Li Shun did not rush to investigate. Acting rashly would only expose the connection between the two of them.
He waited patiently until dawn.
Only then did he send soone to summon “Li Shun” to the yan.
Soon after, Li Qing’s heart-wrenching wails resounded throughout Dongshan Town.
“Brother, you died so miserably!”
Inside the main hall of the yan, Li Qing knelt on the ground, his eyes bloodshot. Beside him, Li Shun’s corpse lay silently, covered with a white cloth.
Controlling the Fang Xun puppet, Li Shun slowly stepped forward, lifted the cloth, and examined his own body.
The head and torso were cleanly separated. The cut was smooth and even, clearly the work of a sharp weapon.
What was strange, however, was that according to the constables’ report, there had been no signs of blood splatter at the scene.
The youthful face of “Li Shun” remained calm, as if he were rely asleep, having felt no pain at all.
And in truth, that was exactly the case.
His true body had simply lost consciousness in his sleep, utterly unaware of what had happened outside. “Li Qing! Report everything that happened yesterday in full detail!”
Li Shun returned to his seat and spoke coldly.
Judging his own murder case felt oddly surreal.
Li Qing seed overwheld with grief, clutching the corpse and weeping without answering. Only when Li Shun slamd the wooden block did he finally co back to his senses.
“Lord Garrison Commander, you must find the killer!”
“I’ll personally tear that bastard apart to avenge my brother!” Li Qing snarled, his eyes red with fury.
Li Shun’s expression hardened.
“Insolence. Great Qian has its own laws. How can you act recklessly? Besides, your brother had been away from ho for decades and only returned yesterday, yet he t such a fate…”
“In my view, you are the pri suspect.”
“What?” Li Qing could hardly believe what he had just heard.
He shot to his feet and stood before the hall, staring coldly.
“Lord Garrison Commander, you’d best be careful with your words. My brother and I may not have seen each other for years, but we are still bound by blood. Why would I kill him?”
Li Shun did not yield in the slightest.
“Then report yesterday’s events truthfully!”
Li Qing’s brows twitched, his fists unconsciously clenching. After a long mont, he took a deep breath and cald himself.
“Yesterday, my brother and I were reminiscing at ho…”
His account was identical to what Li Shun himself had experienced the day before.
Li Shun pressed further, “While you were in your room yesterday, did you hear anything unusual? Were there any signs of intrusion?”
Li Qing frowned, thought for a mont, then shook his head.
“Were any valuables missing from the house?”
Li Qing was about to shake his head again, but suddenly seed to recall sothing. His expression shifted slightly.
He opened his mouth as if to speak, but for so reason stopped himself.
“No,” he finally said.
That fleeting change in expression did not escape Li Shun’s notice.
He knew exactly what had gone missing.
The tree branch gifted by Lao Wei.
He did not expose Li Qing’s lie outright. Instead, he questioned him in detail for a while longer before finally letting him leave to await further notice.
At the sa ti, he transford written characters into a bird and secretly had it follow behind him.
As expected, Li Qing headed straight for Lao Wei’s residence. As for what the two of them discussed, Li Shun had no way of knowing.
He only saw Li Qing walk out in the end, looking utterly lost and dispirited.
“Could it be… that the one who killed was Lao Wei?”
“But why… what reason could there possibly be?”
Inside the yan, Li Shun sat before the hall, eyes closed as he sank into deep thought.
His true body had been hard for no apparent reason. This was sothing completely beyond his expectations.
“Before we entered the imperial mausoleum, it was the 6th day of the 2nd month, Year 573 of the Great Qian calendar.”
“Around three in the afternoon.”
“From the mont we entered the mausoleum until now, only eighteen hours have passed. Not even a full day.”
“With a ti flow ratio of one to seven, it should only be just before six in the evening outside…”
“….”
“Just as I had originally planned, I might as well use this chance to test what happens if I activate Threefold Self-Reflection inside the imperial mausoleum.”
His consciousness returned to the Fangcun space. Without hesitation, Li Shun imdiately activated Threefold Self-Reflection.
As that vast and resonant voice echoed forth, the scene before his eyes abruptly shifted.
But…
Contrary to his expectations, he did not return to the mont before entering the imperial mausoleum.
After a brief stretch of darkness, light and shadow stabilized once more. Ahead lay a quiet mountain forest, with a bright moon hanging high above.
Li Shun stood side by side with “Fang Xun,” their two figures motionless.
Before long, a voice ca from the mountain path ahead.
“Finally, you’ve co! I’ve been waiting for you!”
It was none other than Zheng Zhi, the deputy magistrate of Dongshan Town.
This mont…
Was precisely when they had first entered Imperial Mausoleum County.
“How could this be?”
Li Shun’s heart trembled violently, filled with shock and confusion.
Once Threefold Self-Reflection was activated, it should return him to the beginning of the day.
This was sothing he had verified countless tis through repeated reversals. There had never been any error before.
“It’s not that it couldn’t be activated, nor that I returned to the sixth day of the second month in the New Calendar…”
“Instead, I went back to the mont I had just entered the imperial mausoleum.”
“Why?”
With a mind full of questions, Li Shun followed Zheng Zhi back to Dongshan Town.
What unfolded next was exactly the sa as before.
The two brothers, Li Shun and Li Qing, who had been separated for many years, were reunited, and the troublemakers gradually dispersed.
Li Qing brought Li Shun before their younger sister Xiao Yuanyong.
After paying their respects, they went to visit Lao Wei.
Li Shun kept most of his attention within the Fangcun space, while also carefully observing every move Lao Wei made.
He wanted to see if anything would differ from the previous cycle.
Lao Wei showed no obvious abnormalities. After examining Li Shun for a mont, he still shook his head and said the sa words as before:
“Your brother… I cannot teach him.”
However…
When he picked up a branch from the ginkgo tree and began carving and refining it, his movents paused ever so slightly.
It was as if he had fallen into a brief mont of contemplation.
The motion was extrely subtle. Without the mory of the previous cycle for comparison, Li Shun would never have noticed it.
Once the carving was complete, Lao Wei handed the branch to Li Shun.
This ti, however, he added a sentence that was completely different from before, yet strangely cryptic:
“This is a sword branch. It cannot harm others, nor will it passively save anyone.”
“But if you actively trigger it, then in a mont of danger, it may protect you.”
Li Shun’s heart trembled. Grasping the sword branch tightly, he cupped his hands.
“Many thanks for your gift, Senior.”
Lao Wei waved his hand, dismissing the two brothers.
Yet instead of watching the children playing in the streets as before, his clouded eyes lifted to the sky.
Then, he let out a faint chuckle whose aning was impossible to discern.
Li Shun followed Li Qing back ho and spoke with him through the night.
However, when it ended, he did not fall into a deep sleep. Holding the sword branch tightly, he lay on the bed, feigning rest.
By dawn, everything inside and outside the house was silent.
Suddenly, a shadow slipped soundlessly into the room.
It raised its blade and struck directly toward Li Shun’s head.
At that critical mont, the sword branch in Li Shun’s hand erupted with a burst of golden light, enveloping his entire body in protection.
Li Shun’s eyes snapped open as he stared at his attacker.
It was not Li Qing. Nor was it Lao Wei.
That face…
Was exactly the sa as his own.
Yet it was expressionless, like a ghost.
“What in the world is going on?!”
Shock surged through Li Shun’s heart, but his reaction was swift.
He let out a sharp, desperate cry:
“Little Tuanzi, save !”
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