"First of all, it's obvious that the Senior Sister didn't realize danger was coming before she died, otherwise the expression on her face wouldn't be like what we saw." Qian Lin mimicked the expression on that Senior Sister's face. "See? Do you think this kind of expression would appear on the face of a young girl facing a life-threatening crisis?"
That Senior Sister was only about two years older than the two of them, just a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl in the prime of her youth. How could she remain unfazed when facing a fatal danger?
Even Qian Lin might not be able to keep her expression perfectly still—though generally, she kept a cold little face, so it was hard for others to see her micro-expressions change.
But that Senior Sister's expression was clearly that of seeing a long-lost acquaintance. That's why her expression was one of surprise mixed with joy, never expecting that the acquaintance had already fallen to the Demonic Path and would take her life with a single blade.
"So now there are two possibilities. The first is that the Demonic Path person was disguised as the Senior Sister's friend, and the second is that this Demonic Path person was originally the Senior Sister's friend. Both guesses are quite likely."
"Indeed, as expected of Qian Lin, you found the key point right away." Ye Qiuhan showed an expression of sudden realization.
Then, Qian Lin's Hand-blade lightly tapped her on the head.
"So what are your thoughts? Don't let it just be me talking."
"Umm... I think the latter guess is more accurate, but the killer definitely wasn't a close acquaintance of the victimized Senior Sister, but rather just someone she knew." Ye Qiuhan furrowed her brows and whispered.
There was no reason; her intuition told her that the latter guess was the correct one.
Qian Lin nodded slightly. She didn't ask why; anyway, there were no clues right now, so listening to Ye Qiuhan was the right move.
As for whether it was right?
What did it matter? If it was right, great; if not, it would at least eliminate a wrong option.
"Then let's deduce based on your idea, Stupid Girl. If it's just someone she knew..." Qian Lin rubbed her chin and paced a few steps before suddenly looking up. "Then that person's identity is definitely not ordinary."
Surprise and joy—if it wasn't seeing a long-lost acquaintance, then it could only be seeing a famous, important figure.
Combining this with the Senior Sister's background, Qian Lin felt the suspect could likely be narrowed down to the Penglai Disciples within the Academy.
"Ordinary students in the Academy interact and communicate with Disciples and Elders from various Holy Lands during their studies, and the Disciples and Elders sent to the Academy by those Holy Lands also select students they favor to bring back to their Sects for further training." Qian Lin extended a finger and pointed to the sky. "Just now, your Senior Sister said that this Senior Sister would likely have joined Penglai as an Outer Sect Disciple in the future. Does that imply she had interactions with Penglai Disciples?"
"I didn't mean it that way, though she indeed had many interactions with Penglai disciples; that's not a secret." Blue Skirt Senior Sister coughed twice, indicating she wasn't trying to shift the blame onto others.
In Honghu Academy, students without a Sect can look for a Sect they like while studying and cultivating, and most of these Sects welcome students from Honghu Academy to join.
After all, students who can enter Honghu Academy have very high qualities, and their growth process is more transparent than that of other Loose Cultivators, which can prevent Demonic Path Undercover Agents from infiltrating the Sects to the greatest extent.
So, compared to the decennial Ascension Assembly, Honghu Academy is currently more favored by the Holy Lands.
"Then the Penglai Disciple who had the most contact with this Senior Sister is..."
"It couldn't be that person. At the time of the incident, that Disciple was helping Chang Ye prepare for tonight's concert. Many people were there at the scene and can testify for her." The Blue Skirt Senior Sister shook her head, dismissing Qian Lin's guess.
On the day of the incident, the Penglai Disciples were mostly over at Fairy Chang Ye's place helping out. Most of the Disciples who weren't there also had evidence proving they weren't the culprit.
"Well, the investigation has hit a stalemate then." Qian Lin sighed helplessly; this matter really wasn't that simple.
"Um, Senior Sister, were the spiritual power attributes of the three Senior Sisters who fell victim all different?"
Ye Qiuhan's sudden question made the Blue Skirt Senior Sister pause for a moment, then she nodded. "Yes, the three victims' attributes were Earth, Fire, and Gold respectively. If we count the two of you who were attacked, then all Five Elements are gathered."
"At the same time, the victims' strengths were basically from the Middle Stage to the Late Stage of the Peiyuan Realm. Um, there's another commonality—all the victims were quite beautiful."
Qian Lin recalled the face of that victim Senior Sister. Well, in every sense of the word, she could be considered a beautiful young girl.
She hadn't seen the other two victims and couldn't make an evaluation, but the Blue Skirt Senior Sister wouldn't lie about such things, right?
As for herself and Ye Qiuhan, that went without saying; both were very beautiful existences.
"They're all beautiful, and their attributes complete the Five Elements. This is a bit strange. Do Demonic Path methods have requirements for the target's looks?" Qian Lin scratched her head, looking puzzled.
If you were talking about the Five Elements attributes, that could indeed be a requirement for a Demonic Path ritual, but being beautiful definitely wasn't!
This was definitely the culprit's personal preference. In other words, the opponent hated beautiful girls.
Oh, this was unusual. They were definitely a psychopath.
Looking up to learn more from the Blue Skirt Senior Sister, Qian Lin was surprised to find that the Blue Skirt Senior Sister, who had been right beside her, had vanished.
Ye Qiuhan saw Qian Lin's confusion and pointed to the side to explain, "Senior Sister seemed to have received a communication and went over there to talk."
Oh, no wonder she disappeared. She went to have a private conversation.
"Stupid Girl, what do you think? Have you remembered anything?" Since the Blue Skirt Senior Sister was gone, she might as well ask this black-haired girl; she was the real cheat code.
Regarding the address 'Stupid Girl', Ye Qiuhan expressed her dissatisfaction with an unhappy cold snort, then shook her head with a look of disappointment. "I can't think of anything else. I just feel like the culprit is right beside us, someone we might both know."
Someone we both know?
This condition was very specific. Qian Lin showed a surprised expression. "Your Senior Sisters can be excluded, and before this, we basically had no interaction. There are very few people both of us would know."
If the scope was further limited to Penglai Disciples... Uh, it seemed there was only one?
Fairy Chang Ye?
It couldn't be... "Something happened. Penglai's Chang Ye was just attacked by the Demonic Path. She's now heavily injured and unconscious."
Huh?!