That wretched vixen has disguised herself as my wife!

Do you know this person?

Chen Sha pointed to the musician who was tied to the rack.

An unexpected problem.

Jiang Jingming raised an eyebrow and took a few steps closer.

The musician's head hung low, as if he had fainted. His long hair was disheveled and his fair face was covered with bloody welts from being whipped.

Jiang Jingming scrutinized him carefully for a while, then turned around and answered:

"do not know."

"Sure?"

"determine."

Jiang Jingming answered with great confidence because he genuinely didn't know the person.

Chen Sha stood up from his chair and paced back and forth.

“I interrogated him for almost an hour, and he didn’t say a word about the assassination.”

Jiang Jingming silently raised his eyes and looked at the bloody and mangled marks on the musician's body.

It seems that Xie Yunqi's concerns were not unfounded.

Chen Sha's methods of torture were clearly extremely cruel; the scorching hot iron was carelessly tossed aside, and the smell of blood and flesh mixed with the smell of charcoal filled the air.

"And the first thing he said before he passed out was that he wanted to see you."

Chen Sha stopped in his tracks, his gaze towards Jiang Jingming deep and unfathomable:

"But you're telling me you don't know him?"

Jiang Jingming frowned slightly in confusion, but remained calm.

“I don’t know him. If he specifically asks for me, I don’t mind confronting him.”

Chen Sha lowered his eyes, pondered for a long time, and finally nodded.

"it is good."

He turned and walked to the table, picking up the jar on it.

With a flick of his sleeve, the liquid in the jar poured out, drenching the musician from head to toe.

The pungent smell of strong liquor mixed with the stench of blood assaulted the senses. The intense pain jolted the musician, who had been unconscious, awake with a scream, gasping for breath in agony.

Chen Sha raised his hand, grabbed his chin, and forced him to lift his face.

"The person you were supposed to see has arrived."

The musician had just been jolted awake from unconsciousness and was now gripped by intense pain, but when he turned his eyes to the person standing on the other side, they suddenly became clear.

"Go ahead."

Chen Sha gestured for Jiang Jingming to come closer.

Jiang Jingming found the musician's gaze particularly strange and approached him cautiously.

A strange smile suddenly appeared on the musician's bloodied and mangled face. He uttered a hoarse voice, saying something that should never have come at this time and place.

"Destiny is like a spring, cleansing my sword heart!"

Chapter Seventy-Nine: A Blade Without Fault

Upon hearing this, Chen Sha frowned, puzzled.

"The Washing Spring Sword Sect?"

Fate is like a spring, cleansing my sword-wielding heart.

This is the motto of the Xiquan Sword Sect.

Jiang Jingming appeared calm on the surface, but his mind was in turmoil.

After the musician finished speaking, his smile froze on his face, and his pupils quickly turned gray.

Chen Sha placed his fingers on his neck and checked his pulse.

"he died."

The palm strike he received at the Chief Secretary's residence had already shattered his heart meridian. After being brought back, he was only kept alive by medicine. Now, he finally couldn't hold on any longer and died.

Jiang Jingming looked at the eerie smile that lingered on the musician's face and felt a sense of familiarity; he had seen it on the face of the person in charge of Shulan City as well.

Therefore, the mastermind behind the dancer's assassination is very likely someone from that organization.

He had suspected this before, so he wasn't surprised.

What truly shocked and unsettled him was the motto of the Wash Spring Sword Sect.

Chen Sha was clearly very concerned about this strange point. He turned around and stared at Jiang Jingming:

"He said he wanted to see you one last time before he died, just to shout the motto of the Wash Spring Sword Sect to you? What is your relationship with the Wash Spring Sword Sect?"

"I grew up in Shulan City and only know that Xiquan Sword Sect is one of the sects in the Central Plains Righteous Path Alliance. I don't know anything else."

Jiang Jingming tried his best to keep his tone calm, but he didn't need to pretend to be confused; he was genuinely confused.

"Is that so?"

Chen Sha withdrew his gaze and lowered his head in thought:

"Heaven's mandate is like a spring, cleansing my sword heart... Is he trying to show that he is a member of the Washing Spring Sword Sect?"

He shook his head and denied his own idea as soon as he finished speaking.

"No, the Xiquan Sword Sect is devoted to the sword path. All its disciples use swords and do not practice such low-class tricks as seduction techniques."

"If that's the case, could it be an attempt to sow discord between the Divine Capital Guard and the Wash Spring Sword Sect?"

Jiang Jingming came up with another idea to shift the focus.

"That's not impossible."

Chen Sha nodded.

The Righteous Alliance is the most important force for maintaining stability in Zhongzhou, and many unorthodox sects with malicious intentions will try to sabotage it.

If cracks appear within the alliance, it's only a matter of time before it falls apart and becomes a mere shell of its former self.

"But if that's the case, why did he insist on calling you over? What role did you play in this provocation plot?"

Chen Sha narrowed his eyes.

The interrogation room was brightly lit by candlelight, and his robe sleeves were slightly bulging, as if there was a surge of inner energy ready to be unleashed.

Jiang Jingming nodded slightly, estimating the time it would take him to step forward and pull out Wujiu.

I doubt it will work.

Chen Sha is proficient in fist and palm techniques as well as swordsmanship, and he is surrounded by elites from the Divine Capital Guard. If a direct conflict were to break out here, he would definitely not come out on top.

“In his plan, Vice Envoy Chen and I were two other people who were provoked.”

Jiang Jingming raised his eyes and looked at Chen Sha indifferently.

"what for?"

Chen Sha stood with his hands behind his back, waiting for him to continue.

"The dancer's assassination attempt failed, and the musician knew his days were numbered, so he came up with this plan. By leaving behind the motto of the Wash Spring Sword Sect, he subconsciously made Vice Envoy Chen believe that he was related to the Wash Spring Sword Sect, thereby sowing discord between the two factions."

"His insistence on having me present was to mislead Vice Envoy Chen into believing that I was also colluding with them, thus killing two birds with one stone."

"In this way, not only will the mastermind not be exposed, but the suspicion of Vice Envoy Chen can also be successfully transferred to me, which will hinder the progress of the investigation into the real culprit of the assassination and at the same time divert the remaining energy from the investigation of the family annihilation case."

Jiang Jingming finished explaining his reasoning in one breath.

Chen Sha listened to his words quietly for a long time before turning away.

Although the atmosphere remained heavy and silent, the murderous aura emanating from him had dissipated considerably, clearly indicating that he found his words credible.

"Even so, how can you prove that you have no connection with the Wash Spring Sword Sect?"

"It's very simple."

Jiang Jingming shook the shackles on his hands and pointed them at the table.

Chen Sha looked in the direction he was pointing and saw the long, dark, somewhat eerie-looking sword.

"I use a knife."

Jiang Jingming looked completely calm.

This statement might not seem convincing to outsiders, but to someone as knowledgeable as Chen Sha, it is precisely the most compelling evidence.

Chen Sha had interacted with Su Changqing, the sect leader of the Xiquan Sword Sect. He was gentle and composed, with an extraordinary temperament, and truly deserved to be the sect leader.

His swordsmanship was superb; Commander Xie had sparred with him and afterwards declared that he was unparalleled in the world.

While there's an element of humility in this statement, it also demonstrates that Su Changqing's swordsmanship is unparalleled.

Under such a sect leader, the disciples of the Xiquan Sword Sect are naturally all sword fanatics.

For those who have never practiced martial arts, there may not be much difference between a sword and a saber, but those who have practiced martial arts know that the two are worlds apart.

If Jiang Jingming is really related to the Xiquan Sword Sect, why would he use a knife instead of a sword?

Tonight at the Chief Secretary's residence, Chen Sha had witnessed this young man draw his sword to stop the dancer; that was an extraordinary swordsmanship that could only be honed over ten years of dedicated practice.

"..."

Chen Sha remained silent for a long time, seemingly still thinking about something.

He gazed at the ink-black longsword in the candlelight, and suddenly spoke:

"One last question, who taught you how to use your sword?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Jingming's mind raced, recalling what he had said to the young lady and Lu Zhao.

My family runs a business in Shulan City. Because bandits are rampant in the area, my father was worried that I would suffer in the future, so he spent a lot of money to hire a reclusive master to teach me some self-defense swordsmanship.

This explanation might fool them, but Chen Sha found it somewhat untenable.

Jiang Jingming thought for a moment and replaced "heavy money" with a more credible statement.

“My father had an old friend who was an unparalleled master. Years ago, he owed my father a favor. Therefore, he made an exception and taught me some swordsmanship, hoping that I could be safe and sound when I travel in the martial world.”

"An unparalleled master..."

Chen Sha repeated his words in a low voice, nodding slightly:

"Was this knife also a gift from him?"

"Yes."

Since things had come to this point, Jiang Jingming simply went along with it.

Although Gu Tinghan taught him swordsmanship, Wu Jiu was stolen by Jiang Wuwang.

"good."

Chen Sha glanced at him, finally letting go of his suspicions briefly, and the surrounding air instantly relaxed.

Do you know where this knife came from?

"This junior does not know."

I really don't know. Jiang Wuwang only said that he snatched it from a famous casting master.

Chen Sha turned around, and after a long while, he sighed softly.

"When I first saw this knife, it was just an unfinished blank... What was its name?"

"No blame."

Jiang Jingming was slightly taken aback, then answered truthfully.

"No blame."

Chen Sha nodded slowly, as if lost in a long, drawn-out memory.

"A single strike brings no blame, owing nothing to the common people; a fine name."