Chen Le Fell into a Cigarette Pit? [Seeking Support]

Just then.

A dark shadow appeared behind Chen Le like a ghost.

Chen Le felt a chill on the back of his neck. Just as he was about to turn his head, a large hand with calloused skin covered his mouth and nose from the side and behind. It wasn't a firm press, but a precise blockage of his breathing passage. The force of the palm prevented him from inhaling even a single breath.

With his other hand, he grabbed his intact right arm and twisted it sharply backward, causing Chen Le's body to involuntarily lean back in pain.

"It's you... Su Yang!"

"Ugh..."

Chen Le struggled to turn his eyes and finally saw the face behind him. Instantly, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, his eyes wide open, filled with terror and disbelief.

He couldn't understand how Su Yang dared to lay a hand on him in the mansion.

"Let...let me go! I'll never do it again!"

Chen Le screamed inwardly, his survival instinct driving him to struggle desperately, but his right arm was firmly locked, and the bandage on his left arm was taut, making it impossible for him to exert any force.

He looked at Su Yang with cold eyes, there was no hesitation in them, and despair instantly overwhelmed him. He shouldn't have listened to Fei Jianhua, shouldn't have been greedy for a permanent position, and shouldn't have treated Su Yang as an easy target!

"Remember, in your next life, don't mess with people you can't afford to offend!"

Su Yang whispered in Chen Le's ear, then suddenly tightened his grip on Chen Le's right arm, pressing his body against the bluestone rim of the latrine pit.

"Thump!"

Chen Le's head slammed against the rough stone edge, his vision went black, his consciousness blurred instantly, and his body slumped to the ground.

Su Yang covered his mouth and nose, and after about a hundred breaths, he lifted him up and gently slid him into the bottomless cesspool. Then, he hung Chen Le's lantern crookedly on the wall.

After confirming that there were no flaws at the scene, he returned to Jingjie Courtyard along the way he came, gently pushed open the door, washed his hands in a basin of water, dried them, and lay down on the bed.

The internal energy within his dantian flowed slowly, calming the subtle fluctuations in his qi and blood. After a short while, he fell asleep with even breathing.

…………

The next morning.

Screams came from the backyard of the guards' dormitory.

"Help! Someone's fallen into the latrine!"

The guard who went to the outhouse early in the morning noticed that the lantern was crooked and there seemed to be something in the latrine. He probed it with a bamboo pole and pulled out a person!

The news spread quickly.

Yang Yunxing arrived at the scene immediately, his face ashen.

Chen Le's body had been pulled out of the cesspool, covered in filth and emitting a foul stench.

"What's going on?!"

Yang Yunxing asked sternly.

The guard who first discovered the body stammered, "Instructor, I came to the outhouse this morning and saw the lantern was askew, so I took a closer look... and then I found something in the pit. I pulled it out and saw it was Ding Chenle, the trainee!"

"How did he fall in?"

"I don't know either... Maybe I got up in the middle of the night, didn't see where I was going, and slipped and fell?"

"slip?"

Yang Yunxing crouched down and carefully examined the body.

Beside the latrine, Chen Le's body lay filthy and a gruesome sight. There was a dented bruise on the back of his head, the bloodstains blurred by the filth, and a scratch remained on the bluestone edge of the latrine.

More importantly, Chen Le had no knife wounds on his body, and there were no signs of a struggle or tearing in the latrine. It really looked like he accidentally fell into the latrine after getting up in the middle of the night, hit the edge of the pit with the back of his head, lost consciousness, and then drowned.

"Take the body away first, clean it thoroughly, and then perform an autopsy!"

Yang Yunxing gave a stern order, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding guards: "Immediately seal off the backyard! No one is allowed to enter, leave, or discuss this matter! Do not report this to the master for now—wait until the cause of death is determined. If it is an accident, handle it according to the rules; if it is murder, then report to the master for a decision!"

"yes!"

…………

Half an hour later, the cleaned body was placed in the mortuary.

Yang Yunxing, accompanied by two elderly nurses, carefully inspected the premises.

"Instructor, a depressed skull fracture at the back of the head is a fatal injury," an old nurse said in a deep voice. "The bluestone edges of the latrine pit are sharp. If someone slips and falls in the dark and hits the back of their head on it, it can indeed cause this kind of injury."

"What was the time of death?"

"It should be between the hours of Chou (1-3 AM) and Yin (3-5 AM)."

Yang Yunxing frowned.

At this time, most people are fast asleep, making it difficult to find witnesses. Besides, Chen Le was just a trainee bodyguard; who would want to kill him in the middle of the night?

Was it really an accident?

…………

at the same time.

Fei Jianhua's expression changed drastically upon hearing the news in his courtyard.

"What?! Chen Le fell into the latrine and drowned?! How is that possible?!"

He suddenly stood up and paced back and forth in the room.

Chen Le was his most important informant. He had just been sent out to monitor Su Yang when he died inexplicably.

And in such an absurd way?

"Su Yang...it must be him!"

A cold glint flashed in Fei Jianhua's eyes.

Although there was no evidence, he had a gut feeling that it belonged to Su Yangqian.

But he couldn't understand—how did Su Yang do it?

What method should be used?

More importantly, if it really is Su Yangqian's, then this young man is terrifying.

They can kill silently and even disguise it as an accident.

"We need to be even more careful with Zhao Liu's trail..."

Fei Jianhua walked to the window and looked in the direction of Jingjie Courtyard, feeling a chill run down his spine.

…………

The dining hall was still bustling at 9 am, with steam carrying the aroma of rice porridge swirling between the beams, but it couldn't drown out the whispers that rose and fell.

Chen Le's body was taken to the mortuary half an hour ago, and the news spread like wildfire throughout the entire guard quarters in the blink of an eye.

Su Yang sat in the corner with his bowl in hand, his movements as steady as he scooped porridge, seemingly oblivious to the comments at the next table such as "He hit his head and got a dent" or "He was pulled out of a cesspool."

He had just finished practicing a round of the Breaking Edge Blade Technique, and his blood was slightly boiling. He could calm down with the warm rice porridge.

"Brother Su!"

Wang Tiezhu strode over, still clutching a half-eaten wheat cake in his hand. As soon as he sat down, he lowered his voice and said, "You've heard about Chen Le's matter, haven't you? It just came from the mortuary. His skull was dented at the back. Instructor Yang is investigating it personally!"

Su Yang looked up, a perfectly timed expression of surprise on his face: "It's that serious? I saw him wandering outside the dining hall last night, how did this happen?"

"Who knows if it's bad luck or just what they deserve!"

Wang Tiezhu stuffed a piece of wheat cake into his mouth, chewing it noisily: "The edge of the latrine pit is slippery to begin with, and it's dark at night. He probably squatted for too long and his legs went numb. Plus, with his broken arm, it was even more inconvenient, and he fell in when he got up. But that kid always did things that stirred up trouble, so no one will feel sorry for him if he dies."

Hearing this, two guards at the next table chimed in, "That's right! We saw him following Steward Fei around like a shadow the other day. He was probably up to something, and he got his comeuppance!"

Su Yang didn't reply, but just silently drank his porridge.

He could clearly sense that no one in the discussions suspected murder; everyone assumed it was an "accidental fall"—the deliberately controlled angle of impact last night, the crooked lantern—every step was worthwhile.

"Deputy Captain Su, do you think this might be..." A young nurse started to speak, but was glared at by Wang Tiezhu and shut up: "What nonsense are you speculating about! Instructor Yang hasn't made a conclusion yet, stop gossiping!"

Su Yang put down the empty bowl, wiped his mouth with a cloth, and stood up, saying, "Brother Wang, I'm going back to my courtyard to cultivate now. I still have to lead the new recruits in training this afternoon."

"Go ahead, go ahead!"

Wang Tiezhu waved his hand: "Remember to take today's nourishing soup. No matter how hard you train, you need to replenish your energy."

"Um!"

Su Yang nodded.

Stepping out of the dining hall, the sunlight was just right. He subconsciously touched his dantian—the wisp of internal energy was even more solid than in the morning. The numbers on the panel quietly jumped: [Nourishing Life and Strengthening Qi Technique: (Beginner 190/500)].

"Fei Jianhua, you're next!"

He looked up toward the steward's office, a cold glint in his eyes.

Fei Jianhua did not show himself, but he was certain that the other party was watching everything from the shadows.