Chapter 110 - The Plan Succeeds
At that moment after hearing Li Peng’s question, Hei Wan was stunned, but she did not let him see that. To Li Peng, it only seemed like Hei Wan was thinking deeply. Hei Wan could not let Li Peng get suspicious of Lin Mu as it would lead to many complications.
Hei Wan thus thought for a minute before speaking. During this time, Li Peng patiently waited in silence without disturbing her.
"I don’t really think that he’s that suspicious. Why do you think that?" Hei Wan spoke.
"Lin Mu was able to survive the attack when even the vice captain and the town head could not. Also, he was hiding in the bedroom and somehow the culprit did not find him? I doubt that." Li Peng replied.
"Your doubts are valid up to a certain point, but all you have right now is circumstantial evidence. That other man Lu Xiao was able to survive as well by running out. Though the culprit was very close to killing him and would have if we had not come upon him." Hei Wan spoke.
"Besides, didn’t you say the boy is an orphan and was poor? Even if he was able to increase his strength, do you think it would be enough to defeat a cultivator like the vice captain Han Lei?" Hei Wan added.
Li Peng thought for a few seconds before nodding.
"Madam is right, we still don’t have all the facts. It will be hasty of me to jump to conclusions." Li Peng replied.
"I will be interrogating Lin Mu myself, so you don’t need to worry, we’ll get the facts. Oh! And also Lin Mu is awake now." Hei Wan spoke.
Li Peng looked a little surprised upon hearing this.
"He is awake? That’s good we can ask him right away." Li Peng replied.
"Not so fast. I think there are some problems with him. He didn’t seem mentally fine when he woke up. Let him rest for a bit until then we’ll check this place." Hei Wan declared.
"As the madam wishes." Li Peng responded with cupped hands.
Li Peng then turned to look at the guards that were standing near him and gestured to them. One of the guards approached him and stood in front of him respectfully.
"Reporting! We have an initial list of the items that currently seem to be missing." The guard reported.
The Guard then started to list all the things that they had found out. This included the letters that were on the town head’s desk, the decorative javelin, the town head’s personal seal, and the ledgers.
Li Peng and Hei Wan heard the report with their full attention as the gears within their minds started to turn and they started formulating their theories. Soon the guard had finished reporting and then took his leave to continue his task.
"It is indeed as you think, madam Hei Wan. The culprit stole a lot of documents and letters. His motive seemed to be related to official matters, perhaps." Li Peng spoke.
Lin Mu did not know this, but his little gesture of doing this had already swayed the mind of Li Peng in his favor.
"I-I was asked to report to the town head. We came here along with vice captain Han Lei." Lin Mu spoke.
Lin Mu then took a pause, as if he was thinking something. A confused and perplexed expression soon appeared on his face.
"I... I can’t seem to remember what happened after we entered the building. I’m sorry but I don’t know what happened." Lin Mu explained.
A complex expression now dressed Li Peng’s face after hearing Lin Mu’s response.
"What do you mean you can’t remember?" Li Peng spoke.
Just at this moment, as Li Peng spoke, the two guards that were standing at the doors suddenly stumbled onto the ground. Hei Wan and Li Peng instantly turned around to look.
"What are you two doing?" Li Peng questioned.
Dull and blank expressions could be seen on the two guards’ faces, and soon more sounds came from inside the office. The loud noise of objects crashing came from inside the office along with the groans of the guards.
Li Peng now felt extremely alarmed and was just about to check when someone stopped him.
"WAIT! There could be danger inside. Let me go first." Hei Bao spoke in urgency.
Hei Wan also nodded in response and spoke,
"Let Hei Bao go first, he’s a cultivator."
Li Peng nodded in understanding and let Hei Bao go ahead. Hei Bao opened the door of the office with his sword drawn. All four of them saw the scene inside the office and felt stunned. Nearly all of the guards seem to be lying on the ground along with a few items that were scattered around.
One could tell that they had collapsed on the ground, and whatever items they had in their hands had fallen along with them.
Hei Bao checked up on the guards and found that they were awake. But when he tried to speak to them, he discovered that they did not respond and seemed to be in a strange kind of a daze. He tried this with nearly everyone, and the only person who seemed a little responsive was the Captain of the guards.
"What is happening here?" Li Peng questioned.
"We need to leave this place right now. My best guess is that they’ve been poisoned by something." Hei Wan answered.
Hei Bao tried asking the guard captain who was still a little normal a few questions. But all he got in response was,
"Where am I?" The captain spoke.