing to the bone.

Taking advantage of the opponent's waning strength and lack of new strength, Jiang Lan's left hand formed a hook with its five fingers, precisely locking the opponent's wrist holding the knife.

click -

A crisp sound of bones cracking pierced the silence of the alley.

The assassin groaned, enduring the excruciating pain. His left hand's five fingers swelled up to a grayish-blue, his nails coated with poison, and he clawed straight at Jiang Lan's face, employing a suicidal attack.

Jiang Lan neither dodged nor evaded, but instead cleaved vertically with her right palm, precisely smashing off the opponent's left wrist bone.

The second sound was a crisp cracking sound as bone broke.

Both hands are now useless.

The assassin's arms hung limply at his sides, a flicker of pain finally crossing his eyes, but he remained silent.

The assassin's knee slammed into Jiang Lan's abdomen.

When the fight reaches its most desperate point, all that's left is to fight to the death.

Jiang Lan shifted her body to deflect the force, and at the same time, she pinched a coin dart between her fingertips, its cold light aimed at her opponent's Adam's apple.

"I'll ask you one last time, who sent you?"

Life or death hangs in the balance.

The assassin's pupils trembled slightly, but he showed no fear. Instead, he pushed his neck forward, begging to die and shut his mouth.

I'd rather die than reveal this secret!

Jiang Lan withdrew her fingertips, avoiding the suicidal momentum, and with a lightning-fast movement, grabbed the other person's chin with her left hand, pressing her thumb down on the vital point behind the ear.

His jaw was clenched, his body was stiff, and there was no possibility of self-destruction.

A bone-piercing needle was ejected, its tip pressed against an inch of his eyeball.

Silent intimidation is the most deadly.

The last shred of resolve in the assassin's eyes crumbled.

His throat bobbed, and he squeezed out two words, mumbled yet clear.

"The Xu family."

The answer has been found.

Jiang Lan let go.

All the clues are connected to form a complete picture.

The Poison Dragon Beach was destroyed, but he alone survived.

The Xu family lost their daughter, with no grudge to avenge and no culprit to seek justice for.

The Daishan faction closed the case, sealing off the truth. Unable to hold the bandits accountable, the Xu family poured all their hatred, suspicion, and fear onto the sole survivor.

No evidence is needed.

The truth is not needed.

You are weak, you are suspicious, you live alone, and you deserve to die.

Jiang Lan raised her hands, gripped the back of her head and chin, and exerted force with both hands.

A cracking sound came from the neck.

The figure slumped down, and breathed its last without a sound.

Clean, neat, and without leaving a trace.

He dragged the body against the wall, covering it with withered grass.

Search the person and take their belongings.

A bronze plaque with the character "许" engraved with a serial number, probably some kind of certificate.

A poisoned short blade, several bags of broken silver, and more than twenty taels of silver notes.

He pocketed the silver, carefully kept the bronze plaque and dagger as evidence.

Tonight is just a test.

The Xu family doesn't believe in a single outcome and will inevitably escalate the situation further.

I returned to the courtyard, closed the gate and bolted it; it was pitch black and there were no lights.

Jiang Lan stood in the darkness, her mind calm.

My fingertips rubbed against the cold bronze plate; its sharp edges cut into my fingertips painfully.

He knew all too well how powerful families operated; tonight he was merely following and testing the waters.

Next, they proceeded step by step, using infiltration, ambushes, framing, and using sect rules to eliminate people.

The Xu family has connections, time, and manpower.

They weren't in a hurry to kill him.

They need to work things out slowly.

They will grind away his sect's foothold, his resources and opportunities, and all his means of survival, before finally crushing him like an ant in a justifiable way.

Fighting alone is useless against a hidden spy.

Killing ten of them would still be useless.

The hidden stakes are endless, and the source is inextinguishable.

Jiang Lan sat down on the edge of the bed, placing her palms against her lower abdomen.

The energy within trembled slightly as it absorbed the medicinal power, stabilizing its cultivation level.

His eyes were expressionless, only cold.

But all enemies will eventually meet on a narrow path.

Since the Xu family has decided my fate based on suspicion, I will preemptively overturn this game before they finish laying their trap.