On the day they first arrived in Guangning City, Fang Shuwen had asked Zhou Qingmei when the reinforcements from Zhujige Pavilion would arrive.
Zhou Qingmei had said at the time that it took time for an escort agency to deliver a letter, and it also took time to hurry from Zhujige Pavilion to Guangning City. Taken together, no one could say for certain when reinforcements would arrive.
Therefore, when Zhang Fang first appeared before Fang Shuwen, doubt had arisen in Fang Shuwen's mind.
He seemed to have arrived far too early.
That was the first flaw.
Second, as a disciple of Zhujige Pavilion and a member of the righteous path of the jianghu, slaying heretical fiends was one thing—nothing objectionable there.
Yet the man in black who had abducted Fang Lingxin was, on one hand, far inferior in martial arts to Zhang Fang, and on the other, Zhang Fang shouldn't have fully understood what was going on at the time.
Yet right from the start, he had killed the man in black.
It reeked of silencing a witness, of trying to cover up something only to make it more obvious.
That was the second flaw.
Fang Shuwen had experienced far too much since childhood, having lived across two lifetimes—past and present. Being cautious was never a mistake.
Thus, regardless of whether these two flaws were real or imagined, whether he was overthinking or something was truly amiss, he decided to test him further.
It was just that Fang Shuwen's method of testing was rather plain and straightforward: he simply had Zhang Fang keep watch on the Daxuan Money House.
The known condition at the time was that Daxuan Money House was still operating normally. If Daxuan Money House vanished without a trace after Zhang Fang went to watch it, it would prove that Zhang Fang was definitely suspicious.
Conversely, if Zhang Fang used this to uncover clues about the Black Fiend Cult, they could proceed according to the original plan and go investigate.
Fang Shuwen had not hidden his suspicion of Zhang Fang from Zhou Qingmei.
That night when they stayed over at the Fang family estate, Fang Shuwen told Zhou Qingmei he had something to discuss, and that was precisely what they spoke about.
Because of this, Zhou Qingmei had tossed and turned all night, restless and uneasy.
In the end, however, she had been persuaded by Fang Shuwen.
Zhou Qingmei was calm and decisive. She believed Fang Shuwen not merely out of the camaraderie forged along their journey, but because Fang Shuwen's words were not without foundation.
There were indeed mysteries surrounding Zhang Fang that could not be explained away.
Furthermore, Fang Shuwen had not asserted at the time that Zhang Fang was definitely a traitor; it was still in the testing stage.
If in the end Zhang Fang proved to be innocent, that would naturally be a happy outcome for all. If not, it would bring them one step closer to the truth, so why not?
The final answer sheet Zhang Fang handed in was Qingyang Manor.
Yet that answer was truly hard to describe.
The flaws beneath Qingyang Manor were too numerous to count.
Various signs indicated that the Black Fiend Cult had been entrenched in Guangning City for no brief period, yet beneath Qingyang Manor, there was only Qi Zhifei. As for the so-called Young Cult Master, there wasn't even a trace of his shadow.
Too many corpses had accumulated. Calculating from the number of remains, those who cultivated the Black Fiend Demon Skill were far more numerous than what they had seen that night. To say nothing of the Record of the Azure Corpse.
That night, not a single green-faced, red-eyed Black Fiend Cult expert was seen.
All the signs showed that the so-called demonic lair at Qingyang Manor was merely a chariot sacrificed to save the general.
Yet the most crucial part was Qi Zhifei's death. That man had been bait deliberately left alive by Fang Shuwen at the time.
Because he suspected Zhang Fang and was worried about Master Fang, throughout that battle beneath Qingyang Manor, Fang Shuwen's attention—aside from keeping Zhou Qingmei safe—was focused on watching those two.
Master Fang had not approached Qi Zhifei from start to finish. But Zhang Fang had lingered near him briefly. Although Fang Shuwen had not seen Zhang Fang strike directly, he was the most suspicious person.
Yet he hadn't stepped forward to question him back then. Without direct evidence, it would only alert the snake, and Zhang Fang could have shifted the blame entirely.
And even if Zhang Fang admitted it, there were things Fang Shuwen and Zhou Qingmei wanted to know that he still wouldn't disclose.
If Zhang Fang truly was a member of the Black Fiend Cult, his purpose in doing all this was merely to ride the tide: to make Fang Shuwen believe Zhou Qingmei's crisis was resolved and that his guard mission to protect her was successfully completed.
In that case, Fang Shuwen simply turned the scheme against him, letting him believe he had gotten what he wanted.
Once someone grew smug, they became careless. When they thought the outcome was decided, they tended to spill everything—both what they should and shouldn't say.
People often thought that villains died from talking too much.
In truth, one couldn't entirely blame the villains. A sense of accomplishment had to be shared. If you scored a hundred on an exam and couldn't show it off, were you supposed to secretly hide it away and let no one know? That would be asking too much.
So Fang Shuwen and Zhou Qingmei had conferred and split into the open and the dark. If Zhang Fang really had a problem, Zhou Qingmei would take the chance to coax the truth out of him. If he proved innocent, Fang Shuwen wouldn't need to show himself either, and could act as circumstances dictated in the shadows.
Hence, there was the entire sequence of events where Zhou Qingmei and Zhang Fang set off for their sect while Fang Shuwen took his leave to return to Julu City.
In truth, Fang Shuwen had been secretly trailing behind them the whole time.
Though he did not know lightness skills, he could track the horse's hoofprints, and with the Great Perfection of his Yijin Jing, he could completely conceal his aura. Whether he could conceal it from a peerless master remained to be seen, but hiding it from Zhang Fang was effortless.
To be frank, Zhang Fang's idea was sound, but there was no way he could have gotten Fang Shuwen to leave from the very start.
In his mission, the requirement to protect Zhou Qingmei's safety until the crisis was resolved had not been fulfilled from beginning to end. He hadn't even received the mission reward yet—where else could he possibly go?
Now, the outcome was not bad.
Without Fang Shuwen's protection, Zhang Fang had indeed revealed his true colors. Upon probing, they had also learned the identity of the Young Cult Master.
It was just that concerning that grand matter... in the end, Zhou Qingmei's acting had not been convincing enough, and Zhang Fang had detected the flaw. Fang Shuwen had no choice but to show himself and stop him.
Since Zhang Fang wanted to die knowing the truth, Fang Shuwen did not conceal anything either, explaining the cause and effect of the entire matter in full detail.
At the end of it, Zhang Fang gave a helpless smile.
"In the end, I underestimated you... Then again, how could someone who trained their martial arts to such an extent be simple?"
Fang Shuwen didn't mention that the main reason his martial arts were so high was that the system had granted him cheats.
He squatted down and looked at Zhang Fang.
"Why don't you talk? What were you thinking? Cutting off one's own arm... it looks tragic and heroic, but this arm of yours was far too thin."
"I couldn't make bricks without straw either," Zhang Fang said, feeling rather aggrieved. "The Young Cult Master gave two orders: first, kill Junior Sister Zhou; second, capture Fang Lingxin. But Black Granny and Green-Faced Ghost failed one after the other. Your martial arts were not something we could contend with. With the manpower currently in Guangning City, we couldn't shake you in the slightest... So our only option was to exhaust every method to make you leave on your own."
"So where did all the manpower go?"
Fang Shuwen's tone was very gentle, as if he were merely chatting with an old friend.
Zhang Fang shook his head.
"That, I cannot say. All right, I know what I needed to know, and now I can die without regrets. Kill me."
Zhou Qingmei looked at Zhang Fang, her gaze filled with mixed emotions.
"Martial Uncle taught you with utmost dedication, imparted all his martial arts to you, and instructed you in the righteous way of chivalry. His kindness as a master was as vast as a mountain. What kind of wicked magic does the Black Fiend Cult possess that would make you forfeit even your life for such an evil cult?"
Zhang Fang gave a self-deprecating smile.
"Junior Sister Zhou, you come from a clean background, so naturally you don't understand that someone like me never had a choice from the beginning."
"In that case..."
Fang Shuwen suddenly smiled.
"Why don't we take a guess?"
Zhang Fang raised an eyebrow slightly.
"What do you mean?"
Chapter 30