Beside Tao Zhenbang, the gray-robed elder was a Class A Mirror Envoy of the Mingjing Si (Mirror Administration).
Apart from the Director and Deputy Directors of the Mingjing Si, the remaining ranks were divided into A, B, C, and D.
The Class A Mirror Envoy was the highest rank among the Mirror Envoys, second only to those above the Deputy Director.
The Mingjing Si was also one of the most special organizations of the Great Xia Imperial Dynasty. Every Mirror Envoy practiced the martial arts technique bestowed by the founding emperor.
The Mirror Light Art!
The Mirror Light Art was divided into four levels: The Bright Mirror Hangs High, Viewing Flowers in the Mirror, Tracing the Flow to the Source, and The Broken Mirror Made Whole Again.
Seeing that the gray-robed elder beside him remained unmoved, Tao Zhenbang furrowed his brow slightly.
“What’s the matter, Mirror Envoy Yuan Yang? Do you have some concerns?”
The gray-robed elder, whom Tao Zhenbang called Yuan Yang, finally showed a change in expression.
Yuan Yang’s eyes scanned the people around them. Then, he clasped his hands and gave a slight bow to Tao Zhenbang before slowly speaking.
“Your Excellency the Governor, this old man doesn’t really have a problem, but there are many people with wandering eyes here. What do you say…?”
Tao Zhenbang heard this and suddenly understood what Yuan Yang meant.
“Oh, indeed. This official was negligent. I didn’t notice this issue.”
As soon as Tao Zhenbang finished speaking, he addressed the government office officials around them: “All of you, leave. This official will oversee things here.”
“Yes, Your Excellency the Governor!”
In a short while, besides Tao Zhenbang, only the Mingjing Si personnel remained in the main hall of the government office.
Seeing that there were no outsiders left, Yuan Yang finally looked at the few men lying on the ground.
The next moment, Yuan Yang’s entire body erupted with a startling aura. A deep, bright cyan light shone in his eyes, like a bright mirror peering into the world.
And the aura emanating from Yuan Yang was unmistakably that of a martial artist at the Internal Qi Perfection realm.
Under everyone’s gaze, Yuan Yang’s hands glowed with a soft cyan light. He stepped forward and pressed one hand onto the head of one of the men.
The next second, the man, who had been unconscious, suddenly opened his eyes wide.
Eerily enough, the man let out a blood-curdling scream, and his eyes also reflected a dazzling cyan light.
After a moment, the man’s head began to twist and deform, as if an invisible giant hand was stirring the depths of his mind.
Then, wisps of visible cyan qi began to float out from the man’s head.
This faint cyan qi condensed in mid-air, gradually forming a round cyan mirror.
The round cyan mirror floated silently in mid-air, causing ripples and waves to constantly spread through the surrounding void.
It was as if this cyan mirror, radiating mysterious cyan light, was an illusory object not truly existing in this world!
“Viewing Flowers in the Mirror?”
Tao Zhenbang, watching from the side, saw the round cyan mirror in mid-air, and his pupils contracted.
This was the second level of the Mingjing Si’s Mirror Light Art, a level that very few people could possibly reach.
According to Tao Zhenbang’s knowledge, at most only a dozen or so people in the entire Mingjing Si had cultivated to the Viewing Flowers in the Mirror level.
That’s because the effect of the Mirror Light Art’s Viewing Flowers in the Mirror level was simply too astonishing for the world.
It could manipulate an unconscious martial artist, making them obey the caster’s command and present a portion of their memories onto the cyan mirror.
Of course, this also had certain limitations. The martial artist using the Mirror Light Art had to be stronger than the person they wanted to manipulate.
Also, the target had to have all their meridians intact. It couldn’t be someone whose martial arts cultivation had been abolished. A dead martial artist’s memories couldn’t be examined either.
Because the power of the Mirror Light Art had to flow through the entire body of the manipulated person to completely control them.
If their meridians were destroyed, the Mirror Light Art’s power couldn’t circulate through the target’s whole body.
Just as Tao Zhenbang was feeling extremely shocked, Yuan Yang’s eyes once again shone with a brilliant, dazzling cyan light, and he spoke resolutely.
“Obey this old man’s command. Tell this old man, who was it that accused you of killing the Luo family’s bloodline that day?”
As soon as Yuan Yang said this, the cyan mirror in mid-air finally began to change.
Seeing this, Tao Zhenbang, standing by, opened his eyes wide and stared fixedly at the round cyan mirror above his head.
Then, on the empty surface of the cyan mirror, blurry images slowly began to appear.
It was a man wearing dark black fine clothes, with a black broadsword wrapped in gold thread tied at his waist.
But this man’s face was very blurry. Only an outline of his features could be vaguely seen, as if a thick layer of white mist was obscuring him.
Just as Tao Zhenbang wanted to take a closer look, the cyan mirror in mid-air vanished as quickly as it appeared, lasting only a few breaths.
At that moment, Yuan Yang, who was in front of Tao Zhenbang, also withdrew his power.
Now, Yuan Yang’s face was pale, his breathing was irregular, and large beads of sweat dripped from his forehead.
This was enough to show that the Mirror Light Art required an immense amount of power.
Even Yuan Yang, a martial artist at the Internal Qi Perfection realm, could barely withstand such consumption.
Yuan Yang looked at the man who had fallen unconscious again and spoke coldly.
“This old man has already used the Mirror Light Art on this person. I can’t examine his memories again for a short while. Send someone to treat him first.”
This was another drawback of the Mirror Light Art: it couldn’t be used on the same person multiple times within a short period.
Otherwise, not only would that person suffer memory disorders and mental confusion, but the caster would also be affected.
After speaking, Yuan Yang didn’t bother to explain anything to Tao Zhenbang. He directly spoke to the people from the Mingjing Si behind him.
“Bring this old man’s things over.”
Seeing that Yuan Yang had no intention of explaining, Tao Zhenbang suppressed his impatience and silently watched his actions.
That image just now had been too blurry. Even if a deity came, they couldn’t tell what the murderer inside looked like.
Yuan Yang, right in front of Tao Zhenbang, took a small wooden box and quickly opened it.
The moment the small wooden box opened, an utterly pure Worldly Spiritual Qi spread out from it.
It was a low-grade Worldly Spiritual Object!
Without hesitation, Yuan Yang stretched out a hand and consumed the low-grade Worldly Spiritual Object.
The power of this low-grade Worldly Spiritual Object was enough for him to perform the Mirror Light Art twice.
That would be just enough to use the Mirror Light Art once on each of the remaining two men.
An hour later, Yuan Yang withdrew his hands from the last man’s head.
The images he could see from these two men were just as blurry as the first one, and he couldn’t see the true face of the murderer.
“Sigh, it’s still no good. This old man has done his best.”
“These men have too low martial arts cultivation, so they can’t withstand a stronger force.”
“Otherwise, the images we could see would be much clearer.”
“We wouldn’t be like this now, completely unable to see the murderer’s face.”
Yuan Yang sighed slightly. It seemed he had been delusional.
Logically speaking, even if his Mirror Light Art couldn’t reveal the murderer’s true face without reservation, it should at least give a general idea.
In the current situation, let alone seeing the face, just being able to tell it was a human was already the best Yuan Yang could do.
Tao Zhenbang, watching from the side, saw Yuan Yang’s helpless expression, and his own face darkened.
What was the meaning of this?
Yuan Yang’s words clearly shifted the blame onto him.
He was basically saying, look at the kind of people you caught, completely useless.
As for that leading Blood Condensation realm martial artist, the Luo family servant Wu Hui, you don’t have a single piece of information on him.
“Mirror Envoy Yuan, what do we do now? Don’t forget, His Majesty has issued a decree to thoroughly investigate this case.”
“If we can’t find the murderer, not only will this official be punished, but you people from the Mingjing Si will also be implicated.”
Hearing this, Yuan Yang didn’t contradict Tao Zhenbang, because what he said was indeed true.
“Rest assured, Your Excellency the Governor. Actually, this old man noticed some clues just now.”
“This old man found that the murderer’s waist knife handle seemed somewhat familiar.”
“If I’m not mistaken, that’s something only a specific place is qualified to possess.”
“Moreover, the pattern on that knife handle, although not fully presented, this old man is very familiar with it.”
Yuan Yang’s words made Tao Zhenbang’s expression turn serious, and the image just now surfaced in his mind.
The shape of that knife handle kept enlarging in Tao Zhenbang’s mind.
On the knife handle was an incomplete pattern, showing only the upper left corner.
But, with Yuan Yang’s reminder, Tao Zhenbang suddenly noticed something unusual.
What did this incomplete pattern look like? He felt it looked like an eye, or perhaps a bird’s eye.
However, Tao Zhenbang only noticed this much. As for the rest, he couldn’t guess.
Tao Zhenbang stared intently at Yuan Yang, waiting for him to continue.
“No one knows this bird’s eye better than us at the Mingjing Si.”
“We at the Mingjing Si have dealt with those people quite often.”
After saying this, Yuan Yang paused, turned around to face Tao Zhenbang directly, and clearly spoke three words.
“The Xuan Niao Wei (Black Bird Guard)!”
But to Yuan Yang’s surprise, upon hearing the words “Xuan Niao Wei,” Tao Zhenbang just paused for a moment, not too shocked.
Seeing this, a faint smile inadvertently appeared on Yuan Yang’s face.
“I see. Your Excellency the Governor, it seems you are quite clear about this in your heart.”
“If I’m not wrong, that Baidao Prefecture Xuan Envoy, Lu Xuan, must be inseparable from this case.”
In fact, regarding the murderer’s identity, some people could roughly deduce it just from Luo Jin’s actions.
And as the Governor of Anzhou, how could Tao Zhenbang possibly not have guessed the murderer’s identity?
As soon as Yuan Yang led the Mingjing Si personnel to Anzhou, the first thing they did was thoroughly search the ruins of the Luo family.
Then they investigated many things concerning Luo Jin.
Among the people Luo Jin had provoked while alive, the strongest martial artist was none other than Lu Xuan, the Xuan Envoy of the Xuan Niao Wei in Baidao Prefecture!
Tsk tsk, Luo Jin had made harsh threats, and just one day later, he was suddenly killed.
Ah, youth. His temper was certainly fierce, without even the slightest attempt at concealment.
As for this Lu Xuan, the Xuan Envoy of the Baidao Prefecture Xuan Niao Wei, Yuan Yang had also sent people to gather information about him.
This Lu Xuan, his background was completely unknown.
Yuan Yang only knew that Lu Xuan was not only young, but his martial arts realm was extremely powerful.
He had even killed one of Prince An’s subordinates, a martial artist who had achieved a minor success in the External Gang Grandmaster realm.
If this matter was true, then this Lu Xuan’s strength was at least at the major success level of the External Gang Grandmaster realm.
“Mirror Envoy Yuan, if the Xuan Niao Wei is involved, you’d better find stronger evidence.”
“Conjecture is just conjecture. You can’t directly convict the murderer based on it.”
Tao Zhenbang took a deep breath and then spoke unhurriedly.
Of course, Tao Zhenbang kept one sentence unspoken, which was:
Ever since that Lu Xuan killed Prince An’s subordinate, he had been listed as the number one person not to be provoked in all of Anzhou.
Who knows where that Li Chengfeng found such an absolute, formidable tough guy? He was just too fierce.
This wasn’t just a fierce dragon crossing the river anymore; it was like a lofty deity descending to the mortal world, completely not someone us local natives could provoke.
Seeing the fear in Tao Zhenbang’s eyes, Yuan Yang’s expression showed a hint of dissatisfaction.
“Hmph, Your Excellency the Governor, you might fear those Xuan Niao Wei people, but we in the Mingjing Si are not afraid.”
This old fox, so cautious, no wonder he could become a governor.
It seemed this old fox had just been putting on an act for him!
Tao Zhenbang wasn’t angered by Yuan Yang’s words, because he still needed this old fellow to shoulder this case for him.
He himself didn’t want to go after a monster like Lu Xuan for the sake of that dead Luo Jin.
Rather than offend a tough guy like Lu Xuan, it would be better to just bear the responsibility himself.
His old bones couldn’t withstand the ordeal of a young, aggressive martial arts Grandmaster like Lu Xuan.
Tao Zhenbang had already made a wise choice in his heart: to ignore it, to act as if he knew nothing.
“Sigh, Mirror Envoy Yuan, you misunderstand this official.”
“How could I be someone who shields a murderer?”
“But if it’s just based on conjecture without solid evidence, naturally I cannot personally go and arrest that Baidao Prefecture Xuan Envoy Lu Xuan.”
“Rest assured, as long as you, Mirror Envoy Yuan, can provide more conclusive evidence, I would risk my very life to catch the murderer, to uphold the name of the Great Xia Imperial Dynasty’s laws!”
Hearing Tao Zhenbang’s high-sounding words, Yuan Yang’s expression instead calmed down, his mind like still water.
“Is that so?”
“Your Excellency the Governor, when the time comes, this old man will rely on your full support.”
“These men, this old man will take back to Tiandu and have the Director personally handle them.”
“You have no objections, Your Excellency the Governor?”
A different kind of brilliance flashed in Yuan Yang’s eyes. If my Mirror Light Art cannot clearly reveal the murderer’s face,
then I will ask the Director and the two Deputy Directors to personally take action.
Their Mirror Light Art far surpasses mine; they have reached the third level, Tracing the Flow to the Source!
Yuan Yang’s decision brought a hint of joy to Tao Zhenbang’s face, and he let out a hearty laugh.
“Hahahahaha!”
“This official has no objections whatsoever. I will follow Mirror Envoy Yuan’s arrangements completely!”
When someone is willing to be the scapegoat, Tao Zhenbang couldn’t be happier, so why would he oppose it?
